The “one country, two systems” framework in Hong Kong exists in name only, Hong Kong Outlanders secretary-general Sky Fung (馮詔天) said yesterday.
Fung’s remarks came as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) arrived in the territory to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its handover to China from Britain. Xi is slated to attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth term of Hong Kong’s government during his visit.
Fung said that Beijing is creating the illusion that Hong Kongers have embraced its return to China and that its economy is prosperous.
Photo courtesy of Tainan Community University
The appearance of “one country, two systems” has always been maintained during handover celebrations, but the five-star red flags of the People’s Republic of China are now being ostentatiously flown throughout Hong Kong, he said.
In addition, the Hong Kong Home Affairs Department used to urge civic groups to protest on July 1st every year, which is now impossible, as many of those organizations have been disbanded, he said.
Xi visit is him “checking out his achievements in governing Hong Kong,” Fung said, adding that the territory has become similar to mainland China, which is not addressed in Chinese news.
For example, the numerous Chinese flags flying in Hong Kong might have been set up only to court Beijing, as they were not previously on display in shopping malls or residential buildings, he said.
Today also marks the second anniversary of the promulgation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, which might be used to incriminate anyone who criticizes the Chinese government, he said.
The Chinese government has erased the history of British colonization from Hong Kong’s textbooks, and instead claims that “Hong Kong has always been a part of China,” he said, adding that Hong Kongers are afraid to contradict the changes, even though they know that their history has been tampered with.
In Tainan, a special exhibition titled “Hong Kong Time Travel” opened yesterday.
The exhibition, which runs until July 10, was put together by a group of Hong Kongers living in Tainan who call themselves “Tainan with Hong Kong,” along with Amnesty International Taiwan and Tainan Community University Human Rights Volunteer Society.
Tainan with Hong Kong spokesperson Hsiao-lin (曉琳) said the exhibition’s “time travel houses” present Hong Kong’s past through Hong Kongers’ childhood memories, idols and life scenes, as well as through current statistics, which illustrate the territory’s loss of press freedoms, freedom of assembly and the right to vote.
Amnesty International Taiwan secretary-general Chiu I-ling (邱伊翎) said that although the organization closed its office in Hong Kong last year, its support for human rights there continues.
Tainan Community University Human Rights Volunteer Society president Chuang Sheng-kai (莊勝凱) said he hoped the exhibition can remind Taiwanese about the wonderful and free Hong Kong that people used to enjoy, and inspire Taiwanese to uphold and guard human rights.
The exhibition is being held at No. 25, Sinyi St in Tainan’s West Central District (中西區).
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