HONG KONG/BEIJING -- Fearful of a crackdown, pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong announced one after another that they would disband following the passage Tuesday of the National Security Law that bans anti-establishment activities in Hong Kong. Hong Kong society, which has recognized many and various freedoms, including freedom of speech, is being shaken to its core.
The pro-democracy youth activist group Demosisto announced Tuesday afternoon via Facebook that it would disband. Surprise greeted the decision by the group, whose members played a key role in the Umbrella Movement protests that occupied Hong Kong's streets in 2014, seeking the democratic election of Hong Kong's chief executive.
The three founding members of the group -- Joshua Wong, 23; Nathan Law, 26; and Agnes Chow, 23 -- had called on nations including European countries, North America, and Japan for support. They were criticized by name by the Chinese government, which is hyper-sensitive to any involvement by foreign countries in Hong Kong affairs.
Wong wrote on Facebook, "I will continue to fight until they destroy me." Chow wrote, "There is hope as long as we're alive."
It is said that a crackdown under the newly enacted National Security Law could lead to pro-democracy figures being extradited to mainland China under certain circumstances. Two other youth activist groups advocating independence in Hong Kong also said they would disband.
In contrast, pro-China groups with strong economic ties with mainland China welcomed the law's passage, saying social stability could be regained. An official related to the Chinese government stationed in Hong Kong said, "I hope it will lead to a 'second return,' with the feelings of the people in Hong Kong returning to the homeland."
Hong Kong residents still strongly value freedom and democracy, even after its return to China in 1997. Many young people are conscious of being first "Hong Kongers, rather than Chinese."
The Beijing side wants to strengthen their sense of being Chinese by controlling anti-China statements and actions, and introducing patriotic education. It seems there will be increasing division between people who will accept further "Chinesation" brought about by the National Security Law, and those who will not.
Since the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping was inaugurated in 2012, there has been rising pressure in Hong Kong to boost the leaning toward "one country," while maintaining the official position of "two systems."
Nevertheless, pro-democracy groups had demanded the Hong Kong government secure freedom, including the freedom of speech and the press. In Hong Kong under the National Security Law, however, these protests will be taken as a challenge to the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government. There will be fewer strategic options that pro-democracy groups can take in the days ahead.
For the time being, their biggest goal will be to win the election in September and secure, for the first time, a majority of seats in the Legislative Council. But the newly enacted law makes it obligatory for legislators and public servants to pledge loyalty to the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the equivalent of a constitution. Although the acceptance of candidacies will begin on July 18, people who oppose the new law, which has been added to the Basic Law, may not even be allowed to run.
Some pro-democracy activists are making moves to shift their bases of activity to locations outside Hong Kong, including Taiwan and Britain. There have also been growing calls on the internet to shift from their conventional street movements into an "underground organization."
Pro-democracy protests have traditionally been staged on July 1, the day commemorating Hong Kong's return to China, but they have not been permitted this year for such reasons as measures to deal with the novel coronavirus. Even so, pro-democracy legislators and others on June 30 called on people in Hong Kong to take part in the demonstrations. This was their poignant call that unless people speak now, Hong Kong will become a society where no true opinions can be expressed.
As if seeking to repress such appeals from pro-democracy legislators and others, the People's Liberation Army's Hong Kong garrison -- ground, air and naval forces -- held combined drills on Tuesday in Hong Kong.
Speed reflects Xi's power
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday signed a decree imposing the National Security Law on Hong Kong. The new law has been put into effect in a high-handed way that only Xi could achieve, bypassing the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its Legislative Council. This action eviscerates the "one country, two systems" principle that Hong Kong is governed by its own people.
Xi sees himself, according to an official related to the Communist Party of China, as a successor to Mao Zedong, who wielded tremendous power as the founding father of China. Xi showed no mercy even toward Hong Kong, where past administrations had refrained from intervening directly.
The white paper on Hong Kong policy released in 2014 asserted that the Chinese central government has total control over Hong Kong. When Xi attended the ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China in 2017, he stressed that "one country" will take preference over "two systems."
The enactment of the new law also involved what can be considered strong-arm methods. After announcing the introduction of the new legislation in late May, Xi had it passed into law through extraordinary measures -- holding back-to-back sessions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in June, a committee that usually meets once every two months.
Behind such moves is the fact that the anti-government protest movements in Hong Kong, which had continued since last year, had become so large and radical that the government in Beijing could not tolerate them. The Xi administration, which began to think U.S. support likely, decided it was urgent to make legal arrangements to block U. S. intervention, so as to prevent pro-democracy calls from making their way to mainland China and defend the system under the CPC.
In February, Xi appointed Xia Baolong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a close aide to Xi, to be head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, thereby moving forward with preparations for the new legislation.
The Beidaihe Conference, at which party leaders and elders unofficially coordinate their views on important issues, is expected be held in mid-July or later. The swift approval of the new law before the conference was held was apparently prompted by the administration's intention to quickly resolve the Hong Kong issue. There was said to have been strong criticism of the Hong Kong situation even within the party.
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