Illegal activity 鈥榳ill not be tolerated鈥 in HK
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HONG Kong’s leader warned yesterday that illegal activity will not be tolerated, a day after police arrested 10 people and seized explosives ahead of a crucial vote on an electoral reform package this week.
Security has been stepped up across the city, including at government buildings and train stations, as it braces for a fresh showdown over plans for how its next leader is elected in 2017.
The reform bill lays out a proposal for the public to choose its leader for the first time in 2017.
However, it sticks to a ruling from the National People’s Congress that stipulates candidates must be selected by an election committee.
The city’s authorities are taking no chances after mass protests crippled parts of the city late last year.
“Hong Kong society should not tolerate any illegal activities,” Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said in a televised briefing ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting.
“Whether these are violent or non-violent, we should not allow any illegal activities,” he said.
The government’s constitutional development plan is the most possible opportunity for 5 million Hong Kong voters to have a universal suffrage, he said, adding he hopes legislators support the plan in this week’s Legislative Council vote.
The city’s legislature is scheduled today to begin a debate on the electoral reform package in the Legislative Council, with a vote due by the end of the week.
Protesters are staging evening rallies throughout the week.
“We hope it can pass smoothly,” foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing.
“This is beneficial for Hong Kong’s long-term development,” he said.
Song Ru’an, a foreign ministry official in Hong Kong, said, “If the pan-democrats stubbornly insist on vetoing the proposal, democracy in Hong Kong will come to a standstill.”
Five men and one woman were charged with “conspiracy to cause explosion” yesterday.
The six will appear before Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Court today. The remaining one male and three female were released on bail pending further investigations and are required to report back to the police in mid-July.
The police said the investigation is still ongoing. The likelihood of further arrests is not excluded.
In the light of this case and risk assessment, the police yesterday launched an operation code-named “Jointbuilder.” Apart from stepping up patrol in various districts, officers will visit companies selling chemicals or chemical products to conduct investigation and take enforcement action to combat such crime if necessary.
Ten people were arrested for conspiracy to manufacture explosives, police said on Monday.
Some of those arrested belong to a little-known group called the National Independent Party, Hong Kong media reported yesterday. According to its Facebook page, the group was set up in January.
A June 1 post purportedly from the group warned that, if the reform package was passed, “Hong Kong people should be mentally prepared there will be casualties.”
Police also seized chemicals at an abandoned television studio in the eastern district of Sai Kung on Monday, some of which were detonated at the scene.
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