Freedom Extinguished in Hong Kong

Beijing came for the students, then the teachers, businessmen, and local politicians. Pretty soon no one was left to speak out….

Is this to be Hong Kong’s fate?

Since Beijing’s enactment of the new national security law in June Hong Kong residents have seen an increasingly rapid deterioration of their freedoms. New government rules and regulations pushed through by the CCP in Beijing have effectively stifled all civil dissent. Those who protest or oppose China’s interference are arrested for daring to oppose the will of the overlords in Beijing.

In a further ramping up of pressure on the opposition in Hong Kong this week there were three separate pre-dawn raids with arrests. On Wednesday, the authorities came for Ted Hui, Raymond Chan, and Eddie Chu. The former Hong Kong legislators were charged with protesting against a Beijing-supported measure banning any criticism of the national anthem. So much for free speech or any of the other so-called “guarantees” China made in 1997 when Great Britain transferred the territory back to China.

Last week several opposition members in the Legislative Council’s resigned after passage of a new “loyalty requirement” for lawmakers. The new law was immediately implemented to effectively oust the four who opposed Beijing’s interference in the Hong Kong lawmaking body.

To put it in perspective… China ranks #124 in the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World. It’s not free by Western standards. Now it looks like that is happening in Hong Kong. There have been thousands of politically motivated arrests there over the last year related to demands for freedom. The heavy hand of the Chinese state, led by the CCP, overregulates the local economy and slows the real growth possible in a free market society. Hong Kong had a higher GDP per capita than Australia in 1997 when it was returned to China. Today Beijing is trying to impose its economic model on the once-flourishing Hong Kong business world without concern for human rights or economic promises made to the people of Hong Kong.

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After national security arrests late last month Hong Kong authorities said: “There is no justification for any so-called ‘political asylum’ for people in Hong Kong.” One group of 12 dissenters tried in August to flee in a speedboat to Taiwan but were caught by china’s Coast Guard. They remain detained in Shenzhen, China. The list of abuses against Hong Kong is long and growing every day.

The good news is that the Trump Administration is not standing by silently watching the people of Hong Kong lose their freedom. Last week Secretary of State Michael Pompeo released a statement saying “The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong-based officials continue to dismantle the promised autonomy and freedoms of Hong Kong through politically motivated arrests. Today, the U.S. Department of State is designating four PRC and Hong Kong officials in connection with implementing the PRC-imposed National Security Law and threatening the peace, security, and autonomy of Hong Kong, pursuant to Executive Order 13936.”

Beijing came for the students, then the teachers, businessmen, and local politicians… There is no more time. The Western nations must speak out now before there is no one left. As Secretary Pompeo said last week: “We don’t simply discuss human rights in the United States; we cherish and defend them.”

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Friday, she presents key updates on China.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay