Benny Tai wanted to destroy Hong Kong democracy

On Monday, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and his compatriots will face trial for holding an illegal "primary election" from July 11 to 12 last year.

It is ironical that certain Western media outlets have labeled them as "democracy fighters". Actually, Tai's deed, if realized, would have done irreparable harm to democracy in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

First, the "primary election" held by Tai and his fellows was not one like that of Democrats or Republicans in the US; It was held for the whole so-called "pan-democracy camp", which is composed of over a dozen parties in Hong Kong. Each of them has their own interests.

By illegally holding the "primary election", Tai actually deprived some small parties of the chance to win a seat in the LegCo because the move might consolidate some candidates impression in voters. Even BBC called the "primary election" as a competition between traditional parties and those who prefer radical means.

In more direct words, by holding the "primary election", Tai was destroying Hong Kong democracy for his own political interests.

Second, to get over 35 of the 70 seats in the LegCo was only a first step in Tai and his peers' plot. They never hid their true intentions that once they got elected, they would veto every move of the local government and create constitutional crisis for the Hong Kong SAR.

Is this for democracy or abuse of it? Democracy means to let the majority of the people make decisions, not fall into chaos; Tai and his fellows were just "opposing for the sake of opposing" and their deeds would have only paralyzed the Hong Kong SAR government and hurt democracy.

They wanted to kidnap the whole political field of Hong Kong for their own selfish interests. They wanted to silence all opposing voices from within via the illegal "primary election", and from outside by taking more than half of the seat. Subversive is the best word to describe them.

Fortunately, Tai and his fellows failed in their plot and will face trial tomorrow. Justice will be done, and those dreaming of victimizing Hong Kong will only find themselves fail.

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