People's Liberation Army warning to protesters 'not military action', says pro-Beijing heavyweight Maria Tam

Pro-establishment heavyweight Maria Tam Wai-chu has defended the local garrison of the People's Liberation Army's warning towards anti-government protesters, saying it did not amount to military action.

Tam, the vice-chairwoman of the Basic Law Committee, said it was normal for military personnel " stationed at the Kowloon Tong barracks " to respond to protesters shining lasers at the PLA building last Sunday night.



The army raised a yellow flag at the top of the building, warning demonstrators: "You are in breach of the law. You may be prosecuted". Several men in uniform were seen filming the protesters and a floodlight was also shone from the PLA building. The tense moment passed without confrontation.

"My view is, the raising of a warning flag is a normal act," she told local radio on Monday.

"If someone disturbs you, you tell them to stop. I don't think this is a military action, and I don't think it will escalate to one."

It was the first warning from the PLA since anti-government protests, triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, began nearly four months ago.

According to Article 8 of the Hong Kong garrison law, members of the local garrison are allowed to "take measures to stop any activities that hinder them from performing their duties in accordance with the provisions of laws applied in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region".

Guards of the military forbidden zones also have the power to stop unauthorised entry, destruction or endangerment of military installations, as per Article 12 of the legislation.

But the same law says the garrison shall not interfere in the city's local affairs.

Tam said, however, there was precedent for a PLA garrison to get involved in local affairs, citing the Chinese army's relief and cleaning operations in Macau after typhoon Hato in 2017 .

The Beijing loyalist said she remained "100 per cent sure" that the Hong Kong government and police could maintain public order in the city.

Speaking earlier on the same programme, Tanya Chan, convenor of the pan-democratic bloc in the Legislative Council, was more sceptical.

"The PLA garrison is a very disciplined force. The warning message spoken on a microphone and the raising of a flag by people in military uniform are not simple acts," she said.

"They are clearly discharging an official duty, not just communicating a message."

Chan said the army was not a law enforcement agency in the city, but whether their actions on Sunday were as such would ultimately be decided by mainland authorities, under the mainland's garrison law.

The idea that with public order policing, you send police forces out with live bullets, with live ammunition, is preposterousChris Patten

"I am quite worried because the situation seemed to have deteriorated rapidly after October 1, people should be very restrained and careful."

Chan criticised the new anti-mask law, which came into effect on Saturday, for provoking unrest over the weekend. She said it might be a trap for the government to introduce more draconian laws to restrict personal freedoms.

"If the atmosphere is peaceful, the government will say the anti-mask law has worked. But if there is more unrest, it will say we need tougher laws."

Chan, one of the 24 legislators challenging the law in a judicial review, said the law was unconstitutional because it bypassed the Legislative Council process.

Tam, however, defended its legality, saying there were three sources of law in Hong Kong: the Basic Law, laws made by the Legislative Council, and laws pre-existing the 1997 handover such as the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, through which the anti-mask law was made.

"It was also not as ancient a piece of legislation as people thought, as it was amended by Legco in 1999, which did not curtail the chief executive's power to make laws under these circumstances," Tam said.

Tam said it was too soon to assess the anti-mask law's effectiveness against months of unrest.

When asked whether the law will force victims of injustice, or minorities such as LGBT people, to unmask themselves at public rallies, she said it was better for individuals to do so to "save the trouble" of having to defend themselves.


Hong Kong's last governor, Chris Patten, also waded into the debate on the anti-mask law.

"She (Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor) would have to be crazy to be making these decisions on her own without being pressured into them. The face masks business " absolutely madness, which people will protest against," he told Sky TV.

"Before long, unless we're very, very lucky, people are going to get killed, people are going to get shot. The idea that with public order policing, you send police forces out with live bullets, with live ammunition, is preposterous."

He said: "I fear for the future, unless Carrie Lam actually intervenes and understands the importance of dialogue, understands the importance of talking to people, and understands the importance of giving them the opportunity of reviewing, through an independent commission of inquiry, how we got to this situation."

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