Erosion of human rights in Hong Kong: 27 years under chinese control

Hong Kong has long been considered a bastion of free speech in Asia, a unique position maintained even after the 1997 handover to China under the "one country, two systems" framework. However, in recent years, there has been a significant erosion of freedom of expression in Hong Kong, raising concerns about its implications for democracy. When the British handed Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997, it was promised 50 years of self-government and freedoms of assembly, speech and press. The 1st of July marked 27 years since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, those promises are wearing thin and the city’s future remains uncertain.

The historical context of Hong Kong's freedom of expression is rooted in its colonial past and the Basic Law, which serves as the constitution of the city and guarantees the rights of citizens. Hong Kong did not have systematic legislation or mechanisms for protecting human rights most of the time in the British colonial period. After implementing the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1985, the government of Hong Kong made numerous laws to promote human rights. It established the administrations and mechanisms to carry out and supervise these laws. In addition, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on human rights have been progressively established in civil society and have significantly contributed to protecting human rights.

However, a closer look at the city's social and political scene reveals a far more complex and increasingly bleak picture of Hong Kong's rights and freedoms, now blanketed by jitters and worries. The liberal dimension, respect for human rights, prospect for democracy and essential systems and institutions, including the rule of law and independent judiciary, are shrouded under a thickening air of uncertainty.

In recent years, Beijing has been expanding its influence and control. Those moves appeared to be hastened by mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 and 2019. Now, schools must provide lessons on patriotism and national security, and some new textbooks deny Hong Kong was ever a British colony. Electoral reforms have ensured that no opposition lawmakers, only those deemed to be “patriots” by Beijing, are in the city’s legislature, muting once lively debates over how to run the city. Freedom of the press has come under attack and pro-democracy newspapers openly critical of the government, such as Apple Daily, have been forced to close.

Since 2020, the authorities have launched a crackdown on political dissent, arresting dozens of activists and imprisoning them for unauthorized assembly, despite provisions guaranteeing freedom for such gatherings under Hong Kong’s Basic Law. In particular, introducing the National Security Law (NSL) in June 2020 has sparked extensive debate and concern regarding its impact on human rights. The NSL is the culmination of decades of ideological tensions between the Chinese government and a significant portion of the Hong Kong people. The implementation of the NSL in Hong Kong is an unprecedented legal experiment in the common law world. Many Chinese legal concepts, theories, norms, and institutions have, and will continue to, directly or implicitly, permeate into Hong Kong's common law, testing the resilience of the city's legal system.

This year also marked the first Handover anniversary since the city passed the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a locally-legislated security law more commonly known as Article 23.

Last update

14/7/2024