Convention Speech: Hong Kong National Security Law

-

Translation of my speech at the Finnish Green Party's convention on the 12th of September 2021. Finnish version available here


Hong Kong is a former British colony, which in 1997 was handed over to China. Before the handover, the countries agreed on a special arrangement which was meant to secure civil liberties for Hongkongers for at least 50 years. In the Summer of 2020, China betrayed those promises by legislating the so called "National security law".

For Hong Kong's democracy movement, effects of the national security law have been catastrophic: since the law was enacted, every single democrat has been kicked out, or pressured to resign from the regional legislature. Around 30 organizations, which includes political parties and trade unions. have shut down operations.

At the moment of writing this 146 people have been arrested and 84 people prosecuted under the national security law. Apart from this, the Hong Kong police has issued arrest warrants on at least 10 activists living abroad, including three former legislators. The authorities have even launched investigations on four Danish politicians, including two MP's. In other words, even if you live abroad, you are not safe from the effects of the national security law.

When Hong Kong was handed over, it was hoped that the city would act as an example and ultimately lead to the opening of Chinese society. Instead, China has taken further steps towards authoritarianism and pulled Hong Kong with them. It's clear that our policies towards China have failed.

Events in Hong Kong have acted as a wake up-call to China's actions. That being said, there's still a lot left to do. Because of this, I plan to stand with the people of Hong Kong in the future and I hope many of you will join me. 

光復香港，時代革命!

Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times!


Kommentit

Lähetä kommentti

Tämän blogin suosituimmat tekstit

Hallitus tyrmää kauppakamarin huolet turvallisuuslakiesityksestä

-
Käännös RTHK:n 28.5.2020 julkaistusta artikkelista. Linkki alla. Translation of an article by RTHK published on the 28th of May 2020. Link below https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1528754-20200528.htm?spTabChangeable=0 Keskiviikkona hallitus tyrmäsi Yhdysvaltain Hongkongin kauppakamarin esittämät huolet Pekingin suunnittelemasta turvallisuuslaista, vedoten siihen, ettei lain lopullista versiota olla vielä kirjoitettu. Kauppakamari nosti esiin huolia siitä, että laki saattaisi haitata liiketoimintaa ja aiheuttaa pelkoja ulkomaiden kansalaisissa heidän omasta turvallisuudesta. Vastauksena huoliin julkaistussa tiedotteessa, hallitus sanoi, että suurimmalla osalla lakia noudattavista asukkaista sekä ulkomaisista sijoittajista ei ole mitään pelättävää. Se myös sivuutti huolet paikallisen lainsäädännön ohittamisesta, todeten että kansallinen turvallisuus on valtion vastuulla. (Kirjoittajan huomio: Hongkongin perustuslain mukaan, Hongkongin paikallishallinnon on tarkoi...
Lue lisää

Finland to suspend extradition treaty with Hong Kong

-
Translation of an article by Yle, published on the 16th on October 2020. Link below. Käännös Ylen 16.10.2020 julkaistusta artikkelista. Linkki alla. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11599142?origin=rss Many Western countries have suspended extradition to the region after China changed the status of Hong Kong with a new law. Finland will suspend it's extradition treaty with Hong Kong. According to the proposal by the government the judicial situation in Hong Kong has become unclear, after China introduced a national security law on the region which limits the regions autonomy. President Sauli Niinistö has approved the suspension of the extradition treaty today. Finland has decided that in order to clarify the situation, a separate decision is needed about the viability of the extradition treaty. Extradition treaty's allow Finland to extradite suspected criminals at the requests of other countries, based on specific criteria. The treaty between Finland and Hong Kong has never been applie...
Lue lisää

Finnish conscription pt.3: recruitment, an obstacle for change

-
While I said in my previous post that I would leave this topic alone for a while, there has been a change of plans. Next week, November 20-26, War Resister's International organizes The International Week of Action Against Militarization of Youth. Since I consider myself as an anti-militarist, I decided to take a head start on the campaign and talk about one more problem about Finnish conscription: the draft process itself. This is because the whole process has basically been created to benefit the military from the very beginning. First of all, the whole process is controlled by the military. This becomes perfectly clear from the very beginning. Some time during the spring of the year you turn 18, you will receive a letter from the military,  telling you it's time to step into service. The letter includes the actual date of your draft, a personal information form and a booklet detailing information about military service. It also tells you to take a medical checkup, on whi...
Lue lisää