Hong Kong – Hong Kong police arrested 53 former democracy delegates and defenders on Wednesday, including a US human rights lawyer, for allegedly violating a new national security law by participating in the unofficial electoral primaries of the territory legislature last year. The mass arrests were the largest action against the Hong Kong democratic movement since the law was imposed by Beijing last June to quell dissent in the semi-autonomous territory.
“The operation is today targeting active elements suspected of being involved in the crime of overthrow or interference (and) serious destruction of the lawful execution of Hong Kong government functions,” said John Lee, Hong Kong Minister of Security, at a press conference.
AP
He said it was suspected that the detainees were trying to paralyze the government by getting the majority of seats in the legislature and thus creating a situation where the chief executive had to resign and the government would stop working.
In a video posted on the Facebook page of former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, police are seen coming to his home and telling him he is “suspected of violating national security law, subverting state power.” Police told those recording the video to stop or take a risk.
Legislative elections that would have followed the unofficial primaries were postponed for a year by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, who cited public health risks during the coronavirus pandemic. The massive resignations and disqualifications of pro-democracy lawmakers have left the legislature largely a pro-Beijing body.
Lee said police would not target those who had voted in unofficial primaries, which were held in July last year and attracted more than 600,000 voters, although pro-Beijing lawmakers and politicians had warned. that the event could violate the security law.
Who was arrested?
All pro-democracy candidates in the unofficial primaries were arrested, according to arrest records reported by the South China Morning Post, the online platform Now News and political groups.
At least seven members of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, the city’s largest opposition party, were arrested, including former party chairman Wu Chi-wai. Former lawmakers Lam, Helena Wong and James To were also arrested, according to a post on the party’s Facebook page.
Benny Tai, a key figure in the 2014 Hong Kong Central Occupy protests and a former law professor, was also arrested, according to reports. Tai was one of the main organizers of the primaries.
The home of Joshua Wong, a prominent pro-democracy activist who is serving a sentence of 13 1/2 months in prison for organizing and participating in an unauthorized protest last year, he was also attacked, according to a tweet posted from Wong’s account.
The American human rights lawyer arrested
U.S. human rights lawyer John Clancey was also arrested Wednesday. Clancey was the treasurer of the political group Power for Democracy, which participated in unofficial primaries.
“We have to work for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong,” Clancey said as police let him go, in a video published by local Citizen News magazine.
Police also went to the headquarters of Stand News, a prominent pro-democracy online news site in Hong Kong, with a court order to hand over documents to aid in an investigation related to national security law, according to a video live from Stand News. No arrests were made.
The arrests wiped out the conviction of Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State’s nominee for the next Biden administration, who said on Twitter that it was an “assault on those who bravely defend universal rights.” “.
“The Biden-Harris administration will position itself with the people of Hong Kong and against the repression of democracy in Beijing,” Blinken wrote in his tweet.
Alleged plan of “mutual destruction”
Lee also pointed to a “ten-step plan toward mutual destruction” among those arrested, which included taking control of the legislature, mobilizing protests to paralyze society and calling for international sanctions.
This plan was previously outlined by former Tai law professor. He predicted that between 2020 and 2022 there would be 10 steps to mutual destruction, which include the pro-democracy bloc that wins the majority in the legislature, intensifies protests, the forced resignation of chief executive Carrie Lam a due to the rejection of the budget bill twice, and international sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party.
The concept of mutual destruction, in which Hong Kong and China would be harmed, is popular among some pro-democracy protesters and activists.
“The plot is to create mutual destruction that, if successful, will cause serious damage to society at large,” Lee said. “That’s why today’s police action is necessary.”
Senior Superintendent Steve Li of the National Security Unit said at a news conference that 53 people (45 men and eight women between the ages of 23 and 64) were arrested in an operation involving 1,000 officers.
Six were arrested for subverting state power by organizing unofficial primaries, while the rest were arrested for allegedly participating in the event, Li said. He said more arrests could be made and investigations were underway.
A growing repression
In recent months, Hong Kong has already jailed several pro-democracy activists, including Wong and Agnes Chow for their involvement in anti-government protests, and others have been charged under national security law, including the media mogul and the outspoken pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
The security law criminalizes acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers to intervene in the affairs of the city. Serious offenders can suffer a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said at the time of last year’s unofficial primaries that if her goal was to resist all political initiatives by the Hong Kong government, elections could fall under the subversion of Hong Kong. state power, a crime under national security law.
Beijing had also called the primaries illegal and a “grave provocation” of Hong Kong’s electoral system.
Following the surrender of Hong Kong to China by the British in 1997, the semi-autonomous Chinese city has operated a “one-country, two-system” framework that provides it with freedoms not found on the mainland. In recent years, Beijing has asserted more control over the city and criticized it for breaking its promise that Hong Kong would keep civil rights and political systems separate for 50 years from delivery.
Human Rights Watch said the arrests suggest Beijing has not known the crackdown is generating resistance. HRW senior researcher Maya Wang said in a statement that “millions of Hong Kong people will persist in their fight for their right to vote and run for office in a democratically elected government.”
In other statements to The Associated Press, Wang said it was unclear what provisions of the law were cited to justify the arrests, but that local authorities appear less concerned about the legal merits.
“The very nature of the national security law is like a general draconian law that allows the government to detain and possibly imprison people for long periods for having exercised their constitutionally protected rights,” Wang said.
“The rule of law design also applies to mainland China without any meaning. Hong Kong looks more like mainland China, but where one ends and the other begins is hard to discern,” he said.