On the 26th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, and three years since the implementation of the National Security Law, the Hong Kong Police Force this month announced life-long arrest warrants for eight exiled democracy advocates. China-appointed Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) even said that wanted activists should be treated like “rats in the street,” further indicating the end of freedom, human rights and democracy in the territory.
Following months of anti-extradition protests in 2019 against the government and the Chinese Communist Party’s tightening grip on Hong Kong, Beijing in 2020 imposed the National Security Law on the territory, which gave the Chinese government sweeping powers over Hong Kong, criminalized whatever it considers subversion, secessionism, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces and included penalties of up to life in prison. Although the Hong Kong government promised the law would not be applied retroactively, by January 2021, the police had arrested dozens of democracy advocates, legislators and academics, including those known as the Hong Kong 47, and charged them with conspiracy to commit subversion. Over the past three years, more than 50 civic organizations have been disbanded, more than 1,000 political dissidents have been imprisoned and numerous media outlets have been forced to cease operations, an Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China statement said.
This month, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council unanimously voted to overhaul district-level elections by drastically reducing the number of directly elected seats from 452 to 88, running counter to the Basic Law and massively reducing democratic freedoms. Candidates who want to run in the next election must now pass a national security background check, which is obviously aimed at barring democracy advocates from seeking office. Beijing and Hong Kong’s administrative leader openly said “we will completely exile anti-China forces.” The Hong Kong Police Force simultaneously issued arrest warrants for eight pro-democracy advocates, who now live in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US, offering HK$1 million (US$128,025) rewards for information that would lead to an arrest.
The US has condemned the move, saying that “the extraterritorial application of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law is a dangerous precedent that threatens the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people all over the world.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it “unacceptable,” while British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly described the warrant as “a further example of the authoritarian reach of China’s extraterritorial law.”
Even though China aims to impose more control over Hong Kong, the authoritarian law has driven citizens away. Official census statistics show that the territory’s population has declined since 2020, the same year the security law took effect. About 93,000 residents left in 2020, followed by another 23,000 in 2021 and 68,300 last year. Experts have said there are two main reasons for this mass exodus of Hong Kongers: the political unrest in the territory and the tightening of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second might have been temporary, but the first is likely to result in permanent change. Those who go back would be returning to a life lacking democracy.
In the face of China’s ambition to “unite” with Taiwan, Taiwanese have rejected Beijing’s “one country, two systems” proposal, which proved a failure in Hong Kong. However, some candidates in January’s presidential election and politicians have proposed so-called “peace negotiations” with China, in spite of China’s persistence on the “one China” principle and that unification would eliminate free choice in Taiwan.
Taiwanese must be careful who they vote for. They have a choice between protecting the dignity and autonomy of Taiwan, or risking the nation’s sovereignty and becoming “rats in the street.”
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