Beijing’s tightening of its grip on Hong Kong — which in 1997 it pledged to allow at least 50 years of autonomy — not only betrays its frustration with its control over the territory, but also demonstrates its anachronistic belief that it can curb the free exchange of ideas in a wired world.
A Hong Kong government spokesperson on Friday last week said that the territory’s government is not in favor of Taiwanese independence supporters visiting Hong Kong or publicly backing any local political organizations, after a media report said that a New Power Party (NPP) lawmaker was to stump for one candidate ahead of the Sept. 4 Legislative Council elections.
Three days later, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) was notified he would be not be allowed to enter Hong Kong, which he said was because he is to sit on the Committee of Illegal Party Asset Settlement. The visas of Mainland Affairs Council advisory committee member Fan Shih-ping (范世平) and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Julian Kuo (郭正亮) were also revoked.
Chiang Su-hui (江素惠), chairperson of the Hong Kong-based CS Culture Foundation, which invited the trio to speak at a panel on cross-strait relations, told a Hong Kong media outlet that she received a call from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region telling her that: “It would be troublesome [for the trio] if they could not enter the territory after arriving at the airport,” which in Beijing-speak means their visas were revoked.
Chiang on Tuesday told the Central News Agency that the move was a “warning” from Beijing: Fan and Kuo were barred because of their connection with the DPP administration and Yang’s stance on the KMT’s stolen assets issue made him unwelcome.
The NPP said that although none of its lawmakers were planning to speak at campaign events in Hong Kong, the fawning to Beijing by the territory’s government showed that Hong Kongers’ should ramp up their struggle for “true” universal suffrage.
NPP Secretary-General Chen Hui-min (陳惠敏) also said that whether Taiwan would achieve de jure independence would be decided by Taiwanese and that neither Beijing nor Hong Kong should attempt to meddle in the process with threatening and self-righteous remarks.
Barring Taiwanese independence advocates or other politicians from visiting Hong Kong can only be a symbolic move, since there are no shortage of exchanges and interactions between Taiwan and Hong Kong, especially between young people.
Singling out “Taiwanese independence” advocates as persona non grata is symptomatic of the anxiety and stress Beijing feels about the territory, where the idea of “Hong Kong independence” is gaining traction.
By revoking Yang’s visa, Beijing has made clear not only its opposition to what it calls “secessionism,” but also to the principles of justice and fairness. Beijing’s actions lend credence to the argument that corruption is the common denominator between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and further alienates its hierarchy from Taiwanese, the vast majority of whom consider the proper management of the KMT’s ill-gotten assets indispensable for Taiwan’s healthy development.
It looks as if the CCP is imagining itself in the KMT’s shoes and considering that Taiwan’s example of implementing transitional justice bodes ill for the CCP in a democratized China.
After all, the CCP, while in apparent control of China, is carefully massaging public awareness of tragedies such as the Cultural Revolution and the Great Famine, conscious that if the right balance is not maintained between disclosure and concealment, the party’s legitimacy might crumble into dust.
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