Democracy in tatters
“Five months after China imposed an oppressive national security law on Hong Kong, any hope this would not be followed by a creeping crackdown is gone,” said the FT. The city’s government last week ousted four pro-democracy lawmakers from the Legislative Council (LegCo), its “de facto parliament”, after the National People’s Congress in Beijing gave it the power to remove “unpatriotic” politicians without going through the courts. The 15 remaining opposition lawmakers resigned in protest. Having in effect dismantled the “one country, two systems” model Hong Kong was promised at the handover in 1997, China “no longer seems bothered with keeping even an appearance of democracy”. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, insisted there was no shame in a legislature lacking an opposition. “We are more excited when bills are passed more efficiently,” she said.
It won’t make much practical difference, said Richard Lloyd Parry in The Times. With only half of its 70 seats directly elected, and the rest given to appointees, LegCo was already dominated by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong government. But it was “an essential bastion nonetheless”, where democrats, who held the majority of the elected seats, could “articulate their opposition”. Many in Hong Kong take issue with the tactics of pro-democracy politicians, said Cliff Buddle in the South China Morning Post. “Some LegCo meetings have descended into chaos in recent times, and filibustering has frequently been used by the democrats to delay the passage of bills they oppose.” The four disqualified lawmakers were barred from the council because they had called on foreign governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong. And the decision of the others to resign in solidarity has left “a vacuum”. “It can only be hoped that the democrats will return when elections are held next year.”
That seems very unlikely, said Emma Graham-Harrison in The Observer. Pro-democracy politicians face a “bleak” future. The Chinese authorities have signalled that those who walked out may not be able to stand in future elections, on the grounds that their protest was itself unpatriotic. They may have to work from outside the system. “We are only quitting the legislature,” declared Claudio Mo, an independent democrat – “we haven’t quit the democracy fight yet.” The chilling effect of the national security law has become “palpable in people’s everyday lives”, said Shui-yin Sharon Yam in The Hong Kong Free Press. Over the past few weeks, student activists, journalists and former members of LegCo have been arrested. Police have launched a “national security hotline” for people to report on each other. Democrats are being drummed out of formal politics, while street protest has been banned, on the pain of long sentences. Among the “discouraged and scared” people of Hong Kong, a desperate search is now on for ways to keep “the spirit of democracy” alive.