Situation in Hong Kong: promise of freedom? – “A joke”

Hong Kong’s freedom of the press is waning, journalists are arrested, and monuments commemorating China’s democracy movement are dismantled. Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents have left the city. How do those who stay react to this development?

A city in silent protest and shock. Few dare to join ARD-Talk to Hong Kong workers after a raid last week arrested several workers from the independent news site “Stand News”.

Those who do speak up say it is stressful that there is “no more space” for “open and courageous media” in Hong Kong. You express concern that other media may be forced to shut down. A passerby speaks of a “shock” when she learned that journalists from “Stand News” had been arrested.

The pro-democratic online magazine “Stand News” was forced to cease operations, just as now, with “CitizenNews”, another online news site has announced the end. No isolated cases: In 2021, several media houses were gradually closed. A prominent case was the defunct newspaper “Apple Daily” of the publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai, who is in prison.

“Even more repressive” than in mainland China

Since the Chinese central government passed a so-called security law for Hong Kong last year, the authorities in the autonomously governed special administrative region have been cracking down on civil society. Activists and journalists are particularly hard hit.

Chung Kim Wah is a retired social policy scientist in Hong Kong and classifies the events of the past year as follows: China’s promise to create a country with two systems “has become a kind of joke” for the people in Hong Kong. That is completely disappointing. “It seems that the way of life, freedom and character of the open society in Hong Kong are no longer the same.” Hong Kong is now “even more repressive” than some cities in mainland China.

Broken promises

The economic metropolis of Hong Kong has been part of China for 24 years. When the former British colony was handed over to the People’s Republic, the people were promised autonomy until 2047 – in a treaty that was binding under international law. Democratic elections were also promised to the people.

But in the recent parliamentary election shortly before Christmas, the democratic rights of the population were curtailed: all candidates had to stand loyally to the line of the Chinese state and party leadership. Also, only 20 out of 70 parliamentary seats were allowed to be directly elected.

All major opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, did not even run. It wasn’t an open, universal, and fair election, says Chung, and that’s why many people chose not to participate.

At around 30 percent, voter turnout was lower than ever. A kind of silent protest that will last a while and won’t go away anytime soon, Chung believes. “A lot of people in Hong Kong do that even if they can’t do anything against the government. At the same time, many people have decided to leave Hong Kong permanently.

A noticeable loss

Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents have fled abroad. This is a problem for Hong Kong, says a Hong Kong businessman who does not want to be called by name. Most of the people who leave Hong Kong are professionals and experts, and that is a great loss for society – “it is then no longer able to develop and can only fall behind.”

But social policy scientist Chung remains optimistic about Hong Kong’s future. Those who stay will not forget, he says, even if monuments are dismantled and the Beijing government interferes with the curriculum in Hong Kong schools.

The government cannot easily erase the memory in people’s minds, and even if it tried, many would hold on to their beliefs and use pictures from the Internet to tell their children and family members what happened in 1989 (in the suppression of the democracy movement) happened and what was there before.

A teacher who wants to remain anonymous continues to believe in Hong Kong as he knows it: “Since 2019 we have paid a heavy price to uphold our beliefs and values. There are still people who hold on to them. I believe in them Hong Kong people. “