IN PROTEST: People in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong hold candles during a celebration to commemorate the massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The annual demonstration in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park was banned for the second year in a row.
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Over the past year, China has tightened its grip on Hong Kong. Protesters risk many years in prison. The opposition’s response? “Be like water.”
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200 police officers lined up in the offices of the pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, early Thursday morning local time.
Five people have been arrested in the large police raid, reported the newspaper itself.
The arrested are suspected of “conspiracies with foreign powers”, reports South China Morning Post. All five have been arrested on the basis of the controversial security law that was introduced in Hong Kong at the end of June last year.
– It was all very special. The draft law was kept secret until it was passed – and it happened at the National People’s Congress in Beijing, not in Hong Kong, says author and China expert Torbjørn Færøvik.
Among the five are directors and editors of Apple Daily and the newspaper’s owner company Next Digital. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief Ryan Law is among these.
RAZZIA: Apple Daily Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law is arrested and handcuffed. Photo: AP
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In August last year ten people in the same media house were arrested, including Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, a well-known pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong. He has been critical of the Security Act, which has curtailed Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Following the introduction of the law, several elected officials were banned from the Hong Kong Legislative Assembly. Today, the assembly consists mainly of representatives from pro-China parties, explains China expert Færøvik.
In addition, all candidates must be thoroughly examined and pre-approved by a committee.
– The democracy Hong Kong had, after all, is now more or less eliminated. There is no longer any opposition to talk about, says Torbjørn Færøvik.
«Be like water»
In early June gathered hundreds of people settled in Hong Kong – despite the fact that they risked many years in prison by doing so. They noted that June 4 was the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing.
For the second year in a row, the markings were banned. Also this year, the reason was fear of spreading the coronavirus.
COVER: A woman holds a copy of a 1989 front page newspaper, following the Tiananmen Square massacre.
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Democrats, lawyers and media people are among those arrested and imprisoned, forced to leave the political arena, or left Hong Kong to live in exile.
– It is no longer what Hong Kong I know. I am sometimes afraid to talk to my friends who still live there, afraid to ask them questions about the security law, says Jessica Chiu, who is the leader of the Hong Kong committee in Norway.
– If the conversation is found back to, I fear it can be used against them. Then they can be reported, and they can get a prison sentence, she says.
—-CONCERNED: Chair of the Hong Kong Committee in Norway, Jessica Chiu. Photographed during a demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in Oslo in 2020. Photo: Håkon Kvam Lyngstad, VG
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Chiu and the organization she leads, mark opposition to developments in Hong Kong through demonstrations and events in Norway.
– There is no longer room for the opposition in Hong Kong. I simply think that Beijing is afraid of democracy, she says.
At the same time, she believes there is always hope.
– When there is pressure, creativity is created. “Be like water” – “be like water”. Hong Kongers need to be flexible and find ways to move forward, she explains.
A dam that can burst
The expression “Be like water” actually comes from a quote by Bruce Lee. Now Hong Kong opposition figures have adopted it as a mantra to show that they need to adapt to the situation.
– It is a good expression. Water is somewhat slippery, and difficult to obtain. It wedges itself in most places, describes China expert Torbjørn Færøvik.
Although the demonstrations in Victoria Park this month were banned, people found other ways to mark the massacre in Tiananmen Square.
Some lit candles at home, others wrote the numbers 4 and 6 – the digits on the date of June 4 – on the light switches, so just turning off the light at home in itself was a demonstration. Bookstores sold books at a 64 percent discount.
LIGHTED LIGHTS: The flames are shining in the windows of the US consulate building in Hong Kong.
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– The water can be anywhere, and it can be anywhere. The last year has been remarkably quiet in Hong Kong, partly because it is very difficult to get permission to demonstrate, Færøvik explains.
– But the water can come back very quickly. Maybe you just need a small dam that can burst. It will be very exciting to follow the development, he says.
Forces in the depths of the people
According to Torbjørn Færøvik, it is no coincidence that China has tightened its grip on Hong Kong. As pro-democracy forces began to speak out against the sting of the Beijing government, party chairman Xi Jingping decided to strike back.
– They were afraid that this would happen. And what happened during the demonstrations last year and the year before, when two of Hong Kong’s eight million residents took to the streets in demonstrations, scared them even more, the author says.
Some of the protesters crossed the line and began smashing and destroying property in the city. But the vast majority were peaceful protesters, Færøvik emphasizes.
This is what it looked like when the police intervened in demonstrations in Hong Kong last year:
At the same time, he believes that the authorities probably draw parallels to the demonstrations in Beijing in 1989 – which thus led to the massacre that the demonstrators last week remembered in Hong Kong.
– They did not know what forces existed in the depths of the people. Such regimes never know what forces are hiding there, in the absence of free elections and opinion polls. What do Hong Kong people really mean? The Chinese Communist Party cannot be sure of that.
The price for Hong Kong
Although Beijing has apparently calmed down in a city that last year was marked by unrest and discontent, it has cost.
– What has happened in Hong Kong has weakened China’s reputation internationally and in the region. It is lower than in a long, long, long time, says Færøvik.
In surveys from the department Pew Research Center China has never had a lower reputation.
– It has also strengthened Taiwan’s position, in the sense that many now see that it is more important than ever to stand up for Taiwan, which must defend itself against China, he explains.
—-REFORMING: The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning at sea in 2018. The ship is part of China’s military rearmament in the East China Sea. Photo: STR / AFP
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This also means that Beijing will find it difficult to secure the same grip on the island territory they themselves believe they are entitled to.
Taiwan’s Defense Department said Tuesday that 28 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwanese airspace on Tuesday.
Authorities in Beijing have pointed out in previous episodes that this type of mission is necessary to protect China’s autonomy, and to meet what they describe as “conspiracies” between the United States and Taiwan.
During the kite festival in Taiwan, there are other things than fighter jets to track in the sky. Still, there was drama when a 3-year-old flew into the air:
In the past year, Taiwan has reported a number of similar incidents.
But even though the People’s Republic of China has recently equipped itself militarily in the Taiwan Strait, Færøvik believes it will take a long time before there is a conflict between Taiwan and Beijing.
– Taiwan has a strong defense. And under Biden, there have been new promises that the Americans will stand a load and burst with Taiwan. As long as they have the United States behind them, I do not think China dares to attack Taiwan.
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