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Howard Lam saga will make pan-democrat battle over West Kowloon checkpoint even harder, analysts say
Academic Chung Kim-wah says political rivals will take full advantage of mistakes by pan-democrats, who will pay a disproportionately high price
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Democrat Howard Lam Tsz-kin’s strange tale over the past week has made the camp’s battle against the government’s controversial West Kowloon border checkpoint plan even tougher, political watchers say.
Several pro-democracy lawmakers, mostly from the Civic Party, have argued that the kidnap and torture claims made by Lam would erode public trust over the so-called co-location plan, which will allow national laws to be enforced by mainland officers in part of the West Kowloon terminus of the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou.
Hong Kong democrat Howard Lam rebuts his kidnapping claim doubters
Twenty-two pan-democratic lawmakers even wrote to security chief John Lee Ka-chiu seeking a meeting with him in the wake of Lam’s claims. They said it was not the first time mainland agents had abducted people in the city, citing the missing booksellers.
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But in a dramatic twist, Lam – who claimed he was abducted and tortured by mainland agents last week – was arrested early on Tuesday for misleading police.
“It will definitely make it more difficult for the pan-democrats to fight against the co-location proposal,” said Dr Chung Kim-wah, an assistant professor in Polytechnic University’s department of applied social sciences.
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“The camp is in a weaker position [than their rivals] under the current political system and therefore it has to be very careful. Its rivals will surely take full advantage of their mistakes and the price they need to pay is going to be disproportionately high.”
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