Existing Hong Kong law can put end to crisis, Beijing’s legal advisers say
- The city’s leaders have the legal tools at their disposal to resolve the ‘unrest and restore law and order’
- Airport Authority’s court injunction an example of what can be done, law professor says
Advisers to the central government have stressed that Hong Kong has the legal means to end the city’s crisis, despite heated discussions and fears in the city that Beijing could intervene directly.
Speaking on Thursday at a briefing organised by the State Council Information Office, the legal scholars also said that despite stern official rhetoric in recent days, Beijing had not determined that the months of protests in Hong Kong were terrorist activities.
Earlier this week, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Beijing’s top office on Hong Kong affairs, escalated its condemnation of the protests, with its spokesman saying they showed “signs of terrorism” and “near acts of terrorism”.
Zou Pingxue, a law professor of Shenzhen University and a member of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, would not say whether Beijing would heed any of the protesters’ demands but stressed that the Hong Kong government had the legal tools to end the unrest and restore law and order.
“Besides those [laws] that have already been invoked, the chief executive and the Executive Council also have the power to prohibit any public gatherings, declare ‘no trespassing’ in certain areas or even order a curfew,” Zou said, referring to provisions under Hong Kong’s Public Order Ordinance that would give police extra power to maintain law and order.