There was a lot of reporting on the speech of Andy Chan, founder of the Hong Kong National Party which will no doubt be one the way out of favor. But, the Hong Kong Free Press puts a different slant on the story actually quoting some of the protestors who showed up at the door of the Press Club. The HKFP says there were almost 200, but most reports gave the number around 50.
The Free Press quoted a group called the Voice of Loving Hong Kong as saying independence advocates should move. The logic of that fails to inspire anyone. Another group leader was quoted as saying the government should invoke Article 23 which is a national security law says: Article 23 of the Basic Law provides that Hong Kong “shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition [or] subversion against the [central government], or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organisations or bodies from conducting political activities in [Hong Kong], and to prohibit political organisations or bodies of [Hong Kong] from establishing ties with foreign political organisations or bodies”. Hong Kong never passed their own Article 23 legislation and when they tried in 2003, there were revolts in the streets.
The Chinese are too thin-skinned to allow one person to speak on the subject of independence of Hong Kong. Unless they believe this message is going to cause a revolution in Hong Kong, they have no reason to make a mountain out of this mole hill. Maybe one person can make a difference.
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