Lawmaker caught expressing fear of upsetting Beijing over possible delays to national anthem bill in Hong Kong
- Martin Liao’s unguarded comments picked up by meeting room microphone he thought was switched off
- The pro-establishment politician made the remarks during a personal conversation with Horace Cheung
A pro-establishment lawmaker has suggested Beijing’s liaison office would be furious if a Legislative Council meeting on national anthem legislation were adjourned on Friday.
Martin Liao Cheung-kong was chairing a meeting of the National Anthem Bill committee, when he was heard making the remarks in a personal conversation with his deputy Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan during a break when the pair did not know their microphones were still on.
It came as Beijing’s representatives in Hong Kong flexed their muscles over another controversial piece of legislation, the extradition bill, which would allow the transfer of fugitives from Hong Kong to jurisdictions with which the city has no extradition deal, including mainland China.
A group of pro-Beijing legislators and politicians were expected to attend a meeting at the liaison office on Friday afternoon to discuss that bill.
The incident happened on Friday morning when pro-democracy lawmaker Raymond Chan Chi-chuen was asking for the quorum at the bills committee. Chan said it was unreasonable for Liao to have called the nearly two-hour meeting on Friday morning, when two meetings on other issues were being held at the same time.
While lawmakers were waiting for more colleagues to show up, Cheung was heard telling Liao: “This national anthem [meeting] cannot go on, they [pan-democrats] are doing this, hoping the meeting would be adjourned.”