A police officer in riot gear holds up a purple flag warning anti-government protesters they may be violating the national security law during an illegal demonstration in Causeway Bay on July 1, the 23rd anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Photo: Sam Tsang
Opinion
Opinion
by Michael Chugani
Opinion
by Michael Chugani
Uncertainty and division over national security law cloud Hong Kong’s future
The threat to national security from Hong Kong is overblown, which makes the new law a sledgehammer that hurts the city’s international reputation. How can there be hope in a ruptured society?
It can be quite concerning to have a sword hanging over your head. One wrong move and you’re a goner. It’s even more concerning when you don’t exactly know what a wrong move is. A sword now hangs over Hong Kong in the form of a Beijing-imposed national security law.
I never thought of the new law as a sword of Damocles, even though it is sweeping. Rule of law societies aim to use laws to protect citizens, not as lethal weapons. Perhaps Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, didn’t understand that when he described the new law as a sword.
He sought to comfort Hongkongers with assurances that the law only targets a few who threaten national security. Laws apply to everyone, equally, in common law societies. It is legally meaningless to say a particular law only targets a few people.
What is a small minority? Thousands who sing Glory to Hong Kong during unlawful but peaceful protests? Hundreds of black-clad protesters who hurl petrol bombs or shout independence slogans? Dozens who sing protest songs in shopping malls? A few who have “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” posters in their backpacks?
I sometimes unconsciously hum the catchy Glory to Hong Kong while riding the MTR. The song contains the slogan “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”. What if someone videoed me to post on social media? Should I be scared? I don’t know. Even lawyers say the law is too vague to have clear answers.
05:50
What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong
What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong
The government issued a statement saying that “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” is a separatist call that violates the security law. If protesters shout the slogan near the headquarters of a property developer, are they advocating independence? They could argue they wanted to liberate Hong Kong from property hegemony through a peaceful revolution.
It’s for the courts to decide what violates the law, not a government statement that smacks of a decree. Thankfully, even pro-Beijing heavyweights such as Maria Tam Wai-chu and legal scholar Albert Chen Hung-yee have said the slogan is only illegal if the government can prove in court those using it had separatist intent.
To me, the threat to national security from Hong Kong is overblown. The independence movement has gained little traction. That makes the new law a sledgehammer that hurts Hong Kong’s international reputation.
But the law is the law. We have no choice but to obey this one even though navigating through its ambiguous sections on secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces will be tricky. Perhaps clarity will come when cases eventually reach the courts.
03:18
Hong Kong’s national security law is like ‘anti-virus software’, top Beijing official says
Hong Kong’s national security law is like ‘anti-virus software’, top Beijing official says
What worries me now is Hong Kong’s next chapter. Zhang last month said for the first time the city’s problems are political, not housing or upward mobility. Does Beijing think the security law fixes our deep-rooted problems? Will there be an effort to reconcile our polarised society made even more divided by the security law?
The push for greater democracy was the biggest polarising factor. Beijing’s 2014 political reform framework, which the opposition rejected as fake democracy, triggered the Occupy movement. Division remained, but things calmed until Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Mass peaceful protests morphed into violent anti-government protests when Lam initially refused to kill the bill. Beijing saw a black Western hand behind the protests and responded with a national security law.
The Basic Law promises direct elections for the chief executive and the full legislature. With the security law in place, it’s time to heal divisions by revisiting democratic reforms to prove Hong Kong still has some autonomy.
Lam said at the 23rd anniversary of reunification, “we will see the rainbow after the rainstorm”. Rainbows signify hope. How can there be hope in a ruptured society with one side yearning for true democracy and fearing the security law and the other side baying for a crackdown on the opposition?
We need to find a way out. I don’t know how.
Michael Chugani is a Hong Kong journalist and TV show host
