HK Is The Frontline In New 'Cold War': Activist

A human rights activist has compared Beijing to the Soviet Union during the Cold War and the regime of Adolf Hitler - and called on the world's democracies to push back against the central government's plan to impose a national security law on the SAR.

Beijing last month moved to directly impose the legislation on Hong Kong in a bid to tackle secession, subversion and foreign interference in the city, but critics say it will stifle freedom of speech and of the media and breaches the principle of One Country, Two Systems.

In an opinion piece, Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chair of Hong Kong Watch, praised the way democracies had responded to Beijing's planned security law for the SAR.

"It seems to me we are on the brink of war. Not a war between nations or peoples, and not a war that necessarily involves military hardware - yet. But a new Cold War, between values. A war between freedom and authoritarianism, between human rights and repression, between the international rules-based system and a winner-takes-all profiteering perspective. And the frontline in this new war is Hong Kong," Rogers said.

He praised the way democracies had responded to Beijing's planned security law for the SAR, noting that the US had made it clear it could no longer treat Hong Kong as a special autonomous region, Britain had pledged expanded protection for Hong Kong's British National Overseas passport holders and Europe had called for China to be brought to the International Court of Justice for violating the Joint Declaration.

He said it was time for the world’s democracies to act.

"In plain English, we need everyone - absolutely everyone - who believes in freedom, human rights, democracy, the rule of law - to be all hands on deck. But not in a scattergun, isolated or egotistical way. No. It’s time to unite, coordinate and fight back. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that we are, in relation to Xi Jinping’s regime in mid-2020, how we were in regard to Adolf Hitler’s regime in the late-1930s, or in response to the Soviet Union at various stages of the Cold War," he said.

He suggested building on existing measures into an international contact group.

"That international contact group should coordinate a lifeboat scheme to provide sanctuary for Hong Kongers who aren’t BNOs who need to escape. Helping Hong Kongers to safety is a moral responsibility," he said.