Dark Days in Hong Kong

Charges against almost 50 activists and politicians show that Hong Kong democrats face fates similar to dissidents on the mainland.

By
9

On Sunday, 47 Hong Kong pro-democracy politicians and activists were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion. Their offense? Organizing an informal primary for pro-democracy candidates last July to decide which of them would contest legislative council elections in November, which were later postponed. They include Benny Tai, Lester Shum, Owen Chow—too many to list in this piece.

Those charged this weekend are the largest group of prosecutions so far under the national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing last July, just a few days before the democracy primary. Possible sentences include life imprisonment. Virtually the entire leadership of the Hong Kong democracy movement—from the older generation inspired by the June 4, 1989, massacre of democracy protesters on the mainland, to the leaders of the Umbrella movement of 2014 and the 2019 “leaderless” protests against a proposed extradition law are in jail or on trial. 

That includes Jimmy Lai, the publisher of Apple Daily, the only pro-democracy Chinese language newspaper in the city. Lai is already in jail, charged under the national security law with “foreign collusion.” Lai is also on trial on charges related to an “unauthorized demonstration” along with the barristers Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, the labor leader Lee Cheuk-yan, the former legislator Cyd Ho, the solicitor Albert Ho, and the veteran protester Leung Kwok-hung.  

Hong Kong’s legal system is being shattered. Specialized units have been formed within the prosecution service and police to focus on national security offenses. A government hotline encourages citizens to report on violations. Those who try to preserve the rule of law, like Paul Harris, the new head of the Hong Kong bar association, a U.K. citizen who has practiced for decades in the city, have been attacked by Beijing officials for supposedly violating “the bottom line” of “one country, two systems.”  

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
9
By
Comments (9)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    CVS

    I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but what is this "Joint Declaration" the final paragraph speaks of? It seems to be the only time it's mentioned.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Robert Knudson

      I believe that was the UK/China exit treaty when the UK agreed to turn over Hong Kong to Chinese administration

      Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Nick H

    I've wondered over the past few years why Hong Kong is treated as if it's somehow a separate country from China by organizations that rank countries on different measures of freedom. In their 2020 report, the Heritage Foundation and the WSJ listed Hong Kong as having the second highest score in their Index of Economic Freedom (after being in first place for the last several years) while China was way down at 103. (The U.S. is in 17th place.) I don't see how they can look at the current crackdown on political freedom in Hong Kong and insist that it has no impact on economic freedom or say that it's still distinct from the rest of China, even if China hasn't yet formally taken over the Hong Kong economy.
    China clearly wants "two systems" to mean that the world should pretend that the system in Hong Kong is somehow distinct from the system in the rest of the country, even when that's no longer the case. We shouldn't go along with the charade.

    Collapse
    1. Dylan Paul

      China wants one system: the CCP. Dropping all distinctions between Hong Kong and the mainland would not damage the CCP. Quite the opposite.

      Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    Visibly

    Thank you for concise reporting. Some news I find too difficult to read. The current situation in Hong Kong is one of them. It is such a tragic development of an otherwise very brilliant city.

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    Victor Clairmont

    Well it’s terrible. I wish at minimum we would offer sanctuary or refugee status to people from Hong King, but the bill never went through.

    The CCP fascism has come to a great city.

    And it’s coming for everything else soon enough.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Visibly

      I think UK does.
      https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-hongkong-security-britain-china-idUSKBN29Y0Q1

      Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Narwhal

    It was no coincidence when they were arrested. They were arrested on January 6th, 2021 while we were distracted by the Capitol riot, Trump’s nonsense, and other things. The news of the arrests barely made a blip that day. Our Capitol police may have been caught flat-footed by the Capitol riot, but our adversaries were keenly aware of the chatter regarding what was planned that day. Good omen for our future, no doubt.

    Collapse
  6. ๆๆ

    "In Beijing’s view, this is an existential threat to the Party. "
    "Beijing" is correct.

    The case the brave activists of Hong Kong must make is to convince the individual human beings in the CCP that they can emerge relatively intact from any transition to democracy. It is essentially impossible to convince the CCP as an institution that it has nothing to fear from its people's authentic voices.

    Thanks for bringing attention to the plight of the democracy activists, the people of Hong Kong, the people of mainland China, and indeed all us earth-based folks in grappling with the CCP. They are a threat to us all, including themselves. I hope they snap out of it, or are snapped out of it, without too much more suffering

    Collapse