The controversy surrounding the frozen bank accounts of Ted Hui and his family shows that Hong Kong has been reduced to not only just another city in the Greater Bay Area but also a lawless, third or fourth-tier city in China. The laam chau (scorched earth) strategy advocated by some anti-government protesters is actually being implemented by the Security Bureau of the Hong Kong government now. The rule of law used to be the most important value in Hong Kong, setting it apart from mainland Chinese cities. Under the rule of law, private properties are protected by law and no Red Guard or national security organ can seize or freeze such properties. In criminal investigations, applications have to be filed with the High Court in order for private properties to be frozen, and administrative agencies cannot apply for an asset freezing order based on guesswork. However, with the enactment of the national security law in Hong Kong, any investigation related to the National Security Department and any case allegedly related to national security are subject to the severe penal law implemented in the mainland. The common law standard has suddenly become invalid. Jimmy Lai, who is charged with fraud, is treated as a serious criminal who cannot be released on bail. Hui, who fled Hong Kong recently, even has his and his family’s bank accounts frozen.

Why did Hui get treated like this? Was it Security Bureau chief John Lee who ordered the freezing of his accounts in accordance with the national security law? Or was it a High Court Judge who issued the order based on police investigations? So far there is no official explanation yet. What is even more ridiculous is that the Huis’ accounts were first frozen and then partially unfrozen and then frozen again. The authorities have not offered a reason for all that. Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah of the police force’s National Security Department told the press that the police had investigated HKD850,000 in Hui’s personal account and therefore froze his and his family’s accounts at some point. He said that had nothing to do with the national security law or Hui’s going into exile. He also noted that the police had no information on Hui’s accounts being frozen again. If the probe is really not related to the national security law, does that mean administrative organs can freeze the assets of a person as long as he or she is under investigation by the National Security Department? If the police are investigating whether Hui was involved in money laundering, why did they later let HSBC unfreeze his and his family’s accounts, so that his family could move the money out of the accounts?

According to the principle of presumption of innocence under the common law, there needs to be sufficient grounds for detaining a person without releasing him or her on bail. The same goes to the freezing of a person’s bank account. Safeguarding human rights is courts’ primary obligation, and the burden of proof lies with administrative organs. For the international community, Hong Kong has become a lawless Third World city. The international financial hub that had gradually evolved from a world factory in the 1980s, thanks to the British colonial government, was destroyed overnight. Who would have thought 30 years of efforts could have been wasted like this? Foreign businessmen in Hong Kong could now be detained and their own and their family members’ bank accounts could be frozen so long as they get probed by the National Security Department on suspicion of money laundering. Even if they are not charged eventually due to a lack of evidence, can they continue to run their businesses with their assets frozen for half a year? Our ingenious Security Bureau chief has accelerated the scotched earth process. Hui probably has never expected that either.

Under the authoritarian regime, those in power apparently believe there is no political cost in trying out any radical means. Activists are slapped with heavy sentences for relatively mild offenses or get detained arbitrarily. Others find their assets frozen by the authorities and even their family members are affected. No explanation has to be offered. The idea is to get tough on the targets first. All the vigorous actions will make it impossible for the Hong Kong economy to recover after the pandemic. This is because we are no longer a world factory relying on cheap labor. The assets of an international financial center are freedom, rule of law, stability of policies, and predictability of events. Today, Hong Kong has become a place with extremely high political risks. When banks can freeze anyone’s assets at any time at the order of the Security Bureau chief, it is game over for this financial hub.

Now let’s work on becoming a financial center in the Third World. This city has completely lost the trust of the West.

(Lau Sai Leung, political commentator)

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