Can Benny Tai be prosecuted for independence remarks under Hong Kong law? No, experts say
Occupy organiser complains he is being used to stifle free speech as Beijing mouthpiece calls for his prosecution under city’s Crimes Ordinance
The row over controversial academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting’s independence remarks intensified on Monday as Beijing mouthpiece People’s Daily demanded the Hong Kong government take legal action against him under the city’s existing criminal law, even if it has yet to adopt national security legislation against sedition.
41 lawmakers echo Beijing’s sharp rebuke of legal scholar Benny Tai’s Hong Kong independence comments
“While there is no precedent of punishing separatists, an absence of precedent does not mean there is no law to tackle Hong Kong independence,” the commentary read. “The Special Administrative Region government should not tolerate people like Tai who advocate Hong Kong independence and initiate actions that mess up Hong Kong, and should look into his illegal acts to manifest the rule of law.”
Tai hit back on a radio show, citing an old Chinese idiom as he accused authorities of turning him into a chicken that is killed to scare the monkeys in their efforts to intimidate others from exploring if breaking away from China could be an option for Hong Kong. He had suggested at a forum in Taiwan that the city could seek independence some day in a “democratic China”.
“It is a calculated plot against me … to [declare] that any discussion on Hong Kong independence – albeit not directly endorsing [the notion] – will not be allowed in society and universities,” the University of Hong Kong law academic said.