Fanny Law says Justice Department warning against calls for independence was justified. Photo: RTHK
Leading pro-Beijing leaders on Thursday came out to back government’s warning to prosecute those calling for Hong Kong’s independence, but some legal scholars pointed out it's rather difficult to incriminate those who advocate it.
The Justice secretary Rimsky Yuen on Wednesday said promoting the idea of independence could be a breach of the Basic Law, and that violation of the mini-constitution would constitute a criminal offence.
Executive Councillor Fanny Law reiterated the view and said the Justice Department was right in rejecting a registration for the Hong Kong National Party.
Law, who's also a deputy to the National People's Congress, said no organisation can register in Hong Kong if they want to set up a base here and advance the idea of independence.
But another executive councilor, Bernard Chan, skirted the issue of the legality of justice department’s warning, saying he's no legal expert. But he stressed the independence advocates will only do harm to Hong Kong.
A Hong Kong member of the CPPCC standing committee, Anthony Wu, said Basic Law makes it quite clear that the territory can never be independent. He said the SAR should focus on more important issues than debating about such issues.
Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau said there's nothing wrong with people who want independence expressing their opinion, even if it's not the mainstream view. She also said she doesn't agree that Hong Kong should only focus on economic development.
Legal scholar Eric Cheung from the University of Hong Kong, meanwhile, said the community should not overreact to calls for independence because the freedom of expression should be respected in the SAR. He said it would be an overstatement to say that such views could endanger national security.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1251839-20160331.htm
