Forty-seven people who participated in or organized the Legislative Council primary election were charged with conspiracy to subvert state power on February 28, which coincided with the anniversary of the February 28 tragedy created by the Kuomintang in Taiwan 74 years ago, hence the name of the Hong Kong version of February 28. Looking at the history of Taiwan’s pro-democracy movement, what is also comparable is the Beautiful Island trial in the Beautiful Island incident. Although the Beauty Island trial was an important turning point in Taiwan’s rebellion against dictatorship towards democracy, while the February 28th trial in Hong Kong was a turning point from freedom to dictatorship, the impact of the Beauty Island trial on Taiwan’s politics and Culture, as well as the subsequent Lin House bloodbath, Chen Wencheng’s murder, Jiangnan’s murder, and Zheng Nanrong’s self-immolation case, have all served as inspiration and caution for Hong Kong.
The Beauty Island Trial Repeats in Hong Kong
So far, only four of the 47 pro-democracy activists accused of violating the National Security Law have been granted bail, while the others have to suffer from being imprisoned before trial, including 11 who were granted bail by National Security Law Judge So Wai-tak and then returned to scabbard after immediate review by the Department of Justice. This is a great irony to the presumption of innocence and human rights protection provisions in the National Security Law, and a landmark event in the deprivation of Hong Kong people’s right to vote and judicial human rights.
The Chinese National People’s Congress will soon amend the Annexes to the Basic Law to change the electoral system in Hong Kong, moreover, it will complement the National Security Law to completely eradicate the foundation of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong and move towards the dictatorship during Taiwan’s mobilization for counter-insurgency. The February 28th trial in Hong Kong is part of the Chinese Communist Party‘s campaign to amend the Basic Law for the NPC. The scale of the trial, the degree of political manipulation, and the violation of judicial human rights are all comparable to the Beautiful Island trial in Taiwan, and the essence is to suppress democracy in the name of the rule of law.
On December 10, 1979, after the police rejected the application of Belle Isle magazine to commemorate World Human Rights Day in Kaohsiung, the magazine held a rally as planned, demanding an end to party bans and martial law, but was violently dispersed by the authorities and clashes between the police and the public broke out. On the following day, the authorities began a major search and arrest, and later announced that 152 people were involved in the Meilidao incident. On February 20, 1980, the Military Justice Division of the Taiwan Police General Administration indicted Shi Mingde and eight others for rebellion, and 37 others were indicted in the general court, thus beginning the Beauty Island trial.
During the Belle Isle trial, the 45 people were subjected to fatigue, denied Food, and even beaten. After the trial began, the authorities agreed to publish the trial and the defendants’ statements in Taiwan newspapers only under the pressure of international public opinion. By April 18, all 45 were found guilty, including Shi Mingde, who was sentenced to Life in prison. Some of the similar scenarios of the Belle Isle trial have been repeated in Hong Kong, and it is of particular concern whether the subsequent events and political and social implications will be repeated.
It should be noted that the social context of the February 28th trial in Hong Kong was very different from that of the Belle Isle trial in Taiwan. Taiwan was still in the period of mobilization for counter-insurgency, i.e. martial law, and the ban on the party and the press had not been lifted. In Hong Kong, on the other hand, there was no party ban on newspapers, traditional democrats and local political parties were able to participate in politics openly, freedom of the press and freedom of speech were not yet completely deprived, and the human rights enjoyed by Hong Kong people were better than those in Taiwan back then. However, after Taiwan’s Beautiful Island trial and Hong Kong’s February 28th trial, the contrast between the two places’ democracy and human rights situation is reversing.
Hong Kong enters a period of quasi-press ban and quasi-party ban
The Beauty Island trial has attracted international attention, exerted pressure on the Kuomintang, and touched off a change in Taiwan’s political ecology. On the one hand, the Belle Isle trial led to a political alliance between the defendants and defense lawyers. The defendants, such as Shih Ming-teh, Hsu Hsin-liang, Lu Hsiu-lien, and Lin Yi-hsiung, and the lawyers, such as Hsieh Chang-ting, Su Tseng-chang, and Chen Shui-bian, later became core members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and they became more united in their fight for democracy and freedom, and gradually gained the support of more Taiwanese, eventually ending martial law in Taiwan and achieving democratic elections and party rotation.
On the other hand, the democratic movement in Taiwan still paid a heavy price in the last madness of the authoritarian regime after the Beautiful Island incident. Among them, the February 28, 1980 Lin House bloodbath (Lin Yixiong’s mother and twin daughters were killed at Home while he was imprisoned), the 1981 Chen Wencheng murder case, the 1984 Jiangnan murder case, and the 1989 Cheng Nan Yung self-immolation case were all incidents of the authoritarian regime’s bloody suppression of democrats and sniping of overseas exiles and supporters.
It is disturbing that after the change of the national security law and the election system, Hong Kong will enter a period of quasi-press and quasi-party prohibition. The February 28 inquest is only one of the difficulties that Hong Kong has suffered from freedom and dictatorship, and there is no telling how many more calamities and tears of blood will have to be shed in order to move from dictatorship to freedom. I hope that God will have eyes to protect our city and our people.
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