Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 43
Hong Kong Free Press
On January 30, exactly 43 months since Beijing’s national security law came into force in Hong Kong, the city began the process of enacting its own domestic security legislation as required by Article 23 of its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
The high-profile trial of pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai continued last month, more family members of wanted overseas activists were questioned by national security police, and a man was jailed for wearing a “seditious” shirt with a slogan popularised during the 2019 protests.
Article 23
Chief Executive John Lee, Secretary for Security Chris Tang, and Secretary for Justice Paul Lam launched a public consultation period for Hong Kong’s homegrown security law on January 30.
Addressing reporters in front of a purple backdrop proclaiming “Safeguarding National Security: Basic Law Article 23 Legislation,” the officials said that Hong Kong had waited 26 years to fulfil its “constitutional duty” and could delay the domestic security law no longer.
A previous attempt to enact the legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests. It was not tabled again until after the passage of the Beijing-imposed security law in 2020, which authorities say has restored stability to the city.
“While society as a whole looks calm and very safe, we still have to watch out for potential sabotage and undercurrents that try to create trouble,” Lee said.
Although establishment lawmakers and business groups were quick to express support for the proposed legislation, democracy advocates and the foreign commerce sector raised concerns about its potential impact on civil liberties.
The proposed Safeguarding National Security ordinance will cover five offences: treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage endangering national security, and external interference.
According to a document published to coincide with the consultation period, some offences will be amended from existing legislation – such as those pertaining to theft of state secrets – while others will be newly added crimes to address what Lee has described as “emerging risks.”
The definition of state secrets provided in the consultation paper was near-identical to that in China’s law on Guarding State Secrets, which Beijing sought to overhaul last year to expand its scope.
After concerns were raised about whether journalists might be accused of leaking state secrets in the course of their work, Tang said the government would consider an exemption for leaks regarding matters of “significant public interest.”
Jimmy Lai trial
The closely-watched trial of Jimmy Lai, the founder of shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, continued in January, with the first of his former employees taking the stand to testify against him.
The 76-year-old media mogul, who has been detained since December 2020, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under Beijing’s national security law and one sedition charge. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Cheung Kim-hung, who was the publisher of Apple Daily and has pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, told the court that Lai wanted the tabloid’s English-language edition to be “more extreme” in its anti-China sentiment than the Chinese-language publication.
Cheung also testified that Lai was the paper’s “helmsman,” steering its editorial direction to take its push for US sanctions against Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials “to the extreme,” adding that Lai was not a boss it was easy to say no to.
The defence has accused Cheung of providing “contradictory” testimony in the hope of placing greater blame on Lai and thus himself receiving a lighter sentence.
Man jailed over ‘seditious’ shirt
A Hong Kong man, Chu Kai-poon, 26, was jailed for three months on January 10 for wearing a “seditious” T-shirt at the airport bearing the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” The phrase was ruled in 2021 as capable of inciting secession.
He had pleaded guilty to one count of “doing an act or acts with seditious intention” and another count of “possessing seditious publications” under the colonial-era sedition law.
Chu was arrested near a boarding gate last November, after he was seen wearing the shirt. Police also found three flags that bore the same slogan – as well as another T-shirt that had “Hong Kong independence” printed on it – in his possession.
Man arrested over online posts
National security police arrested a man for suspected sedition in connection with statements he made on popular online forum LIHKG.
Tsang Kwok-hei, 35, was detained in Sha Tin on January 18. Police said he repeatedly published posts with “seditious intention” on social media platforms, promoting hatred towards Beijing and the Hong Kong government.
Police question activists’ family members
Hong Kong-based family members of overseas activists Simon Cheng and Frances Hui were questioned by national security police soon after Cheng and Hui were listed as wanted by the National Security Department.
They were among five people whom police said were suspected of violating the national security law, bringing the total number of self-exiled Hongkongers with arrest warrants and HK$1 million bounties on their heads to 13.
Hong Kong rights under UN microscope
Hong Kong’s chief secretary defended Beijing’s national security law at a review of the human rights records of United Nations member states, as some national representatives and rights NGOs called for the legislation to be repealed.
A total of 162 stakeholders on January 23 made submissions for China’s Universal Periodic Review, a process under which member states undergo a peer review of their human rights records every 4.5 years.
Eleven NGOs – including the Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, Hongkongers in Britain, the Edinburgh-based Hong Kong Scots, the Geneva-based International Service for Human Rights, and Hong Kong Watch in the UK – recommended that Hong Kong repeal the national security law.
Other recommendations included restoring defendants’ rights to choose their own lawyer and opt for trial by jury in national security cases, restoring the presumption in favour of bail in such cases, and stopping “intimidation, harassment and attacks on human rights lawyers”.
Chief Secretary Eric Chan, attending the meeting as Deputy Head of China’s delegation to the human rights council, said stability and law and order had been restored following the implementation of the security legislation and an electoral overhaul.
Crackdown on creative industry
A Hong Kong performing arts group was left without a venue for two plays after the school that was hosting them was told by the city’s Education Bureau (EDB) to cancel the agreement, citing national security guidelines.
Performing arts group Fire Makes Us Human hired a venue from the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity (HKICC) to put on two stage plays in early February. However, the EDB told the school to cancel its agreement with the arts group after reportedly receiving complaints.
Funding pulled for drama awards
Separately, Hong Kong’s official arts council withdrew support for an annual drama awards ceremony, citing “inappropriate” arrangements last year and warning the organisers they must not breach the law.
Kenneth Fok, chair of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and a lawmaker, told reporters on January 18 the council was a government-funded body and hence had to be “especially cautious” about its use of public funds.
Another student union disbands
The students’ union of a college at the Chinese University of Hong Kong announced it would halt operations in February, after representatives said the requirement to register with police as a legal society would create “unprecedented risks and responsibilities.”
The representative council of CW Chu College said in a notice dated January 15 it had been informed by the college management that it must register with police as a legal society immediately.
Justice department deletes security law case list
Days after publishing an online database of national security cases, the Department of Justice deleted it without explanation.
The index included summaries of 106 national security cases that had been completed since Beijing inserted the legislation into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020.
The department did not respond when asked why the content was removed and whether it would be restored.
National security remains ‘priority’ for 2024
John Lee laid out the government’s key goals for 2024 in early January, saying he aimed to boost the economy and improve people’s lives. The city’s number two official Eric Chan, meanwhile, said safeguarding national security would “continue to be a priority.”
District Councillors told to support Article 23
A new new team of 470 district councillors on January 1 swore allegiance to the city and its mini-constitution, with Lee saying they must support Hong Kong’s own security law.
“As members of district governance, all of you will take an oath to uphold the Basic Law. You must work together to support the legislation of Article 23, to support the government in fulfilling its constitutional responsibility,” Lee said in Cantonese during the oath-taking ceremony.
‘Expats’ show unavailable in Hong Kong
A new Amazon Prime Video show, Expats, starring Nicole Kidman and partly filmed in Hong Kong was not accessible in the city despite its “worldwide” release. One episode includes scenes depicting the Umbrella protest movement of 2014.
The reason for the omission was unclear. In 2021, Hong Kong passed censorship laws forbidding broadcasts that might breach the national security law. While those rules do not cover streaming services, authorities have warned that online platforms are still subject to the legislation.
Episodes from The Simpsons that satirised the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and forced labour in China were previously found to be missing from the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong.
Latest prosecution and arrest figures
As of January 19, 291 people had been arrested for suspected breaches of national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 174 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.
Of those charged, 111 people – including 32 charged under the security law – have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.
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