Hong Kong now and its future

More Hong Kong activists charged today under the Beijing China directed National Security Law

The action Sunday means that the number of people charged under the NSL has now multiplied by almost tenfold. After today, every prominent (and moderate) opposition voice in Hong Kong is either in jail, denied bail, or in exile.

— Shibani Mahtani (@ShibaniMahtani) February 28, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hong-kong-arrests-national-security-law/2021/02/28/7e6cd252-77ea-11eb-9489-8f7dacd51e75_story.html

Not good

, on Sunday afternoon, the Hong Kong pro-democracy activists fanned out to police stations across the territory, where more than 40 of them were officially charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” under the national security law, according to police. They were detained immediately, will be held overnight for a court session on Monday and face life in prison if found guilty.
The charging of such a large group represents the harshest and widest use of Beijing’s national security law in Hong Kong to date, dramatically increasing the number of people taken under the draconian legislation. Friends and family fear they will be denied bail and instead remain in detention before trial, like the five previously detained under the law

Its not it’s in thread title [ can a mod fix that]

Got it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56237688

Protesters gather outside court hearing

I am following this but never really have much to add on these threads. Feel bad that it's just you posting here at the moment, feels as if nobody gives a shit.

I saw some talk elsewhere that more than 300,000 refugees from Hong Kong will be coming to Britain. People on ILX will give a shit about that I think?

I definitely give a shit, it’s just that every time a democratorship flexes its authoritarian muscles, it’s hard not to feel utterly powerless.

The UK Conservative govt are all for encouraging some capitol flight out of Hong Kong, but I don't think they are going allow 300 000 with BNO passports to attain UK citizenship with their current track record on immigration!

I definitely give a shit, it’s just that every time a democratorship flexes its authoritarian muscles, it’s hard not to feel utterly powerless.

― pomenitul

Yeah, this is a lot of it for me too.

China has positioned itself so that few nations in the world can afford to challenge it over this crackdown on HK. Or over the Uighurs. Or Tibet. The leverage over the Chinese government to change this policy just doesn't exist.

i mean a lot of other major powers helped

'Western' capitalists could not help falling all over themselves to open up access to Chinese labor pools and Chinese markets. Look how much that partnership has weakened unions, the working poor, and the middle class in the wealthy nations, while pouring money into global financial industry and the 1%. This HK situation is just another piece of that Grand Bargain.

China have said that they don't recognise UK overseas passports now, so it is going to be hard for those 300,000 to leave HK, there may be a deal sorted out of some sort, but considering the post-Brexit desperation of the UK and the government's negotiation record, I'm not that optimistic.

I see after that tit for tat with Ofcom over CGTN last month the broadcasting of BBC WS was suspended in HK and same the Cantonese program in mainland China, but I'd imagine this would have been on the cards even without the tit for tat.