Zero tolerance for separatism, period!
Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu confirmed on Tuesday that he had issued the Hong Kong National Party an official notice that he is considering banning the unregistered group — which openly advocates “Hong Kong independence” and “a cause that damages the interests of China” — from operating. Lee said he had received a recommendation from the assistant societies officer with the Hong Kong Police Force citing Section 8 of the Societies Ordinance. This stipulates that the secretary for security may consider prohibiting operation of a society out of national security or public safety concerns,or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. Given the HKNP’s declared goal and its intent to damage anything it sees as China’s interests anywhere, we see no reason why relevant authorities should not invoke Article 8 of the Societies Ordinance and ban that separatist group for good.
The HKNP — established on March 28, 2016 — has operated as an unregistered group because its bid to register with authorities was rejected precisely because of its separatist manifesto and open hostility toward the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Not surprisingly, a returning officer turned down HKNP Convener Andy Chan Ho-tin’s attempt to register as a candidate in the 2016 Legislative Council election because of his pursuit of separatism and what his group stands for.
Article 8 of the Societies Ordinance also stipulates the security secretary may ban a party or society if it maintains “connection with a foreign political organization or a political organization of Taiwan”. Chan attended a gathering in Taiwan earlier this year of leaders of various “independence movements” organized and hosted by a Taiwan-based separatist group. It is safe to assume their hatred for the Chinese nation brought them together.
The central government has stated clearly numerous times that the country is absolutely committed to achieving the great national unification and to do so it will protect sovereignty, territorial integrity, national security and development interests at all costs. It doesn’t matter what excuses the separatists can find to justify their pursuit of “independence” for certain regions of our country, the nation of nearly 1.4 billion people will never give them a chance to even try. Of course, people are also aware that these separatist groups receive financial as well as “spiritual” support from overseas, including illicit funding from foreign “deep pockets” that may or may not have government blessing. After all, certain foreign governments do regard China as a growing challenge or even a rival, which is why they support separatism in China, including Hong Kong. This is why Hong Kong must maintain zero tolerance for separatism no matter who is behind it.