Chanting ‘Hongkongers, add oil’ or calling government ‘tyrannical’ could be seditious, court hears
- Lingnan University Professor Lau Chi-pang testifies for prosecution in trial of former radio presenter Tam Tak-chi
- Tam is facing 14 charges, including eight related to uttering seditious words, tied to various public statements made between January and July last year
Chanting certain words of support for Hong Kong residents or calling the government “tyrannical” could be seditious, a pro-government historian has argued in the first trial under the city’s colonial-era sedition law since 1997.
Lingnan University Professor Lau Chi-pang on Monday told the District Court that “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times” or “Hongkongers, add oil” were capable of inciting others to break the law depending on the circumstances of their use. The latter phrase is a Cantonese expression of encouragement.
Lau, a council member of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, was giving expert testimony in the trial of former radio presenter Tam Tak-chi, who is facing 14 charges, including eight related to uttering seditious words.
The 48-year-old People Power vice-chairman, popularly known as “Fast Beat”, is the first person to stand trial on sedition charges under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance since Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule 24 years ago.
Tam was alleged to have chanted an array of seditious slogans, including “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times”, the signature rallying call of the anti-government protests two years ago, on various occasions between January and July last year.
The popular phrase was first coined by jailed activist Edward Leung Tin-kei during his Legislative Council campaign in 2016, when he advocated the city’s independence, the court was told.