Hong Kong localist lawmakers ‘malignant tumours’ colluding with Taiwan separatists, says Beijing mouthpiece
People’s Daily warns consequences of independence would be ‘unimaginable’
Two localist Hong Kong legislators have been described by People’s Daily as “malignant tumours” colluding with separatists of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party and metastasizing into a ticking time bomb that would be dangerous to Hong Kong.
A commentary in the overseas edition of the Communist party mouthpiece described the duo as “jumping around like crazy clowns” in an attempt to bring independence to Hong Kong.
“For this, they have gone out of their way in seeking foreign support. Apart from foreign forces such as the UK and US, Taiwan, which shares the same cultural roots as Hong Kong, became their first choice by linking with the island’s separatists to strengthen their calls for Hong Kong independence,” the editorial said.
“This has left a ticking time bomb for society, which will eventually drag Hong Kong into a dangerous field.”
Earlier this week, Beijing criticised Taiwan for intervening in Hong Kong’s affairs, while also warning the island’s separatists they would never divide the territory from China even if they teamed up with Hong Kong’s localists. The wave of criticism began after two localist Hong Kong lawmakers, Young-spiration’s Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, whose swearing-in oaths for the Legislative Council were invalidated earlier this month, called for Taiwan to “insulate” itself from the mainland during a seminar on Saturday in Taipei on Hong Kong’s localist movement.
The People’s Daily piece added that Taiwan’s separatists had always played a role in the formation of a Hong Kong force calling for the city’s independence, even before the Occupy Central movement. The piece also criticised the DPP in Taiwan for publicly supporting Leung and Yau and failing to affirm the 1992 consensus since taking power.
The DPP “attempted to ‘work with’ Hong Kong’s independence forces to use it as a bargaining chip with the mainland by kidnapping Hong Kong as a whole,” the piece said.
“We must remain vigilant and resolutely reject Taiwan or Hong Kong independence, which threatens the unity of the nation and would destroy the city’s ‘one country,two systems’ principle, or the consequences would be unimaginable.”
