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From Tiananmen 89 to Hong Kong’s 2021 political crackdown|Edward Chin

蘋果日報 2021/05/29 11:35


By the time this opinion piece is out, we will have six days left before the 32nd remembrance of Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. The political atmosphere is tense in Hong Kong, and with the imposition of the NSL (National Security Law) for almost a year, the city has tensed up, just like the Tiananmen Square has in Beijing. The memorial services, which are now being scheduled, will probably take place at a few Catholic churches in Hong Kong. Will communist Hong Kong be crazy enough to enforce crackdowns on them? It will be stupid of the NSD (National Security Department) or riot police to raid the Catholic churches and arrest citizens ̶ not yet, I hope, but it will happen soon, as the totalitarian regime is notorious for rewriting history, trying to hide their mistakes and evil wrongdoings.
For those who don’t follow Hong Kong news closely, Communist Hong Kong has officially banned the candlelight vigil for the second time in a row – Hong Kongers had been steadfast in organizing the annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park for decades, drawing in thousands of people, until the totalitarian regime banned it last year. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has now made it clear that any large-scale gathering is a big no-no, and communist Hong Kong’s treatment of protest or public assembly is no different from that of the rest of communist China. Those who tried entering Victoria Park last year have already paid a hefty price ̶ the key organizers of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (支聯會) are either serving prison terms or detained, something no one would have imagined one year ago.
The freezing of assets of Jimmy Lai, the founder of this publication, by the totalitarian regime has been international news over the last few weeks. The latest blow to Hong Kong was dealt less than 24 hours ago when it was reported that communist Hong Kong would, under the draconian NSL, go after the bankers who might handle Jimmy Lai’s frozen assets, and dealing with these frozen assets could land them in prison for up to 7 years. The person who made this announcement was John Lee Ka Chiu, security chief of communist Hong Kong. Ironically, he is one of the 11 Hong Kong officials sanctioned by the US Treasury department under the Trump administration, for aiding crackdowns in Hong Kong and depriving the city of its autonomy and democratization (https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1088).
It is sad to see Hong Kong’s autonomy fading out so quickly. The Tiananmen crackdown 32 years ago put a curse on Hong Kong: the city that supported the Tiananmen student movements in 1989 is now encountering crackdowns on itself by the CCP. As a numbers guy, I prefer putting this categorically in investment terms: CCP has abruptly issued “a put option with a near term expiry date to kill Hong Kong”, and there is no genuine taker of this issuance, buyers or sellers alike. Whatever the CCP does now will ultimately choke Hong Kong to death, and this is one form of mutually assured destruction to its own city (攬炒香港).
As for Hong Kong, the harsh political cleansing continues. The so-called “electoral reform” bars any pro-democracy figure from taking part in election, as any candidate will be vetted by Beijing, and there will be no margin of error allowed. Former legislators and district councilors who have been jailed for months now have made their confessions public: they will not stand for any election, and will stay away from politics forever. The “confessions” were mostly announced through their Facebook accounts, which are managed by the detainees’ confidants. We see a lot of similarities now between the prisoners of conscience in communist China and those in Hong Kong. The demands of Hong Kong people cannot be heard, and those who resist will be heavily punished.
The Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 is an indelible stain in China’s modern history. Those who left before the 1997 Handover took a leap of faith, coming back to contribute to the Hong Kong society. Former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was a man of controversy. After the Tiananmen massacre, people looked into this strong man in a different light. He came up with the idea of economic reform that attracted foreign investments. And with that, the law and order that the international community would trust should follow. Deng even promised that after the Handover, “horse racing and dancing will go on; anyone can criticize the CCP, and even if you do, the Party will not topple down.” Fast-forwarding to 2021, it is quite obvious that Deng’s idea of keeping Hong Kong autonomous from the rest of communist China has failed badly. The CCP has even disqualified Deng’s idea of keeping Hong Kong free for 50 years. And sadly, we have been short-changed by 27 years of the so called “one country, two systems”, and most people must have seen it by now.
I understand that we have entered the “new phase” of “one country two systems”, as the influencers from the CCP call it, but nothing can be further from the truth. Things get darker each day in Hong Kong, and there is no point in reminiscing about the old “glory days” of our past. While things look gloomy, if by any chance the CCP locks down Hong Kong in an extreme case, we should all continue speaking up for ourselves so that the world knows what is happening in Hong Kong, as well as fighting hard to preserve our treasure trove ̶ language, freedoms and heritage.
For Hong Kongers, especially the political prisoners of Hong Kong who are wrongfully arrested and held behind bars, no matter where you are, let’s keep our faith in this uneasy journey to freedom. The energy and spirit needed to keep the courage, hope and trust in fighting for a free Hong Kong is beyond what most people could comprehend. It has come with a huge sacrifice. It will never be easy to carry on, but all the sacrifice has impact. We just pray that a free China and a free Hong Kong will come someday.
(Edward Chin (錢志健) runs a family office. Chin was formerly Country Head of a UK publicly listed hedge fund, the largest of its kind measured by asset under management. Outside the hedge funds space, Chin is Convenor of 2047 Hong Kong Monitor and a Senior Advisor of Reporters Without Borders (RSF, HK & Macau). Chin studied speech communication at the University of Minnesota, and received his MBA from the University of Toronto. Twitter: edwardckchin Youtube: Ed Chin Channel Facebook.com/edckchin Email: [email protected])
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