MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I would first of all like to respond to the remarks made by several Members yesterday and today. What I wish to say is, that several Members said the pro-establishment camp had not fulfilled its responsibility of reflecting public opinion to the Central Authorities. But the fact is there were two occasions in Shanghai and Shenzhen where pan-democrat Members could express directly the public opinion of Hong Kong and their views to important officials of the Central Authorities. Of course, unfortunately every time an individual Member made it a point to come up with some excuses to make himself unable to visit the Mainland and express his views. He was right. He really did not express his views, but most pan-democrats have already expressed theirs.
Secondly, some Members compared the situation of healthcare workers dealing with SARS to that of the Police dealing with a charging crowd. But I would like to point out that SARS patients would not swear at the healthcare workers and charge at them. More importantly, the natural duty of healthcare workers is to save and help those in distress. They carried out their vocation in fighting SARS and should feel a great sense of achievement. For the Police, their vocation is to maintain law and order, and to drive out the violent elements and protect the people. Yet right now there are many “road hooligans” and barricades that obstruct the Police. Since there are simply just too many people breaking the law, the Police cannot effect enforcement. They always besiege the Police, police stations and the Central Government Offices. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for us to fathom the dejection and agony felt by police officers who want to maintain law and order. And so I really hope Members will not underrate the distress and difficulty suffered by police officers and their families.
Recently many video clips have allowed us to view the deployment of tear gas from different angles. I witnessed at that time the spot where the first tear gas canister was fired … Please keep quiet, will you? Sorry, I am speaking. You have disturbed my train of thought and now I cannot think … I am not talking about you. I am talking about … I would like him to be silent. Thank you. I hope Members will all understand the situation at that moment: I saw that at the location where the first tear gas canister was fired many people were charging at the Police who apparently could not hold their ground. The commander who was interviewed by South China Morning Post put it very clearly. He said, to this effect, “If I let them breach the cordon, a stampede will definitely happen.” What is more important is a statement that he made. He said, “Today if I were to make a similar decision again, or I ran into the same situation, I would still make the same one.” Therefore I hope people those who were not there do not jump to any conclusion. Of course, the subsequent deployment of tear gas made more people to come out. I believe the Police really need review whether that policy was right.
In the last 10 days or so, we have been glad to see the Police gradually removing barricades which obstructed traffic in a most tolerant manner. They did so with great pleasure and people praised them. I think those police officers must be feeling they were really doing something. But sadly the Ken TSANG incident happened. This individual incident has given people a handle to vehemently smear the entire Police Force. I find this utterly unfair.
As the Vice-Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), I often have the chance to meet front-line police officers. Many of them asked me how could they be assured of fair and impartial handling given that there are so many pan-democrat Members and representatives in the IPCC? I often tell them that every IPCC member will look at the complaint in different groups and then submit the case for the members’ decision. As I see it, members of the IPCC all handle these incidents in a fair and impartial manner. However, in fact I hope past, future and current IPCC members can refrain by all means from making public criticisms or comments telling how the IPCC should take forward its work. For those who have views to voice, I believe we welcome all members to discuss them with the Chairman and other members at internal meetings, because many views are not well-developed and a lot of matters require deliberation. The last thing I would wish to see is so-and-so making criticisms outside the IPCC continually. This in essence destroys the impartial image of the IPCC that many people have made enormous efforts to build over many years. We surely will not be biased in favour of the Police, but we cannot be biased in favour of the complainants either. Otherwise our image will be seriously damaged should any side feel that we are not fair.
Some people said the protesters are fighting for universal suffrage for Hong Kong and this is for our future so we should bear with the short-term inconveniences and economic loss. Some others said that with universal suffrage we will have good days and whatever problems will be resolved. I ask them to look at countries in Europe, America and Southeast Asia, including India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. These places all have universal suffrage but please do not fool yourselves. We can see that they have more problems than Hong Kong where there is no universal suffrage yet. They also face problems like corruption, red tape, a wide gap between the rich and the poor and youth having no future. This is why we should not let young people harbour the illusion that universal suffrage is going to solve all of Hong Kong’s problems thoroughly.
Young people are our new generation. This is a good opportunity to make them understand that they have to consider questions more in their handling of things, that they cannot force their way upon others by sheer greater numbers. Many people in Hong Kong want universal suffrage immediately. But I believe this definitely requires the agreement of the Central Authorities as Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China after all. Policies on Hong Kong will certainly affect the policies on 1.3 billion people so the Central Authorities will be concerned. It is actually quite normal for the Central Authorities to want to carry out this task in a gradual and orderly manner. And I also believe we must build mutual trust through communication to gain any possibility of achieving universal suffrage. The road to universal suffrage has always been a long one, and it will never be achieved just by one or two incidents, especially illegal ones. Using self-destructive means like dashing into roads or charging at cordons to achieve universal suffrage will not only fail but also be doomed to backfire. This will only cause the Central Authorities to have greater worries and concerns and keep a firmer grip on Hong Kong, making the road to universal suffrage even more difficult. If large-scale unrest develops in Hong Kong, it will make those who do not support this way of handling things lose their stable life.
Regarding the question of how to take the way forward, I think we should separate the peaceful protesters from those who advocate charging at cordons so that the former will not become the protective umbrella of those troublemakers and the Police can enforce the law. First, I hope those authorities in the legal sector, including the two lawyer associations, the Secretary for Justice and lawyers in this Council, can explain clearly to those protesters who are now occupying roads the offences they have committed and the criminal liability attached, in order to make them understand that their behaviour right now is unlawful and they should leave as soon as possible to allow the Police to enforce the law and restore order. I would like to make an appeal here: I hope the protesters can move to some lawful places as soon as possible and cease breaking the law. When they see charges happening, they should not participate nor look on so as not to become the protective umbrella of thugs.
Secondly, parents, I hope you can help explain the complexity of the incident to your children. Some said in the past they were afraid of their children joining the triads; now they are afraid of them being brainwashed by political parties, taking part in illegal activities, being marked by a criminal record and a bleak future. I hope you do your duties as parents. Also, I hope teachers and school principals will also teach students to make observations from different perspectives and dissuade them from being biased towards one side. He is not the only person in this world and his views are not the only views. To get things done we must make deliberations from different angles, including long-term and short-term ones. In no case must students be indoctrinated with law-breaking ideas because the rule of law is the foundation of democracy. When we lose the rule of law, any talks about democracy are no more than lies.
Moreover, I would like to express my highest respect to the police officers, who recently have been on duty for more than 10 hours a day, day in and day out, not being able to go home for days, and their families. I have to tell them: you have suffered a lot and Hong Kong is lucky to still have you.
Lastly, I believe the Police will conduct a thorough investigation into the Ken TSANG incident. I also believe the Court will make appropriate rulings. But I hereby hope all “netizens” can show mercy. All citizens, do not launch irrational attacks on the families of these seven police officers and do not start a “witch-hunt” on them. The police officers have already caused enormous harm to their families for their act or for this incident. I hope the people of Hong Kong will realize that we are indeed a family. We should not attack and harm one another, be it in real life or on the Internet. I hope you can all respect every single individual. We are one family. Thank you.