Vancouver, Canada, Eastern District MP Guan Huizhen (Jenny Kwan), in the first time to hear a number of Hong Kong democrats, like Li Zhuming, Lai Chi-ying and others sentenced to prison, immediately issued a statement expressing great concern about this, and a detailed analysis of the situation in Hong Kong, that the former free and beautiful and prosperous Pearl of the Orient has lost its soul! Hong Kong was promised that one country, two systems has completely disappeared!
The following is the full text of the statement issued by Guan Huizhen:
It is hard to imagine how bad the situation in Hong Kong has been in the past year. In less than a year since China forcibly enacted the National Security Law for Hong Kong on July 1 of last year, Hong Kong’s “two systems” have vanished and its people have lost their most basic human rights and freedoms.
Under the direct rule of the brutal Chinese Communist Party, the professional and neutral civil service has been completely partisanized. They are required to swear allegiance to the government rather than to the people. Education in Hong Kong was also hit hard, books on democratic rights were taken off the shelves, some Chinese history was removed, and school children were required to learn the National Security Law from the age of three.
When the National People’s Congress enacted the National Security Law, China and the HKSAR government said that the law would have no retroactive effect, that it would only target secession, subversion of state power, organization of terrorist activities and collusion with foreign powers, and that it would be implemented under common law. But it soon became clear that the government had extended the national security law to different corners of the country, and that the common law was being overridden, so that even civil lawsuits could be investigated by the National Security Division.
The democratic part of Hong Kong’s electoral system was neutered, candidates had to be selected by state security officials, candidates participating in democratic primaries were arrested and prosecuted, and calls for blank votes became a criminal offense, and the government did not allow dissent.
Hong Kong people no longer have the right to run for elections, to assemble and demonstrate, or even to hold up white papers in the streets. Even if we express our support for Hong Kong people in Canada, we would be in violation of national security laws and could be wanted for arrest.
Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” has been shattered by Beijing’s oppressive rule, resulting in a mass exodus of Hong Kong people.
China has promised Hong Kong people and the international community that “one country, two systems” will allow them to continue to enjoy basic human rights and freedoms. The sentencing of Hong Kong democracy leaders and freedom fighters such as Martin Lee, Lai Chi-ying, Albert Ho, Lee Cheuk-yan, Sandra Ng and Yeung Sum to prison marks the end of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong and the loss of the soul of the Pearl of the Orient.
Canada must immediately assist in sheltering refugees facing persecution in Hong Kong, and we must work with our allies to pursue accountability. The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a UN-registered treaty that China has a responsibility to abide by and must be held accountable for continued violations.
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