Beijing Praises HK Police For Mass Round-up

Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong on Wednesday expressed its "unswerving support" for the police after the arrests of 53 pro-democracy figures for alleged national security offences, saying everyone can now see the "evil motives" of those held.

A senior national security police officer had said six people, including former University of Hong Kong legal scholar Benny Tai, allegedly committed subversion by organising primary elections for the eventually scrapped Legco polls, and that the rest of those arrested were "so-called candidates" in the primaries.

The officer claimed the group had an illegal plan to get elected to Legco and then repeatedly vote down budgets in order to force the chief executive to resign.

A spokesman said the liaison office supports the force's decision to make a distinction between those who strategically planned to bring the government to a standstill and "the average people who had been misled into voting in the so-called primaries".

The spokesman said this would allow the public to see clearly the "evil motives" of those arrested and how they had "harmed society", and so people would "take the initiative to make sure One Country, Two Systems continues on the right track".

He also said the national security law has brought Hong Kong back from chaos, to order once again.

The Foreign Ministry also expressed support for the police.

A spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said in a press briefing in Beijing that the arrests would not undermine Hong Kong people's rights and freedoms.

Only individuals who collude with foreign forces to try and destroy China's stability, safety and freedom would be affected by the national security law, Hua said.

Meanwhile, a deputy head of Beijing's top think tank on Hong Kong, Lau Siu-kai, said those arrested had already been warned.

"The central government and the Hong Kong government did warn these people in July last year that their actions might violate the Hong Kong national security law, but the warning was defied and ignored," Lau said.

"What the government is doing now is to strictly enforce the national security law, uphold the authority of the law and promotes its deterrent effect. As the preponderant priority is to safeguard national security, other concerns are of secondary importance," he added.

"The purpose of the action of the government, apparently, is to clarify and concretise the meaning of the national security law. Opposition politicians can now operate only within the framework of the Chinese Constitution, the Hong Kong Basic Law and the national security law."