by Kaitlyn Chow
The People’s Republic of China has been oppressing Hong Kong for more than two decades. Nevertheless, their pace only continues.
Hong Kong citizens protesting on the streets for the freedom of speech.
Major Events in Hong Kong Within the Past Decade
The Start of Protests in Hong Kong
An administrative region currently under the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, was previously under British rule until an agreement was passed in 1997, which gave China partial control over Hong Kong; this agreement introduced the term “one country, two systems.” This pact between Hong Kong, China, and Britain guaranteed Hong Kong citizens to have their rights listed in the Basic Law, which includes freedom of speech, expression, press, and more. Most importantly, this Basic Law allowed Hong Kong to have its own government and system, which would be in complete control under the Hong Kong government; however, this was no longer the case in 2014 when Hong Kong was getting ready for its 2017 elections.
When the election candidates were released, it was evident that a majority of the candidates had special affiliations with mainland China’s government and that a just election process was not going to occur. This was the start of a series of major events that would soon take place between mainland China and Hong Kong; Hong Kong citizens realized how they were no longer able to make their own decisions within their own government. Reactively, many went out to the streets and protested, and the police force, which was already directly affiliated with the Chinese government, instantly responded with physical attacks.
As many protests were on the streets, the police attacked the citizens with pepper spray and tear gas, which was their way of getting the protesters to leave. Unwilling to back down, protesters continued to protest and started using umbrellas as a way of protecting themselves from the pepper sprays and tear gas. This movement took place for 79 days and would eventually be known as the Umbrella Movement. Ultimately, many protesters and activists were prosecuted, and one of the China-appointed candidates, Carrie Lam, was appointed as Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
Even More Protests
In February of 2019, Hong Kong’s Security Bureau, along with Lam, proposed amendments for extraditions to mainland China, which meant that Hong Kong court cases could be sent to China for prosecution. This brought great controversy among Hong Kong citizens, which thus led to another series of protests. On June 9, more than half a million people protested on the streets, and the police this time responded by shooting rubber bullets and releasing tear gas at the protesters. On New Years’ Eve of 2019, there were no celebrations. Instead, protests persisted, and citizens shined lights as a means of a silent protest.
Attacks and protests never came to an end throughout all those years. In the summer of 2019, attacks took place in common places, such as malls and public transportation facilities. Police and gangs hired by the government attacked civilians in a region called Yuen Long for absolutely no reason but to impose fear into the people; pregnant women, the elderly, students, children, and basically anyone in sight was attacked. All members of the gang were wearing white T-shirts, which led them to be known as the “men in white T-shirts,” and about 100 of these armed men were present.
Yuen Long Attack
A major part of this attack took place at a Mass Transit Railway (MTR) station in Yuen Long district; the white-shirted men flooded into the station and trains and mainly targeted people dressed in black, which was the civilians’ way of advocating for democracy. Many people called the police during this attack, yet all police officers responded in unhelpful ways and replied that they were either going to visit the scene soon or that they were already taking care of the case. Furthermore, the police purposely arrived a significant amount of time after the gang members had left the scene (39 minutes after reports were filed and one minute after the gang members left) and later released statements that nothing had happened within the Yuen Long district. This attack occurred several more times afterward, and around 45 people were injured with one critically injured. This event is now known as the Yuen Long Attack.
Recent Events
Prosecution of Activists
More recently, many pro-democracy activists have been arrested for allegedly violating the city’s national security law. Some of these activists include Joshua Hong and Agnes Chow; Hong had already been sentenced to a 13.5-month sentence back in 2019 for his pro-democracy protest movement, and it has been confirmed that he has been arrested once again for an alleged violation on January 8, 2021. Along with Hong and Chow, 44 other activists were prosecuted, including many students, journalists, and politicians.
Hong Kong Security Law
Within the past six months, many changes were made within Hong Kong’s security law and government. Laws were passed, labeling trivial and unreasonable actions as “crimes.” For instance, as little as damaging public transport facilities is considered terrorism, and saying anything against or unfavorable to China is considered treason. Not to mention, new laws passed now allow Beijing to have an increasing amount of power over Hong Kong and permit the extradition of some Hong Kong court cases to be handed over to mainland China. These new regulations and laws have clearly gone against the 1997 Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
Freedoms
Citizens of Hong Kong no longer have the freedom of speech, expression, and press, among many others. News media that have released unfavorable news pertaining to China have been deleted, with some journalists and broadcasters even being arrested for releasing “false information.” Currently, anyone that questions the way China is abusing their power over Hong Kong is arrested, and news sources that spread such information are shut down; for instance, the main publisher of news source Apple Daily was arrested for releasing information against China’s wishes. These incidents have clearly revealed China breaking the 1997 agreement and Hong Kong’s Basic Law, for China is slowly taking away all rights of Hong Kong citizens All Hong Kong citizens are allowed to have different rights and a different system than mainland China’s, thus created the term “one country, two systems,” yet China is gradually implementing the People’s Republic of China’s laws and regulations into Hong Kong to make the two systems into one. In short, Claudio Mo, a pro-democracy lawmaker in Hong Kong, summed up the current situation by stating, “[China and the government] are trying to say: ‘If we say you’re expressing a criminal opinion, then that’s it, because we are the law.’”
Sources
(2019, September 28). Hong kong protests: what is the 'umbrella movement'?. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/49862757
Wu, J., & Yu, E. (2020, September 4). What you can no longer say in hong kong. The new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/04/world/asia/hong-kong-speech.html?auth=login-google
(2020, June 30). Hong kong security law: what is it and why is it worrying?. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52765838
Reuters Staff. (2019, November 11). Timeline: key updates in hong kong’s anti-government protests. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-timeline/timeline-key-dates-in-hong-kongs-anti-government-protests-idUSKBN1XL0N3
CNA. (2019, July 22). 45 injured after mob attack at hong kong mtr station. CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/hong-kong-yuen-long-mtr-station-masked-men-injured-11741980
Cheung, E. (2021, January 8). Hong kong pro-democracy activist joshua hong arrested under national security law. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/asia/hong-kong-joshua-wong-nsl-arrest-intl-hnk/index.html