Lam roundly condemns students' separatist campaign

CE warns that slogans promoting "independence for HK" run against law and city's interests

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Friday condemned the "Hong Kong independence" slogans which were displayed in the city's universities, saying such remarks had "overstepped the bottom line of society" and were in violation of the country's sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests.

Lam said freedom of speech had its limits and academic independence should not be used as an excuse for advocating fallacies.

She urged the university administrations to take timely and appropriate action to handle the incidents and appealed to society to join forces to "rectify such abuse of freedom of speech", safeguarding the city's core values and defending moral standards.

Lam made the remarks one day after a group of Chinese University of Hong Kong students and alumni voiced strong objections to the university student union's separatist advocacy on campus on Thursday.

Slogans that advocated "Hong Kong independence" were spotted in various locations inside the CUHK campus after a new semester started, and were soon removed by school authorities.