China sends shot across bow of budding Hong Kong independence movement
BEIJING — China will not allow anyone to use Hong Kong as a base for subversion against mainland China or to damage its political stability, Beijing’s top official in the territory told state television, as concerns rise over an emerging independence movement.
BEIJING — China will not allow anyone to use Hong Kong as a base for subversion against mainland China or to damage its political stability, Beijing’s top official in the territory told state television, as concerns rise over an emerging independence movement.
In an interview with state television CCTV broadcast late on Sunday, Mr Zhang Xiaoming, the head of China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong, said controlling the semi-autonomous city’s independence movement requires strengthening “bottom-line awareness” among its people.
“As far as Hong Kong is concerned, nobody is permitted do anything in any form that damages the country’s sovereignty and security, they are not allowed to challenge the central government’s authority or that of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, they are not allowed to use Hong Kong for infiltration subversion activities against the mainland to damage its social and political stability,” Mr Zhang said.
“These are the three bottom lines.”
Chinese leaders are increasingly concerned about a fledgling independence movement in Hong Kong, which returned to mainland rule in 1997 with a promise of autonomy known as “one country, two systems”, and recent protests in the city.
The “one country, two systems” agreement ensured Hong Kong its freedoms and wide-ranging autonomy, including a separate legal system.
But Communist Party rulers in Beijing have ultimate control, and some Hong Kong people are concerned they are increasingly interfering to head off dissent.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told outgoing Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying last month that China’s central government strongly supports efforts by the Hong Kong government to curb moves by some promoting independence for the global financial hub.
Tensions have flared in the semi-autonomous territory after the ousting of two pro-independence lawmakers ignited fresh concern over Beijing’s tightening controls on Hong Kong.
China’s parliament in November staged a rare interpretation of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, to effectively bar pro-independence city lawmakers Mr Baggio Leung and Ms Yau Wai-ching from taking office there. The pair lost an appeal against an earlier Hong Kong court ruling that disqualified them after they insulted China while taking their oaths.
On New Year’s Day, thousands of protesters, chanting “Sovereignty belongs to the people!”, marched through Hong Kong to protest against the government’s legal bid to unseat another four pro-democracy lawmakers for alleged breaches in their swearing-in ceremony and in their oaths of allegiance.
Court proceedings against the four are scheduled to start in February.
Organisers of the march said 9,150 people attended, while police estimated a maximum attendance of 4,800.
The rally also sought to raise funds for the four lawmakers to fight the government’s challenge in court.
The New Year’s Day march was one of numerous rallies Hong Kong has seen in recent years. In 2014, tens of thousands of protesters clogged city streets for weeks calling for reform, but failed to win any concessions from Beijing.
The failure of the protests left Hong Kong starkly divided between pro-establishment and pro-democracy camps, and sparked an independence movement calling for the city to break entirely from Beijing. AGENCIES