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Hong Kong national security law
Hong KongPolitics

Explainer | Hong Kong national security law: a 35-plus ambition, ‘colour revolution’ and the ‘resistance’ – what led to biggest mass arrests under legislation?

  • Some 50 suspects, including activists and former lawmakers, linked to primary election run-off by opposition camp last year
  • Unofficial polls proceeded despite warnings from authorities, and young candidates with more confrontational approach proved popular among voters

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Young opposition activists at last year’s primary for the camp. Photo: Sam Tsang
Zoe Low
The biggest mass arrests under the national security law in Hong Kong took place on Wednesday morning as more than 50 former opposition lawmakers and activists were rounded up for their part in a primary election run-off last July.
Among the arrested were the poll’s chief architect and Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting, former lawmakers James To Kun-sun, Lam Cheuk-ting, Andrew Wan Siu-kin, Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu and Wu Chi-wai, as well as a few others who helped organise the event. The poll, inspired by a so-called “mass destruction” idea, was “evil” and aimed to overthrow the government, the city’s security minister said after the arrests.

The Post looks at the controversial opposition primary and why it triggered Beijing’s ire.

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Mass arrests of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, activists under national security law

Mass arrests of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, activists under national security law

What was the opposition’s primary about?

A “35-plus” strategy was first drafted for the camp by Occupy co-founder and law academic Benny Tai in March last year, aiming to win a majority in the 70-seat Legislative Council elections. An unofficial democratic primary would help the opposition bloc consolidate power by preventing the fielding of too many candidates and diluting votes, he said.

With anti-government sentiments running high in the wake of the 2019 protests, the opposition camp estimated it could win enough seats in the geographical and trade-based constituencies during the scheduled September 2020 Legco elections to yield a majority of 35-plus slots, a “massive constitutional weapon” to veto the budget and disrupt government, Tai said at the time.

Last April, Tai wrote an article The ten steps to real ‘laam chau’ – the fate of Hong Kong in Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily, elaborating on the election strategy and proposing ways to paralyse the local government and ultimately trigger international sanctions against Beijing.

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