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Pro-Beijing heavyweight hits back after Hong Kong media group claims son is Australian citizen who runs immigration business with his wife in Perth
- Tam Yiu-chung accuses Next Digital of ‘causing nuisance’ after it says couple’s company helps mainland Chinese move down under
- City’s sole delegate to China’s top legislative body mocked for not raising ‘a patriot’
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Hong Kong’s sole delegate to China’s top legislative body has hit back at a local media organisation for “causing nuisance” to his family, after it claimed his son and daughter-in-law were Australian citizens and ran a business helping Chinese people to emigrate.
Refusing to confirm or deny the news report by Next Magazine and Apple Daily, both of which are owned by media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, pro-Beijing heavyweight Tam Yiu-chung said in a statement on Friday he respected the couple’s career choices.
Tam, a delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, said his support was the same as the backing he had received “from my family over the years over my choice to work in politics in serving the country and Hong Kong sincerely”.
The story about Tam’s son came against the backdrop of the escalating tension between China and the West in the wake of Beijing’s imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong, which some have said eroded the city’s rights and freedoms.
Tam was among the six Chinese officials sanctioned by the United States this month.
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The reports, run by Next Magazine and Apple Daily on Thursday and Friday, said Tam’s eldest son Tam Kin-wang, 47, and his wife, Sharon Leong Chong-peng, had both emigrated to Australia in recent years.
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