World condemns HK mass arrests

HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities awoke to a chorus of international condemnation yesterday following the mass arrest of pro-democracy opposition figures under a draconian national security law Beijing imposed on the finance hub.

Western nations accused Hong Kong authorities of “grave repression” and a “grievous attack” on the freedoms that were promised under the “One Country, Two Systems” setup when the British colony was returned to China.

More than 1,000 police officers detained 53 prominent figures — including a US citizen — in dawn raids on Wednesday on charges of “subversion”, a new national security crime that carries up to life in prison.

British foreign minister Dominic Raab called the detentions “a grievous attack on Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms” and said Beijing “deliberately misled the world about the true purpose” of the security law.”

His Canadian counterpart Francois-Philippe Champagne called for those arrested to be released and described the operation as a “grave repression of political pluralism” that demonstrated a “further erosion” of “One Country, Two Systems”.

France issued a similar statement decrying the “continuing deterioration” of freedoms in Hong Kong.

The EU also called for the release of those arrested, while Antony Blinken, US President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, said the incoming administration “will stand with the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy”.

Wednesday’s sweep was the latest salvo in Beijing’s battle to stamp out dissent in Hong Kong after millions hit the streets in 2019 with huge democracy protests.

“Very clearly and unequivocally it demonstrates the Chinese government’s control over Hong Kong,” Dylan Loh, an expert on China’s politics at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said. “There should be no illusions anymore that the central government is firmly in control,” he added.