Hong Kong – Hong Kong police arrested 53 former legislators and democracy advocates on Wednesday, including an American human rights lawyer, for allegedly violating a new national security law participating in unofficial electoral primaries for the territory’s legislature last year. Mass arrests were the biggest action against Hong Kong’s democratic movement since the law was imposed by Beijing last June to crack down on dissent in semi-autonomous territory.
“The operation today targets active elements who are suspected of being involved in the crime of overthrowing or interfering (e) seriously destroying the legal execution of the Hong Kong government’s functions,” John Lee, Hong Kong’s security minister, said in an interview collective.
AP
He said prisoners were suspected of trying to paralyze the government by obtaining a majority of seats in the legislature, thus creating a situation in which the chief executive would have to resign and the government would cease to function.
In a video posted on the Facebook page of former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, the police are seen showing up at his home and saying that he is “suspected of violating national security law by subverting state power”. Police told those who recorded the video to stop or risk arrest.
The legislative election that would follow the unofficial primaries was postponed for one year by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who cited public health risks during the coronavirus pandemic. Mass resignations and disqualifications from pro-democracy lawmakers left the legislature largely pro-Beijing.
Lee said the police would not target those who voted in the unofficial primaries, held in July last year and attracted more than 600,000 voters, although pro-Beijing lawmakers and politicians have warned that the event could violate security law.
Who was arrested?
All pro-democracy candidates in the unofficial primaries were arrested, according to arrest records reported by the South China Morning Post, Now News online platform and political groups.
At least seven members of the Hong Kong Democratic Party – the city’s largest opposition party – have been arrested, including former party chairman Wu Chi-wai. Former lawmakers Lam, Helena Wong and James To were also arrested, according to a post on the party’s Facebook page.
Benny Tai, a key figure in the 2014 Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong and a former law professor, was also arrested, according to reports. Tai was one of the primary organizers of the primaries.
The home of Joshua Wong, a prominent pro-democracy activist who is serving a 13 1/2 month prison sentence for organizing and participating in an unauthorized protest last year, it was also hacked, according to a tweet posted on Wong’s account.
US human rights lawyer detained
American human rights lawyer John Clancey was also arrested on Wednesday. Clancey was the treasurer of the political group Power for Democracy, which was involved in the unofficial primaries.
“We need to work for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong,” said Clancey, as he was taken by the police, in a video posted by the online news channel Citizen News.
The police also went to the headquarters of Stand News, a prominent pro-democracy online news site in Hong Kong, with a court order to deliver documents to assist in an investigation related to national security law, according to a video broadcast live Stand News. No arrests were made.
The arrests were condemned by Anthony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State appointed to the next Biden government, who said on Twitter that it was an “attack on those who bravely defend universal rights”.
“The Biden-Harris government will be on the side of the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy,” Blinken wrote in his tweet.
Alleged plan for “mutual destruction”
Lee also pointed to a “10-step plan for mutual destruction” among prisoners, which included taking control of the legislature, mobilizing protests to paralyze society and calling for international sanctions.
This plan was outlined earlier by ex-law professor Tai. He predicted that between 2020 and 2022, there would be 10 steps towards mutual destruction, which includes the pro-democracy bloc gaining a majority in the legislature, intensifying protests, the forced resignation of the Chief Executive Carrie Lam due to the bill being rejected twice, and international sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party.
The concept of mutual destruction – in which Hong Kong and China would suffer damage – is popular with some protesters and pro-democracy activists.
“The goal is to create mutual destruction that, if successful … will result in serious damage to society as a whole,” said Lee. “That’s why police action today is necessary.”
Senior superintendent Steve Li of the national security unit told a news conference that 53 people – 45 men and eight women aged between 23 and 64 – were arrested in an operation involving 1,000 police officers.
Six were arrested for subverting state power by organizing the unofficial primaries, while the rest were arrested for alleged participation in the event, said Li. He said more arrests could be made and investigations are ongoing.
A growing repression
In recent months, Hong Kong has arrested several pro-democracy activists, including Wong and Agnes Chow, for involvement in anti-government protests, and others have been charged under national security law, including the media mogul and pro activist. -Democracy Jimmy Lai.
The security law criminalizes acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers to intervene in city affairs. Serious offenders can face the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said at the time of the unofficial primaries last year that if their aim was to resist all political initiatives by the Hong Kong government, the election could fall under the subversion of state power, an offense to national security law.
Beijing also considered the primaries to be illegal and a “serious provocation” to Hong Kong’s electoral system.
After the British transferred Hong Kong to China in 1997, the semi-autonomous Chinese city operated in a “one country, two systems” structure that offers freedoms not found on the continent. In recent years, Beijing has said it has more control over the city, sparking criticism that it was breaking its Hong Kong promise to keep civil rights and political systems separate for 50 years since the transfer.
Human Rights Watch said the arrests suggest that Beijing has not learned that the crackdown creates resistance. HRW senior researcher in China Maya Wang said in a statement that “millions of people in Hong Kong will persist in their struggle for their right to vote and run for office in a democratically elected government.”
In additional comments to the Associated Press, Wang said it was unclear which provisions of the law were being cited to justify the arrests, but that local officials seem less concerned with the legal substance.
“The very nature of the national security law is like a draconian law that allows the government to arrest and potentially jail people for long periods for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” said Wang.
“The rule of law varnish is also applied in mainland China, without any meaning. Hong Kong is looking more like mainland China, but it is difficult to discern where one ends and the other begins,” she said.