The Hong Kong police on Wednesday (6) sent a thousand police officers to make a major arrest of 53 pro-democracy activists, accused of participating in the primary election last year, suspected of “subversion of state power”, was described as “Hong Kong’s Belle Isle incident”. The international community was quick to respond, with former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten suggesting that the EU’s earlier investment agreement with China should be scrapped.
“You are now suspected of violating national security laws and subverting state power.” Only six days into 2021, the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force made a major move, arresting 53 Hong Kong democrats for allegedly violating the National Security Law of Hong Kong for “subversion of state power” by participating in the democratic primaries last year. Among them are the former associate professor of law of the University of Hong Kong, Dai Yaoting, who is responsible for coordinating the primary election, as well as a number of former Legislative Council members and incumbent District Council members who have resigned.
The arrest method is chilling to the people of Hong Kong, polling agencies were searched
In addition to the choice of early morning door-to-door arrests, the police’s methods are increasingly unfamiliar to Hong Kong people. One of the arrested former Legislative Council member Lam Cheuk Ting, and the Hong Kong police handcuffed from the back of the reverse lock, led away from the apartment, police officers also once asked the scene to stop filming. In addition to the arrests of primary election coordinators and participants, the office of the Hong Kong Institute of Public Opinion Research, which is responsible for the technical operation of the primary election, was also searched by the Hong Kong police.
First U.S. citizen arrested under national security law
John Clancey, an American human rights lawyer living in Hong Kong, was also arrested, the first American citizen to be arrested since the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong in July last year.
“I will continue to work for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong,” Clancey told reporters as he was led away from his law firm, propped up on his crutches.
He is the treasurer of the organization Democracy Power, which also coordinated last year’s primary election for the democratic camp. He is also chair of the Asian Human Rights Commission and secretary of international affairs for the China Rights Lawyers Concern Group Council.
How can a democratic primary election “subvert state power”?
In July last year, Hong Kong democrats held a primary election for the Legislative Council, in preparation for the election scheduled for September, to decide which candidates would stand for the democratic camp to win more than 35 seats in the Legislative Council, i.e. a majority.
How exactly does this private primary election, which is not legally binding, “subvert state power”?
Lee Ka-chiu, the Secretary for Security of Hong Kong, described the primary election as a “mischievous plan” and said that the arrested persons were “activists suspected of subversion of state power”.
Lee explained: “The persons involved in the case attempted to paralyze the SAR government with an ‘evil plan’. The ‘Ten Steps to the Root and Branch Campaign’ is about a massive street riot, plus other means to bring Hong Kong to a standstill, plus international political and economic sanctions to paralyze Hong Kong and achieve the real Root and Branch Campaign.”
Senior Superintendent Li Guihua of the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force, who was in charge of the operation, said the arrestees were suspected of violating Article 22(3) of the National Security Law of Hong Kong, namely “seriously interfering with, obstructing or disrupting the performance of the functions of the Central Authorities of the People’s Republic of China or the organs of power of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in accordance with the law.
He said the 53 arrested people involved in the crime of “subversion of state power”, six of them are involved in the organization and planning, the rest are involved, and freeze 1.6 million Hong Kong dollars, but the operation sent about 1,000 police officers.
The Hong Kong Police Force’s claim is tenable?
The “10-part series” is about an article published last year by Dai Yaoting, a former associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, who was responsible for coordinating the primary election, which said that if the pro-democracy camp succeeded in securing more than 35 seats in the Legislative Council, it could veto all funding applications submitted by the government to the Legislative Council, including the Budget, and the Chief Executive would have to dissolve the Legislative Council for a new election.
However, the Hong Kong government postponed the election last year on the grounds of epidemic, and all those arrested were not elected as planned, that is, the so-called “10-part campaign” could not be realized. The above-mentioned procedures for veto and resignation of the Chief Executive are also stipulated in the Basic Law.
Alan Au, a professional advisor of the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who was the moderator of the democratic primary election forum, said in an interview with this station that the primary candidates were only exercising their rights granted by the Basic Law, and that the arrests were clearly a liquidation.
Au said: “Coordination in the election to try to win is something that anyone running in the election is bound to want to do, and what they did was normal. Even in the Legislative Council ‘filibuster’ or veto the budget, in fact, are things allowed by the Basic Law. I think this is clearly a liquidation, and the regime is using this reason to arrest people who participated in the primary election, arrest some people who assisted them and technical support, so does it mean that it is possible and justified to arrest those who provided the offices of the legislators, as polling stations, and the 610,000 people who voted? That’s my question.”
Even senior barrister Tang Jiahua, a member of the Executive Council who has repeatedly endorsed the National Security Law, said that for the time being, he could not see how the pro-democracy primary election would violate the National Security Law, and that it was normal for the Legislative Council to veto government motions, and that the veto would “subvert the SAR regime and paralyze the government.
The 600,000 people who voted will violate the law?
Another focus of the incident is whether more than 600,000 people who voted will violate the national security law? The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Institute of Public Opinion Research (HKIPR), Mr. Edwin Chung, told us that the Institute has already destroyed all the personal data of the voting public, and stressed that the public need not worry. He criticized that the purpose of the arrest operation is to produce a deterrent effect, arguing that the primary election is only a way for people of a certain faction to solve their internal problems, stressing that the result of the primary election has no legal effect, and any person can use different methods to solve internal problems.
And the Liaison Office of the Hong Kong Central People’s Government continues to try to divide the people of Hong Kong, issued a statement to express its strong support for the Hong Kong police to strictly enforce the law, “firmly support the organization or implementation of a strategic paralysis of the government suspected of violating the law, and the general misled to participate in the so-called ‘primary’ voting people are distinguished. I believe that the general public can see clearly the sinister intentions of Dai Yaoting and others and the danger they pose to Hong Kong society, and work together to consciously safeguard national security.”
Exiles: this is “Hong Kong’s Belle Isle incident”
A participant in the primary election, has earlier exiled overseas spokesman for the International Affairs Delegation of the Hong Kong tertiary education sector, Zhang Kunyang, in a social media post, described the arrest as “Hong Kong’s Belle Isle incident”, and said 2021 will not be better, the Chinese Communist Party suppression will only come one after another.
He also said that the timing of the arrest, which coincided with the final days of the U.S. presidential election certification, showed that the Chinese Communist Party was hoping to make a big move when the U.S. community was busy dealing with its own internal affairs, in an attempt to avoid the attention of the international community.
The international community is alarmed by the situation in Hong Kong
However, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the nominee of President-elect Joe Biden, was quick to respond, tweeting about the report and saying that the sweeping arrests of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong were an attack on those brave enough to fight for basic rights, emphasizing that the Biden administration would stand with the people of Hong Kong against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy.
And many political figures in Canada, Britain, Australia and Japan have spoken out one after another, criticizing the Hong Kong government’s political suppression. Former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten even suggested that the EU’s earlier investment agreement with China should be scrapped.
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election was originally scheduled to be held on September 6 last year, the democratic camp was scheduled to hold a primary election from July 11 to 12, with 52 candidates, and eventually 610,000 people voted to elect 30 democratic candidates to participate in the official election. However, the Legislative Council election was eventually cancelled by the Hong Kong government on the grounds of the epidemic. All 52 candidates, except those who are already in prison or have been exiled overseas, were arrested on Wednesday (6).
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