Tam Tak Chi, an opposition activist in Hong Kong, was arrested by the police and charged with five counts of uttering seditious words and another of acting disorderly in public places. It was alleged that after the implementation of the National Security Law, Tam has intentionally made seditious remarks at street booths, which included articulating “Liberating Hong Kong. Revolution of our time.” 70 times, “Five major demands. No one less.” 90 times as well as other anti-police and anti-establishment slogans such as “No show in 721, murder in 831”, “Dirty cops and their families go to hell”, “Overthrow the Chinese Communist Party” and so on. He was accused of provoking the public to shout those slogans, thereby stirring up hatred towards the Hong Kong government and the police. In fact, this is the second time of a colonial-era evil law being used for prosecution. Back in March, Cheng Lai King, the chairman of the Central And Western District Council and a member of the Democratic Party, was arrested for committing the crime of “seditious intention”, which referred to her social media sharing that contained personal particulars of the police officer who shot at the eye of a reporter. In the wake of this, the special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council strongly urged the government of Hong Kong to review the respective sedition ordinance and make sure it complies with the existing international bill of human rights.

Mainland officials and media have always criticized Hong Kong people for being obsessed with the colonial times, and urged for the need of de-colonization in the city. However, to be exact, what was the essence of the colonial governance? It was the imposition of draconian laws and severe punishment. Such a legally entitled, overwhelming authority was what the suzerain, as a foreign ruler, had to rely on so as to suppress and penalize the opposition. To de-colonize, the first thing to get rid of should be draconian laws and severe punishment. Nevertheless, as things unfolded, what is happening currently in Hong Kong goes in the opposite direction. Rusty colonial laws are revived and repeatedly used for political prosecutions. Sadly indeed, the essence of the governance has never changed.

According to media reports, the one who initiated to use Section 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance to tackle Hong Kong people was Ronny Tong Ka Wah, an Executive Council member who ironically made his mark in the political realm by opposing Article 23 in 2003. In 2017, a huge “Independence of Hong Kong” banner appeared in the concourse of the Chinese University. Ronny Tong suggested that the case should be investigated by the police, and with written consent from the Department of Justice, the people involved could be prosecuted. In fact, Section 10 of the Crimes Ordinance clearly states any person who “utters any seditious words” or “prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes, displays or reproduces any seditious publication”. And the original intent is to pinpoint behaviors that will “bring about hatred or contempt or excite disaffection against the person of Her Majesty, or Her Heirs or Successors, or against the Government of Hong Kong, or the government of any other part of Her Majesty’s dominions or of any territory under Her Majesty’s protection as by law established”. After 1997, such a colonial evil law has been kept, only having the words “Her Majesty” replaced by “the SAR Government”. And it is in fact even more draconian than that of the Hong Kong version of National Security Law.

Recently, the government has allocated $50 million to employ an international public relations firm for a promotional campaign to relaunch Hong Kong, trying to convince its people and the world that the city has been back to normal. But anyone with a bit of common sense can tell it is not the case. The regime has never stopped resorting to draconian laws and severe punishment. From Cheng, Lam Cheuk Ting, Hui Chi Fung to Tam, the ongoing cases of political prosecution simply remind everyone that the situation is actually getting worse. With civil rights frozen out and street protest confined, the people of Hong Kong has now opted to resist in a passive way. The failure of the Universal Community Testing Program is a perfect demonstration of this. Regardless of the intimidation by Carrie Lam and communist-controlled media, such a passive resistance has made effective governance almost impossible.

After all, there is only one way to really relaunch Hong Kong: restoring our core values of respecting human rights and freedom as well as the government being accountable to the public. Oppression and brutality can neither enhance the authority of the government nor subdue the people. Rather, this will only end up with an illegitimate government and an undermined civil society that prolongs the last gasp in a lose-lose situation. And before long, when the current conflict reaches its boiling point, an even more acute political confrontation will take place. From 2014, 2016 to 2019, those in power have kept resorting to draconian laws and severe punishment in tackling the people fighting for democracy and freedom. Yet their wrongdoings have only been bringing Hong Kong further and further away from normality.

(Lau Sai Leung is a political commentator based in Hong Kong and a former full-time member of the HKSAR Central Policy Unit. )

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