ExclusiveHong Kong should combat ‘soft resistance’ with ‘soft power’ rather than full brunt of the law: justice secretary Paul Lam
- Hong Kong has no plans to introduce fake news law, he says, as it’s ‘legally’ hard to separate fact from opinion, citing Singapore
- Domestic security law already covers the spread of false information that threatens national security, he says
Hong Kong’s justice chief has ruled out the use of legal means to combat “soft resistance”, urging the city to learn instead from foreign powers to wield “soft power” to counter scaremongering and despair caused by troublemakers.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok also told the Post in an exclusive interview that the fake news law, an idea put forth by the former administration, was now off the legislative agenda because of “very difficult legal questions” in defining what fake news was, especially in separating facts from opinions.
The more immediate challenge was to tackle “soft resistance” – a term first coined in April 2021 by former director of Beijing’s liaison office Luo Huining, who had called for “regulation over soft resistance according to law”.
In the interview, justice minister Lam said that “soft resistance” often involved “false, misleading, unfair” statements that aimed to create “unnecessary and unjustified fears” or despair, such as saying “Hong Kong is no longer an international financial centre” or “it is a graveyard”.
He acknowledged that people were concerned whenever the term “soft resistance” was used. “Some people may worry whether this concept might be used or misused as an excuse ... to restrict people’s rights and freedom because we are talking about lawful acts,” he said.