Benedict Rogers: The free world stands with Hong Kongers

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime has no true friends in the world, whereas the peoples repressed or threatened by it have many. That is the clear message from two significant events this week.

The first is the publication of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 which, while it includes Xi Jinping, also features Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, Uyghur activist Nury Turkel and Hong Kong’s most high-profile exiled dissident Nathan Law. Indeed, Nathan topped the readers' poll. I happened to be having coffee with Nathan last week in London just after he had heard this news and, with typical humility, graciousness and dedication, he expressed his delight not at the recognition of his own courageous fight, but at this international recognition of Hong Kongers' struggle as a whole.

The second was the unambiguous and united conclusion of a panel at a high-profile global webinar on Tuesday hosted by the Canadian think-tank the Macdonald Laurier Institute in partnership with Hong Kong Watch, the European Values Center for Security Policy and the International Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), addressed by the last Governor of Hong Kong Lord Patten, the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s China advisor Dr Miles Yu, Canadian Member of Parliament and Shadow International Development and Human Rights Minister Garnett Genuis MP, Poland’s former foreign minister Anna Fotyga, Nathan and myself.

In a keynote speech Lord Patten, a Patron of Hong Kong Watch, described the CCP’s recent actions in Hong Kong as “the biggest assault on freedom and liberty in any city in the twenty-first century,” and urged democracies around the world to work together to “stand up” for freedom. “What the Chinese have done is to set out to destroy all those elements which have made Hong Kong so successful,” he added, and called for a multilateral effort to confront the Chinese Communist Party’s “technological totalitarianism”, and for “lifelines” for young Hong Kongers who flee the city, including the provision of bursaries in universities.

Mr Genuis, an International Patron of Hong Kong Watch, described the extraterritorial provision in Hong Kong’s national security law as “a threat to the rule of law not just in Hong Kong but in every country around the world” and “a clear and present threat to the security of people all over the world” which requires “a strong, focused response”.

He echoed calls for a multilateral response, saying: “We need to work together as like-minded countries,” but added that “multilateral collaboration is not an excuse for countries to do nothing and wait for somebody else to act first. Multilateral collaboration means that we should be willing to step out and act to do what is right – but also seek partnerships in the process.”

And Dr Yu reinforced this message, rejecting Xi Jinping’s version of “multilateralism” expressed at the United Nations General Assembly, emphasising instead “shared values – that’s the foundation for multilateralism”. He noted that an “alliance of democracies” was forming to confront the growing threat of the CCP around the world, including “Japan, Australia, the UK, Canada, EU, NATO and ASEAN organisation countries”.

In contrast, he argued, China has no true allies that “can be trusted”, noting that “North Korea is useless for the [CCP] for the most part”, while “Russia is playing hard-to-get”. As the CCP has broken its promises to Hong Kong, dismantling judicial independence, press freedom, individual liberty and the rule of law, it should face a huge reputational cost. Describing ‘one country, two systems’ as “a grand experiment that has failed miserably,” Dr Yu argues that “the people in Hong Kong have chosen the system of freedom and the rule of law, not the system of communism and autocracy,” and the free world must stand by them. The CCP’s broken promises mean, he concluded, that “a country without credibility cannot be the leader of the world”.

Amidst the dark storm clouds of repression under Xi Jinping’s regime, there are therefore some reasons for hope.

First, although undoubtedly there is a long and very tough struggle ahead, Hong Kongers and people in mainland China suffering at the hands of the CCP can take some comfort from the fact that the free world is waking up and speaking out.

Belatedly, slowly and limply in the case of some, but better late than never and better something than nothing. More work is needed to mobilize some countries more than others, and the free world must unite. Of the CCP Lord Patten said: “They shout and they roar and they stamp their feet and we should call them out collectively”. And so we should.

An international contact group should be set up to coordinate efforts among like-minded countries, bringing together western democracies with allies in Asia, to ensure that there is a clear, robust, united and high-impact response. Piecemeal measures by different countries allow the CCP to, as Lord Patten put it, “pick us off one at a time,” but if the international community stands together it can make a difference.

Second, the TIME 100 list – and the readers' poll – shows that the general public in the free world is on the side of those suffering – and courageously confronting – the CCP. And I can attest to this from my own anecdotal experience. More and more people are contacting me to ask how they can help Hong Kongers, Uyghurs and others persecuted by Beijing. And as I prepare this coming Monday to take up my new full-time role as chief executive of Hong Kong Watch, so many people have expressed their support for my move, knowing that Hong Kong needs help – and that it is in the interests of all of us in the free world to defend the frontlines of freedom.

But the third, most important cause of hope is the courage, creativity and concerted, continuous commitment of everyone on the frontlines of this struggle – Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, Chinese house church Christians, Tibetans, Falun Gong practitioners, human rights defenders, lawyers, bloggers, dissidents, and the inspiring, passionate defence of democracy by the people of Taiwan.

However hard the fight, however high the cost, however long the struggle, it is clear that few of those directly under Beijing’s boot are willing to yield their souls to the CCP. Their strategies and tactics may vary and change due to the circumstances, but their commitment is clear. And their desire to unite together in a common cause is also a source of hope. So for as long as that is the case, people like me in the free world must do everything we possibly can to support, stand in solidarity and take on the fight on the world stage.

As the two events I have outlined here – the TIME poll and the Macdonald Laurier webinar – both show, the free world stands with those under CCP rule who value freedom and are willing to fight for it. Now the free world must unite to defend freedom itself for us all.

Benedict Rogers is the Co-founder and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch. The article was published in Apple Daily on 25 September 2020. (Photo: Apple Daily)