Hope lost for Hong Kong’s autonomy
Imposition of rule from Beijing would kill any hope for continued autonomy
China’s imposition of a security law on Hong Kong kills any hope for the continued autonomy of the special administrative region and destroys any remaining dream that Hong Kong might be a template for the mainland’s democratization or changes to the ruling Communist party.
The draft law, which is expected to be rubber-stamped by the Chinese parliament next week, would supplant Hong Kong’s own security law making acts of secession, subversion (undermining the authority of the central government), terrorism or interference by foreign forces in Hong Kong criminal acts under Chinese law and tried in China’s courts.
Hong Kong’s own police and security forces would also be supplanted by China’s security organizations, raising fears of unlawful detentions, disappearances and even tanks rolling down the streets of the global financial capital that has thrived due to its robust adherence to the rule of law.
Canada, Australia and Britain denounced the bill in a joint statement on Friday.
“We are deeply concerned,” the foreign ministers said in a statement posted by Canada’s François-philippe Champagne.
Martin Lee, a lawyer and former legislator, helped write the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s equivalent of a constitution.
“We were promised that we would be masters in our own house in terms of executive, legislative and judicial matters,” he said Thursday during a webinar co-hosted by Richmond MP Kenny Chiu.
“Now, they say that the Chinese Constitution can trump the Basic Law . ... I hope my overseas friends understand the extent of the intrusion of the Chinese government into Hong Kong. It (the Chinese government) cannot be trusted.”
Lee was charged in April for participating in an August pro-democracy demonstration along with 1.7 million others.
To date, more than 8,600 people have been arrested and 1,000 charged after Hong Kong’s failed attempt to pass a bill that would have allowed for extradition of citizens to China for trial.
China’s proposed security act goes far beyond that.
Fearful for what it means to their friends and families, it has unsettled many of the half a million Canadians of Hong Kong descent living here.
“To us and to the international community, China is announcing that it is abrogating the promises it made to Hong Kong and to the world,” Fenella Sung of the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong, said after the news broke earlier this week. “If they (the Chinese government) can do that, they can do anything.”
Cherie Wong, executive director of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, said, “It’s a demonstration of how China is becoming a global power by rewriting international norms by taking control bit by bit.”
So what can Canada do? That’s being hotly, but also quietly debated among myriad organizations and individuals with ties to Hong Kong.
It’s being done quietly because many Chinese-canadians are afraid to speak out or even go out in public because of recent racist attacks here related to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in China.
Some are also afraid of intimidation and harassment by Beijing’s supporters in Canada, which was highlighted in a recent report by Amnesty International and the Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in Canada.
The most controversial recommendation is Alliance Canada Hong Kong’s urging Canadian politicians to support the aspirations of Hong Kong’s citizens even if it means acknowledging that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous.
But there’s widespread agreement that Canada needs to take a tougher stance against China on this legislation, on China’s failure to quickly report the initial COVID-19 outbreak, the ongoing, unjustified incarceration of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and human rights abuses against Tibetans, Uyghurs and Falun Gong members in China.
In a survey done in May, the Angus Reid Foundation found that 76 per cent of Canadians want the government to prioritize human rights and the rule of law in China over economic opportunity with only 14 per cent holding a favourable view of China. That’s a massive decline from 58 per cent only 15 years ago.
Canada must support all of its citizens and their rights to freedom of speech and expression both here and in Hong Kong.
It should accept all legitimate asylum claimants from Hong Kong. More than 46 claims have already been made by people who fled before November when Hong Kong began refusing exit visas to people linked to the democracy movement.
It should be preparing to help citizens living in Hong Kong return home.
It should also consider using its Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act — the Canadian version of the Americans’ Magnitsky Act. It allows Canada to freeze the assets of and deny entry to any foreign nationals responsible for or complicit in “gross violations of human rights;” foreign officials “responsible for or complicit in acts of significant corruption;” and, Canadians who aid them.
Hong Kong student activists have already shared names of those they believe have committed human rights abuses with other governments.
Canada is too small and too insignificant to go it alone.
Having aligned itself with Australia and Britain in condemning China’s plan to abrogate the Joint Declaration, Canada needs to deepen those ties as it continues to support and enhance democracy, human rights and multilateral trade.
Because as China’s global influence has grown and continues to grow, Xi Jinping’s government is proving to be a capricious and unreliable trad e partner as well as an impatient, authoritarian regime.