Every morning when the alarm rings, it takes a lot of courage to look at notifications on the phone. There is always something—someone is denied bail, someone is sentenced, or someone is arrested—awaiting you in the notifications. This week it is the arrest of 20 people and HSBC freezing accounts of politicians and churches. No longer being content with operating Hong Kong under the facade of “One Country, Two Systems”, Beijing is willing to sacrifice all the pillars of Hong Kong’s prosperity for full control over the city. The city’s reputation as an international financial center is built on an independent and reliable legal system, and an open society that allows all its residents fundamental freedoms.

That the bank account of the Good Neighbour North District Church and the personal bank accounts of its founder Chan Hoi Hing, a preacher, and his wife have been frozen by HSBC is clearly an act of political crackdown. In the movement last year, their group “Safeguard Our Generation”, which comprises mostly middle-age and elderly members, devoted themselves to offering humanitarian support to frontline protesters. Lau Ka-tung, a social worker who was sentenced earlier, is also working at the Good Neighbour North District Church. This incident, which occurred at the same time the freezing of the accounts of Ted Hui and his entire family took place, hints at the next targets of crackdown.

NGOs that hold a charity licence and those who have raised funds for the movement, regardless of their purpose, are targets Beijing is after. The Good Neighbour North District Church has a charity licence (R88) and is legally entitled to raise funds. Freezing its related accounts is the beginning of the government drastically giving the charities an overhaul. While NGOs have always been perceived as a threat and accomplices in the “color revolution” by Beijing, the present case is just unfortunately the beginning. Crowdfunding has also become a target of this latest round of oppressions. The money, which was willingly contributed by Hong Kongers to the movement and has demonstrated solidarity among the middle-upper class, has alarmed Beijing. Crowdfunding efforts are suppressed with financial means easily, as long as the money gathered exceeds the budget and how it is to be used is not clearly stated, or it is “suspected” to be laundered. Apart from crowdfunding projects, formal establishments such as the 612 Fund will likely be scathed.

Religious groups are undoubtedly another target of Beijing. Last year, a lot of churches provided sanctuary for protesters, and they are therefore being picked on by the government. Like NGOs, religious groups also menace Beijing’s regime as they set up tight-knit communities, hence hinder people from pledging loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party(CCP). This incident is tantamount to tearing down crucifixes in the Mainland. Moreover, school sponsoring bodies (SSBs) in Hong Kong mostly come from religious groups, societies and charitable organizations, so targeting religious groups and charities is in line with Beijing’s goal to implement patriotic education. While 40% of the nearly 10,000 protesters arrested last year were students, Beijing now turns to re-education of the city’s youths through imposing patriotic education on schools.

Targeting religious and charity groups, Beijing aims to dismantle any possible resistance in the society like what the implementation of the national security law is aimed at. Good Neighbours North District Church, and many other groups and individuals, have taken in and hired many protesters or youngsters who were on the frontline in the past year. It has been normal for employers to take care and support the movement in such a way, but under the national security law, it would become crimes like “financing terrorism” or “inciting secession”. The outcome is fewer and fewer employers would be willing to hire young people, especially those involved in lawsuits, even though they are sympathetic towards them. Fearing for their companies’ and personal assets frozen and getting involved in related lawsuits is huge deterrent for the employers.

What happens every day in Hong Kong is nothing but absurd. The feelings of helplessness, defeat and fear have become a constant in my mind. There seems to be no solution other than winning the fight for freedom and democracy. I have no words of comfort to offer, because the pain of witnessing your loved ones being tortured cannot be eased. But in the face of all the absurd dramas, we can do more than just sitting in misery. In Camus’ book “The Plague”, the protagonist says “I have no idea what’s awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.” At this moment, we have no idea what is coming, or when it will come to an end, but there are lots of things to do—to attend court hearings, write to inmates, support the yellow economic circle, boycott “Leave Home Safe”, and take care of ourselves.

(Glacier Kwong, born and raised in Hong Kong, became a digital rights and political activist at the age of 15. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Law and working on the course for Hong Kong in Germany. Her work has been published on Washington Post, TIME, etc.)

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