Dr John C. Hulsman is senior columnist at City A.M., a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and president of John C. Hulsman Enterprises. He can be reached for corporate speaking and private briefings at www.chartwellspeakers.com.
There is something terrifying about watching freedom die.
As a historian, whether contemplating the end of Athens, the last days of the Roman Republic, or the horrors of the French Revolution devouring its children, as a well-wisher to liberty I always feel an ineffable sadness as freedom is snuffed out.
And that is precisely what is happening in Hong Kong.
Sensing a strategic opening — with the US utterly distracted by the aftermath of the pandemic as well as nationwide civil rights protests — China is on the march. From bullying the Indian army along its shared Himalayan border, to picking fights this year in the South China Sea with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, Beijing has put Asia on notice that it is the new great power on the block.
And nowhere has this assertiveness been more on display than in settling domestic scores with Hong Kong’s doughty pro-democracy activists.
Since the British handover in 1997, Hong Kong has been governed by the Basic Law, amounting to the city’s constitution. Article 5 guarantees that Hong Kong and China will operate under a model of “One country, Two systems”, until 2047. That is, British law will remain paramount in the city, even as Beijing controls its foreign and defence policy.
But in power terms, that was then, this is now. The deal was signed when China was far from the superpower it is today, and Beijing’s patience with the accord has run out, whatever the legalisms.
Article 3 of the Basic Law enshrines the rights of freedom of the press and expression, freedom of association, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. During the past year — in response to a controversial proposed new extradition law, which human rights activists feared would allow the Communist Party of China (CCP) to detain at will local opposition figures and dissidents — the pro-democracy movement availed itself of these sacred rights. Activists succeeded in forcing Beijing to shelve the initiative.....MUCH MORE
But as the protests swelled, they morphed into something larger, seeking to assertively defend Hong Kong’s liberty itself. Seeing this as a direct challenge to their dictatorial rule, Xi Jinping and his CCP cohorts have now moved to settle scores....
HT: FT Alphaville's Further Reading post, June 15
