China's security law ended many of the freedoms of the Special Administrative Region in Hong Kong.
A student flees to Germany before that.
This is her dramatic story.
On July 1, 2020, the
Security Act was introduced in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
.
Critics see this as the end of the status
“One country.
Two systems “
and the
democracy movement of
the metropolis.
A Hong Kong student reports on her experiences from German exile.
Hong Kong - Elaine's not really called Elaine.
Her name could also be Maggie, or Ray, or Andrew.
Elaine's name is Elaine because it is safer for her and her family that way.
But also because their story is not an individual fate.
Elaine is from
Hong Kong
.
“I take my helmet and equipment, my tear gas mask.
I wear black clothes because if everyone wears black, it is more difficult for the police to identify you, ”she told Merkur.de.
The 23-year-old was preparing for
demonstrations by the democracy movement in Hong Kong
.
The Special Administrative Region had been turning into a city of protest for years.
A city on fire.
The so-called long arm of China tore and tore at the metropolis, which has actually had a 50-year transition period under the
principle of “One country.
Two systems ”was
granted.
And the Hong Kong demonstrators fought back with increasingly violent protests.
In the summer of 2020,
after months of demonstrations against Chinese influence
, the
Standing Committee of the Beijing People's Congress passed
Hong Kong's national security law
one that de facto
ended Hong Kong's special status
.
The basis for this is the
Annex to the Hong Kong Constitution,
which it
China enables certain laws to be put in place for Hong Kong.
Before that, the status quo was that Hong Kong itself should pass such a security law.
What did not happen due to popular resistance in the past two decades.
The law now passed by
China
criminalizes vague separatism, foreign influence, subversion and terrorism.
Hong Kong's head of government approves security law - appeal to the global community to respect it
Hong Kong's Prime Minister
Carrie Lam
immediately announced the "rigorous" implementation of the controversial law.
In a press conference, she warned people she called “radicals” against violating the
security
law, as this would have “very serious” consequences.
Lam had previously made it clear that she was behind the implementation of the new law in Hong Kong.
She argued that she did not see any danger to the civil rights of the people in the special administrative area, as the law only targeted a small percentage of residents.
"I urge the international community to
respect
the right of our country to
safeguard national security
and the aspirations of the people of
Hong Kong
for stability and harmony,"
Carrie Lam
addressed the United Nations, including the
South,
in a video
China Morning Post
reported.
The non-governmental organization
Amnesty International again
described the new security law as "the greatest human rights threat in the city's recent history".
In the main Hong Kong daily
South China Morning Post
itself, the
security law was discussed controversially
, the opinions ranged from approval, waiting to see what happens to deep concern about the special status of the city.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Mareike Ohlberg on the Communist Party's actions
“It wasn't foreseeable,” says
China expert Mareike Ohlberg
regarding the security law.
“Of course, it was clear that the
Communist Party would
strike back.
Few doubted that.
But it did surprise many people how radical the approach was.
What happened is ultimately the
legal tiananmen
, only that legal means are used to incapacitate the
democracy movement
.
They let the legal armor roll in. ”Among other things, Ohlberg researches the
influence of China on Western democracies
.
In her current book "The Silent Conquest" she describes how the
Communist Party
infiltrates the political systems in countries like Great Britain, Canada and Germany.
What happened is ultimately the legal tiananmen.
Mareike Ohlberg
“Much of what we describe in our book are gradual shifts in the status quo, which mostly go through because they are not radical changes.
Bit by bit the status is being shifted a little bit, rules are being drawn up as to what not to say about China.
That usually slips through because it seems unimportant, but that is the strategy behind it, ”Ohlberg describes her observations.
"It was important to me, this positive narrative, we have to get along well with China, and
China is the future,
to oppose something," says the scientist, who herself lived in China for a long time, about her motivation.
Hong Kong: student has to leave home due to democracy protests - "political awakening"
Elaine's not really called Elaine.
She calls herself that because she
had to leave Hong Kong
and she is facing a lawsuit there.
The student was arrested for participating in demonstrations.
And fled
Hong Kong to Germany
in
November 2019
.
Without a passport, which was with the local authorities, without a visa, she reached the Federal Republic as a refugee, without friends and family, she couldn't tell anyone.
The young woman, who now lives somewhere in rural Germany, still remembers her
“political awakening”.
At the moment when she realized that there was no way back to her former student existence.
“It is you who teach us that peaceful protests don't work” - these words stood as a graffiti slogan on a wall.
It was July 1, 2019, the day on which activists
stormed and occupied
the Hong Kong Parliament, the so-called
Legislative Council
.
“Since I was a child, a teenager, we
Hong Kongers have
tried
peaceful protests
.
But the government showed us that it wasn't listening when we were protesting for our democracy, ”recalls Elaine.
In
2014,
as a teenager, she
witnessed
the Umbrella Movement
, which pursued attempts to counter the growing
influence of the Communist Party
.
At that moment, on July 1, 2019, it became clear to her that a louder form of protest was necessary.
With just one rule: not to hurt anyone.
That same year, the protests in the
Special Administrative Region against the People's Republic
and the
Beijing-loyal Hong Kong government under Carrie Lam
became increasingly violent.
Among other things, to prevent a
controversial extradition law to China
.
With success.
The pictures went around the world.
They showed demonstrators clashing with the local police, the use of tear gas and water cannons, and the street canyons being flooded by people.
National Security Law in Hong Kong: Communist Party takes action against democracy movement
Until the
introduction of the national security law
.
"From the
Communist Party's
point of view
,
Hong Kong was
the window through which foreign, hostile forces could fly," says
Mareike Ohlberg
.
"It has been decided to close this now and de facto end the status of one country and two systems." This also carries risks for the People's Republic.
Because: “To what extent can you
maintain
an
international financial center
under these conditions
if everything can be politicized.
There are good reasons why China cannot build something like this on the mainland, ”said Ohlberg.
Since then, for example, the renowned US newspaper
New York Times has
announced that it will
relocate
its main editorial office for Asia from Hong Kong to
Seoul in South Korea
.
But most foreign companies are slow to react to the changed situation in Hong Kong.
But the government showed us that they are not listening when we protest for our democracy.
Elaine, Hong Kong refugee
Leaders of the
democracy movement like Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow
are in prison.
A court case is
pending
against the entrepreneur
Jimmy Lai
, a prominent critic of the
Communist Party
.
In the late summer of 2020, 13 people attempted
to flee
to
Taiwan
from justice by boat
.
China's coast guard stopped them.
A wave of arrests only took place in January in which more than 50 people were arrested.
Politicians, human rights defenders, activists.
The
former place of hope, Hong Kong,
is now evidently a fortress for many people from which they want to escape.
Former British Crown Colony Hong Kong: The story of their escape is not an individual fate of this generation
Elaine's not really called Elaine.
It is so called because its story is not an individual fate, but the story of many young Hong Kong residents.
Elaine, like others of this generation, grew up with the fact that her grandparents fled hopefully to Hong Kong.
She was born in 1997, the year the
former crown colony of Great Britain was returned to China
.
“I grew up with people fighting for freedom and democracy, I know what happened in the
Tiananmen massacre
.” As a child in the late 1990s, Elaine found it difficult to connect with China.
This is the case with many of her contemporaries, she shapes a special sense of identity.
They are Hong Kong residents, not Chinese.
A friend urged her
to leave
Hong Kong
, Elaine says.
“My passport was in court and I was released on bail.
I had less than a week to decide whether to flee or stay. ”She has been in Germany since winter 2019 and her
asylum application has now been approved
.
She lived in three different accommodations; she currently shares a flat with other refugees.
She wants to continue her studies in Germany. “I don't know when I will be able
to
return
to Hong Kong
as a
free person
,” she says suddenly while talking about her future plans.
Her voice breaks for the first time in a conversation, you can hear the tears with which the young woman wrestles.
Many of her friends are imprisoned or have proceedings pending, she says.
"As a protester who has fled, I will always feel guilty about those who are in prison."
Cantonese proverb in Hong Kong - life like in a prison in the Special Administrative Region
There
is a saying in Cantonese
, says Elaine.
“It's about boiling a frog and slowly raising the temperature until the frog is dead.
That is the
situation in Hong Kong
. ”It feels like living in a prison, a very large prison where rights and freedoms are continuously being strangled.
Does she have hope for her homeland?
Yes and no.
“Is it the end of One Country, Two Systems?
Yes.
Is it the end of the democracy movement?
No, ”Elaine analyzes.
She refers to Hong Kong residents who have fled into exile and are fighting for their homeland from there.
People like
Nathan Law
, who lives in London, people like
Ray Wong
, who is active in Germany for the
democracy movement
.
People like Elaine who may not be the loudest, not the most famous, but also part of the
Hong Kong refugee movement
.
“We will not stop because we know that when we stop fighting for peace and democracy, a situation awaits us like in
Xinjiang
,
Tibet
or
Taiwan
. "
Mareike Ohlberg researches the influence of China in western democracies- "As long as the Communist Party is in power ..."
The scientist
Mareike Ohlberg also
argues that the democracy movement was
brought to a standstill
by the
security law
.
In addition, it is clear to many Hong Kong residents, including those abroad, that they have no chance as long as the
Communist Party is in
power
in China
.
“The change that has to take place would be the political situation in mainland China.
That doesn't necessarily mean that the party has to go, but there would have to be a change of direction and I don't see that. "
This brutal suppression requires much stronger reactions from Europe than we have seen so far.
Reinhard Bütikofer, member of the European Parliament
Since
China's head of state Xi Jinping * came
to power, the
Communist Party has been more
repressive and the claws of the red dragon have become sharper.
Xi ties in with the
tradition of Mao Zedong
and presents himself as an authoritarian ruler.
For Ohlberg, however, the development of the Communist Party began before Xi Jinping.
As early as the time of the
Arab Spring
, the People's Republic observed how authoritarian regimes could fall.
That led to a rethinking, to the decision to want to better secure one's own political system.
“This is not a development that stands or falls with a man.
Ultimately it is a party question, not a one-man question, even if Xi certainly brings in his own note. "
Reinhard Bütikofer: - The Green EU politician is in favor of a stronger reaction to developments in Hong Kong
“Beijing has obviously decided to
exclude
the
Hong Kong democracy movement
from any political participation
, to leave
it speechless as far as possible and to put its most outstanding representatives in prison.
This brutal suppression requires much stronger reactions from Europe than we have experienced so far, ”
Reinhard Bütikofer
replied
to an inquiry.
The Green politician is a member of the
European Parliament
and chairman of the delegation for
relations with the People's Republic of China
.
Explosive in the relationship between the
European Union and China
: the
EU-China investment agreement
, which was quickly concluded after seven years.
China experts are critical of this and refer above all to the
forced labor of
the Muslim
Uyghur
minority
in the Xinjiang region
.
For the critics, it is a matter of stating clearly in the agreement that forced labor must not be allowed - the wording in question in the investment agreement is for many too imprecise.
“What I lack is an understanding that you don't get anything from the Communist Party that it doesn't want to give you.
If you don't want it, don't do it.
If you have
your
own interest in it, you can do it without an agreement, ”says
Mareike Ohlberg
about the development.
European Union in dealing with China: Relationship is dominated by trade interests
The following can be found
in a
resolution of the European Parliament
of June 2020.
Reinhard Bütikofer
contributed significantly to this text, as he reports.
He is still behind the recommendation to the European Commission.
Here is an excerpt from the letter:
European Parliament resolution on the PRC's national security law for Hong Kong and the need for the EU to defend Hong Kong's high level of autonomy
6. Stresses that the EU is China's main export destination;
Believes that the EU should use its economic leverage by responding to China's massive human rights abuses with economic measures;
Stresses that the current situation reaffirms Parliament's belief that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms must be an integral part of the negotiations for an EU-China investment agreement;
Calls on the Commission to use all means at its disposal, including in the context of the ongoing negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement, to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to ensure that they enjoy Hong Kong's high level of autonomy and the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens uphold independent civil society organizations and improve the human rights situation on the mainland and in Hong Kong;
Reiterates its call for a binding and enforceable chapter on sustainable development to be included in the agreement;
urges the EU, with regard to Article 21 TEU, to include a human rights clause in future trade agreements with the PRC;
Instructs the Commission to inform the Chinese side that Parliament intends to take into account the human rights situation in China and also in Hong Kong when it is asked to approve a comprehensive investment agreement or future trade agreements with the PRC;
The MEP warns against
separating
trade and investment in dealing with China
from human rights violations in the
Xinjiang and Hong Kong regions
.
“In 2020 Europe learned a lot about the character of
Xi Jinping's China
, about the
totalitarian suppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang,
for example, or about how China is trying to blackmail Australia economically.
We shouldn't feel certain that this won't affect us, ”he emphasizes.
Also
Mareike Ohlberg
believes that in the attitude of the
European Union
against China trade interests dominated.
Although there were serious initiatives, the biggest problem was the dependence of politically relevant branches of industry in Germany on the People's Republic.
Bütikofer emphasizes that the
European Commission
largely confines itself to "quiet murmur of criticism".
What both have in common is the stance that the
European Union should
facilitate
asylum procedures for refugees from Hong Kong
.
“This is one of the few things that can still be done to create simplified immigration or programs, either asylum or other ways in which people can come here.
So I hope that the economic interests will not prevail over China, ”said Ohlberg.
Reinhard Bütikofer
sees it that
way too.
He advocates simplified asylum procedures and the creation of ways in which young people in particular can come to Europe for a certain period of time without a lengthy asylum procedure.
Glacier Kwong speaks to the Petitions Committee of the Bundestag: a student from Hong Kong
It was not until Monday, January 25, 2021, that the Hong Kong lawyer and Hamburg law student
Glacier Kwong presented
a
petition
from Hong Kong residents living in the Federal Republic to the responsible committee of the German Bundestag.
So far, more than 50,000 people have signed the petition calling for sanctions against Chinese officials, tougher measures against China and an
adjustment of asylum policy for politically refugees from Hong Kong
.
“These are the rights that everyone is entitled to.
They don't apply more to some people but less to others. "
This is what Chancellor Merkel said in July to the European Parliament.
I feel deeply about these lines and rephrase it as part of my speech yesterday in the Bundestag.
https://t.co/DxfOpvr8GY
- Glacier Kwong (@KwongGlacier) January 26, 2021
A few days earlier, the newly elected chief of the Hong Kong Lawyers' Association,
Paul Harris SC
, called on the
Hong Kong government
to amend the security law so that other countries
would resume
their
extradition treaties with Hong Kong
.
He described the current situation of the rule of law in Hong Kong as "difficult".
That reported the
South China Morning Post
.
The human rights lawyer also emphasized that some provisions of the new law are contrary to the
basic law of the Hong Kong Constitution
, the so-called
"Basic Law"
.
“On the one hand, I don't like violent demonstrators and, on the other hand, I don't like the authorities who abuse their power.
During my term in office, I will try to strengthen the rule of law wherever I can, ”he said after his election.
Elaine hopes to return to Hong Kong - not just a problem between the city and China
Elaine's not really called Elaine.
Her name is because she is one of the few Hong Kong residents who has applied for asylum in Germany in recent years and wants to remain anonymous.
“It's not just about this city against a country.
It's also about showing the world what this government can do with a free city.
It's not just a
problem between Hong Kong and China
.
It's a problem between the free world and a dictatorship, ”says Elaine at the end of the conversation.
She would like the
European Union to support people from Hong Kong
.
Elaine still has hope.
But events have drawn them.
Since her flight, she has struggled with depression, with feelings of guilt and with a feeling of powerlessness in relation to the
political situation in Hong Kong.
She envisions going back to Hong Kong, she says.
To buy a plane ticket one day.
No matter what happens.
“I dream of being back in Hong Kong.
I would probably be in jail first.
But after that I would be free and could live in Hong Kong.
But that's just a fantasy. ”
(Aka) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network.
List of rubric lists: © Alda Tsang