by Fong Yuen

In his keynote speech at a webinar commemorating the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law, Zhang Xiao-ming used the Basic Law as a pretext to sell the national security law, which is full of easily refutable demagogic arguments.

According to Zhang, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was forced by the opposition camp in Hong Kong to enact the national security law, and the situation in Hong Kong had reached that point as described by Deng Xiao-ping: “It wouldn’t work without the central government taking action”. However, who forced Hong Kong citizens to put up a fight? If it hadn’t been for the CCP repetitively breaking promises, tampering with the Basic Law, and brutally repressing Hong Kong people’s demand for democracy, why wouldn’t Hong Kong people have treasured the splendid living environment they have so diligently established over the last century? The CCP blatantly has torn up the Sino-British Joint Declaration, turning the Basic Law into a camouflage.

Indiscriminate arrests and beatings by Hong Kong police have become the norm. The SAR government has been used to being brazen. The CCP has forced the originally powerless pan-democracy camp into a rebel army of 4 to 5 million Hong Kong People.

If the CCP managed to self-reflect a little, they would ask themselves why Hong Kong people have become more distant, and turned their backs on them 23 years after the handover. Hong Kong political landscape has worsened because of the SAR government. There wouldn’t have been rallies joined by millions of Hongkongers if Carrie Lam hadn’t proposed the extradition-to-China bill. The waves of rebel wouldn’t have roared time and again if Carrie Lam hadn’t ordered Hong Kong police to savagely repress peaceful protesters. The gradual widening of political antagonism will deepen to an irremediable end, because the SAR government keeps making every move wrong.

From now on media will only praise CCP

Hong Kong society generally agree that setting up an independent investigation body is the only way to resolve political disputes. Why has the SAR government refused to enable an open and fair inquiry into this political turmoil, to find out the root cause of the government-civilian conflicts, to rectify mistakes in governance, and mitigate citizens’ discontent? Why has it put the blame on Hong Kong citizens, and even gone so far as to coercively impose the national security law on Hong Kong people at all costs? Its deliberate attempt to exert violent political power on resolving conflicts with its people is primarily its old trick to confuse truth and falsehood.

Zhang swore that the national security law only targeted a handful of people. Since the CCP came to power, every political campaign has emphasized targeting a handful of people. When the minority were persecuted, the majority stood by, and even rubbed salt into wounds. While the small number of people were left slaughtered, their families were devastated and even killed. CCP’s so-called “a handful of people” usually means 5%. As to 7 million Hong Kong people, 5% is 350,000. Assuming each family has 4 members, there would be 1.4 million victims. These are not figures, but individual lives of flesh and blood.

Zhang had not forgotten to intimidate Hong Kong people by condemning media that cover China negatively, which in essence is to topple the state authorities and subvert CCP leadership. What he meant is that the freedom of speech and publication enjoyed by Hong Kong people according to the Basic Law will be lost forever. Hong Kong media have always covered facts, no matter positive or negative. Just as Zhang said, from now on Hong Kong media can only praise the CCP for its achievements and virtues, but not expose government vices. Then, what is the difference between Hong Kong and cities in the mainland? Is there “one country, two systems” anymore?

Hong Kong people live under evil law

How is negative news defined? The criteria are coined by the CCP. The CCP celebrated the spring festival as usual amidst the Wuhan epidemic outbreak – is it negative news? Civil journalists Chen Qiu-shi and Fang Bin’s whereabouts remain unknown - is it negative news? Li Ke-qiang announced in a press conference that 6000 million people were earning RMB1,000 a month in China – is it negative news? “Street vendors economy” had been banging pots and pans for a while, then in a blink of an eye street vendors were deemed illegal and swept – is it negative news? In case a medium reports such news which pisses the CCP off, should that news website be shut down and the boss arrested? Even more terribly, there is no objective and strict standard as for what “overthrowing the state authorities and subverting CCP leadership” means. Guilty or not, the decision is manipulated by the government. Hong Kong people will live under the dragnet of the evil law at all time.

The crux is not about who or how many people are targeted. Based on Zhang’s statement, Hong Kong people can be caught by the long arms of the law anytime, even just for a slip of tongue. Guilty of speech, guilty of rumor, guilty of believing in rumor. Meanwhile, it is still an unknown under the national security law whether Hong Kong courts and prisons have a robust mechanism to protect suspects and offenders’ personal rights and safety.

Zhang boasted that the China legal system had already gained “universally acknowledged” improvement, and China and Hong Kong had similar criminal judicial system so that it would be impossible to frame anyone arbitrarily. Given that it is true, let’s ask Carrie Lam that if she was convicted of a crime, would she rather stand trial and serve sentence in Hong Kong than voluntarily do so in China ? Evil law implementation is bound to be confronted by resistance of Hong Kong people, and sanctions from western countries. Caught between two fires, the CCP will never see days of peace. Hong Kong people are capable of nothing if you enforce the evil law. However, you are able to do nothing as well if Hong Kong people are up in arms about it.

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