"The Hong Kong issue is like an esoteric book." This is the evaluation of Hong Kong's political situation by Jiang Enzhu, then the Hong Kong branch director of Xinhua News Agency (predecessor of the Liaison Office) and later the first director of the Liaison Office in the early days of the reunification.
The implicit meaning behind it is that Hong Kong, as the intersection of China and the West, has a unique historical and institutional origin, and also has a special role in the world. To govern this city, it must be viewed with a unique perspective and precise thinking.
The media often use "eventful autumn" to describe a year's social, political and economic events, but for this year's Hong Kong, these four words seem to be too understatement.
As 2021 is about to pass, I would like to take readers to review the political situation of the past year and experience the changes in this "big book" in Hong Kong.
▼The defendants in the Democratic primary election face trial by the National Security Law▼
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(1) The backbone of the democratic camp is behind bars
Under the turmoil of the 2019 legislative amendments, the democrats won overwhelming victory in the district council elections and took advantage of the "35+" last year. That is, at the time the Legislative Council won more than half of the seats, the government paralyzed the government by vetoing the budget and even forced the chief executive to step down.
In the end, the Legislative Council election was not held last year due to the epidemic, but the follow-up impact was very large.
First, the democrats held the "35+ primaries" in July last year. As a result, on January 6 this year, 55 people were arrested for the crime of "subverting state power," and 47 of them were charged.
The case has not yet officially opened for trial and has been postponed until March 4 next year. However, under the National Security Law’s presumption that no bail is allowed, many defendants have been returned for nearly a year and have been criticized by their families as being in disguise. Prisoner before trial violates the principle of presumption of innocence.
So far, only 15 people in the same case have been released on bail, namely Yang Xueying, Lin Jingnan, Lu Zhiheng, Liu Weicong, Huang Biyun, Zheng Dahong, Ke Yaolin, Peng Zhuoqi, He Qiming, Shi Delai, Li Yuxin, Zou Jiacheng, Yu Huiming, Chen Zhiquan and Huang Ziyue.
The primary election case has a great impact on the political atmosphere in Hong Kong: among the arrested and accused, many of the former pro-democracy cadres, such as Yin Zhaojian and Hu Zhiwei, are now being returned. Even if the defendants granted bail are mostly required to abide by strict regulations. The bail conditions are harsh, and high-profile comments on media or social networks are no longer allowed. The political influence is not as good as before. Second, this case has greatly affected the morale of the democrats, and many democratic veterans who have not been involved in the case have become interested. Faint, rarely comment on current affairs.
It’s worth mentioning that many defendants in the primary election have been in trouble for a long time, and even some establishment members seem to be uncomfortable. Former Democratic Party Chairman Emily Liu uploaded a photo of the court hearing on social networking pages at the end of November, lamenting: "Officially The interrogation has not yet been held. I really don't know how long they will be remanded."
The non-reelection legislative council member from the real estate and construction sector, the Pakatan Harapan Councillor Shi Liqian, posted a message in Liu, saying: "This is not the Hong Kong we know and love. May the Lord bless them."
▼The new electoral system is implemented and the legislative council election establishment faction wins ▼
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The new Legislative Council debuts non-organized "1:89"
After Beijing initiated the formulation of the "Hong Kong National Security Law", the National People's Congress passed the "Decision on Improving the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Electoral System" in March this year to drastically amend Hong Kong's electoral system. The key points include increasing the number of seats in the Legislative Council to 90, but the number of directly elected seats is reduced to 20. The election committee will be re-established to 40 seats, the candidate qualification review committee will be established, the candidates of the Legislative Council must be nominated by the five sectors of the Election Committee, etc. The local legislative draft will be read in the Legislative Council for the third time on May 27 pass through.
Under the new system, the subsector elections of the Election Committee and the Legislative Council elections have been held on September 19 and December 19, respectively.
The focus of the former was on the serious delay in the counting process. Chief Executive Carrie Lam apologized personally. As for the Legislative Council election, in the absence of the traditional democrats, the direct election turnout rate hit a new low of 30.2%. The non-establishmental direct elections were wiped out, and only the new thinking Di Zhi Far from being elected to the functional constituency of the social welfare sector, he described it as "1:89".
The new Legislative Council that will take office in the coming year will be the most disparity in political power since Hong Kong's return.
Jiang Enzhu, the former director of the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, called Hong Kong a "profound book" in the early days of the reunification, and it was difficult to read.
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Hong Kong-style democracy redefines future political reform and gives the green light?
The positive significance brought about by the new political system is that the central government directly took action to resolve political reform, a topic that has entangled Hong Kong's political situation for many years.
The former chairman of the Legislative Council, Jasper Tsang, once said that when the "safety factor" of the political system is ensured, the central government may have more motivation to promote political reform.
Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said in March this year that even if the electoral system has been revised, the commitment to universal suffrage under Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law remains unchanged.
The State Council Information Office published a white paper "Democratic Development in Hong Kong under "One Country, Two Systems"" one day after the Legislative Council election (December 20). On the right path, Hong Kong under the current new system is to implement high-quality democracy and promote good governance. At the end, it also mentioned that the SAR's democratic development has a bright future. I wonder if it will give the green light for the resumption of political reform in the future?
The resignation tide plus DQ district councils exist in name only
After the victory in the district elections the previous year, the democratic-led district councils had tense relations with the government. The government "overheaded" the district councils in a variety of ways.
The new electoral system also excludes district council representatives, and the original Legislative Council District Council (first) functional constituency is abolished.
An even more indispensable trick is the arrangement of oaths. The "Public Service (Election and Appointment) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021" was passed the third reading on May 12. District members must swear an oath in accordance with the law. Those who touch the "negative list" may lose qualifications.
Until the beginning of July, there was news from the government that the sworn district councillors who had participated in the primary elections of the democratic parties, had lent the office as a primary ballot station or as a staff member, had signed the "Mo Lao No Regrets" statement, etc., would lose Qualifications and all salaries and allowances since taking office may be recovered, and the amount involved may exceed one million yuan per person; if a district councilor resigns before being DQ, the authorities will "freeze" the case and will not pursue salaries.
The news led to the resignation of more than 200 district councillors, but since then the official has been noncommittal about this statement.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam finally announced the oath arrangement on September 7, allowing district councilors to swear oaths in four groups. In the end, another 50 people must leave their posts after taking the oath, all belonging to the democratic camp.
After the "Great Resignation Day" of the District Councils, many districts including Yuen Long, Wan Chai, Kowloon City, etc., the chairman candidates have become the establishment.
In some districts, such as the Central and Western District and Wong Tai Sin District, there are only two or three members left. In some districts, even the chairman and vice chairman are vacant, and they have not yet been re-elected.
Since the government has no plan to hold by-elections, in fact the district councils have been unable to operate normally. The government also announced in October that it will draw up the role of the current district councils in the "Community Participation Project" and the "District Minor Works Projects" and allocate powers. Owned by the Civil Administration.
The government’s handling of "inspiring people to resign" has also caused great controversy. For example, the Democratic Party chairman Law Kin-hee once questioned that the government claims that "fake information harms society", but uses fake information to achieve political goals (to induce district councilors to resign). Really ironic.
▼The dissolution of civil society▼
(2) The disintegration of civil society, the disbanding of the former "Big Taiwan" one by one
Under the changing circumstances of the great era, some political routines in the past have to be rewritten.
Since the July National Congress of Hong Kong in 2003, civil society has been dominated by democrats and very active. After the legislative turmoil, a large number of civil organizations were born.
However, under the "National Security Law", Hong Kong's political situation has changed drastically. In the past, some democratic organizations familiar to Hong Kong people in the past have announced their dissolution under political pressure.
The civil human rights front, which was established in 2002 and has played the role of the "big stage" in the procession for many years, has continued to receive requests from the police to submit information since May, and has been questioned for failing to register under the Societies Ordinance.
After several months of turmoil, the FDC held a meeting on August 13 and decided to disband.
The 31-year-old trade union union is the largest trade union federation of the democratic camp. Over the years, it has fought against the industrialist trade unions with the established trade unions. Its representative works include the iron work tide in 2007 and the container terminal work tide in 2013.
During the anti-amendment incident, the Trade Union has coordinated multiple strikes and assisted in the establishment of a new trade union.
On October 3, the trade union passed a resolution on dissolution. The then chairman Huang Jinyuan stated that many members were threatened with personal safety.
The Education Association, the largest teacher union with a history of 48 years, has been criticized by the state media as a "cancer" since the end of July, and all cooperative relations have been terminated by the Education Bureau.
The Education Association announced on August 10 that it had entered the dissolution process, and on September 11 it was disbanded by the General Assembly.
▼The stakes have been charged before the core of history ▼
The fate of Situ Hua's three major political legacy is terrible
The fate of the Taizhu Stakes commemorating the June 4th incident is also the same.
The “end of one-party dictatorship” in the Five Programs of the Stake attracted the attention of pro-organizational people as early as the beginning of the year. Luo Huining, director of the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, warned and clamored for “end of one-party dictatorship” and denied the party’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” at an event on June 12. The people who lead the business are destroying the foundation of the "one country, two systems" system and are the real enemy of Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.
The Stake received a letter from the police on August 25, accusing it of being a "foreign agent" and requesting the submission of personal data of its employees and Hong Kong members since its establishment.
The stake stated its rejection before the deadline, and all the members of the Standing Committee were arrested.
The then chairman Li Zhuoren, vice chairman He Junren and Zou Xingtong, and the stake were charged with "inciting others to subvert state power" on September 9.
Li Zhuoren and He Junren, who were imprisoned for other demonstrations, sent a letter on September 20 to publicly call for the dissolution of the stake.
On the 25th of the same month, the members of the stake held a special general meeting to formally pass the dissolution. Subsequently, the property and bank account were frozen, and the organization was also cancelled for company registration.
Former stake liquidator Cai Yiuchang sent a message to the people of Hong Kong: "People are here, hope is there."
The Trinity of Education Association, Stake Association, and Democratic Party founded by Situ Hua before his death, now only the Democratic Party is lingering.
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The Association of Education and the Stake were both founded by the late Democratic Party veteran Situ Hua. For many years, the "Trinity" has stood firm in Hong Kong's political circles. With the dissolution of the former two, the Democratic Party has various incompetences under the new political system, and its political legacy It can almost be said that it no longer exists.
In addition, dozens of democratic/non-organizational organizations include passionate citizens, prison rights organizations Shiqianghua, professional groups such as Law and Political Consciousness and Xinglin Awakening, 612 funds that support anti-revision demonstrators, and regional organizations such as Sha Tin. The district administration, the new civil service unions established during the anti-revision period, etc., will all announce their dissolution or suspension of operations in 2021.
Cai Ziqiang, a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Administration at CUHK, believes that Beijing has absorbed the experience of organizing the "Umbrella Community" after the Umbrella Movement in 2014 and another outbreak in 2019, and hopes to get it done once and for all. Therefore, it has decided to use all platforms with a larger scale and mobilization capabilities. Demolition, in order to "kill all" and eliminate all factors that may affect the stability of Hong Kong's governance.
▼Demolition of the Pillar of National Sorrow on the Mahayana Night in Hong Kong on December 22▼
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▼On December 24, citizens went to CUHK to ``memorialize'' the New Democracy Statue▼
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June 4th, historically extinct campuses introduced a large number of national conditions education
This year, the space for people to commemorate the history of June 4th continued to narrow.
For the past 32 years, Hong Kong people have been mourning the June 4th incident. However, since 2020, the police have banned June 4th gatherings for two consecutive years on the grounds of the epidemic. Many university campuses have related artworks on June 4th, such as the National Sorrow of the University of Hong Kong. The pillars, the statues of the Goddess of Democracy of the Chinese University and City University, the reliefs of the June 4th Movement of Lingnan University and the spray paintings of the Goddess of Democracy were all directly removed or requested to be removed by the school.
The government has paid a lot of attention to education. This year, the general education subject has been changed to the "civic and social development subject" with officially reviewed textbooks; the introduction of national conditions education in primary and secondary schools, including requiring all primary and secondary schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong to be upgraded on every school day National flag, a flag-raising ceremony is held once a week.
▼The media continues to fall into the eye of politics▼
(3) The media continues to be caught in politics, "Apple" is out of service
In 2021, the changes facing the media industry are equally unprecedented.
Among them, Radio Hong Kong, as a public broadcaster, often produces programs to criticize the government, and has been the target of the establishment for many years.
The government published a report on the governance and management review of Radio Television Hong Kong on February 19.
The former Director of Broadcasting, Liang Jiarong, who was originally scheduled to expire in August, resigned ahead of schedule and was "airborne" by Li Baiquan, who was an administrative officer.
After Li Baiquan took office, Hong Kong and Taiwan have undergone earth-shaking changes, including "The Clang Collection" and "Discussion" and other current affairs programs have been selected; the longevity program "City Forum" has ceased production; the past "Clang Clang Collection", "Headline News", etc. The program was deleted on the YouTube channel; the social network pages of multiple programs were removed; the refusing to cooperate in co-organizing college debate competitions, etc.
The long-term pillar of the democratic media, the "Apple Daily", has also come to an end this year. Its founder, Li Zhiying, was arrested in August last year for crimes involving the "National Security Law".
On June 17, the Security Bureau quoted the "National Security Law" to freeze the assets of three companies in the "Apple Daily", and several "One Media" directors and senior executives were arrested one after another.
The 26-year-old "Apple Daily" also ceased publication after the last physical newspaper was published on June 24.
The HKMA also came under unprecedented political pressure this year.
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Media "search" is tightened
In addition, media interviews are more difficult than ever. For example, Cai Yuling, the former editor and director of "The Clang Collection", was arrested last year for making "false statements" for checking the license plate during the investigation of the 7.21 incident. On April 22 this year, he was convicted and fined 6,000 yuan, slightly. Ironically, he became the first person to be convicted in a July 21-related case, which shocked the Hong Kong media industry.
In terms of practical operation, the "search" work is facing more and more restrictions.
For example, the Transport Department has introduced a new measure on January 2, which will notify car owners registered in the name of individuals that their license plate information is being checked by persons or organizations, and that they are questioned and hinder investigation and reporting work, which can easily lead to the destruction of evidence; company and land searches are also subject to To tighten, the authorities require the "real-name system" to be adopted for searches. Names and ID numbers must be registered, and the information of the searchers can also be passed on to law enforcement agencies.
During the dissolution of civil society, the Hong Kong Journalists Association was lingering, but the political pressure was extraordinary. The Journalist Association was accused by pro-China newspapers of "anti-China and disrupting Hong Kong", and was repeatedly criticized by the Secretary for Security Deng Pingqiang. The committee terminated its cooperation with the organization of the "Consumer Rights News Reporting Award".
At the annual fundraising dinner of the HKJAA, many organizations and companies that have "buy a station" in advance stated that they do not need to publicly acknowledge.
▼On June 25th, the high-level government substitution Li Jiachao was promoted to the second place in the special zone▼
(4) The replacement of senior officials, the new government style and the speed of the new Hong Kong
The SAR government itself has also undergone many changes this year. Since last year, the government has required civil servants to take oaths or sign declarations in batches to confirm their support for the Basic Law and allegiance to the SAR. This requirement will be gradually extended to non-civil service contract employees this year. At least 650 civil servants have refused to sign. Declare resignation.
On June 25, the high-level personnel of the special zone ushered in a personnel change.
Li Jiachao, who was involved in controversy during the legislative amendments, was promoted from the Secretary for Security to Chief Secretary for Administration. He is the first police officer to be the second in the Special Administrative Region and succeeds the retired Zhang Jianzong; the Secretary for Security is replaced by the former Commissioner of Police Deng Bingqiang. .
This personnel transfer is considered a great leap forward in the power of the "military attache" system within the SAR government.
The overall administration of the SAR has also had a significant impact compared to the past.
Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor proposed long-term development of the "Northern Metropolis" when he published his "Policy Address" in October. He admitted that the reason for launching large-scale development projects is because the political environment has changed. Attack, "Seeing the situation at the 𠵱's house is good, please don't take Li to do it."
On the other side, after the resignation of the democrats, the Legislative Council’s "rabbit" disappeared. The Appropriation Bill 2021 (Budget) passed in April this year only spent about 8 hours before and after reviewing, which is a far cry from last year’s 47 hours. .
The Finance Committee has approved 120 projects from 2020 to 2021, which is the most in this session of the Legislative Council. It only takes 46 minutes to review a project on average, which is far less than the 2 hours and 24 minutes in the previous session. The approved projects involve commitments. A total of about 327.8 billion yuan, which means an average of about 2.581 billion yuan per hour.
However, the establishment believes that this "new Hong Kong speed" does not mean that the monitoring government's efforts have decreased, but rather that the previous parliament was full of chaos, and the deliberations were abnormally long.
▼Revision of electrical inspection regulations passed▼
(5) The cultural circle adds "red lines"
According to Liu Zhaojia, the vice president of the National Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, the essence of the National Security Law is far more than the implementation of a single law, and more importantly, it changes the face of Hong Kong society in all aspects from cultural, educational, and other areas, and shapes a conducive to the governance of the Communist Party. Ideology.
Under this major premise, the SAR government has made a number of actions in the past year, which are considered to be related to the tightening of the "red line."
Among them, on the cultural level, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has successively removed the books of many democrats and references to domestic political issues from the public library since May this year, and stated that if it is found that the contents of the collection may be suspected of violating the " The provisions of the Minato National Security Law or relevant laws will be dealt with in a serious manner, and services related to collections will be suspended.
The government announced the submission of the "Film Censorship (Amendment) Bill 2021" on August 24 this year, stating that it would change the film censorship system to fulfill the responsibility of safeguarding national security under the Hong Kong National Security Act, and it was enacted on October 27 Will pass the third reading.
The amendment expressly stipulates that "inspectors" must consider whether it will be "detrimental to national security" when deciding whether to allow the film to be shown. If the inspector believes that the film is "not conducive to national security", the censorship period can be extended indefinitely by 28 days; If the movie is not allowed to be shown, it cannot be appealed to the audit committee.
Some people in the film industry are concerned that the definition of "unfavorable to national security" is very broad and it is difficult to have objective criteria. Once the broadcast is banned, all investments will be spent.
Liu Zhaojia pointed out that the central government finally understood the "book" of Hong Kong and believed that the method of "writing" must be changed.
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Liu Zhaojia: The central government "understands" and recognizes that it must change the way of "book writing"
"If Hong Kong is a difficult book to read, what we have seen in the past two years is that Beijing has decided to write a new book by itself," said a politician who did not want to reveal his identity.
The person pointed out that there have been many political conflicts in Hong Kong over the past two decades. No matter who is right or wrong, there is a phenomenon that people of any political opinion will agree: Hong Kong has been operating in accordance with the old set of governance and seems to have reached a dead end. .
After the legislative turmoil, Beijing’s tolerance for Hong Kong has reached its limit. It has decided to reshape its governance model, draw up a new set of game rules, and rule Hong Kong with a stronger model. The specific effects are currently difficult to predict. River".
Liu Zhaojia analyzed to the author that since its return, the central government has been exploring the practical experience of "one country, two systems" and looking for the causes of various difficulties.
For a long time in the past, the central government has always believed that Hong Kong’s political problems can be resolved through non-hardline and non-political means. Instead of converging, it continued to connect with external hostile forces in the international arena, and then developed into separatism, endangering national security and territorial integrity. Therefore, the central government was completely committed to the old opposition and determined that its anti-communist and anti-China stance would not change, so Decided to reverse the previous set of "book writing" methods: "(Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office) Zhang Xiaoming publicly admitted for the first time last year that the Hong Kong issue is a political issue. This difficult book is now truly "understood" by the Central Government. It is resolved by political thunderbolt."
In 2021, Hong Kong's political situation will undergo unimaginable changes.
Entering 2022, the "Basic Law" promises to usher in the second half of the "Fifty Years Unchanged". I don't know how this esoteric book of Hong Kong will be written in the future?
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