With new security law, Hong Kong doubles down on repression

This month marks another depressing milestone in Hong Kong’s descent into authoritarian repression: Fortyseven politicians, scholars and activists began their fourth year under arrest on charges of violating the severe national security law that Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.

The 47 were charged on Feb. 28, 2021, accused of conspiring to subvert state power. What they actually did was conduct an unofficial primary election among pro-democracy candidates for the city’s legislative council.

Since the arrests, only 13 have been granted bail under stringent conditions, leaving 34 others in prison as the trial has dragged on. Closing arguments began in November, and the three handpicked judges have said they need at least three or four months to reach a verdict. The defendants face life in prison.

The only plausible, credible verdict is “innocent,” letting all 47 go free — even though 31 have already pleaded guilty in hopes of ending their long torment. But in another sign of this weaponization of the legal system, even those who pleaded guilty were told they had to remain behind bars and await the trial of the defiant 16 who had pleaded not guilty before they would be sentenced.

Last Wednesday also marked another sad milestone in Hong Kong’s downward trajectory: the end of a truncated 30-day public comment period for a new homegrown national security law proposal.

The security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 is draconian enough and has already stifled free expression in the territory and led to the disbanding of media outlets, trade unions and civil society groups. But local officials feel the need to double down with a local version that will expand the repression further, for example by creating new crimes for theft of “state secrets,” espionage, treason and “external interference.”

Academics are worried about their routine overseas exchanges. The Bar Association has said the law could have a “chilling effect” on lawful conduct. Business groups have said it might jeopardize the city’s status as a safe place to invest. Journalists are rightly worried that criminalizing disclosure of “state secrets” will be used to stifle routine reporting because a “state secret” might be anything the government has not formally released.

The Hong Kong government tried to pass this local security law in the past, but each time was forced to back down in the face of widespread protests. Now, under the cover of the national security law that has stifled virtually all public protest, it can hammer it through with no opposition.

Hong Kong had been something special, an outpost of freedom on Chinese soil that could mediate between Beijing and the free world. China has crushed what had been one of its greatest assets.