Millions of citizens of Hong Kong, including many Catholics, have in recent years participated in large-scale pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which came to a head during summer 2019.
At that time, the protestors successfully rebuffed the Hong Kong legislature’s efforts last year to pass a bill that would have allowed mainland China to extradite alleged criminals from Hong Kong.
However, with the passage of the new national security laws, the Chinese government seized more power to suppress the protests in Hong Kong, which it sees as a direct challenge to its power.
Similar security rules have been proposed before; in 2003, the communist government attempted to use Hong Kong’s own legislative and executive councils to pass the anti-sedition measures, but massive protests led lawmakers to abandon the proposal.
One of the first large crackdowns by Beijing in Hong Kong occurred in August 2020, when several prominent democracy activists were arrested and charged, including Agnes Chow, a 23-year-old Catholic democracy activist. Chow has been outspoken in her support for civil rights in the former British colony.
In November, three of the pro-democracy activists, including Chow, pled guilty on charges related to their roles in an “illegal assembly” in 2019. The next month, they were each sentenced to months in prison, with the possibility that they will face further charges.
Police in Hong Kong arrested more than 50 people in early January 2021 for apparent violations of the national security law.
Among those arrested Jan. 6 were a number of politicians and organizers who took part in unofficial “primaries” to choose opposition candidates for the next elections in Hong Kong. The territory was slated to hold parliamentary elections during September 2020, but officials postponed them, citing dangers posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Martin Lee Chu-ming, 82, a Catholic lawyer who founded Hong Kong’s Democratic Party in 1994, was last week nominated to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Hong Kong police arrested Lee, along with 14 other pro-democracy protestors, on April 18, 2020. Lee was arrested for taking part in protests in 2019 against the now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Lee is currently out on bail with a trial set to begin Feb. 16.
In recent months, the Diocese of Hong Kong has issued directives to Catholic schools on “fostering the correct values on national identity” and respecting Chinese national symbols including the flag and national anthem. It has also blocked a Catholic pro-democracy ad campaign and prayer that was set to run in local newspapers.
The Diocese of Hong Kong remains without a permanent bishop, as the diocese has been led since 2019 by Cardinal Tong, who retired in 2017 and was brought back after Hong Kong’s previous bishop died unexpectedly.
Britain early in 2021 opened a new path to British citizenship for Hong Kongers, granting those with British National (Overseas) status to live, study and work in Britain for five years and eventually apply for citizenship, NBC News reported. Some 300,000 Hong Kongers are expected to take advantage of the visa and leave Hong Kong, the British government projects.
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