Emily Lau's office vandalized
Listen to the original broadcast in Cantonese
China's official media have sharply criticized pro-democracy Hong Konglegislator Emily Lau for sayingTaiwan's status should be decided by residents of theself-governing island, RFA's Cantonese service reports. Lau, whose officewas vandalized Thursday, insists she did nothing wrong.
Lau filed a police complaint Thursday after her office door was smeared withfeces in the latest of a string of attacks against her. "I am flabbergastedand very angry. I want to know if there is still a rule of law in Hong Kongif a legislative councillor's office can be attacked like that," she said,according to the Reuters news agency.
Lau has drawn intense criticism from the official English-language ChinaDaily newspaper andfrom pro-Beijing figures after she addressed a Taipei seminar last month,hosted by a pro-Taiwan independencethink-tank.
In a signed commentary, the China Daily called on Lau to apologizefor remarks on Aug. 16, saying "she has hurt the national feelings of HongKong people."
"As an elected Legislative Councillor, she has always posed as therepresentative of public opinion. Therefore, her trip to Taiwan this timemust have misled some Taiwan compatriots into believing that Hong Kongpeople are against the legislation for national security, and that HongKongers are willing to brush shoulders and echo the slogans of Taiwanseparatists in disregard of national principles," the article said.
After Lau protested, China Daily responded with a tacit call for her toresign her seat in Hong Kong's Legislative Council. "The resignation oflegislators and senior officials is not uncommon, ranging from disgracedlegislator Gary Cheng Kai-nam to former financial secretary Antony Leung.None of them erred as seriously as Emily Lau," it said.
"I didn�t do anything wrong," Lau told RFA�s Cantonese service. "They'reusing the tactics of the Cultural Revolution method to attack people--so Ijust ignore them.?
Lau and her colleague James To appeared at the Taipei conference to discussthe likely impact of Hong Kong�s controversial anti-subversion law, known asArticle 23, on press freedom, human rights, and the judiciary. Pro-democracyactivists fear the legislation would mark a serious step backward for HongKong.
"The Chinese government and media better watch what they are attacking," Tosaid in an interview with RFA. "They�re saying as long as you don't opposeTaiwan independence, they will attack you. The Taiwan people will thenreally question the Chinese government�s promise of �one country, twosystems [under Chinese sovereignty]."
Lau "didn�t do anything to violate her council member�s code,"Hong-Kong-based commentator and China analyst Willy Wo-Lap Lam said in aninterview. "She didn�t say she supported Taiwan�s independence. She saidonly that we should let Taiwan�s people choose what they want."
After Lau�s comments were made public, a Hong Kong central governmentofficial warned other members of the Legislative Council against supportingTaiwan�s independence in public speeches or in the media.