On 27 April 2020, Jimmy Lai, founder of Appledaily, Hong Kong, in an interview with the net media Singjai, alleged that Hong Kong Independence is "a conspiracy of the Chinese Communist Party", a trap set by the CCP, so that it "can have the pretext to suppress Hong Kong."
Jimmy Lai went on to accuse a few HK politicians of being spies sent by the CCP: "Hong Kong Independence was first put forth by Raymond Wong Yuk-man, Wan Chin and Wong Yeung-tat, etc. They should have been arrested first, but they have never been! Because they're the CCP's people."
Ironically, Wong Yuk-man, Wan Chin, and Wong Yeung-tat have all publicly and vehemently condemned Hong Kong Independence.
Indeed, many Hong Kong netizens wonder whether Communist China would have left Hong Kong alone, in particular, the pan-democracy camp, even if separatism had not appeared there.