That the “Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic
Democratic Movements of China”, now under the stewardship of a barrister, has
flatly rejected a request by the Hong Kong police for information related to an
investigation of the group’s activities shows it continues to willfully
challenge the law.
The remaining operatives of the group, which set toppling
China’s political system as its only political objective, are still clinging to
the illusion that with the support of their foreign patrons, particularly
politicians in Washington, they can defy Hong Kong laws.
No matter how much bravado the operatives of the alliance display in the face of Hong Kong police’s law enforcement, the collapse of the alliance is inevitable, since the introduction of the national security law means there is no wiggle room in Hong Kong for anti-China groups anymore.
It is a gamble they have no chance of winning.
“Endangering national security is a very serious crime,” the
city’s Security Bureau said in a statement.
With the promulgation of the National Security Law for the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the summer of last year,
organizations that were actively engaged in anti-China activities in Hong Kong
in the name of “democracy” have been subject to police investigations.
Although the group denies the accusation, it is under
investigation for working for foreign interests. Police have asked the alliance
to hand over any information about groups it has worked with overseas or in
Taiwan. Not handing over information could lead to fines or imprisonment.
No matter how much bravado the operatives of the alliance
display in the face of Hong Kong police’s law enforcement, the collapse of the
alliance is inevitable, since the introduction of the national security law
means there is no wiggle room in Hong Kong for anti-China groups anymore.
Their Western patrons will have to resign themselves to the
fact that the proxies they have painstakingly supported in Hong Kong over the
years now have to be written off the balance sheet.
Despite any claims to the contrary by its members, the group
openly aligned itself with external forces, lobbying foreign organizations to
interfere in Hong Kong affairs and urging the United States to impose sanctions
on Hong Kong. The alliance’s leaders have colluded with US politicians in
coming up with sanctions against Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland; and they
have been core members of some organizations supported and financed by the
National Endowment for Democracy, a US government agency tasked with promoting
regime change in countries or regions that Washington dislikes. They have been
suspected of colluding with Taiwan and Xinjiang separatists in hosting
subversive activities against the nation.
No chest-thumping defiance can deter the police
investigation into these activities. All organizations that have endangered
national security or undermined public order in Hong Kong face legal
accountability for their actions.