A political party in Hong Kong may soon make history by being banned
China sees its calls for independence as a threat
SIPPING tea in the corner of a chic café in Kowloon, a commercial district of Hong Kong, Andy Chan seems like just another yuppie on his lunch break. With a disarming smile, he chats about his day job as an interior designer. Before long, however, the 28-year-old warns that plain-clothes police officers may be listening in. That is because Mr Chan (pictured) doubles as leader of the Hong Kong National Party, a group that advocates the territory’s formal separation from China. In July the government, almost certainly at the urging of higher-ups in Beijing, launched proceedings to ban the party. It would be the first political group to be outlawed in Hong Kong since China took control of the territory in 1997.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “A slippery slope”
From the September 15th 2018 edition
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