By: Ziyu Bruce ZhaoEdited by: LI Chak Ho Samuel

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ordered on Tuesday the Companies Registry to strike off the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, citing “risks of endangering national security the group may bring about.” Lam and her advisers in the Executive Council, said the alliance, which organized Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil, “had always maintained and promoted” its five operational goals - including “ending one-party dictatorship” - which carried the meaning of “ending the China Communist Party’s leadership,” the press release read.   Its operation “amounted to seeking to overthrow the basic system of the People's Republic of China…with a view of subverting the state power…,” it added.   The decision was made after considering recommendations and views from Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee and Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung, it said.  The move is “unnecessary and reductant” as the alliance had already voted to disband, Tsoi Yiu-Cheong Richard, a former secretary for the alliance and now its liquidator, wrote in an open letter. “The alliance does not see that the government has sufficient evidence to claim its existence endangers national security, public safety and public order,” he added.  The alliance “had long engaged in activities subverting the country,” deeming it “a malignant tumour that undermines Hong Kong’s stability,” the spokesperson for the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong, said. It was a “just action to safeguard national security,” the spokesperson added.  Founded in 1989, the alliance organised the annual June 4 Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil in Victoria Park to advocate for a democratic mainland China, often with crowds over 100,000. Police banned the commemoration for the last two years, citing Covid concerns. Seven core members of the alliance, including chair Lee Cheuk-yan, vice-chair Albert Ho Chun-yan and vice-chair …

  Sixteen local football teams made of refugees, asylum seekers, NGO volunteers and corporate workers kicked off a charity tournament yesterday in King’s Park to raise awareness and funds for local charity Branches of Hope. The Home and Away tournament winners, My Medicare & Turtles, were composed of players from the general public. Players for The Vine All Stars, Arise United and United FC are mainly refugees and asylum seekers. The team Stop Trafficking of People are volunteers from Branches of Hope. Another four teams are mostly made up of investment bankers and law-firm workers. “We could all be refugees at some point, we should accept everyone as human,” said Assan , who doesn't want to reveal his full name, captain of the The Vine All Stars. The tournament, organised by Branches of Hope, which works with the vulnerable and marginalised in Hong Kong, is the fifth since 2014 and the first in four years because of the pandemic and difficulties in finding a venue. The tournament has so far raised HK$150,000, which will mostly go to refugees and asylum seekers to subsidize their education and rent allowance. Teams from the public were required to raise a minimum of HK$6,000 to participate. “The support by the government is insufficient. We need to live properly too, with good accommodation and shelter,” said Ousman, who doesn't want to reveal his full name ,player for The Vine All Stars. “Lack of opportunities, lack of rights: they’re being denied the rights to flourish and that motivates me to remove all these barriers for them to grow,” said Aman Yee, Executive Director of Branches of Hope. Hong Kong is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and has no legal framework governing the granting of asylum. The Hong Kong …