Dems to finally throw in towel

The Hong Kong Democratic Party announces that it is starting the process to shut itself down. For a party founded to fight for democracy, it is a depressing end – pressured to disband by figures working for a government that rules out political pluralism. The Reuters story makes clear that Beijing is telling the party to do it…

Five senior members of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, the city’s biggest and last remaining major opposition party, say that Chinese officials or middlemen have warned the party to disband or face serious consequences, including possible arrests.

Amid a years-long national security crackdown by China after pro-democracy protests in 2019, the Democratic Party will hold an extraordinary general meeting on April 13 to seek members’ views and possibly pave the way for the group’s dissolution.

The group’s chairman, Lo Kin-hei, has not given a concrete reason for the likely disbandment, but five senior Democratic Party members told Reuters they had been told in meetings with Chinese officials or individuals linked to Beijing in recent months that the party should close.

Fred Li, a veteran Democratic Party member and former lawmaker, said a Chinese official had told him this should be done before this December’s legislative elections.

Four other senior Democratic Party members also said they had been warned in recent months by middlemen linked to Beijing, some of whom said the party would face “serious consequences” if it did not disband. Three declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

…”For a long time it seemed like Beijing could live with the situation of having the party around as a figment of opposition,” said one Western envoy.

“It seems they are leaving nothing to chance. The message is it is time to close down once and for all,” said the diplomat, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

The story from AP covers some of the party’s history…

Former chairperson Yeung said in an interview with The Associated Press that Chinese officials told him the party needed to disband. He urged his members to support the motion to give the leadership mandate to handle the process.

“I’m not very happy about it,” said Yeung. “But I can see if we refuse the call to disband, we may pay a very huge price for it.”

…Looking back, former chairperson Emily Lau, who was involved in the talks with Beijing, insists many people supported the outcome because it was a step forward. She said they asked Beijing to continue to have dialogue with others to find a way for universal suffrage, but it never did.

“Maybe the only thing I would have done a bit differently is not to go into the (Beijing’s) liaison office (in Hong Kong). I guess we underestimated how many Hong Kong people hated them,” she said.

As new pro-democracy groups were on the rise, the party’s influence dwindled. That became more obvious after the emergence of younger politicians, including pro-Hong Kong independence activists, following the 2014 massive protests calling for universal suffrage. Still, five years later, when the 2019 protests swept Hong Kong, the party’s activism won widespread support once again.

It seems the authorities don’t want the party openly accused of NatSec, financial or other wrongdoing – though they could no doubt find some sort of ‘collaboration with foreign forces’ if they wanted to. They would rather the group just hurry up with its prevaricating and self-dissolve. As the unnamed diplomat suggests, even a harmless and largely inactive independent body worries the people at the top.

Is this a relatively recent response to continued deterioration of China’s relations with the US? Or is it simply unfinished post-2019 business? Either way, it seems likely other organizations – not necessarily just remaining political groups like the LSD – will be in for more attention.

Meanwhile, far from the world of patriots-only elections, Hongkonger Richard Choi wins a seat on Sutton Borough Council in London. (A landslide victory for the Liberal Democrats – 55% of votes despite fighting 6 other candidates. As it happens, a Lib Dem MP has just been refused entry to Hong Kong, presumably because of her association with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.)

After being acquitted of a ‘riot’ charge in 2020, social worker and activist Jackie Chen was re-tried. (Background here.) On the final day, assuming she would be found guilty, she prepared for prison. Translation of a Witness article from Brian Kern’s Substack. Also a link to a video.

National Review on Jimmy Lai’s Bradley Prize…

Xi Jinping has turned Lai into a living legend by subjecting the 77-year-old to a high-stakes national security trial, one likely to result in a life sentence. It now drags into its 17th month and may not conclude until fall. In the meantime, Lai is being held incommunicado in Hong Kong’s Stanley Prison. He has been there since December 2021. He makes no secret that his Catholic faith gives him courage; the government’s arbitrary prohibition against Lai receiving Holy Communion makes his ordeal even harder.

Nathan Law looks at the prospects for NatSec prisoners coming up for release…

…as some of these campaigners prepare to leave prison, their futures remain uncertain. Nominal release does not guarantee true freedom. Under the National Security Law, the authorities have extended their reach beyond the prison walls. The NSL bureau and police have exercised their power through a climate of intimidation—cutting off imprisoned activists’ communication with the outside world, preventing political figures from leaving the city, and targeting the family and friends of exiled dissidents with raids and interrogations.

We still do not know what awaits these individuals once they step outside the prison gates. Will they be allowed to resume life in peace, even in silence? Or will they remain targets, shadows of their former selves, under constant watch? 

Via free-speech group Article 19, a statement on digital gallery Art Innovation’s censorship of four-second billboard clips by Baduciao during Hong Kong’s Art Basel week.

CFHK statement on the introduction of a US Senate bill that would classify Hong Kong as a money-laundering and sanctions-breaking hub.

Bad news for luxury designer labels, but otherwise almost amusing: Chinese factories are going onto TikTok to offer Americans identical products minus the brand logo for a fraction of the usual price, even after paying the latest 100%-plus or whatever tariffs. Behold the non-Hermes Birkin bag for US$1,000 rather than US$38,000.