China is trying to strengthen its grip on Hong Kong – but the people are fighting back

More than one million people rallied against a government-sponsored extradition bill yesterday. The fight to maintain their relative autonomy from the repressive Chinese state is a battle that many in Hong Kong feel they must win

“I should have done more”, reflected Lord Chris Patten, the last governor of the last British colony, Hong Kong, on the 20^th anniversary of the territory’s handover to China. In 1997, the country was left to the Chinese government with a form of rule of law guaranteed by an independent Court of Final Appeal, but no democracy. For the past 20 years, Hong Kong’s people have repeatedly fought for their rights. Yesterday again, one million Hong Kongese took to the streets to protest against a proposed new extradition law which could see suspected criminals sent to mainland China for trial.

The possibility of facing the arbitrary criminal justice system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the stuff of nightmares for many of Hong Kong’s citizens who hope to vigorously defend the freedom left to them by the Basic Law, the mini constitution negotiated by London and Beijing before the handover, and which was supposed to recognise Hong’s Kong’s differing capitalist nature and relative autonomy from Chinese society.

However the powers of legal interpretation and amendment of the Basic Law are the preserve of the National People’s Congress of China – this is no democracy and Hong Kong civil society is fierce in its resistance.

It has long proven its determination, as in 2014 with the “Umbrella Movement” and “Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP)”, to launch campaigns of civil disobedience that advocate for free elections on the basis of universal and equal suffrage.

As a result of those protests, in April this year the leaders of the Umbrella Movement, sociology Professor Chan Kin-man, 60, law Professor Benny Tai, 54, and Baptist minister the Rev Chu Yiu-ming, 75, were convicted to 16 months in jail for conspiracy to commit public nuisance. Rev Chu’s sentence was suspended for two years but the judgement was seen as a serious blow to the pro-democracy camp.

This radicalism is unsurprising. Hong Kong is known for its dynamism as a global financial hub – but also for its history of welcoming dissidents. Since the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, numerous Chinese radicals have found shelter on the island. The best independent research on China is produced by think tanks, NGOs and prestigious universities now constantly under scrutiny if not direct pressure by the PRC.

Professor Johannes Chan, the previous dean of Hong Kong University Law School paid a hard price for expressing his views freely when he was forced to step down for “excessive political participation” and support of the Occupy Central movement.

A real worry for the people of Hong Kong is how the Basic Law only guarantees certain rights for them over a period of 50 years – without specifying how Hong Kong will be governed after 2047.

Currently, although a “Special Administrative Region” of China, Hong Kong is an independent customs territory and as such a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its own right. A result of the “one country two systems” formula invented by China to reassure Hong Kong people at the time of the handover – yet this now rests on fragile ground.

The British never gave democracy to the colony but planted its seeds, creating a unique system grounded in education and justice. This rather schizophrenic approach to government now poses problems.

It was an illusion to believe Singapore like prosperity could suffice for the Hong Kongese. The idea of freedom had already blossomed in the forward thinking business community. Yet the country now lacks the necessary institutional tools to protect its own independence.

In 1842, at the end of the Opium War, the island of Hong Kong was ceded in perpetuity by Qing China to the British crown. Later, in 1898, additional new territories on the mainland were leased for 99 years to the British. Since that time, Hong Kong has grown as a blend of both Chinese and western cultures. Yet many rue that the final act of the British empire was not more decisive in entrenching democracy into the country’s constitution.

Leïla Choukroune is professor of International law and director of the University Research and Innovation Theme in Democratic Citizenship at the University of Portsmouth