Defy rule of law at your own peril

Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Leung Chung-hang, former lawmakers-elect who were disqualified according to the Basic Law and relevant Hong Kong law after they turned their swearing-in into a total farce last October, were taken away by police on Wednesday on charges of unlawful assembly and attempted forceful entry after they illegally forced their way into the Legislative Council Chamber in November. The two separatist politicians had just returned from a trip to Taiwan, where they joined fellow separatists to discuss future attempts to continue their unconstitutional cause. Their arrest on Wednesday is a necessary measure by the authorities to maintain the rule of law in Hong Kong.

Leung and Yau, both regarded as poster children of the "localist" faction in the opposition camp that emerged after the illegal "Occupy Central" movement, set a glaring example of completely wasted youth and passion due to their inability to distinguish right from wrong. Their first step toward political self-destruction happened when they chose separatism disguised as "localism" and "self-determination", which was followed by their signing the legally binding declaration of legitimate participation in last year's LegCo election, and completely ignoring the declaration because they never meant it. After winning their respective constituencies, they went on to throw it all away by putting on that outrageous display of mindless behavior during the swearing-in ceremony.

It is one thing to err occasionally in one's youth and another to deliberately break the law in the capacity of lawmakers-elect on TV, as if their mission was to challenge the rule of law. Maybe they did not know public office holders enjoy no privilege before the law or they were thoroughly ill-advised to the point of losing rational thinking altogether. Either way it is their own fault to lose everything they had. In the end they not only ruined their own political careers but also harmed the integrity of the legislature.

On the flip side of this wanton mistake, however, is a very expensive lesson for all youths with similar ambitions on what they must keep in mind at all times if they want to be career politicians: Always abide by existing laws and never take popular support for granted, especially when you are tempted to trade public interest for personal gain. Hong Kong could not have achieved its success as a prosperous trade hub, international financial center and professional service destination without effective rule of law. Along with other "core values" it forms the "icing" on the pleasing "cake" that is the economic miracle all Hong Kong people are proud of. No one is allowed to harm it; and no one will fare well if they try.

(HK Edition 04/27/2017 page8)