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The Hong Kong government ousted four members of the legislature after China issued a resolution this week establishing “patriotism” to be eligible to serve. Fifteen of his colleagues who also support democracy announced that they would resign in solidarity. As legislator Claudia Mo put it, “Anyone they find politically incorrect or unpatriotic or just not nice to look at can be removed from office.”
It is a tragic event for the Democrats and the people who elected them. Despite China’s limitations since Hong Kong’s handover from the British in 1997, the legislature was a place where politicians could uphold democracy and the rule of law. But with Beijing’s new edict, the legislature has become a trap in which expressing public support for democracy could lead to legal danger.
The elections have provided a peaceful way out and a lever for resistance to China’s assault on freedoms in Hong Kong. After mass protests last year forced the withdrawal of a law that would have overturned Hong Kong’s judicial system by allowing extradition to the mainland, Democrats won in elections where politicians who support China are often strong due to tactics. of the united front employed by Beijing. Fearing a similar outcome, the Hong Kong government canceled the legislative elections this year.
Hong Kong Executive Director Carrie Lam said a legislature that eliminates her opposition “is nothing to be ashamed of” and allows bills to pass “more efficiently.” The impeachment of the legislators coincides with Beijing’s announcement that it will impose a “comprehensive government” over both Hong Kong and Macao, in order to “boost” its “sense of national identity and patriotism” and “prevent and curb interference. of external forces in the two affairs of the cities. ” In short, Hong Kong and Macao will be governed as integral parts of the People’s Republic and not as autonomous entities.
This latest blow to Hong Kong is a shock, but not a surprise. Beijing’s ultimate intention in negotiations with London on the territory was clear from the start. The “one country, two systems” agreement aimed at bringing Hong Kong under the sovereignty of communist China was initially devised by Deng Xiaoping to tempt Taiwan to renounce its de facto independence. Taiwan, protected by 100 miles of water and the US Seventh Fleet, was able to resist.
For a time, the concept seemed to work as politicians, lawyers, and journalists were able to uphold the rule of law and freedom of expression and association. Beijing appeared to value the benefits of Hong Kong’s civic order, particularly the confidence it gave foreign investors in its financial services and courts, as well as the opportunities for the Party elite to acquire and launder its wealth.
However, the demise of “two systems” was inevitable. The Party understood that Hong Kong’s freedoms constituted an open challenge to its one-party rule over the rest of China. And once Secretary General Xi Jinping embarked on his broader ambitions of securing control at home and projecting influence on the periphery of China, the Party would no longer tolerate the autonomy of the territory. Xi Jinping’s fear of subversion and hostility towards “Western constitutional values” has only intensified historical distrust of the former British colony.
In 2014, protesters flooded the streets of Hong Kong, staying there for nearly 12 weeks after Beijing decided it would break its previous promise to allow Hong Kong residents to elect the territory’s chief executive. The police tactics that shocked Hong Kong people and the world at the time have been overtaken by even harsher methods. Last May, Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong that makes the exercise of freedom of expression and freedom of association dangerous, initiated the prosecution of top Democrats and hardliners from the imported Party to fill positions. key in the city.
The Trump administration has correctly concluded that the United States can no longer regard Hong Kong as autonomous as required by the Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 and has taken steps to sanction top Hong Kong government and police officials as well. as to the officials of the continent. Going forward, Washington and its democratic allies should also cooperate on generous visa provisions for Hong Kong residents and the quiet extension of support to others left behind.
Although the prospect of a rollback of Beijing’s control over Hong Kong is small or nil, it should not mean that Western governments stop trying their best to combat Beijing’s influence in Hong Kong or understand how Beijing was able to transform the police. From Hong Kong. so substantially in such a short time. London and Washington owe a lot to Hong Kongers. However, if there is any realistic hope of regaining ground, a more comprehensive challenge to Beijing itself cannot be missing. Hong Kong’s days of true autonomy are certainly over until a more liberal and eventually democratic government arrives in China.
Gary Schmitt is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Ellen Bork is a contributing editor for American Purpose and a former Capitol Hill staff member who worked in Hong Kong for various foreign policy positions.
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