‘Hong Kongers are no longer absolutely safe’ says pro-democracy lawmaker
蘋果日報 2020/06/07 12:58
Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam
A Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker who claimed he was being followed by two men said the city’s people were “no longer absolutely safe”, amidst growing fears over a looming national security law.
Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam said he was followed by two men for a period of time after leaving the Legislative Council in Admiralty at 7 p.m on Friday.
In a press conference on Saturday, Tam said the two men had “harbored ill intentions” and had taken photos of him secretly.
In a two minute video uploaded to his Facebook page, the video shows one of the two men speaking in Cantonese with a mainland Chinese accent and denies following Tam or that he knows him.
When Tam confronts one of the men for taking photos of him, he is seen deleting photos taken at the scene from his phone.
Tam repeatedly asks the man about his identity and the man denies that he is a police officer.
When Tam makes a phone call to the police, the man makes a run for it and the video ends with Tam chasing after him.
The lawmaker said the men had probably followed him to document his whereabouts and collect information. He also said the incident might be related to the pending national security law and the upcoming Legislative Council elections in September, adding that he would not rule out any possibilities.
The city’s senior officials have emphasised that the proposed national security law, which will ban secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in Hong Kong, would protect the people of Hong Kong and that Western democracies had enacted similar security laws.
However, Tam hit back with criticisms saying that the law did not make people feel safe.
“Not one Hong Konger would say they are absolutely safe,” Tam said, adding that he worries he would be kidnapped or that something bad would happen to him in the future.
In 2017, the Financial Times reported that mainland-born billionaire Xiao Jianhua was abducted by mainland Chinese public security agents from a Hong Kong hotel — mainland Chinese law enforcement units and agents are forbidden to operate in the city under Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
Tam added that he first felt he was being followed since last week when the meetings were held at the Legislative Council over whether to pass a controversial bill that makes insulting China’s national anthem a criminal offence. He however decided to shrug it off as he thought they were plainclothes police.
Fellow Civic Party member and lawmaker Alvin Yeung said there was already an atmosphere of fear growing even though the national security law had yet to be implemented. He worried that in the near future, not only politicians and activists, but also members of the general public could face similar situations.
Separately, lawmaker Raymond Chan and district councillor Tiffany Yuen also posted on Facebook that they had similar experiences of being followed.
Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam said he was followed by two men for a period of time after leaving the Legislative Council in Admiralty at 7 p.m on Friday.
In a press conference on Saturday, Tam said the two men had “harbored ill intentions” and had taken photos of him secretly.
In a two minute video uploaded to his Facebook page, the video shows one of the two men speaking in Cantonese with a mainland Chinese accent and denies following Tam or that he knows him.
When Tam confronts one of the men for taking photos of him, he is seen deleting photos taken at the scene from his phone.
Tam repeatedly asks the man about his identity and the man denies that he is a police officer.
When Tam makes a phone call to the police, the man makes a run for it and the video ends with Tam chasing after him.
The lawmaker said the men had probably followed him to document his whereabouts and collect information. He also said the incident might be related to the pending national security law and the upcoming Legislative Council elections in September, adding that he would not rule out any possibilities.
The city’s senior officials have emphasised that the proposed national security law, which will ban secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in Hong Kong, would protect the people of Hong Kong and that Western democracies had enacted similar security laws.
However, Tam hit back with criticisms saying that the law did not make people feel safe.
“Not one Hong Konger would say they are absolutely safe,” Tam said, adding that he worries he would be kidnapped or that something bad would happen to him in the future.
In 2017, the Financial Times reported that mainland-born billionaire Xiao Jianhua was abducted by mainland Chinese public security agents from a Hong Kong hotel — mainland Chinese law enforcement units and agents are forbidden to operate in the city under Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
Tam added that he first felt he was being followed since last week when the meetings were held at the Legislative Council over whether to pass a controversial bill that makes insulting China’s national anthem a criminal offence. He however decided to shrug it off as he thought they were plainclothes police.
Fellow Civic Party member and lawmaker Alvin Yeung said there was already an atmosphere of fear growing even though the national security law had yet to be implemented. He worried that in the near future, not only politicians and activists, but also members of the general public could face similar situations.
Separately, lawmaker Raymond Chan and district councillor Tiffany Yuen also posted on Facebook that they had similar experiences of being followed.
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