New Hong Kong election declaration could backfire, former think tank head warns
Lau Siu-kai says barring of pro-independence candidates could shift votes to other radicals standing for Legislative Council
The tightened government measure apparently aimed at barring pro-independence candidates from running in the Legislative Council elections could backfire, a former head of the Hong Kong government think tank has warned.
The warning by Professor Lau Siu-kai on Sunday came as police were sent to “observe” a press conference hosted by the Hong Kong National Party, which advocates Hong Kong breaking away from China.
Party convenor Chan Ho-tin however claimed initial victory as the pro-independence group was able to force the government to resort to such unusual moves.
The police said the officer was from the Police Public Engagement Office, part of whose role is to build up contacts with various civic groups. The force said his presence at the press conference had nothing to do with “surveillance” or “spying”.
Speaking in a TVB interview on Sunday, Lau said: “If a pro-independence activist is barred from running in the Legislative Council, not only his supporters, but also voters who sympathise with him or some voters who do not support independence could vote for the radicals allowed in the race.”
But Lau, who is now a vice-chairman of the semi-official mainland think tank, the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, believed the Hong Kong and Beijing governments had assessed the consequences and were “willing to bear such risks” as it was a matter of national sovereignty.
The new measure, announced two days before the start of the nomination period for September’s elections, requires all candidates to declare their acceptance of Hong Kong as an inalienable part of China or face disqualification.
The current system already requires candidates to sign a declaration in the nomination form to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong. The new measure requires them to sign an additional form to confirm their clear understanding of it.
Critics say it is “political screening” and many pan-democrats and pro-independence activists have vowed not to sign the new form.
Despite the controversy, Lau said he believed the move was “conducive” to good relations between Beijing and Hong Kong because it showed that the city’s government was “capable of protecting national security and sovereignty”.
He also said it was not unusual for restrictions to be imposed in elections. He said: “I think German politicians cannot run for elections if they support Nazism or Communism.”
Chan echoed Lau’s analysis, adding that the pro-independence force had already won the first round. “If the government ends up disallowing us to run, it will arouse bigger public awareness of Beijing’s suppression of Hong Kong and it may encourage more people to come out to support the independence force.
“If we are in the end allowed to run, we will get platforms like TV debates to promote our ideas. Either way, we are going to emerge a winner,” said a defiant Chan, who has submitted nomination forms to run in New Territories West constituency without signing the new declaration.
The party said it had written to the government to ask it to explain the legal basis for introducing the new form.
On the presence of a police officer at its press conference, the party confirmed they and the police had kept in contact.
“They approach us and make inquiries when they know we are planning public events. But we were a bit surprised to see an officer sit in on our press conference,” a party spokesman said.
