Please Don’t Forget About Hong Kong. It’s Been A Rough Week, and The Worst Is Yet To Come

It has been a rough 11 months in Hong Kong, but these past few days have been the darkest yet. Not only have we been out on the streets protesting for the past 11 months standing up for our freedoms and our core values that are the fabric of our society, but we’ve also been dealing with a barbaric, criminal and vile police force who have been sent by our government and their CCP masters to suppress our protestors, our voices, and our freedoms to protest, speech, expression, and assembly. We have seen protestors disappear only to reappear mysteriously dead with bodies floating in oceans or showing up under buildings looking like a suicide. The police have raided and harassed pro-democracy restaurants and businesses while pro-CCP businesses can get away with murder. The police have arrested our pro-democracy lawmakers and activists. The police claim to be “neutral”, but over the past 11 months this is a laughable claim. There is no doubt in any HKer’s mind where the police’s loyalty stands in our struggle, and for this, the most recent public poll has shown they are the least supported of all civic bodies in Hong Kong.

But even with all this, the past few days have been the darkest of all.

The CCP regime has been asking Hong Kong to enact an anti-sedition, anti-treason, anti-subversion law (Article 23) since the handover, and every time the HK government has tried to, it has been met by fierce resistance by the people of Hong Kong. The main fear being this will impact our freedom of speech and expression. Hong Kong people have close to zero trust in the CCP regime and thus are very vocal in their disgust and disdain – this can be seen in comments, articles, reports, artwork, protests, rallies, banners, placards, rhetoric, music, courses, workshops, throughout the city over the past 23 years since the handover. We pride ourselves in being able to say what we want to say without any fear of reprisal from the CCP machine. We also have zero trust in the charges that would be laid against people they arrest because claims are always vague – sedition, treason, subversion could be used for ANY situation they simply feel warrants imprisonment. ANY. SITUATION.

According to our mini-constitution, Basic Law, Mainland laws are not allowed to be applied to Hong Kong as the bedrock of the arrangement between China and Hong Kong is “One Country, Two Systems”, a “high degree of autonomy”, and the notion that “Hong Kong people will govern Hong Kong”. Therefore, any laws that we enact must be written, drafted, and enacted through the legislative/judicial process that resides here in Hong Kong. It must be tabled and through robust debate be written, edited, revised, accepted, or denied by the legislators in our legislative body before it is enacted into law. This is the heart of what “One Country, Two Systems” means. It means that within one country, there are two different systems of governance that will be respected by either side as a way to honor each other’s way of life, customs, and culture, and there will be NO interference by the CCP regime for at least 50 years (2047). The CCP government has also been trying to use this as a model to show Taiwan that reuniting will help maintain their way of life. Taiwan is 100% a fully functioning democracy – unlike Hong Kong where our leader is selected by the CCP masters, Taiwan’s president is elected by the people.

Thursday, out of nowhere, the CCP regime announced that THEY would enact Article 23 and Hong Kong will have to adopt it, going completely against the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”, therefore, ending this concept once and for all. Upon making this announcement, our stock exchange crashed to the worst level since 2015. During the past 11 months of social unrest (and then the pandemic) it didn’t even make a dent in our stock exchange, but news about Article 23 crashed it all together. That is how serious of a threat this is in our city and everything it signifies. Upon this announcement sales for VPN’s skyrocketed in Hong Kong, something we’ve never had to worry about installing, people began deleting social media accounts as well.

By doing this the CCP regime is showing the world it does not care about its standing on the global stage. It doesn’t care that it is reneging on its promise to the people of Hong Kong and to the world when it first signed the Joint Declaration document and agreed to the Basic Law. It is going after opposition voices at all costs in order to prop up their failing regime.

We are now learning that to enforce this law once it is enacted, the CCP regime will plant law enforcement agents in Hong Kong as well which means CCP-style monitoring of our social media, phones, conversations, events, etc. Here’s a first-hand account from a brave individual who lived through the surveillance state in China just this past year, showing you that it is worse now in China than ever before and so our fears and concerns are NOT unwarranted:

“The past 4 years I have really struggled living in China with its heavy-duty surveillance state that includes facial recognition, your phone, your social media communication/accounts, random urine testing which is conducted in front of undercover police who will watch you urinate into a cup, the forced detentions of myself and many acquaintances on charges that were made up or simply because you are associated with someone else, seeing police stationed on street corners day and night wherever I was, with CCTV cameras everywhere. The surveillance is so strong and pervasive that even when you are out with your friends eating or having coffee if anyone mentioned anything slightly political we would look around to make sure the coast was clear and resort to speaking in a very hushed volume. All of this left me in a permanent state of anxiety for which I will require years of therapy.”

We are now in a state of disbelief and request that the world pay attention to what’s going on here even more than you did previously. One of our most widely known activists, Joshua Wong, also put together a set of images that you can share with your friends and legislators – please find that below.

Finally, please remember: HONG KONG PEOPLE ARE NOT AFRAID.

These past 11 months have shown the immense courage and determination of Hong Kong people – even in the face of an evil police force and cowardly local puppet government who have shot, killed, and tried to suppress us through brute force and threats, we have continued to fight on the streets. Our hatred and distrust of the CCP regime are stronger now than ever.

STAND WITH HONG KONG. 
光復香港 | 時代革命