Hong Kong Arrests Show No Letup in Beijing-Driven Crackdown on Dissent
By Selina Cheng, March 30, 2023, WSJ

HONG KONG—Elizabeth Tang flew home to visit her husband in Stanley Prison, where he is awaiting trial on national security charges. As the 65-year-old labor activist left the Hong Kong maximum security facility earlier this month, a team of police was
waiting—along with journalists from a state-owned newspaper.

Ms. Tang’s arrest on March 9 for alleged collusion with foreign forces sent a signal to the financial hub’s 7.3 million people and their Communist Party rulers in Beijing: There would likely be no letup in the campaign to root out dissent.

Three days earlier, Hong Kong leader John Lee returned from Beijing carrying a warning from Xia Baolong, who oversees the city’s affairs for the Chinese government: The government can’t forget the dangers it faces from destructive forces that are
lurking beneath the peaceful surface of Hong Kong’s society, Mr. Lee told reporters at the airport.

A sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, along with stringent Covid-19 controls, have snuffed out antigovernment protests that shut down large sections of Hong Kong for months starting in 2019. Almost 250 people have been arrested,
convicted or jailed for a range of allegations including subversion and publishing children’s books that were deemed seditious.

Officials in China and Hong Kong have heralded the city’s transition from “chaos to prosperity.” Protesters have largely stayed off the streets, but the arrests have continued. At least 17 people were arrested during the past year for posting
online content that was deemed to be a threat to national security.

After pandemic restrictions on gatherings were lifted in December, police approved a rally that took place on March 26. The march, organized by a residents’ group to protest land reclamation plans, was limited to 100 people and the participants were
required to wear numbered tags around their necks. Another rally organized for International Women’s Day on March 8 was called off after organizers said they were unable to come to an agreement with police after several meetings.

The arrests picked up pace after Mr. Lee returned from the capital on March 6. He went there to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other top officials as the opening session of the National People’s Congress got under way to rubber-stamp Mr. Xi’
s unprecedented third term in office. Mr. Lee’s office didn’t return a request for comment.

Two days later, national security police embarked on a spate of arrests, signaling that authorities have no intention of relenting on former activists who have shrunk from public sight and have ceased to take part in campaigns in Hong Kong.

Ms. Tang and her husband, former lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, were both prominent labor leaders in Hong Kong before the national security crackdown. She worked at the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, while Mr. Lee was the face of the group, which
disbanded in October 2021. Dozens of labor and civil rights groups, including Amnesty International, have either disbanded or moved out of Hong Kong in the past two years after the national security law’s introduction.

Ms. Tang was also general secretary for the International Domestic Workers Federation—whose affiliates have more than 600,000 members globally. She had left Hong Kong and was working and living in the U.K. before returning to the city recently, state
media reported.

Six days after Ms. Tang’s arrest, national security police arrested her lawyer, Fred Ho, and her younger sister. Police alleged that the pair removed items from Ms. Tang’s home before a police search of the premises. Mr. Ho declined to comment on the
case and her sister couldn’t be reached.

Mr. Ho’s older brother Albert, who had been out on bail after a year in detention, was rearrested last week on suspicion of interfering with a witness in a national security case, according to state media. Albert Ho, who was one of the most prominent
pro-democracy figures before the national security law, was already facing a charge of inciting subversion for his role in the group that organized Hong Kong’s annual vigil commemorating victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Mr. Ho, whose bail
has been revoked, couldn’t be reached for comment and has made no public statements about his case nor has he been in court to make a plea.

Authorities also arrested two people for possession of books that were deemed seditious, a woman for calling for secession from China online, and detained another man who was earlier arrested for uttering seditious speech in a courtroom.

Eight people were arrested in the span of two weeks. Six of them haven’t been charged and were released on police bail. A statement from the police said the force isn’t allowed to disclose operational details to the media, and didn’t address how
reporters from the Wen Wei Po newspaper were present at Elizabeth Tang’s arrest, or whether the latest national security crackdown was in response to Mr. Lee’s remarks.

The vast majority of opposition figures and activists have either been locked up, fled abroad or moved into jobs that don’t involve politics after the advent of the national security law. A handful who were given bail, never charged or completed their
sentences try to keep a low profile, including some who were involved in the city’s biggest pro-democracy political parties. Despite their efforts to stay well within the boundaries of the law, these parties are finding it more difficult to continue
their activities.

The Democratic Party, once a dominant force in the opposition bloc of the legislature, has been waiting for government approval to sell raffle tickets since the end of 2021, the major source of funding in the past two decades, said a party member with
direct knowledge of the events. The party was also unable to hold its spring gala dinner after at least four restaurants or event locations canceled their booking at the last minute, the person said. The party didn’t respond to a request for comment on
its fundraising or future plans.

The Civic Party, once the second biggest pro-democracy bloc in Hong Kong’s legislature, announced in December that it was making preparations to disband after receiving no nominations for successors to its board, local media reported. Civic Party
Chairman Alan Leong said the party has yet to agree on a date to move for winding up.
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CONVERSATION [24 Comments]
Jay SORENSEN, 31 March, 2023
You hear that? It's the sound of Hong Kong's death as a global business center.
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Jeremiah Puder, 30 March, 2023
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has shown the world, and especially Taiwan, that agreements like the one that "guaranteed" Hong Kong's democratic political system and personal freedoms for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover are worthless scraps
of paper.

How can Taiwan be induced to voluntarily subjugate itself to the CPC seeing how things have gone for Hong Kong?

The CPC has no option other than blunt trauma force to bring Taiwan under its control, and they are preparing for it.
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Roberto Rodriguez, 30 March, 2023
I imagine when Democrats read this article they salivate for the day they can impose the same kind of controls and restrictions on anyone they deem a "national security threat" or in other words disagree with their dogma.
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Alex Agorio, 30 March, 2023
Once Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire. If he were alive today he would probably say that evil is too kind of a word to describe China.
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Thomas Beal, 30 March, 2023
Like the Nazis, the CCP has used fear, terror, and violence to assume power and turned the laws and principles that are supposed to protect democratic order into weapons against democracy, paving the way for its totalitarianism.
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Donnie Bee, 30 March, 2023
The repression in Hong Kong is horrifying. I am so grateful that I was lucky enough to have been born in America. Even with its faults it is the greatest country in the world.
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Bob Lusher, 30 March, 2023
Hong Kong was once a free, vibrant and prosperous city.
Xi Jinping, with his draconian National Security Law, has effectively stamped out free expression, free elections, and fair trials in HK turned it into just another repressed Chinese backwater.

Hundreds of thousands of HK's best and brightest have emigrated to Great Britain, Canada, Australia and the US, because they want to live in freedom, and don't want their children to be forced to learn "Xi Jinping Thought" in HK's schools.

The NSL is really all about keeping Xi and his fellow CCP fat cats in power, and preserving their privilege over the people.
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Jack Armstrong, 30 March, 2023
The risk of doing business in China grows every day. US and European companies in China should "friendshore" their operations while they can and before Xi pulls a Putin.
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John Pound, 30 March, 2023
Authoritarianism drives its most productive and innovative citizens underground or out of the country. The idea that such a system can beat open, liberal societies/economies especially militarily is sheer fantasy...
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Malcolm Barnebey, 30 March, 2023
How does severely restricting political freedom, due process, and the rule of law make China a good place for investment? How does its government's support of Vladimir Putin's malevolent and imperialistic dictatorship help its image, or promote its
economic growth? President Xi Jinping needs to rethink some of these subjects. He should also reconsider his admiration for Mao Zedong, who, given the many millions of people who died as a result of his Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, was
arguably one of the worst leaders in world history.
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John Pound, 30 March, 2023
Xi is undoing the progress of Deng and taking China back into 3rd world Maoist backwater status...
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Jack Janzen, 31 March, 2023
The important thing for Deng, Xi .and Mao too is for the CCP to maintain power. Economic growth was key for Deng's time. But he knew there would come a time when military strength and political strength would be more important. Number 1 for the CCP is
that CCP needs to be number 1.
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Jack Janzen, 31 March, 2023
You might want to check your history. Deng would likely approve the CCPs moves in Hong Kong. Deng said, "Hide your strength and bide your time". Xi says in effect, "The time is now. It is time for action and results."
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John Pound, 31 March, 2023
My history is just fine. Chins grew phenomenally under Deng. Under Xi, not so much as he puts his boot on the neck of Chinese entrepreneurs and capitalists...
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B Walker, 30 March, 2023
The world of capitalist democracy is like the proverbial frog in the pot of water that is slowly, imperceptibly, coming to a boil. Those who will suffer the most are the younger generations of eastern Eurasia and of the territories coveted by the
imperial powers of this region. Their opportunities for innovative joy and success are disappearing before their eyes.
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Steven Chen, 30 March, 2023
CCP won't allow organized opposition
small or large
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Mark Thomas, 30 March, 2023
Resistance is Futile. We must join the borg and the sea org.
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Charles Kraisinger, 30 March, 2023
The Chinese government is evil. We should not reward China with "business as usual".
Please remember all of those arrested in Hong Kong, and young people like Cao Zhixin arrested for silently protesting, and brave citizen journalists like Zhang Zhan who was arrested - and brutalized - for simply reporting on events in Wuhan.
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Mark Thomas, 30 March, 2023
C'mon Man! Baba is a buy!
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Kenneth Johnson, 30 March, 2023
WSJ headline---"...sweeping national security law."
Hong Kong is now just a geographical part of China.
It no longer has any "special status". It was ended 27 years "earlier" than promised.
What's happened in Hong Kong over the last 3 years is what will happen in Taiwan in 3 months if China takes over.
Any other opinions?
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Jean Hamel, 30 March, 2023
Nice country, China.
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Hugh Sharpe, 30 March, 2023
I'll bet Mat Tabibbi understands this pretty well!
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CHING CHANG TSAI, 30 March, 2023
It is a tough job to be a political activist. It takes a person like Tucker Carlson with the support of Fox network to expose the possible innocence of the "Viking warrior" on the January 6th event. Still don't know the fate of that gentleman.
Hong Kong activists need "deep pocket" support to finance their activities. Since the slim down of our Hong Kong consulate office from 500 people strong at one time to minimum number now, I am not sure our government officials are willing to engage with
these activists in Hong Kong. They are on their own in Hong Kong or fly to U.S. for political asylum.
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Hugh Sharpe, 30 March, 2023
"gentleman?" Ha, ha, ha.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-arrests-show-no-letup-in-beijing-driven-crackdown-on-dissent-7a2a0e68

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