It’s been two years and it has been a rough two years. The bad news we have heard and the pain we have endured are the equivalent of decades of life. Whether it’s family or friends, there are always those nearby who have been harmed or arrested, and even those who are already inside the walls, suffering from psychological torment almost every day.

It’s been two years and Hong Kong is no longer the city we know. It is as if a lifetime has passed and everything is now beyond recognition. Time has brought great changes in just two years, turning the world upside down, and Hong Kong has regressed by half a century with no words that can accurately describe the city today. An international financial center with the greatest freedom in the world has been depriving its citizens of their freedom and human rights for the past two years. Essentially all the political rights of citizens, including the right to march, assemble, demonstrate, form associations, vote, etc., have vanished into thin air, and there is very little remaining of the freedom of speech, press and academic thought. This new Hong Kong is too strange!

The relationship between Hong Kong and China has also changed dramatically. Hong Kong and China were at their best around the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and seemed to be heading towards a slow integration. At that time, young people living in Yuen Long and North District often went north to Shenzhen for dining, drinking and entertainment. On the one hand, spending was much cheaper than in Hong Kong, and on the other hand, the commute to city centers such as Mongkok and Causeway Bay was expensive, so they would not go to Yau Tsim Mong even once a month, but often went to Shenzhen for shopping. There were also many people who lived in Shenzhen but traveled to Hong Kong every day for school or work. Even former Chief Executive Donald Tsang had planned to settle in Shenzhen after he left office. Many retired civil servants, including senior officials, had bought properties around the Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Panyu regions.

In terms of cross-border facilities such as the High Speed Rail, the general opposition of Hong Kong people is that the government has ignored public opinion, the construction cost is too high, it is too grand and inappropriate, it damages the environment and so on. When the issues related to the Individual Visit Scheme became increasingly severe and impacted greatly on people’s livelihood, not only did the government not address the problem squarely, but also kept asking Hong Kong people to be tolerant and even criticizing their attitude. Coupled with the increasingly leftist public opinion in China and the intensification of conflicts, Hong Kong people’s distrust of China has deepened and played a distant role in the anti-ELAB campaign. Today, the mutual distrust between Hong Kong and China is unprecedented.

In order to surpass Deng Jiang, Xi is taking a strong stance on Hong Kong

In fact, Hong Kong is not the only place that has changed, the Hong Kong and Macau system in Beijing has also undergone a dramatic change! On February 13 last year, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office was reorganized in the biggest scale since its establishment, with the former Director Zhang Xiaoming demoted to Deputy Director and replaced by Xia Baolong, who also served as a vice chairman of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and secretary general (at the level of vice national leader). The reshuffle was certainly a result of Hong Kong’s unprecedented anti-ELAB campaign, which was “proof” of the ineffectiveness of the Hong Kong and Macau system, as well as a major purge that saw officials from the former Hong Kong and Macau system, especially those responsible for Hong Kong affairs, either eliminated, demoted or rendered powerless.

The Hong Kong Liaison Office was also purged too. In addition to Wang Zhimin, who was dismissed from his post (currently the vice president of the Central Institute for Party History and Literature Research), the Liaison Office also had a “tsunami-style” large-scale turnover, with half of the 480-staff establishment subject to change, and even ministerial management affected (there are 21 “departments” under the Liaison Office, including the Office of the Chief of Staff and the Kowloon Working Department), a magnitude rarely seen in the past. As a direct result of such a major purge, the relatively moderate and traditional administrators of the Hong Kong and Macau system, who were given the blame for the defeat of the Hong Kong and Macau policy, were replaced by the hawkish hardliners. In the light of the preceding example, the newcomers are bound to be more leftist than their predecessors. This is one of the reasons for the changes in Hong Kong, but it is still not the main cause.

So, who made Hong Kong’s beautiful scenery change into such a vulgar one, and who made Hong Kong’s turquoise waters change into such a turbulent one?

First, of course, is the rapid change of attitude from the top leadership towards Hong Kong. Xi Jinping and his entourage have long expressed their discontent with Hong Kong, and their dislike of the city’s political and economic systems, the people’s way of life, and unique culture, all of which can be revealed by the content of their speeches when they met with the two Chief Executives during their duty visits to Beijing. The paramount principle of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the helm of power is control, and the use of various soft means to tighten control over Hong Kong in recent years was still considered ineffective, which gave rise to former Liaison Office official Cao Erbao’s remark of a second governing team for Hong Kong, as well as the State Council’s White Paper on “One Country, Two Systems” in Hong Kong. After Xi Jinping took power, Beijing’s interference in Hong Kong’s affairs has increased and is now being legitimized. This change has to do with the growing power of China and the reversal of the economic status of Hong Kong and China, but also with the persistent need for Xi to surpass the achievements of his predecessors. Although the return of Hong Kong to China was the achievement of Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, if the hearts and minds of Hong Kong people do not belong to China, the reunification will be a half-hearted project. Therefore, in order to accomplish this mission and surpass Deng Jiang, Xi has to use strong measures.

The next reason is Carrie Lam. She has been complimented by Xi Jinping for her good start at the beginning of her term. But some people just cannot be praised. Receiving Xi’s approval, walking alongside him at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and the ease with which the Co-operation Arrangement was enacted naturally boosted her confidence. She is also an unrealistic high-ranking official who talks of “humility,” so she emerged as the “great one” who would change the world’s political landscape, and if she wants to stay, she will have to make amends and cater to Beijing completely.

We made it through two years of such pain and suffering! Perhaps, there will be another two years and more to come, but our hearts have become stronger and we can tolerate bad news better, so the usual bad news can no longer knock us down. However, we must always remind ourselves not to become desensitized, which is what Uncle Chi said in the film “Ten Years”: “Remember to never get accustomed to it.” We must remain sensitive to absurdity, alert to cynicism, critical of injustice, and sober to our original intentions.

Stay persistent and do not give up. As long as there is a stone, we can ignite tinder and there will always be tomorrow. Our faith, hope and love will meet again even after the end of it all, so add oil Hong Kong people! The question is, when will Hong Kong’s upheavals quiet down?

Depending on the political situation in China, the National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2022 will be an opportunity. By that time, Hong Kong will have completed a series of elections and most of its institutional changes, and it is possible that after Beijing’s victory, Hong Kong will have a temporary moment of calm in time to welcome Xi’s eternal rule of the country. There is also the possibility of more rapid sinicization actions. In addition to the reform of the political and judicial systems, the legal status of Putonghua and simplified Chinese characters, and even the decolonization of street names, as well as patriotism in education and the media, will be addressed before the huge changes in Hong Kong can truly come to an end.

(Poon Siu-to , veteran journalist)

This article is translated from Chinese by Apple Daily.

Click here for Chinese version

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