Ban makes clear Hong Kong has no place for separatists: China Daily editorial

The outlawing of the "Hong Kong National Party" has sent a strong signal across the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that separatist activities will not be tolerated. The ban of the party that advocated "Hong Kong independence" also sends a clear message that the central and SAR governments will defend at all costs the country's territorial integrity and the principle of "one country, two systems" - the red line President Xi Jinping emphasized in Hong Kong last year.

The decision taken under Section 8(2) of the Societies Ordinance on Monday is an important and timely move given the intensifying activities of some pro-separatist foreign forces, including some Western media outlets.

The decision, first of all, is a castigation of the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong, for inviting the now banned group's convener Andy Chan Ho-tin to a live-stream luncheon talk on Aug 14 despite the strong protests from the Hong Kong chief executive, the commissioner of the ministry of foreign affairs in the SAR and society at large.

Chan's FCC talk was part of a much larger anti-China chorus. More recently, The Economist invited former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten and "self-determinists" Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow to its Open Future Festival in Hong Kong on Sep 15 to "comment" on Hong Kong's future. Two days later, disqualified legislator Yau Wai-ching cooked up facts for an article, "Democracy's demise in Hong Kong", which appeared in The New York Times.

The media are but the foot soldiers. Behind them, or working in tandem, are various foreign governments and their agencies, which present reports on the political and economic situation in Hong Kong in a way they want the rest of the world to believe.

These reports have one thing in common - they pretend to be worried about how well the "one country, two systems" principle and the rule of law are being implemented in Hong Kong. In reality, their false accusations and biased news reports combine to undermine the very principles they claim to protect. Their defense of people like Andy Chan, for instance, under the pretext of freedom of speech, is providing Hong Kong separatists moral support and publicity platforms.

Those who truly support Hong Kong and the "one country, two systems" principle are definitely not those who merely pay lip service to the well-being of Hong Kong. So, to protect the core interests of Hong Kong and the country in the current volatile geopolitical situation, legislation of a national security law according to Article 23 of the Basic Law is the way to go.