Legco President Urges Calm Amid Growing Tensions

The president of the Legislative Council, Andrew Leung, called for calm on Monday, as the pro-democracy camp prepared for an afternoon meeting of an extradition law committee meeting that their rivals insisted had been cancelled.

The Democratic Party's James To declared that he was still presiding over the bills committee, despite pro-government lawmaker Abraham Shek saying that he had taken up that mantle.

Leung backed Shek's claim, noting that the legislator had announced that the meeting originally scheduled for Monday would now be held on Saturday instead.

Leung urged legislators not to "act on impulse" and to hold discussions to resolve the dispute.

He added that the secretariat – which moved to install Shek as the presiding lawmaker following a House Committee vote on Saturday – had acted in a neutral manner and in accordance with the rules.

But To told the media that the secretariat had no right to try to cancel Monday's meeting, which he said would still be going ahead.

"The secretariat has no legal power without my instruction to remove the schedule. They are committing a civil wrong, against the rules and against the law," To said.

The pro-establishment camp moved to oust To after the first two bills committee meetings he presided over failed to elect a chairman due to filibustering by the pan-dems.

The pro-democracy camp has vowed to do whatever it can to stop the passage of the government's planned changes to extradition laws, warning the legislation would put Hongkongers at risk of being handed over to the mainland authorities for political reasons.

The government says the move is to plug a loophole in the city's legislation and to prevent the SAR from becoming a refuge for overseas criminals.