Hong Kong bomb plot a conspiracy to smear us, localists claim, ahead of reform vote
Hong Kong localists have distanced themselves from radicals arrested for an alleged bomb plot, as they raised claims that the plan was a conspiracy to smear them before the Legislative Council votes on the government’s electoral reform package.
Jon Ho, spokesman for Hong Kong Localism Power, told a Commercial Radio programme today his group had no connection to 10 members of the “National Independent Party” arrested for allegedly plotting to set off bombs to cause mayhem and bloodshed.
Ho also questioned if the party was a genuine localist group, citing suspicious features of material belonging to the group seized by police officers.
“Localist groups would not mention umbrellas and yellow ribbons,” Ho said, referring to items carrying logos of the key icons of last year’s Occupy movement.
Some paraphernalia also carried the name of the League of Social Democrats. Ho said that it was “impossible” to link League of Social Democrats lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung to localist groups as he insisted he was Chinese – a standpoint that was entirely different from that of localists.
Some localists said online they had never heard of the group and knew no one in it.
Hong Kong Indigenous spokesman Ray Wong Toi-yeung said: “I’ve never heard of them. Absolutely not.”
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Meanwhile, a Facebook user raised several points of suspicion, based on observations of the evidence police showed to the press.
The user found a slogan that read: “Kick out the snake feasts-vegetarian feasts-rice dumplings-cakes,” on some seized leaflets shown by police.
The items are usually used to refer to pro-establishment political groups, as they were known to offer them as gifts to draw support.
But the user said: “Why did rice dumplings come before cakes [in the slogan]? Hongkongers would not make mistakes like this,” referring to the more common sequence of “snake feasts, vegetarian feasts, cakes and rice dumplings.”
Another Facebook user said: “A [real] localist group would definitely not describe themselves as ‘national.’”, while another said: “Which nation are you talking about? Why does a nation need to be independent when it’s already a nation?”
Politicians across the spectrum expressed concern about the arrests of activists over the alleged bomb plot.
During an interview with RTHK, pro-establishment legislator Ip Kwok-him, who chairs the Legco security panel, said lawmakers were highly concerned about the case and discussed it yesterday when police released the details.
“[This is] because one of Hong Kong’s core values has been to express views in a peaceful manner,” he said. “Intelligence shows people made bombs and that is related to the vote on the political reform proposal. We are paying attention to it.”
Ip said the Legco commission, which deals with the legislature’s administration, had implemented special security measures, including closing the complex’s library and restaurant and suspending study visits, in the wake of the case and amid expected protests.
