Hong Kong from the Inside
from New York Review of BooksIn November 2019, some one thousand young pro-democracy protesters occupied the campus of Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University, which is located at a crucial junction of two highways and the cross-harbor tunnel. They disrupted...
Arrest Data Show National Security Law Has Dealt a Hard Blow to Free Expression in Hong Kong
The Protest Families of Pro-Democracy Hong Kong
from New York Review of BooksThey met at a crossroads in October 2019. That day, Hong Kong’s people came out in their tens of thousands, to protest the proposed Extradition Bill, which would allow the territory to detain and transfer citizens to mainland China. Hoikei was...
New Data Show Hong Kong’s National Security Arrests Follow a Pattern
Hong Kong’s National Security Law
The National Security Law (NSL) constitutes one of the greatest threats to human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover. This report analyzes the key elements of the NSL, and attempts to gauge the new law’s impact on...
China’s Clampdown on Hong Kong
from New York Review of BooksHong Kongers demonstrated about everything from the removal of hawkers selling fish balls during the Chinese New Year to fare increases on mass transit (which had also provoked protests under British rule). But mostly they have demonstrated...
How Should Democracies Respond to China’s New National Security Law for Hong Kong?
July 1 will mark 23 years since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty. Each of those years—and many that preceded them—has seen its share of disquiet over the future of the territory’s way of life and about the resilience of “one country, two...
Is Hong Kong about to Get Its Own Foreign NGO Law in the Name of ‘National Security’?
On May 28, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) issued a much-anticipated Decision on preservation of national security in Hong Kong....
Has COVID-19 Changed How China’s Leaders Approach National Security?
While the world is reeling from the cascading shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has continued a comparatively aggressive course in its foreign policy and security posture. Not only has it continued military and paramilitary activities in the...
Vigil
The rise of Hong Kong is the story of a miraculous post-war boom, when Chinese refugees flocked to a small British colony, and, in less than 50 years, transformed it into one of the great financial centers of the world. The unraveling of Hong Kong, on the other hand, shatters the grand illusion of China ever having the intention of allowing democratic norms to take root inside its borders. Hong Kong’s people were subjects of the British Empire for more than a hundred years, and now seem destined to remain the subordinates of today’s greatest rising power.
Is Violence in Hong Kong’s Protests Turning off Moderates?
How China’s Rise Has Forced Hong Kong’s Decline
from New York Review of BooksFor nearly six months, people around the world have watched the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong with one question in the back of their minds: When will Beijing lose patience and the repression begin? Journalists expecting to cover Tiananmen...
Violence by Hong Kong Protesters Won’t Advance Their Cause
I have watched with growing concern as violence has intensified in Hong Kong. I have been deeply dismayed to see escalating police violence, which has fundamentally damaged the reputation of a police force once known as among Asia’s best. And I...
Can China’s Government Replace Hong Kong?
As the Hong Kong protests enter their fourth month with no end in sight, on August 18 Beijing announced that the nearby Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen would again become a new type of special economic zone. In a clear message to Hong Kong, the...
China’s Government Wants You to Think All Mainlanders View Hong Kong the Same Way. They Don’t.
Mainland Chinese flood the Internet with messages calling protesters in Hong Kong “useless youth.” They send obscene messages and death threats to supporters of the Hong Kong demonstrations. But reports on episodes like this, while important, are...
What Does the Pause of Hong Kong’s Extradition Bill Mean?
The Hong Kong people’s historic mass protests during the past 10 days have demonstrated their awareness that the now suspended extradition bill proposed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam represented a threat to Hong Kong’s promised “high degree of...
Is Hong Kong Forgetting to Remember June Fourth?
In sharp contrast to anywhere else in China, Hong Kong has stood as a steadfast stronghold of remembrance of the massacre, protected by the territory’s political system that guarantees freedoms of assembly and expression. Every June 4, the...
Taiwan and Hong Kong Have a Stake in Mainland China’s Political Development. They Should Act on It.
A range of observers and experts predicted that mainland China’s rapid economic modernization since the early 1990s would lead to social and political liberalization. Needless to say, that has not come to pass. The mainland’s economic reforms...
What Would Amending Hong Kong’s Law on Extradition Mean for International Non-Profits?
Hong Kong legislators are currently engaged in a fierce struggle over the proposed passing of a bill that would expand Hong Kong's policy to allow for extradition, on a case-by-case basis, to countries with which the territory does not have...
ChinaFile Presents: Hong Kong’s Relationship with Beijing, An Update
ChinaFile hosted a conversation at the Asia Society on May 9, with veteran Hong Kong legislator and rule of law advocate Martin Lee, longtime journalist and media rights expert Mak Yin-ting, and democracy activist Nathan Law, moderated by...
Theresa May Pledges to Raise Hong Kong and Human Rights with China
Theresa May has insisted she will raise human rights and Hong Kong’s political situation with China’s leaders this week, amid criticism of Britain’s “pusillanimous” response to Beijing’s increasingly hard line.
Who’s to Blame for Hong Kong’s Weakening Rule of Law?
Rimsky Yuen, Hong Kong’s third Secretary for Justice, stepped down in...
China Says Part of Hong Kong Rail Station to Be Subject to Mainland Laws
China’s parliament on Wednesday said part of a high-speed railway station being built in Hong Kong would be regarded as mainland territory governed by mainland laws, an unprecedented move that critics say further erodes the city’s autonomy.
Worries Grow in Hong Kong as China Pushes Its Official Version of History in Schools
The new proposed curriculum for city schools is missing key parts of modern Chinese history, like Hong Kong’s 1967 pro-Communist riots against British rulers and the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, when Chinese troops killed hundreds of...
Pro-Independence from China Posters Appearing on Hong Kong Campuses Stoke New Tension
Thirteen Hong Kong universities and academic institutions accused the Chinese-ruled city’s leader of undermining freedom of expression amid a row over pro-independence banners appearing on campuses.
Political Prisoners in Hong Kong
On August 17, a Hong Kong appeals court sentenced student democracy activists Joshua Wong, Alex Chow,...
Anger at Plan to Let Chinese Police Patrol in Hong Kong
A Hong Kong government plan to lease part of a new high-speed rail station to China and allow Chinese police to enforce mainland laws has sparked new fears the city is losing its autonomy.
What Does Xi Jinping Intend for Hong Kong?
Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong on Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the July 1, 1997 return of the territory to China from the United Kingdom. Since the handover, many Hong Kongers have chafed under...
Chinese Ways of Empire, Then and Now
In 30 more years, Hong Kong will fully revert to the mainland. Much could happen between now and 2047, and the tea leaves are already out there waiting to be read: There are many old — even ancient — historical precedents showing how the Chinese...
China's Xi Sees 'Challenges' in Hong Kong as Beijing Dismisses Any UK Role
Chinese President Xi Jinping, visiting Hong Kong for the 20th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule, said on Friday the city's "one country, two systems" formula faces "new challenges" as pro-democracy campaigners ramped up their protests....
Hong Kong’s Youth Press Campaign despite China’s Rejection of Full Democracy
When the British handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997, Beijing promised to allow universal suffrage as an “ultimate aim”, along with other freedoms, under a “one country, two systems” arrangement agreed with London.
Beijing Is Weakening Hong Kong’s Rule of Law. How Far Will It Go?
“The American Chamber of Commerce has urged Hong Kong’s next government to reach out to international businesses still ‘unclear’ about what opportunities the city can offer under the one country, two systems policy.” —
...
Outrage as Hong Kong Democracy Campaigners Urge U.S. to Get Tough with Beijing
The central government has accused Hong Kong’s highest-profile democracy campaigners of involvement in foreign meddling in China’s internal affairs by addressing a U.S. congressional panel on Wednesday night.
Hong Kong Charges Pro-Independence Activists over China Protest
Hong Kong police have charged two former pro-independence politicians over scuffles in the legislature, amid a widening crackdown on dissenting voices in the former British colony.
Are NGOs in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau Subject to This Law?
Yes. The term 境外 (jing wai) used in the law, which we translate as “foreign,” is frequently translated as “overseas,” but its literal translation is “outside the borders.” For legal and regulatory purposes, jing wai includes Taiwan, Hong Kong,...
Is Hong Kong on Its Way to Becoming Just Another City in the P.R.C.?
On March 26, the roughly 1,200-person Hong Kong Election Committee chose Carrie Lam as chief executive—Hong Kong’s fourth leader since the United Kingdom returned the territory to Chinese rule in 1997. Unpopular with Hong Kong’s...
As Hong Kong Chooses Its Next Leader, China Still Pulls the Strings
For the fifth time, Hong Kong’s next chief executive will be selected on Sunday by a committee stacked with supporters of the Chinese government rather than by a free election.
No, Hong Kong’s Democracy Movement Is Not Anti-Mainland
In a November 29 essay, “The Anti-Mainland Bigotry of Hong Kong’s Democracy Movement,” published in Foreign Policy, Taisu Zhang tries to make the case that Beijing’s hardline attitude toward Hong Kong is traceable to what he calls the “bigotry of...
The Anti-Mainland Bigotry of Hong Kong’s Democracy Movement
Given the political earthquake that occurred on November 8, the recent political and constitutional crisis in Hong Kong now seems comparatively diminished in significance. At the time, however, it was widely seen as—and continues...
Hong Kong’s Rebellious Lawmaker Yau Wai-ching
The youngest woman elected to Hong Kong's parliament has been called many things, including: "radical", "goddess", "spy", "pretty" and "cancer cell"
With It’s Latest Intervention in Hong Kong, Beijing Wins the Battle but is Losing the War
Cheung: the NPC should be sparing in the use of its power to interpret the Basic Law, or it risks further alienating the city’s young people
In a First, China Moves to Bar 2 Hong Kong Legislators From Office
The extraordinary intervention in the affairs of this semiautonomous former British colony could prompt a constitutional crisis and incite more street protests
China Will Intervene in the Case of Hong Kong’s Pro-Independence Lawmakers
Experts worry Beijing's move to interpret HK's Basic Law would damage the people’s trust in the rule of law and the independence of the courts
Chaos Again at Hong Kong’s Legislature as Chinese Intervention Said to Loom Large
Two separatist lawmakers attempt to take their oaths of office for a fourth time, as rumors of direct Chinese intervention fly
LegCo Drama Rages On
LegCo president Andrew Leung adjourns meeting after B. Leung and Yau force way into chamber; protest organizer estimates 10,000 came to denounce the duo
Why Newly Elected Hong Kong Legislators Cursed and Protested—At Their Own Swearing-In
There’s a bit of a nanny state in the city of Hong Kong. The government is quick to issue advice and admonitions about all matter of hazards—high ocean waves, food waste...
Over-Protective Mothers, E-cigarettes, Sports Hunting, and More
from Yuanjin PhotoA photojournalist’s job is to capture the unique and the universal—to portray brief moments that tell individual stories, yet are instantly relatable to a wide audience. The delightful task of curating that type of Chinese...
How Hong Kong's Cantopop Scene Went from Heartbreak to Protest
Cantonese pop music is formulaic, intensely emotional, strangely addictive and quintessentially Hong Kong. Now it is also becoming political.
Rebel Hong Kong Politicians Defy China at Chaotic Swearing-In Ceremony
Pro-democracy politicians cross fingers and make protest signs and subversive references to Beijing’s authoritarian rulers
Thailand Bars Entry to Teenage HK Activist “at China’s Request”
Joshua Wong was detained in Bangkok where he had been invited to speak at universities about Hong Kong's "Umbrella Movement"
A Storied Hong Kong Newspaper Feels the Heat from China
After recently shutting down its Chinese-language website and deleting archives, the South China Morning Post announced more cuts.
Hong Kong Protest Leaders Avoid Jail After Failed Court Bid
"Umbrella Revolution" leaders walk free from court
Can China’s Best Newspaper Survive?
On September 9, the South China Morning Post’s Chinese-language website went dark with little explanation, leading to concerns that censorship might next spread to the newspaper’s English-language coverage. Can Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, who has...
The Hong Kong Election: What Message Does it Send Beijing?
On September 4, Hong Kong elected a batch of its youngest and most pro-democratic lawmakers yet. Six new legislators, all under 40, won on platforms that called for Hong Kongers to decide their own fate. The youngest is 23-year-old Nathan Law, a...
China Warns Hong Kong Democracy Activists After Election
Many in Hong Kong are increasingly concerned about Beijing's interventions in its politics.
Hong Kong Refuses to Return Bookseller Lam Wing Kee to China
Chinese police say he is in breach of his bail terms and have threatened further action if he does not return.