Opinion | How has Hong Kong lost its freedoms? Let me count the ways

The oft-repeated claim by Beijing loyalists that the city’s freedoms are intact does not stand up to scrutiny. Beijing’s attack on Hong Kong’s core values, to make it more aligned with mainland China, is insidious and very real

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A protester adds to a wall of notes and posters related to the anti-government movement in Hong Kong, as hundreds of Hongkongers gathered near Yuen Long station on January 21 to mark the six-month anniversary of a mob attack on train passengers. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:00am, 23 Jan 2020Updated: 6:39am, 23 Jan 2020

Lost freedoms? What lost freedoms? Hong Kong’s freedoms are as intact as ever. The city even ranks third globally, well above the United States, in a joint Cato and Fraser institutes’ freedom index.

Those are not my words. Uttering them would betray my conscience. They are the boastful mantra of Beijing loyalists. Why they are called loyalists, I don’t know. Many either hold foreign passports or have offspring who do.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s husband and two sons have British passports. Yet she urges young Hongkongers to love the motherland and trumpets Hong Kong’s freedoms.

This is what she asked last month after condemning the US Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act: “Which aspect of Hong Kong residents’ freedom was being eroded?” The list is long but I’ll enlighten her.

First, let’s shut the loyalists up about the Cato/Fraser freedom index. The 2019 index reflected the global situation in 2017, using 76 indicators ranging from rule of law to economic freedom. Political freedom formed only one part of the overall picture. Hong Kong ranked third in the human freedom index, but it was a drop from first place.