Hello to a Hong Kong that's slipped down to 88th in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index

  

Hong Kong is really beautiful -- but is not without its problems;

and, in all honesty, I'm not sure it's currently a place which

many tourists will truly be able to get to know and thoroughly enjoy

 

In a (desperate) bid to attract tourists to Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government announced yesterday that it will offer 500,000 visitors free air tickets to Hong Kong from next month on. "“I will personally carry the promotional messages of our proudest [sic.] as the world's freest economy and China's international financial center when I visit Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the coming week,” Chief Executive John Lee also was reported as saying (in a piece in The Standard).

 

As the official launch of the "Hello Hong Kong" campaign yesterday, unmasked performers danced and a super cringey promotional video featuring John Lee was played (which I will spare you the pain of viewing by NOT linking to it).  The "[a]uthorities also played a promotional video featuring famous celebrities, including Aaron Kwok Fu-shing, Sammi Cheng Sau-man, and Kelly Chen Wai-lam, saying hello to tourists and calling on them to come visit" that some critics have likened to Chinese propaganda videos featuring dancing Uyghurs.

 

Note to people thinking of visiting Hong Kong: many Hong Kongers -- for a number of reasons, including our preferring the city's streets to be relatively uncrowded and unclogged like they have been during the pandemic -- will be less welcoming of tourists than those folks who, let's face it, have been paid to try to lure tourists to the city.  Potential visitors would also do well to realize that it was reported yesterday afternoon too that "Hong Kong has slipped three positions in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, falling to 88th out of 167 countries and territories."  Its ranking and "overall score of 5.28 out of 10 [is] an all-time low since 2006", the first year that the Democracy Index was compiled. 

 

For comparison and context: The continent of Asia has an average score of 5.46; and "[a]cross the region, top scorers include New Zealand (9.61) in second place in the global ranking, Taiwan (10th), Australia (15th), Japan (16th), and South Korea (24th)."  As for (Mainland) China: It occupies a lowly 156th position.  So, yes, Hong Kong still has a ways to go before becoming the same/as bad as its "Motherland"; though God forbid that it ever does do so.

 

As things stand, "Hong Kong's score fell from 5.60 in 2021 to 5.28 [in 2022], reflecting problems with the quality of the civil service and new impediments to organizing independent trade unions, according to the think tank.  The city now ranks lower than Liberia and Tunisia." Yes. In an international Democracy Index whose analysts "described Hong Kong’s democracy as being “in retreat”" and "also cited the Beijing-imposed national security law, as well as a decline in press freedom and academic freedom in the city."

 

So... who will want to respond to the government's "Hello Hong Kong"?  Definitely not those living outside of Hong Kong who (still/nonetheless) really f**king love Hong Kong; this not least because they fear getting arrested upon their arrival/return (or, at the very least, being barred from entering the city -- like has happened to such as Human Rights Watch founder, Kenneth Roth, back in January 2020).

As human rights activist Xun-ling Au Tweeted in response to a suggestion that people consider visiting Hong Kong: "Reminder that the [national security law (NSL)] is both retroactive and extraterritorial.  Sooo nah."   And should anyone need further reminders of how draconian it is, consider the case of the 47 democratic politicians and activists arrested back on February 28th, 2021, for having participated in and/or organised the democratic primaries that took place in July 2020.  

Their national security law trial is set to finally commence on Monday (February 6th), close to two years after their arrest and getting charged with trying to topple the  government.  In these two years, the majority of the defendants (who include Joshua Wong, Gwyneth Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan -- three of the six Hongkongers that the Congressional-Executive Commission on China have nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize) have been denied bail -- and thus been behind bars.

 

As per an AFP report: "The proceedings are expected to last more than four months, and the defendants face sentences of up to life imprisonment if convicted."  Also reported in the article is this: "The defendants say they have been targeted for normal opposition politics, with observers saying the trial illustrates how little room there is left to criticise China's rule since huge pro-democracy protests in 2019 were stamped out".  And this too: "China says the law was needed to curb political unrest, but rights groups and Hong Kong opposition figures say an ensuing crackdown has all but ended the city's autonomy and political freedoms."

 

A couple of other things worth noting: This trial -- like all of the national security trials that have taken place in Hong Kong to date -- is a jury-less trial.  Instead, it will be decided by the judges.  And is noted in the AFP report:  "Judges who sit on national security cases are handpicked by the city's leader and there has not yet been a trial in front of a jury.  In December, Beijing said Hong Kong's leader could also bar foreign lawyers from taking part in national security trials."  

 

Put another way: the odds are very much stacked in favour of the prosecutors and it also not a case of "Innocent until proven guilty" in the new Hong Kong that I cannot, in good conscience, tell people is a great place to visit and have a fun time.  This even though I really do think that Hong Kong is very beautiful and I have come to really  f**king love this place so very much. :S