Hong Kong Crises: An Update

Hong Kong has been one of the territories which the Chinese have claimed to be a part of mainland China. Initially a British colony, Hong Kong became a part of China's special administrative region. Hong Kong has a 'one country-two systems policy' where, even though it’s a part of the Chinese special administrative zone, it can have its own administration along with trade and economic relations with other countries. However, the executive, judicial and legislative powers of the government of Hong Kong are devolved from the Chinese government. 

On 30th June, a new national security law was passed in Hong Kong by China. According the new changes in the extradition law, countries like China, Taiwan, and Macau, who do not have extradition treaties with Hong Kong will be allowed to make extradition requests. This law came into being when a Hong Kong man murdered his girlfriend and was wanted by the Taiwan police. While the Hong Kong Chief Executive, assured the people that every case of extradition will be reviewed and political crimes will not be covered by the law, people of Hong Kong are not assured by it. People took to streets to protest against this law as critics’ fear that the law will be used by China to pressurize Hong Kong’s pro-democracy and anti-China political activists to China. People are concerned that if the political activists are extradited to China, they will be subjected to China’s legal system which according to many Human Rights Groups uses torture, arbitrary detentions and unfair trails amongst other things. People took to streets to protest against this law as they do not trust China’s judicial system and are worried about the safety of Hong Kong people. Hence, since the declaration of the bill, millions of people are protesting against the bill as it harms the people of Hong Kong and its future. 

The peaceful protests were joined by almost everyone from the city. But the protests soon turned violent, when the police used tear gas, water cannon, batons and even rubber bullets on the people to disperse the peacefully protesting crowds. These tactics have been criticized highly by the international agencies and organizations. There has been a small group of protestors who have turned violent against the police officers, majority of the movement has been peaceful. They have staged strikes, surrounded police stations, shut down airports and led huge marches. This has only led to the movement becoming wider as more people joined in, and also broader, as now people are also protesting against the erosion of rights and freedoms which they were guaranteed.

People of Hong Kong are not happy with Chinese mediation in the city and the kind of power it holds on the people of Hong Kong. China and Hong have had a complex political relationship and the extradition bill gives China more power over Hong Kong. According to the ‘one country-two system’ policy, China agreed that Hong Kong would operate as a democratic entity and the people of Hong Kong would have all the freedoms and rights which a democracy is supposed to have. This bill by many has been seen as a mediation by the Chinese government in the governance of Hong Kong, thereby violating the agreement which granted Hong Kong, its autonomy.

One of the demands of the people of Hong Kong has been met – the extradition bill has been withdrawn. This has given the people hope that their other demands too will be taken under consideration. The demands apart from the withdrawal of the bill are – a commission of enquiry into the police brutality which had been outrightly refused by the authorities, retracting the classification of the protests as ‘riots’, amnesty for arrested protestors and dual universal suffrage for both legislative council and position of chief executive.

All international actors are also closely observing how China reacts to the protest movement going on. China has refrained from using the military for intervention to break the movement. Many scholars feel that the reason behind lack of military intervention is that China does not want to face more backlash from the international community especially after the pandemic. But this has not stopped China from playing a part in movement. While hailing the bill as a crucial change which would ensure safety in Hong Kong and protestors as separatists who are unnecessarily rebelling against the state, China has used its state media to paint the protestors in a negative light.

Many activists and protestors have urged the international onlookers and actors to help their cause against China. While the pandemic may have tamed the protests and refrained people from crowding the streets, the movement has not died down at all. Instead, the movement and the protestors’ aspirations to restore the status quo in Hong Kong has heightened. The arrests of the pro-democracy activists and the innocent protestors has just highlighted China's brutal crackdown on the democratic rights and freedoms of the people and has just proved how integral the protest movement is.

While the pro-democracy movements are important for the restoration of the rights of people, the political unrest in Hong Kong has costed its economy. The unrest mixed with pandemic along with the uncertainties of US-China trade war, sent the economy of the country into a recession for the first time in a decade. Hong Kong gets a huge revenue from tourism, which too has been impacted negatively due to the current pandemic and protests. While protestors were able make the authorities to concede to one its demands, the movement for fulfillment of other demands is still on. The political crises are considered by many to be never-ending. While most of the people inside the city remain safe, they worry about their future.

Pic Courtesy-Erin Song at unsplash.com

(The views expressed are personal views of the author and do not represent the views of CESCUBE or its office bearers.)