HK's unrest can be traced to its people's distrust of Beijing

THE Hong Kong National Party, whose ideas of Hong Kong independence have been weighed and dismissed by older and, presumably, wiser heads in previous years, has nonetheless succeeded in getting the attention of Chinese officials and, in the process, brought to the forefront discussion on freedom of speech in Hong Kong, a right clearly upheld by the Basic Law.

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Chinese government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong, said that the formation of a party advocating independence had touched the bottom line of "One country, two systems" and could not be tolerated, since it had exceeded free speech.

He made a distinction between speech and action, citing the act of establishing a political party as exceeding free speech rather than mere advocacy of independence.