Hong Kong: A Tale of Three Cities?

October 16, 2024 21:58

It is eye-opening to see Hong Kong from both within and from afar. Doing that can make a single city morph into a tale of three cities. In one tale, all of Hong Kong’s freedoms are intact. In the other, the weight of two national security laws has flattened those freedoms. A third one, yet to be imagined, can tell a compelling good Hong Kong story.

A businessman friend I ran into during my Hong Kong visit earlier this year wondered where I had been for so long. When I told him I now spend much of my time visiting relatives in the US, he scoffed and said Hong Kong is the best place to live.

Some friends I grew up with, including classmates, emigrated years ago for new opportunities. Those who chose to remain, including some of my relatives, say new national security laws have brought stability without eroding freedoms.

They love Hong Kong’s lifestyle with its many international cuisine restaurants, affordable foreign domestic helpers, low taxes, excellent transport, including to the mainland, and proximity to tourist hotspots like Thailand and Japan.

Scratching that surface produces a different tale, one of Hongkongers who say they no longer dare talk politics. Those who feel a need to express their gloom do it privately to those they trust. They want to leave, like the tens of thousands who have in recent years but can’t for various reasons.

Strangers I meet when walking in Hong Kong who followed my columns and TV shows say they are glad I am back, but some lament Hong Kong has changed. They are guarded when I ask in what way.

I am now in the US where the tale gets darker. A Ukrainian lady who did my facial at a spa in Atlanta asked where I was from. When I told her I was born in Hong Kong, she linked what she had read about diminished freedoms in Hong Kong to what Russia wants to do to Ukraine.

After leaving Hong Kong in 2021 to spend much of my time in the US, some friends and neighbors I met when I lived in Washington DC and Seattle tell me they now worry whenever I return to Hong Kong. An Australian friend who worked in Hong Kong for decades and is now retired in his home country told me he no longer dares visit Hong Kong.

A curious Uber driver who took me to Los Angeles airport asked where I was going. When I said Hong Kong, he said he had seen US media reports and government statements that warned Americans to avoid unnecessary travel there.

Critics have long complained that the red lines in the national security laws are too vague. Hong Kong friends and classmates who have settled in places such as the US and UK sometimes joke that they searched but couldn’t find the freedom Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu assured was in the pockets of Hongkongers.

This tale of two cities emerged when Beijing and Hong Kong implemented two national security laws in the aftermath of the 2019 social unrest. The months-long protests were sparked by a controversial extradition bill that permitted certain suspects to face trial on the mainland.

Can Hong Kong craft a third, softer and less divisive, tale? Former housing and transport secretary Anthony Cheung Bing-leung believes it can by finally drawing a line under the 2019 unrest. He recently encouraged the government to repair Hong Kong’s international image by promoting rallies and public debates on significant issues.

He feels Hong Kong should still value ties with the US and Europe while seeking new markets, prove assemblies are still allowed, be less combative when responding to Western media criticism, and drop the remaining 6,000 cases of mostly young people arrested during the 2019 protests if there is insufficient evidence to charge them. Over 10,000 were arrested and about 3,000 prosecuted.

I wrote in this newspaper in December 2022 that the government should close the remaining 6,000 cases if it lacks evidence to charge them. More than five years have passed since the protests. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Peaceful protests had always been a part of Hong Kong. It was painful to see many 2019 protests marred by violence. Hong Kong has overcome the chaos from the unrest that divided the city like never before. It now needs a healing process which, I know, Beijing must approve. Maybe healing the scars will help the city achieve the chief executive’s goal of moving from stability to prosperity.

I grew up in Hong Kong at a time when the world envied its top-class financial status, rule of law and media freedom. These values were like a badge of honor as a Hongkonger during my time as a journalist in London and the US. British and American politicians admired the city’s Lion Rock spirit.

Hong Kong’s two national security laws knocked a hole in that admiration. Politicians, people, and the media in the West now see Hong Kong as a city with lost freedoms. It will take much effort to reverse that perception. It’s possible over time with the right policies if Hong Kong believes it’s necessary.

The Lion Rock Spirit much of the world marveled at is not dead, as some claim. It is still in the psyche of Hong Kong people. It can resurface if the government and the people want to turn the page.

A Hong Kong-born American citizen who has worked for many years as a journalist in Hong Kong, the USA and London.