A former pro-democracy lawmaker in Hong Kong says people there have become “sad” and “disillusioned” as some fear the city has lost important freedoms.
The widespread pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019 have largely abated, partly due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the entry into force of a controversial national security law last year.
Emily Lau, a former Democratic Party member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said some Hong Kongers now fear that “we have probably lost our freedom of speech, assembly and demonstration, perhaps not forever, but for many, many. years. “
“And so sad and disillusioned the people in Hong Kong are,” Lau told CNBC’s Martin Soong on Tuesday.
Beijing last year implemented the Hong Kong legislature to circumvent a national security law. Last month, China approved sweeping changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system that critics say would hold back pro-democracy politicians.
Those moves followed months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 that turned violent at times. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have said the changes would ensure national security and quell the anti-Chinese movement in the semi-autonomous region.
‘Rights and freedoms’
Hong Kong is a former British colony that was brought under Chinese rule in 1997. The Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed prior to Hong Kong’s return, stated that the city would have “a high degree of autonomy,” including legislative and independent judiciary.
“ Rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of expression, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of career choice, of academic research and of religious belief legal insured in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ”the statement said.
But critics of China – including pro-democracy activists and governments such as those in the US and the UK – have accused China of undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Dozens of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have been arrested and charged under national security law. But Lau said, “I refuse to be intimidated into silence.”
“We want China to keep the promises of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law,” she said, adding that she and other activists are not seeking to overthrow the Hong Kong government or the central government in Beijing.
The Basic Law is Hong Kong’s mini-constitution that establishes the “one country, two systems” principle used to govern the city.
Beijing, for its part, has said Hong Kong’s national security law and electoral changes are in line with the “one country, two systems” framework.