HKSAR candidates' U-turn on political stance 'isn't sincere'

Hong Kong political leaders pointed out on Monday that some opposition candidates' U-turn on controversial political positions is in fact a ruse to get a Legislative Council nomination and does not reflect the candidates' true views.

The leaders hope the election authorities won't let such candidates slide after appearing to renounce their previous political stances. The leaders also called on voters to see through such political lies.

Since last weekend, the returning officers, who oversee the election, have sent letters to a dozen LegCo election candidates in the opposition camp, asking them to clarify their respective stances on upholding the Basic Law and their allegiance to the special administrative region — legal requirements for being a lawmaker.

The questioned candidates, including Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, have put their eligibility for nomination in doubt with behavior such as advocating Hong Kong independence and lobbying foreign countries to sanction the city.

But in their written responses to electoral officers, most of the candidates said they have ended their political advocacy and will not continue such acts.

In social-media posts, former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying said the opposition politicians' behavior was "shameful", adding such claims were made purely to seek a nomination, and therefore those candidates are not trustworthy at all.

Leung, who is also a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, supported the electoral authorities' move, saying such vetting of LegCo candidates will help weed out ineligible applicants.

"Without such vetting, Hong Kong will become a laughingstock of the nation, as well as the world. We must see that as the right thing to do," he said.

Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, the city's largest labor group, said some opposition candidates have not abandoned their advocacy of destabilizing Hong Kong, which can be gleaned from their vague answers to the returning officers' questions.

Three opposition candidates from the Civic Party — Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, and Kwok Ka-ki — have replied that they are "currently" not intending to ask the United States to sanction Hong Kong. Noting that the answer showed a clear desire to do so in the future, Ng urged the candidates to further clarify their positions.

Lai Tung-kwok and Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, both former secretaries for security, told China Daily on Monday that the opposition candidates' attempts may not help them get what they want, as in addition to the replies, returning officers should consider all public information about the candidates when judging the validity of their nominations.