The Economist newspaper recently said the world has a right to be shocked by China’s rapid crushing of civic freedoms in Hong Kong, but the Chinese Communist Party will get away with it because Western governments and people cannot alter Beijing’s choices in Hong Kong.

I do not know why The Economist has drawn such a conclusion. What I do know is that in spite of arrests, threats and intimidations, many Hong Kong people continue to struggle fearlessly for freedom and safety, underpinned by the rule of law.

On July 25, Professor Larry Diamond of Hoover Institution at Stanford University spoke at a webinar on The State of Global Democracy organized by the Makati Business Club in Manila. He offered support for the relentless determination of Hong Kong people who engaged in a courageous and inspirational struggle for democracy.

Professor Diamond also urged the pan democrats not to withdraw from the Legislative Council (Legco) in the coming year as it would be needlessly self-destructive: “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” He said Hong Kong people should make use of every tool, every arena and all available space to carry on the struggle and to rally public support. I agree with these suggestions.

For more than a year, Hong Kong people’s struggle for freedoms and democracy has captured the international community’s imagination. In spite of Beijing’s accusation of interfering in China’s internal affairs, many countries supported the peaceful protests and condemned the imposition of national security law (NSL) in July, which is seen as a potent weapon for stifling freedoms.

Last week Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France and will go to Berlin early this week. This was a charm offensive to wrap up investment deals with European countries and to dissuade them from joining the new cold war promoted by the U.S..

European countries have criticized the Chinese Government for its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, its increasingly combative diplomacy, poor human rights record and the Hong Kong NSL. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union and China should continue a dialogue even on areas where they disagree, such as Hong Kong. She will meet Wang on September 1.

When government officials from Italy, Holland, Norway and France met Wang last week, they all raised Hong Kong NSL and human rights violations in China. Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok mentioned the arrests of Legco members and journalists on August 26 and the postponement of the Legco election. Norwegian members of Parliament raised the possibility of Hong Kong people getting the Nobel Peace Prize, a suggestion shot down by Wang as something unacceptable to Beijing.

French President Emmanuel Macron met Wang on August 28. He expressed strong concerns about the situation in Hong Kong and human rights for Muslim Uighurs. This week Yang Jiechi, the head of the Communist Party’s foreign affairs office, will travel to Greece and Spain, and possibly to Portugal. I hope Hong Kong problems and other human rights violations will continue to be raised.

In Hong Kong, many people find the grip of the draconian authorities increasingly stifling. The chilling sweep mounted, thanks to the police which arrested 16 people on August 26, including Democratic Party Legislative Council members Lam Cheuk-ting and Ted Hui. Many were involved in the July 21 Yuen Long railway station incident last year, in which several hundred white shirt men armed with canes and poles savagely attacked residents indiscriminately, seriously injuring many, including Lam.

Thirteen months later, instead of arresting and prosecuting more thugs, the police arrested Lam and charged him with rioting. The dragnet shocked many people in Hong Kong and elsewhere. It is seen as an omen that the Chinese Communist Party will stop at nothing to rewrite history and to harass and intimidate Hong Kong people into silence and submission.

An obvious casualty of the repressive regime is the freedom of conscience and freedom of expression. Last week the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese said church leadership has told the Commission to halt a planned crowdfunding campaign that would have bought advertising space in the Apple Daily to run a prayer for the city’s democratic development in the light of the imposition of the NSL.

Catholic Church leaders disagreed with the fundraising method and the content of the prayer, which said Hong Kong is under threats of abusive control. Cardinal John Tong Hon criticized some priests for using slanderous and offensive remarks in their sermons to incite hatred, which is against the Christian spirit and may cause social instability.

Academic freedom is also in peril. Director of the Hong Kong University’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre, Professor Keith Richburg, said the Centre invited a journalist who has won the Pulitzer Prize to teach one semester as a visiting scholar. The person applied for a work visa two months ago.

Since then, the Centre and the applicant had received almost 50 questions from the Immigration Department, including whether the Centre has tried to recruit a visiting scholar locally. In the end, the journalist withdrew the application. The Director of Immigration, Au Ka-wang, is a member of the National Security Commission chaired by Chief Executive Carrie Lam. News reports said the Immigration Department has set up a national security unit to vet visa applications from foreign journalists. Since then, many applications have been rejected.

As the human rights situation in Hong Kong deteriorates, some frightened and anxious people will leave. But many will stay and will use courageous and creative means to carry on the struggle. It is too early to conclude the game is over. As the song goes, “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going.”

(Emily Lau, Chairperson, International Affairs Committee of the Democratic Party)

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