Hong Kong arrests 53 activists underneath nationwide safety regulation

Hong Kong police arrested 53 former lawmakers and democracy proponents Wednesday for allegedly violating the brand new nationwide safety regulation by taking part in unofficial election primaries for the territory’s legislature final 12 months.
The mass arrests, together with of former lawmakers, had been the biggest transfer towards Hong Kong’s democracy motion because the regulation was imposed by Beijing final June to quell dissent within the semi-autonomous territory.
“The operation today targets the active elements who are suspected to be involved in the crime of overthrowing, or interfering (and) seriously destroy the Hong Kong government’s legal execution of duties,” John Lee, Hong Kong’s safety minister, mentioned at a information convention.
He mentioned these arrested had been suspected of attempting to paralyze the federal government, by way of their plans to achieve a majority of the seats within the legislature to create a state of affairs through which the chief govt needed to resign and the federal government would cease functioning.

In a video launched by former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting on his Facebook web page, police turned up at his home and advised him he was “suspected of violating the national security law, subverting state power.” Police advised these recording the video to cease or danger arrest.
The legislative election that will have adopted the unofficial primaries was postponed by a 12 months by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who cited the general public well being dangers in the course of the coronavirus pandemic. Mass resignations and disqualifications of pro-democracy lawmakers have left the legislature largely a pro-Beijing physique.
Lee mentioned the police wouldn’t goal those that had voted within the unofficial primaries, which had been held in July final 12 months and attracted greater than 600,000 voters though pro-Beijing lawmakers and politicians had warned the occasion might breach the safety regulation.
All of the pro-democracy candidates within the unofficial primaries had been arrested, in line with tallies of the arrests being reported by the South China Morning Post, on-line platform Now News and political teams.
At least seven members of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party — the town’s largest opposition celebration — had been arrested, together with former celebration chairman Wu Chi-wai. Former lawmakers Lam, Helena Wong and James To had been additionally arrested, in line with a put up on the celebration’s Facebook web page.
Benny Tai, a key determine in Hong Kong’s 2014 Occupy Central protests and a former regulation professor, was additionally arrested, reviews mentioned. Tai was one of many major organizers of the primaries.
The house of Joshua Wong, a outstanding pro-democracy activist who’s serving a 13 1/2-month jail sentence for organizing and taking part in an unauthorized protest final 12 months, was additionally raided, in line with a tweet posted from Wong’s account.
American human rights lawyer John Clancey was additionally arrested on Wednesday. Clancey was the treasurer of political group Power for Democracy, which was concerned within the unofficial primaries.
“We need to work for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong,” Clancey mentioned as he was being led away by police, in a video posted by native on-line information outlet Citizen News.
Police additionally went to the headquarters of Stand News, a outstanding pro-democracy on-line information web site in Hong Kong, with a courtroom order handy over paperwork to help in an investigation associated to the nationwide safety regulation, in line with a livestreamed video by Stand News. No arrests had been made.
Lee additionally pointed to a “10 steps to mutual destruction” plan amongst these arrested, which included taking management of the legislature, mobilizing protests to paralyze society and calling for worldwide sanctions.
That plan was beforehand outlined by former regulation professor Tai. He predicted that between 2020 and 2022, there can be 10 steps to mutual destruction, together with the pro-democracy bloc successful a majority within the legislature, intensifying protests, the pressured resignation of Lam as a result of finances invoice being rejected twice, and worldwide sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party.
The idea of mutual destruction — through which each Hong Kong and China would undergo damages — is standard amongst some protesters and pro-democracy activists.
“The plot is to create such mutual destruction that if successful … will result in serious damage to society as a whole,” mentioned Lee. “That is why police action today is necessary.”
Senior Supt. Steve Li from the nationwide safety unit mentioned that 53 folks had been arrested in an operation that concerned 1,000 officers. The 45 males and eight girls had been aged between 23 and 79, in line with a police assertion.
Six had been arrested for subverting state energy by organizing the unofficial primaries, whereas the remaining had been arrested for allegedly taking part within the occasion, Li mentioned. He mentioned extra arrests could possibly be made and investigations had been ongoing.
Alan Leong, chairman of the pro-democracy Civic Party in Hong Kong, mentioned at a information convention held by the pro-democratic camp on Wednesday that plans to train voting rights to veto the finances and finally oblige the chief govt to step down are rights enshrined within the Basic Law.
The arrests had been an “affront to the constitutionally protected rights to vote” in Hong Kong, Leong mentioned.
“We don’t see how by promising to exercise such rights could end them up as being subversive,” he added.
Beijing helps Hong Kong police of their finishing up of “their duties in accordance with the law,” mentioned Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The rights and freedom Hong Kong people enjoyed have not been affected in any way,” Hua mentioned at a day by day briefing with journalists. “What was affected was that some external forces and individual people in Hong Kong colluded with each other in an attempt to undermine the stability and security of China.”
In current months, Hong Kong has jailed a number of pro-democracy activists, together with Wong and Agnes Chow, for his or her involvement in anti-government protests, and others have been charged underneath the nationwide safety regulation, together with media tycoon and outspoken pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
The safety regulation criminalizes acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with international powers to intervene within the metropolis’s affairs. Serious offenders might face up a most punishment of life imprisonment.
Lam had mentioned on the time of the unofficial primaries final 12 months that if their intention was resisting each coverage initiative by the Hong Kong authorities, the election might fall underneath subverting state energy, an offense underneath the nationwide safety regulation.
Beijing had additionally referred to as the primaries unlawful and a “serious provocation” of Hong Kong’s electoral system.
Following the handover of Hong Kong to China by the British in 1997, the town has operated on a “one country, two systems” framework that affords it freedoms not discovered on the mainland. In current years, Beijing has asserted extra management over the town, drawing criticism that it was breaking its promise of Hong Kong sustaining separate civil rights and political programs for 50 years from the handover.
The sweeping arrests drew condemnation from Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State nominee for the upcoming Biden administration, who mentioned on Twitter that it was an “assault on those bravely advocating for universal rights.”
“The Biden-Harris administration will stand with the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy,” Blinken wrote in his tweet.

Human Rights Watch mentioned the arrests recommend Beijing has did not study that repression generates resistance. HRW senior China researcher Maya Wang mentioned in a press release that “millions of Hong Kong people will persist in their struggle for their right to vote and run for office in a democratically elected government.”
In additional remarks to The Associated Press, Wang mentioned it wasn’t clear what provisions of the regulation had been being cited to justify the arrests, however that native authorities appear much less involved with authorized substance.
“The very nature of the national security law is as a draconian blanket law allowing the government to arrest and potentially imprison people for long terms for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” Wang mentioned.
“The veneer of rule of law is also applied in mainland China stripped of any meaning. Hong Kong is looking more like mainland China but where one ends and the other begins is hard to discern,” she mentioned.