When China announced a new national security law in 2020 to tackle what it sees as worrying underminers in Hong Kong, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would treat Hong Kong as “one country, one system” and punish these oppression of freedom in the city.
Since then, Beijing has had its own ideas and has nominated only one candidate for Hong Kong’s next chief executive, effective July 1st.
The only candidate, John Lee, has played an important role in the harsh response to widespread protests in Hong Kong eight years ago. A former police officer, Lee was Hong Kong’s deputy security secretary from 2012 to 2017, when he was promoted to secretary for the next four years.
The election commission, consisting of a cross-section of Chinese officials, has already approved Lee as chief executive. He only needs a simple majority to win. Apparently, Beijing wants the Asian financial center to be increasingly under control.
The process of selecting candidates to fight for Hong Kong’s leadership has always been non-transparent and designed to ensure that Hong Kong residents are selected only by candidates approved by Beijing. But Benedict Rodgers, Britain’s co-founder and CEO of the Hong Kong Watch NGO, said the process was a new one this year.
“Everyone [chief executive] the 1997 elections are stitches. But at least in the past, they’ve pretended to have a race, “Rodgers wrote on Twitter this week.” It’s a farce after all. “
Front Burner30: 11 The end of Hong Kong?
From the arrest of pro-democracy lawmakers to changes in electoral law, Hong Kong has undergone a dramatic change since the implementation of Beijing’s national security law. Two pro-democracy activists who recently fled to Canada are considering tightening China’s grip on the city-state. 30:11
The coronation is, in fact, after the legislative elections in December, widely criticized by international democracies.
The election was the first under new laws to distort the balance of lawmakers in order to control Beijing. The number of MPs directly elected by Hong Kong residents was reduced from 35 to 20, while the body was expanded from 70 to 90 seats.
The new laws also give the Chinese government commission the power to admit only so-called “patriots” as eligible candidates.
Following the results, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States condemned the vote, expressing “serious concern about the erosion of democratic elements” in the electoral process, as well as defending freedom of expression and assembly.
“Drastic speed” reaction
This erosion followed years of noise for more choice in the electoral system. Pressure to elect Hong Kong’s leader by popular vote accumulated in 2014 in weeks of Yellow Umbrella protests demanding that Beijing also relinquish the right to approve candidates.
Several activists involved in the protests, including Nathan Lowe, were elected to the Hong Kong Legislative Council two years later. They infuriated Communist Party officials during their swearing-in ceremonies by continuing to protest what they saw as Beijing’s intervention.
In 2019, mass pro-democracy protests often escalated into violent clashes. As security secretary, Lee led the campaign to counter the protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, and then gathered many of them for arrest.
The intensity of the protests in 2019 seems to surprise Beijing, which led to the imposition of a national security law next year and the reorganization of the legislature.
A police officer is preparing to swing his stick while detaining a protester in front of the Hong Kong Legislative Council on June 10, 2019. China will follow the implementation of national security laws, according to which the cases of detainees will be heard in mainland courts. (Philip Fong / AFP / Getty Images)
The package changed the basic law, the constitution that governs Hong Kong, after the former British colony was handed over to China in 1997 under the “one country, two systems” framework, which promised it semi-autonomy for 50 years.
More than 150 activists and others have been arrested since the National Security Act was imposed. Prominent young activist Joshua Wong and Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, are among the prisoners.
“All our freedoms have faded [at] a drastic speed that none of us could have expected, “said activist Nathan Lowe in an interview with CBC News last year from London, where he lived.
WATCH Nathan Lowe, granted political asylum, spoke to the CBC in 2021:
An activist describes the deterioration of democracy in Hong Kong
Former opposition politician Nathan Lowe describes the erosion of democratic rights in Hong Kong. Lo, 27, was forced to flee after the crackdown in Beijing. 0:29
What next
Former Democratic MP and member Emily Lau called it a “very sad day” when changes to election laws were passed, but repression could worsen now.
Last month, Lee released a 44-page manifesto focusing on issues such as housing and brain drain prevention – Canada and the UK have changed immigration rules for future Hong Kong immigrants fleeing repression – but security also comes first.
7:37 Why the Hong Kong people support the Ukrainian struggle for freedom
Calvin Lowe and Riker Choi are originally from Hong Kong and now live in Canada. Both took part in pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong and now support Ukraine in Toronto. 7:37
Lee promised to codify what was included in Article 23 of the Basic Law, the ability of Hong Kong itself to pass laws to prohibit “any act of treason, secession, rebellion, subversion against the Central People’s Government.”
Attempts by the Hong Kong authorities to do so in 2003 were met with fierce resistance, but given the repression in recent years, repulsion may be silenced next time.
Whether this offer succeeds or the 2020 National Security Act passed by Beijing is still in use, the difference for Hong Kongers facing disagreements with the authorities may be inconspicuous.
Tom Kellogg, executive director of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law in Washington, predicts in a recent social media post that under Lee, Chinese authorities will continue to “suppress Hong Kong civil society” and not just “alleged enemies of the 2019 protests.” . “
This could be at the expense of Hong Kong’s reputation as a safe place to do business, with a clear regulatory regime and an independent judiciary. Britain has removed two judges appointed to Hong Kong’s Supreme Court to ensure the rule of law, saying their presence was “no longer sustainable” due to increasingly oppressive laws passed by China.
Lee, who will succeed Carrie Lam as chief executive, acknowledged on Friday that Hong Kong has deep problems. He promised to “consolidate Hong Kong as an international city, to develop Hong Kong’s potential as a free and open society.”
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