Police monitored pro-independence Hong Kong National Party for 18 months before attempt to ban it

Hong Kong police seeking to ban a pro-independence party began keeping a close eye on it soon after it was set up in 2016, the Post has learned, as more groups on Thursday voiced their objections to the crackdown.

A liberal lawyers’ advocacy group said it was “deeply concerned” about the action being considered against the Hong Kong National Party (HKNP) on national security grounds, when it had not resorted to force or violence.

In a statement, the Progressive Lawyers Group urged the city’s security minister to respect the principle of freedom of association as a fundamental right when deciding the party’s fate. The HKNP has until August 7 to make its case as to why it should not be banned.

Under the Johannesburg Principles, considered an international standard, no restriction of rights would be legitimate unless it was to “protect a country’s existence or its territorial integrity against the use or threat of force”, the group argued.

Police have said the party’s propaganda, street booths and founder Andy Chan Ho-tin’s pledge to achieve independence from China by “whatever effective means” amounted to “concrete steps” and posed an “imminent threat” to national security, even without violence.

The lawyers’ group questioned banning a political party based on its agenda. Previous rulings by the European Court of Human Rights, the group said, had affirmed that calls for secession do not constitute sufficient grounds to dissolve a party.