2009, the Civic Party's line had deviated from its founding values. He would also resign from the Legislative Council saying it was inappropriate for him to continue having stood and been elected representing the Civic Party. 2020 Defence of new security law He appeared on the BBC show "HARDtalk" where he defended the new security law. He said, "I am still fighting for democracy for Hong Kong, but there's no way to fight for democracy by trying to call for independence, is there? Is there any real chance for anybody in Hong Kong or elsewhere, to seriously think that calling for independence to Hong Kong would succeed in getting full democracy established in Hong Kong?" In 2003, he was a critic of a similar national security law, but has since changed his position and supported the law, claiming that "There are no mass arrests of dissidents and no shutting down of media," despite the shutting down of Apple Daily. Views In April 2021, after the government moved to ban calls to boycott elections, Tong said that it was "politically and ethically" the right thing to do and that people should "stop making a fuss about it". In August 2022, Tong said that he always favors judges over jurors, after Paul Lam decided that a national security case involving 47 democrats would be tried without a jury; juries have been used for 177 years in Hong Kong. In August 2022, Tong said that the retreat of foreign investors away from Hong Kong was not caused by the 2019 protests or the government's COVID-19 response, but instead other fundamental problems such as lack of development in sports. Tong also claimed that Hong Kong is more democratic and open than Singapore. Though Tong mentioned housing issues as a fundamental problem, Tong said that the government should not develop public housing on the Fanling golf course. Tong is a member of the Hong Kong Golf Club, which operates the Fanling golf course. Tong said that "I play golf all the time" and that "It’s not a sin." In September 2022, Tong and his party, the Path of Democracy, advocated teaching Simplified Chinese in Hong Kong schools, where Traditional Chinese is normally used. On 5 October 2022, legislative council member Doreen Kong criticized the government and Lo Chung-mau for invalidating 20,000 COVID-19 vaccine exemption passes, stating that he had no legal authority to do so,