Hong Kong leader: Groups crossing 'red lines' should disband

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s person Carrie Lam said Tuesday organizations that transverse “red lines” and disregard nationalist information should disband and the authorities would not hesitate to chopped ties with nonrecreational groups that crook political.

Authorities are conducting an ongoing crackdown connected dissent successful the city, arresting pro-democracy leaders and activists arsenic Beijing seeks to support Hong Kong successful enactment aft months of wide anti-government protests successful 2019.

Lam made her comments aft the Civil Human Rights Front, known for organizing yearly July 1 protests and a cardinal organizer of immoderate of the biggest protests successful 2019, said Sunday it could nary longer run owed to the imprisonment of its convenor Figo Chan and a nonaccomplishment of members.

Its dissolution besides came arsenic Hong Kong constabulary were reportedly investigating the radical for breaking the law, with a constabulary commissioner saying successful an interrogation with section media that the radical had not formally registered with the government.

Ad

Critics of Hong Kong’s information authorities accidental it rolls backmost freedoms promised to Hong Kong for 50 years erstwhile it was handed implicit by the British to mainland China successful 1997. The authorities criminalizes subversion, secession, coercion and overseas collusion, and has been utilized to apprehension implicit 100 pro-democracy figures since it was implemented past June.

“There is nary implicit state of an idiosyncratic anyplace successful the world. You bask it successful accordance with the law,” Lam said astatine a regular quality conference, adding that determination were galore organizations who bash not judge that their behaviour and code are regulated by the city’s nationalist information instrumentality imposed past June.

“In the past we person seen organizations and individuals crossing these reddish lines. In my opinion, the lone prime is astatine this clip is disbandment,” she said. “So it’s thing to bash with exercising your close oregon your freedom.”

Lam said that adjacent if organizations disband of their ain volition, it does not absolve them of transgression liability if they are recovered to interruption the law. Law enforcement agencies volition proceed to cod grounds and investigate, and immoderate breaches of the instrumentality volition beryllium prosecuted accordingly, she said.

Ad

Professional groups who deviate from their archetypal intent and crook governmental volition besides beryllium chopped disconnected from the Hong Kong government, she said.

The authorities past period severed ties with the Professional Teachers’ Union, the city’s largest national for educators. The national aboriginal disbanded, citing a changing governmental climate.

Lam warned that the Law Society — a nonrecreational relation for solicitors successful Hong Kong — could beryllium adjacent if they “let authorities instrumentality implicit their nonrecreational mission.”

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.