Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday said that the government could intervene if necessary in the Hong Kong Bar Association, whose chairman has been labeled an “anti-China politician” by Beijing’s top representative office in the territory.
Paul Harris, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, has been repeatedly targeted by pro-Beijing forces, with the latest remarks coming from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Sunday, criticizing him for speaking out against jail terms handed down to several democracy advocates this month.
Speaking at her weekly press briefing, Lam said that while Hong Kong respects freedom of expression, there are limits.
“But, of course, if there are instances or complaints about the bar not acting in accordance with the Hong Kong law, then of course the government would be called into action,” Lam said.
Harris had challenged the prison terms given to tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英) and others for taking part in an unauthorized assembly during anti-government demonstrations in 2019, and also defended the right to peaceful protests.
The liaison office accused him of being “an anti-Chinese politician with intimate foreign connections,” and questioned how he could safeguard the rule of law in Hong Kong, as well as whether he should remain on as chairman.
Asked if an annual vigil to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre would contravene the National Security Law imposed on the territory in June last year, Lam said only that respecting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was important.
“This year is the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the CCP. Everybody sees under the leadership of CCP, the taking-off of our country’s economy and the happy lives led by the people in these decades,” Lam said. “So, respecting our country’s governing party is our stance.”
On Monday, the Civil Human Rights Front, organizer of an annual rally in Hong Kong on July 1, the date on which the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997, said that police had asked it to provide details of its finances and explain other activities, sparking concern that the protest might not go ahead this year.
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