New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television’s Classical Chinese Dance Competition took place successfully in Taiwan on Aug 1, after two venue lease contracts were cancelled in Hong Kong.
Epoch Times received information from a reliable source that Cheung Hok-ming, vice-chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk (Rural Council) and a councillor of the pro-Beijing Executive Council is the main culprit behind the two cancellations.
Cheung took the initiative to report to Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying after learning that NTD had rented the Heung Yee Kuk Tower Theatre. After that, they worked together to press for the cancellation of the lease contract, the source revealed.
The lease of MacPherson Stadium, the second venue rented, was annulled three days before the competition date. At least 8 communist front organisations were mobilised, including the Hong Kong Youth Care Association (HKYCA), to harass and intimidate the venue management and ticket buyers using triad-like tactics.
Cheung was also acting in close collaboration with the HKYCA.
Conflicting testimonies
The Heung Yee Kuk and the Hong Kong government gave NTD different versions of events surrounding the cancellation of the 1st venue.
On May 26, the Heung Yee Kuk verbally informed NTD that the lease agreement of the Tower Theatre was cancelled. They said there was nothing they could do, claiming that the theatre had been “retrieved by order for election use” by the government.
NTD received a formal email from the Heung Yee Kuk on June 1 stating that the government had requested to use the theatre for election purposes, and according to the priority order for leasing, they were unable to provide the compound for NTD on July 29 and July 31.
NTD raised the issue with the Hong Kong government, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and the Heung Yee Kuk, while sending a letter to the Liaison Office and lodging a complaint to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
NTD held a press conference at a hotel in Mong Kong, on Aug 1 to update the press on the situation surrounding the event.
Spokesperson for the preliminary NTD Dance competition Cheryl Ng revealed that NTD’s headquarters in New York had received a reply letter from the Hong Kong government claiming that the government did not ask to use the Heung Yee Kuk Tower Theatre during the lease period of the dance competition. The letter stated that the Heung Yee Kuk Tower Theatre is private property, and the government is not involved in the management matters, including leasing arrangements.
The letter also stated that the Home Affairs Department did not ask to use the compound, and that it had verified with the departments related to election matters, namely the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau and Registration and Electoral Office, and was informed that the related departments did not request the use of the Heung Yee Kuk facility in question.
Ng said that NTD will take follow-up actions regarding the conflicting accounts.
MacPherson Stadium Harassment
After the Heung Yee Kuk’s breach of contract, NTD changed the venue of the dance competition to MacPherson Stadium and changed the date from July 31 to Aug 1.
However, more than a week before the event, members of the HKYCA and other communist front organisations started to display a large number of hate banners and posters outside the stadium, broadcast slanderous recordings with loudspeakers to harass the organisers, ticket buyers, nearby residents and shops, exerting pressure on the management to cancel the lease.
These methods of harassment, which are similar to those used during the Cultural Revolution, lasted for days. However, the police, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, took little action, said Ng.
Three days before the competition was due to take place, NTD received a notification letter from the Hong Kong Playground Association, which manages MacPherson Stadium, to say that the lease was cancelled.
Secret connections to HKYCA
After the second lease was sabotaged, additional sources informed Epoch Times that Cheung Hok-ming was connected to the HKYCA and other communist front organisations behind the scenes.
It has also been revealed that the meeting of these organisations and Cheung did not take place in Hong Kong, but in Shenzhen, along with meetings with former CCP leader Jiang Zemin’s political faction to receive funds and take orders for political missions in Hong Kong.
The HKYCA was used as the key force in sabotaging the dance competition at the MacPherson Stadium.
Cheung Hok-ming is vice-chairman of Heung Yee Kuk, a councillor of the Executive Council and a member of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He is quite influential in the New Territories because of support from the New Territories Association of Societies (NTAS).
Cheung, who took over the NTAS presidential position in 1999, retired 12 years later after 3 terms when he was 60 years old, citing age as the reason. He has been the honorary president since he passed the baton to Leung Che-cheung.
The Heung Yee Kuk and the NTAS are 2 major New Territory organisations. The Heung Yee Kuk’s key members are local inhabitants, while the NTAS consists of over 300 affiliated organisations and more than 200,000 affiliated members, producing 31 members of the District Councils between 2012 and 2015.
Close connection between NTAS and Leung Chun-ying
The NTAS is closely related to Leung Chun-ying and Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison Office in Hong Kong, helping to execute the Jiang Zemin faction’s policy to create chaos in Hong Kong using triad members.
In 2013, Leung Chun-ying attended a Town Hall meeting at Tin Shui Wai district, which eventually evolved into Leung’s thug-like supporters beating up protesters. These vicious supporters of Leung were later revealed to be from various triad groups in the community. Leung Che-cheung, who hosted the Town Hall meeting that day, rallied his supporters a couple of days prior to the meeting to attend the event.
The NTAS was also a major force opposing the democratic Occupy Central movement in 2014.
Translated by SQ Wu & Benjamin Ng. Edited by Sally Appert.
