Democratic MPs and activists are endangering national security in Hong Kong, at least according to the government's stance.
53 people were arrested on Wednesday - the world is outraged.
The government in Hong Kong regards democratic aspirations as anti-subversive.
After the controversial security law came into force in the summer, members of the opposition were repeatedly arrested.
The anti-democratic measures reached their peak so far on Wednesday.
Hong Kong - A wave of arrests shocked
Hong Kong
: 53 men and women were arrested.
The
opposition politicians
and
democracy activists
are said to
have been arrested for
organizing and conducting an
unofficial primary election
for the planned parliamentary election.
The local media are now reporting on this.
The code last
July
, finance and crowdfunding to this was, under the '
law of National Security
"
, so a trial an" act of subversion "institutions of
Chinese HONG KONG
undermine been to the prosecution of the authorities.
Video: Strike against democracy - mass arrests in Hong Kong
Despite warnings from the police, more than
610,000 people took
part
in the unofficial primary election to determine the candidates for the
democratic opposition
, including
Cardinal
emeritus
Joseph Zen
, who was critical of China
.
The crackdown on the democratic movement in Hong Kong has continued
since the
Security Act
came into force
on June 30, 2020
.
In July, the head of
government Carrie Lam
had
postponed the
parliamentary election planned for September - with reference to the
corona pandemic
- by a year.
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Since then, members of the democratic opposition have repeatedly been disqualified, and dozens of activists have been arrested and charged.
The
freedom of
the
press is also
facing increasing restrictions on the part of the government.
In early December,
three prominent leaders of the
democracy movement
,
Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow
and
Ivan Lam, were
arrested.
The Catholic publisher
Jimmy Lai has also been in
custody since the end of December after his release on bail was refused.
His newspaper
Apple Daily
was regarded as the "mouthpiece of the
democracy movement
"
until his imprisonment
.
Since the controversial
security law
came into force
, the 53 arrests are the
Hong Kong government's
toughest
move
.
The
mass
arrests immediately raised critical voices and sparked public outrage in the United States and Europe.
The designated new
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken
, spoke on
of an "attack on those who bravely stand up for universal rights".
The newly elected
Joe Biden
government
will stand by the side of Hong Kong citizens and oppose Beijing's anti-democratic moves.
The sweeping arrests of pro-democracy demonstrators are an assault on those bravely advocating for universal rights.
The Biden-Harris administration will stand with the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing's crackdown on democracy.
https://t.co/nSj8dr3OEg
- Antony Blinken (@ABlinken) January 6, 2021
The German
CDU politician Norbert Röttgen also
accused the
People's Republic of
using the security law as a “weapon against democracy.
On
, he wrote that the
EU
must - with regard to the investment agreement - "not ignore its methods, including breach of contract and repression".
The
chairman of
the Bundestag
Human Rights Committee
,
Gyde Jensen (FDP)
, also criticized the
EU
and the German Council Presidency for negotiating the investment agreement “at all costs” while
Beijing was
breaking “international law”
in
Hong Kong
- this is a signal of
indifference which
Beijing
gladly accepted.
Hong Kong: Democrats are accused of "harming the state"
According to media reports, former MPs such as
Lam Cheuk-ting
,
Andrew Wan, Alvin Yeung
and well-known activist
Benny Tai
were among those set on Wednesday
.
Also, the apartment of the prominent activist
Joshua Wong
searched, who is already in jail for organizing an illegal protest.
So also raised
Amnesty International
again shows how far-reaching the
Safety Act
could still be used - even if no real threat to national security resulting.
Charging the Democrats for
“endangering the state”
for an informal area code
was “an open attack on their
rights of expression
and
assembly
”.
Hong Kong gov must stop this dangerous practice of treating critics as criminals & threats to national security.
Unless there is evidence that those arrested today have committed to an internationally recognized criminal offense, they should be released.
https://t.co/jDlSOthS3H
- Amnesty International (@amnesty) January 6, 2021
Many
opposition activists
had evidently already feared such mass arrests and fled abroad for fear of prosecution, after all as Beijing they were increasingly
defamed
as subversive and separatist - even
terrorist
and conspiratorial.
Since July
1, 1997
,
Hong Kong has
been part of
China
again
and is governed as "one country" with "two systems" as its own
territory
.
The principle actually stipulates that the
seven million Hong
Kongers will live “a high degree of automation” and enjoy many freedoms by 2047 - but since the
security law was passed
, local democratic media have been speaking more of “one country, one system”.
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