The Hong Kong version of the national security law is coming to the city with fierce force, and the SAR government is being cooperative with Beijing by launching a sweeping campaign to promote the law. But if only a mere propaganda campaign could win Hong Kongers’ heart, the problems related to Hong Kong would be much easier to tackle.


The introduction of the national security law is about creating a widespread deterrent effect and then reshape Hong Kong people’s perceptions by exerting on them the authorities’ ideology in various aspects. Simply put, it is to brainwash people. With that established, one can easily visualize Beijing’s blueprint for Hong Kong’s future.


First and foremost, Beijing will target the media and the civil society of Hong Kong. Apparently, the SAR government is losing no time to try to take control of mainstream media outlets. Its way of dealing with RTHK in recent months has been verging on being barbaric. The management of Now TV’s news department has also unexpectedly undergone a reshuffle. Meanwhile, the boss of Next Media is under siege by the government, which has allegedly stalked and intimidated him in ways reeking of mafia tactics.


The attempt to take full control of freedom of expression in Hong Kong is coupled with a strategy of making it difficult for people to organize public assemblies, protests and public activities. The police are doing so on the pretext of practising social distancing rules, so that all kinds of anti-government activities cannot take place properly.


With the authorities taking full control of media platforms and stepping up efforts to suppress the civil society, one can imagine that their third step would be to take charge of the parliament. The Legislative Council (LegCo) election in September will definitely see many pro-democracy candidates disqualified. The newly appointed Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs has already shown his true color. This government will surely further empower itself illegitimately and handpick election candidates based on their speech and political position, such as whether they support the national security law, which serves as a simplistic set of criteria for determining whether they support the Basic Law.


Then the education sector will be forced to take a pro-Beijing position. Now the Education Bureau often resorts to issuing letters to threaten schools and teachers. Even anonymous letters are taken seriously. A school whose vice principal signed a petition in his own name without citing his job title was demanded by the bureau to investigate the issue. The matter may be left unresolved eventually, but the government wants to create a deterrent effect. Now parents are even encouraged to complain about school teachers and students are also encouraged to record what teachers say in classes. The introduction of tactics used during the Cultural Revolution is meant to intimidate the whole education sector, making it collaborate with the government to push the official propaganda. The sector’s autonomy will be shattered and voices of dissent stifled, even if brainwashing does not happen any time soon. The tactics adopted by the Education Bureau are no different from the terrifying measures used during the Cultural Revolution.


Besides, the bureau has made it clear that national education and education on the Chinese national flags, the national anthem and national security will be introduced. Obviously, the SAR government wants to drastically change the education sector, so that education will be reduced to an ideological tool. What needs to be reformed in the education sector remains unchanged. Curriculums that should be enriched still see no improvement. And yet so much new content is being added that is meant to brainwash students. This indicates that the CCP and the SAR government are not hesitating to sacrifice the future generations in their efforts to use their ideology to control and mould the young.


Political transformation under a professional disguise


Meanwhile, civil servants have to be loyal to the chief executive. Employees of public institutions, including medics, nurses, social workers, teaching staff of primary and secondary schools and universities, and workers of organizations fully owned by the government can all be required by the government to pledge allegiance and turned into the government’s messengers. As long as they depend on the government’s money or resources, they may have to give up on their basic human rights, political rights and freedom of expression. The rules of the game are now clear. Whether they are responsible for professional sectors such as healthcare and education, officials all have to take part in the process of political transformation that Beijing hopes to achieve.


The problem facing Hong Kong is not about state security but a lack of popular support for the authorities, a backward system and political injustice. If the SAR government, which is under the masquerade of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong”, refuses to carry out political reforms, it will rot together with the power that be. Total politicizing of the leadership of the SAR government will, first and foremost, make the whole government lose its credibility. But it seems the government’s credibility is no longer a concern, since the existing political system is not one that can offer much credibility to government leaders. But is there any hope of success in carrying out this kind of Cultural Revolution-style transformation that will only serve to undermine the government’s credibility and popularity? Can the civil society of Hong Kong be deprived of its vitality by the noose of the national security law? Any regime that is obsessed with power and violence tends to overestimate their abilities, and that is precisely why Hong Kong has come down to this. What we are seeing now is just a fortified version of past mistakes.

(Chung Kimwah, vice CEO of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institution)

Click here for Chinese version.

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