Heung Yee Kuk takes out newspaper ads in wake of National Party’s founding
TONY.CHEUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Friday, 22 April, 2016, 12:36pm
The statement accused Hong Kong independence advocates of causing divisions in the nation. Photo: Tony Cheung
Rural power brokers Heung Yee Kuk have issued a strongly-worded statement in at least two local Chinese-language newspapers to condemn Hong Kong independence advocates.
Running advertisements in Sing Tao Daily and Wen Wei Po, the kuk and all 27 rural committees under it vowed to “crush the pretension of pro-independence forces without hesitation”.
The advertisement came a month after the founding of the Hong Kong National Party, which called for building a “Republic of Hong Kong”. The party also rejected recognition of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.
In an interview published today in the Post, the party’s leader said it would seek closer ties with pro-independence groups in Taiwan.
Without naming the party, the kuk’s statement “strongly reprimands” independence advocates for “publicly and maliciously negating history, and causing divisions in the nation”.
“Heung Yee Kuk shall unite forces that love the country, Hong Kong and our villages, and crush the pretension of pro-independence forces without hesitation,” the statement read. “We also urge the city officials to stop the growth of these forces in accordance with the law.”
The pro-independence party could not be reached for comment.
On Thursday, a group of young pan-democrats issued a joint statement via social media calling for Hongkongers to fight for “internal self-determination” so that they could govern the city’s affairs themselves.
Speaking on Commercial Radio as well as RTHK on Friday, Civic Party vice-chairwoman Tanya Chan said the group was not advocating independence.
She reiterated that those who issued the statement were only hoping for an extension of Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy beyond 2047, the year when Beijing’s promise of “one country, two systems” is set to expire.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1937672/powerful-rural-hong-kong-group-vows-crush-independence
