The Hong Kong we used to know

Happy new year from Hong Kong! As we open a brand new year, I thought I’d share some light but interesting facts about Hong Kong, a favorite holiday destination for Filipinos.

Hong Kong has been the preferred destination for most Filipino Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials. Affordable due to proximity, Hong Kong  offered a taste of the “first world” with its impressive skyscrapers, developed infrastructure and world class tourist attractions. We enjoyed Hong Kong’s vibrant art scene, its array of global retail brands and endless options for dining. As Filipinos, we envied Hong Kong’s freedoms, its efficient government, its business sophistication and pulsating economy. It was a symbol of Asia’s free market success.

But fast forward to the 2020’s and Hong Kong is a shadow of its former self. It is no longer the principal financial and logistic hub that it used to be. Multinational corporations and expatriate professionals have left due to political unrest, waning civil liberties and a heavy-handed police.

The intellectual and artistic elite left too. Some 100,000 Hong Kong residents have immigrated abroad, mostly to the UK, US, Canada and Australia. Hong Kong’s share of the Chinese economy has diminished from 19 percent in 1997 to less than two percent today. The economy has lost much of its vibrancy. Foreign direct investments are down.  Tourism is down. Consumer spending is down. Shop closures are rampant, as is unemployment.

What happened?

Following Hong Kong’s handover by Britain to China, Hong Kong was supposed to be an autonomous region for the next 50 years. China committed to maintain Hong Kong’s laissez faire system and democratic freedoms before it was to be taken over by China in 2047. Hence, the “one country, two systems” moniker.

But China broke its commitment as it always does. It started to incorporate Hong Kong into the greater Chinese communist system 25 years before the treaty expired.

In 2019, the Fugitive Offenders Amendment Bill was deliberated upon in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. The bill would have allowed “rebellious” Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to Mainland China. This would subject them to a different legal system that undermines Hong Kong’s judicial independence. Many Hong Kong citizens viewed this as an erosion of their rights. They feared that the law could be weaponized to target political dissidents and activists.

The proposed bill sparked public outrage, leading to long protracted  protests. The protests grew in intensity as the government responded with a heavy hand using tear gas, rubber bullets and severe crowd control measures. In time, the movement evolved to a broader pro-democracy and pro-autonomy movement. Protesters demanded the complete withdrawal of the bill, an investigation of police conduct, amnesty for protesters and universal suffrage.

After months of unrest, China relented and dropped the controversial bill. But the damage was done. Hong Kong residents lost faith in the sincerity of China to maintain one country, two systems.

Two years later, under the cloak of Covid, China took its most aggressive action against the people’s freedoms and civil liberties.

The Law of the People’s Republic of China on safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Administrative Region was passed into law on June 30, 2020. Known as the National Security Law, the law prevents and punishes acts of secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces that threaten national security. The law grants sweeping powers to the government and makes it easier for them to prosecute protesters. Worse, it allows for the extradition of certain violators to mainland China.

The National Security Law suppresses dissent, stifles freedom of expression, undermined Hong Kong’s judiciary and the very future of Hong Kong’s democratic institutions.

In one fell swoop, pro-democracy activists were quashed. It was the final nail on the coffin that would forever gag Hong Kong’s freedom fighters and the media, both of whom operate under a climate of fear.

Pro-democracy activists now face increased scrutiny, arrests and even imprisonment. One by one, political organizations advocating autonomy from China have disbanded or massively scaled back their activities. The citizenry have been threatened to submission. These days, no one dares air their dissent towards the Chinese government.

In schools, the youth are now indoctrinated with Chinese Communist Party values. The Cantonese language has taken a back seat, with Mandarin slowly coming to the forefront.

Why is China in a rush to subsume Hong Kong?

The Chinese government tries to maintain the appearance of a unified country. The protests in Hong Kong are seen as tarnishing China’s reputation. By asserting control over Hong Kong, China gets to control the narrative and shape international perception. Putting Hong Kong under the control of the CCP whitewashes all perceived stains to China’s fabricated image.

The CCP considers national security and political stability as a priority. They perceive threats to national unity, including movements advocating for greater autonomy, as affronts to the ideals of the CCP itself. Hong Kong’s protests in 2019 were seen as a threat to China’s stability and sovereignty. Hence, the need to put Hong Kong on a short leash through the National Security Law.

Today, Hong Kong freedom fighters are gagged to irrelevance. With them out of the way, China plans to integrate Hong Kong in its Greater Bay Area, along with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau and seven other cities in the Guangdong province. The Greater Bay Area is envisaged to be an economic and innovation hub that is integrated financially, culturally, infrastructurally and socially. In other words, China wants Hong Kong to be incorporated into China’s development architecture and political system. The one country-two systems commitment is now a thing of the past.

Filipinos of my generation will fondly remember the free and dynamic Hong Kong from our youth. But alas, Hong Kong is on an irreversible path towards becoming another province of China. This is what you will witness on your next visit.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan