Hong Kong.Hong Kong media tycoon and founder of Apple Daily newspaper Jimmy Lai Chee Ying arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, May 18, 2020. / Credit: Yung Chi Wai Derek/Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 13, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).
A religious freedom advocate from Hong Kong is warning that proposed legislation could further restrict religious liberty and lead to the persecution of the Catholic Church and other Christians.
Frances Hui, a Hong Kong native who has political asylum in the United States, expressed concern about the possible enactment of the controversial proposal Article 23, which would expand a 2020 national security law. She made these comments during a Hudson Institute panel discussion on “The Repression of Hong Kong and Heroism of Jimmy Lai.”
Lai, a pro-democracy journalist and convert to Catholicism, was arrested on several charges under Hong Kong’s 2020 national security law and could face life in prison. His newspaper, Apple Daily, frequently published material critical of the Chinese Communist Party. Although the Chinese government charged him with colluding with foreign forces, critics of the prosecution claim that he — and hundreds of other political and religious dissidents — were arrested for their activism.
If enacted, Article 23 would expand the law to bolster the government’s crackdown on political dissidents, which has been ongoing for more than three and a half years.
The change would add new offenses, including a prohibition on external interference in Hong Kong, a prohibition on supporting external intelligence organizations, and a prohibition on electronic and computer activities without lawful authority that endangers national security, along with a prohibition on general sabotage activities, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
Hui, who serves as the policy and advocacy coordinator at the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said during the panel that the legislation would “target foreign organizations [and] their activities in Hong Kong,” which could be used against foreign Christian missionaries and Hong Kong Catholic Church communications with the Vatican.
“A lot of the small- to medium-scale church groups, the Catholic Church, and foreign missionaries would all be affected,” Hui said.
“We don’t know how they’re going to use this law to go against religious groups, but having this law passed and imposed in Hong Kong would be a great threat to religious groups in Hong Kong,” she added. “They are subject to legal prosecution. … The Catholic Church in Hong Kong … might have to stop their communication with the Vatican because it’s a foreign state.”
In such a scenario, Hui warned that the Catholic Church in Hong Kong could be forced to join the Catholic Patriotic Association, which the communist government established in 1957 to exert government control of Catholic churches in mainland China.
“We don’t know how they’re going to use this because it’s another vaguely written law, but … if they don’t like what you’re doing and they have targeted you, they have the law at their disposal to use that to threaten you and put you in jail,” Hui said.
The legislation was first proposed more than 20 years ago in 2002, but the effort was rejected after widespread backlash from the people of Hong Kong, journalist associations, and Western governments. The effort, however, was revived by Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in 2022. On Jan. 30, Lee began a one-month consultation period on the proposal.
“I think this is something the world and the American government should pay attention to and [should] speak up against it,” Hui said.
Nearly 300 people in Hong Kong, including Lai, have been arrested since the government updated the national security law in 2020. Critics believe this is a crackdown on free speech and political opposition.
“The biggest goal of [the national security law] is to stifle dissidents,” Hui said. “It has destroyed freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press. It’s a very vaguely written law that pretty much applies to the whole civil society.”
The United States Congressional Executive Commission on China has encouraged President Joe Biden’s administration to issue sanctions against the judges and prosecutors involved in Lai’s case and similar cases.
Member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board William McGurn, who is Lai’s godfather and has known him for decades, said during the panel that he believes Lai would also want people to not forget “the other people locked up that don’t have his name recognition or friendliness with Western reporters and politicians.”
“I think … he stayed in Hong Kong to be with them to choose sides,” McGurn said. “Same with Cardinal [Joseph] Zen … [who] was not prosecuted under the national security charges [but] was on these other charges of organizing a group without official regulatory permission.”
In November 2022, Zen was convicted on charges of failing to register a fund that helped pay for the legal fees and medical treatments of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters. He has appealed that conviction.
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation published a report on Jan. 30 that found that religious freedom is “deteriorating” in the city amid a “hostile takeover” from the Chinese Communist Party.
According to the report, Catholic and other Christian groups have faced accusations of supporting “violent protests” and colluding with “foreign organizations” under the 2020 national security law.
In addition to persecuting Christians, critics have accused the Chinese Communist Party of persecuting Uyghur Muslims and followers of Falun Gong, a religious and political movement.
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We are trying to attract people to come to the Catholic faith, but when we listen to political sermons at Sunday mass on TV basically ordering people to follow and stand behind Trump who does not behave or is in the image of GOD, we are getting disgusted with our faith. We have pre-existing conditions & have not been at any gatherings, including church, but we do not miss it on TV.
We are horrified at Catholic statues being destroyed, but even more horrified at listening to the priest serving mass from Alabama- 8A.M. Sunday Aug 2, 2020. As we watched him encouraging parishioners from the pulpit to vote for Trump. Trump is NOT in GOD’s image. We are sick of listening to politics being preached from the pulpit.
The priest said there have been attacks on the church/destruction of statues, etc. and proceeded to say he wasn’t choosing one political party over another. Except, that is exactly what he proceeded to preach. He said,”The party in power defends the church in God’s rights with straight lines and the other party has crooked lines who defends people who do violence.” He said, “Some people don’t like the existing party, but that all Catholics are called to protect the church.”
We didn’t hear a word when Trump attacked immigrants, caged & separated babies from their mothers, nor about Trump and GOP filing a lawsuit to take away healthcare from millions, nor does he ever attend church, but does hold up the Bible for a phony political prop, after he ordered the beating/gassing of peaceful protestors-NOT a word from the pulpit.
Where was this priest when neo-Nazis carried torches, yelling hateful speech, or drove a car into a peaceful crowd & killed a woman, or when Trump attacks freedoms under our democracy, calls the media the enemy of the people because they hold politicians accountable to do & speak truth to power, or when Trump paid off strippers, or he grabs women by their privates, or lied to Americans that he didn’t have any business interests in Russia when he did & was trying for a new hotel, or when Trump pretends he is against abortion while many Republicans, including the past head of the RNC got caught paying off a woman to have an abortion, or Trump & his associates or friends, like Epstein, abused& trafficked in young girls.
So, do NOT preach to Americans to support a person who is so far away from the teachings of GOD, immoral and NOT in the IMAGE OF THE LORD.
Did it ever dawn on Evangelicals/Catholics/protestant religions that the neo-Nazi hateful white nationalists are doing all this evil destruction against statues to get stupid Catholics riled up against Biden?
There was none of this hateful violence under Pres Clinton, Pres. Obama, but you are willing to accept it under Trump because he is passing legislation/policies that allow religions to get even more involved in politics. Our founding fathers saw this to be a problem which is why there is a separation of church and state.
It is everyone’s freedom to believe in the religion and their beliefs as they wish, NOT for a religion to demand that all people have to have their beliefs or they will go to hell.That is NOT what freedom is in a democracy. That is a dictator/authoritarian state as in Russia, China, Hungary, etc.
It hard to sale God’s teachings when the Catholic faith is standing behind Trump and all his evil. We don’t believe in abortion, but we don’t believe in such an immoral president.
So, STOP preaching for Americans to support TRUMP, a false GOD and please do preach Jesus’ teachings.
Mr. Dawson ,
It’s still mostly a free country and free speech is important, so you have every right to a bit of political preaching yourself on a Catholic site.
🙂