Hong Kong Government Arrests 8 Prominent Figures, Scholar Criticizes Cold War-Era Hostage Diplomacy

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Monday that it has imposed sanctions on 14 Chinese officials in connection with the passage of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, including Wang Chen and Zhang Chunxian, vice chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. After the U.S. announced a new round of sanctions, Hong Kong police went door-to-door early Tuesday morning to arrest eight pro-democracy activists, including three former lawmakers Hu Zhiwei, Chu Kaidi and Leung Kwok-hung, the new convenor of the Democratic Front for Democracy and People’s Livelihood (DAB) Chan Ho-hwan, and several district council members.

The police accused them of organizing, holding or participating in unauthorized assemblies or marches, including the 7-1 march, on June 30 and July 1 this year. Some scholars have criticized the police’s approach as a reenactment of Cold War-era hostage diplomacy.

The U.S. Treasury Department website announced late Monday night (Dec. 7) at approximately 11:45 p.m. Hong Kong time that it had imposed sanctions on 14 Chinese officials related to the passage of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, including Wang Chen, Zhang Chunxian and Cao Jianming, all of whom are vice chairmen of the National People’s Congress. The sanctioned individuals will be denied entry into the United States and will face asset freezes and financial sanctions.

U.S. Announces Sanctions Against 14 Chinese Officials

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo immediately issued a statement explaining the sanctions, criticizing Beijing for hollowing out Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, depriving it of meaningful opposition and turning it into a “rubber stamp.

Pompeo said that Beijing’s attacks, including those from the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which effectively neuters Hong Kong people’s choice of political representatives, once again show Beijing’s complete disregard for its international commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, hence the U.S. sanctions against the 14 vice-chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, which unanimously passed the National Security Law for Hong Kong.

In a social networking Twitter post, Pompeo said that the U.S. sanctioned the Chinese officials in question because of their connection with the development, adoption, and implementation of the Port Area National Security Act. He added that the U.S. would hold Beijing accountable for destroying Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Hong Kong Police Arrest 8 Pro-democracy Activists

A few hours after the U.S. announced a new round of sanctions, Hong Kong police arrested eight pro-democracy activists early Tuesday morning (Dec. 8), including three former legislators Wu Chi-wai, Chu Kai-dee and Leung Kwok-hung, the new convenor of the Democratic Front for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) Chan Ho-hwan, as well as Eastern District Council members Tsui Chi-wai and Tsang Kin-shing.

Police confirmed the arrests on Tuesday, charging them with organizing, holding or participating in unauthorized assemblies or processions on June 30 and July 1, including the July 1 march, or with “inciting others to knowingly participate in unauthorized assemblies” under the Public Order Ordinance.

The eight pro-democracy activists were detained by the police for more than six hours after their arrest, and were released on bail in the afternoon. The police charged them with three different charges, namely, the sunsetting of the case, and the case will be arraigned at the West Kowloon Magistracy next Thursday afternoon (December 17).

FDD Convenor Chan Ho-hwan condemns Hong Kong government’s suppression of citizens.

The convenor of FDD, Mr. Chan Ho-hwan, was released on bail after leaving Tsuen Wan Police Station. He said that since December 1, the Hong Kong government has been suppressing the people of Hong Kong, including the former three sons of Hong Kong Public Chi, Wong Chi-fung, Chow Ting, and Lam Long-yin, were sentenced to jail, and the founder of Next Media, Lai Chi-ying, was remanded to jail.

Mr. Chan said: “The government keeps suppressing us Hong Kong people, and this police prosecution is obviously a continuation of the suppression of our civil society freedoms and rights, I will persevere and will not regret it, and this prosecution will not deter me to continue to participate in social movements.

Mr. Chen called on Hong Kong people to adhere to the five demands, oppose all oppression, unite to do what we can do, Mr. Chen also said that the police did not use the National Security Law to prosecute him this time.

It (police) only charged me with three crimes, nowadays it really can use the national security law anytime, no reason, no slogan or banner, or even anything, it can charge whatever it likes, not to say whether it is the national security law or not, it should be said that it wants to suppress you is to suppress you.

Chen Jiayi Luo said the police refused to conduct an independent investigation, resulting in low popularity.

According to the latest opinion survey on the rating of the disciplinary forces released by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Institute on Tuesday (December 8), the 1,085 Hong Kong residents surveyed gave the Fire Services Department a rating of 81, making it once again the most satisfactory disciplinary force to the public. The net satisfaction score is negative 19 percentage points.

Hong Kong Baptist University, Department of Political Science and International Studies Associate Professor Kenneth Chan attended the press conference, said the Hong Kong Police Force over the past year low rating, and the Police Department has refused to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the past more than a year of anti-sentinel campaign, related to police indiscriminate arrest and other issues are directly related.

The police force is the largest, most dense and most demanding law enforcement agency that encroaches on our rights. The police force law enforcement is fair, the police force is not fair by the media or the public perception, in fact, there is not no way to solve, in last year since the amendment controversy, people keep saying that we demand an independent investigation to find the truth, but up to now, to this point, the police department, the SAR government are rejecting the establishment of the independent commission of inquiry, refuse to through an independent investigation, to try to start to go to the police force. Deal with some of the conflicts between the government and the people, and even between the police and the people, as well as some of the knots, (Police Commissioner) Deng Bingqiang’s speech, these can not be done because it must not be fair, that is, he is basically using such an attitude, he believes that the independent investigation of these must be unfair to the police force, or he has something to want to conceal it?

Criticism of Hong Kong Government’s “Big Arrest” Turns Hong Kong Into “Fear of Governance”

About 20 people have been arrested by police in the past week, including eight students and district councillors on Monday and eight pro-democracy activists on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in a graduation march in mid-November, Chen said, describing the arrests in Chinese terms as “big arrests” that have turned Hong Kong into a “governance by fear.

A so-called regime that governs Hong Kong with terror and fear, even ‘governs’ Hong Kong to death, with a police power as its vanguard and a dictatorial regime as its backbone and its foundation, is actually a far-fetched approach to governance that goes everywhere, not just to some so-called struggle for democracy,” Chan said. Friends of democracy, friends of the media, can be very innocently arrested, and this is what is not listed in this report, the November 16 incident of Cai Yuling, the editor-director of the “Clang Collection”. The government has actually been so poor up to this point that only police powers remain.”

Questioning the Hong Kong government’s reenactment of Cold War-era hostage diplomacy

In response to a question from the Voice of America (VOA), Dr. Kenneth Chen said that the police’s action was a reenactment of the hostage diplomacy of the Cold War era, which was a common tactic of dictatorial regimes.

I’ll just arrest a few people who you ‘flesh tight’ (value), the more you ‘flesh tight’ (value) those, I’ll arrest those (people), the more you ‘flesh tight’ (value) those democrats, I’ll arrest those (people). The more you want to catch those, so this morning (Chief Executive), Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor that statement, not accidentally ‘pop’ out, you Western countries think those democrats have a halo? The more you pay attention to those people, the more it tells you that it won’t give you face, and the whole thing becomes a kind of hostage diplomacy, which makes no sense at all, it’s all a gesture to tell the world that I’m not selling you out.”

Predicting Continued Human Rights Setbacks in Hong Kong

He expects that this trend will continue and that the human rights situation in Hong Kong will continue to regress.

In fact, the current situation of Hong Kong, whether you like to think of it in terms of the new cold war, what they are doing, what this regime and the regime in Beijing behind it are doing, is exactly the same as what we can quote from history at that time, in terms of mentality, in terms of approach, in terms of response, in terms of the way they are doing it,” he said. This is exactly the same, this is going to continue to be the development, of course we in Hong Kong, we often say that Hong Kong is special in that there are international human rights conventions, Article 38 of the Basic Law and so on and so forth here, and a few days later on December 10 is World Human Rights Day, and our Hong Kong SAR Government’s great contribution to World Human Rights Day is the ‘Big Catch’. This is our response to the international community’s implementation of human rights as a universal value in Hong Kong, according to the Basic Law, or according to all along the continuity, Hong Kong people’s awareness, different attitudes towards human rights and ways of doing things a big ‘slap’, a ‘slap in the face’, so we can use this perspective to Analyze, compare, and therefore will know, also no wonder that the international community is increasingly nervous, also are more and more possible moves to consider how to respond to this crisis of human rights.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press conference on Monday in response to the new round of U.S. sanctions against Chinese officials that China has always firmly opposed and strongly condemned the U.S. use of the Hong Kong issue to interfere in China’s internal affairs, urging the U.S. side to immediately stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, and if the U.S. side insists on going ahead, China will certainly continue to take resolute countermeasures.