Protests are not the only way for Hong Kongers to express their views, China’s senior official overseeing Hong Kong affairs said yesterday.
The statement came weeks after Hong Kong’s strict protest rules sparked controversy while signaling Beijing’s vision for territory.
An anti-government movement sparked by an extradition bill in 2019 is a scar that would not fade away, Chinese Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Director Xia Baolong (夏寶龍) said, warning against a repeat of such chaos.
Photo: AFP
Xia’s remarks at a ceremony on China’s National Security Education Day indicated Beijing’s views on the territory, which is promoting its return to normalcy following strict COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions and political turmoil over the past three years.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised it could keep its Western-style civil liberties intact for 50 years after the handover.
However, after the enactment of a Beijing-imposed National Security Law following the 2019 protests, many rights advocates were jailed or silenced amid a crackdown on the territory’s pro-democracy movement. Major protests were also rare under the strict COVID-19 rules.
Late last month, Hong Kong saw its first authorized protest against a government policy since the lifting of major pandemic restrictions under unprecedentedly strict rules, with demonstrators required to wear numbered badges around their necks. That sparked a debate over the erosion of freedom of assembly.
“Demonstrations are not the only way to express one’s interests and demands,” Xia said yesterday, adding that there is no contradiction between safeguarding national security and expressing one’s views.
Experiences has shown that causes centered on environmental protection and livelihood issues can be easily hijacked, he said.
“People’s good will can be easily exploited and manipulated by others with ulterior motives,” he said. “Demands on livelihood issues can even be distorted into political issues and that eventually trigger social confrontation.”
He said a confrontational society has no future.
“I hope Hong Kong can host exhibitions, develop innovation and technology, strive for economic development, have horse races, dances, stock activities and earn some money every day,” he said.
Xia described the 2019 protests as Hong Kong’s version of a “color revolution” and said the territory cannot allow its district councils to be controlled by anti-China and “destabilizing” forces.
Hong Kong’s district councilors largely handle municipal matters, such as organizing construction projects and ensuring that public facilities are in order, but the pro-democracy camp’s landslide victory in local elections in 2019 took on symbolic importance at the height of the social movement.
Local media last month quoted sources as saying that authorities planned to conduct an overhaul of electoral rules for the district council poll, which is expected to take place later this year.
In 2021, Hong Kong amended its electoral laws for its legislature, drastically reducing the public’s ability to vote and increasing the number of pro-Beijing lawmakers making decisions for the territory.
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