Hong Kong Watch testifies to the Canadian Parliament's Subcommittee on International Human Rights

Yesterday, Hong Kong Watch Associate, Joey Siu, and Hong Kong Watch’s Senior Policy Advisor, Sam Goodman, testified to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development Subcommittee on International Human Rights. Briefing members of the committee on the situation in Hong Kong: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/SDIR/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=11127629.

You can read their written testimony below:

Joey Siu, Hong Kong Watch Associate and student activist

May 4th 2021

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me. I’m Joey Siu, a Hong Kong activist now based in Washington D.C. with Hong Kong Watch.

Over the past few months, Hong Kong’s situation continued to worsen rapidly. The National Security Law passed in July 2020 has become the most actively-used tactic to silence voices of opposition.

47 pro-democracy activists were arrested in February on suspicion of “subversion of state” under the sweeping legislation, simply for participating in the democractic primaries. Among the 47, 36 were denied bail and have been in custody for more than 2 months now.

Another 9 prominent leaders including Martin Lee, Margaret Ng and Albert Ho were also sentenced for participating in an absolutely peaceful assembly back in 2019 while more protesters are being charged with protest-related offenses under the heavily-criticized Public Order Ordinance.

Aside from the continuous political persecutions, the Chinese Communist Party’s rubber stamp parliament passed a resolution a few weeks ago to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system with unsurprising unanimous votes. More than 380 District Councillors of the democractic camp are also expecting to face potential disqualifications in the upcoming months. It is now almost impossible for pro-democracy candidates to run for local elections, and not to mention the promised universal suffrage for Hongkongers.

While national security-related cases are handled by judges handpicked by the government, other judges who rightfully dismiss the most ridiculous charges against protesters are being placed under heavy pressure and criticisms from Beijing officials and pro-CCP groups.

Following the conviction of investigative journalists for documenting the history, more were being stripped of their contracts or forced to resign under pressure. Documentaries and news programmes were also being deleted.

Cancellation of truth and values happens not only in newsrooms but also classrooms. Books were pulled from library shelves and school curriculums were reshaped to include the “brainwashing” national security education elements. More teachers were disqualified over complaints of providing “one-sided and biased” materials related to values of freedom and democracy.

University student unions in Hong Kong have been the cradle of social movements in the past. During my time in Hong Kong as a student union leader, I was still able to organize different campaigns. Yet, it recently became impossible as well. Slamming the student groups for “becoming increasingly politicized” and “repeatedly making inflammatory and potentially unlawful public statements”, more universities decided to cut ties with their students, ceasing financial assistance and taking back all possible resources.

Censorship fears have also shadowed the cultural industry. Tiananmen Massacre-themed artwork by the famous dissident and artist Aiweiwei was taken down, screening of a documentary about the siege of Polytechnic University was cancelled. Nomination of the protest-related documentary “Do Not Split” also seemed to become the reason behind broadcaster’s decision of not airing the Oscars ceremony for the first time in over 50 years.

Under the haze of Beijing’s escalating crackdown, many Hongkongers were left with no choice but to leave the city. However, as the new Immigration Bill amendment passes, relocation might soon no longer be an option. The amendment passed on April 28th, gives immigration officials almost unlimited power to stop any individual from leaving or entering Hong Kong. Given the Chinese Communist Party’s similar tactics used against Uyghurs, it is concerned that the law will be weaponized as the tool to restrict freedom of movement and prevent Hongkongers from seeking asylum or applying for lifeboat policies elsewhere.

Current lifeboat schemes should be improved to allow applications in a third country and requirements should also be loosened to expand the coverage. As Canada welcomes more Hongkongers, resources should also be allocated to assist new arrivals’ integration and help preserve the culture of Hongkongers. Globally, we should also continue to work closely with allies with shared values to impose coordinated sanctions, and to construct more comprehensive China policies.

I became a student activist right before our movement broke out. Within two years time, almost all of my friends are now either facing charges, going through trials, in exile or imprisoned.

The continuous violations of the Sino-British Joint Declaration is a clear reflection of the Chinese Communist Party’s trustworthiness. Turning a blind eye to Beijing's ongoing human rights violations and disregard of international rule-based order is no different from encouraging their escalating repressions at home and aggressions aboard. Thank you and I look forward to answering your questions.

Sam Goodman, Hong Kong Watch’s Senior Policy Advisor

May 4th 2021

Since the National Security Law has come into force in Hong Kong in July 2020, over 100 pro-democracy activists have been arrested and are awaiting trial. Under the draconian law they face 10 years to life in prison. With high profile activists like Joshua Wong and Jimmy Lai now facing a carousel of court appearances and jail sentences which look set to continue into the immediate future.

The Chinese Communist Party has moved swiftly to use this law and new culture of fear to silence dissent. Firing pro-democracy academics and civil servants who refuse to swear allegiance to Beijing, rewriting Hong Kong’s electoral system, introducing national security education to brainwash children as young as six, and steadily censoring the internet and broadcast.

Journalists and judges for the moment are the two holds outs against Beijing’s total control of Hong Kong. Both are finding themselves increasingly under assault.

For the foreign press, this has come in the form of visa denials and in the BBC’s case an outright ban. Local journalists fair far worse. Risking fines or imprisonment for reporting, this was the case for the investigative reporter Bao Choy who was recently fined for exposing police corruption.

Hong Kong authorities have also called for the closing of Apple Daily, the last pro-democracy publication in Hong Kong, directed the public broadcaster to purge investigative documentaries from its online archives, and the Hong Kong Police Commissioner has warned that the National Security Law could be used in the future to target the spreading of so called “fake news”.

The city has a long history of an independent judiciary and the rule of law is the cornerstone of its success as a global financial centre. Yet, pro-Beijing outlets continue to call for judicial reform on an almost daily basis and Carrie Lam last week warned of ‘government intervention’ against the Hong Kong Bar Association for its criticism of the recent prosecution of pro-democracy activists.

In the court room, things do not fare much better. Judges are handpicked by Beijing, juries denied, and bail-hearings now go on so long that there are reports of defendants collapsing and needing medical treatment. In the recent bail hearings of 47 pro-democracy activists for the ‘crime’ of organising democratic primary elections, the judges considered only two narrow facts: the public profile of the accused and their record of opposition to government policy.

A recent report by Hong Kong Watch on ‘Red Capital’, found that the speed at which Beijing has dismantled Hong Kong’s autonomy has been made possible by economic coercion and the steady takeover of the city’s economy through the influx of capital from the mainland.

Hong Kong is the canary in the coalmine. It provides a stark lesson on the cost of economic dependency on Beijing and the CCP’s ability to co-opt businesses and utilise economic leverage to great effect. We recently saw this playout in Europe, where Hungary blocked the introduction of a package of EU measures out of fear of losing Chinese investment.

Beijing would have you believe that this disagreement is cultural, potential conflict is ideological, and that the solution lies in private dialogue. I would urge the Members of this Committee to avoid falling into this trap. For thousands of years prior to the formalisation of international human rights conventions, Chinese philosophers promoted the idea of human dignity and respect for human life. So, the next time you hear that the treatment of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hong Kongers at the hands of the CCP is just a result of cultural differences, don’t let it fool you.

Those brave protestors on the streets of Hong Kong in 2019 and citizens in Taiwan today demonstrate that people of Chinese ethnicity not only value human rights, but freedom, democracy, and the rule of law as well. That is why in the final analysis, democracies like Canada must do all they can to support them, including introducing Magnitsky sanctions against Hong Kong officials, making it easier for Hong Kongers to claim asylum in Canada through an upgraded lifeboat scheme, working toward the creation of a UN Special Rapporteur for Hong Kong, and urgently reviewing Canada’s economic dependency on China.