National security law: when disruption equals ‘subversion’, what’s left for Hong Kong’s opposition legislators?

With Legco set to resume on Wednesday, pan-democrats are wondering whether protest tactics of the past could run afoul of the new law

While the camp’s convenor strikes a defiant tone, one lawmaker acknowledges the new term won’t be ‘business as usual’

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Legco security guards hold back opposition lawmaker Wu Chi-wai as he protests during the chief executive’s question-and-answer session after the 2019 policy address. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 8:28pm, 13 Oct 2020Updated: 11:11pm, 13 Oct 2020

Hong Kong’s opposition lawmakers are planning on reserving their more aggressive forms of protest for critical issues, as they return to the legislature on Wednesday under the shadow of a new national security law that views disruption of government duties as a form of subversion.

With uncertainty swirling over the new red lines, some in the camp have acknowledged that their past tactics – which included yelling slogans and interrupting the city leader’s speeches – may now be deemed to be in breach of the sweeping law.

Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, convenor of the opposition bloc, struck a defiant tone on Tuesday, one day before the Legislative Council was set to resume after summer recess, insisting that his camp would not let the law affect the way it operated.

“We will definitely resist,” he said.

But one lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “It is hard to ascertain how far and wide [the law] will go. So there are going to be some experiments.”

Pan-democrats display protest signs during a meeting of Legco’s Finance Committee in September. Photo: Sam Tsang

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