IV. Anti-China Agitators Undermine and Disrupt Democracy in Hong Kong
Taking advantage of the profound changes that are sweeping the world, anti-China forces have ramped up their efforts. The implementation of the One Country, Two Systems policy in Hong Kong is faced with a situation of growing complexity, both internally and externally, and the struggle over the development of democracy in the region has intensified.
The instigators of disorder have been challenging the authority of the Constitution and the Basic Law, with the goal of seizing power in Hong Kong through a color revolution. Exploiting their elected positions on the Legislative Council and district councils, and otherwise abusing their capacity as holders of public office, these anti-China agitators openly challenge the One Country, Two Systems principle, the constitutional order, and the rule of law in Hong Kong. They carry out activities detrimental to China's national security and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, in an attempt to derail the development of democracy in the region. This has had a serious impact on the social environment and on progress towards democracy.
1. Rejecting the Constitutional Order and Endangering National Security
- The agitators openly challenge the HKSAR order established by the Constitution and the Basic Law
They refuse to recognize the legal authority of the Constitution over Hong Kong, attempt to sever the link between the Constitution and the Basic Law, and reject the authority of the Basic Law.
In an attempt to undermine the Basic Law, they falsely claim that the Sino-British Joint Declaration became the legal foundation of the new constitutional order of Hong Kong following its return to China, and tout the claims of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance - rushed through before the end of the British rule in Hong Kong - in the region's legal system. They push for unlawful referendums and espouse ideas such as "the Constitution devised by the people" in election campaigns, in an attempt to overturn the constitutional order.
To obstruct the central authorities' overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong, they have gone out of their way to create chaos. They refuse to accept the central authorities' leadership and their right to determine the course of democracy in Hong Kong, and they refuse to recognize the authority of the relevant decisions and interpretations of the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee.
They have engaged in provocative public acts such as burning, tearing down, and stamping on the national flag. They have defaced the national emblem, and ripped and burned copies of the Basic Law. As a result of their concerted filibuster, the local legislation on national security required by Article 23 of the Basic Law has been stalled, and it took 18 months for the National Anthem Ordinance to pass through the Legislative Council.
- The agitators carry out defiant acts of subversion and secession
They call for referendums to separate Hong Kong from China, incite anti-China, anti-CPC and secessionist sentiment throughout Hong Kong society, especially among young people, and attack the CPC's leading role and the socialist system practiced on the mainland. Their goal is to subvert the sense of national identity and manipulate public support in favor of their plans to undermine state power and split the country.
They have founded various radical secessionist organizations, and they run for Legislative Council and district council elections under a banner of "Hong Kong independence". Once elected to public office, they abuse their power to promote secession and engage in separatist and subversive activities. When taking the oath of office on October 12, 2016, some members-elect of the Sixth Legislative Council displayed banners reading "Hong Kong Is Not China" and "Hong Kong Independence".
During the 2019 turmoil, they chanted separatist slogans such as "liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times", besieged and stormed the resident offices of the central government in Hong Kong and HKSAR government agencies, and even forced entry into the Legislative Council Complex. Inside the building they created ugly scenes, wrecking facilities and displaying the British Hong Kong flag on the podium.
In defiance of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong National Security Law) enacted in June 2020, they organized an unlawful primary after the election for the Seventh Legislative Council had begun. They have described a process that they call "Ten Steps to Actualize Mutual Destruction" ["Ten Steps to Actualize Mutual Destruction" is an action plan designed to exploit the loopholes in Hong Kong's electoral system to gain a majority and dominance of the Legislative Council. By indiscriminately voting down any government budget proposal or bill at the Legislative Council, they aim to paralyze the HKSAR government and force the NPC Standing Committee to announce that Hong Kong has entered a state of emergency. They hope to provoke the central government into a heavy-handed response to a crisis created for that purpose. The goal is simple and sinister: to provide Western countries with a pretext to interfere, imposing political and economic sanctions on the CPC and the Chinese government and finally overthrowing the state power.] and they have used it to manipulate the election for the Legislative Council. Their intention was to veto any bills and motions from the government after taking control of the Legislative Council, and subvert the government by forcing the Chief Executive to resign, paralyzing the government, and creating a constitutional crisis.
- The Hong Kong agitators collude with external anti-China forces, and make themselves their willing tools
Their leading figures make frequent visits to other countries to smear and attack China and call for foreign sanctions on the mainland and Hong Kong. Some members regard themselves as political agents of other countries and pledge to fight for the US; others publish articles inciting their followers to turn Hong Kong under One Country, Two Systems into a "Trojan horse for mass killings" which could open a backdoor to "regime change" in China.
External forces, who have masterminded attempts to provoke a color revolution behind the scenes, have intensified their meddling in Hong Kong affairs, posing a growing threat to China's national security. Now stepping into public view, they hold high-profile meetings with leading agitators, openly champion their cause, and pledge their support. By legislative or administrative means and through such channels as their agencies and NGOs in Hong Kong, they have provided the Hong Kong element with cover, funds and training and imposed baseless sanctions on mainland and Hong Kong officials. Such moves expose their determination to use Hong Kong as a pawn in their attempts to toxify China and hamstring its progress.
2. Destroying the Foundations of the Rule of Law and Inciting Hatred in Society
-Agitators in Hong Kong have instigated, abetted, organized, and engaged in illegal activities
The agitators call for civil disobedience and lawbreaking "in the interests of justice", instigating the public to achieve unlawful ends through unlawful means. During the Occupy Central movement in 2014, the Mong Kok riot in 2016, and the 2019 turmoil, they planned, organized, and carried out a series of illegal activities, posing a serious threat to law and order in Hong Kong.
They have justified and incited violence as a means to solve Hong
Kong's political issues, asserting that "a criminal record adds color to life". At their instigation and under their coercion, young students became the main participants of the Occupy Central movement in 2014 and the 2019 turmoil. The agitators poison young minds, and the harm they have done to the young people of Hong Kong is unforgivable.
-The agitators are perpetrators of violence and terrorism
During the 2019 turmoil, mobs barricaded roads and damaged transport facilities, even paralyzing the airport at some points. When the situation was at its worst, 147 Mass Transit Railway stations - more than 90 percent of the total - were damaged. The Cross-Harbour Tunnel, a vital transport link, was closed. Hong Kong International Airport, a hub of Asia-Pacific aviation, was paralyzed.
Public services were obstructed. Kindergartens, elementary schools, secondary schools, and universities had to suspend operations for days, and many university campuses were illegally occupied. Shops could not open for business, and over 1,200 commercial outlets and many banks were vandalized.
The mobs attacked people who stood up to them. They beat a journalist and kept him trapped for several hours at the airport. A passer-by who tried to talk some sense into them was set on fire with gasoline. A sanitation worker was hit by a brick and killed. The graves of the parents of a Legislative Council member were dug up in broad daylight.
-The agitators have set people at odds with each other, poisoning the public sphere
They have incited hatred among local people towards the CPC, their mainland compatriots, and the country. They have manipulated polls to mislead people into questioning their identity and to drive a wedge between Hong Kong and the mainland.
They have fanned the flames of minor conflicts between locals and people from the mainland, or themselves provoked such problems, in order to harass, insult and attack mainland visitors. They have stirred up anti-government sentiment through malicious verbal attacks on the Chief Executive and other officials of the HKSAR government.
During the 2019 turmoil, they turned on the police who were trying to maintain order and members of the public who were trying to prevent their unlawful activities. They illegally exposed the personal information of police officers and other officials, and bullied and verbally abused the children of police officers. One police officer had his finger bitten off, another was shot with a crossbow bolt, and yet another had his throat slit. These are shocking levels of violence.
3. Obstructing Governance and Dragging Down the Economy
-Agitators in Hong Kong have obstructed government administration
They have engaged in filibustering at the Legislative Council by repeatedly moving motions for amendments that contravene the Basic Law and issuing repeated calls for unnecessary headcounts. [Filibustering is a tactic often adopted by minority parties in Western parliaments when they do not have the numbers to block a bill with a vote, or when they want to force the ruling party or the majority into making concessions. Since 2010, in order to further their illegitimate goals, members of the opposition in the HKSAR Legislative Council have been abusing the Rules of Procedure by challenging the procedures themselves, by making marathon speeches, and by issuing repeated calls for headcounts. This has severely obstructed the normal operation of the council, seriously disrupted the region's governance, and delayed the passage of a number of key bills designed to strengthen Hong Kong's economy and improve people's lives.] This has prevented the passage of many major policies that could have benefitted Hong Kong's economy and improved the people's lives. The opposition members of the Legislative Council have abused their powers of investigation, summons and inquiry, proposing motions of no confidence and insulting holders of public office.
For example, it took the Legislative Council three years to pass the motion to set up the Innovation and Technology Bureau, an institution of far-reaching significance for Hong Kong's future development. The House Committee of the Sixth Legislative Council was unable to function for more than eight months in the 2019-2020 legislative session, with the result that 14 bills and over 80 items of subsidiary legislation were not scrutinized and followed up before their vetting period expired. Bills dealing with matters such as improving welfare for local residents and vulnerable communities failed to pass due to the standstill.
-Some agitators hold seats on the Legislative Council and district councils, and have employed various means to paralyze it
For example, at a meeting on April 24, 2018, a council member snatched the mobile phone of a government employee. [On April 24, 2018, while the Legislative Council was discussing a bill on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, opposition member Ted Hui Chi-fung forcibly grabbed the mobile phone of a female public officer. He retreated to the men's room to read the government documents in her phone and send some of them to himself by email. On May 27, 2019 he was convicted of common assault, obstructing a public officer in the execution of official duties, and accessing a computer with dishonest intent.] When the Chief Executive was delivering the annual Policy Address on October 16, 2019, a group of opposition members used dazzling lights to stop her from completing the address. [On October 16, 2019, while the Chief Executive was delivering the annual Policy Address to the Legislative Council, a group of opposition members interrupted her from the very beginning by using dazzling lights and projecting a slogan onto the wall behind her. They also climbed onto their desks and began to shout and yell. As the meeting descended into chaos, the Chief Executive was forced to leave and had to deliver her address via video link.] At the sessions of May 28 and June 4, 2020, a council member hurled a noxious liquid at the president of the Legislative Council and other people in the room.
These intolerable acts all violate the law, disrupt the functioning of the Legislative Council, pit legislation against administration, hamstring the HKSAR government, and prevent it from doing its work.
The agitators have abused the statutory functions of the district councils and misused their power. They have tried to turn district councils into a platform to engage in secessionist and subversive activities, creating further instability in Hong Kong.
4. Perverting Democracy and Impeding Its Progress
-The agitators have perverted the meaning of democracy
The agitators have misled public opinion by portraying Hong Kong as a sovereign country. They judge democracy as "true" or "fake" only by their own criteria - that is, whether it can help them come to power.
Regarding the method for electing the Chief Executive by universal suffrage, they have concocted criteria that they claim to be the base for "universal suffrage by international standards", and they have raised proposals that violate the Basic Law. They have gone on to sabotage the efforts to advance democracy in Hong Kong, made by the central government and the HKSAR government.
-The agitators have disrupted fair and orderly electoral processes
During the elections for the sixth-term district councils in November 2019, opposition candidates used violence, coercion, and threats to intimidate voters and patriotic candidates. Assassination attempts were even made on candidates. in broad daylight. As the Electoral Affairs Commission of the HKSAR reported, during these elections there was a surge in complaints, more than 1,000 of which were about acts of sabotage, violence and intimidation that constituted criminal offenses.
-The agitators have constantly obstructed the gradual and orderly development of democracy in Hong Kong
Disregarding the public will, they twice voted down proposals delivered by the HKSAR government to the Legislative Council for expanding democracy in local elections. Without their obstruction, Hong Kong could have realized universal suffrage in the election of its Chief Executive by 2017 and the election of all members of its Legislative Council by 2020. They have wreaked havoc on the social foundations of democracy in Hong Kong, attempting to provoke hostility between the central government and the region.
All this demonstrates that the agitators in Hong Kong and the external groups behind them must be held to account for threatening the principle of One Country, Two Systems, endangering national security, damaging the region's prosperity and stability, and impeding its progress towards democracy.
Progress towards democracy has stalled in the region because of the local agitators and the external groups behind them - the former are the frontline saboteurs and the latter the covert masterminds. Hong Kong youth have become their pawns, and local residents are the victims who will suffer the consequences of this dangerous game.
The 2019 turmoil and the chaos in the election for district councils both revealed shortcomings in the electoral system of the HKSAR. The most obvious of them is laxity in the electoral process, which has allowed agitators to be easily elected into Hong Kong's governing organizations. This opens the way for external forces to meddle in Hong Kong's affairs in various ways, thereby providing themselves with the means to infiltrate China's mainland and engage in acts of subversion. Development of democracy in any country should never come at the expense of national security. Improving the democratic system of the HKSAR, especially its electoral system, is a prerequisite for governing Hong Kong by law and keeping the region on the right track - itself essential for safeguarding national security and the constitutional order, and as a foundation for sound progress in steering Hong Kong towards democracy.
