Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00to be
00:00:00convicted
00:00:06in the face
00:00:06of
00:00:06of the street protests, the extradition bill was
00:00:09suspended, but the movement showed no sign of losing
00:00:14of momentum. five years after the failure
00:00:17of the umbrella movement,
00:00:19a hong kongers were once again demanding universal
00:00:21sufferage. Joshua Wang's
00:00:25charisma and ideas continued to inspire the
00:00:27movement. At just... 43 years old, he had become
00:00:31one
00:00:31of the leading figures of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.
00:00:35At the time he shared his concerns with me as he prepared to
00:00:39challenge Beijing through the ballot box. Election in Hong Kong
00:00:43is manipulated by Beijing, even they lock me up in prison,
00:00:47censor me out from a baylot. Our determination to fight for
00:00:51democracy would never been
00:00:53eroded.
00:01:00"as the authorities intensified their crackdown, part
00:01:04of the protest movement became more
00:01:06radical. The
00:01:09most determined
00:01:11a activists even stormed the parliament building, targeting the
00:01:15symbols of power
00:01:19of of itself.
00:01:24In 2019, we had seven months of
00:01:27wits, our legislative..."
00:01:30of council building was vandalized, it was occupied,
00:01:34university campuses were occupied, police
00:01:37vans were set on fire, national flags were thrown
00:01:41into the harbor, which caus lot
00:01:44of of alarm to
00:01:47of Beijing. Stability is the most
00:01:51important thing, and for Hong Kong, we need stability as well, because
00:01:55if we become unstable, we're part of China, it creates
00:01:58instability. China.
00:02:02Billionaire Alan Seaman moves within the circles of
00:02:06power. A close advisor
00:02:10to Hong Kong's chief
00:02:11of executive, he's one
00:02:12of the few figures still willing
00:02:14of to speak publicly about the unrest that shook the city.
00:02:18Between democracy and business, the property magnate
00:02:22has made his choice. China does not
00:02:25need western democracy, because if I look around the
00:02:28world, United States. has problems, Canada has
00:02:31problems, Europe, a bigger mess, UK,
00:02:35of France, Germany, all all the countries around the
00:02:39world that practice western democracy in this sphere does
00:02:43not work, and that's why I became Chinese, because I
00:02:47really think that is the future. I had to give out my Canadian
00:02:50passport, and uh, I'm very happy, I really
00:02:54trust China
00:02:56wholeheartedly.
00:03:02As 2019 drew
00:03:03of to
00:03:03a close, Hong Kongers were still taking to the streets 7 months after
00:03:07the movement began, but in Beijing the response was
00:03:11already being
00:03:12prepared. In his
00:03:15new
00:03:16of year's address to the nation, the Chinese president commented publicly on
00:03:20the situation in Hong Kong for the first time and issued a
00:03:23warning,
00:03:26in 近幾個月, 香港局.
00:03:30有 奔 历 。 心 腾 常 有 。 风 史 平 和
00:03:34不 吸 浪 境
00:03:39颇
00:03:39of 涛
00:03:40大 家 胸 , 涌 的 。 也 我 们 不 惧 风 雨 ,
00:03:43也 不 为 闲 主
00:03:45。
00:04:03of
00:04:22of of
00:04:26of
00:04:37I think that the rots had the effect of hardening
00:04:41the Chinese government's attitude, and it led
00:04:45directly to the imposition by Beijing
00:04:48of national security
00:04:50law.
00:04:55of
00:05:20Imagine Hong Kong is
00:05:24scatered in your hands and the national
00:05:28security law would be something like
00:05:31crystal ball or locking the whole
00:05:35city inside the crystal b and from
00:05:39outside you see inside is it was just like normal.
00:05:43but people from win, you will feel that you are being
00:05:46locked with invisible frisal
00:05:48wall.
00:05:55in June 2020, as Hong Kong streets empted due to the
00:05:59lockdown imposed during the COVID-19
00:06:01pandemic,
00:06:05China unleashed legislative weapon on the
00:06:08city, the National Security
00:06:11law.
00:06:16赞成
00:06:17163跳完了
00:06:30year before i was barred from entering Hong Kong, I was granted an
00:06:34interview at the legislative council headquarters with Regina
00:06:37IP, a former security secretary, she served as a
00:06:41pro Beijing. maker for 17 years,
00:06:45powerful woman and one of Hong Kong's most influential political
00:06:48figures, she made no secret
00:06:51of her pride at seeing the law finally
00:06:53enacted.
00:07:00this is the national security law adacted by the
00:07:04national people's congress, standing committee in Beijing, they
00:07:08enacted four offenses: secession breaking away part
00:07:12of. subversion overthrow of
00:07:14government, local terrorist activities and
00:07:18collution with external forces. this law
00:07:22was extremely effective, it brought back law and order, peace and
00:07:26stability in Hong
00:07:27Kong.
00:07:32once known for its defiance and spirit of protest, Hong Kong has
00:07:36become a city governed by restrictions and fear of
00:07:39denunciation. these banners displayed throughout
00:07:43the streets encourage residents to identify and report
00:07:47suspicious
00:07:48behavior.
00:08:32Inness heads a pro China organization, he
00:08:35describes himself as a man who loves Hong Kong a patriot
00:08:39dedicated to social harmony.
00:09:19It's a baby, natural security law, very loose, very
00:09:23easy, nobody
00:09:27suffers from
00:09:27it, maybe
00:09:31few people who are against
00:09:33it, but majority
00:09:37of people wins, majority people are very happy with their
00:09:40life, and so that's why I say this is... something that the
00:09:44western media will pick up and say, oh wow,
00:09:48it's a non-event.
00:10:04Samsam,我今年就24歲,我就因為國法,之後.
00:10:12and
00:10:19Sam collected
00:10:21While sweets toileties to studying, send to prisoners jailed following the 2019 protests.
00:10:29"the authorities accused him of trying to insight uprising
00:10:33inside the prison
00:10:34system. he was
00:10:37convicted of subversion with the intent of overthrowing the
00:10:41government.
00:12:25judges to sit its highest court, for Hong
00:12:28Kong, it's a way of demonstrating the independence and credibility of its
00:12:32judicial system in relation to Chinese political
00:12:35power. These judges are supposed to be the garantours
00:12:39the rule of law. The rule of
00:12:42law still exists in the whole
00:12:46area of commercial law, in most criminal law,
00:12:50it's only in cases which the Hong Kong
00:12:54government and the Chinese government regards
00:12:58as directly affecting its own interests that the rule of law
00:13:02is suspended. The extreme example of that is the
00:13:06prosecution of 47
00:13:09democracy
00:13:10activists.
00:13:15In July 2020, just days after the national security law
00:13:19came into force, Hong Kong's democrats organized a primary
00:13:23election to select their... candidates for the legislative council
00:13:26elections,
00:13:3047 leading figures from the movement took
00:13:33part, but when the
00:13:37results were announced, the Hong Kong authorities disqualified
00:13:40several the winners, notably the candidate who had received the
00:13:44most votes, Joshua Wong. I was just
00:13:48disqualified from running in the upcoming legislative council
00:13:52election, the excuse they use is that I described national
00:13:55secretary law as a dracolean law, which showed that I do
00:13:59not support this whipping
00:14:01law. A few months
00:14:04later, the crackdown intensified even
00:14:07further.
00:14:13All 47 candidates from the primary election were arrested
00:14:16and put on trial, accused of plotting to overthrow the
00:14:20government.
00:14:25After 3 years of legal proceedings, 45 them were convicted
00:14:29and sentenced to prison terms of up to 10
00:14:31years. Joshua Wong received a sentence
00:14:35of four years and eight
00:14:36months.
00:14:40I resigned early in June 2024 as a direct
00:14:44result the conviction the 47 democracy
00:14:48activists, because I felt that the outcome of that
00:14:52case showed uh that the judiciary in
00:14:56Hong Kong was not prepared to stand up
00:15:00to China. Hong Kong is becoming
00:15:03totalitarian state because political descent is no longer
00:15:06tolerated.
00:15:18Having brought civil society to heal and imprisoned political
00:15:21opponents, the authorities turned their attention to another. the symbol of
00:15:25Hong Kong's special status, the
00:15:28press.
00:15:31While every media outlet in Mainland China answers to
00:15:35Beijing, Hong Kong's journalists. have always enjoyed
00:15:38considerable freedom of expression, the
00:15:42newspaper that best embodied this defiant press was
00:15:46Apple
00:15:46Daily.
00:15:50Apple Daily is uh the most important
00:15:53mainstream media, which was very critical to the
00:15:57regime, they support democracy, they were
00:16:01willing to criticize unwelcome policies
00:16:05in Hong Kong as well as in China, I joined Apple
00:16:08Delhi in 2018, I'm
00:16:12surely learn how life from Hong Kong and I'm a
00:16:15journalist, apple daily is a place where you
00:16:19can like freely um work on
00:16:23yourself, there's no political
00:16:26censorship, founded in
00:16:301995, Apple Daily was the brainchild of
00:16:33billionaire entrepreneur Jimmy Lii.
00:16:39Born in Mainland, China, he fled the communist regime as a
00:16:42child and found refuge in Hong
00:16:44Kong. There he built his fortune through
00:16:48clothing brand he
00:16:49founded. A
00:16:53fierce opponent the Chinese government and sworn enemy the
00:16:57authorities in Beijing, he launched his newspaper with this
00:17:00deliberately provocative advertising
00:17:03campaign.
00:17:11"an apple a day keeps the lies
00:17:13away, so
00:17:17Jimmy Lie set up newspaper and which was strongly
00:17:21in favor the rule of law and democracy. So
00:17:25when the Chinese took over in
00:17:2897, Jamieai represented
00:17:32all the things which vengeful authoritarian
00:17:36would dislike, he was in favor of..."
00:17:37freedom in the newspaper that he
00:17:41ran Apple Daily, he was always
00:17:44against China always the voice
00:17:48the dissidents and what we had the problems in
00:17:512019, and I saw him many times, I warn him,
00:17:55Jimmy, open up your eyes, you don't know what you're doing,
00:17:59right? No, no, no, you could knocked him, and
00:18:03and and so I said, okay, you will see at the end of course.
00:18:08China, he broke the law, lot of laws, and so he
00:18:12they had no choice, they arrested
00:18:13him. In August
00:18:172020, invoking the national security law, more than
00:18:21200 police officers stormed Apple Daily's
00:18:24headquarters.
00:18:29For hours, they seized archives and computers. The
00:18:33editors in chief were arrested and
00:18:36Jimmy Ly. Handcuffed was paraded through his own
00:18:40newsroom like a
00:18:41trophy.
00:18:54As a journalist in Apple Daily um to seeing your
00:18:57boss or your editor being handcuffed and being
00:19:01arrested by police like a
00:19:04very familiar premises. like you went, you
00:19:08you went to work every day, we were very
00:19:11shocked, what would happen
00:19:14next?
00:19:19after year of legal proceedings, Apple Daily ceased
00:19:23publication. few months later,
00:19:27another independent newspaper met the same fate and its
00:19:30editors in chief was sent to prison.
00:19:34in Hong Kong, more than a thousand journalists lost their jobs
00:19:38in just six years, around 30 have faced
00:19:42criminal
00:19:42prosecution.
00:19:46After the closure of Apple Daily, Shirley Long found refuge in
00:19:50Taiwan, where she launched a new media outlet, serving the
00:19:54Hong Kong
00:19:54diaspora.
00:20:00It was from exile there that she followed the conclusion the
00:20:03long-running trial against her former employer.
00:20:09for living Hong Kong, I attend um the the trial
00:20:13of Gemini and I remember very clearly that
00:20:16everybody saying why you you you didn't leave
00:20:20Hong Kong, he's a British national right, he
00:20:23can go to UK and
00:20:26retired and like with his
00:20:28family, but after more
00:20:32than five years of legal proceedings the verdict finally
00:20:36came.
00:20:38Sedition,
00:20:41subversion, collusion with foreign
00:20:44forces. The outspoken
00:20:48billionaire was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the heaviest
00:20:52sentence handed down since the national security law was
00:20:55adopted. A succession of charges has been brought
00:20:59against him to ensure that he stays inside, and that does,
00:21:03I think, have parallels uh with the way that
00:21:07other authoritarian regimes have treated people who they regard
00:21:10as dangerous descenters, like Navalni and Angsan
00:21:14Suki.
00:21:18This is very hard to say, but... "we may not see uh
00:21:22Jimmy Lie um walking out of prison alive
00:21:25in the you know in in given his
00:21:29old age and so um
00:21:33yeah"
00:22:00In schools, pupils now attend Chinese flag raising ceremonies
00:22:03accompanied by the national anthem. A
00:22:07compulsory morning ritual that I was invited to witness during
00:22:11my last visit to the city. We are
00:22:15Chinese, that's why um, all the student need to
00:22:19know how... to do the fact raising and also how to sing
00:22:23the uh
00:22:23national,
00:22:32to reeducate the younger generation, the authorities have undertaken a
00:22:36sweeping overhaul the school curriculum. the reform the
00:22:40students successfully opposed in 2012 has now been
00:22:44fully implemented in classrooms,
00:22:47mandarin spoken throughout mainland China, is gradually
00:22:50replacing Cantonese, Hong Kong's traditional
00:22:53language, and new subject has appeared on the time
00:22:57table, patriotic education. I
00:23:00hope them to be a good citizen, like that, or they
00:23:04can love our Hong Kong, North China. This
00:23:08teacher faithfully repeats the official
00:23:10line,
00:23:14but not everyone has fallen into
00:23:16line, more than 12. teachers have
00:23:20chosen to resign over the past five years,
00:23:24this man is one them, he does not wish to show his face
00:23:28because he fears being arrested simply for speaking to foreign
00:23:32media
00:23:32organization.
00:23:36there's now a great amount of fear, not only
00:23:40in the classroom but in the whole school, in the school
00:23:42campus. for example, in the classroom you
00:23:46have maybe 30 students, you don't know the family.
00:23:50background, you don't know the political affiliation the
00:23:53students, so if you say something
00:23:57that may those students may think that you are
00:24:01criticizing the government, they may report that to the
00:24:04parents, and then the parents were complaining to the government or
00:24:08complaining to the school, teachers may be
00:24:11arrested, or at least they lost their job like like I
00:24:15did. This teacher taught history for more
00:24:18than 30 years enjoying. a high degree of academic
00:24:21freedom, that changed when Beijing tightened its
00:24:24grip, as is the case elsewhere in China, the authorities have
00:24:28removed some the darkest chapters of Chinese history from school
00:24:32textbooks, and now even Hong Kong's own past is
00:24:36being rewritten. Nowadays, the government said that Hong
00:24:40Kong had never been a colony, the Beijing
00:24:43government hated this Hong Kong history so
00:24:47much because Hong Kong prosper.
00:25:50denouncing neighbors, past that is being erased,
00:25:54history being rewritten. The entire city seems to be
00:25:58slipping into an orwelian
00:25:59dystopia.
00:26:08The latest targets the Hong Kong authorities are books and
00:26:12independent book shops. Since
00:26:152020 around 40 them have been forced to close their doors
00:26:19。
00:26:48lead to the closure of her book
00:26:50shop
00:26:53。
00:27:32authors these satirical fables, five speech
00:27:35therapists, were sentenced to 19 months in
00:27:38prison. a
00:27:42former journalist and local counselor, wong now
00:27:45weighs every word she says carefully, and
00:27:49when the questions become too sensitive, she answers by referring to
00:27:53novel by Nie Kwang, Hong Kong's master of science
00:27:57fiction.
00:28:47Two years after his release from prison Sam Chan is trying to
00:28:51rebuild a normal life.
00:28:54He had dream of becoming teacher or nurse but his criminal record
00:28:58prevents him from pursuing either career. Instead.
00:30:32Everything has ended up being swallowed by
00:30:35silence, civil society has been
00:30:38suffocated, the press muzzled and political
00:30:42opposition all but wiped out. The city has been
00:30:46stripped of its
00:30:46voice.
00:30:52More than 300,000 Hong Kong residents are believed to have left the
00:30:56city since the introduction the national system.