The political climate in Hong Kong is becoming more oppressive as mainland Chinese authorities begin a new crackdown on dissent. National security police have arrested several activists who dared to challenge the government’s handling of a recent tragedy. These arrests are a clear indication of Beijing’s unrelenting commitment to stamping out all opposition, no matter how justified.
National security police arrest three activists calling for transparency
Three people, including former district councillor Kenneth Cheung Kam-hung and a volunteer who helped supervise supplies for survivors, were arrested over the weekend by the national security police in Hong Kong. Cheung was arrested on charges of “attempting to incite discord,” according to reports from The Standard newspaper.
One of the persons detained is Miles Kwan, 24, a student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who was held in custody on Saturday after launching an online petition that gathered more than 10,000 signatures before it was taken down from the internet. The petition consisted of four demands, including the setting up of an independent commission of inquiry to investigate any conflicts of interest that led to the tragedy.
But Beijing strongly condemned the petition as an attempt to incite confrontation
The national security office in Hong Kong, China, condemned the petition before its removal, suggesting that the activists are using “the banner of ‘petitioning the people’ to incite confrontation and tear society apart.” The Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong suggested that individuals with “sinister intentions” are exploiting the situation to bring back the “black-clad violence” that was seen during mass anti-government protests in 2019.
Deadly apartment fire prompts unprecedented government response actions
The arrests come as a result of the criticism emerging from Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in the last eighty years, which occurred in a high-rise apartment complex in Hong Kong’s northern district, Tai Po, leaving at least 151 people dead. Such a tragedy elicited a probe into the safety measures applied in the construction sector of Hong Kong, in relation to how poor materials used in renovations contributed to the swift spread of fire through the building.
Hong Kong police have arrested 13 people in connection with their probe into the fire, with some of them being directors of an engineering consultant firm that was involved in the renovation work. Nevertheless, there are no indications from the government about holding an independent commission of inquiry, despite previous instances when such inquiries were conducted after major disasters occurred in the territory.
Key investigation areas:
- Use of substandard renovation materials
- Safety standard violations in construction
- Potential conflicts of interest in oversight
- Government response adequacy and transparency
Crackdown is part of a larger pattern of suppressing civil society freedoms
Nathan Law, an activist and former Hong Kong lawmaker who is in self-exile in the UK, described the move as “outrageous” and the latest example of a “highly authoritarian trend” in the former British colony. The aim of the government is to ensure that there is a chilling effect created through the arrest of these people, and that any civil action without permission from the government will be illegal.
However, Beijing has consistently denied that the basic rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens have diminished and argued that two broad national security laws have protected the rights and freedoms of residents “even better than before.” The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have justified the law as necessary in light of the 2019 anti-government protests.
The crackdown is the latest blow to the city’s once-thriving civil society, as the government has driven critical news media to shut down, removed opposition parties from the parliament, and banned protests that are sensitive to politics. This can be seen as Beijing’s effort to ensure that there is no group action that could jeopardize the government, even if the actions involve humanitarian and safety-in-public-places reasons.
