Publisher may use banned Taiwan flag

Controversial commentator Raymond Wong Yuk-man will launch a political weekly on Taiwan's national day, possibly using the island's flag on its front cover.

The move is not to express support for Taiwan but to upset political bosses in Hong Kong and the mainland which have prohibited public display of the flag, he said.

'It's one of several possible covers. I have this great and constant urge to criticise powerful people. It's fun for me to offend the high and mighty,' he said.

He admitted he could no longer indulge his political passion with his newspaper Mad Dog Daily because it had been recently forced to concentrate exclusively on horse racing due to low circulation of between 8,000 and 9,000 copies.

The paper, launched on March 18 last year, was originally full of anti-communist political columns, mostly written by Mr Wong.

The new Mad Dog Weekly, to be published on October 10 at $20 with close to 100 pages of political and current affairs commentaries, would offer an ample outlet for his opinions, he said.

Politicians dubbed Mr Wong's plan a publicity stunt although chairman of the security panel Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee admitted it would embarrass the Government.

She said: 'We take as pragmatic approach as possible but there are certain baselines especially with something as controversial as this - we can't just ignore it completely.' Chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, Tsang Yok-sing, said: 'I don't see any reason the publication of this magazine shouldn't go ahead.

'After all, freedom of expression is one of the main concerns of the people of Hong Kong. If I were the Government I would refrain from interfering because it is no big deal. Of course, people have their own feelings but if they don't like it they simply don't have to buy it.' He said he was unsure if publishing a picture of the Taiwanese flag constituted a public display.

Mr Wong claimed the magazine could break even with a circulation of 5,000 copies.

Surplus computer and printing equipment at the newspaper meant he did not have to invest more than $2 million to $3 million on the new publication.

He did not expect much revenue from advertisers because of what he described as 'the offensive nature of his publications'.