The police provided additional information on Tuesday to the Secretary for Security in support of their earlier recommendation to ban the Hong Kong National Party (HKNP).
The Security Bureau issued a statement on Wednesday saying that it had notified HKNP’s convener Andy Chan, and had provided him with a copy of the new information.
HKNP is facing a government ban after authorities deemed it a threat to national security. Chan has until September 11 to make his case to the government, but has not yet publicly announced if he will do so.
The 56-page letter – sent by Assistant Police Commissioner Rebecca Lam – included a transcript of Chan’s speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club on August 14, as well as screenshots of HKNP’s letter to US President Donald Trump.
HKNP asked Trump to revoke the special treatment granted to Hong Kong under existing trade agreements, a move which Lam called “particularly alarming.”
“At the Luncheon, [Chan] as the Convenor of HKNP spoke to an international audience and openly called for foreign sanctions against both China and Hong Kong,” Lam wrote.
“Through taking part in and speaking at the Luncheon, HKNP has taken a positive step to heighten its profile in furthering its unlawful advocacy of Hong Kong independence,” she added.
Chan also said at the FCC talk that HKNP never advocated violence, but Lam wrote that it was “not a truthful statement.”
‘Definitely a relationship’
The letter came one day after Vice-Premier of the State Council Han Zheng reportedly said that the Hong Kong government should handle HKNP in accordance with the law.
Secretary for Security John Lee told reporters that, during his meeting with Han in Beijing, he did not actively mention the case but the state leader broached the topic.
“When the vice-premier spoke about Hong Kong independence, he mentioned the handling of the Hong Kong National Party case – we have to handle it in accordance with the law,” Lee said.
Chan told Stand News on Wednesday that he believed that HKNP would be banned, regardless of the new letter.
“It’s just a difference between 700 pages of information and 701 pages,” he said, referring to the dossier that the police compiled on HKNP in July in support of the potential ban.
He added that he thought the Beijing meeting between Han and Lee was a factor: “I think there is definitely a relationship, [the police] felt pressured and they needed to do something.”
The July dossier on HKNP mostly contained Chan’s public comments and social media posts. While Chan kept a low profile immediately after the ban was proposed, he has spoken to local and international media outlets this month.
On August 14, Chan gave a widely publicised speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club advocating independence as the only viable path to democracy in Hong Kong.
