中文版：https://hkerspressroom.politics.blog/2019/08/10/%e9%8a%80%e8%a1%8c%e6%a5%ad%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e9%87%91%e8%9e%8d%e6%a5%ad%e5%90%8c%e8%b7%af%e4%ba%ba%e5%8f%8a%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e9%87%91%e8%9e%8d%e5%90%8c%e8%b7%af%e4%ba%ba%e7%be%a4%e7%b5%84%e8%81%af/

This is a statement from professionals in the financial sector:

The controversial Extradition Bill has triggered city-wide opposition in Hong Kong since June. Constant large-scale demonstrations occurred and organisations from different industries have voiced their shared concerns. In July, suspected triad members beating local citizens with missing police response caused further outrage and condemnation from the mass public. Trust and relationship between the police and citizens deteriorated further after witnessing the extremely biased law enforcement on citizens and lack of any serious enforcement on suspected triad members. According to the latest poll conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, most citizens have an unprecedented crisis of confidence in “One country, Two systems” and the rule of law. There has already been a surge in capital outflow from Hong Kong. It is imperative that the Government to address the citizens’ concerns urgently.

It has been repeatedly reiterated internationally that the status of Hong Kong’s special political economy independent of China is based on the effectiveness of “One country, Two systems”. The failure of such will wipe away various international concessions tied to that status. Moody’s has also stressed that the importance of “one country, two systems” is the crucial reason why Hong Kong can maintain a better credit rating than of mainland China. If the situation continues to deteriorate, Hong Kong will lose its financial advantages as an international financial centre and have long term repercussions on Hong Kong’s economy.

Earlier this week at a press conference, Financial Secretary Mr. Paul Chan warned that Extradition Bill protests would hit Hong Kong economy. The government’s statement is misleading and placing the blame on protesters is irresponsible and unacceptable.

Hong Kong’s economy has already shown signs of a slowdown in the first quarter of this year whereas the first demonstration began in late second quarter. Recently, the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy of the University of Hong Kong and Wang Chunxin, senior economic researcher of Bank of China Hong Kong, have lowered Hong Kong’s annual GDP forecast to 1.7% – 1.8%, mainly due to the US-China trade war. The report did not mention any impact caused by the protests. However, the Government’s continued selective disregard of the law, abusive use of institutional violence, and negative sentiment by the international investment community will be real reason for any economic deterioration down the road.

Finally, with the current turmoil triggered by the proposed Extradition Bill, and subsequent attacks by triad members in various local communities, society and families of the police force alike would like a just investigation to resolve the current social issues. The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC)’s independency reputation is questionable at best and lacks public trust.

Allegations of “foreign forces” meddling in recent events with no actual supporting evidence is unhelpful. On that basis, society and various industry sectors demand that a neutral and recognised independent investigation committee to be set up to uncover the truth and responsible parties, so that Hong Kong can return to the right track as soon as possible.

We solemnly condemn the government’s selective use of economic data in an attempt to deceive the public from its mistakes and divisive statements.

For the long-term stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, the five demands are indispensable. The government needs to respond as soon as possible. Otherwise, the financial industry would be left with no choice but to escalate our actions with other industrial sectors of our society!

The above is a joint declaration from the groups: [銀行業]香港金融業同路人 and 香港金融同路人 (As of 7 August 8:00am, two groups consist of 9,622 professionals from the financial sector.)

Dear Members of the Press and fellow citizens of Hong Kong:

Re: Application for August 10 Taipo Demonstration

The public is aware that the Hong Kong Police Force (hereafter “HKPF”) has issued a Letter of Objection for the Taipo Demonstration planned for Aug 10. In response, the Organising Committee for the demonstration (hereafter “The Committee”) expresses its profound indignation and deepest regret. Freedom of assembly is a universal right and is guaranteed in The Basic Law (Article 27) for all Hong Kong residents.


The HKPF has objected to the rally based on entirely unreasonable grounds. Below is a summary by The Committee on why it considers HKPF objection baseless. It is organised in three main points.

First, the HKPF has presented statistics on the number of “serious conflicts” of various magnitudes at the end of each demonstration over the past two months. Using these data points as their rationale, the HKPF made the decision to object to the Aug 10 Taipo Rally. The Committee is unconvinced by the spurious means by which HKPF conflated people’s lawful right to demonstrate with the so called “illegal charging acts”. These are two separate matters and have no causal relationship. Furthermore, the HKPF has yet to provide any evidence on how organisers from past demonstration had coordinated these so-called “illegal charging acts”. The ground for objection is a cynical obfuscation of language. It has infringed upon the rights and freedoms granted to all Hong Kong citizens by its constitution. This is an affront to all Hong Kong citizens whose core values embrace the spirit of democracy and civil liberty.

John Tse Chun-chung, Chief Superintendent of HKPF, stated in the Aug 8 press conference that each demonstration’s permit application would be assessed independently. The decision by the HKPF on the Taipo Demonstration application, however, ran counter to this promise. The Committee strongly condemns HKPF’s blatant disregard of Hong Kong’s constitutional provisions and its infringement on Hong Konger’s freedom of assembly, association and demonstration.

Second, HKPF has supposedly reached its decision to reject the application upon countersignatures from the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Tai Po District Council as well as 13 other District Council members. The Committee questions on what legal grounds are the District Council members granted the power to override Hong Kong citizens’ right of assembly which was guaranteed in the Basic Law? The denial of basic rights owing to the concerns from District Council members is entirely without precedent.

Furthermore, if the Letter of Objection was issued based on the objection of 15 members from the District Council, would it have made a difference if signatures collected from citizens and other members of the District Council in support of the demonstration outnumbered those against, as it would have been a clear indication of a broader public mandate? To that end, The Committee had in fact organized several district consultation programmes to gauge public opinion and the response had been positive. The Committee reiterates citizens’ right to demonstration does not require permission from the District Council.

Third, with regard to the routing arrangements for the demonstration, the HKPF claimed that The Committee had been uncooperative during the negotiation process and was unable to satisfy the HKPF’s demands. The Committee hereby expresses deep disappointment towards these spurious claims. During the negotiation process, the HKPF had repeatedly proposed unreasonable changes to the time and route of the demonstration. And The Committee had in fact been cooperative throughout the process, in hopes of reaching an agreement with the HKPF. For instance, the HKPF had proposed ending the demonstration at Kwong Fuk Football Ground, and The Committee had agreed. However, in the Letter of Objection, the HKPF asserted that The Committee had not obtained approval for use of the venue from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The Committee is not clear why the HKPF had made this contradictory claim. This is clearly a distortion of truth in order to suppress the rights of the residents of not only Taipo, but that of all Hong Kong people, thereby infringing upon Hong Kong citizens’ right and wish to voice their opinion.

The Committee reiterates its indignation and condemnation towards the HKPF’s decision, and reaffirms the five core demands in its entirety.

Press contact: Mr Chan 6077-0032