The cost of speaking up

Being named in a Hong Kong court case colours my view of the upcoming visit to New Zealand of the CCP Premier but provides a reminder of the regime he represents.

In the coming days, the Premier of China will be visiting New Zealand and Australia.  This is significant although the role of Premier – nominally number two in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hierarchy – is not quite the import that some will make out.  Much of the power is now deeply centralised in President Xi Jinping.  Don’t get me wrong, it is still a positive sign in terms of our trading relationship to have Li Qiang here, but he holds little actual power as his predecessor found out.

The visit however reminded me of the court case in Hong Kong in which I have been recently named as part of sedition and foreign collusion charges against democracy activists.  I thought I would share this story below as a reminder of what sort of regime Premier Li Qiang represents.

Currently, there are a number of court trials occurring in Hong Kong involving democracy activists.  These cases are the consequence of the relatively new National Security Law that Hong Kong passed at Beijing’s behest.  It ensures that any questioning of the CCP is unlawful. 

One case involves Jimmy Lai and Andy Li.  Jimmy is a 74 year old Hong Konger, businessman, and publisher of the now closed Apple Daily newspaper.  Some of you may even recall the clothing brand, Giordano, which Jimmy created. 

Andy Li is a young Hong Konger who was a co-founder of a pro-democracy group during the 2019 protests.

Both have been accused by the Hong Kong government of sedition and colluding with foreign forces.  In Jimmy’s case, he’s accused of being the man behind the massive protests in 2019-2020.   That these protests were spontaneous and across the populace is known to the CCP, but they are keen to scapegoat one man.  That he shared thoughts with journalists overseas, such as my friend Benedict Rogers in the United Kingdom, is now deemed a crime by the CCP. 

Andy Li – who we reliably understand has been tortured by the CCP authorities – is also accused of also talking to foreigners about the situation in Hong Kong.  He is further accused of voluntarily posting web content for the likes of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).  For this action in particular, I have been named along with Louisa Wall.  She and I wrote a letter, as IPAC co-chairs back in 2020, asking the New Zealand government to rule out any extraditions to Hong Kong.  Andy is accused of publishing our letter to the IPAC website. 

Yes, you have read that right – a man has been arrested, tortured, and taken to court partly because he published a letter two New Zealand MPs wrote to their own government.

Importantly, we are not the only ‘foreign’ Members of Parliaments mentioned in the case.  Ours is but a passing mention.  Others from overseas are accused of much more and named specifically as co-conspirators. 

So why is Beijing (and Hong Kong) so keen to name people such as myself and Louisa, along with at least fifteen others? 

As I told Sam Sachdeva at Newsroom, this is the CCP interfering with the work of democratic Members of Parliament.  It intends to create a chilling effect, or warning, to current MPs to not say or write anything that criticises the CCP or calls into question it’s actions.   

The CCP is making it clear that there is a cost for speaking up – not just those in Hong Kong, but for those who support them.  Sadly and wrongly, Jimmy and Andy will be found guilty.  The CCP has already determined this result.  If Jimmy and Andy are said to have colluded with ‘foreign forces’, then by extension we are the other party involved and also guilty.  This is not a formal charge of course, but still means that the likes of travel to Chinese aligned countries comes with serious risk.

There is also a psychological aspect.  It is deeply upsetting to consider that the normal work of a Member of Parliament can be misused in such a way that innocent people will go to prison.   

Let’s be clear - the trial is a sham and good people are caught up in this.   But this reflects the heart of autocratic regimes, a regime that Premier Li Qiang represents.  So as New Zealand Ministers meet this man and roll out the red carpet, they might want to spare at least a thought for the likes of Jimmy and Andy. 

They are ‘just’ two people but represent many many more who are repressed by this Communist regime.