Under Hong Kong‘s national security law, the Hong Kong government has strengthened its management of foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Hong Kong and the presence of foreign organizations in Hong Kong. According to French media on February 27, at least two NGOs, including the Chinese Academy for Democracy and the Center for Global Innovation, a German think-tank-related organization, have withdrawn from Hong Kong for security reasons. The report also quoted 10 NGO sources as saying that the NGOs they belong to have become more cautious in participating in joint statements, and some unnamed members of human rights organizations believe that Hong Kong’s national security law has effectively silenced NGOs from criticizing the Chinese government, a worrying situation.
According to Reuters, the Chinese Democracy Institute, founded by exiled 1989 pro-democracy leader Wang Dan, moved to Taiwan in September last year. It is reported that the staff of the school is worried about their safety and security because they often criticize the Chinese government and participate in the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Reuters also quoted sources that another reason for the Institute to move away from Hong Kong is that the Institute receives considerable funding from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED); Wang Dan did not respond to whether the Institute has received NED funding, but pointed out that the Hong Kong government can now prohibit the operation of institutions linked to the NED, and also pointed out that the current NGOs in Hong Kong to open a bank account at any Time will be frozen, that Hong Kong is no longer suitable for NGO operations.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, a think tank with close ties to the German Free Democratic Party, has its office in Hong Kong, the Global Innovation Hub. The Global Innovation Hub, the Hong Kong-based office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, also left Hong Kong in September last year.
The report said that the head of the center was worried that under the national security law, it would be regarded as a foreign agent by the authorities, and that the law weakened the “firewall” that used to protect the confidentiality of the staff’s work, and that moving to Taiwan was the best option for the center.
Recent Comments