Separatist leader Andy Chan’s FCC talk and call for US sanctions on Hong Kong cited as new evidence for proposed party ban

Assistant societies officer says in report to security minister that Hong Kong National Party’s commitment to independence and call for sanctions a threat to China’s national security

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Pro-Hong Kong independence supporters gather near the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club during Andy Chan’s talk earlier this month. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:45am, 30 Aug 2018Updated: 1:28pm, 3 Oct 2018

A Hong Kong separatist’s defiant speech two weeks ago and subsequent call for the US to extend its trade war with China to Hong Kong have been used as new evidence by police to justify their proposed ban on his party.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Rebecca Lam Hiu-tong, in a report to Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday, said the Hong Kong National Party (HKNP), through remarks made by its convenor Andy Chan Ho-tin, showed it “remained firmly committed to achieving its objective of Hong Kong independence”.

Andy Chan, founder of the Hong Kong National Party. Photo: Bloomberg

Chan had “escalated [the party’s] advocacy for Hong Kong independence to the international level” through his August 14 talk at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC), which was attended by local and foreign journalists who also reported on it, she said.

In her capacity as assistant societies officer, Lam argued that Chan, by calling for foreign sanctions against both China and Hong Kong, had further justified the need to ban the party under the Societies Ordinance for being a threat to national security.

“Through taking part in and speaking at the luncheon at the FCC, the HKNP has taken a positive step to heighten its profile in furthering its unlawful advocacy for Hong Kong independence,” she said in the six-page report, which was accompanied by a 40-page transcript and footage of the talk.