Hong Kong pro-independence political parties have Lunar New Year stalls terminated due to public order and safety concerns

Food and health minister says government was forced to ‘terminate’ licence agreements

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A booth at Victoria Park set up for the Lunar New Year Fair. Two pro-independence political parties have been banned from setting up a booth because of public safety. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:40pm, 19 Jan 2017Updated: 11:31pm, 19 Jan 2017

The food and health minister on Thursday cited safety reasons for the government’s decision to bar two pro-independence parties from having stalls at the city’s largest Lunar New Year fair.

Youngspiration and the Hong Kong National Party received letters from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Tuesday and Wednesday stating that licence agreements for their stalls in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay had been terminated.

The letters said the department believed the items the parties intended to sell and the activities they had planned related to pro-independence messages. In a fair packed with people, with some agreeing and others disagreeing to the political ideas, public order would probably be endangered, it added.

“We believe the risk of affecting public order was huge after assessment. To ensure the safety of public members attending the fair, we were forced to cancel the licence agreements,” Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said.

Letter to two pro-Hong Kong independence political parties barred them from running stalls at Lunar New Year fair. Photo: Handout

A government spokesman said there were recent incidents in which public order had been hampered due to the advocacy of pro-independence messages. The decision was based on an assessment by law enforcement agencies and deemed “reasonable, necessary and appropriate”.

Hong Kong National Party’s Andy Chan Ho-tin said the ban violated freedom of speech, as protected by the Basic Law.

“It is definitely political suppression,” he said, adding it was a long-standing practice of local political parties to operate stalls.

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