Democrat's motion calling for Liu Xiaobo's release defeated
Government allies on the Legislative Council defeated a motion yesterday calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo and other dissidents jailed on the mainland, saying it would amount to 'interference in the mainland jurisdiction'.
The non-binding motion, presented by the Democratic Party's Fred Li Wah-ming, urged the central government to immediately free Liu, who is serving an 11-year sentence in Beijing for subversion. Liu was a co-author of the democracy manifesto Charter 08.
The motion also urged the Hong Kong government to implement universal suffrage in accordance with principles laid out in the charter.
The 31/2-hour debate began with most Beijing loyalists absent from their seats. Three minutes after Li started his speech, unionist Lee Cheuk-yan pointed out that a quorum had not been met. Legco president Tsang Yok-sing rang the bell to call lawmakers back to the chamber.
To express their support for Liu, pan-democrats wore paper masks on which the jailed scholar's photo was printed. They said the imprisonment of activists on the mainland amounted to suppression of free speech and that Hongkongers' rights could also be harmed one day.
'Many Hong Kong citizens have signed Charter 08. If we were not in Hong Kong, we might have been arrested already,' Li said.