Hong Kong Christian Institute to disband, citing ‘social environment’
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong Christian organisation has announced that will disband, citing a “social environment” that had made it harder for it to carry out its mission.
The Hong Kong Christian Institute said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that its website and social media pages would cease operating on the last day of July, and that it would cancel its registration.
“The Hong Kong Christian Institute has always been committed to nurturing believers and encouraging churches to establish a faith practice with social consciousness and social responsibility,” the Chinese post read.
“But it is constrained by the current social environment. The institution is unable to operate in a way where it can freely carry out its mission,” the post continued.
The organisation’s website said the Hong Kong Christian Institute was born out of a “need” to engage in social and political action where churches “did not seem to be able to offer much.” Being a “sign of a continuing quest for human rights, democracy and justice” was among its missions, the group said.
It supported the Umbrella Movement in 2014 and the anti-extradition unrest in 2019, making it one of several Christian groups to support the protests that year.
According to its Facebook page, the institute called for a strike on June 12, 2019, when the extradition bill was scheduled to be read in the Legislative Council.
Throughout the protests, it also condemned the police for what it called excessive force and organised talks by divinity university lecturers about the social movement.
The institute, however, has not published any posts related to Hong Kong politics in recent years, although it has held talks on political situations in Myanmar and in the Ukraine.
Founded in 1988, the Hong Kong Christian Institute joins the dozens of civil society organisations that have shut since Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020. Among those that closed were not just political groups, but also media outlets and unions with a pro-democracy stance.
The law criminalised secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, with authorities saying it restored stability in the city. However, it has been criticised by international rights organisations and foreign governments, with a US-government agency noting its “devastating effect” on civil society.
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