For democracy advocates, it’s hard not to just give up on Hong Kong. Since June 30, 2020, when the National Security Law in what is one of China’s Special Administrative Regions (SAR) came into effect, Hong Kong authorities have been moving swiftly to suppress dissent. They escalated the crackdown in 2021, prohibiting public assembly, stifling freedom of expression, and arresting scores of dissidents.
Just about a week into 2021, for example, Hong Kong authorities arrested more than 50 democrats with “conspiracy to commit subversion” over their participation in a primary election prior to legislative council polls. Those arrested included district councilors or former legislative council members who the government perceives as its critics. Most were denied bail and were detained in prison for months before sentencing.
“I never expected the crackdown to be on such a large scale,” says Natalie, who like the rest the Hong Kongers interviewed for this story uses a pseudonym for security reasons. “Now I know the authority would do anything to eliminate dissidents, regardless of their political spectrum.”
The now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front during a press conference in 2020. At least 50 civil service organizations have been dissolved in 2021.
Many civil-society organizations (CSOs) have since shut down, and the few remaining are trying to figure out what they are still allowed to do. One of the more common criticisms about the National Security Law, after all, is that it is vague and too open to interpretation, especially when it talks about “threats to national security.” It was actually supposed to be passed by the Hong Kong legislature, but it could never do so because of its sheer unpopularity among Hong Kongers. It took a pandemic — and the Chinese legislature in Beijing — for it to be finally passed.
Three days after it came into effect, even UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Rupert Colville noted that the “vague and overly broad” wording of the law may lead to its “discriminatory or arbitrary interpretation and enforcement … which could undermine human rights protection.”
His words proved prophetic. By July 1, 2021, the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China by Britain, the streets on Hong Kong Island were no longer filled by the usual throngs of demonstrators demanding that authorities keep true to the “one country, two systems” policy. The Civil Human Rights Front, which had been calling for the 71-demonstration for over a decade, disbanded soon after. According to some estimates, at least 50 CSOs were dissolved or disbanded last year.
(“One country, two systems” is supposed to be China’s official policy for its two SARs — the other being Macau. Under it, Hong Kong and Macau are supposed to enjoy the freedoms they had enjoyed under Britain and Portugal, respectively, for 50 years after their separate handovers to Beijing. The 71-demonstration is so-called in reference to the date of Hong Kong’s handover and China’s promise of “one country, two systems.”)
Struggling to remain positive
But there are those who say that it would be wrong to count out Hong Kong civil society just yet. Says one academic: “I believe in the resilience of Hong Kongers. The civil society may appear to die down for now, but the underlying power remains.”
Vivian, who works for the Hong Kong office of an international rights organization, meanwhile says, “We remain dormant for now, but who knows what will happen in the future? We have to be prepared for anything coming.”
For sure, though, it is a challenge to be optimistic in Hong Kong in the aftermath of the 2021 crackdown. In March last year, a Hong Kong court convicted Democratic Party founder Martin Lee, 82, with other pro-democracy leaders for allegedly participating in an “unauthorized assembly” in 2019. Three months later, the police, citing pandemic protocols, once again banned the annual vigil in the Victoria Park marking the Tiananmen massacre. For the first time in 32 years, there were no lit candles at the park.
The ban was followed by the dissolution of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements, the organization established after the 1989 massacre and which had since been supporting mainland Chinese dissidents. Earlier, the Alliance’s vice chairperson, Chow Hang-tung, had been convicted for “incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly” in the June 4 vigil, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She was, however, already serving a 12-year jail sentence at the time, for participating and inciting an unauthorized assembly in 2020.
The Chinese media became weapons against groups perceived as not toeing the official line. State-orchestrated wumao (五毛), or online propaganda, was another tactic used to spread disinformation about targeted groups.
Hong Kong’s largest teachers’ union was forced to disband after being targeted by Chinese state media. Said Fung Wai-wah, president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union (HKPTU), during an August 2021 press conference: “We faced immense pressure … there was no way to resolve the crisis.”
June 12, 2021. Protesters at the “London Rally for Hong Kong” commemorate the failed anti-government demonstrations in the Special Administrative Region in 2019, when democracy activists surrounded the city’s legislature to stop the passage of a new national security law for Hong Kong.
In the same month, five members of the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists were arrested after being accused of distributing three children’s books that authorities said were intended to “bring into hatred of contempt or to excite disaffection” against the Hong Kong government.
The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), which had been at the forefront of local workers’ movements for over two decades, was also dissolved to ensure its members’ safety; Chinese state media had accused it of “colluding with foreign forces.” Groups such as Medecins Inspires, Act Voice, and Progressive Lawyers Group, founded by medical practitioners, actuaries, and lawyers respectively to mobilize their professions, decided to close down as well.
“We have to cease the operation of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund before it has fulfilled its mission,” said pro-democracy lawyer Margaret Ng in August 2021. “It is a deep regret.” Shortly after the Fund shut down, the renowned prisoner rights support group Wall-Fare was also dissolved, which meant resources and support for those behind bars became even more limited.
Clampdown on free press
By then, the city’s once vibrant independent local press was already under heavy attack. In June 2021, Hong Kong authorities raided the offices of the popular Apple Daily. Arrested for allegedly colluding “with external forces to endanger national security” were five senior executives of the paper, including chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung and editor in chief Ryan Law. Apple Daily’s assets of HKD 18 million (US$2.31 million) were frozen; the company was forced to shut down on June 24, 2021. The paper’s final run of one million copies was sold out.
“I was shocked,” says Samantha, a local journalist. “After all, Apple Daily has been one of the most influential presses. Freedom of press shrank way faster than I foresaw.”
Within half a year after the Apple Daily raid, another independent news outlet, Stand News, shut down, following the arrest of seven key figures related to it. Among those arrested were two former editors who were charged with “conspiring to publish seditious publications” and were remanded into custody.
Earlier, in April 2021, freelance journalist and award-winning TV producer Bao Choy was convicted for supposedly submitting “misleading information” to access data while doing research for a documentary on the 2019 mob attacks on pro-democracy protesters.
She had done the piece for “Hong Kong Connection,” a popular show on the state-owned Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), which ran it in 2020. After Director of Broadcasting Patrick Li took office in March 2021, RTHK terminated at least 10 of its current-affairs shows, including acclaimed programs such as “Hong Kong Connection” and “RTHK Talk Show.”
These days, rights group worker Vivian says, “You never know where the ‘red line’ lies. We have no choice but to self-censor.”
“We used to collaborate with pro-democracy legislators and publish articles in the media,” she adds. “How can we produce any social impact without free flow of information and freedom of speech?”
In fact, Amnesty International found the situation too suffocating and decided to shut down its two Hong Kong offices late last year. According to the international rights group, it had become “impossible for human rights organizations in Hong Kong to work freely and without fear of serious reprisals from the government.”
Not giving up yet
But the academic who has put her money on the resilience of Hong Kongers says that the currently dormant “political electricity” of the city’s residents will one day “arise anew from the ashes like a phoenix.”
“As long as the civil society maintains its ability of self-mobilization, it won’t be diminished,” she says.
The academic, who is based overseas at present, also points out that ever since the 2019 Hong Kong protests, pro-democracy supporters have been actively establishing the “yellow economic circle” that encourages “political consumption.” That is, says the scholar, they “BUYcott” pro-democracy merchants and boycott Beijing-affiliated businesses.
The academic says that this is an illustration of economic mobilization that persists through the National Security Law. She says, “The ‘yellow economic circle’ demonstrates the economic power of Hong Kongers. This is how market economy works, you can’t stop people from consumption according to their preferences.”
She herself recognizes the significance of both retrospective and explorative academic research that could open up new channels for future resistance. She vows to continue to study the post-national security law scenario in Hong Kong. “The most important thing for scholars is not to self-censor, especially for those who went overseas,” says the academic. “I constantly remind myself that there is a reason why I left.”
As for journalist Samantha, she no longer works for a media firm, just like so many of her colleagues following the crackdown on independent publications last year. But she is nevertheless still working hard — doing legwork, writing, and publishing her reports online on her blog.
“Press freedom deteriorated rapidly, but people are still trying their best in their positions,” she says. She adds that while she does not have as many resources as before, this style of independent civil journalism will be the new trend in Hong Kong. Argues Samantha: “There are news that the mainstream media would not cover, so we have to fill up the gap.”
The situation is worrisome, she admits. “You never know when you will run afoul of the authorities,” she says. “The path is undoubtedly way tougher. Yet there ought to be someone who dares to tell the truth.”
“For those who stay in Hong Kong including myself, there seems to be nothing we can do, but there is also a lot that we can do,” Samantha says. “The authority is trying to erase our history. It is the duty of Hong Kongers to tell the truth and record history.” ●
Annie Au formerly worked as China beat journalist based in Hong Kong. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and is furthering her studies in sociology.
