HK activist’s challenge to Beijing

A Hong Kong pro-independence activist has decried Beijing’s rule as modern-day colonialism in a speech to a foreign journalists’ association that defied the Chinese Government’s demand to cancel the event.

The Government’s demand raised questions about Beijing’s growing influence in the former British colony, which was promised semi-autonomy and freedom of speech as part of the 1997 handover. President Xi Jinping and other officials have warned separatist activity would not be tolerated.

Small groups of pro-Beijing and prodemocracy protesters gathered outside the Foreign Correspondents Club’s building in Hong Kong yesterday ahead of and during the speech by Andy Chan of the Hong Kong National Party. Some pro-Beijing protesters carried banners saying “Hong Kong independence is poisonous”.

Current and former Hong Kong leaders have criticised the FCC for hosting Chan, whose party is facing a possible ban on national security grounds.

“Sadly, we are a nation that is quickly being annexed and destroyed by China,” Chan told the audience at the FCC event last night. “The cry for Hong Kong independence is therefore a cry against colonial invasion.”

The 75-year-old FCC has previously hosted politicians and newsmakers, including pro-Beijing speakers, at its iconic clubhouse in central Hong Kong.

The perception that Beijing is reneging on its promise and eroding Hong Kong’s free elections and freedom of speech is helping fuel a rising generation of young activists calling for greater autonomy, if not outright independence.