Christians Flay Govt For 'attacks' On Benny Tai

Five Christians held a protest on Thursday outside the Chief Executive's Office, accusing the authorities of using Cultural Revolution-style methods to persecute Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai.

The five, who said they represented 25 religious groups, handed over a petition signed by more than 1,500 people demanding the government respect academic freedom and freedom of speech.

Tai, a founder of the 2014 Occupy protests, has come in for unprecedented criticism by Beijing and SAR officials after making the hypothetical suggestion at a forum in Taiwan that Hong Kong could consider independence if China ever becomes a democracy.

One of the five protesters, Reverend Lau Chi-hung from the Hong Kong Christian Fellowship of City Concern, said the government should be protecting Tai, rather than attacking him.

"Christianity is a path of the Hong Kong people. Actually, sometimes we are quite conservative. But here, we feel the government is very unreasonable. It is just like the Cultural Revolution," Lau said.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who often speaks of her Christian beliefs, has said she was personally behind a recent SAR statement condemning Tai for his remarks at the forum.