Beijing has expanded its national security crackdown on Hong Kong, shifting from the principle of “patriots administering” the territory to requiring businesspeople to be “patriotic,” with national security terms proliferating within the catering and entertainment industries, a Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) report said yesterday, ahead of the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover today.
In its 2014 white paper on the “one country, two systems” policy following the 1997 handover, Beijing claimed that “Hong Kong would be governed by Hong Kong people with a high degree of autonomy,” the report said.
However, that has since been reformulated to a system in which Hong Kong would be governed by both “Hong Kongers and the Chinese central government,” with a comprehensive system of surveillance gradually being implemented over the past 28 years, it said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Beijing has imposed the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong” to limit political participation by Hong Kongers, while also implementing patriotism education infused with “Xi Jinping Thought,” the report said.
Last month, China’s Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in collaboration with the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force, conducted an unprecedented “joint investigation” into a national security case, it said.
The move has raised concerns over the possibility of Hong Kongers accused of “endangering national security” being extradited to China, with political dissent continuing to be suppressed, exemplified by the dissolution of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party this year, more than three decades after its founding, it added.
Senior officials in Beijing have also urged Hong Kongers to engage in “united front” work and extend national security requirements to areas traditionally unrelated to security, such as trade restrictions, financial risks and overseas interests, the report said.
National security terms have become more pervasive, covering a wide range of activities, including assemblies and demonstrations, the formation of labor unions, venue rentals, film censorship, tender documents and the qualifications for social workers, teachers and public servants in the territory, it said.
Beijing’s regulatory reach this year has further expanded to include the catering and entertainment industries, as well as other recreational venues, while press freedoms and artistic expression continue to face increasing repression, it added.
Schools across all levels in Hong Kong are now required to scrutinize the backgrounds of external collaborative organizations and personnel to determine if they “oppose China or disrupt Hong Kong,” the report said.
Since the imposition of Hong Kong’s National Security Law five years ago, a total of 332 people have been arrested on charges of national security, with severe penalties given to people involved in the “Hong Kong 47” case, it said.
The Hong Kong 47 refers to democracy advocates, politicians and community organizers who were arrested in 2021 under the National Security Law.
Hong Kong media tycoon and Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) detention for more than four years was the first case of a journalist being convicted of incitement due to news reporting since the handover, the report said.
Lai is also the first person wanted on national security charges to have his assets confiscated in Hong Kong, it said.
Although several international economic rating agencies have upgraded Hong Kong’s credit rating to “stable,” the territory’s economic growth faces significant risks and challenges, driven by Beijing’s tightening control, the US-China confrontation and other geopolitical factors, the report said.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
RSS