‘Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times’ slogan deemed illegal
The popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” has been deemed illegal by the city’s government.
Hong Kong has said the slogan is separatist, becoming a crime covered under the new national security law imposed by Beijing.
The saying is plastered over placards at rallies, clothes and accessories and written on post-it notes on walls across the Chinese-ruled city.
Raising further concern that freedom of speech in Hong Kong will dwindle, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said a Communist cadre who became prominent during a 2011 clampdown on protesters in a southern Chinese village will head the new national security office created in Hong Kong under the new law.
Zheng Yanxiong, 57, most recently served as the secretary general of the Communist Party committee of Guangdong province, an economic powerhouse bordering Hong Kong.
Videos that were leaked from an internal government meeting in 2011 depict Zheng calling foreign media “rotten”.
Under the new legislation, the new security agency in Hong Kong can take enforcement action beyond pre-existing local laws, in serious cases. The legislation allows agents to take suspects across the border and into China for trials in communist-controlled courts.
The legislation also allows for special treatment of the agents, including prohibiting any inspections of their vehicles.
“The slogan ‘Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times’ nowadays connotes ‘Hong Kong independence’, or separating the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) from the People’s Republic of China, altering the legal status of the HKSAR, or subverting the state power,” the government declared in a statement on Thursday night.
It is as yet unclear whether independent courts will uphold the government’s stance on this slogan.
The government has reiterated that the new security law will not affect freedom of speech, of the media, and other rights in the city not seen in mainland China.
On Wednesday, the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule, police arrested roughly 370 people during protests over the new legislation, with 10 of those involving violations of this new law.
The law has incited alarm among democracy activists and rights groups, as well as lawyers, business leaders and Western governments.
Demosisto, a pro-democracy group led by Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong, disbanded hours after the legislation was passed, while prominent group member Nathan Law said on Thursday he had left the global financial hub.
“The protests in Hong Kong have been a window for the world to recognise that China is getting more and more authoritarian,” Law told Reuters in an interview via internet video.