HONG KONG – As Hong Kong’s crackdown on dissent has intensified over the past year, authorities have pointed to countless acts and elements that they believe may threaten national security. Mass protests. Informal elections. Singing instructions.
Add to this list: chocolate.
The city’s top security official, Chris Tang, said last week that some people in Hong Kong prisons were accumulating chocolates and hairpins (items allowed in a limited number) to “build power” and “only · bidding supporters “with the possible aim of undermining the government.
“A lot of people might find it weird: they just have a few more hair clips, one more piece of chocolate, what’s the problem?” he told reporters. He then went on to say, “They make other people in prison feel their influence and from there they feel even more hatred towards Hong Kong and central governments, and from there they endanger national security.”
Mr. Tang did not specify who he was accusing. His comments provoked the disbelief of several prisoners’ rights defenders, one of whom he described as “incomprehensible.” But his statements came amid a push by officials to remove the growing number of pro-democracy activists imprisoned in Hong Kong from the public support precinct they have inspired.
Since Beijing imposed a comprehensive national security law on Chinese territory in July 2020, more than 120 people have been arrested, many denied bail before the trial. Thousands more have been arrested in connection with the massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.
In response, a network of volunteers quickly emerged to support the detainees. One group, the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, provided legal services and bail funds. Another, Wallfare, offered jailed protesters criminal supplies and supplies.
But in August, fund 612 announced it was dissolving, and this month police announced it was investigating the organization for possible violations of national security. On Tuesday, Wallfare said it was also closing; a founder said the group “really couldn’t go on anymore.”
Pressure on jailed protesters and their supporters is emblematic of a wider cooling that is rapidly spreading to Hong Kong civil society. The government has enforced the vaguely drafted security law to suggest that even expressions of sympathy for anti-government figures may be illegal. Dozens of pro-democracy groups, including churches and the city’s largest teachers ’union, have closed in recent months.
On Wednesday, a judge sentenced 12 people, including several former lawmakers, for organizing or participating in a banned vigil last year for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Some received suspended sentences and others six. to ten months in prison.
Scrutiny has been extended to prisoners and their supporters. Hong Kong authorities have also fined several people for gathering near prisoner vans to show support for detained activists as they are being taken from the courts to prisons. Crowds have been accused of violating restrictions on social distancing.
The comments from Mr. Tang, Hong Kong’s top security official, came after the city’s Department of Corrections announced this month that it had conducted a surprise search of a women’s prison. The investigation showed six women had “prohibited items,” officials said. Local media reported that one of the women was a prominent pro-democracy activist. Aspects of the report were later confirmed by Woo Ying-ming, the head of the corrections department, in an interview with The South China Morning Post.
According to a press release from the department, prison officials “had received intelligence in recent days” that some people had “tried to train forces and incited others to participate”. He did not disclose further information.
Mr. Tang later mentioned hairpins and chocolates. At an unrelated press conference, he said those articles were part of the tactics some prisoners and their allies used to undermine national security. Others, he said, included the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund’s practice of sending letters to detained protesters, urging them to “keep fighting.” Some others, he added, used their identities (such as clergy or local politicians, for example) as excuses to visit prisoners and then help them spread information.
His comments have since been repeated by other officials.
In his interview with The South China Morning Post, Mr. Woo said the guards had been given the task of producing daily reports on certain “influential figures” within the prison system. “That’s how groups start, like terrorist groups that recruit followers,” Woo said of the support some of the detainees have, adding that the influence was “subliminal.”
Shiu Ka-chun, a former opposition lawmaker and founder of Wallfare, described Mr. Tang of “incomprehensible,” saying his group was doing “humanitarian work.” But as a sign of the pressures facing civil society, the comments also quickly inspired caution. Shiu, in an interview with local media, also said the group would immediately discuss how to avoid misunderstandings with the authorities.
On Tuesday, Wallfare had announced its dissolution.
Following the announcement, some Hong Kong residents pledged to continue the group’s work, albeit on a smaller scale.
Kenneth Cheung, a pro-democracy district councilor, a low-level elected official who oversees neighborhood work, said he had visited detained protesters several times a month. He said he would continue to do so, adding that after posting about the closure of Wallfare on Facebook, several voters had tried to donate cookie or beef donors to prison.
But he acknowledged that he was more likely to limit himself to bringing small gifts to people, while Wallfare had been able to use his platform to advocate for better conditions for prisoners. He stressed that he had no plans to start any kind of replacement organization.
“Of course, having an organization and a platform is best,” he said. “But right now, we all know that, under government pressure, they have no way to move forward.”
At a news conference on Wallfare’s decision, Mr Shiu said he had not been personally contacted by government officials, but that something had “happened” on Sunday that led the group to vote unanimously to close.
“Under comprehensive governance, all civil society groups will face many different pressures,” Shiu said, referring to the central government’s mandate for his government over Hong Kong. “It may even be a crime to exist. Maybe being here today is a crime. ”
When asked how detainees might get help in the future, he paused and drowned. “Tears are really our most universal language,” he said.
Tiffany May i Joy Dong has provided reports.