The day Beijing foists its national security law on Hong Kong, social justice will vanish and the death of Hong Kong will come to pass, Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai has said in a recent interview with a Japanese news publication.

The national security law stood to threaten Hong Kong’s freedoms and rule of law, especially since a new office would be set up in the city to be controlled by the central government, Lai told the monthly Japanese-language news magazine Facta.

“Mainland China is a place where the rule of law is absent,” he said. “Human rights lawyers and pro-democracy activists can be arrested without any legal grounds and trials are not open. Many people have vanished silently.”

Lai said Hong Kongers would face similar treatments if the national security law was implemented. He also worried that those who were unfairly arrested would be tempted to bribe “corrupt” mainland officials, knowing that it was the only way to avoid false imprisonment.

“Social justice will then fall apart instantly. The rights to free press and free speech that Hong Kong enjoys will all vanish. Once the rule of man prevails, it will be the death of Hong Kong,” he said.

Without social justice, Hong Kong would lose its status as an international financial hub, Lai said. Not only would it disrupt regular trade and transactions, many high-level financial talents would likely be forced to leave, he added.

Lai ventured that policymakers in Beijing were taking advantage of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to “turn Hong Kong upside down.”

“The pandemic is keeping Europe and the U.S. busy. They cannot take immediate and stern action, so Beijing is taking this opportunity to act aggressively,” he said.

Lai himself is facing a number of charges arising from his participation in pro-democracy activities such as demonstrations against the now-withdrawn extradition bill campaign and the annual June 4 vigil that commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

He anticipated that he could end up being jailed for six months but said he would carry on with his fight for freedom and democracy.

“Even if I must leave Hong Kong one day, even if I cannot step on Hong Kong soil again, I will continue my fight at another corner of the world until the Chinese Communist Party allows freedom and democracy,” he said.

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