The July 1 demonstration in Hong Kong, an annual event organized by the opposition in the special administrative region since its return to Chinese sovereignty, will reportedly be led by Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookseller seized by mainland police in October for selling forbidden books to the mainland, Ching Cheong, who received a five-year prison sentence in Guangzhou in 2005 on charges of espionage, and Lau Shan-ching, who received a 10-year prison sentence for "rescuing" "mainland activists".

Given that all the three violated the mainland's laws, if the reports are true, it seems the region's opposition is now openly challenging the mainland's political and legal establishments. This would be a dangerous development.

Under the principle of "One Country, Two Systems" and Hong Kong's Basic Law, activities organized by the opposition should only concern the affairs of the special administrative region and should not be vehicles for objectors to the mainland's political and legal system.