Professor Priscilla Leung, Hong Kong delegate to the National People's Congress, member of the Hong Kong Basic Law Committee and a Legislative Council member, shares her experience of insisting on holding classes with students in 2019, upholding the rule of law, and saying no to violence! Pledging full support for the Hong Kong courts to adjudicate the Jimmy Lai case fairly, impartially, and fearlessly.
Jimmy Lai is a name very familiar to the people of Hong Kong. It is because of him that a multitude of ignorant young people and the general public have developed a deep-seated hostility and hatred towards China. This ideology was not confined to a personal level but was purposefully and systematically disseminated throughout Hong Kong society via Apple Daily, the newspaper he founded. Particularly after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Apple Daily not only failed to return to a rational supervisory role but intensified its actions, persistently attacking the SAR government from a radical standpoint, inciting social division, and spreading rhetoric of hatred for the country and hostility towards the People's Republic of China. This ultimately led to the paralysis of Hong Kong society, making it impossible to conduct business or function normally, and inflicting an extremely profound and detrimental impact on society.
What remains unforgettable is my personal experience while teaching at the City University of Hong Kong. On November 11, 2019, more than eighty students chose to reject the class boycott and insisted on attending their classes as usual. However, a group of black-clad individuals gathered outside the lecture hall, attempting to forcibly break into the classroom to pull students out to join the boycott, blatantly depriving them of their fundamental right to education. During this incident, some individuals also vandalized campus facilities, causing the lecture hall to flood. One must ask: is such a violent act of obstructing classes a manifestation of democracy, or is it the behavior of brainwashed thugs?
What is heartbreaking is that the painful lessons of 2019 are still vivid today. I personally experienced an incident on National Day in 2019 when my office in Shek Kip Mei, Sham Shui Po, was firebombed with three petrol bombs on the same day, and was ultimately burned to ashes. This office is a place where elderly volunteers, often over eighty years old, regularly rest, interact, and serve the community. Had there been any slight misstep, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Even more shocking, as seen from the CCTV footage, the perpetrators were merely thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenagers. The fact that they could commit such a vicious act, one that could easily have been fatal, precisely reflects the severe cognitive and moral distortion that has occurred in the younger generation under the long-term guidance of erroneous values.
Jimmy Lai is the central figure in this long-term incitement of hatred and disruption of social stability. The damage his actions have caused to Hong Kong has long surpassed the scope of ordinary speech. I firmly believe that the Hong Kong courts will be able to adjudicate the relevant cases independently, impartially, and in accordance with the law, free from external interference. Hong Kong public expects that any act endangers national security and undermines social stability must be punished in accordance with law to reflect the integrity of our judiciary highly respected in the world.
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