Hong Kong activists struggle to keep the flame of democracy alive Politics News

Hong Kong, China – For almost 20 years the Human Rights Front has mobilized some of the largest protest marches authorized by police in Hong Kong, but now the authorities are accusing them of acting illegally.

A student union at the University of Hong Kong, the alma mater of China’s modern founding father, is ousting the administration.

As the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre approaches, all but one of the leaders of the alliance, which organizes the annual candlelight, are behind the sacks.

Hong Kong has long been home to a vibrant and vibrant civil society, which entered the territory on its own in the 10 years since the territory returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

But less than a year after Beijing enacted the National Security Act, activities believed to be secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces, civil society groups, the Chinese Communist Party as a threat to its authority and a site for subversive activities. , are under pressure.

The poster of children perceived as such a threat has been the Hong Kong Alliance for the Support of China’s National Democratic Movement, which has sworn for decades that it will overthrow a communist-led government.

Even though almost all the leaders of the alliance are in jail and awaiting trial, Vice President Chow Hang-tung says he had no intention of backing down.

“Once we give it an inch, the authorities will draw the red line even closer,” he said.

Holding the line

Although most of Hong Kong’s civil society has historically been apolitical, the creation of an alliance to support the student movement in Beijing in 1989 caused a stir.

The group began a mass popular mobilization in the then British colony, at a time when even more politically aware people were beginning to be disturbed for direct elections.

The flowering of political parties took place in the first years after the intervention, in the hope that Beijing would fulfill its mandate to introduce universal suffrage in the highest office in the territory.

In 2003, the umbrella organization of civilian groups – the Civil Rights Front – was created in the Hong Kong legislature due to popular opposition to Article 23 of national security legislation.

In 2019, the front was instrumental in bringing millions of protesters out into the streets and repealing the dreaded legislation that would allow suspects to be sent to trial on the Chinese mainland.

But in recent weeks, police investigations have led to massive exits from its member groups and at least two of its top callers have been arrested on charges of organizing primaries to elect democratic legislative candidates and marching in 2019. .

Yet, as the legislative elections are postponed and Beijing-backed political measures dilute further popular representation, the people of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement hope that civil society will hold its own.

“Although we are denied the right to run, we still have a role to play in civil society if there is a place allowed by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Alan Leong, president of the Civic Party.

In April, Lung rejected the open requests of four disqualified lawmakers from the party – all on criminal charges – to disband him for “security”.

Pro-democracy lawmakers withdrew from the Parliamentary Council on charges of disqualifying some members elected last year and risking national security. [File: Anthony Wallace/AFP]

In response, the party, which has a large number of lawyers with more than 500 members, confirmed on its official Facebook page that it intended to continue the fight for social justice.

The party’s legal aspirations have sparked a discussion with NGOs to find out how to navigate the political mine created by national security law.

‘Ear to the ground’

Outside of politics, the city’s civil society has proven to be still fast-paced and vital, especially in times of crisis.

“Social mobilization has its place and its value,” said Edmund Cheng, a political scientist at Hong Kong City University, who, among many other academics, published research on how civil society began in the early years of the pandemic last year.

“Civic groups have their ears on the ground and are therefore adept at providing social services and public goods.”

But, the political reality remains that non-liberal regimes in Asia Pacific seek to have civil society as a tool for control, as found by Tai Wei Lim, an assistant researcher at the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore.

“To survive, civic groups must unite their goals with the central government and be prepared to be elected on a number of issues,” Lima told Al Jazeera.

The likely scenarios, Limen said, will see Hong Kongers “lead to forms that are not their institutional struggles through a network of individuals or operate from abroad.”

Already, support groups have been set up to help political exiles and immigrant communities in England and Taiwan.

“Our advantage is that our network is stronger and there are more international connections and connections and exposure,” the Chow alliance said. “So I hope our civil society will be more resilient.”

As this year’s vigil is banned again, organizers are urging people to light a candle anywhere [File: Vincent Yu/AP Photo]

That said, Chow believes that Hong Kong’s civil society will be stronger than the sum of its parts: Each public position is exacerbated.

Even though the government has banned the Tiananmen vigil for the second year in a row, organizers are urging people to light a candle – in memory of the thousands and democracy of those who believed they were killed in Beijing in 1989.

“For 30 years that has been the strongest sign of resistance,” Chow said. “If it was just symbolic, the regime wouldn’t try so hard to get rid of it.”