Let's Wait And See How New Law Works: Ho Lok-sang

Academic Ho Lok-sang has bemoaned divisions in Hong Kong society, saying everyone wants to see the city thrive.

But speaking on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong, Ho, a senior research fellow in the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute at Lingnan University, took issue with what he described as "the revolutionary camp".

He said this camp's strategy was proposed by Occupy founder Benny Tai, "who has a plan to force the revolution upon Beijing".

He said under the plan, pan-democrats aimed to win more than half the seats in the coming Legislative Council elections, and then they would vote against the budget and block funding requests, "forcing the government to shut down".

"The government will be expected to dismiss the Legco and call another election. The revolutionary camp will again win more than half of the Legco seats, forcing the Chief Executive to resign," he said.

He said Tai expected Beijing to intervene to "establish a provisional Legco, appoint a new Chief Executive, and arrest political leaders in the pan-democrat camp".

"This will then provoke major social unrest and strikes, paralysing the economy. That will force a 'bloody crackdown' which will in turn lead to extreme sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party from various nations. Professor Tai looks forward to this scenario," Ho said.

Ho said he found this strategy "most disturbing", and could not accept people promoting strategies that point to social unrest.

Ho acknowledged people were wary about the new national security law (NSL) - but called for a wait and see approach.

"Agitating over it will not help," Ho, said, saying the SAR had already experienced the Occupy movement and the Fugitive Amendment Bill.

"The NSL is a result of that agitation. My reading is that as long as we stick to the Basic Law, Hong Kong will be fine," Ho said. "After all, China gains nothing if Hong Kong doesn’t thrive."