Those groups are contemplating whether they can continue to exist as China prepares a national security law for Hong Kong that will take aim at what Beijing deems ‘foreign interference’
A masked anti-government protester holds a flag supporting Hong Kong independence during a march against Beijing's plans to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong, China, May 24, 2020.Beijing’s looming imposition of a security law on Hong Kong has spread fear through charities and advocacy groups in the city, as China prepares to go after foreign-backed organizations deemed to interfere in local affairs or carry out “destructive” or “subversive” activities.
A draft order released by China’s National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, says the new law should oppose “any foreign or overseas forces interfering in the affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in any fashion,” according to an English rendering by China Law Translate. The draft also pledges to “stop and punish foreign and overseas forces’ use of Hong Kong to carry out separatist, subversive, infiltrative, or destructive activities.
In December, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying singled out five organizations for playing an “egregious role” in the violent protests that swept Hong Kong last summer and fall. The National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House “have supported anti-China plotters who messed up Hong Kong through various means,” Ms. Hua alleged.
Those most at risk in Hong Kong are groups that operate with money from what Christine Loh, the chief development strategist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, called a “politically connected funder,” such as those backed by the U.S. State Department. “There may also be other funding bodies where the funding of projects come from state-sponsored sources,” said Prof. Loh, a former politician who has operated a think tank in the city and has founded several non-profits.
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