Beijing will use law and public opinion to handle Hong Kong independence issue, not guns, insists prominent lawyer
Basic Law Committee member Maria Tam says reported comments by Zhang Rongshun on the use of force were mixed up and that he was not advocating such tactics
Beijing will use only law and public opinion but not force to handle the pro-independence drive in Hong Kong, says Basic Law Committee member Maria Tam Wai-chu.
The development came a day after Basic Law Committee vice-chairman Zhang Rongshun was quoted by pro-Beijing barrister Lawrence Ma Yan-kwok as saying that the Chinese government would be able to handle the issue with “guns and cannons” if activists gathered enough strength to make Hong Kong an independent state.
Pan-democrats said Zhang’s reported remarks had swept away the relatively relaxed atmosphere deliberately created by National People’s Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang during his visit to the city last week.
In a bid to cool the outcry, Tam, who attended the same closed-door meeting with Zhang Rongshun in Beijing alongside Ma, tried to clarify the legal expert’s stance.
She said Zhang’s remarks were mixed up and emphasised that his conclusion was that only law and public opinion would be used to handle the independence issue.
