Lawmaker caught expressing fear of upsetting Beijing over possible delays to national anthem bill in Hong Kong

A pro-establishment lawmaker has suggested Beijing’s liaison office would be furious if a Legislative Council meeting on national anthem legislation were adjourned on Friday.

Martin Liao Cheung-kong was chairing a meeting of the National Anthem Bill committee, when he was heard making the remarks in a personal conversation with his deputy Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan during a break when the pair did not know their microphones were still on.

It came as Beijing’s representatives in Hong Kong flexed their muscles over another controversial piece of legislation, the extradition bill, which would allow the transfer of fugitives from Hong Kong to jurisdictions with which the city has no extradition deal, including mainland China.

A group of pro-Beijing legislators and politicians were expected to attend a meeting at the liaison office on Friday afternoon to discuss that bill.

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The incident happened on Friday morning when pro-democracy lawmaker Raymond Chan Chi-chuen was asking for the quorum at the bills committee. Chan said it was unreasonable for Liao to have called the nearly two-hour meeting on Friday morning, when two meetings on other issues were being held at the same time.

While lawmakers were waiting for more colleagues to show up, Cheung was heard telling Liao: “This national anthem [meeting] cannot go on, they [pan-democrats] are doing this, hoping the meeting would be adjourned.”

Liao replied: “It’s OK for this meeting to be adjourned so that people can learn a lesson, but they would definitely, Sai Wan would definitely be furious.”

The lawmaker was referring to the location of the liaison office’s headquarters in Hong Kong. In recent years, the liaison office has been criticised for meddling in the city’s internal affairs and lobbying legislators to support government proposals.

Chan said it was wrong for Liao to consider the liaison office’s views on how the legislature should work.

“As the chairman of a Legco committee, Liao should be concerned whether legislators have enough time to scrutinise a bill or a government proposal,” he said. “Whether Sai Wan would be furious is completely irrelevant.”

Liao said his conversation with Cheung was not serious, and the liaison office had never discussed anything concerning the bill with him.

Chan believes the pro-Beijing camp wants the National Anthem Bill to be approved in Legco as soon as possible, so they can move on to debate the extradition legislation.

But pro-establishment lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung said pan-democrats had called for the quorum in all three concurrent meetings in the morning.

“They did it strategically and maliciously … and it was senseless,” Kwok said. “Three meetings could have been adjourned this morning.”

Under the proposed National Anthem Bill, those who publicly and intentionally insult the anthem, March of the Volunteers, could be fined up to HK$50,000 and jailed for up to three years.

This article Lawmaker caught expressing fear of upsetting Beijing over possible delays to national anthem bill in Hong Kong first appeared on South China Morning Post

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