Hong Kong’s Freedoms Significantly Eroded Under Chinese Regime’s Control: Report

‘The overall trend is clearly in the direction of further erosion of autonomy across nearly all domains,’ the report reads.
Hong Kong’s Freedoms Significantly Eroded Under Chinese Regime’s Control: Report
Victoria Harbor masked by a sea of misty fog in Hong Kong, on March 22, 2022. TM Chan/The Epoch Times
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Hong Kong’s autonomy has significantly eroded since 2020 as the Chinese regime has tightened its grip on the city, according to a new report.

The May 7 report, titled “The Erosion of Hong Kong’s Autonomy Since 2020: Implications for the United States,” by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) indicates that Hong Kong’s freedoms have deteriorated in almost all areas under Beijing’s control.

The report found that Hong Kong’s “high degree of autonomy,” intended to be preserved until 2047, has been undermined since China shifted toward authoritarianism under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping.

The CSIS highlighted three areas in which Hong Kong has experienced a noticeable decline in autonomy: governance, the economy, and civil society.

“There remains some resilience of autonomy, and life in Hong Kong is qualitatively different than in other mainland Chinese jurisdictions,” the report reads. “However, the overall trend is clearly in the direction of further erosion of autonomy across nearly all domains—the legal and political system and civil society, as well as the climate for companies and investors.

“While in every instance it is a mixed picture, in most domains more signs of erosion than resilience were evident, and the general trajectory is toward continued erosion going forward.”

Beijing’s control over Hong Kong has tightened considerably since the mid-2010s, significantly eroding the city’s promised autonomy. While Beijing initially made gradual restrictions after the 1997 handover from the UK, protests escalated in response to these moves, with notable demonstrations in 2012 against changes to the school curriculum and during the 2014 “Umbrella Movement,” in which protesters demanded universal suffrage.

The peak came in 2019, when protests erupted over a proposed extradition law allowing Hong Kong residents to be sent to mainland China for trial. Despite the eventual withdrawal of the law, the harsh suppression fueled greater support for the pro-democracy movement, resulting in pro-democracy candidates winning a majority in the November 2019 district council elections.

The report notes that “the Xi Jinping administration seemed to view the political crisis as a threat to China’s sovereignty over the city and the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on power.”

This prompted Beijing to impose a sweeping national security law in June 2020, which bypassed Hong Kong’s Legislature. The law’s vague definitions of crimes such as subversion and terrorism have been used to suppress opposition, disqualify pro-democracy candidates, limit media freedoms, and silence dissent, thereby fundamentally changing Hong Kong’s political landscape.

Since the national security law was enacted in the city, authorities have suppressed protests, imprisoned pro-democracy activists, and banned gatherings, including the annual Tiananmen Square massacre vigil.

The report states that as of February 2023, 291 people had been arrested for allegedly engaging in activities that threaten national security since the law was implemented. It notes that cash bounties have been placed on at least 13 Hong Kong overseas opposition figures and activists, fostering a climate of fear even among those who manage to escape the city.

The law has also eroded religious freedom in the city, as the UK-based group Hong Kong Watch pointed out in its report in November 2023. It noted that self-censorship is now common in religious activities and schools affiliated with religious groups and that CCP agents have infiltrated church leadership in the city.
A crowd gathers outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts, where 47 dissidents charged under the Beijing-imposed national security law were about to appear in court in Hong Kong on March 1, 2021. (Adrian Yu/The Epoch Times)
A crowd gathers outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts, where 47 dissidents charged under the Beijing-imposed national security law were about to appear in court in Hong Kong on March 1, 2021. Adrian Yu/The Epoch Times
In March, Hong Kong started enacting its own national security law, which critics say will destroy the city’s remaining freedoms and deter foreign investors from what used to be the Asian financial hub.
The United States enacted the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in 2019 to support Hong Kong protesters and activists. The act requires the secretary of state to certify annually whether Hong Kong is “sufficiently autonomous” to justify its special economic status granted under the United States–Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992. Another law, the 2020 Hong Kong Autonomy Act, aims to target Chinese officials and entities responsible for eroding the city’s freedoms.

The report’s authors offer three recommendations for U.S. policymakers to explore.

First, penalties should be enforced on individuals accountable for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, thus raising the stakes for Beijing’s actions.

Second, Washington could gradually remove “all the policy exemptions” that grant Hong Kong special treatment compared to China under U.S. law and instead treat it like any other city in mainland China.

Third, Hong Kong’s remaining autonomy from the Chinese regime should be maintained for as long as possible by reinforcing practical engagements between state and non-state actors in the United States and Hong Kong while using targeted punitive measures when needed.

Frank Fang contributed to this report.
Aaron Pan
Aaron Pan
Author
Aaron Pan is a reporter covering China and U.S. news. He graduated with a master's degree in finance from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
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