'Communist Party Steadily Infiltrating Hong Kong'

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Wing-tat claims that the Chinese Communist Party has been placing its members in Hong Kong – up to 40 people a day among the almost 150 mainlanders who settle in the SAR on one-way permits – and infiltrating various organisations in the city.

Local newspaper Apple Daily reported on Monday that Lee's upcoming memoir quotes a "powerful and reliable source" as saying at least 250,000 party members are already in Hong Kong on "political missions".

The report said that the source told Lee that the party members are carefully distributed among Hong Kong's 18 districts, and have infiltrated all sorts of organisations such as pro-government political parties, business associations, district groups, parent-teacher associations and even building owners’ corporations.

It added that their roles are particularly important in times of major elections.

Asked to comment on the report, the Security Bureau reiterated that the one-way permit scheme is to allow mainland residents to come to Hong Kong for family reunions.

It said the applications, approvals and issuance of such permits fall within the remit of the mainland authorities, who have set out “objective and transparent” criteria to assess the eligibility of applicants.

Lee's Chinese-language book titled "Thoughts before Sentencing" is due for release soon.

The former lawmaker is among nine pro-democracy political figures who will hear their fate in court on April 5 for their participation in the 2014 Occupy movement. If convicted, Lee, 63, faces a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.