Yesterday (13th) Typhoon Gonpas struck Hong Kong.
Public institutions, workplaces and schools were closed, and the stock market did not open.
On the same day that Hong Kong held its breath, a Facebook post was followed by comments congratulating a Hong Konger on his birthday.
The main character of the birthday is Joshua Wong, a pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong who led the Umbrella Revolution in 2014 and protests against the extradition law in Hong Kong in 2019.
Wong, who was imprisoned in December last year on charges of organizing and instigating an illegal assembly, has been sentenced to 27.5 months in prison and is also charged with subverting the government under the Hong Kong National Security Law (Hong Kong Security Law).
Wong's acquaintances posted Wong's letter on his Facebook account on his birthday.
Wong said he thanked his parents and those who sent him a happy birthday letter, and spent his birthday in prison in 2017 as well, but he remembers his 24th birthday the most, when his friends congratulated him 'in advance' before the Hong Kong security law came into effect in June of last year. I wrote to stay.
"I'm not afraid of the wind and rain. The past is no longer chasing it. But I still believe that little bits of the past will nourish everyone who cares about Hong Kong."
Hong Kong security law for over a year... "More than 150 people arrested"
This understated expression is far from what 23-year-old Joshua Wong looked like two years ago.
I first saw Wong in front of the Hong Kong Legislative Council when I was covering the protests against the Hong Kong extradition law in 2019.
On June 17, 2019, the day after a large-scale demonstration involving 2 million people, Wong visited the protest site as soon as he was released from prison after his second imprisonment, and strongly criticized the Hong Kong government and directly urged the participation of Hong Kongers for democratization.
However, while incarcerated two years later, it seems that he is swallowing his own words, especially in a situation where every remark can be problematic under the Hong Kong security law.
Since the enactment of the Hong Kong Security Law on June 30 last year, more than 150 people have been arrested by the Hong Kong State Security Department.
According to Bloomberg, many of those arrested were for reasons related to public statements, positions or political activity.
These include Joshua Wong and Bean Daily News owner Jimmy Lai.
Currently, there is one person convicted under the security law, Tong Yingkit, 24.
On July 1, last year, the day after the Hong Kong Security Law went into effect, Tong Ying Kit was charged with driving a motorcycle bearing a flag bearing the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of the Times” and rushed to three police officers. sentenced to a year in prison.
"At least 49 groups have been dissolved this year"... Opposition party has '0' applicants
Prior to the implementation of the Hong Kong security law, Chinese and Hong Kong officials, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam, emphasized that the bill would only target a 'very small' of Hong Kong residents.
However, Hong Kong's pan-democratic camp is in danger of disappearing due to the sullen security law.
On the 3rd, the leadership of the Hong Kong Weavers Federation, the largest labor organization in Hong Kong with a 31-year history, passed the group dissolution plan on the 3rd.
The Hong Kong Vocational Teachers' Union, the largest single union previously, the Civil Human Rights Movement, which led protests against the extradition law, and the Hong Kong Citizens' Association to Support the Patriotic Movement (Jiryeonhoe), which held an annual rally to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen Incident, were also disbanded. declared.
The Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that this year at least 49 opposition groups or trade unions have been disbanded or announced plans.
In the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections to be held on December 19th, the Democratic Party, the main opposition party, has not submitted a single candidate for the run.
This is because many opposition politicians are arrested or under investigation under the security law, and elections are subject to verification by Hong Kong authorities.
The media is no exception, and the leading anti-Chinese media, the Binguwa Ilbo, was shut down on June 24th.
According to data released by the Hong Kong government, from mid-last year to mid-year, Hong Kong's population shrank by 1.2 per cent over the year, and 89,200 residents left Hong Kong.
This is a more than four-fold increase compared to the previous year.
Chinese government stepping up in Hong Kong... Is the Hong Kong District of Shenzhen a reality?
In response to this situation, the governments of China and Hong Kong are tightening the reins even more by stating that 'Hong Kong has stabilized again'.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, "Hong Kong has entered a new era with the reform of the security law and the electoral system."
In addition, Hong Kong recently announced that it is pushing for legislation on its own national security law.
Its own security law is likely to include other crimes not covered by the existing Hong Kong security law.
The Chinese government, which had refrained from showing off in Hong Kong after the return, has also changed its attitude and is coming to the fore.
The Chinese government's liaison office in Hong Kong announced that it would conduct a 'visiting for people's livelihoods' from the 30th of last month to the 10th of this month, collecting about 6,000 opinions from the field, and preparing a policy list and delivering it to the Hong Kong government.
On July 1st, on the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to sovereignty, Chief Executive Carrie Lam attended a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.
This is the first time since 1997 that a chief executive has not presided over a ceremony to commemorate the return of Hong Kong.
It is evaluated that this is an example of 'Sinicization of Hong Kong', and there are also sayings that 'Hong Kong District of Shenzhen' is approaching reality.
Chinese flag-raising ceremony once a week... "Hong Kong's teens and 30s could become the forgotten generation"
Joshua Wong, 25, was born in October 1996.
He was born in July 1997, ahead of the return of Hong Kong.
Those in their teens and 30s were actively involved in the 2014 Umbrella Revolution and the 2019 anti-extradition law protests.
They experienced a market economy, democracy, and freedom of the press under Deng Xiaoping's promise of 50 years of one country, two systems.
They define themselves as 'Hong Kongers' rather than 'Chinese'.
But what they mean by Hong Kong people seems to be different now.
Last year, instructions were given to elementary, middle, and high schools to strengthen education on national security and basic law, and recently, from January next year, all public schools are required to raise the Chinese flag every day and hold a flag-raising ceremony once a week. has been delivered.
The Hong Kong government also ordered the disbanding of the Jilin Association, blocking access to the group's documents related to the Tiananmen incident.
There was also criticism of this as 'erasing history'.
The Chinese style of strengthening social and ideological control will inevitably affect Hong Kong's future generations.
In mainland China, the younger generation is increasingly patriotic and blindly trusting the Communist Party.
For example, many mainland youths who watched the movie 'Jang Jin-ho', which depicts the Korean War thoroughly from a Chinese perspective, shed tears or saluted at the cinema, and posted a video on social media of eating frozen potatoes to feel the difficulties of the soldiers. also did
It may take some time, but this is the reason why there is a forecast that the current 10-30 generation in Hong Kong will be a forgotten generation.