Several personalities and opposition parties have confirmed on Twitter and Facebook at least 20 arrests, mostly on charges of “sedition”. Two high-ranking sources within the police, on condition of anonymity, reported “approximately 35 »arrests carried out by the unit responsible for investigating offenses under the Security Act
The operation targeted former pro-democracy parliamentarians like James To, Andrew Wan and Lam Cheuk Ting, but also younger activists. Among the latter, two confirmed their own arrests via Facebook: Gwyneth Ho, a former journalist from 21 years spent in activism, and Tiffany Yuen, a district councilor from 21 years. Relatives of Joshua Wong, one of the most famous faces of the pro-democracy movement, currently in prison, said on his Facebook account that his home had been searched.
The July primaries in Beijing’s sights
Hong Kong police have not officially responded to any questions about the crackdown, whether it was the number of people arrested or the charges. But prod personalities emocracy stated that these arrests were linked to the primaries organized in July by the opposition before the legislative elections which were scheduled for September.
These elections, during which the opposition intended to capitalize on the popularity of the mobilization of 600, have been postponed for one year by the government on the pretext of the coronavirus epidemic. The goal of the primaries, to which more than 310. Hong Kong people participated, was to avoid a scattering of opposition votes and to designate the 27 candidates who would compete for those seats in the Legislative Council (Legco, the local parliament) which are attributed by universal suffrage. The others are allocated according to a convoluted system which almost certainly guarantees the majority to the pro-Beijing bloc.
“One country, two systems”
The National Security Law was imposed by Beijing , without discussion at LegCo, to respond to the political crisis of 2019, when Hong Kong had for months been the scene of almost daily, and sometimes violent, protests against Chinese interference. Critics of this law present it as the last nail on the coffin of Hong Kong semi-autonomy, which was theoretically guaranteed until 2020 within the framework of the principle “One country, two systems” which had governed the retrocession.