National security law: Hongkongers celebrating Taiwan’s Double Tenth public holiday risk secession charge, security chief warns
- Intent, reaction provoked among factors to be considered in determining if certain acts endanger national security, Chris Tang says in exclusive interview
- Past events in the city marking anniversary have seen the Taiwanese flag waved and nationalist anthems sung
Popularly known as the Double Tenth, October 10 is the anniversary of the start of the 1911 Wuchang uprising, which led to the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912.
The event continues to be commemorated by Kuomintang supporters in Taiwan and even in Hong Kong, where Taiwanese flags have been displayed and nationalist songs sung in locations such as a former revolutionary base in the New Territories.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said Taiwan was an inalienable part of China under the nation’s constitution, and that anyone attempting to alter that fact, or incite others to do so, risked arrest for secession and a potential life sentence.
Asked what behaviour would be considered illegal under the Beijing-imposed national security law, the minister said it was hard to single out a particular situation, but law enforcement would look at the act as a whole.