Hong Kong elections: how Beijing destroyed the local political system

The emblem of the People's Republic of China replaced the flag of Hong Kong on the walls of the Legislative Council (LegCo), the local parliament, on December 17, 2021. AP - Vincent Yu

Text by: Joris Zylberman Follow

7 mins

Hong Kong people are being called to the polls this Sunday, December 19 to elect members of the Legislative Council, the local parliament (LegCo).

But no longer any opposition candidacy is tolerated.

Since Beijing's enactment of the National Security Law in 2020, Hong Kong's surviving semi-democracy has been destroyed. 

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Even calling for a boycott is prohibited. On Wednesday December 15, already six people had been arrested for having encouraged not to go to vote on Sunday to elect members of the LegCo (or Legislative Council). Two of them had only

. The government has also issued arrest warrants for ex-MPs Ted Hui and Yau Man-chun: both have called on Hong Kong exiles in the UK and Australia to refrain from putting their ballot in the ballot box. distance.

Why such a boycott? It is because there is no longer any opposition candidate authorized to be elected to the LegCo. None of the pro-democratic elected representatives in the 2016 legislative elections will be in contention on Sunday. In the new system established in Hong Kong by Beijing, only the " 

 " who " 

The authority of the Chinese Communist Party may arise. Even more: if the local parliament has grown from 70 to 90 members, the number of elected representatives by direct universal suffrage has itself been reduced from 35 to 20. 30 other seats are co-opted by "professional constituencies" from the main activity area. The remaining 40 seats are appointed by a committee chaired by Carrie Lam, the pro-Beijing leader of the Hong Kong executive. Indifferent to the risk of massive abstention, she also 

 that this would be "a 

 ". 

Scheduled for September 2020, these elections have been delayed by more than a year, officially due to Covid-19. The delay followed a massive crackdown on dissent in China's freest city, with Beijing enacting a national security law on July 1, 2020. Dotted with vague terms, the text criminalizes " 

 ", " 

 ", " 

" and " 

 ". The penalties go up to life imprisonment. This law has been used to arrest more than 150 politicians, activists or media leaders critical of Beijing. Most pro-democratic politicians are now either in prison or in exile.

► 

The end of the "one country, two systems" principle

Until then, Hong Kong had enjoyed a semi-democracy with the protection of civil liberties and the preservation of the rule of law. According to the Sino-British Treaty of 1984, the former colony was to remain a separate jurisdiction from People's China for 50 years after its handover to the motherland in 1997. But Beijing did not wait until 2047. Distraught by pro movements - massive democracy of

in 2014 then against the extradition law in 2019, the Chinese government has decided to stop everything. The

with London

doesn't matter

. Who can stop China from acting anyway? The UN Security Council? She can block it with her

. So, obviously, the National Security Law was imposed directly by the National People's Congress in Beijing, in defiance of Hong Kong's institutions and its Basic Law. Game over.

To ensure its application, the law is accompanied by new bodies that answer directly to the People's Republic, in particular a dedicated court and a special police with extended powers. " 

, analyzes Chloé Froissart, sinologist and professor. at the National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilizations (Inalco), during a remote conference of the French Institute for Research on East Asia (IFRAE), on December 13. 

"  

The suffocation of political opposition

This political terror, the Sunday elections are a result.

They will not mark a sudden break.

Opposition to LegCo will not disappear overnight: it has already disappeared.

The parliament functions without any deputy opposing the current government since November 2020. Fifteen pro-democratic elected representatives then resigned en masse to protest against the dismissal of four deputies because of their political opinions.

On January 6, no less than 55 elected officials and opposition politicians were arrested, including 47 charged with " 

 ". Many of them are awaiting judgment after helping to organize a primary in November 2019 in order to elect union candidates for the legislative elections scheduled for 2020. However, this primary attracted 600,000 voters. A sign that the 7.4 million Hong Kongers still supported democracy. Unacceptable to the government. Especially since the elections of the district councils in November 2019 had given rise to a tidal wave for the opposition. The pro-Beijing majority in LegCo was in danger.

► 

Method of terror

Following this unprecedented wave of arrests, most of the pro-democratic civil society organizations have chosen to disband.

Why ?

Because the threats of criminal prosecution became clearer and clearer if they continued their activities.

They all went through the same

First, a pro-Beijing press campaign accuses them of violating the National Security law, pointing to their past activities and their links with foreign organizations. Then, local officials issue bursts of warnings more or less vague on any act endangering national security. Finally, "intermediaries" come into play. Claiming to have received a message from Beijing, these individuals linked to Chinese officials on the mainland come unofficially to give " 

Impossible to ignore, threatening the entourage and family of leaders of pro-democratic organizations.

The latter then decide to scuttle themselves, for fear of dragging their comrades or parents into prison for a long time.

This is what happened, for example, to Joe Wong Nai-yuen, president of the Confederation of Trade Union, the largest opposition workers' union in Hong Kong.

The "Apple factor"

In the end, more than 50 activist groups, unions and political parties preferred to cease to exist in 2021. Many cite the “ 

 ”. Allusion to the daily

accused of violating the national security law for having published numerous articles calling for foreign sanctions against Hong Kong. Founded by media mogul Jimmy Lai, its latest edition appeared on June 24, less than a week after police arrested five editorial executives, raided the newspaper's offices and froze Hong Kong $ 18 million (over 2 million euros) of assets of the three subsidiaries of the press group. Jimmy Lai is

for his participation in unauthorized demonstrations in 2019, also accused of " 

 " and " 

".

Soon, activists will face yet another legal challenge: the Hong Kong government

 in addition to Beijing's law.

In particular to “ 

”.

In 2003, he had already tried to ratify “ 

 ”, an “

 ”

bill

.

The proposal had been shelved after huge protests.

This is no longer likely to happen.

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