Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday had some few words to say to university students and management. She urged them to speak up against those advocating Hong Kong independence on campuses.
According to the South China Morning Post, the chief executive condemns youngsters who are fond of using school events as an avenue for promoting "absurd" separatist ideas. "In recent years, there has been an unhealthy trend in saying that Hong Kong can be independent, Hong Kong can determine its own future, Hong Kong can be separated from China - I feel heartbroken by such statements," the metro's leader said.
She also went to single out students who are using their so-called "status as members of student unions' executive councils," including the occasion of the first day of school to spread what she deemed as untrue statements.
In her statement, Lam encouraged university authorities and students to speak up whenever they see anything that is unusual or not right. This is most especially if there any actions that are not legal. "Do not think that the issue will just go away," she exclaimed.
Lam spoke in the morning, particularly before an event held at the Baptist University. The said event was meant to welcome more than 2,000 new local and international undergraduates to its Kowloon Tong campus.
The student union's acting president Ken Lui Lok-her, on the other hand, did not mention independence. He instead provided a fiery six-minute speech in which he criticized the Hong Kong government for telling students they could not voice out "anti-Chinese government" views.
He even compared such idea with Taiwan's White Terror massacre of anti-government protesters in 1947 under nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek. From there, he urged his fellow students to "challenge the authorities," Yahoo! News reports.
"I think the first step [to safeguard Hong Kong's future] is to get a clear understanding of our identity - we are Hongkongers," he said.
He later told reporters that Lam's comments were nothing but "quite ridiculous." He firmly believes that any discussion of the city's independence and, more importantly, politics still constituted free speech.
Last week at Education University's ceremony to mark the start of the new academic year, the president of the student union's provisional executive council, Cheung Yam, also made a statement. He reiterated that independence should be seen as the only means to build a place that is truly based on the interests of every citizen of Hong Kong.
