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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 18 July 2018

Pro-independence Hong Kong party faces possible ban

By CHANDRA WONG A statement on the party's
Associated Press Facebook page called
HONG KONG (AP) — Au- Tuesday's letter an effort to
thorities on Tuesday told a "pelt pebbles at the Hong
political party that advo- Kong people and indepen-
cates independence for dence movement."
Hong Kong the group might "For what is their 'national
be banned on national se- security,' their 'laws,' and
curity grounds, in one of the their banning of operations
most severe steps against but a purely political deci-
separatist voices since the sion to silence those who
territory returned to Chi- dare to represent the true
nese rule in 1997. interests of the Hong Kong
In a letter to the leader of people and nation?" the
the Hong Kong National party wrote.
Party, 27-year-old Andy Amnesty International con-
Chan, the territory's secu- demned the proposed
rity bureau said the group ban.
has three weeks to make a "The authorities must stop
case for why it should be al- using vague laws to intimi-
lowed to operate. date people who hold dif-
An official believes the par- Leader of the Hong Kong National Party Andy Chan speaks on his mobile after an interview in ferent political views," the
ty should be dissolved "in Hong Kong, Tuesday, July 17, 2018. human rights group said.q
the interests of national se- Associated Press
curity or public safety, pub- said the group has never elections to the Hong Kong
lic order or the protection
of the rights and freedoms registered with police be- legislature after they re-
cause they do not want to fused to sign a pledge say-
of others," the letter said.
It cited a national security disclose all their informa- ing Hong Kong is an inalien-
able part of China. The
tion.
law that has not been in-
voked since 1997. Chan said he suspected Hong Kong National Party
the proposed ban is related has never held any seats
The bespectacled Chan,
who wore a crew-neck T- to a trip he made to Taiwan on the council.
earlier this month, when he
shirt and black wristwatch
as he fielded phone calls held a news conference
with politicians there to talk
on Tuesday, told The Asso-
ciated Press that police ap- about the human rights sit-
uation in Hong Kong.
proached him with docu-
ments detailing his speech- Hong Kong's security secre-
tary, John Lee, said police
es and activities since the
party's formation in 2016. recommended banning
the group.
The party was founded
in response to frustration "Hong Kong has freedom of
association, but that right is
about Beijing's treatment
of Hong Kong. Despite a not without restriction," Lee
said at a news conference.
promise of autonomy, ac-
tivists complain mainland He said national security
"means safeguarding the
influence over its demo-
cratic elections is increas- territorial integrity and inde-
pendence of the People's
ing.
"Hong Kong National Party Republic of China."
Chan and other pro-in-
has always been an enemy
of China," Chan said. He dependence candidates
were disqualified from 2016