LettersHong Kong’s national security law has killed democracy dream

Name: How will the national security law change education in Hong Kong?
Uploaded: 2020-11-01T22:40:16.000Z
Duration: 4 min 55 s
Description: How will the national security law change education in Hong Kong?

The closer surveillance of schools and strict curbs on freedom of speech have chilling implications for any hopes for the democratisation of Hong Kong’s – and China’s – political system

Only through universal suffrage can government gain legitimacy, and rule with the consent of the people. But will calls for democratisation now be seen as subversion?

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A statue of the “Goddess of Democracy” stands in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on June 4 last year, before the annual candlelight vigil commemorating the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Photo: EPA-EFE

Letters

Published: 6:40am, 2 Nov 2020Updated: 6:40am, 2 Nov 2020

It has been more than 120 days since the controversial national security law was imposed in Hong Kong. Many fear that the law would encroach on our precious freedoms and judicial independence. As a student, I believe the law will have an adverse impact on our freedoms because it requires the government to supervise schools more stringently.

A teacher was deregistered for allegedly spreading pro-independence messages to students. The authorities said “there is no room for discussing independence”. To me this is a kind of white terror.

As John Stuart Mill once wrote: “There is a great difference between presuming an opinion to be true, because, with every opportunity for contesting it, it has not been refuted, and assuming its truth for the purpose of not permitting its refutation.” If the government wants to suppress independence movements, it should not seek to impose censorship. Only through open discussion can citizens weigh the pros and cons of maintaining “one country, two systems” and national security, and whether independence will do more harm than good to Hong Kong.

After serious consideration, if citizens genuinely acknowledge that the status quo is more feasible, they will voluntarily safeguard national security. This is informed consent. But t he new law leaves no room for discussion.

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How will the national security law change education in Hong Kong?

The national security law will also take a toll on China and Hong Kong’s democratisation. At the annual vigil in Hong Kong to remember the Tiananmen crackdown, participants have in the past chanted: “End one-party rule now!” Their intention was not to advocate Hong Kong independence, but to express their wish for democratisation in China. However, I am afraid this chant will now be prohibited by the national security law.