tim's experiment

Just when you thought Hong Kong was getting too quiet, Secretary for Security Chris Tang is offering us a “colour revolution”.

In case you missed it, this began last week at three local universities, where students – mostly from the mainland — demonstrated in support of protests which were occurring in many cities in China, mainly about stringent Covid restrictions and censorship.

The number of students involved seems to have been quite small. Seven people in a protest at Hong Kong U, followed by two people putting up posters, only one of whom was still there when police arrived. Posters also appeared at HKBU, and it seems there was a small gathering at Chinese U.

This doesn’t sound much: a small overflow from mainland student disturbances, no local implications, no violence, no personal attacks. Could this be a routine exercise of the freedoms which we are still said to enjoy?

Not according to Mr Tang, who was in full bloodhound mode. The events were “highly organised” on anti-China media platforms. They endangered national security. Is national security so fragile?

Some of the slogans, said Mr Tang, might violate the national security law because they involved words such as “revolution”, “autocracy” and “urging the leader to step down.” He also thought that “Some people who actively participated in the 2019 unrest were involved. This is not a coincidence.”

Not a coincidence, but also very difficult to believe. Three quarters of the people who were students in 2019 should have graduated by now, apart from those in prison. Mainland students were not conspicuously supportive in 2019 and in any case many of them are graduates who are only here for a year or two.

Still, this is a factual matter which sensible people can discuss. Not content with this sort of material, though, Mr Tang swept on to prophecy: “We’ve noticed signs of a colour revolution. Next they’ll make up false news, protest manuals and theme songs to smear the central government before taking to the street.”

This is totally unwarranted and imaginative. It is as if your local vicar, finding that some people had removed money from the collection plate instead of putting it in, predicted that the miscreants would go on to steal the lead off the church roof, hold Satanic ceremonies in the side chapel and do unspeakable things to the choirboys.

Some reassurance is clearly needed, along the lines of “Grandma, just because there is a sparrow on the lawn does not mean that buzzards will soon swoop on your cat and ostriches will pillage the vegetable plot.”

It is a fundamental fact of life that every oak tree started with an acorn, but very few acorns manage actually to turn into oak trees. Similarly even if every revolution (if I may use that dangerous word) starts with student protests it does not follow that every student protest leads to a revolution.

It is difficult to see why Mr Tang feels compelled to channel his inner Nostradamus in public. Is he suffering from some variation on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Post Disorder Traumatic Stress, perhaps) or just dumb?

While it is nice to see senior officials offering exciting material for local news media, it seems that Mr Tang is neglecting an important part of his job. As he said in a speech last August, “The freedom of speech in Hong Kong is protected by the Basic Law and National Security Law. It is allowed to criticize the government and express opinions urging the government to make development, citizens who make these actions enjoy the legal defence.”

It is nice to know that the freedom of speech is protected by the Basic Law and the National Security Law. It would be nicer if it was also protected by him. Covid prevention and censorship are legitimate topics for public discussion in a society enjoying freedom of speech. Such discussion should be possible without senior officials leaping into action with complaints about hypothetical future behaviour and predictions that some slogans “may violate the national security law”.

The national security law already appears very vague and constant warnings of possible violations are not improving its reputation. What is wrong with “urging the leader to step down”? Could one, without committing an offence, urge Mr Tang to step down?