Hong Kong police arrested five people on Thursday on sedition charges, saying that children’s books they had published featuring wolves and sheep as characters were aimed at inciting hatred towards the city’s government amongst youngsters.
The arrests were the latest involving suspected critics of Hong Kong’s government that have raised fears about the shrinking space for dissent since Beijing imposed a national security law in June 2020 to put an end to pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous city.
Police said one book, “Defenders of the Sheep Village,” was connected to the protests. In the story, wolves want to occupy the village and eat the sheep, who in turn use their horns to fight back.
Those arrested were members of a speech therapists’ union who produced books for children. Police said the five were two men and three women aged between 25 and 28. They did not identify them by name.
The five were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to publish seditious material under a colonial-era law which had been rarely used before the anti-government protests began in the former British colony.
Senior police superintendent Steve Li told a media briefing that police were concerned by the books because of the information inside for children which “turns their mind and develop a moral standard to be against society.”
The five were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to publish seditious material under a colonial-era law which had been rarely used before the anti-government protests began in the former British colony.
Senior police superintendent Steve Li told a media briefing that police were concerned by the books because of the information inside for children which “turns their mind and develop a moral standard to be against society.”
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They highlighted two other books produced by the union in addition to “Defenders of the Sheep Village.”
The second told the story of 12 sheep taken by wolves to the beasts’ village where they would be cooked, potentially alluding to the 12 Hong Kong people captured by China in August last year at sea as they tried to flee the city by boat. Li said the story was not factual and incited hatred against authorities.
The third book tells the story of wolves sneaking through a hole into the sheep village and shows the wolves as dirty and the sheep as clean. This aimed to create hatred against the government, Li said.
First convictions under the sedition law can carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison, police said. The General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists could not be reached for comment.
Authorities have denied any erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong – which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula aimed at preserving its freedoms and role as a financial hub – but say China’s national security is a red line.
Security officials have said law enforcement action is based on evidence and has nothing to do with an individual’s political stance, background or profession.
Authorities have denied any erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong – which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula aimed at preserving its freedoms and role as a financial hub – but say China’s national security is a red line.
Security officials have said law enforcement action is based on evidence and has nothing to do with an individual’s political stance, background or profession.
HSBC and Standard Chartered have given their backing to China’s new security laws for Hong Kong.
Both banks made statements saying the proposed law can help maintain long-term stability in the troubled city.
On Wednesday, HSBC’s Asia Pacific chief executive Peter Wong signed a petition backing the law which has been widely criticised.
But this backing comes as Japanese bank Nomura said it was “seriously” examining its presence in Hong Kong.
It is unusual for a bank to enter into political debate, particularly one as controversial as China’s new security laws which many feel could mark the end of Hong Kong’s unique freedoms.
HSBC’s statement noted that the Hong Kong Association of Banks had already issued a statement saying the law would contribute to a stable business environment.
What did the banks say?
Although it is Europe’s largest bank, HSBC has a strong presence in Asia, particularly Hong Kong.
HSBC “respects and supports all laws that stabilise Hong Kong’s social order,” it said in a post on social media in China.
The bank’s full name is the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and it has its origins in the former British colony. While HSBC moved its headquarters to London in 1993, Hong Kong is still its biggest market.
Standard Chartered also has a strong presence in Asia. “We believe the national security law can help maintain the long-term economic and social stability of Hong Kong,” it said in a statement.
It added that “the ‘one country, two systems’ principle is core to the future success of Hong Kong and has always been the bedrock of the business community’s confidence”.
Meanwhile, Japanese investment bank Nomura said it was reviewing the scale of its operations in Hong Kong.
The bank’s chief executive, Kentaro Okuda, said that while Hong Kong remained its most critical Asian hub outside Japan, the situation now was “not the same as it used to be” in an interview with the FT.
What are the new security laws?
While the details are still being fleshed out, the new security laws would make criminal any act of:
secession – breaking away from the country
subversion – undermining the power or authority of the central government
terrorism – using violence or intimidation against people
activities by foreign forces that interfere in Hong Kong
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Hong Kong residents are concerned this will affect free speech and their right to protest. In China this would be seen as subversion. People are also worried about suggestions that China could set up its own institutions in Hong Kong responsible for security.
“The new national security law will deal the most severe blow to the rights of people in Hong Kong since the territory’s transfer to China in 1997,” according to Human Rights Watch.
HSBC had been previously caught up in Hong Kong’s anti-government protests, with its branches vandalised and bronze lion statues outside its headquarters defaced during a protest march in January.
The bank is also facing its own challenges from the coronavirus pandemic with the prospect of thousands of job losses and a significant drop in earnings.
HSBC didn’t respond to a request from the BBC for further comments about the social media post.
Britain will change its immigration rules and offer millions of people in Hong Kong “a route to citizenship” if China imposes new security laws, Boris Johnson has said.
Writing in the Times, Mr Johnson said the UK would “have no choice” but to uphold its ties with the territory.
China is facing mounting criticism over its planned law.
Many people in Hong Kong fear it could end their unique freedoms, which the rest of China does not have.
The UK is already in talks with allies including the US and Australia about what to do if China imposes the new law – which would make it a crime to undermine Beijing’s authority – and people start fleeing Hong Kong.
In the Times on Wednesday, the prime minister confirmed that if China passes the law, people in Hong Kong who hold British National (Overseas) (BNO) passports will be allowed to come to the UK for 12 months without a visa. Currently they are allowed to come for six months.
Around 350,000 people in Hong Kong currently already have a BNO passport, but 2.6 million others are also eligible.
Passport-holders would also be given further immigration rights, including the right to work.
This “could place them on a route to citizenship,” Mr Johnson said.
‘Britain will not walk away’
The prime minister added that the immigration changes “would amount to one of the biggest changes in our visa system in British history”.
“If it proves necessary, the British government will take this step and take it willingly.
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“Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life, which China pledged to uphold, is under threat.
“If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative.”
Hong Kong is a former British colony. It was handed back to China in 1997.
As part of an agreement signed at the time, it enjoys some freedoms not seen in mainland China – and these are set out in a mini-constitution called the Basic Law.
BNO passports were granted to all Hong Kong citizens born before the Chinese handover in 1997 and while they allow the holder some protection from the UK foreign service they do not currently give the right to live or work in Britain.
There has been widespread international criticism of China’s proposed law and the UK government’s announcement marks a step up in Britain’s opposition to it.
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK was in talks with countries in the Five Eyes alliance about how to handle a potential “exodus” of people from the area.
He urged China to reconsider its plans which, he said, would threaten Hong Kong’s autonomy and prosperity.
Senior MPs from Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have urged the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to Hong Kong to monitor how the new law affects human rights.
Earlier this week, seven former UK foreign secretaries urged Mr Johnson to form a global alliance to co-ordinate a response.
Seven former UK foreign secretaries have urged Boris Johnson to form a global alliance to co-ordinate the response to the China-Hong Kong crisis.
China is facing mounting criticism over a planned security law for Hong Kong which would make it a crime to undermine Beijing’s authority.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK would not turn a blind eye.
Hong Kong was handed back to China from British control in 1997 but under a unique agreement.
The former British colony enjoys some freedoms not seen in mainland China – and these are set out in a mini-constitution called the Basic Law.
But there are fears the proposed law, which has sparked protests in Hong Kong, could compromise some of the freedoms guaranteed by the Basic Law.
In their letter to the prime minister, the cross-party group of former cabinet ministers says the UK government must be seen to lead the international response, as many countries take their cue from Britain over its former colony.
Jeremy Hunt, David Miliband, Jack Straw, William Hague, Malcolm Rifkind, David Owen and Margaret Beckett all expressed their concern at what they call China’s “flagrant breach” of Sino-British agreements by imposing tough national security laws on Hong Kong.
They urged Mr Johnson to set up an “international contact group” of allies to coordinate any joint action, similar to that set up in 1994 to try to end the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
A Downing Street spokesman insisted the government was already playing a leading role with international partners in urging China to think again.
Mr Raab said the new security legislation “very clearly violates” the autonomy that is guaranteed under Chinese law as well as that in the 1997 agreement.
He confirmed the UK will allow those who hold British National (Overseas) (BNO) passports to come to the UK and apply to study and work for an extendable 12-month period.
This will in turn “provide a path to citizenship”, he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.
BNO passports were granted to Hong citizens born before the Chinese handover in 1997 and while they allow the holder some protection from the UK foreign service they do not give the right to live or work in Britain.
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Mr Raab said up to three million people registered as a British national (overseas) in Hong Kong could be eligible for UK citizenship if China presses ahead with the law.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Commons foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, said the government must realise that China has a “very, very authoritarian system of government” and should rethink the partnership between the two.
President Donald Trump has announced that he will start to end preferential treatment for Hong Kong in trade and travel, in response to a new security law pushed by Beijing.
He described the Chinese government’s moves to introduce the measure in Hong Kong as a “tragedy”.
Mr Trump also said he was “terminating” the US relationship with the World Health Organization over Covid-19.
China has told the West to “stop interfering” in Hong Kong.
The territory, a former British colony, enjoys unique freedoms not seen in mainland China. But many people there see the looming security law as bringing an end to Hong Kong’s special status, agreed under a 1984 agreement between China and the UK.
There are fears the proposed measure – which has sparked a wave of anti-mainland protests – could end Hong Kong’s unique status and make it a crime to undermine Beijing’s authority in the territory.
This week, Britain said that if China went forward with the law, it could offer British National (Overseas) passport holders in Hong Kong a path to UK citizenship.
On Friday, the UK Home Office confirmed that up to three million people with BNO status could acquire citizenship in this way – as long as they applied for and were granted a passport.
What did President Trump outline?
Mr Trump said that he no longer considered Hong Kong to be separate from China.
“China has replaced One Country, Two Systems with One Country, One System”, Mr Trump told reporters in the White House’s Rose Garden, in a prepared statement that attacked China on several fronts.
“This is a tragedy for Hong Kong… China has smothered Hong Kong’s freedom,” he said.
Mr Trump said sanctions would be imposed on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who were believed by Washington to be involved in eroding the territory’s autonomy. He did not outline what form these sanctions would take.
He added that the State Department would revise its travel advisory for Hong Kong in light of “increased danger of surveillance” from China.
The president also said the US would suspend the entry of foreign nationals from China identified by the US as potential security risks. There are fears that this could affect thousands of graduate students.
No further details were given on Mr Trump’s announcement that he would “terminate” the US relationship with the WHO. In April, the US president said he would halt funding to the UN agency because it has “failed in its basic duty” in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
He accused the WHO of mismanaging and covering up the spread of the virus after it emerged in China.
The Global Times newspaper – whose views are believed to reflect those of China’s leaders- called the move towards revoking Hong Kong’s special status with the US “recklessly arbitrary”.
Hong Kong’s Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng told the BBC’s Chinese Service earlier on Friday that any threat of sanctions was unacceptable.
“Are the sanctions being imposed with a view to coerce another state to change their policy…? Any such sanctions are not going to benefit anyone,” she said.
Adding a new edge to the deteriorating US-China relations
Analysis by Zhaoyin Feng, BBC Chinese
The US removing Hong Kong’s special privileges sent a strong warning signal to China, which activists and protesters in the territory will welcome.
The announced measures include not only Hong Kong, but also intellectual property theft and Chinese firms listed in the US.
According to media reports, Washington is expected to revoke more than 3,000 Chinese graduate students’ visas. While this accounts for only 1% of the total number of Chinese students in America, Washington’s move will open yet another front of the bilateral tensions.
But the separate punishments announced for China may not be as harsh as what had been expected, as indicated in the stock markets’ rise after his speech.
Beijing will probably match some of Washington’s sanctions and restrictions in a tit-for-tat manner. After a short-lived honeymoon since the trade deal, China and the US appear to be heading towards the abyss at an accelerating speed.
What is the security law about?
China has proposed security legislation which would make it a crime to undermine Beijing’s authority in Hong Kong, and could also see China installing its own security agencies in the region for the first time.
China’s parliament has backed the resolution – which now passes to the country’s senior leadership.
Full details about exactly what behaviour will be outlawed under the new security law are not yet clear. It is due to be enacted before September.
However, it is expected to criminalise:
secession – breaking away from China
subversion – undermining the power or authority of the central government
terrorism – using violence or intimidation against people
activities by foreign forces that interfere in Hong Kong
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Experts say they fear the law could see people punished for criticising Beijing – as happens in mainland China. For example, Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo was jailed for 11 years for subversion after he co-authored a document calling for political reform.
China’s foreign ministry in Hong Kong described US criticism of the new draft law as “utterly imperious, unreasonable and shameless”.
Step outside your door without a face mask in Hong Kong, Seoul or Tokyo, and you may well get a disapproving look.
In recent weeks, many European nations have issued advisories to wear a mask in certain public settings, and in England the latest advice is to wear a face covering in “enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible”, such as public transport and some shops.
Several US states have also given similar advice, and even the White House now makes it compulsory for all staff to wear face masks – though President Donald Trump still refuses to wear one.
Many people are still not wearing masks despite official advice though, and some governments remain unconvinced about the science.
Why some people embrace masks while others shun them is not just about government directives and medical advice – it’s also about culture and history, a debate over evidence, and even about personal liberties.
The official word on face masks
Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the official advice from the World Health Organization has been that only two types of people should wear masks: those who are sick and show symptoms, and those who are caring for people who are suspected to have the coronavirus.
Nobody else needs to wear a mask, and experts have given several reasons for that.
One is that a mask is not seen as reliable protection as other methods, given that current research shows the virus is spread by droplets and contact with contaminated surfaces. So it could protect you, but only in certain situations such as when you’re in close quarters with others where someone infected might sneeze or cough near your face. This is why experts say frequent hand washing with soap and water is far more effective.
Removing a mask requires special attention to avoid hand contamination, and it could also breed a false sense of security where you end up ignoring or forgetting to practice good hygiene.
Yet in some parts of Asia everyone wears a mask by default – it is seen as safer and more considerate.
In mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan, the broad assumption is that anyone could be a carrier of the virus, even healthy people. So in the spirit of solidarity, you need to protect others from yourself.
Some places take this idea very seriously: in some parts of China, you could be arrested or punished for not wearing a mask. In Singapore, which used to discourage citizens from wearing masks, it’s now compulsory to wear one outside or risk a fine of S$300 (£170, $210).
Meanwhile in Indonesia and the Philippines, where there are suspicions that there are many under-reported cases, most people in major cities wear masks to protect themselves from others.
For many of these countries, mask-wearing was a cultural norm even before the coronavirus outbreak. They’ve even become fashion statements – at one point Hello Kitty face masks were all the rage in the street markets of Hong Kong.
In East Asia, many people are used to wearing masks when they are sick or when it’s hay fever season, because it’s considered impolite to be sneezing or coughing openly.
The 2003 Sars virus outbreak, which affected several countries in the region, also drove home the importance of wearing masks, particularly in Hong Kong, where many died as a result of the virus. So one key difference between these societies and Western ones, is that they have experienced contagion before – and the memories are still fresh and painful.
In some parts of Asia, seasonal air pollution or heavy traffic pollution in crowded cities have also made it pretty normal for people to wear masks outside.
The mask as a social nudge
Some argue that ubiquitous mask wearing, as a very visual reminder of the dangers of the virus, could actually act as a “behavioural nudge” to you and others for overall better personal hygiene.
“Putting on a mask every day before you go out is like a ritual, like putting on a uniform, and in ritual behaviour you feel you have to live up to what the uniform stands for, which is more hygienic behaviour like not touching your face or avoiding crowded places and social distancing,” said Donald Low, a behavioural economist and professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Then, there’s the idea that every little bit counts in the war the world is waging against the virus.
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“If face masks are used on a lot of people in crowded areas, I think it would have some effect on public transmission, and at the moment we’re looking for every small measure we can to reduce transmission – it adds up.”
But there are down sides of course. Some places such as Japan, Indonesia and Thailand have faced shortages, and South Korea has had to ration out surgical masks.
There is the fear that people may end up re-using disposable masks, which is unhygienic, or use inferior masks sold on the black market. Japan and Singapore have since given out reusable masks to its citizens.
People who do not wear masks in these places have also been stigmatised, to the point that they are shunned and blocked from shops and buildings.
In Hong Kong, some tabloids have splashed pictures on their covers of Westerners not wearing masks and congregating in groups in the city’s nightlife district, and criticised expatriates and tourists for not taking enough precautions.
But the discrimination works both ways.
In places where mask wearing is still not the norm despite government advisories, those who do wear masks have been shunned or even attacked. It hasn’t helped that many of these mask wearers are Asians.
In the US, it’s become an issue of personal freedoms, with some arguing that making everyone wear face masks infringes on civil liberties. The city of Stillwater in Oklahoma was forced to soften a mask law to an advisory after threats of violence, while a Michigan security guard was killed after he barred a shopper who didn’t have a mask from entering a store.
But those societies that do advocate everyone wearing a mask may have a point and increasingly, experts are now questioning the official WHO advice.
Undocumented cases
Firstly, there is some emerging evidence that there are more “silent carriers”, or healthy people with the virus who show little or no symptoms, than experts initially thought.
In China, it is estimated that a third of all positive cases show no symptoms, according to classified Chinese government data seen by the South China Morning Post.
On the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship that docked in Yokohama, about half of the more than 600 positive cases found onboard were found to have no symptoms. A similar proportion of asymptomatic cases has been reported in Iceland.
The prevailing belief has been that because these people do not exhibit symptoms, they are not very contagious. But some are questioning this now.
A recently published study of cases in China found that “undocumented cases of infection”, or those with either mild or no symptoms, were significantly contagious and could have been responsible for nearly 80% of positive virus cases.
Meanwhile a Hong Kong study estimates that up to 44% of virus transmission from an infected person can happen before that person starts showing any symptoms.
So does that mean if everyone wore a mask, these silent carriers wouldn’t turn into spreaders?
The jury is still out on this issue, with various studies proving and disproving the effectiveness of a mask in stopping transmission of the coronavirus. This is why some places have so far held back from mask laws and advisories, such as New Zealand which successfully controlled its outbreak and is holding back on advising citizens to wear masks because of the lack of scientific consensus and clinical trials.
Research is ongoing, and future studies will no doubt add nuance to the overall picture.
The face mask may be a product of recent history, experience with contagion, and cultural norm. But as this pandemic evolves, along with evidence and research, our behaviour may change again.
