He noted that an audio version of a children’s book series by a group that included fugitive activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung was released last week. The series, which depicted “good” sheep defending their turf from “evil” invading wolves, led to five people involved in its release in Hong Kong being convicted of sedition.
“This will cause a bigger harm, as the audiobook can now be accessed by many Hong Kong young people on their phones,” he said.
The children’s books that a Hong Kong court has ruled portrayed mainland China in a negative light. Photo: Edmond So
But lawmakers and political parties in the city remained silent over the matter, as they were unwilling to provoke political disputes for fear of offending others, Leung argued.
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“Here in Hong Kong, things might be relatively calm on the surface. But we must stay vigilant in the face of things that keep poisoning our young people and affecting their views on the country and national security,” he said.
Xia last week also underscored that demonstrations could be hijacked by people with ulterior motives and residents could express their concerns in ways other than protesting.
Leung said while authorised demonstrations remained permitted in Hong Kong, some of the protests a “few years” ago had been “problematic” with “hidden ill motives” and they should be prevented from occurring again.
“We noticed political donations from unknown sources were broken up and put into donation boxes at the so-called street booths during the march. Then the protest turnout was certainly exaggerated in multiples to build momentum,” he said, adding the marches were not “ordinary”.
Hong Kong was rocked by months of protests, many of them violent, in 2019 after the government proposed an extradition law that would have allowed for the transfer of suspects to mainland China.
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Beijing imposed the national security law the following year targeting subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.