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Jess Ma

Jeffie Lam

Hong Kong’s main opposition party has managed to organise a low-key 30th anniversary dinner, albeit with a short interruption by police, after having to make several last-minute cancellations over the past two years.
The Democratic Party, one of the few remaining opposition parties, held the anniversary dinner at two separate venues on Saturday evening.
Other attempts to host celebrations in recent years all ended in last-minute cancellations from host venues.
But Saturday’s banquet also only went ahead after two restaurants cancelled their bookings.
Former Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said it was a pity to have encountered so many hurdles simply to hold a dinner with members.
“There are many restaurants actually hoping to take our order, but were forced to drop it for various reasons,” she said.
Lau said the party used to hold annual banquets on a much larger scale and the obstacles it now faced reflected the shrinking political space in the city.
The party began planning its 30th anniversary dinner last month, she said.
But an unknown person on Monday pretended to be a representative of the party and cancelled the booking at the restaurant, she said.
Lau added the restaurant later refused to serve as a venue by saying the party had not paid a deposit. But the former chairwoman said the party had never been asked to pay to secure the venue.
Then on Friday, a second restaurant called and said it was no longer available for the function the next day as two of its chefs were “fighting”.
The party eventually managed to hold a downsized banquet attended by dozens of people on Saturday evening after making a last-minute booking with a restaurant. The person making the booking did not specify to the venue that it was for the party.
The banquet was forced to be split into half and held in two different sites due to space constraints.
Attendees were also informed of the time and venue just two hours beforehand.
But halfway through the dinner at one of the restaurants, at around 8.30pm, several uniformed police officers arrived and said they had received a complaint.

The officers left without making any arrests.
Responding to a Post inquiry, a police spokesman said the force received a report from a man at the restaurant at 8.20pm, saying he had been pushed by another man.
“However, the person who reported the case had already left the site when officers arrived. Restaurant staff said they saw two men arguing, but they did not fight,” he said.
The complaint has been listed as a dispute, with the spokesman adding it was not connected with the opposition party dinner.
Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 as its response to the months-long social unrest the year before. Together with the “patriots-only” electoral overhaul, the city’s political landscape has been rewritten, with many opposition leaders currently behind bars.
Former Democratic Party chairman Yeung Sum said it insisted on maintaining its presence in Hong Kong to defend various rights and freedoms. He also reiterated the party’s support for the “one country, two systems” governing principle.
The party’s spring reception last year fell through despite organisers keeping the location secret until three hours before the event, as venue operator Wealth Banquet reported gas issues two hours before the reception was set to take place.
Its fundraising banquet two years ago met a similar fate when ClubONE The Victoria in Tsim Sha Tsui, the venue booked for the occasion, said it had to shut down for thorough cleansing given the Covid-19 clusters nearby just two days before the event.
But the restaurant operated as usual the day before and after the banquet was supposed to take place.
Saturday’s celebrations were still a far cry from the scale of those the 30-year-old political party used to host.
In 2018, then chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor donated HK$30,000 out of her own pocket to the party during its 23rd anniversary dinner in Kowloon Bay. The move was hailed as an olive branch from the government towards the opposition party after their relationship soured with former chief executive Leung Chun-ying.
The Kowloon Bay banquet had raised HK$5 million for the party, with former lawmaker Fred Li Wah-ming’s singing performance garnering HK$320,000 in donations from attendees.


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Politics

Police officers appear at opposition party’s 30th anniversary celebrations, but leave without making any arrests


Police officers appear at opposition party’s 30th anniversary celebrations, but leave without making any arrests.
