Lew Mon-hung slams jail officials for denying funeral request

Even a mainland major general sentenced to death was allowed to attend the funeral of his former Foreign Minister father, said Lew Mon-hung as he slammed jail officials for refusing Democrat Wu Chi-wai's request. 

Lew also challenged that “does such action bring good or destruction to One Country, Two Systems?” 

Earlier Wu was denied to attend his father’s funeral by the Correctional Services Department. The department then offered to allow Wu to watch the funeral online via video call. Yet the proposal was rejected by his family, saying it was disrespectful to the deceased. 

Lew, a former delegate of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, responded to the event on social media today and criticized the government for being unsympathetic and inhumane. 

Lew gave the example of Ji Shengde, a former major general in the People’s Liberation Army, whose father was Ji Pengfei, the former Foreign Minister of China. 

The son received death penalty in 1999 and his sentence was suspended for two years. The father died in February the next year and still, the son was allowed to attend the funeral. 

Lew pointed out there exists a huge difference between the charges Wu and Ji Shengde face, and mentioned that Wu is not even tried or convicted. 

Lew added that the One Country, Two Systems principle is “executed by Hong Kong, observed by Taiwan and the world”. Executing the principle in Hong Kong serves as a demonstration to Taiwan and to let international community see China’s tolerance. 

Lew asked how Taiwan or other countries would see this event, by referring to a Chinese quote that says “a falling leaf indicates the upcoming autumn.”