Societies Ordinance right weapon to fight separatist groups: Maria Tam
Maria Tam Wai-chu, deputy director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee, fully supports the government’s move to ban the Hong Kong National Party which advocates “independence” of the city from China.
Section 8(1)(a) of the Societies Ordinance is the appropriate tool to deal with the HKNP, argues Tam.
On Tuesday, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu announced he would invoke the Societies Ordinance to ask the HKNP to explain its “pro-independence” activities within three weeks. Lee said he will not make a decision before the 21-day period expires.
On the same day, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made it clear she and the government would not tolerate people transgressing the red lines of sovereignty and national security. The red lines are principles President Xi Jinping has emphasized.
“I support the government’s action in accordance with the law,” Tam told China Daily in an exclusive interview. “For people who back the government to abide by the law, including me, we have been very unsatisfied that some people were not checked for advocating ‘Hong Kong independence’ so rampantly.
“After the 79-day unlawful ‘Occupy Central’ demonstration, the said party has become more and more outrageous by, among other things, posting independence banners in the streets, planning to penetrate into schools and going to Taiwan to hold ‘independence’ meetings with other sects,” she said.
Tam said the HKNP has existed and been active for more than two years, but it was understandable that it had not been checked out earlier.
“The government needs a lot of time to find out the facts and collect evidence, as well as to decide which ordinance should be applied,” she said. “The use of the Societies Ordinance is appropriate. If force or violence is involved, the Crimes Ordinance and Public Order Ordinance (which carry heavy penalties) shall be applied.”
She cited a recent case in which radical lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai was convicted of turning the national flags upside down in the Legislative Council chamber while the meeting was temporarily suspended.
“He was convicted although no force was involved. It follows that those who advocate or incite other people to advocate ‘Hong Kong independence’ should be convicted too,” she said.
Tam noted that members of the opposition camp defended the HKNP, claiming freedom of expression and association.
“I think they are worrying about themselves,” she said, adding that freedom of expression and association is not absolute or without restrictions.
She again rebutted the Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, who said the Societies Ordinance is only applicable to triad societies.
Tam explained: “He does not know the ordinance well, not having read Section 8(1) (a) which refers to national security or public safety, public order or the protection of rights and freedoms of others, while the definition of the above safeguards shall be consistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Also, the said ordinance has a two-tier penalty for triad and non-triad societies, showing it is not applicable to triad societies only.”
The Basic Law expert said she is also aware of criticism that the Societies Ordinance is very old. Tam responded: “There is no such thing as old or new, as long as it is still a valid law. This is the tune of (last British governor) Chris Patten, who said mockingly that the Public Order Ordinance is outdated.”
But Tam cautioned that to ban the HKNP will not be all that easy; the group will certainly resort to a judicial review if it is declared an unlawful society.
She thinks the case would go to the Court of Final Appeal. A favorable ultimate verdict would lead the government to take further action against “Hong Kong independence” activists and activities.