A former pro-democracy lawmaker from Hong Kong says people there have been “distressed” and “disappointed” as some fear the city has lost important liberties.
Widespread pro-democracy protests that shook Hong Kong in 2019 have largely diminished, in part due to the outbreak. Covid-19 and the enactment of a controversial national security law last year.
Emily Lau, a former Democratic Party member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said some Hong Kongers now fear that “we have probably lost freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of demonstration perhaps not forever, but for many and many years. ” “
“And that’s the anguish and disillusionment of the people of Hong Kong,” Lau told CNBC’s Martin Soong on Tuesday.
Beijing overlooked the Hong Kong legislature for enforcing a national security law last year. Last month, China approved radical changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system that critics said would hold back pro-democracy politicians.
These movements followed months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 that sometimes turned violent. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have said the changes will safeguard national security and stifle the anti-China movement in the semi-autonomous region.
“Rights and freedoms”
Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The Sino-British Joint Declaration signed before the return of Hong Kong stated that the city would have “a high degree of autonomy”, including the legislative and independent judiciary. .
“They shall be rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of meeting, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of employment, of academic research and of religious belief secured by law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ”the statement said.
But critics of China, which includes pro-democracy activists and governments such as the U.S. and the United Kingdom, have accused China of undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Dozens of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have been arrested and charged under national security law. But Lau said, “I refuse to be intimidated by the silence.”
“We want China to keep the promises of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law,” she said, adding that she and other activists are not seeking to overthrow the Hong Kong government or Beijing’s central government.
The basic law is Hong Kong’s mini constitution which enshrines the principle of “one country, two systems” used to govern the city.
Beijing, for its part, has said national security law and electoral changes in Hong Kong are in line with the “one country, two systems” framework.