It has been 30 days since the Hong Kong National Security Law, which cracks down on anti-government movements, came into effect in Hong Kong.

During this period, while the tightening of political activities and speech has increased, the free and tolerant society that has been said to be a feature of the international city of Hong Kong has changed significantly.

The Hong Kong National Security Law, which came into effect at the end of June last year under the leadership of the Chinese government, is subject to crackdowns on the division of the country, the overthrow of the administration, and the act of colluding with foreign powers to harm the security of the country. I will.



According to Hong Kong police, 114 people have been arrested for violating the law in the first year of enforcement.



Of these, 47 people, including members of the ward assembly, have been indicted and are being tried for the primary elections held by the pro-democracy last year.

The newspaper "Ringo Daily", known for its critical tone to China, was arrested and prosecuted by its founder Jimmy Lai and executives, and the newspaper was forced to suspend publication. ..



The police operate a dedicated window for receiving public reports regarding this law, and in the six months since it was opened in November last year, more than 100,000 reports have been received.



Pro-democracy has harshly accused it of "encouraging sniffing and breaking the relationship of trust between citizens."

Free and forgiving Hong Kong big change

With the enforcement of the law, the political system has changed.



Candidates for the election will not be able to run if the examination determines that they are not loyal to the government, and ward council members will also be forced to pledge allegiance to the governments of China and Hong Kong.



As a result, it is expected that ward council members will be required to take an oath in July, and more than 100 of the pro-democracy members, who accounted for 80% of the total, are considered to have violated the oath and are disqualified. It is more likely to be done.



Citizens' protests have been severely curtailed, with large-scale annual protests, a symbol of Hong Kong's freedom, being banned to prevent the transmission of the new coronavirus.



An increasing number of people are leaving Hong Kong because they dislike this situation.



Over the past year, about 34,000 people have ordered a police certificate, which is often required when moving abroad.



Over the past year, while the tightening of political activities and speech has increased, the free and tolerant society that has been said to be a feature of Hong Kong, an international city, has changed significantly.

"Hong Kong's one country, two systems is gone" expert

Professor Tomoko Ako of the University of Tokyo Graduate School, who is familiar with the issues of China and Hong Kong, said about the Hong Kong National Security Law, "China should be able to maintain the concept of national security for the purpose of maintaining the Communist Party administration in Hong Kong, where its own system should be able to maintain. Also applied. "



He pointed out, "You should think that Hong Kong's one country, two systems is gone."



Regarding the fact that the newspaper "Ringo Daily", which was known to be critical of the Chinese government, was forced to suspend publication, "It is a success for China to hunt down the publication before the anniversary of the return of Hong Kong on July 1. Probably, there are several other online media outlets in Hong Kong that are strong in research coverage, and those areas may become targets in the future. "



He also said that the appointment of a police graduate as the number two magistrate of the Hong Kong government "is like publicly showing that Hong Kong exists as a police state. Police officials occupy an important post. In some cases, the top executive of the Hong Kong government may also be selected from the police. "



"In Hong Kong, the speech space is becoming more and more closed and there is a stuffy atmosphere. More and more families are thinking about moving to Hong Kong because they don't want their children to be educated," he said. He pointed out that society has lost its freedom and vitality in the first year since its enforcement.