March organiser could be banned from ‘Civic Square’ over ‘failure to stop separatist’ display at forecourt of Hong Kong government headquarters

Authorities say they have expressed ‘extreme regret’ to those behind New Year’s Day march after individuals entered space to advocate independence

Civil Human Rights Front says it will stick to its guns for future events, accusing government of contravening Basic Law

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Security guards confront pro-independence protesters during the New Year's Day march in front of Hong Kong government headquarters in Tamar. Activists hold up a sign saying: ‘Only with two countries will there be two systems.’ Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 9:00am, 3 Jan 2019Updated: 11:32pm, 3 Jan 2019

Pro-democracy campaigners could be barred from a rallying venue for protesters outside the Hong Kong government’s headquarters after pro-independence activists were able to address the gathering during a recent demonstration there, authorities warned on Wednesday.

Responding to a Post inquiry, the Administration Wing, which manages the forecourt widely known as “Civic Square”, said it had written to the Civil Human Rights Front, organiser of the New Year’s Day march, over its “failure to stop separatists”.

The government earlier expressed “extreme regret that the front did not appeal to participants not to conduct any activity that contravenes the laws in force [in Hong Kong], including the Basic Law”.

A flag of colonial Hong Kong erected in the forecourt. Photo: Winson Wong

The forecourt was closed to the public in the run-up to the Occupy movement, a civil disobedience campaign for greater democracy, which brought parts of the city to a standstill for 79 days in 2014. The space was reopened in 2017 for civic groups to organise rallies during the weekends and holidays.

The letter came a day after the annual new year march on Tuesday. The government complained at the end of the march that there were individual participants carrying placards “with slogans advocating independence”, who forced their way past security guards into the forecourt. Two guards fell to the ground during the scuffles.