Wall Street Journal editorial: "China Moves on Hong Kong"

Wall Street Journal

OPINION

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

China Moves on Hong Kong

Beijing plans a new national-security law. Is Taiwan next?

By the Editorial Board

May 21, 2020

China’s forceful takeover of Hong Kong appears to have begun, and threats against Taiwan are rising. That’s the message this week as the National People’s Congress in Beijing moved to pass an onerous new security law for Hong Kong and the Chinese navy plans to practice an amphibious assault on an island controlled by Taiwan.

Under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised Hong Kong legal autonomy and the preservation of basic liberties, including freedom of speech, press and assembly. Yet Beijing is now seeking to bypass the Hong Kong Legislative Council and impose the national-security law unilaterally. This rule-by-diktat means the end of the “one country, two systems” arrangement that Beijing promised for 50 years after 1997.

Enforcement of the national-security legislation would erase the legal lines between Hong Kong and the mainland. By our deadline China’s Communist Party legislature hadn’t released a draft bill, but rest assured the purpose is to silence and punish dissent to prevent a repeat of last year’s mass protests in Hong Kong. For months Beijing has falsely accused protesters of seeking independence from the mainland and acting on behalf of a foreign “black hand.”

On Monday pro-Beijing lawmakers used a legally questionable procedure to seize control of a powerful Legislative Council committee that vets bills and schedules final votes. China’s Hong Kong surrogates can now move forward with legislation making disrespect of China’s national anthem a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. When pro-democracy lawmakers protested, security guards dragged some from the room. Legislator Ted Hui had to go to the hospital after he was kicked in the chest so hard he struggled to breathe, the South China Morning Post reported.

At a hearing Monday Hong Kong prosecutors signaled they may seek yearslong sentences for 15 pro-democracy activists arrested for their role in last year’s protests. They include Martin Lee, the father of the Hong Kong democracy movement, media tycoon Jimmy Lai, and other prominent advocates of peaceful protest. The cases will now be heard in district court, which has the authority to impose sentences of up to five years for those found guilty of participating or organizing unauthorized protests.

Meanwhile, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was sworn in for a second four-year term this week and used her inaugural remarks to reject “one country, two systems” for the island. Taiwanese can see that China isn’t keeping its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong. She called for “peace, parity, democracy, and dialogue” between the two Chinese governments. Beijing reacted by attacking Ms. Tsai’s party and saying reunification is “inevitable.”

To underscore the point, Reuters quoted Chinese sources last week as saying the People’s Liberation Army is planning a large-scale landing drill off Hainan Island in the South China Sea in August to simulate the possible seizure of the Taiwanese-held Pratas Island in the future. If Chinese President Xi Jinping needs a nationalist rallying cry, he might sign off on such an assault.

The only way to deter any of this is to make sure Beijing officials know they will pay a heavy price. Hong Kongers may feel they have no choice but to protest in the streets even at the risk of arrest and imprisonment. They may lose but they will expose Beijing’s ugly side to the world. A bipartisan group in the U.S. Congress is advancing legislation that would sanction officials who implement the national-security law. The U.S. will also have to sell more arms to help Taiwan defend itself.

Mr. Xi wants the world to think his China is a benign power that follows global rules, but in Hong Kong and Taiwan we are seeing the true nature of the current Communist regime. The world will have to adapt to this increasingly dangerous reality.