China says its new national security law in Hong Kong is just about national security and national security. It’s a big lie.
Although nothing else is needed, we received additional evidence of this lie on Thursday. The evidence came here with Beijing banning 12 applicants from running in the September parliamentary elections. Defending the decision, the Chinese lackey government in Hong Kong said that “there is no political censorship, restriction of freedom of expression or deprivation of the right to stand for election as some members of the network claim.”
It’s completely absurd.
The only explanation for why these applicants are denied the right to stand for election is the same explanation by which the National Security Act brought in the first place. Namely, China cannot settle for its quest for democracy rather than subjugation under the Chinese Communist Party. There is also China’s not-so-insignificant confidence that if these applicants were allowed to apply, they would be elected with resounding victories. Considering Xi Jinping’s preference to align Hong Kong with the continent’s single-party state, he rightly fears that any pro-democracy victory is a non-public risk to his government. Remember that Xi sees the protest and pro-democracy riots of other Hong Kong people as a virus that can cross the continent. And if that happens, it fears that the PCCh will face an existential risk.
The present, however, are clear.
In addition to the apparent ethical misfortune of this injustice, China’s action is apparently illegal. By denying Hong Kongers the right to run for election only because they are concerned about what they believe, the Chinese regime is in flagrant violation of the Chinese-British joint declaration. In governing Hong Kong’s transition to Chinese authority, the binding treaty, which Beijing has fortunately signed to host Hong Kong, requires China to respect Hong Kong’s democratic legal formula and Hong Kongers’ rights until at least 2047. That’s 27 years from now.
Surprisingly, China even claims that it has done nothing to undermine a country’s precept, two systems. This arrogant reason for what is happening here evidently attests to the fact that China will not replace the course. He’s ready to pursue Xi’s despotic “Chinese dream.”
The rest of the world won’t have to stand by. While U.S. sanctions opposed to Chinese officials guilty of the crackdown in Hong Kong are important, more is needed. The European Union, for its part, will have to start translating its weak rhetoric into a more powerful political reality. If China knows that its movements in Hong Kong will have negative consequences for its interests elsewhere, Xi will have to think about the distance and speed with which he moves to drag Hong Kongers under his boot. If it’s nothing else, you can give Hong Kongers a break.