How democracy was dismantled in Hong Kong in 2021

2 years ago 294

HONG KONG – For Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, 2021 has been a twelvemonth successful which the city’s authorities and the cardinal authorities successful Beijing stamped retired astir everything it had stood for.

Activists person fled overseas oregon been locked up nether a draconian caller National Security Law imposed connected the city. Opposition voices person been driven retired of the legislature. Monuments commemorating China's crackdown connected pro-democracy protesters successful Beijing successful 1989 person been taken down. And arsenic the twelvemonth neared its extremity Wednesday, a vocal pro-democracy media outlet closed pursuing a constabulary raid, silencing 1 of the past openly captious voices successful the city.

The crackdown, which took basal 18 months agone with the enactment of the National Security Law, played retired this twelvemonth arsenic the world's 2 large powers, the United States and China, battled implicit ideology and bully governance.

The Biden medication has been sharply captious of China's moves successful Hong Kong arsenic it tries to enactment ideology globally and deepen ties with different democracies successful the look of China's rise. China, ruled by the Communist Party, has pointed retired flaws successful American ideology and argued that its ain strategy has delivered some stableness and a amended effect to COVID-19 compared to what it describes arsenic chaos successful the United States.

Hong Kong, a erstwhile British colony that was seen arsenic a bastion of state aft its instrumentality to China successful 1997, has gone done an overhaul of its governmental strategy and a crackdown connected governmental dissent arsenic Beijing and Hong Kong authorities sought to suppress anti-government sentiment that led to months of governmental strife successful 2019.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong constabulary raided the bureau of online pro-democracy quality outlet Stand News and arrested six radical — 2 existent and erstwhile editors and 4 erstwhile committee members including fashionable vocalist Denise Ho — for alleged sedition nether a colonial-era transgression ordinance.

The outlet announced Wednesday day that it would halt operations pursuing the raid.

Stand News is the 2nd media outlet successful Hong Kong to cease operations aft being targeted by authorities, pursuing the now-defunct Apple Daily paper which unopen down earlier this twelvemonth aft authorities raided its offices for a 2nd clip and froze millions successful assets.

A drawstring of arrests of activists and predetermination instrumentality amendments this twelvemonth person each but quashed the pro-democracy question successful the city.

More than 100 pro-democracy figures and others person been arrested nether the National Security Law, which penalizes actions seen arsenic separatist oregon subverting the Hong Kong oregon Chinese governments.

That includes 47 radical charged with subversion nether the caller instrumentality successful February implicit their roles successful an unofficial superior predetermination held successful 2020 to find the champion candidates to tract successful planned legislative elections.

Authorities accused the activists of subversion, saying they planned to triumph a bulk and usage it to paralyze the authorities and yet unit Hong Kong person Carrie Lam to measurement down.

The authorities postponed the 2020 elections, citing nationalist wellness risks from COVID-19. Then, the cardinal authorities successful Beijing announced caller predetermination laws earlier this twelvemonth that reduced the proportionality of straight elected seats to little than a 4th and required each candidates to beryllium loyal to Beijing.

The results were predictable: Earlier this month, pro-Beijing lawmakers won a landslide triumph successful the postponed polls. The city’s largest absorption party, the Democratic Party, fielded nary candidates for the archetypal clip since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China.

Several pro-democracy commercialized unions and organizations person besides been dissolved this year. The city's largest teachers’ national disbanded successful August owed to the governmental climate, followed aboriginal by the city’s largest autarkic commercialized union, reducing the abstraction for civilian nine groups.

The Civil Human Rights Front, a pro-democracy radical that organized immoderate of the biggest protests successful 2019, besides disbanded pursuing a constabulary probe nether the National Security law.

Other pro-democracy activists person besides been arrested for engagement successful unauthorized protests and the yearly Tiananmen candlelight vigil — held to commemorate China's bloody crackdown connected pro-democracy protesters successful Beijing's Tiananmen Square connected June 4, 1989 — which has been banned for 2 consecutive years. Currently, astir of the city's pro-democracy activists are down bars oregon person fled abroad.

As the twelvemonth drew to a close, respective artworks were removed that commemorated the Tiananmen massacre.

Two days earlier Christmas, the University of Hong Kong, citing ineligible risks, ordered the removal of the 8-meter (26-foot) -tall Pillar of Shame monument, which depicts a heap of torn and twisted bodies of Tiananmen victims. Several different universities followed suit, removing pro-democracy and Tiananmen commemoration statues.

China's Communist Party has agelong sought to erase Tiananmen from the nationalist consciousness successful the mainland, forbidding immoderate commemorative events. Now it seems determined to bash the aforesaid successful Hong Kong successful the sanction of restoring stableness to the city.

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Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.

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