Sanctioned by the US over his role in implementing the new national security law in Hong Kong, the city’s former security chief John Lee was sworn in on Friday as the city’s new Chief Executive.
Chinese President Xi Jinping swore in Hong Kong’s new leader during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China.
Mr Lee enters office in times fraught with challenges to the global financial hub, namely an exodus of people and talent amid some of the most stringent COVID-19 measures in the world. In his speech, Mr Lee emphasised National Security law is beneficial for citizens.
This was Xi’s first trip to Hong Kong since 2017 when he swore in the city’s first female leader, Carrie Lam who entered office unaware of looming challenges, namely the anti-government protests of 2019 and the following COVID-19 pandemic, that marked the territory’s most trying times.
Freedom and democracy in Hong Kong “have vanished”
Under a “one country, two systems” formula guaranteeing wide-ranging autonomy and judicial independence not seen in mainland China, the UK returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997. However, the Chinese government has been strongly criticised for its non-abidance by the formula.
“It’s only been 25 years, and the past promises of ‘50 years no change’ and ‘dancing will go on and horses will still run’ have already disappeared, and even freedom and democracy have vanished,” Taiwan Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang commented on the swearing-in of Mr Lee. “Everyone can also see that China’s promises to the Hong Kong people have already been seen through by the world and by Hong Kong’s citizens. We also know that we must hold fast to Taiwan’s sovereignty, freedom and democracy. China’s so-called ‘one country, two systems’ has simply not stood up to the test.”
PM Johnson says China failed to comply with its commitment
For his part, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain would do all it could to hold Beijing to its commitments on democratic rights made 25 years ago when Hong Kong was handed back to China.
25 years ago we made a promise to the people of Hong Kong.
We intend to keep it. pic.twitter.com/nIN96ZydgV
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 30, 2022
PM Johnson went on to say that China had failed to comply with its commitment to respect a “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement. The UK has been especially critical of a national security law imposed in 2020 and electoral changes that it says erode the freedoms and autonomy of Hong Kong.
“On the 25th anniversary of the handover, we simply cannot avoid the fact that, for some time now, Beijing has been failing to comply with its obligations,” PM Johnson said in a video post. “It’s a state of affairs that threatens both the rights and freedoms of Hong Kongers and the continued progress and prosperity of their home.”
Chinese officials have previously rejected British and Western criticism in general, saying the UK should keep out of the affairs of Hong Kong. In response to PM Johnson’s comments, the Chinese foreign ministry accused the UK of retaining a colonial mindset despite the handover, as well as using human rights as a pretext to smear Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong and no external force has the right to interfere. The United Kingdom has no right of sovereignty, governance, or supervision over post-handover Hong Kong, and the so-called commitments do not exist at all,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during a regular news briefing.
In light of the national security law, Britain introduced an immigration route for holders of British National (Overseas) passports last year, with Johnson saying there had been 120,000 applications under the scheme by Hong Kongers.
“We’re not giving up on Hong Kong. Twenty-five years ago, we made a promise to the territory and its people, and we intend to keep it,” PM Johnson said, adding that Britain would “do all we can to hold China to its commitments, so that Hong Kong is once again run by the people of Hong Kong, for the people of Hong Kong.”
Pedestrians walk past a screen showing the swearing-in ceremony for Hong Kong’s new chief executive John Lee in Hong Kong, China, 01 July 2022. Photo: EPA/MIGUEL CANDELA
Hong Kong not run by its people
But overseas Hong Kong activist Samuel Chu stressed that the territory of Hong Kong is far from being run by its people.
“Since the last time that Xi was in Hong Kong in 2017, you now have the complete repression of any public showing of dissent. You have now a completed political purge and cleansing, where whatever the ceremony that Xi Jinping is attending, it is completely void of any representation of everyday Hongkongers,” he said, highlighting what he called a “complete absence of public demonstration”.
“I think as an outsider, to understand what is going on in Hong Kong, just imagine a similar hardline crackdown in New York or London,” said Michael C. Davis, a constitutional law expert.
“I mean, basically Hong Kong was one of the freest and most open societies in Asia, even ranked as such for years. And so that’s where the crackdown is occurring. So almost all the ingredients of an open society are under threat – the universities, the secondary schools, the broadcast media, and so on,” he concluded.