Chris Patten blasts disqualified Hong Kong lawmakers
Lord Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, has lambasted two lawmakers who were recently disqualified for pledging allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation”, arguing that the burgeoning independence movement in the Chinese territory is “completely counter-productive”.香港最后一任英国总督彭定康(Lord Patten)强烈抨击两位最近因发誓拥护“香港国”而被取消资格的香港立法会议员，声称在香港这个中国领土上迅速萌生的港独运动“完全会适得其反”。
Lord Patten, who is in Hong Kong to give several public lectures, told the Financial Times on Friday that taking an oath was a “serious matter” and Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching, who were disqualified by a Hong Kong court earlier this month, were wrong to turn it into “a sort of student game”.彭定康正在香港发表几个公开讲话。周五他向英国《金融时报》表示，宣誓是件“非常严肃的事”，梁颂恒(Baggio Leung)和游蕙祯(Yau Wai-Ching)却把它变成了“一种学生玩的游戏”，这样做是不对的。梁颂恒和游蕙祯在本月早些时候被香港一家法院剥夺了立法会议员资格。
Support for independence and self-determination has been growing rapidly in Hong Kong amid abacklash against heightened interference in the semi-autonomous territory by Beijing. China’s Communist leaders, who insist they alone can protect the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, have vowed to “show no mercy” to those who advocate separatism.中国政府对这个半自治特区加强干涉引发了反弹，香港支持独立和自决的人一直在迅速增加。中共领导人坚称他们自己可以保护国家的主权和领土完整，他们已发誓要“坚决打击”鼓吹分裂的人。
Lord Patten, who is now chancellor of the University of Oxford, attacked the supporters of independence and self-determination, who won around 20 per cent of the vote in the Legislative Council election in September.彭定康目前是牛津大学(University of Oxford)的名誉校长，他对香港独立和自决的支持者开展了抨击。这些支持者在今年9月的香港立法会(Legislative Council)选举中获得了大约20%的选票。
“The danger is that they dissipate the enormously strong moral position that they established in 2014 by confusing the argument for a better form of government with the completely counter-productive demands for independence, which are bound to provoke a backlash from China,” he said.彭定康表示：“这其中的危险在于，他们把改善政府的理由与对独立的要求混为一谈，这么做令他们丧失了极为强大的道德制高点。港独是注定要引发中国方面反弹的，是一种适得其反的要求。”
He added: “My strong, strong advice is that they should get back to talking about governance and democracy and eschew all this stuff about independence . . . That is not going to happen and people should recognise the dangers of pretending that it might.”他还表示：“我有个最强烈的建议是，他们应该退回来，谈论治理和民主的问题，避免谈任何关于独立的事……独立是不可能的，人们应该认识到，假装存在独立的可能性是危险的。”
Mr Leung and Ms Yau are currently appealing against their disqualification, which came after Beijing issued a ruling that those who support Hong Kong independence cannot serve as members of the Legislative Council or senior government officials.梁颂恒和游蕙祯目前正在就他们被剥夺议员资格的判决提起上诉。在香港法院作出这一判决前，北京方面曾做出释法，表示支持港独的人不能担任立法会议员或港府高级官员。
Lawyers and democracy campaigners said that Beijing’s intervention was damaging to judicial independence and the rule of law in Hong Kong.多名律师和民运人士表示，北京方面的干预是对香港司法独立和法治的破坏。
Lord Patten said that the Chinese government “could and should have been more restrained” but that calling for independence would simply exacerbate existing divisions and harm the Hong Kong government’s ability to tackle the problems facing the territory.彭定康表示，中国政府“本来可以、也应该更克制一些”。不过他还表示，鼓吹港独只会恶化现有分歧，损害港府解决香港目前所面临问题的能力。
“If it doesn’t stop now, what you get is a rolling political crisis which, to all intents and purposes, brings government to a halt,” he said. “There’s already a stand-off between the government and the Legislative Council, which is going to undermine Hong Kong’s reputation, which has been justified over the years, of getting things done.”他说：“如果不马上停止这种行为，就会引发持续不断的政治危机，实际上，这会令政府陷入瘫痪。政府和立法会之间已经出现了对峙，这种对峙会令香港在把事情做成方面的声誉受到损害，而这种声誉历年来一直被人们认可。”
He added that despite his opposition to the independence movement, he would “always be a huge supporter of greater democracy and better government in Hong Kong”.他还表示，虽然他反对港独，却“始终是香港增进民主和促进政府改善的巨大支持者”。
Lord Patten, who was once called a “sinner for 1,000 years” by a senior Chinese official because of his efforts to reform Hong Kong before it was handed back to Beijing in 1997, remains adivisive figure.彭定康至今依然是一位有争议的人物。由于试图在1997年香港交还北京之前在香港开展改革，他曾被一位中国高官称为“千古罪人”。
Jasper Tsang, a pro-Beijing politician who is the former head of the Legislative Council, pulled outof speaking at a panel alongside Lord Patten this week after friends told him that he was “going to commit another serious crime”.曾任香港立法会主席的亲北京政界人士曾钰成(Jasper Tsang)本周曾拒绝与彭定康一道出席一个论坛并发言。原因是此前曾有朋友告诉他，这么做会“再次犯下严重错误”。
Aides to Mr Leung and Ms Yau said they were not immediately available to comment because they were at the High Court for their appeal.梁颂恒和游蕙祯的助手表示，由于两人正在香港高院办理上诉事宜，他们不能马上置评。
Additional reporting by Gloria Cheung
Gloria Cheung补充报道
