Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated on June 29 that over the past years Beijing has restructured Hong Kong's governance in a way that reduces accountability and tightens social control. A "draconian" national security regime is in place, which answers to the Chinese Communist Party leadership rather than Hong Kong's people.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW, stated:
Hong Kong's highly repressive national security regime and bureaucracy have erased long-protected rights and cast a deeply troubling shadow over its future. As Beijing continues to radically transform Hong Kong, the deadly Tai Po housing complex fire illustrates the tragic consequences of a society that has lost its ability to hold the powerful accountable.
The reshaping has fundamentally changed the institutions of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). All power now lies with institutions that report to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. The new Legislative Council is overwhelmingly comprised of individuals with deep ties to the Chinese state, including 45 people who hold positions in Chinese state-owned enterprises, and numerous former police officers.
The government has also allocated HK$5 billion (approximately USD$638 million) to national security. There is no public information about how this money is used, and there has been increased secrecy in arrests and police operations.
These changes have been consolidated in the six years since the National Security Law was imposed in June 2020. This law has led to the arrests of protestors, activists and former opposition lawmakers, as well as shutting down numerous pro-democracy news sources. Prominent democracy advocates have been imprisoned, including Jimmy Lai and Joshua Wong.
HRW emphasized that the response to the Tai Po fire, which left 168 dead, demonstrates how this security apparatus functions to suppress dissent. Seven people involved in a recent renovation of the housing complex were criminally charged, but critics who called for a wider investigation into government negligence were silenced and even detained.
The rights group further stated that the national security framework has led to censorship of art and film, and many businesses have been targeted by the authorities with bureaucratic harassment if they are seen as holding pro-democracy values. Last week, two booksellers were arrested under the National Security Law on suspicion of selling seditious literature.
These changes are also now entrenched in the education system. The Education Bureau has instituted a curriculum that emphasizes the "values" of national security and patriotism, and seeks to vilify the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong before the crackdown. When these changes were proposed in 2024, one anonymous educator raised concerns, saying: "China has historical problems and existing ones. We need to face up to them for the country to progress."
Pearson said that these far-reaching consequences expose the false promises of the Chinese government:
The Chinese government dishonestly claims the national security regime targets only a small minority of people, but in reality it has turned the city into a security fortress, leaving people powerless. Foreign governments should keep speaking out about Hong Kong, and not forget that it is the ordinary people who fought so hard for universal suffrage and basic rights who suffer the most.
Other organizations, such as Amnesty International, have joined HRW in expressing ongoing concern over national security enforcement in the HKSAR.
From JURIST, June 30. Used with permission. Internal links added.
See our last report on the National Security regime in Hong Kong.
Photo: HKFP
Joshua Wong pleads guilty
Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong on Sept. 2 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces—his second conviction under a Beijing-imposed national security law following a landmark subversion case.
The 29-year-old was accused of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and others in 2020 to request that foreign countries impose sanctions and blockades or engage in other hostile activities directed against the governments of Hong Kong and China.
The offense carries a maximum penalty of life behind bars. (HKFP)
Joshua Wong sentenced to 10 more years in prison
The Hong Kong High Court on Nov. 5 sentenced pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong to 10 years imprisonment over charges of “conspiring with foreign forces.”
Wong has been charged under Article 29(4) of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the National Security Law, or NSL) and sections 159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance, Cap. 200. He was accused of “conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign countries or with external elements to endanger national security” between July and November 2020, as he advocated for Hong Kong’s “democratic self-determination.”
Wong was said to have conspired with Nathan Law, a self-exiled activist, and others unknown. The NSL’s Section 29 imposes a sentence for this offense of three to 10 years of fixed-term imprisonment. However, in cases of “a grave nature,” the offender may be sentenced to not less than 10 years. The charge against Wong fell into this category, as he was accused of colluding with “foreign governments or external elements” to call for the “imposition of sanctions, blockade or other hostile measures” against Hong Kong or China.
The order further adds that between July and November 2020, the US imposed sanctionson 15 top officials of PRC and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), under Executive Order 13936, which was issued following instatement of the NSL. Additionally, the US revoked Hong Kong’s differential treatment as a Special Administrative Region under US law, and suspended several agreements with the HKSAR. Countries such as the UK, Germany and France have also suspended agreements with HKSAR.
Joshua Wong is one of the Hong Kong’s best-known democracy activists. As a teenager, he led 2012 protests against the Moral & National Education (MNE) curriculum that was widely recognized by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International as political indoctrination. He was also part of the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement, and co-founded the dissident group Demosistō with Law and others in 2016. However, the party disbanded hours before the NSL came into effect in June 2020.
Wong was previously sentenced for four years and eight months in 2024 on the charge of “conspiracy to commit subversion.” The present sentence will concurrently with the remainder of his term for the earlier charge, which concerned participating in unofficial electoral primaries in 2020.
Amnesty International’s deputy regional director Sarah Brooks condemned the new sentence, stating: “Joshua Wong’s bravery in speaking truth to power should be commended, but instead in Hong Kong it makes him a criminal. Today’s sentence is another grim reminder of how Hong Kong’s National Security Law has become a tool to punish dissent rather than to genuinely protect national security.”
Human Rights Watch also called for Wong’s immediate and unconditional release, stating that the sentence is unjust and cruel. (Jurist)