Why universal human rights should apply to Hong Kong too

Press freedom has proven to be a crime in Hong Kong, again. In today’s Hong Kong, simply doing your job as a journalist reporting factual information that is not in favour of the Chinese Communist Party-controlled government is once again a fast-pass to get you sent to jail.

Two editors of Stand News, a now-defunct independent media outlet in Hong Kong, were found guilty of “publishing seditious publications” last Thursday, in a ruling by the city’s court. The 11 out of the 17 materials deemed “seditious” included op-eds, slogans and images of the 2019 Hong Kong protests and exiled activists’ articles.

The so-called international city has once again dismissed the fundamental freedom of the press which did nothing but report the facts. The press stood up for truth and spoke up against the authoritarian regime. In the end, they have sacrificed their own freedom by speaking up for the freedom of the people of the whole of Hong Kong.

“An op-ed piece derives its name from originally having appeared opposite the editorial page in a newspaper. Today, the term is used more widely to represent a column that represents the strong, informed, and focused opinion of the writer on an issue of relevance to a targeted audience,” according to Harvard Kennedy School.

Reading through the press summary of the judgement, the phrase “without any objective basis” is repeated over and over, referring to the “seditious” articles that were op-eds. Having a different opinion and expressing it has become a crime – indeed, a serious crime of sedition.

Another chilling effect of the judgement was that the court ruled that displaying the slogans and images related to the protests is now deemed as “glorifying” the movement, and these reports became evidence of seditious intent.

This ruling will set a new level of self-censorship for all news publications operating in Hong Kong. 

While the government repeatedly claimed that freedom in Hong Kong is “intact,” that the judiciary system is “independent”, and that the rule of law and fair trials “remain unchanged,” the press and news outlets have evidently lost their role as the Fourth Pillar of democracy in the city.

With such a verdict, journalists in Hong Kong can no longer report anything that is even slightly critical of the government or the people in power. Indeed, journalists cannot even report events that are critical of the CCP or the views of others without risking a prison sentence. Reporting on a corrupted state’s leaders or disclosing death numbers of a pandemic can also be deemed as either violating the famous national security law or at least can get you a “sedition” charge.

It is a stark reminder to another journalist who was put behind bars for over three years for simply doing his job as a publisher – the Catholic Jimmy Lai. Mr Lai is facing the same charge along with his other alleged national security law accusations, which carry potential life imprisonment sentences.

This has become a cliché by now after four years of demolishing any shape or form of human rights in the former British colony: “Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow the World.”

The situation in Hong Kong today and that facing all the victims of the CCP are a clear warning to the wider world. People who are forced to leave their lives behind and rebuild them lives in foreign lands are living examples. If the CCP can ignore the signed Sino-British joint declaration that is still sitting in the United Nations, why would they honour any commitment with anyone?

Fewer than a 100-days into its term of office, the Labour government is already kowtowing the CCP by refusing to call China a “threat”, and by dropping the commitment to recognise the genocide of Uyghur, whilst allowing the proposal for the CCP’s giant embassy in Westminster to be put back on the agenda.

How much more evidence does the UK and the world need to realise that the CCP is not a credible partner? These issues are not straightforward. We should not simply shut down trade with China – that would achieve little whilst being highly damaging. But the UK needs a reasoned policy for dealing with human rights abuses. There are many tools that can be used. It is to be hoped that the next leader of the Conservative Party takes these issues seriously, and that the government does so too. After all, the promotion of universal human rights has long been a principle that has animated British government policy and united all British political parties.

Chloe Lo is a Hong Konger and a former Bloomberg reporter who covered pivotal subjects, including prominent court proceedings, with a particular emphasis on cases tied to the Hong Kong unrest and the national security law. She holds a Master of Journalism degree from the University of Hong Kong.