In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has intensified its efforts to compress Hong Kong‘s high degree of autonomy under the Basic Law of “one country, two systems” and in the middle of last year, it pushed through the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law“, further suppressing the freedom of Hong Kong people and making “one country, two systems The “one country, two systems” exists in name only. The recent series of moves by Beijing and the Hong Kong government to slaughter the pro-democracy camp have shocked the outside world and raised questions about Beijing’s intensified efforts to implement direct and comprehensive governance over Hong Kong.
China and Britain battle it out over BNO visa policy
After the British government announced on January 29 that the BNO (British National (Overseas)) visa channel for Hong Kong residents would open on January 31, the Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately announced that China would no longer recognize BNO passports as travel documents and proof of identity, and reserved the right to take further measures.
Following the imposition of national security laws in Hong Kong, the UK introduced a new BNO visa policy, which allows applicants to apply for permanent resident status after living in the UK for five years and to apply for British citizenship one year after being granted settled status. Previously, BNO passport holders could only stay in the UK for 6 months visa-free, without the right to stay and work. The UK expects that about 300,000 people will leave Hong Kong under this policy. Analysts say the UK’s change in the BNO visa policy is a reaction to a string of attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to change the Hong Kong system.
A major change in the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government brings in a new rule of law in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s pro-China online media HK01 (Hong Kong 01) reported on January 28 that the Liaison Office of the Central Government in Hong Kong has seen a “tsunami” of large-scale staff rotation, which has been rare in the past. The report said that half of the Liaison Office’s 480-strong establishment was being “replaced”, but not “fired”.
The report also said that many of the new candidates have no interactions with Hong Kong, do not know Cantonese, but also younger, from all over the world, the purpose is to a new perspective and approach to discuss and solve the intricacies of Hong Kong’s various political and economic and livelihood issues, is no longer the previous “simply do propaganda, dinner and ribbon-cutting”. Some analysts say this is another major move by Beijing to strengthen its overall governance of Hong Kong.
Narrowing the definition of patriots to exclude democrats
When listening to a video presentation by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Jan. 27, top Communist Party leader Xi Jinping once again stressed that “only when ‘patriots rule Hong Kong’ can the central government’s full authority over the Special Administrative Region be effectively implemented.
In an editorial, Hong Kong’s pro-China Ming Pao said in recent years that Xi’s latest remarks reflect the central government’s belief that “patriots rule Hong Kong” from the perspective of the governance system and the distribution of power, because this is two sides of the same coin as the central government’s effective implementation of comprehensive governance.
Massive search for non-establishment figures
The most shocking thing is that on January 6 this year, the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force deployed thousands of police officers to conduct a large-scale search and arrest of at least 53 non-establishment figures who participated in last year’s Legislative Council primary election, including Tai Yiu-ting, former associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, and Wu Chi-wai, former chairman of the Democratic Party, who were mostly suspected of “subversion of state power”.
The arrests of local, moderate and radical members of the pro-democracy camp, and even political activists and social activists with no political party background, have shocked the outside world and raised questions about Beijing’s intention to suppress and extinguish the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Some analysts say that this move shows that the democratic camp’s path to the parliamentary elections has been cut short and they are excluded from the government’s governance structure.
Ching Cheong: The emergence of the “underground party” of the Bauhinia Party?
The “Bauhinia Party”, founded in May 2020 by so-called “new Hongkongers” from the mainland, suddenly came to light in December in a high profile, boasting that it would take in 250,000 members and would run for the Legislative Council, etc. The three founding members of the party are all serving in the CPPCC and NPC, and have close ties with the Chinese Communist Party’s political circles. The three founders all hold positions in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress, and have close ties with the Chinese Communist Party.
The party’s rise has sparked speculation from all walks of Life. Some analysts see it as the emergence of the CCP’s “underground members,” while others believe it represents Beijing’s uneasiness with the traditional establishment and an accelerated bloodletting of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong veteran media personality and former Wen Wei Po deputy director-general, Program Cheong, wrote that the party is a “mass organization” of the CCP in Hong Kong, preparing for a full takeover of the regime (executive, legislature, judiciary, district councils) and non-regime institutions in Hong Kong.
While the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the largest pro-establishment party in Hong Kong, has only 50,000 members in the 30 years since it was founded, the Bauhinia Foundation says it is not impossible to absorb 250,000 people. Ching Cheong also said that it is estimated that there are at least 400,000 members of the underground Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, and if the Chinese Communist Party implements the “combination of open and hidden” strategy and allows some of them to surface, it is not impossible to include 250,000 people in the Bauhinia Party.
NPC Disqualifies Democrats from Parliament
Beijing’s most deadly direct rule over Hong Kong was the decision by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Nov. 11 last year to disqualify four moderate pro-democracy lawmakers from Hong Kong’s Legislative Council for “seeking interference from foreign countries or forces outside the country” and “endangering national security.
A Chinese Communist Party official said that the NPC’s decision to delineate the bottom line criteria of “patriots ruling Hong Kong” and expel “those who wreak havoc on the country and disrupt Hong Kong from the SAR’s governance structure.
The move was denounced as “lawlessness” because under the Basic Law, a two-thirds vote of the Legislative Council is required to disqualify a lawmaker. Subsequently, 19 pro-democracy lawmakers resigned in general, expressing their strongest protest against the discontinuation of “one country, two systems” and Beijing’s direct intervention.
Lee Cheuk-yan: Beijing’s full-scale pounce on the pro-democracy camp
Former Hong Kong lawmaker and Labor Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan told the Voice of America on Wednesday that Beijing’s recent series of actions are clearly aimed at killing any opposition voices and implementing its “full right to govern” Hong Kong.
It’s a very bad Time, a time of full governance,” he said. How is he going to do this comprehensive governance? It is to block all opposition forces, to prevent all opposition forces from occupying the seats of the Legislative Council, to exclude the participation of the democratic camp. He wants to govern Hong Kong directly and help his own acceptable people to get into all the most important positions.”
Confusing Concepts: Full Jurisdiction vs. Full Governing Power
This new concept of Beijing’s “comprehensive jurisdiction” over Hong Kong was introduced and emphasized by the Chinese Communist Party in the State Council’s White Paper on “One Country, Two Systems in Practice” in 2014, and has sparked much controversy in Hong Kong, as it is seen as weakening Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and seriously undermining “one country, two systems. This is because the Basic Law provides for the exercise of sovereign power by the Central Government in Hong Kong, which prior to 2014 was mainly reflected in foreign affairs and defense, as well as in the dominance of the political system.
However, the Chinese Communist Party’s imperial scholars have been trying to confuse the concept in recent years, saying that the English version of the White Paper translates “full jurisdiction” as “overall jurisdiction,” while jurisdiction is a concept in international law that refers to a sovereign state. The concept of “jurisdiction” is a concept of international law, which means that a sovereign state has jurisdiction over everything within its territory. They argue that “full jurisdiction” is equivalent to “full jurisdiction,” which is actually what the CCP usually calls Sovereignty.
Forced Narrowing of Deng Xiaoping’s Definition of Patriot
In addition, as the controversy and conflict between Hong Kong people and the CCP over the issue of universal suffrage continue to intensify, the State Council’s White Paper on “The Practice of One Country, Two Systems” not only proposes for the first time “full jurisdiction” which is not explicitly stated in the Basic Law, but also reinforces Deng Xiaoping’s definition of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong must be governed by Hong Kong people who are mainly patriots,” saying that “Hong Kong must be governed by patriots. Deng Xiaoping’s “Hong Kong must be governed by Hong Kong people who are patriots”, saying that “allegiance to the state is the basic political ethic that those in politics must follow”.
Deng Xiaoping proposed in June 1984 that “there is a boundary and a criterion for Hong Kong people to rule Hong Kong, that is, Hong Kong people, mainly patriots, must govern Hong Kong”. According to Deng, “the criteria for patriots are that they respect their own nation, sincerely support the resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong by the motherland, and do not harm the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. As long as they have these conditions, they are patriots whether they believe in capitalism, or feudalism, or even slaveism. We do not require that they all approve of China’s socialist system, but only that they love the motherland and love Hong Kong” (Deng Xuan, vol. III, p. 74).
Last November, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress further strengthened and narrowed the concept of “patriots ruling Hong Kong” by disqualifying the four pro-democracy legislators.
The resolution stated that “Members of the Legislative Council who advocate or support the idea of ‘Hong Kong independence’, refuse to recognize the sovereignty of the state over Hong Kong, seek intervention in the affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by foreign countries or forces outside the country, or commit other acts that endanger national security” are not qualified to They do not meet the legal requirements and conditions for upholding the Basic Law and pledging allegiance to Hong Kong, and “upon determination in accordance with the law, they shall be immediately disqualified from the Legislative Council”.
However, critics say that the four pro-democracy lawmakers recognize the Basic Law and do not support “Hong Kong independence”, but at most they are involved in the filibuster that delayed the passage of the government bill that caused the Legislative Council to abort. At most, they participated in the filibuster action that caused the Legislative Council to “abort” the passage of the Hong Kong government bill, or some of them called on European and American countries to oppose Beijing’s imposition of the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” in Hong Kong.
Lee Cheuk-yan: Patriotism is false, love for the party is real
For decades, Lee Cheuk-yan, who has served as a senior leader of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, said Xi Jinping’s recent reiteration of “patriots ruling Hong Kong” is actually a request for Hong Kong people, including democrats, to “love the country and love the party” and eradicate all opposition voices in civil society.
He said, “It is obvious that his definition of ‘patriot’ is very narrow, in fact, ‘patriot’ is ‘party-loving’. Those who love the party’ are OK, those who are seriously opposed are not. So, the situation in Hong Kong is very bad, that is, the exclusion of all opposition voices in the Legislative Council. However, outside it also uses the ‘stability maintenance’ method, using the national security law to eradicate all outside voice opportunities, comprehensive control, into a white terror.”
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China has held the world’s largest candlelight vigil to commemorate the 1989 pro-democracy movement and the June 4 massacre in Victoria Park every year since 1989, and the pan-democratic group’s five major platforms include “ending one-party dictatorship. The pan-democratic group’s five platforms include “ending one-party dictatorship”. Lee Cheuk-yan said he did not know when the authorities would strike at them, but he was ready to think.
Liu Mengxiong: Leftist thinking is ruining Hong Kong
Former Hong Kong CPPCC member and current affairs commentator Liu Mengxiong said Beijing has turned “one country, two systems” into “one country, one system” in a leftist way in the process of implementing and enforcing “one country, two systems” in recent years. The government has been trying to turn “one country, two systems” into “one country, one system.
He said: “The spirit of Deng Xiaoping’s 1992 Southern Tour speech, which warned against the right and mainly prevented the left, also applies to the practice of ‘one country, two systems’. Those who engage in left ignore Deng Xiaoping’s discourse on ‘one country, two systems’, the international commitments of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the relevant provisions of international treaties and the Basic Law, and play with some left slogans, in effect pulling ‘one country, two systems’ to ‘ one country, one system’. This is totally detrimental to the fundamental interests of the Chinese state. If you destroy the freedom and rule of law in Hong Kong, it is the same as saying that fundamentally destroy Hong Kong as an international financial center.”
Liu Mengxiong also said that according to Deng Xiaoping’s concept of “patriots”, the “pan-democrats” in Hong Kong should belong to the “patriots” because their value orientation is basically They are protected under the Basic Law “one country, two systems”.
Mr. Lee Cheuk-yan also said that at present, Hong Kong people are very angry at Beijing’s series of heavy punches, but there is no space to express their opposition, because the Hong Kong government restricts rallies and marches on the grounds of anti-Epidemic, and the national security law also seriously suppresses the freedom of speech of Hong Kong people.
Hong Kong media: 50 years has not yet reached the halfway point “one country, two systems” has turned the world upside down
Mr. Lee Cheuk-yan said, at the same time, Hong Kong people have no confidence in the future, similar to the Tiananmen democracy movement in 1989, “June 4 massacre” after the formation of the mass migration wave before the return of 1997.
He said: “The more it is done, the more Hong Kong people have no confidence in the future. Everyone says they want to emigrate for the sake of their next generation. Especially recently, the Chinese Communist Party counteracted the BNO, an overseas citizenship, by not giving access to this passport. But the more it does this, the faster Hong Kong people run. This is also a repeat of the wave of immigration of Hong Kong people after the massacre of the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Of course this we do not want to see, we are to fight for democracy and freedom in Hong Kong, not to go, we must also stay and fight.”
A Hong Kong media commentary said that, on the one hand, Beijing claimed that the recent measures taken in order to “one country, two systems” can be “stable and far-reaching”, but on the other hand, decided to stop acting, directly exercise the centralized system of power, the implementation of “comprehensive governance “The “50-year unchanged” is not even halfway, but “one country, two systems” has long since been turned upside down.
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