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Hong Kong
CNN
—
As evening fell, chaos erupted when crowds of protesters exterior Hong Kong’s legislative constructing hurled bottles at police, who fired pepper spray and swung batons, dragging some folks to the bottom.
It was a surprising descent into violence from what started as a peaceable march, attended by greater than one million folks by some estimates – roughly one in seven of the town’s inhabitants — to oppose a invoice that may have allowed the extradition of felony suspects to mainland China.
It was June 9, 2019 – and Hong Kong was about to vary ceaselessly, because it plunged into months of mass protests, bloody avenue battles and an unprecedented crackdown by authorities that noticed Beijing tighten its grip on the town with a sweeping nationwide safety regulation.
Final week, the person who led the crackdown stepped onto a stage to put out his imaginative and prescient for Hong Kong – this time not as the town’s safety chief, however its subsequent chief.
John Lee, who turned the face of the nationwide safety regulation and who oversaw the arrests of dozens of activists and raids on newsrooms, is ready to switch outgoing Chief Govt Carrie Lam when she finishes her five-year time period on the finish of June.
In what the federal government has billed as an “open, simply and trustworthy” election, a largely government-appointed, pro-Beijing committee of 1,461 folks will appoint the subsequent chief for the town’s 7.5 million residents on Sunday. Lee is the one particular person within the operating, in distinction to earlier years that noticed run-offs between a number of candidates.
For a lot of, Lee’s ascension speaks volumes in regards to the path Hong Kong – as soon as world-renowned for its sturdy press, flourishing civil society and democratic aspirations – is headed. Lee has already indicated that he’ll look to introduce additional nationwide safety laws and probably a regulation towards pretend information.
To Nathan Regulation, a human rights activist and former native lawmaker now in self-exile in Britain, it appears “very apparent” why Lee is tipped for the function.
“It actually indicators (authorities) are intensifying that heavy-handed method to Hong Kong, and placing the so-called nationwide safety as their coverage for governing the town,” Regulation mentioned.
An increase years within the making
The forces behind Lee’s rise to the town’s high job will be traced again almost half a century.
Lee joined the Hong Kong police drive as a 19-year-old recruit in 1977 as the town – then a British colony – underwent an financial transformation into a contemporary monetary middle.
He rose by means of the ranks and was promoted to chief superintendent in 1997 – the identical 12 months Britain handed the town to China in a pomp-filled ceremony watched all over the world.
Since that watershed 12 months, activists like Regulation say they’ve watched Hong Kong’s freedoms be squeezed ever tighter. All of the whereas, Lee continued gaining prominence, turning into deputy commissioner, the second-highest place within the police drive, by 2010.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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A lady reacts to pepper spray as police have been clearing protesters in Hong Kong on Wednesday, July 1.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Protesters chant slogans throughout a rally on July 1. The gesture calls for the federal government to fulfill their “5 calls for, not one much less.”
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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A protester is detained by police after being pepper sprayed throughout a protest at Causeway Bay earlier than the annual handover march in Hong Kong, Wednesday, July 1.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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A police officer raises his pepper spray gun as he detains a person throughout a march on July 1.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Hong Kong Chief Govt Carrie Lam makes a toast with former chief executives Tung Chee-hwa, middle, and Leung Chun-ying following a flag-raising ceremony on July 1. July 1 is the twenty third anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from British rule to China.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Law enforcement officials cost up shopping-mall escalators throughout demonstrations on July 1.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Individuals wave flags and shout slogans inside a Hong Kong shopping center on June 15.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Professional-democracy activists go away flowers exterior a shopping center the place a person fell to his demise final 12 months after hanging a protest banner.
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A professional-democracy protester shouts at police throughout a rally on June 12.
The rally, which has been held yearly because the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in China, had been banned over coronavirus fears. Many considered the ban as political in a metropolis the place infections have been all the way down to a handful per thirty days.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img”/>Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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“Tank Man” photograph in the course of the Victoria Park rally.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img”/>Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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From left, Joshua Wong, Nathan Regulation and Agnes Chow — members of the pro-democracy political group Demosisto — maintain a information convention on Might 30. A month later, Demosisto and several other different political and activist teams formally disbanded, fearing they might be focused beneath the brand new regulation.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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A person at a diner watches Chinese language President Xi Jinping on Might 28 as Chinese language lawmakers permitted a proposal for the brand new safety regulation.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Xi votes on the proposal to draft a safety regulation.
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Professional-democracy protesters scuffle with police on Might 27.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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A younger man makes use of the “5 calls for, not one much less” gesture throughout a protest on Might 27.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Police attempt to deter pro-democracy protesters from blocking roads within the Mong Kok district on Might 27.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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A professional-democracy protester is detained by police on Might 24.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Tear gasoline is seen within the background as police attempt to disperse protesters on Might 24.
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A police officer fires on protesters in Causeway Bay on Might 24.
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A lady reacts to tear gasoline on Might 24.
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Professional-China lawmakers attend a information convention in Hong Kong on Might 22.
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Professional-democracy lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick is eliminated by safety throughout a scuffle with pro-Beijing lawmakers on the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on Might 22.
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Delegates applaud as Chinese language President Xi Jinping arrives for the opening session of China’s Nationwide Individuals’s Congress on Might 22.
Images: New safety regulation sparks protests in Hong Kong
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Professional-democracy and pro-Beijing lawmakers scuffle on the Home Committee’s election of chairpersons on Might 18.
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Lam Cheuk-ting, a pro-democracy lawmaker, tosses papers into the air in protest on Might 18.
Simply two years after that, he joined the town’s Safety Bureau as under-secretary. To some, the appointment of a high-ranking police officer to a key authorities workplace was an announcement of intent.
“We have been already actually nervous about that, as a result of that actually signaled a change in Hong Kong’s coverage, altering it in a seemingly extra suppressive method,” Regulation mentioned.
By 2016, when Regulation was elected into the legislature, Lee “was already notoriously troublesome to cope with” and appeared hostile to any journalists or opposition lawmakers who raised questions or challenges, Regulation mentioned.
Lee’s supporters have disputed this characterization, sustaining his time within the police drive helped put together him for a public workplace.
One pro-Beijing lawmaker, Ma Fung-kwok, mentioned Lee had demonstrated “management abilities” in his dealing with of the protests and the pandemic, in response to public broadcaster RTHK. One other, Jeffrey Lam, mentioned Lee had “solved many instances” within the police drive and may cooperate with “different sectors within the society.”
At a quick political rally on Friday, Lee, whose slogan is “We and us – a brand new chapter collectively,” burdened the significance of neighborhood and promised to “make Hong Kong a spot of hope” as soon as appointed.
CNN has reached out to Lee’s marketing campaign group for remark.
The 2019 protests
Lee’s rise continued when he was appointed safety chief in 2017 – the “starting of a altering pattern,” mentioned Joseph Cheng, a retired Hong Kong tutorial and pro-democracy activist now based mostly in New Zealand.
“Beijing appears to be emphasizing loyalty extra, or the potential of implementing a tough line – due to this fact, senior officers from the disciplinary forces seem to occupy a extra advantageous place,” Cheng mentioned.
It was beneath Lee’s tenure that the Safety Bureau launched the controversial extradition invoice that led to the protests in 2019.
Critics frightened Beijing may use the invoice to prosecute Hong Kong residents for political causes beneath China’s opaque authorized system.
With the Hong Kong authorities standing agency on the invoice regardless of public objections, the protests shortly expanded right into a broader pro-democracy, anti-government motion. Fears have been underpinned by widespread anxiousness about Beijing’s rising affect and the perceived erosion of Hong Kong’s cherished semi-autonomous standing, which allowed it the freedoms of press, speech and meeting that had lengthy been central to its worldwide attraction.
Withdrawing the invoice was simply one in every of 5 well-liked calls for by protesters; others included common suffrage and accountability from police, who confronted accusations of brutality they’ve denied.
On the top of the disaster, protesters and police clashed almost each week, with demonstrators lobbing bricks and Molotov cocktails and officers responding with tear gasoline, rubber bullets, and at occasions dwell ammunition. The violence polarized the town, cementing the breakdown in belief between the general public and the authorities.
Via all of it, Lee praised his officers as “brave” and condemned protesters as “radicals” who have been sowing “terror.” When lots of of protesters – many highschool college students – occupied a college for greater than every week, police laid siege to the campus with Lee declaring: “We’ll arrest all of them.”
Lee has repeatedly defended the drive’s actions, insisting critics must “take into consideration the (previous occasions), in any other case it is not going to be honest.”
“I’m happy with the Hong Kong police drive. They continue to be Asia’s best … In comparison with what they do with regulation enforcement businesses abroad, I feel they’ve exercised restraint. They’ve minimized the hurt and accidents to all people,” he mentioned in September 2019.
Lengthy arm of the nationwide safety regulation
Lee gained native prominence for his function in combating the protests – however his implementation of the nationwide safety regulation cemented his fame as a hardline enforcer and Beijing loyalist.
The safety regulation was promulgated by Beijing in June 2020, throughout a lull within the protests introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Described by the Hong Kong authorities on the time as “an important step to ending chaos,” the regulation criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with international forces – and permits for optimum sentences of life imprisonment.
Straight away, Hong Kong’s social and political panorama was remodeled, and inside months, lots of the metropolis’s main pro-democracy figures have been both in jail or exile.
Underneath the safety regulation, Lee oversaw the mass arrest of opposition figures in 2021, accusing them of attempting to “paralyze the Hong Kong authorities” by organizing a pro-democracy major election.
He ordered a police raid on Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Every day, which was subsequently compelled to close after its property have been frozen and several other workers arrested beneath the safety regulation.
Every week after the raid, Lee was promoted to chief secretary – the second-highest place in authorities – and the primary time a safety official has taken the function.
Specialists say Lee’s suppression of the protests and help for nationwide safety is exactly why he now finds himself the town’s subsequent chief.
“(That is) the reward for loyalty,” mentioned Cheng, the activist and former tutorial.
Supporters of the safety regulation insist it has helped set up stability within the wake of the violence and political unrest of 2019. “Individuals’s lives and property are protected, and so they can as soon as once more get pleasure from their reliable rights and freedoms,” a authorities spokesperson mentioned in April in response to a query on the regulation.
However Lee’s affiliation with the regulation has been met with rising scrutiny overseas. He was amongst almost a dozen folks sanctioned by the US in 2020 for undermining the town’s autonomy and democratic processes – which Lee has scoffed at, not too long ago calling the sanctions “unreasonable” and “acts of bullying.”
He has additionally continued to defend the regulation, in addition to latest electoral adjustments that positioned him on the head of a vetting committee to display all candidates, making certain solely “patriots” could be allowed to run for workplace.
The nationwide safety regulation “has restored peace,” Lee informed the United Nations Human Rights Council in March, decrying the 2019 protests as “evil” and lauding “the improved electoral system.”
“No nation has a monopoly on the mannequin of democracy,” he added.
What this implies for Hong Kong
Lee has already made clear the form of authorities he’ll form: one with more and more shut ties to mainland China.
On the unveiling of his coverage manifesto on April 29, Lee emphasised the necessity to combine Hong Kong with different economically essential Chinese language cities. There was no English translation supplied, regardless of English being one in every of Hong Kong’s two official languages – in placing distinction to most authorities occasions to this point.
He additionally vowed to bolster safety laws and introduce “nationwide identification” training. Each proposals have lengthy been controversial, with earlier makes an attempt to introduce laws foiled by protests and pushback – a lot to Beijing’s frustration.
Lee has additionally beforehand voiced help for a “pretend information” regulation – prompting fears the reins will solely tighten on what stays of the town’s media and civil teams. Final week, the town’s press freedom rating plunged to a document low of 148 amongst 180 areas, in comparison with its rating of 73rd in 2019.
Regardless of this, the outgoing Chief Govt Lam continues to assert that Hong Kong’s media sphere is “as vibrant as ever,” although she warned final week that “media organizations aren’t above the regulation … together with the nationwide safety regulation.”
Lee may even should navigate the Covid-19 pandemic, with persistence fraying amongst many in Hong Kong after greater than two years of stringent restrictions in accordance with China’s unbending zero-Covid coverage.
At his coverage manifesto occasion, Lee asserted that “sooner or later (the virus) can be beneath management,” and that he would design measures to permit companies to function.
Cheng, the pro-democracy activist who moved to New Zealand, sees the longer term as being “the continuation of the laborious line of the previous two years.”
“There isn’t any toleration of political opposition … there can be little or no tolerance of an impartial media, and little or no tolerance for the operation of civil society organizations,” Cheng mentioned.
When requested by CNN about accusations of diminished political freedoms, a authorities spokesperson responded that the rights of Hong Kong residents are “protected in accordance with the regulation” – however that “many freedoms and rights aren’t absolute, and will be restricted for causes together with safety of nationwide safety and public security.”
Disillusionment and emigration
Amongst former activists and pro-democracy supporters, there’s a way of despair as Lee prepares to take workplace.
The circumstances of his choice, with Lee as the only real contender showered with reward by pro-Beijing lawmakers, reduce notably deep for a lot of of those that as soon as marched to demand higher democratic freedoms.
“It’s undoubtedly not, by any means or any parameters, a democratic (course of),” mentioned Regulation, the previous lawmaker. “It’s actually simply an appointment. I don’t actually name it an election.”
Lee has dodged questions on whether or not he was handpicked by the central Chinese language authorities, saying in April he welcomed anyone else who wished to run.
He has since acquired endorsements from main institution figures, together with two former police commissioners and two former safety chiefs, RTHK reported.
After the turmoil of the previous three years, even a brand new administration is unlikely to bridge the damaged relationship between the federal government and its folks, mentioned John Burns, emeritus professor on the College of Hong Kong.
“There’s a large proportion of the inhabitants that’s alienated and indignant,” he mentioned, pointing to mass emigration as “proof of alienation … of a sick society.”
Locals, expatriates and international corporations are leaving the town in droves. Greater than 100,000 Hong Kongers utilized for a brand new visa providing a path to citizenship in Britain final 12 months; and in February and March alone this 12 months, greater than 180,000 folks left the town whereas solely about 39,000 entered, in response to immigration knowledge.
Whereas Hong Kong’s harsh Covid restrictions are serving to drive this exodus, Lee’s critics say that so too is the crackdown on civil liberties he enforced.
Requested about this on April 29, Lee brushed it off. He claimed Hong Kong had at all times seen excessive ranges of mobility, and that its proximity to the mainland market would proceed to draw companies.
“We’re an inclusive metropolis,” he informed reporters. “Collectively, we begin a brand new chapter for Hong Kong.”
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