Western politicians must stop meddling
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday dismissed as “groundless and unfair” a report published by a United Kingdom-based political group called “Hong Kong Watch”. The report paints a rather scary political picture of Hong Kong by repeating stories the opposition camp here has been telling for years without any proof of their wild accusations.
The Hong Kong Watch report is yet another example of certain Western hostile forces’ refusal to accept the reality that Hong Kong is no longer one of their playgrounds or a means to whatever end they can think of. Indeed the report goes to great lengths to accuse the central government of “eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy” but offers no evidence whatsoever. It lists some separatists being denied eligibility to run for Legislative Council seats in 2016 and a few lawmakers-elect being disqualified because they broke relevant laws during their swearing-in as proof of Beijing “encroaching” on judicial independence, freedoms and human rights in Hong Kong.
Some Western politicians who are hostile to China have made it a habit to take a swipe at Beijing every now and then to score some brownie points, making collateral damage to Hong Kong in the process. It is not the first report of this nature to make such accusations and Lam is absolutely right in calling it “groundless and unfair”, because it amounts to declaring without proof that Hong Kong courts had no statutory basis for disqualifying those rogue politicians, but did so under political pressure. The author(s) of the report either assumed Hong Kong does not have those laws or the disqualified parties concerned should have been exempt from justice. Does that mean Hong Kong’s judicial independence really depends on political preference in their book, and they can decide who in Hong Kong is above the law or how local courts interpret certain laws?
It should be noted that the Hong Kong Watch also posted a similar article by Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung, with the same unfounded accusations seen in the report. Maybe Hui is taken as an eyewitness for the organization in this case, but he has failed to provide any solid evidence to support those groundless claims, too. The truth is all those individuals cited by the report and Hui as “victims” of Beijing’s so-called eroding Hong Kong’s judicial independence deliberately violated one Hong Kong law or another and were duly disqualified as lawmakers by local courts.
Hui’s joining in the Beijing-bashing chorus has raised a valid question: Why are members of the opposition like Hui fond of accusing Beijing of interference while they keep on inviting foreign intervention in Hong Kong affairs?
The Central People’s Government has always followed the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a national law derived from the country’s Constitution. The Basic Law stipulates the HKSAR maintains its capitalist system for 50 years under the “one country, two systems” principle. However, all that is because the HKSAR is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China, a fact enshrined in the very first sentence of the Basic Law. There is no need for the central government to encroach on any rights in Hong Kong. It enjoys overall jurisdiction over the SAR.