Why Holy See is tight-lipped on Hong Kong?

Hong Kong – a former British colony and current special administrative region of China, is undergoing a crisis of values between the ideology of democracy and socialism with Chinese characteristics. The choice is between the Western way or the Chinese way.

Currently, China has an edge and the Communist nation is planning to put the last nail in the coffin of freedom, democracy and human rights which has been there during the 99-year lease of Hong Kong with Britain which expired in 1997, when its sovereignty was returned to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

China turned the former colony into a special administrative region and was supposed to rule under the formula “one country, two systems”, which would last for 50 years.

The formula effectively asserts that integration of Hong Kong into the PRC will not be implemented, at least not until 2047.

But China had no patience to wait for 50 long years. Going by the current trend, there will not be any trail of western values in Hong Kong when its administrative relationship with mainland China is reassessed in 2047.

In 1997, the University of Hong Kong erected a statue and named its Pillar of Shame to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. The sculpture by a Danish artist was there till 2021 when it was removed in the dead of night.

Two other pieces of sculptures of the same name at two other universities were also taken away because authoritarian rulers in China did not want to tolerate dissent and feared organized political opposition. China has proved ruthlessly efficient when it comes to curtailing democracy in Hong Kong.

Last year, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said it will no longer hold Masses for those who breathed their last in the Tiananmen massacre, citing fears of prosecution.

There is no independent media in Hong Kong and almost all leaders of protest movements and outspoken critics, and independent thinkers have been declared ineligible to hold office in the former British colony of 7.4 million people.

Since the dissidents had no central leadership and no game plan, China had no interest in holding talks with them, believing that to do so would legitimize their movement and, in turn, weaken its rule.

Protesting in the name of freedom and human rights has become a thing of the past which reared its head for the last time in 2019 in Hong Kong.  Next year, China came up with the sweeping National Security Law, which gives less room for dissidents and criminalizes acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. All these vaguely defined acts are punishable by life in prison.

The trial for the largest national security case in Hong Kong started on Feb. 6. The landmark trial under the draconian National Security Law is expected to wind up within 90 days, but its implications could last for years as Hong Kong, which is also the financial capital of Asia, is rapidly losing its political autonomy.

Among the 47 people accused of subversion for holding an unofficial election in Hong Kong include prominent pro-democracy figures like Joshua Wong, a student activist, Benny Tai, a former law professor and co-founder of the 2014 Occupy Central movement, and Claudia Mo, 66, a former journalist-turned-legislator. 

Prosecutors have said the accused had a "massive and well-organized scheme" to gain a majority in the Legislative Council with the aim of toppling the China-appointed chief executive in Hong Kong.

The accused held the unofficial election to choose which contenders would be best placed to stand against pro-China candidates.

Prosecutors have termed the unofficial election a "vicious plot" to subvert the city government.

In January 2021, 47 democrats were rounded up enmasse in a dawn raid and many have been in custody or are in jail since then.

Though some of the accused have maintained that they were merely doing opposition politics, it failed to work with China. Already, 16 of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The trial will be overseen by handpicked judges and not a jury, which is the normal norm for cases under the National Security Law which was enacted to completely wipe out organized opposition in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong government and China have repeatedly denied these accusations. Instead, it insists the National Security Law has ended chaos and restored stability in the former colony.

The US, UK and EU have denounced converting “Asia’s world city” into one of the most repressive police states and diplomats from consulates in Hong Kong were present at the trial on Feb. 6.

But the Vatican has been tight-lipped on curtailing democracy in Hong Kong. On Oct. 22 last year, the Holy See decided "to extend the experimental implementation phase" of a two-year provisional secret pact with China, inked first on Sept. 22, 2018, concerning the nomination of bishops.

The Vatican communique on the renewal said that the two parties intended to pursue "an open and constructive dialogue."

The Church has about 14 million followers in China and the pope and the Vatican are eyeing for more.