Hong Kong: 5 Years Under the National Security Law

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Jul 3, 2025 - 10:08 Updated: Jul 3, 2025 - 09:58
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Hong Kong: 5 Years Under the National Security Law
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Commentary

Time flies, and Hong Kong is now at the five-year point since communist China imposed the national security law on the city. A review is in order.

The national security law was Beijing’s response to the 2019 protests in Hong Kong. These protests were sparked by the Hong Kong government’s attempt to amend its extradition law, which would have allowed the extradition of individuals from Hong Kong to mainland China, including foreigners present in the city. Why did the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) want it?
Beijing’s urgency arose from the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder. The Canadian authorities extradited her to the United States at the request of the U.S. government, which accused Meng of seriously violating export control laws.

The CCP retaliated by arbitrarily jailing two Canadians in China. Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who had been trumpeting the practice of (CCP style) rule of law, may have preferred that such actions be carried out by Hong Kong on behalf of Beijing, as it could have given a sense of judicial respectability—something Hong Kong still possessed at that time. However, Xi miscalculated the situation.

The six-month-long uprising that ensued was visually phenomenal, but the crucial consequence was the mainstreaming of Hong Kong independence, a notion that started in the early 2010s. It gained steam during the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, with the pro-democracy group Demosisto, led by Joshua Wong, advocating for “self-determination for Hong Kong” in their political platform. Still, it lacked majority support, especially among the older generation. But the new sentiment got a major boost during the 2019 protests and has become the dominant mindset among the opposition across all age groups.

The sea change in Hongkongers’ loyalty occurred in less than 10 years, and this is not without historical precedent. In fact, a striking parallel exists between Hong Kong’s situation and the events leading up to the 13 American colonies in the run-up to 1776, with the latter described in great detail by historian Pauline Maier in her book, “From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition to Britain, 1765-1776.”
Even more striking is that the parallel had one cause in common: extradition. The American Declaration of Independence listed 27 grievances that explained to the world why the colonists were severing their ties to Britain. Grievance No. 19 was extradition: “For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.”

Extradition is potent stuff, and the arrogant CCP did not understand that.

Once Hongkongers began struggling for independence, the imposition of the draconian national security law was inevitable. The CCP could tolerate and just ignore for years the millions in the streets marching for democracy, but cannot accept independence for even a single day. Thus, the CCP’s suppression in Hong Kong is more about independence than democracy.

Clearly, Hong Kong cannot maintain its status as a world-class financial center with an internationally trusted rule of law after the imposition of the national security law. Beijing is aware of this but has chosen to accept the consequences.

What new roles is the Chinese regime assigning to the “new” Hong Kong? I identify two below.

Military

Since 1997, Hong Kong has been home to some 20 military bases of all three forces of the People’s Liberation Army. It has also set up a dedicated military hospital across the border in Shenzhen. It has refused to allow alternate uses for the old Kai Tak Airport runway and has, against all advice, built a third runway at the newer Hong Kong International Airport. The excess runway capacity could easily be converted to military use.

PLA jets taking off from Hong Kong can quickly reach the Penghu Archipelago, also known as the Pescadores, which is Taiwan’s first line of effective defense.

The Hong Kong government has also developed a vast, deep-water pier for cruise ships, capable of berthing Chinese aircraft carriers. I believe Hong Kong’s freight logistics hubs are far superior to those on the Fujian seaboard facing Taiwan and will be highly useful in an attack against Taiwan.

Global Infiltration

The Chinese regime uses Hong Kong as a means to infiltrate the international community and spread its influence.
Three major incidents easily come to mind.

Patrick Ho Chi-ping Case

Ho was a Harvard-trained eye doctor and possibly a closet communist who became Hong Kong’s home affairs secretary from 2002 to 2007. After that tenure, he became a top executive of the Chinese state-owned conglomerate China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), promoting Beijing’s energy interests and Belt and Road Initiative, also known as One Belt, One Road.
Ho was indicted in the United States in 2019 and spent 36 months in prison. He was found guilty of bribing officials in Chad and Uganda to secure oil and business deals for CEFC. His movement in the Western world was facilitated by his Hong Kong camouflage.

Huis Ten Bosch Case

Huis Ten Bosch is a Dutch style amusement park in Sasebo, Japan, about 9 miles from a large U.S. naval base and Japanese military facilities, connected by a safe public waterway.

On Aug. 30, 2022, PAG, a giant investment company registered in Hong Kong with ties to Beijing, announced its purchase of the theme park. The $720 million transaction went through unchallenged, even a year after Japan passed a law restricting property purchases near sensitive sites.

The chairperson of PAG, Shan Weijian, is from mainland China and could be a CCP operative.

Primavera Capital Group Case

Hong Kong-based Primavera owns elite private schools in the United States through a company it controls, the Spring Education Group.
Primavera’s CEO, Fred Zuliu Hu, was allegedly a senior member of the CCP, according to a New York Post investigative report. He is a Harvard University graduate with a doctorate in economics and holds advisory roles at both Harvard and Columbia University.

Primavera also owns The Princeton Review and Tutor.com.

Primavera schools represent the K-12 equivalent of the college-level Confucius Institute, which is supported by China’s United Front.

From a sleepy fishing village to a top-notch financial center in Asia, the transformation of Hong Kong took its people a century and a half of hard work. From there, it took the Chinese regime just five short years to turn it into an economically stagnant city that primarily serves Beijing’s interests. The CCP has the anti-Midas touch—a remarkable ability to reverse progress.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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