China swore to preserve Hong Kong’s freedoms until 2047. It dismantled them in five years.
A Promise Written in Treaty, Broken in Practice
There is a document in the United Nations archives that records, in precise legal language, a solemn guarantee made by the People’s Republic of China to the people of Hong Kong and to the world. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration commits Beijing to preserving Hong Kong’s way of life, its freedoms, its rule of law, and its separate political system for fifty years from the 1997 handover. Fifty years. Until 2047. That was the promise. The reality, playing out in courts and prison cells and shuttered newsrooms across one of Asia’s greatest cities, is that China has broken it — systematically, deliberately, and without apology — in barely a quarter of that promised time.
The dismantling began in earnest on June 30, 2020, when Beijing imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong without a vote by Hong Kong’s own legislature, without public consultation, and without the slightest pretense that it was consistent with the framework of autonomy that China had pledged to uphold. The law criminalized secession, subversion, terrorism, and the deliberately vague category of “collusion with foreign forces” — terms elastic enough to encompass peaceful protest, editorial opinion, international advocacy, and the simple act of calling on foreign governments to honor their own treaty commitments to Hong Kong. The maximum penalty was life imprisonment. The minimum commitment to due process was stripped out: no juries in national security cases, judges appointed by the government, bail conditions that routinely kept defendants in pretrial detention for years.
The Numbers That Define a Crackdown
The scale of what followed is not a matter of opinion; it is a matter of documented record. Since the security law was enacted in 2020, at least 900 journalists have lost their jobs, according to Reporters Without Borders. At least 28 journalists and press freedom defenders have been prosecuted, with 11 currently behind bars. Between 2020 and 2024, authorities charged 186 persons and secured 161 convictions under the NSL — a conviction rate of 91 percent. That rate does not reflect the quality of the evidence. It reflects the nature of the system.
The political opposition has been exterminated as a functioning force. The Democratic Party, one of the leading voices of opposition in the semi-autonomous city for the past three decades, started the process of dissolution following recent warnings from Chinese government officials. “The message was that the party has to be disbanded or there will be consequences,” said former Democratic Party chairman Yeung Sum. The League of Social Democrats, the only pro-democracy party that still staged small street protests, announced its disbandment due to immense political pressure. The dissolution of these parties follows the disbandment of almost 100 civil and pro-democracy organizations in Hong Kong in the wake of Beijing’s crackdown.
Article 23: The Second Hammer Falls
If anyone imagined that the 2020 National Security Law represented the outer limit of Beijing’s ambitions for Hong Kong’s legal transformation, March 2024 provided a brutal correction. Hong Kong lawmakers passed Article 23, an expansion of the 2020 security law that broadens the definition of external interference and espionage, further cementing China’s rule on the city’s rights and freedom. The legislature that passed it is dominated entirely by Beijing loyalists following an electoral overhaul that removed all meaningful opposition from Hong Kong’s political institutions.
The consequences for journalism alone are chilling. Under Article 23, previously reportable topics are now classified as state secrets. A straightforward legitimate news report could be labelled a crime. The potential severe punishments will make finding sources willing to go on the record more difficult. Journalists who are not based in Hong Kong, nor have even been to the city, but have published works that fall under the jurisdiction of Article 23, can have warrants issued for their arrest and be apprehended at the border. This is not a hypothetical. A Reporters Without Borders advocacy officer was denied entry to Hong Kong after being detained, searched and questioned for six hours at the airport.
Transnational Repression: Beijing’s Reach Extends Abroad
The most alarming development of the past two years is the explicit assertion of extraterritorial jurisdiction. In December 2024, Hong Kong authorities issued new arrest warrants and bounties of more than $127,000 each targeting six democracy advocates living overseas, and canceled passports of seven other activists, including some residing in the United States. Hong Kong authorities also pressure exiled activists by harassing their family members in Hong Kong. Between February 10 and 17, 2025, police detained three relatives of ex-district councillor Carmen Lau, who is wanted for allegedly breaching the national security law. Beijing is telling the world: geography offers no protection. If you criticize China’s rule over Hong Kong from a flat in London or an office in Washington, you are still in Beijing’s crosshairs.
What Was Lost Cannot Be Recovered by Words Alone
The Council on Foreign Relations assessment of the situation is unambiguous: China’s moves have extinguished hopes that Hong Kong could ever become a full democracy. Hong Kong placed 140th among 180 nations in the 2025 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, falling more than 100 positions from its ranking 20 years earlier. A city that was once ranked 18th in the world for press freedom now sits between countries whose governments make no pretense of respecting free expression. That collapse did not happen by accident. It was policy. It was deliberate. And it was done in violation of solemn, registered, internationally witnessed treaty commitments that Beijing made to the world. The Human Rights Watch World Report 2026 documents the full scope of what has been done. Reading it is not comfortable. Not reading it is not acceptable.
Tsz Yan
Environment & Public Policy Journalist, Apple Daily UK
Contact: tszyan@appledaily.uk
Tsz Yan is an environment and public policy journalist specializing in climate issues, urban planning, and environmental governance. She completed her journalism education at a top-tier UK journalism institution, where she trained in policy analysis, data-driven reporting, and environmental journalism ethics.
Her professional experience includes reporting for Apple Daily and other liberal Chinese publications on pollution control, infrastructure development, environmental regulation, and sustainability policy. Tsz Yan’s reporting integrates scientific data, regulatory documents, and interviews with experts and affected communities.
She has worked in newsroom settings where environmental reporting intersects with economic and political pressures, giving her practical experience in verification and balanced framing. Her stories are known for accurate interpretation of technical data and clear attribution.
Tsz Yan’s authority comes from consistent publication within reputable news organizations and adherence to transparency and correction protocols. At Apple Daily UK, she produces reliable environmental journalism grounded in evidence, professional training, and public-interest reporting.
