A New Era of Hong Kong Resistance

Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the Handover and Xi’s Visit

Washington, DC (Thursday, June 30) - The Campaign for Hong Kong releases the following statement from Samuel Chu:

"The 25th handover anniversary parallels the original occasion in 1997 because of who is not there - the people of Hong Kong. They are once more denied the participation in determining their future.

The betrayal to Hong Kongers is complete, and this year's ceremony marks the end of all the promises and guarantees Beijing had made. And who will not be visible and will not even be allowed to show themselves in public? The people of Hong Kong.

Either by design or by mistake - the official propaganda promotion featuring the '1997-2022' fittingly acknowledges the very public death of 'One Country Two Systems' and 'Hong Kongers governing Hong Kong.'

The extent to which the authorities have continued to suppress and intimidate everyday Hong Kongers exposes Beijing's deep anxiety and concerns. The CCP has deployed its usual 'playbook' - to preemptively arrest, detain, and intimidate individuals and groups leading up to and during important dates and anniversaries. This is further bolstered by the attempt to rewrite history, going as far as rewriting school textbooks to claim that Hong Kong was never a British colony. But if that's the case, why are they marking the anniversary of something that didn't happen?

The arrests, physical lockdowns, and the barring of certain media outlets from covering Xi's visit reflect Xi's fear and insecurity about what Hong Kong still represents.

I believe that these repressive tactics - proven effective in the mainland and shown to have crushed the public display of dissent in Hong Kong in the short term - will not achieve what Beijing hopes it would.

People do not forget what they have lived in their bodies, witnessed with their eyes, and written in history and their minds. They don't forget massacres, the gassing, and beating by police; they don't forget picking up and reading Apple Daily, nor do they see Victoria Park without remembering the candle lights.

Xi remains so fearful and aggressive in his quest to maintain absolute control because as long as Hong Kongers still breathe and remember, the city continues to be a base of resistance and influence and thus an existential threat to the CCP's one-party regime.

Even now, Hong Kong is not just another mainland city but more closely resembles the regions of Tibet and Xinjiang - where the people and their unique culture, identity, and aspiration cannot simply be erased or replaced. It is up to all of us to connect those places and communities of struggle.

This anniversary also marks the largest number of Hong Kongers who have fled the city and are living overseas at any point in history. And they are embracing their unique identity more than ever.

This is the end of an era - but it will not end the struggle for a free and democratic Hong Kong and China. We are in a new era of subversive and global resistance for Hong Kong."

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