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The world can no longer afford to look away from Hong Kong and Xinjiang | Joseph Long

蘋果日報 2021/03/06 09:15


With the pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong on the wane after the imposition of the so-called national security law last year, the Chinese state has been itching to purge, once and for all, Hong Kong of its opposition in its entirety – a real pain in the neck that Peking had long wanted to get rid of but for the response of the international community that it would have precipitated and the impact that it would have had on Hong Kong’s international standing, particularly as a regional financial centre whose success is dependent upon, among other things, judicial independence and the rule of law, which together serve as a backstop against interventions from the north and the potential encroachment of civil liberties and political rights should Peking so decide.
It was also because of the existence of an independent judiciary and the maintenance of the rule of law that, notwithstanding the constant threats from the north, Hong Kong was able to remain an all-in-all free city for 20 odd years between the handover in 1997 and the onset of the anti-extradition bill movements in 2019: pro-democracy politicians – including those who were strongly critical of the Chinese authorities – were able to stand for elections; Hong Kong citizens were free to hold opinions of any kind without any interference or so much as a reason to be worried about political or legal repercussions, so long as they were made within the clearly-delineated bounds of the law, i.e., not tortious. Much as it wanted to put an end to political assemblies such as the annual June 4th vigils and the July 1st marches, or to get rid of pro-democracy members in the Legislative Council, whom it deemed obstructive, Peking was unable to do anything about taming the opposition in Hong Kong without having to risk putting the city-state’s rule of law in harm’s way – a decision which former Communist Party leaders such as Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao knew would irretrievably damage Hong Kong’s standing as an open, pluralist society.
Gone were the days when the self-restraint of Chinese leaders, at least insofar as Hong Kong is concerned, could be counted upon. The political and intellectual incontinence of Xi Jinping and his cronies, along with their doltishness, psychopathic tendencies, disinhibition, egotism and arrogance, have turned what used to be the most prosperous and free city in Asia into one of terror teetering on the edge of the abyss. Since the imposition of the national security law in July last year, the authorities have made sweeping arrests that are of such extensiveness that every prominent pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong is now either in jail or in exile. The 47 activists who were charged and put on remand last week for their role in the unofficial primaries held last summer that aimed to maximise the pro-democracy bloc’s performance in elections to the city’s legislative council are the latest victims under the catch-all law. Their crime? “Subverting state power” through organising a primary ballot, with the aim to gain control of the council and subsequently vote down the budget. Apparently, running for office in Hong Kong is now a crime that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Equipped with the farcical national security law, the authorities are now able to press charges against anyone who merely exercised one’s basic political rights enshrined in the law.
The cost for those in Hong Kong who, despite everything, decide to continue with their fight against the Chinese regime is now so huge that it is simply no longer tenable to do so. Like many in Hong Kong, I cannot help but feel an overwhelming sense of frustration over the inaction and impotence of the international community in holding China to account for its continued perpetration of human rights abuses against Hong Kong and the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. Given the seriousness of the allegations made against Peking over its treatment of Uyghurs and the iniquities and systematic suppression against the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong, the international community is justified in taking a stronger stance against the Chinese state, not least because, with the rise of China, the world can no longer afford to let Xi Jinping and his cronies carry on with their despicable agenda of destroying freedoms and subjugating people to the whimsical arbitrariness of their evil regime.
(Joseph Long is a London-based writer and linguist from Hong Kong.)
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