The revelation that former Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming was the target of a failed assassination plot during the Legislative Council election campaign last year will surely cause bewilderment and unease in society.
With his political career nearing its end and his influence waning following his retirement from elective politics last year, it sounds inconceivable he was the target of a plot that involved an alleged mainland hit man and a local accomplice.
During his long career in politics, Mr Lee may have infuriated certain people in the Communist Party, pro-Beijing circles and society at large. As one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he was branded a traitor, troublemaker and the like. Those moments of tension have long gone.
Mr Lee was widely seen by the international community as a crusader for democracy and a symbol of political dissent in Hong Kong - and it would have been counterproductive for anyone to try to silence him forever.
Unlike in some places in the region and the world, Hong Kong politics has been immune from intimidation, bullying and violence.
With memories of the violent clashes between protesters and the colonial government during the 1967 riots still casting a shadow, society has expressed its clear disapproval and disdain for radical political acts, however noble the intentions.
Although our political parties may hold widely differing views on many issues, there is a strong consensus that freedom of expression must not be undermined by intimidation or violence. Also, unlike in some places, political parties in Hong Kong have no close connections with powerful bodies with vested interests, nor with groups of a dubious nature.
