Hong Kong people ‘distressed’ and ‘disillusioned’, says Emily Lau

A former pro-democracy lawmaker in Hong Kong says people there have become “distressed” and “disillusioned” because some fear the city has lost important freedoms.

The widespread pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019 have largely abated, in part due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the enactment of a controversial national security law last year.

Emily Lau, a former Democratic Party member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said some Hong Kong people now fear that “we have probably lost our freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to protest maybe not forever, but for many, many years. “

“And this is how distressed and disillusioned Hong Kong people are,” Lau told CNBC’s Martin Soong Tuesday.

Beijing bypassed the Hong Kong legislature to implement a national security law last year. China last month approved sweeping changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system that critics say would hold back pro-democracy politicians.

These movements follow months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 which at times turned violent. Chinese and Hong Kong officials said the changes would ensure national security and suppress the anti-China movement in the semi-autonomous region.

Hong Kong is a former British colony which was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The Sino-British Joint Declaration signed before Hong Kong’s return stated that the city would have “a high degree of autonomy”, including legislative power. and independent judiciary.

<< Rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of profession, of university research and of of religious belief will be guaranteed by law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ”the statement said.

But critics of China – which include pro-democracy activists and governments like those in the US and UK – have accused China of undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Dozens of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have been arrested and charged under the National Security Act. But Lau said, “I refuse to be intimidated into silence.”

“We want China to keep the promises of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law,” she said, adding that she and other activists were not seeking to overthrow the Hong Kong government or the central government of Beijing.

The Basic Law is Hong Kong’s mini constitution which enshrines the “one country, two systems” principle used to govern the city.

Beijing, for its part, said the National Security Law and electoral changes in Hong Kong conform to the “one country, two systems” framework.