Patten contradicts himself, dodges key question
Hong Kong’s last governor on Thursday contradicted himself when discussing his views on the three jailed student activists — who had encouraged violent behavior in the city and helped ignite the illegal “Occupy Central” movement.
Chris Patten, wrapping up his four-day visit to Hong Kong by delivering a speech at the University of Hong Kong, also dodged questions about the legality of “Hong Kong independence”.
Taking a question from China Daily on whether or not he supports the jailed activists — Joshua Wong Chifung, Nathan Law Kwunchung and Alex Chow Yongkang, Patten denied he had ever supported the trio for what they had done during the storming of a restricted area in front of the government building in 2014.
However, on the previous day, at a luncheon at the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation he said the student leaders were “principled young people” and “represent some of the values that helped make the world a better place”.
This time Patten insisted he had only said he supported democracy.
Veteran local political analyst Song Sio-chong said people who watched Patten speaking could see him contradicting himself.
“He said he appreciates the student leaders’ values. However, breaking laws and resorting to violence when fighting for ‘democracy’ are actually part of their values,” the professor at the Research Center of Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law, Shenzhen University, argued.
His views were backed by Vice-President of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies Lau Siu-kai. Lau said Patten’s inconsistent comments about Hong Kong affairs showed his dilemma in wanting to woo the “pan-democrats” and young people, while trying to portray himself as an objective, neutral figure.
Although Patten had frequently argued that “Hong Kong independence” was a “bad idea”, he has never talked about the legality of the issue.
In the question-and-answer section, Patten shied away from the question on whether or not “Hong Kong independence” is illegal.
He replied by saying: “The Basic Law said all sorts of things that shouldn’t be done in Hong Kong, like gay marriage and euthanasia. But that doesn’t stop people from talking about them.”
Song, who is also a Basic Law expert, said both examples were factually incorrect.
In the Basic Law, there is only one article — Article 37 — which mentions marriage. It stipulates that the freedom of marriage of Hong Kong residents and their right to raise a family freely shall be protected by law. It has no phrases forbidding gay marriage, Song said.
This was also the case with euthanasia, he added.
However, the very first article of the Basic Law stipulates that “the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China”. Therefore, an educated man should figure out whether or not “Hong Kong independence” is illegal, noted Song.