China is changing Hong Kong’s electoral process and such change will ensure that only loyal people can reach power in China. The US, Australia and European countries have criticized this move by China, but it is also not easy to accurately assess what the reaction is in Hong Kong. People who are afraid of China’s growing influence on this city are considering it as a turning point for Hong Kong on the other hand most people in Hong Kong now do not want to talk about it.
In fact, in the last few years it has become increasingly difficult to get the opinion of Hong Kong people on relationships with China. In Hong Kong, now those who support China are easily found in place of the voices of open protest.
Penny Sun is an online influencer who has millions of followers on social media stated that she fully supports the changes being made on behalf of China because the political people of Hong Kong must be patriots. Comparing the 2019 protests to the riots, she says that she now feels more independent than at that time and also during the riots, she was afraid that she should not be attacked because of what she speak.
Adding to the statement she said that people who supported China at the time of demonstrations could not speak openly because they were afraid that some problem might arise and this was not Hong Kong we knew.
At the same time, other people believe that this will be true only for those whose views have been received from China, for those who oppose China; the situation will be difficult for them.
Will the deed lead to Hong Kong to go back twenty years?
The leaders of the opposition are most affected by the new changes and they are still speaking against it, even if it is only for some time. Qin Hei, the chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, says that Hong Kong will go back twenty years with these changes.
His party’s financial secretary, Ramon Yuen Hoi Maan, says China’s leadership is crushing democracy in Hong Kong and is breaking the people’s right to vote in the city’s constitution.
The Constitution of Hong Kong is also called Basic Law.
And now the difficult question in front of Qin Hei and other pro-democracy leaders is whether they will continue to participate in elections or will take any other route. On which
Professor Lee of Nanyang Technical University says that there may be no place for political and social influence for them and it’s too late now the Chinese government will never withdraw its decision under public or international pressure.
But he fears that many people think of themselves as good and will leave Hong Kong.
Britain has opened its doors to the people of Hong Kong. Those born before handing Hong Kong to China in 1999 can take a special UK visa under which there will also be a possibility of getting UK citizenship.
Professor Lee says that this would be an expensive option for most people because it would be impossible for the majority of Hong Kong ordinary people to wrap up their lives and then settle elsewhere.
He says that even though many people are unhappy with the changes being imposed on behalf of China, political rights are not mandatory for life.
Pointing to the people of China’s mainland, he says that it is also argued to ‘compromise political interests for economic benefits’ because citizens in China have compromised their political rights for as long as the leadership of the country is bringing economic progress.
Is China afraid of a reaction or not?
Rapid changes that china has implemented have surprised many people and analysts who were tracking the situation from outside. Last year, China passed the National Security Law,
Under which the spirit of protest and connivance with foreign people was declared a crime, for which a provision of life imprisonment has been provided. Such was quite disputed and now the government is changing the rules regarding elections.
Professor Lee says that he expected that these changes would be made even faster. He says, “The Chinese leaders were afraid that if they retreat to Hong Kong, there may be a chain reaction among the people living in the mainland.” Adding on the above point of view he also stated that it is surprising that China relied on the administration of Hong Kong to control the situation, However, when the second major protests took place in 2019, the Left leaders decided to intervene directly on the issues of Hong Kong so that only sources of opposition related to democratic representation, civil networks and education system could be eliminated.
And now two years later, speaking against China has been declared a crime and the leaders of the opposition can be easily kept outside the Parliament.
Professor Lee says, “China will not back down.” It is absolutely certain. The right to vote is like a hindrance in the way of the Communist Party’s power.
