Political Repression Sweeps Hong Kong Workplaces – Quartz

Like many of his colleagues in the Hong Kong civil service, V. has a calendar pinned in his office cubicle. But his stands out: he presents a slogan that supports the city’s pro-democracy protest movement.

“My calendar is still overturned or covered,” said V., who just wanted to be identified by his initial. Earlier this year, his boss told him that his pro-protest schedule was inappropriate. V. refused to remove it, telling his boss that the design of the calendar has nothing to do with his ability to do his job. So far, he has not been punished, but he fears potential retribution. “Would someone take a photo of my desk and report me? As long as they think I’ve committed a crime, they can arrest me and charge me.”

Less than a month after Beijing enacted a comprehensive national security law on Hong Kong, intense fear is echoing in city workplaces out of concern that every word and act may be scrutinized for being anti-government and anti-government. China. The new security legislation punishes those accused of vaguely defined crimes such as secession and subversion, and gives the police vastly expanded powers to monitor and investigate.

Article 33 of the law explicitly encourages defendants to provide information about other suspects, in exchange for a lighter punishment if the information provides clues to other cases, effectively institutionalizing a culture of snitching that began in earnest during the protests of the last year, especially on the airline Cathay Pacífico. Some pro-government groups are now openly requesting leads on suspected breaches of the national security law, with the former city leader even offering rewards.

Quartz spoke to nearly a dozen people from different professions who described the current situation as a “Cultural Revolution 2.0”, a reference to the violent decade-long campaign launched by the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in 1966 to purge society of the perceived enemies. of communism and consolidate its control over power. The campaign was based on a widespread culture of spying on and deceiving friends, family and colleagues.

“It will make Hong Kong only have a singular voice,” V. said of the current atmosphere. “We used to have three groups: the opponents, the supporters and the silence.” But now, with unbridled censorship and surveillance, “the silenced will remain silent, all opponents will have been arrested, leaving only supporters.”

Purging schools of political ‘viruses’

So far, Hong Kong’s schools appear to have borne the brunt of this nascent wave of political repression. Teachers have been reprimanded and fired for supporting the protest movement, and many have been the subject of comments in the classroom or of using language in test questions considered anti-government. According to the education minister, almost 200 teachers have been investigated for alleged professional misconduct, and a third received punishment or warnings.

In recent months, officials have intensified their rhetoric against the education sector, considering that schools have been “politicized” and “infiltrated” by rebel anti-China forces. An editorial in the Beijing mouthpiece, China Daily, called for “all ‘virus carriers” schools to be removed. The government seems determined to eliminate any form of political dissent in schools, urging staff to discipline students who chant slogans, chant “sensitive” songs, and participate in activities such as forming human chains.

A high school visual arts teacher who asked to be identified as Mr. Wong and who regularly draws illustrations with biting political comments, said he received an anonymous complaint in January about his “inappropriate” artwork. Although he was not immediately punished, his school told him last month that his contract would not be renewed due to budgetary reasons.

Mr. Wong denies that his political cartoons encouraged students to participate in illegal protests, and accused the government of trying to end all political opposition by instigating a wave of “white terror”, a term used to describe the period of repression during the taiwan war. dictatorship period. Although now unemployed, he is determined to continue his work of art. “I don’t feel like I have encouraged the students to do anything,” he said. “On the contrary. The students have encouraged me to continue drawing.”

In a statement to Quartz, a spokesperson for the education bureau said that the bureau had received “a good number” of complaints over the past year about teachers who “use hate speech … weaving hate messages into teaching materials , insult or unfounded accusations of … [p]olice and the [g]overnment, “but emphasized that each case is” treated fairly. “The spokesperson added that teachers must” show respect for the law and acceptable standards of behavior for society. “

Teachers who have not yet been directly attacked say they are walking on eggshells. A liberal school teacher at a high school, who asked to be identified as Louise, said she is under intense pressure when she plans her classes and does homework. As a wide-ranging school year designed to teach critical thinking, officials have focused on liberal studies as the reason for what they say is student radicalization. And with shifting red lines and no clear government rules, Louise said she is unsure which issues can be safely discussed and which are considered third political rails. She fears that issues such as corruption, the rule of law and judicial independence could put her on shaky ground. Even environmental problems could be risky, he said, because it touches on governance issues.

“But if we don’t talk about this, there is nothing more to talk about,” Louise said, comparing the mood in schools to the Cultural Revolution. “Control of thoughts is very strict.”

Hospital witch hunt

Political repression has also infiltrated the medical sector, as doctors and nurses say they are forced to navigate a political minefield, even as they struggle to deal with a resurgence in coronavirus cases.

A public hospital surgeon said supervisors at her hospital were ordered to draw up a list of names of employees with unexplained absences in recent months, what she called a “witch hunt” for those who participated in previous strikes. in the year to demand stricter border controls to combat the pandemic.

“People are obviously afraid,” he said. “The people who boycotted knew that was a risk. But now, under the national security law, will these people be prosecuted? Surgeons have circulated rumors that medical workers will have to take an oath of allegiance to the government, the surgeon said, something he considers “ridiculous” because the only oath they should take is the Hippocratic one.

At the city’s Eastern Hospital, a doctor said she and colleagues were recently the subject of a barrage of police complaints earlier this month after an injured officer who was treated at the hospital filed a complaint against a nurse. wearing a pro-protest pin and identification badge. In response, hospital management quickly ordered staff to remove all stickers related to the protests from desks and office doors, the doctor said. She continues to wear a subtle label stamped with the word “resist,” but acknowledges that doctors may be “subject to complaints at any time or be misled.”

The incident comes shortly after police officers filed complaints against the local Red Cross with a staff member who was seen wearing accessories against the police during a blood transfusion campaign at a police facility. The Red Cross was forced to apologize.

The hospital authority did not respond to a request for comment.

Total loyalty

Among the dozens of protests large and small that took place last year, one in particular appears to have affected the authorities, when one afternoon in August thousands of officials participated in a demonstration in a stinging rebuke against the government. The repercussions of that are increasing, with the government reiterating its demand for “total loyalty” of the officials.

An administrative officer, part of an elite body of policymakers, said verbal orders have been passed down the chain of command in recent days, ordering all employees to remove the posters and stickers related to the protests from their office desks. Those who refused to do so would be invited to “friendly conversations” with senior managers.

The administrative officer, who asked to be identified as P., said that for months they had grappled with the possibility of quitting their job, torn between the disturbing prospect of collusion and “tolerating something that is wrong” and hoping that they might try lobby for changes, even if incremental, from within the system. And even if they quit, they wondered, wouldn’t they just be replaced by someone who is willing to follow the government’s line?

A spokesperson for the civil service office reiterated that public officials must serve the “chief executive” and the government with “full loyalty” and that their actions in public “will not give rise to any actual, perceived or potential conflict of interest with their official position or duties. “

P. said they recently tried to brainstorm with a colleague about how junior policymakers like them could make it harder for the government to increase the police budget, amid the current economic crisis and widespread public mistrust of the police force. But P. said they finally realized that their efforts would be futile, because the establishment considers security a top priority and someone higher would easily approve more funds.

For now, P. stays at work. But the question of when there would be no choice but to resign is never far from the mind, particularly when officials move to demand that all public officials take an oath of allegiance to the government.

“It is very difficult to say what exactly your breaking point is,” said P. “Your bottom line changes. You can decide what the bottom line is, and when things get to that line, you realize that it has softened a bit. “