Hong Kongers need your moral support
I am writing this letter on behalf of the Halifax-Hong Kong Link Facebook page, a group that was formed this summer to show solidarity with Hong Kongers, and to try to raise awareness among Nova Scotians about the challenges facing Hong Kongers who are fighting for their freedom. We are asking Canadians to support us and to give us hope by standing with us during this fight for democracy, justice, freedom and the rule of law.
On Oct. 23, the government of Hong Kong finally passed a motion in the legislative council to withdraw a controversial extradition bill after four consecutive months of street protests. But this was not cause for great celebration among most Hong Kongers, since it took months of local and global petitioning, millions of people demonstrating, blood, sweat and tears — even loss of life — simply to stop this one bill in its tracks.
Throughout the months of protest, Hong Kongers have seen how the Hong Kong government has allowed police brutality and gang attacks, has issued extreme decrees such as the banning of mask-wearing in public (invoking a 1922 colonial-era emergency regulations ordinance), instead of responding to the people's demands.
During the 22 consecutive weeks of protest thus far, people from all walks of life, including lawmakers, health-care professionals, reporters, pilots and teachers have been arrested. Some people have lost their eyesight due to police brutality, while others reported receiving inhumane treatment, including being subjected to torture, during their detention by the Hong Kong police, especially at the notorious San Uk Ling holding centre. On top of that, there have been multiple cases of suicide because people had lost hope that the protest movement would ultimately succeed.
The root of the problem is that Hong Kong's autonomy and freedom, as promised by the Sino-British Joint Declaration and guaranteed in the Basic Law, have been usurped. The Hong Kong government lacks an independent ombudsman-like body to monitor and investigate the malfeasance of the police force. Furthermore, the process for selecting the chief executive is flawed. The electoral committee of 1,200 members is stacked with pro-Beijing handpicked candidates, and it does a poor job of representing Hong Kong's eight million residents. Hong Kongers have also yet to see a genuine effort from their government to provide universal suffrage, as per the Basic Law, our mini-constitution.
As the anti-extradition bill movement grew, various selfdirected groups such as Halifax-Hong Kong Link were formed across Canada to raise awareness and to show solidarity with Hong Kongers. But several factors have made us more fearful of speaking up here in Canada: the distance from Hong Kong, the emergence of direct counterprotests, the digging up of our personal information, the uttering of threats, and physical attacks on the group Ottawans stand with HK.
So far, we have been unable to convince our local Member of Parliament in Halifax to speak up for us, or even tweet his support for Hong Kong's fight for democracy and freedom. Worse still, our premier is travelling to China to drum up trade deals, and plans to build a China-friendly online business platform with censorship done domestically in Nova Scotia. Meanwhile, two Canadian citizens are still being unfairly detained in China and 300,000 Canadians living in Hong Kong are facing the loss of their freedoms and democratic rights, which would have been severely affected if the extradition bill had been enacted.
Contemplating all this, along with the federal Liberal government's vague foreign policy, we are beginning to lose hope. Yet we will continue to speak up, and we ask each one of you to renew our hope through your support. We will have a Lennon Wall set up on the grounds of Grafton Park in Halifax (in front of the old Central Library) on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the afternoon. We sincerely hope that Nova Scotians cherished exercising their democratic franchise during the recent federal election, since some people in this world are still dying for the right to vote.
Last but not least, here are the remaining four demands from Hong Kong protesters:
Retraction of the characterization of the June 12 protest as a “riot.”
Amnesty for all arrested protesters.
The appointment of an independent inquiry committee to investigate police brutality and the movement.
The resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and implementation of dual universal suffrage for the legislative council and the chief executive elections.
We also demand the Canadian government ensure our freedom of speech and expression, and that it consider introducing a bill similar to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in the United States.
For those who have been following the evolving situation in Hong Kong, thank you for standing with us.