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ASEAN furtively looks on as China introduces Hong Kong security legislation

ASEAN governments are silently observing the deliberation of China’s upcoming national security legislation on Hong Kong, following waves of protests last year over concerns that the special administrative region’s freedom and rule of law are being curtailed

Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, May 28, 2020

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ASEAN furtively looks on as China introduces Hong Kong security legislation

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SEAN governments are silently observing the deliberation of China’s upcoming national security legislation on Hong Kong, following waves of protests last year over concerns that the special administrative region’s freedom and rule of law are being curtailed.

Last year, thousands of people took to the streets week after week in what started out as a protest against an extradition bill that would enable China to put a tighter grip on Hong Kong’s affairs.

The movement gradually snowballed into a bigger fight to protect the self-ruled city’s democratic institutions, although the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced the intensity of the protests.

In a staggered response, Beijing announced last week that it would introduce a new legal framework and enforcement mechanism to safeguard national security in Hong Kong in a bid to protect its “core national interests”.

The draft legislation was submitted to the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China for deliberation on Friday, and since then China has sought out support from the international community through its diplomatic missions around the globe.

Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Deng Xijun appealed to the regional organization’s member states and said that his government intended to protect its interests in relation to Hong Kong.

“I think there are many relations between Hong Kong and ASEAN countries in terms of economic cooperation and commerce,” he told The Jakarta Post during a recent virtual briefing.

To ensure that cooperation between mainland China, Hong Kong and ASEAN remains protected, the envoy said it was necessary to pass the national security legislation.

“Of course, I hope that ASEAN countries can understand and support China’s action,” he said.

ASEAN member states, and most other countries around the world, recognize the One China Policy, a diplomatic acknowledgment of China’s position that there is only one Chinese state, of which special administrative regions (SAR), such as Hong Kong, are parts.

However, China views the protests that began in March last year as having brought instability to the semiautonomous region, which it claims is leading it to the brink of a recession that could raise concerns among many of Hong Kong’s trade partners, including ASEAN countries.

Deng claimed the legislation would protect the “vast majority” of Hong Kong people who abide by the law, which was “not only the fundamental interest of Hong Kong society but also the common interest of the international community, including ASEAN member states.”

ASEAN signed a free trade agreement with Hong Kong in 2017 covering trade in goods and services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, dispute settlement mechanisms and other related areas. The agreement entered into force last year after five member states – Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – ratified the deal.

In the past few years, ASEAN has become Hong Kong’s second-largest merchandise trade partner, according to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta. The city has also become an important entry port for trade between mainland China and ASEAN.

Most ASEAN member states have refrained from making any overt statements about the legislation, with the exception of Cambodia, whose Foreign Ministry said the draft law was “the sovereign right of China as an independent country”.

“Cambodia consistently adheres to the One China Policy and considers affairs of the Hong Kong special administrative region as the internal affairs of the People’s Republic of China,” Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said as quoted by Xinhua news agency.

Officials from Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry have refused to comment until the legislation is passed.

However, a group of lawmakers and human rights experts from ASEAN states, including Charles Santiago, chairman of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), and Myanmarese human rights lawyer U Kyaw Min San, have signed a joint statement issued Sunday condemning Beijing’s “unilateral introduction of national security legislation in Hong Kong”.

Yuyun Wahyuningrum, Indonesia’s representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), also joined the petition, together with her predecessor Rafendi Djamin.

Yuyun said that the human rights situation in Hong Kong was already declining because of the draft law, noting police brutality against protesters. “I am very concerned with the police brutality against the protestors who express their disagreement with the draft law. In fact, the draft law on national security is a challenge to the rule of law and fundamental freedoms,” she told the Post.

In addition to being a robust trade partner for countries in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong also plays host to more than 180,000 Indonesians – mostly domestic migrant workers – making it one of the places with the highest concentrations of Indonesian diaspora.

As the protests unraveled, Indonesians living in the city had begun to feel the adverse effects.

One of the most notable examples was when Indonesian journalist Veby Mega Indah was shot by a rubber bullet from a Hong Kong police officer as she was reporting on the protests, leaving her permanently blind in one eye.

“[The migrant workers] now have to deal with fear of being in public places as they may get injured,” Yuyun said.

However, the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta asserted in a statement also issued on Friday that maintaining Hong Kong’s prosperity and long-term stability was “also in accordance with the common interests of foreign nationals in Hong Kong SAR, including Indonesian citizens.”

 

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