Hong Kong: in the face of pressure, a pro-democracy group prefers to dissolve – archyworldys

“It’s a very painful breakup. ” The Hong Kong Alliance, the pro-democracy group that organized for three decades in Hongkong annual vigils in memory of victims of the crackdown on Tiananmen Square in Beijing announced that it had voted to dissolve it on Saturday, September 25, in the face of growing pressure against dissent in the city.

“The government uses all kinds of laws to force a civil society group to disband”Hong Kong Alliance member Tsang King-shing said after the vote.

After announcing their dissolution, Alliance representatives read a letter from their president, Lee Cheuk-yan, in prison. “A regime cannot deprive the people of their memory and their conscience”, he wrote. “The convictions of the Hong Kong Alliance will be transmitted to the hearts of Hong Kong people. “

The group was one of the most visible symbols of political pluralism in Hong Kong. His disappearance is the latest illustration of the rapidity of Beijing’s takeover of the former British colony, a major world business center that was once semi-autonomous.

The dissolution of the Hong Kong Alliance comes after the scuttling of around 30 militant groups in recent months, including the city’s largest union and the coalition that staged the massive pro-democracy protests of 2019.

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Charges and arrests

Chinese state media and pro-Beijing officials in Hong Kong have long accused the Hong Kong Alliance of being a subversive organization. At the beginning of the month, police charged three senior officials with subversion, a crime against national security. Police also ordered the group to shut down its website and social media platforms. The authorities have promised to revoke its registration as a company.

In a letter written from prison, one of the Alliance leaders, Chow Hang-tung, urged members not to give up. “I still hope to show the convictions of the Hong Kong Alliance to the whole world and continue this movement which has lasted for thirty-two years”, she said in a letter posted on his Facebook page.

Two other jailed leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, had signed letters calling for the group’s disbandment, citing “The current social environment”.

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Targeted by National Security Unit investigation

The Alliance was told earlier this year that it was under investigation by the national security unit and ordered to hand over a plethora of documents and details on its members. .

Unlike many opposition groups who quickly retreated or obeyed police demands, the Alliance took a more provocative approach. Many of its leading figures are lawyers and have argued that the police request was illegal.

At the end of August, the city’s new national security police sent letters to Alliance leaders, accusing the Alliance of being “An agent of the foreign forces”.

The letters also asked them to hand over the personal information of all members since its founding in 1989, all meeting minutes, income records and its dealings with several NGOs regarding democracy and human rights in China. . When the Alliance confirmed that it would not cooperate, the police accused its leaders of subversion.

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The last two canceled vigils

The group was founded in May 1989 to support students who organized rallies for democracy and against corruption in Beijing. A month later, on June 4, the student movement was crushed in blood. The event remains heavily censored by the Communist regime in mainland China.

But in Hong Kong, the Alliance kept its memory alive throughout the next three decades while calling on China’s leaders for reform, with slogans such as “Put an end to the one-party regime” and “Building a democratic China”.

June 4 of each year, the Alliance organized large candlelight vigils in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, attended by tens of thousands of people on a regular basis. Crowds visiting have increased in recent years as anger among locals over Beijing’s way of handling the city has intensified.

The last two vigils had been prohibited by the police, officially because of the Covid-19 epidemic.

The World with AFP