cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37702329

• China’s government has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms since imposing the draconian National Security Law on June 30, 2020.
• The Chinese government has largely dismantled freedoms of expression, association and assembly, free and fair elections, fair trial rights and judicial independence, and ended the city’s semi-democracy.
• Other governments should press the Chinese government to end its repressive policies in Hong Kong by holding responsible officials to account, Human Rights Watch says.

China’s government has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms since imposing the draconian National Security Law on June 30, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today.

Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have harshly punished critics of the government, created a highly repressive national security regime, and enforced ideological controls on the city’s residents. Increasingly, only Chinese Communist Party loyalists – that is, “patriots” – can occupy key positions in society.

“In just five years, the Chinese government has extinguished Hong Kong’s political and civil vibrancy and replaced it with the uniformity of enforced patriotism,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “This heightened oppression may have dire long-term consequences for Hong Kong, even though many Hong Kongers have found subtle ways to resist tyrannical rule.”

Since adopting the National Security Law, the Chinese government has largely dismantled freedoms of expression, association and assembly, as well as free and fair elections, fair trial rights and judicial independence. The government has increasingly politicized education, created impunity for police abuses, and ended the city’s semi-democracy. Many of Hong Kong’s independent civil society groups, labor unions, political parties, and media outlets have been shuttered.

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