Hong Kong mass arrests: A stark step in Beijing鈥檚 鈥榙rive for control鈥�
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Ann Scott Tyson Staff writer
A year ago, newly elected Hong Kong district counselor Fergus Leung was in high spirits as he stood outside a high-rise public housing block on Hong Kong Island, cheerily greeting constituents. In a white button-down shirt and wire-rimmed glasses, the earnest young University of Hong Kong student fielded questions on garbage bins and rent hikes, pledging to help supporters and win over skeptics alike.
But in a sign of how dramatically Beijing has curtailed political freedoms in Hong Kong over the past six months, last week Mr. Leung and 52 other pro-democracy elected officials and activists聽鈥� including one U.S. citizen聽鈥� were snatched up and arrested in early-morning raids by about 1,000 Hong Kong police.
The alleged offense of Mr. Leung and his colleagues? Subversion,聽for what not long ago would have been a normal political action: organizing and taking part in legislative primaries run by the democrats last July. Subversion is punishable by sentences of up to life in prison.
Why We Wrote This
Hong Kong鈥檚 crackdown has been going on so steadily that it can all become a blur. Last week鈥檚 sweeping arrests, though, stand out. Just a year ago, the Monitor interviewed Fergus Leung, a student newly elected to local office. Now, like more than 50 others, he could face serious charges.
The crackdown on Hong Kong鈥檚 political opposition marks a stark change from a year ago, when record voter turnout produced a landslide win for Mr. Leung and other democracy advocates in November 2019. The election handed pro-democracy and independent candidates control of 17 out of 18 of Hong Kong鈥檚 district councils, overturning their longtime domination by pro-Beijing politicians.
That election, taking place amid months of massive protests for democracy in Hong Kong, signaled beyond doubt that a majority of voters sought to maintain and strengthen freedoms, as promised by Beijing when it regained control over the British colony in 1997. But Beijing was moving in the opposite direction, steadily curtailing Hong Kong鈥檚 autonomy and judicial independence and instead promoting integration with mainland China.
Alarmed by the popular protests and election victory by pro-democracy candidates, Beijing last June imposed a draconian new national security law that authorities are now wielding to eliminate and punish political opposition to a greater degree than ever before, experts say.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big sweep of all the opposition leaders. Essentially, anyone who dares to run in elections thereby is seen as challenging Beijing鈥檚 authority in Hong Kong,鈥� says Victoria Tin-bor Hui, an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and a native of Hong Kong. 鈥淭he significance is huge.鈥�
Beijing鈥檚 calculation was that 鈥渋f free and fair elections take place, the pro-Beijing parties will not win, so faced with that, the 鈥榦bvious鈥� solution was to dismantle democratic institutions and eliminate political opposition entirely,鈥� says Alvin Cheung, a Hong Kong barrister and university lecturer now at New York University.
For the mild-mannered Mr. Leung聽鈥� whose agenda a year ago ranged from planning day tours for older people and Chinese New Year festivities, to modernizing recycling and protecting his district鈥檚 wild pigs and century-old banyan trees 鈥� aspirations for a political career are now likely to lead to jail.
鈥淭here is a good chance Beijing authorities will achieve what they want to achieve: literally, silencing any kind of dissent, including free speech, including by very peaceful means and formal legal channels,鈥� says Professor Hui. 鈥淗ong Kong is fast becoming like the rest of China.鈥澛�
Game-changing law
Last May, as Beijing drafted the top-down national security law, Mr. Leung lent his support to Hong Kong citizens who gathered to oppose it 鈥� only to be pepper-sprayed in the face by police as he moved to protect the protesters. 鈥淢ore than 300 peaceful protesters were arrested,鈥� he tweeted, with a photo of himself blinded and wincing from the pepper spray.
Mr. Leung warned the law would fuel more radical opposition. 鈥淭he CCP鈥檚 latest move means 鈥榖urnism鈥� in Hong Kong is inevitable,鈥� he wrote 鈥� referring to a strategy of hardcore protesters known as 鈥�laam chau鈥� (literally, 鈥渟tir-fry鈥�) in Cantonese, and captured by the slogan, 鈥渋f we burn, you burn with us.鈥�
Then in a swift, secretive move, Beijing bypassed Hong Kong鈥檚 legislature and enacted the law on June 30. Overnight, not only Hong Kong citizens, but anyone, risked being charged for broadly defined national security crimes 鈥� secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign 鈥渆lements鈥� 鈥� with a maximum penalty of life in prison. The law allows Chinese state-security agents to operate in Hong Kong, where they can take jurisdiction of cases, apprehend people, and send them to the mainland to be tried in courts controlled by the Communist Party.
Since the law passed, authorities have used it to arrest scores of opposition politicians, activists, and journalists, as well as to curtail free speech and ban protest slogans 鈥� leading some to hold up blank signs instead.聽In an effort to eliminate dissent,聽authorities have cracked down on art and education, censoring textbooks and curricula and firing professors.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 a totalitarian drive for control over Hong Kong that we are witnessing,鈥� spreading a mood of fear, uncertainty, and helplessness, says Kenneth Chan, associate professor of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.
By the end of July, Mr. Leung and 11 other pro-democracy candidates had been disqualified from running in Legislative Council elections scheduled for September. Hong Kong鈥檚 chief executive, Carrie Lam 鈥� selected by a pro-Beijing committee of 1,200 鈥撀爈ater postponed the election, citing the pandemic.
In October, in his last tweets prior to his arrest, Mr. Leung commented on troubling changes at his own university, where professors with strong ties to China鈥檚 Communist Party were taking over research and development. 鈥淭his shall signal the end of academic freedom and institutional autonomy at HKU,鈥� he wrote, but 鈥淚鈥檓 confident that HKUers will continue to fight.鈥�
Distracted democracies
The feeling of the city鈥檚 autonomy rapidly deteriorating is palpable, residents say. 鈥淭he entire atmosphere has ... worsened over the last six months,鈥� says Professor Chan. 鈥淧eople are still very clear-minded. They know what is happening. What they don鈥檛 know is what will happen to themselves.鈥�
With the world in disarray from the pandemic and populist challenges to democracy, Beijing has been emboldened, analysts say, and Hong Kong鈥檚 embattled activists such as Mr. Leung need international support more than ever. Many advocates have urged the United States and its allies to challenge Beijing over human rights violations in Hong Kong. The police raids last week included the arrest on national security grounds of U.S. citizen John Clancey, chairman of the Asian Human Rights Commission, who is treasurer of a pro-democracy group involved in last summer鈥檚 primaries.
Another important step, experts add, is for democratic countries to open their doors wider to immigration from Hong Kong. A new British visa allows certain Hong Kong residents to work and study in the United Kingdom for five years, and then apply for citizenship.
鈥淟ifeboat programs鈥� that offer safe haven are especially important for those who are less affluent, says Dr. Cheung, who has classmates among those arrested last week. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the middle class and lower-class people who will bear the brunt of Beijing鈥檚 retributions, but I don鈥檛 see any meaningful effort by any country to set up a lifeboat scheme for those people,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 do not plan ever to return.鈥�
For Mr. Leung, that exit route may already be closed. Once arrested, even if released on bail, Hong Kong鈥檚 activists must surrender their passports and report regularly to police. 鈥淥nly those people not on the regime鈥檚 radar can emigrate,鈥� says Professor Hui.
As Hong Kongers braced for Beijing鈥檚 crackdown last year, they talked about 鈥渉ow to prepare for the coming totalitarian era,鈥� she says聽鈥� looking into how people survived in Eastern Europe in the Soviet era, for example. 鈥淓ven if you cannot talk to fellow supporters, at least make eye contact,鈥� she says, 鈥渃ontinue to make friends and devote time to community service, keep civil society alive, and wait for the light at the end of the tunnel.鈥�
