How China silenced Hong Kong’s voices of democracy

It’s been five years since Beijing imposed a harsh new national security law on Hong Kong. During this time, it has fundamentally altered the city-state, prompting scores of pro-democracy leaders to flee overseas and instilling a climate of fear and repression.

Opposition to the communist government in China has been quashed after months of mass protests in 2019 and 2020 over a bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited from Hong Kong to the mainland.

Even after it was scrapped, Beijing did not scale back its ambitions. Instead, it introduced the 2020 national security law, bypassing Hong Kong’s legislature. It prohibits anything deemed by China to constitute secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.

The law also allows certain national security cases to be transferred to mainland courts, achieving by decree what the failed extradition bill had attempted to do. The legislation has reshaped Hong Kong’s politics, education and media since its introduction.

The city’s new school curriculum, for instance, denies Hong Kong was once a British colony. The curriculum redefines patriotism as unconditional allegiance to the Chinese state, with teachers facing repercussions if they present alternative views.

Distorted vision

The teachings of “Xi Jinping Thought” are part of the new curriculum, while English classes in primary schools now focus on patriotism and national security. The mantra “Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China” is also now repeated with ritualistic persistence across the city.

This further reinforces a distorted version of history that seeks to erase Hong Kong’s British past and dismisses Hongkongers’ nationality ties to the United Kingdom.

By controlling the narrative, the Chinese Communist Party is not only managing dissent but also reshaping the city’s civic identity to fit its own definition of loyalty. Opposition politics have been effectively dismantled since the law was brought into force.

Late last year, 45 of the city’s most well-known former pro-democracy figures were jailed over their participation in the 2020 unofficial primaries for local elections.

In June, 28-year-old Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most famous advocates for self-determination, was charged with new offences under the national security law that could keep him imprisoned for life.

A human rights report released last month shows that 80% of Hongkongers targeted under the law since 2020 should not have been charged, and in 90% of cases, bail was denied. Independent media outlets have met the same fate.

In 2021, the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was raided under the law, after which it ceased publication. Its founder, Jimmy Lai, is facing trial on charges of colluding with foreign forces, with a verdict due soon.

Stand News, another independent outlet, was shut down following similar raids. Its senior editors are now serving prison sentences.

Security questions

The national security law also applies to anyone, anywhere in the world. In July, the Hong Kong government issued arrest warrants and placed bounties on 19 foreign nationals for their involvement in the creation of an overseas “Hong Kong Parliament.”

Western governments reacted sharply to the news, with Australia and the UK granting asylum to two of the activists who had been targeted. China’s growing diplomatic presence overseas has also raised suspicions for Hongkongers who have fled the city.

In London, plans for a huge new Chinese embassy complex have prompted security questions. The UK government has sought clarification over parts of the building plans that have been redacted, while the United States and the Netherlands have issued their own concerns.

While condemnation has been widespread, concrete policy responses from Western governments have been more limited. The one exception is the UK.

In January 2021, it opened a citizenship pathway for holders of British National (Overseas) passports and their dependants, allowing some Hongkongers to settle in the UK and eventually gain British citizenship.

Since the introduction of the national security law, more than 166,300 people have used the new route to relocate to the UK. An estimated 5.4 million Hongkongers are eligible to apply for the scheme.

For those who have left, exile is not simply an escape from fear – it is a commitment to hold onto their historic identity.

The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration promised that Hong Kong’s way of life would remain unchanged for 50 years after the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. Five years into the national security law, that promise appears hollow.

Media silenced

The law has redrawn Hong Kong’s legal boundaries, imprisoned its pro-democracy activists, transformed its education system and silenced its media. In 2023, Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, put it succinctly:

Here is an example of freedom, and the sort of freedom we take for granted in most Western societies, being under assault. If we allow it to go under, if we allow it to be buried in Hong Kong, then sooner or later it’ll threaten everyone.

Ka Hang Wong is a PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of China Factor.