China launches 'snitching' hotline for residents in Hong Kong

The hotline allows residents to alert the national security intelligence via text message, email and the Chinese messaging app, WeChat

Taiwanese, holding an inflated pig with Chinese words ‘Tsa Ing-wn Step Down,’ march to the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, earlier this month (EPA/DAVID CHANG) (EPA)

The Hong Kong Police Force on Thursday rolled out a dedicated hotline for tip-offs on the threat to “national security”.  

Platforms including text message, email and the Chinese messaging app WeChat could be used by the residents to alert the authorities about the alleged threats. The informers can also report to the police by sending “photographs, audio and video" files.  

The police, however, assured the residents that their data will be protected under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance and not be shared with third parties, adding that it will “not obtain” personal information using the hotline.  

Earlier last month, after the early reports of national security hotline, emerged, a pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong, Joshua Wong voiced his concern. He tweeted saying: “As the law covers foreign nationals, overseas behaviours & speeches, the new hotline will be a threat to foreign investors & ex-pats. No matter where you're, your private conversations, business chats, social media posts or school lectures can be reported via this new hotline.”  

He also drew a parallel with the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, a turbulent period in the 1960s and 1970s when millions of urban youth were forced to live and work in rural areas and were punished and purged by authorities – often after they were denounced by family, friends and neighbours.  

Mr Wong wrote, “By putting ‘eyes and ears everywhere’, the hotline can also be used for business retaliation, by encouraging citizens snitching on each other & cooking up charges against business competitors, just like what happened during #China’s #CulturalRevolution.”

Human Rights Watch senior researcher Maya Wang told the AFP news agency: “Informants may use this hotline against people who they dislike or are in a different political camp.”

The former British colony of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and has been rocked by pro-democracy demonstrations in recent years.  

In June, China enacted the controversial national security law to prevent, stop and punish behavior in Hong Kong. The legislation outlaws secessionist, subversive and terrorist acts, as well as collusion with foreign forces in the city's internal affairs. The maximum punishment for serious offenders is life imprisonment.