In Hong Kong, the struggle for democracy and freedom will continue despite the local government’s repression of opposition figures, activists, and press freedom, said Hong Kong’s “Iron Lady,” Emily Lau.
“I can tell you the game is not over. We will continue to struggle to defend our free lifestyle and our freedoms but in a peaceful and nonviolent way,” Lau said in a recent
interview on The Epoch Times’ “
American Thought Leaders” program.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, has seen a drastic deterioration of
press and other freedoms as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tightened its grip over the city. According to Washington-based nonprofit Freedom House, Hong Kong saw its score for civil liberties drop to
37 this year from
45 in 2017.
“Things are terrible and very difficult [in Hong Kong],” Lau said. “More people could get arrested in the coming days, weeks, and months. And people have warned me many times that I could be a target.”
Lau, 69, is currently a prominent pro-democracy figure in the city. She was previously a longtime lawmaker, from 1991 to 1997 and 1998 to 2016, as well as being the chairperson of the city’s opposition Democratic Party from 2012 to 2016.
She was a vocal supporter of the city’s ongoing anti-CCP, pro-democracy movement, which started in June 2019 when millions took to the streets in protest against a now-scrapped anti-extradition bill.
In November 2019, she and another local activist, Figo Chan, on behalf of all Hong Kong protesters taking part in the movement,
accepted the 2019 John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service. The
award paid homage to protesters for “their struggle to preserve their rights and to press for democratic reform.”
Despite being at risk of being prosecuted by the Hong Kong government over her role in the movement, Lau said she has “no plans to go anywhere.”
Many Hongkongers who share Lau’s concern have fled to other cities and regions, including Taiwan and the
UK. Among prominent figures who have left the city are activist
Nathan Law and former lawmaker
Ted Hui.
Press Freedom
Lau also described a current reality in Hong Kong—people are now less willing to speak to the media, either foreign or local. She said: “We cannot blame people. We have to understand the pressure they are under.”
She also quoted a previous remark by Keith Richburg—president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong and director of Hong Kong University’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre—describing the declining press freedom in the city as “death by 1,000 cuts.”
Richburg made the remark during an
online program hosted by Lau that was aired by local online television OurTV earlier this month. He was describing a series of recent incidents that have brought down the city’s press freedom.
One of the incidents mentioned by Richburg involved
Bao Choy, a freelancer producer with local public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong, who was found
guilty and fined in April for making false statements to obtain vehicle records, which were used in her
documentary examining a mob attack on commuters at a Hong Kong metro station on July 21, 2019.
However, Lau said she isn’t afraid to speak to the media, while being fully aware that the Hong Kong authorities might use what she says against her.
“I just feel that I just would not allow myself to be intimidated into silence,” Lau said. “We have to stand up with dignity, to defend what we believe in, but to take the consequences—that I know.”
According to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, Hong Kong’s press freedom index dropped to
80th place this year from
18th in 2002.
Lau also pointed to the recent attack against
Sarah Liang, a reporter for the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times, saying it was “absolutely abominable.”
Liang was
assaulted by an unidentified man wielding an aluminum softball bat at noon on May 11. The attack left bruises on both of her legs. The assault happened about a month after the Hong Kong edition’s printing plant was
attacked by hammer-wielding intruders. The same printing press was
set on fire by four masked individuals in November 2019. It’s widely believed that the CCP was behind all three attacks.
“People in journalism, people in politics, activists—people are very, very alarmed and very scared. So you’re looking at a very anxious, very apprehensive, and very unhappy city,” Lau said.
