Au Nok-hin Protest Interrupts Legco Panel Meeting

A Legco bills committee meeting to discuss the government's plan for a mainland port area at the high-speed rail link terminus at West Kowloon was briefly interrupted on Tuesday when newly elected councillor Au Nok-hin rushed towards officials and was wrestled down by security guards.

The dramatic scenes came after committee chairwoman Regina Ip overruled pan-democratic lawmakers' requests for a point of order, insisting that enough time had been spent on the bill's general principles and it was time to start scrutinising the clauses.

This upset pro-democracy lawmakers and Au rushed towards officials, dodging some security staff. But others tackled him to the ground. After order was restored, Au returned to his seat.

Ip blasted opposition lawmakers for their behaviour. "We have by now held seven meetings and spent 14 hours to allow members to raise questions relating to the principles and general issues relating to this bill. And we also held a nine-hour public hearing," she said.

"As the questions have become repetitive, it's about time we move into clause by clause scrutiny and it is unfortunate that when I have called upon officials to make their statements, certain members continued to scream from their seats, disrupting the proceedings," Ip said.