An Analysis of China’s Advances on Hong Kong’s Sovereignty
Rohin Buch /Health Head /Student at University of St.Andrews
In recent months, Hong Kong has been faced with two crises—the coronavirus and the question of Hong Kong's degree of autonomy. Firstly, it is crucial to recognize the background and history of Hong Kong, as it plays a large part in understanding the current political upheaval. Politically, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China. This means that under China’s “One Country, Two Systems” policy, or in Chinese “一国两制,” they have their own leader and laws. However, the Chief Executives of Hong Kong (and most notably the current one), have been known to side with the Beijing government. This, combined with the fact that Hong Kongers have been accustomed to being left alone by China since 1997, when Hong Kong was repurchased from the British, has led to an uproar.
Recently, Hong Kong has seen very violent protests nearly rip the city apart due to the clash between the loyalty of the Chief Executive to Beijing and the citizens’ demands for a freer life and greater democracy. These protests have provoked the introduction of a new law by Beijing, which came into effect on June 30, called the “Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,” or the Hong Kong national security law. This law criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign powers. In essence, this security law has brought Hong Kong into the fold of Communist China’s harsh stance on crushing dissent with an iron fist. Obviously, the introduction of this law has led to more violent protests and increased questioning of whether the “One Country, Two Systems” policy has now simply become “One Country, One System.” This new policy would mean that all laws made in Mainland China would apply to Hong Kong as well, a region that has enjoyed a large degree of autonomy since 1997.
Furthermore, Hong Kong’s recently-held primary elections for the Legislative Council (Hong Kong’s highest governing body) have led to further use of the ambiguous wording of the national security law to promote pro-government or pro-establishment sentiments. That is to say, under the ambiguity of the law, the 600,000 Hong Kongers who cast their votes in the primary last weekend may all be considered to be in violation of the national security law. According to a report by the Liaison Office, Beijing’s top representative in Hong Kong, the election could have been influenced by foreign powers. This would implicate the 600,000 voters, near 10% of Hong Kong’s population, in collusion with external forces, which is one of the four main offenses laid out in the national security law.
However, the mere prospect that foreign powers influenced the election is a crazy notion, given that the world community knows how volatile the situation in Hong Kong is currently. As such, for any one country to pledge support to Hong Kong would mean alienating themselves from China, a country that is arguably the world's most significant power economically and politically.
Works Cited
Griffiths, James. “600,000 People May Have Broken Hong Kong's National Security Law.” CNN, Cable News Network, 11 Aug. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/07/13/asia/hong-kong-election-security-law-intl-hnk/index.html.
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