In a Hong Kong courtroom, freedom itself is on trial
The democracy activists being put on trial in Hong Kong starting last week had done one thing that truly frightens China’s leaders: They held a vote. It wasn’t a formal election, just an unofficial primary. No matter, China’s Communist Party and its minions who run Hong Kong cannot stand the sight of people expressing their preferences for who should lead them. Freedom itself is now on trial.
Sixteen prominent pro-democracy activists are charged with “subverting state power,” which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and 31 others who have already pleaded guilty will be sentenced at the trial’s conclusion. They are being tried under the national security law that China’s leaders imposed on the territory in 2020 after a wave of protests the year before. The law, drafted and put into effect without any consultation in Hong Kong, outlawed acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, but was implemented broadly and arbitrarily so as to criminalize dissent, free speech and press freedom.
The Hong Kong 47 includes legal scholar Benny Tai and prominent activist Joshua Wong, as well as politicians, former lawmakers and unionists. Mr. Tai and the pro-democracy forces organized an informal primary in July 2020 that brought a huge turnout of 600,000 voters. These were not elections but more like straw polls — an effort by the democracy activists to identify candidates with the most appeal ahead of September’s scheduled ballot for the Legislative Council. The democracy forces hoped they could capture a majority of the chamber, providing a new power base to oppose China’s tightening noose on the territory.
The primary jolted the Beijingbacked executive in Hong Kong. The government warned of a feared “color revolution,” a reference to popular revolts around the world in recent years. The primary was declared illegal. Widespread arrests soon followed. The September elections were then postponed, and electoral rules were changed so that only those loyal to China were allowed to run for office.
Some of the Hong Kong 47 have been imprisoned for more than two years. Their trial will be run by three judges handpicked by the government, a departure from the tradition of trial by jury.
In a democracy, a key ingredient is competition — the messy but essential process of ideas and visions being put to the voter test. The Hong Kong 47 and their unofficial primary represented a crucial stroke in that clockwork. The national security law is a lash to bring Hong Kong to heel. It has cast a shroud over the territory and its institutions, including schools, the media, the legislature and the courts. The trial of the 47 represents a final crushing of the hopes raised by democracy movements over the past decade, a door slammed shut on the openness and freedom that was once the shining allure of Hong Kong.