Could China be seeing Hongkongers’ visa applications? - BBC Newsnight

 

Protests in China this week against Covid restrictions and the country's authoritarian rule were reminiscent of the violent crackdown seen in Hong Kong two years ago.  Since then the UK has given sanctuary to more than 140,000 people from the former British territory.  Many of those applied for visas through a locally based private company that carries out work on behalf of the Home Office. But Newsnight and BBC Eye has learned of concerns over who has access to the information of those applying for visas. 

Hong Kong media outlet Stand News to close after police raid

The most prominent pro-democracy media outlet still operating in Hong Kong, Stand News, said it will shut down after police raided its offices, froze its assets and arrested senior journalists and former board members including pop star Denise Ho.

Authorities deployed an anti-sedition law in their crackdown that was drawn up under British colonial rule and had not been used for decades. A senior police officer accused the online site of “inciting hatred” against the Hong Kong government in news articles and interviews.

Activists warned this approach could be used to criminalise almost any critical reporting on the Hong Kong government, and the UN and media watchdogs CPJ and RSF condemned the crackdown as an attack on press freedom.

In 1997 after years of negotiation between China and Great Briton Hong Kong was handed back after more than 100 years as a British colony.  The terms negotiated allowed for a free press and speech, universal suffrage and to be free of interference from the mainland for 50 years.  As Xi Jinping consolidated his power after becoming premier the political atmosphere began to change in Hong Kong.  One of the most alarming changes was the kidnaping of several book store owners whose shops sold works critical of Xi Jinping and the CCP.   These men would turn up months later on CCTV confessing to crimes that weren't crimes in Hong Kong. It was the start of a campaign of intimidation that has only escalated since 2019 and the pro democracy protests that took place in the city over the now imposed national security law.  

Hong Kong elections: How China reshaped the city

 

Hong Kong's unique freedoms have been removed one by one by Beijing through a national security law and an electoral "patriots" rule.

Ahead of the Legislative Council (Legco) elections on 19 December, and as more people have been sentenced to jail, we explain how Hong Kong’s global identity has changed forever.

Hong Kong man first to be jailed under national security law - BBC News

 

A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to nine years in prison after he rode a motorbike into police officers while flying a flag with a protest slogan.

Is Hong Kong now a police state?

 

A year after China imposed a new sweeping security law, Hong Kong is a city transformed. Pro-democratic voices have been silenced, Chinese patriotism has been mandated in schools and media faces swift censorship.

The law criminalises secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. So far, it has been used to arrest more than 100 people, mostly activists, politicians and journalists.

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily to shut down after arrests, asset freeze

 

Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has printed its last edition. It has been forced to close after its assets were frozen and top executives arrested under Beijing's national security law.

Hong Kong sends 500 officers in pro-democracy paper raid

Some 500 policemen raided the offices of pro-democracy paper Apple Daily in Hong Kong, alleging its reports breached a national security law. Police also arrested the editor-in-chief and four other executives at their homes and froze HK$18m ($2.3m; £1.64m) of assets owned by three companies linked to Apple Daily.
 

Can China quell dissent in Hong Kong?

 

China is cracking down hard on the popular democratic movement in the former British colony.

It is a movement that swelled into the millions, winning the backing of leaders and the public around the world.

And it has been championed as one of the 21st century’s most important social movements.

Germany slow to condemn China's Hong Kong security law

The approval of Hong Kong’s new security law, which outlaws criticism of the Chinese government, has sparked strong reactions from governments around the world. While Germany expressed concern for Hong Kong’s independence, the country stopped short of taking a stronger stance against Beijing. Many in Germany believe the government should do more to support Hong Kong and stand up to China.

What China's new security law means for Hong Kong

Beijing has imposed sweeping new national security legislation on Hong Kong, criminalising 'secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces'. Critics fear the law will enable a crackdown on protest and dissent as China seeks to exert new levels of control over the semi-autonomous territory. The Guardian's Beijing bureau chief, Lily Kuo, explains what this means for the city after a year of unrest

Hong Kong police enforces first arrests under new security law | DW News

Hong Kong police have used water cannon to disperse activists protesting against the new security law imposed on the territory by Beijing. The demonstrators had gathered in the Causeway Bay shopping district, where police warned them that they might face arrest and prosecution for displaying pro-independence banners. Dozens of arrests were made. Then a water cannon drove up and began dispersing the protesters. The new security law targets secession, subversion and terrorism, with punishments of up to life in prison.

China passes controversial Hong Kong security law

China's National People's Congress has passed a controversial security law for Hong Kong that critics fear will give Beijing more control over the semi-autonomous territory. A standing committee of the Congress unanimously approved the bill. Beijing says it aims to tackle sedition, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. It has drawn international criticism for being at odds with the "one country, two systems" policy agreed by China when it took control of the former British colony in 1997.