Hong Kong's leader joined mainland China Sunday in urging the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club to cancel a planned speech by a Hong Kong independence advocate whose party is threatened with a ban. "We respect the international media and respect the Foreign Correspondents' Club's activities in Hong Kong," said Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, expressing "regret" at the planned event.
"I hope our friends in the FCC will also respect that the Hong Kong SAR is an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China," she said, noting that its historic club building was government-owned. Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Special Administrative Region of China, enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland under a handover agreement signed by Britain and China.
But concern is growing that these freedoms including freedom of speech are being eroded by an increasingly assertive China. The FCC is due to host a talk by Andy Chan, convenor of the tiny pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, on August 14. Authorities formally applied last month to ban the party.
It was the first time such a ban has been sought since Britain handed over Hong Kong in 1997 and was the latest move to stifle calls for the city's independence, which have infuriated China even though they attract little support.
China's foreign ministry recently requested a meeting with the FCC and asked for the event with Chan to be cancelled, a source told AFP. In a statement issued Friday the ministry said: "We resolutely oppose any external forces providing a platform for 'Hong Kong independence' elements to spread fallacies."
The talk is part of a "club lunch" tradition which has seen an array of speakers, including Chinese officials, speak to members and the media. The club said it had no plans to scrap Chan's talk.