22 December 2015•Update: 27 December 2015
BEIJING
Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that members of a pro-independence group were among six people arrested for a small explosion outside the legislature earlier this month during scheduled debate of a controversial copyright bill.
The South China Morning Post reported that an initial police investigation said two of the six men were believed to be members of the “radical localist” Valiant Frontier, which had joined took other protests in 2015 against mainlanders and their involvement in parallel trading.
On the night of Dec. 9, security camera footage captured two suspects setting fire to a trash bin at the Legislative Council’s demonstration zone, where critics had planned to protest the copyright bill until the event was canceled.
The incident did not result in any injuries or damage, apart from the charred bin.
The explosion took place after discussion of the Copyright Amendment Bill was delayed due to limited attendance by lawmakers.
Valiant Frontier had undertaken an online campaign against the pending bill, claiming it would be used in limiting freedom of speech in the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The Post referred to a post on the group’s Facebook page a day before the blast as calling for a gathering as lawmakers debated the legislation.
“Heaven helps those who help themselves,” it was quoted as saying. “Now the legislators cannot help us. Only we can help ourselves. There is only one thing we can do now [and] that is surround Legco.”
Of the six men – aged between 18 and 24 -- arrested Monday, four are post-secondary school students, with one of them suspected of being behind the bin explosion plot, according to the Post.
All were held in custody for questioning Monday night but charges have reportedly not been filed.
Superintendent Ng Wai-hon of Hong Kong Island’s regional crime unit was quoted as saying that the group involved “is organized and had premeditated plan [to commit a crime].”
An unnamed source familiar with the investigation told the newspaper that “the two arsonists were among the five [first arrested].”
Labor Party lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan expressed appreciation for the effective police work but insisted it would be “unfair for the police to label the suspects as members of localist groups, as if all people from localist groups are bad guys.”
The five suspects who were arrested earlier Monday allegedly participated in various rallies critical of Beijing and mainlanders, including the Occupy protests last year and gatherings against parallel trading, an issue that has created friction and triggered protests and clashes.
Some Hong Kong residents disapprove of the practice -- whereby visitors buy tax-free goods in the territory for resale on the mainland -- claiming it has inflated retail prices and caused a nuisance to locals. Traders, however, say their business benefits Hong Kong’s economy.
Hong Kong has been governed under a "one country, two systems" formula since 1997 that affords its residents freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland.
Last year, major roads in the city had been blocked amid 11-week protests against "fake democracy" that involved more than 100,000 people at their peak.
The Occupy protests were seen as one of the most serious challenges to China's authority since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that ended in a bloody crackdown in Beijing.
