China cracks down on calls for accountability over deadly Hong Kong blaze

Chinese authorities person arrested respective activists and issued a stern informing to “anti-China and pro-chaos elements” amid disapproval of the government’s effect to Hong Kong’s deadliest occurrence successful a generation.

Hong Kong’s nationalist information constabulary arrested 3 radical implicit the weekend, state-backed and commercialized media reported, arsenic calls mounted for accountability pursuing the city’s worst occurrence successful astir 8 decades.

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Authorities arrested ex-district Councillor Kenneth Cheung Kam-hung and an unidentified unpaid who managed supplies for survivors connected Sunday, according to aggregate reports, a time aft the apprehension of a assemblage pupil connected suspicion of sedition. Cheung was arrested connected suspicion of “attempting to incite discord”, The Standard paper reported.

On Saturday, authorities arrested Miles Kwan, a 24-year-old pupil astatine the Chinese University of Hong Kong, aft helium created an online petition calling for greater transparency and accountability from the government, aggregate reports said.

The petition included 4 demands, including the constitution of an autarkic committee of enquiry to probe the circumstances of the fire, including whether imaginable conflicts of involvement whitethorn person contributed to the disaster.

Before it was removed from the net connected Saturday, the petition had garnered much than 10,000 supporters.

China’s nationalist information bureau successful Hong Kong appeared to condemn the petition earlier its removal, accusing activists of utilizing “the banner of ‘petitioning the people’ to incite confrontation and teardrop nine apart.”

Hong Kong’s Office for Safeguarding National Security besides accused figures with “sinister intentions” of exploiting the occurrence to instrumentality the metropolis to the “black-clad violence” that erupted during wide antigovernment protests successful 2019.

On Monday, a commentary successful the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po paper called connected the nationalist to beryllium vigilant against “anti-government elements” with “malicious intentions”.

“They person adjacent gone truthful acold arsenic to ‘act arsenic representatives’ to found a alleged ‘concern group,’ enactment guardant alleged ‘four demands,’ administer leaflets, and motorboat a petition, each successful an effort to incite nationalist unrest,” the commentary said.

“Their actions are utterly devoid of conscience and humanity.”

‘Outrageous’

The crackdown is the latest motion of the narrowing abstraction for dissent successful Hong Kong pursuing Beijing’s sweeping overhaul of the semi-autonomous territory’s governmental and ineligible scenery successful effect to the 2019 demonstrations.

China has repeatedly denied that Hong Kong’s civilian liberties person deteriorated, insisting that the transition of 2 far-reaching nationalist information laws person ensured that residents’ rights and freedoms are “even amended protected” than before.

Beijing has besides argued that the authorities ensures the continuation of Hong Kong’s partial autonomy nether “One Country, Two Systems,” the statement nether which UK returned the territory to China successful 1997.

Nathan Law, an activistic and professional of Beijing who served successful Hong Kong’s legislature, called the authorities’ actions “outrageous” and the latest illustration of a “highly authoritarian trend” successful the erstwhile British colony.

“The extremity of the authorities is to make a chilling effect by arresting these individuals. Any civilian actions without the government’s support are present illegal,” Law, who lives successful self-exile successful the UK and is wanted by Hong Kong authorities connected nationalist information charges, told Al Jazeera.

“The authorities worries astir radical congregating and initiating corporate action, whether it is governmental oregon not.”

The Hong Kong Police Force did not respond to requests for comment.

Ronny Tong, a non-official subordinate of Hong Kong’s de facto cabinet, disputed the proposition that authorities were stifling disapproval of the government’s handling of the disaster.

“If you look astatine the large newspapers successful Hong Kong, determination are precise galore assorted suggestions and… criticisms of the handling of the incidental successful Hong Kong, truthful by nary means is determination a wide suppression of antithetic views oregon criticisms of the government,” Tong told Al Jazeera.

Tong said that that portion it would beryllium inappropriate to remark connected the cases of radical who had yet to look the judicial process, the instrumentality allowed for “constructive” disapproval of the authorities.

“One indispensable not simply marque the lawsuit of a fewer arrests – the circumstances of which are inactive unclear – to travel to the decision that the Hong Kong authorities are trying to stifle views which they don’t like,” helium said.

At slightest 151 radical were killed successful Wednesday’s blaze astatine a high-rise flat analyzable successful Hong Kong’s bluish territory of Tai Po, the worst occurrence successful the metropolis since astatine slightest 1948.

The standard of the catastrophe has prompted scrutiny of information standards successful Hong Kong’s operation industry, with authorities honing successful connected however the usage of substandard materials successful renovation works connected the artifact whitethorn person aided the fire’s accelerated spread.

Hong Kong authorities person arrested 13 radical arsenic portion of their investigations into the fire, including the directors of an engineering advisor institution progressive successful the renovations.

Commission of Inquiry

While the Hong Kong constabulary and the city’s Independent Commission Against Corruption person launched abstracted investigations, the authorities has truthful acold not indicated that it volition found an autarkic committee of inquiry.

Hong Kong authorities launched commissions of inquiry, a bequest of British regularisation successful the territory, successful effect to galore past disasters.

Past inquiries, which person been typically led by a judge, looked into tragedies including a 2012 ferry mishap that near 39 radical dormant and a 1996 occurrence that outgo 41 lives.

Kevin Yam, a erstwhile lawyer successful Hong Kong, said that Beijing could not tolerate nationalist disapproval of the authoritative effect to the occurrence arsenic it was acrophobic that “the smallest spark of dissent tin snowball into thing bigger”.

“Those who work George Orwell volition cognize that phrase, ‘They who power the past power the contiguous future, and they who power the contiguous power the future.’ And the Communist Party of China has ever been precise bully astatine that,” Yam, who is wanted by the Hong Kong authorities for alleged nationalist information offences, told Al Jazeera.

“They spot that erstwhile they soundlessness the dissent and the criticism, and past they flood the portion with favourable stories astir however they handled things, past that becomes the authoritative grounds of history.”

Once known for its raucous media, vibrant civilian nine and governmental diversity, Hong Kong has dramatically curtailed the abstraction for dissent since the 2019 protests.

Under the laws, which person been wide condemned by overseas governments and rights groups, authorities person forced the closure of captious media outlets, efficaciously eliminated absorption parties from the city’s legislature, and banned politically delicate protests.

The mainland Chinese and Hong Kong governments person defended the laws arsenic a proportionate effect to the antigovernment protests, which began peacefully earlier descending into thoroughfare battles betwixt demonstrators and police, and different nationalist information threats facing the territory.

In a code marking the 5th day of the 2020 instrumentality successful June, Xia Baolong, Beijing’s apical authoritative for Hong Kong affairs, called the authorities a “guardian” of the city’s semi-autonomous presumption and stability.