HK rioters’ ‘deathbed struggle’ on display
Various black-clad protesters descended into the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, taking part in illegal protests, defying the proposed national security law, claiming it erodes the “one country, two systems” principle and infringes upon their legitimate rights. The Sunday protests have been rapidly dispersed by Hong Kong police.
Despite their efforts to resume last year’s months-long protests, the violent behaviors, like attacking innocent residents, setting up road barricades and hurling hard objects at passers-by, which endangers the peaceful life in the onceprosperous city, could not disguise their real intentions of instigating hatred, subversion and even terrorism in the special administrative region of China. Once the national security law comes into effect, violent
protesters could be held accountable facing severe legal punishment, some observers said.
At around 1 pm on Sunday, groups of black-clad protesters gathered at Causeway Bay marching along Hennessy Road and shouting out slogans such as “Hong Kong independence.” The tactics to evade police they used in anti-government protests throughout 2019 were adopted again.
“It’s more like a deathbed struggle,” a Hong Kong resident said in a shared post on social media, referring to Sunday’s protests, which have become a repeated scenario from the past as rioters attacked innocent people who disagreed with them.
Act of terrorism
Some pan-democracy lawmakers and activists such as Yip Kam Lung Sam and Tam Tak-chi, who took part in illegal gatherings, both have been swiftly detained on Sunday by the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), which has enforced the law quickly and effectively.
As of 4:30 pm Sunday afternoon, at least 180 have been arrested, most for unlawful assembly, according to local media outlet hk01.com. Some even hurled the bricks to police officers. HKPF strongly condemned such violent behavior.
Leading activists like Joshua Wong and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai began posting “brainwashing” threads on social media, calling on more Hong Kong people to fight against the national security law, depicting it as an intrusion into their freedom that erodes the “one country, two systems.”
The national security law is specifically aimed at criminal behavior that harms national security. It would not affect normal Hong Kong citizens’ legitimate rights, Tian Feilong, a Hong Kong affairs expert and associate professor at Beihang University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.
“On the contrary, as the law clarifies criminal behavior, normal residents would exercise their legitimate rights more safely without fear of being threatened or attacked by terrorists and violent activists after voicing their differing opinions and political stances,” he told the Global Times.
“The clauses in the Hong Kong national security law can be formulated via reference to standards in the criminal law of the Chinese mainland and similar regulations in foreign countries,” Tian said, noting that the law should also include clauses to accurately define criminal behavior, find evidence and carry out punishments.
NPC Standing Committee member Tam Yiu-chung echoed Tian’s view by saying that when drafting the law, the top legislators will fully take into consideration both domestic legislature and national security laws in other countries, for example the US, into account.
“If foreign countries have national security laws to defend their sovereignty, why can’t China do the same?” he asked.
In the US, people who are found guilty of treason could face death penalty in the most severe cases.
Foreign interference
More than 200 parliamentarians and policymakers from 23 countries tried to interfere in Hong Kong affairs, criticizing the national security law for Hong Kong, including former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten, former British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind and US Senator Ted Cruz.
Concerning those pandemocracy lawmakers and activists who again smear the legitimacy of the national security law for Hong Kong, misinterpreting it as a violation of a series of local residents’ rights including freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of religious association, Tam said pro-establishment groups in addition to the Hong Kong SAR government are committed to explaining the law to local residents.
“My team and I will do our utmost to inform and explain the relevance of this law to the public, in countering unreasonable attacks and smear campaigns conducted by anti-China and anti-government forces,” Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR government, said in a Facebook post on Sunday, noting that she believes that the vast majority of Hong Kong residents understand the situation and will not be deceived by forces that undermine peace.
A growing number of Chinese netizens on social media have been praising the law, calling for charges of treason against activists like Wong and Lai as they have been colluding with foreign forces and are in contact with US agencies like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the CIA, according to open records and transcripts of their interviews.