The arrest of more than 50 democrats in Hong Kong last week intensifies a drive by Beijing to stifle any return of a populist challenge to Chinese rule and more measures are likely, according to two individuals with direct knowledge of China’s plans.
While stressing that plans have not been finalized, the individuals said it was possible that Hong Kong elections — already postponed until September on COVID-19 grounds — could face reforms that one person said were aimed at reducing the influence of democrats.
Both individuals, who have extensive high-level experience in Hong Kong affairs and represent Beijing’s interests, spoke on condition of anonymity.
Photo: Bloomberg
Beijing’s involvement was “substantial” in driving and coordinating actions with the Hong Kong government, said one of the individuals, a senior Chinese official.
He said the latest arrests were part of a wave of ongoing actions to silence activists and to “make sure Hong Kong doesn’t slide back to what we saw 18 months ago.”
China has been “too patient for too long, and needs to sort things out once and for all,” he said, adding that more tough moves would be rolled out for “at least a year.”
Photo: Reuters
A spokesman for Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) said the implementation of the National Security Law in June last year had restored stability and reduced street violence.
“The legitimate rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong have been upheld and criminals are brought to justice through our independent judiciary,” he said in an e-mailed response to reporters, without responding to questions about Beijing’s role.
Hong Kong elections were scheduled for Sept. 5 and officials were working to ensure an open, fair and honest poll, he added.
The Chinese government did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese official said Beijing remained concerned the opposition could still muster a majority in the legislature should the polls go ahead, given a lingering groundswell of public support.
Chinese officials were now discussing ways to change the electoral system to address “deficiencies” in the political structure, and elections might be further delayed, he said.
The second pro-Beijing source confirmed there were advanced talks on structural changes to Hong Kong’s political system, including possibly curtailing the influence of democrats on a 1,200-person election committee to select the next chief executive next year.
“It will likely shake up the whole political base,” the source said of the reforms.
Lam’s spokesman said authorities were exploring using electronic polling, and setting up polling and counting stations in mainland China to allow registered electors there to vote.
Six senior democratic figures voiced fears over what they described as a grim outlook since the most recent arrests.
Among the next steps might be disqualifying hundreds of democratic “district councilors” who dominate the grassroots political arena; entrenching loyalty to China within the civil service; squeezing businesses whose bosses support the democratic cause; and creeping censorship of the Internet and media under the auspices of national secury, they said.
Yam Kai-bong (任啟邦), a Tai Po district councilor with the localist pro-democracy “Neo Democrats,” said the specter of protracted legal proceedings related to the arrests could scare off, or weaken the opposition camp’s chances in any upcoming election.
INCURSION: After 13 PLA aircraft flew into Taiwan’s ADIZ, the US Department of State said that China should rather ‘engage in meaningful dialogue’ with Taiwan US President Joe Biden’s administration on Saturday urged China to stop placing military pressure on Taiwan, while calling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in peaceful dialogue. The statement by the US Department of State was issued after 13 Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. The air force scrambled fighter jets to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets until the planes left the ADIZ. The US “notes
‘INCREASED VIGILANCE’: A source of infection has not yet been found for the latest two cases in a hospital cluster, which should serve as a warning, Chen Shih-chung said A total of 2,991 people associated with a COVID-19 cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital have been put under home isolation, after an emergency expanded isolation order was issued on Sunday evening, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Fifteen people have so far tested positive in the cluster infection. The first case in the cluster (case No. 838) was reported on Jan. 12 — a doctor who treated an infected patient who had returned from the US. Contact tracing for the first 13 cases found connections to case No. 838, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who
FAMILY UNIT: The CECC warned that the eldest sister of the latest case, who also has COVID-19, visited Taoyuan’s Chungping evening market on Tuesday and Wednesday The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported a domestic case of COVID-19, associated with a recent cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital, and two imported cases. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the latest case (No. 885) is a woman in her 50s, who is the third daughter of case No. 881, a man in his 90s. The woman is the main caregiver of her elderly father, who had been hospitalized earlier this month and was treated by a nurse (case No. 852) from Monday to Thursday last week, he said, adding that
DUBIOUS HONOR? A man in his 90s, who tested positive yesterday and is part of the Taoyuan hospital cluster, is the oldest person in Taiwan to have contracted COVID-19 Taiwan yesterday recorded six new imported cases of COVID-19 and two new domestic cases, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, adding that the local infections are linked to the cluster at Taoyuan General Hospital, which now totals 12 cases. One of the domestic cases is a man in his 90s, who was treated earlier this month at Taoyuan General Hospital and tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday last week, four days before he was discharged, the center said in a statement. After one of the nurses on the ward was confirmed on Saturday last week to have contracted COVID-19, the
RSS