Opinion | Hong Kong localists have grabbed the spotlight – what next?
The big question now is whether proponents of independence believe in the strength of their dreams
There can’t be much doubt that the city’s sixth Legislative Council elections since the handover of sovereignty from Britain to China is the most controversial – so far at least, until the next big controversy comes.
Candidates who wished to run in the election, to be held next month, were asked to sign a new declaration form pledging support for three specific articles of the Basic Law on China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong.
And it is obvious that the new requirement is targeted against candidates who wish to promote independence for the city.
What was once considered to be a puerile joke is now given some degree of seriousness and debated on the air and in printed media
To sign or not to sign became the controversy of the month and several applications for judicial reviews were lodged, pending future hearings.
Sure as day follows day, in any free society, controversy sells. It sells like hot cakes.
The perennial truth is that the greater the controversy, the greater is the publicity generated for the very subject of the controversy itself.
And in this case, the form has paradoxically given proponents of independence free publicity, piggy- backing the election.
