The road to sedition: the legal debate at the root of Hong Kong independence controversy
Mainland authorities have told the city’s breakaway advocates they’re outside the law. Are they?
For a party which claims to have 30 to 50 members – and has paraded only two – the Hong Kong National Party has grabbed the kind of attention other parties can only dream about.
Exactly what the party will end up doing remains to be seen. But its undisguised rhetoric already appears to have rattled the nerves of many. The ensuing debate has also taken on, as is usual in the city, a pro- and anti-Beijing cast, with some warning that Hong Kong’s autonomy is once again coming under assault.
At issue is whether talking about independence for Hong Kong is in breach of the Basic Law and constitutes “treason” or “sedition”. Both of those are still outlawed by British colonial-era provisions of the Crimes Ordinance.
Two days after the party announced its existence, Beijing’s office in charge of Hong Kong affairs slammed it as a serious violation of the country’s constitution and the Basic Law.
“The establishment of a pro-independence party by an extremely small group of people in Hong Kong has harmed the country’s sovereignty and security, as well as endangering the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong,” a spokesman for the office was quoted as saying.
