‘Chinafication’ of Hong Kong: Control Further Tightening over Politics and the Economy

Editorial

15:37 JST, May 7, 2025

One of the few remaining pro-democratic parties in Hong Kong has been forced to decide to disband. The “high degree of autonomy” that has been granted to Hong Kong is coming to an end under pressure from China.

The Democratic Party — Hong Kong’s largest pro-democratic party — decided at a meeting in April to move forward with the procedures for dissolving itself. A party convention will be held at a future time to make an official decision on the issue.

Founded in 1994, the party has played a central role in Hong Kong’s democratic movement. If dissolved, parties critical of the administration led by the Chinese Communist Party will effectively disappear from Hong Kong politics.

Democratic Party chair Lo Kin-hei cited the “overall political environment” in Hong Kong as he announced the decision to dissolve the party. The intentions of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s administration obviously had an impact on the decision.

In Hong Kong, an election for the Legislative Council, the territory’s parliament, is scheduled to be held in December. Since the last election in 2021, only people recognized as “patriots” by the authorities have been allowed to run, and pro-democratic forces will not be able to field candidates in the upcoming race either.

Moreover, in recent months, the Chinese side has reportedly been pressuring several Democratic Party senior members to dissolve the party before the election, warning them that they would otherwise face “serious consequences.”

Beijing likely aims to stage a “success” in governing Hong Kong by holding an election after thoroughly eliminating all forces other than pro-China parties.

With the blatant clampdown on pro-democratic forces intensifying, the sense of stagnation that covers the cosmopolitan territory of Hong Kong continues to be reinforced. Senior Democratic Party members and others have already been arrested and imprisoned, and many people have fled overseas for fear of being caught.

Based on the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised to maintain a “high degree of autonomy” for Hong Kong for 50 years after its return to China in 1997. It cannot be overlooked that Beijing is trampling on an international commitment and promoting the “Chinafication” of Hong Kong.

The Xi administration is also tightening its control over Hong Kong’s business community.

In response to a plan by a Hong Kong company that operates two major ports on the Panama Canal to sell its business to a consortium of U.S. investors, a senior Chinese government official declared, “Those who betray national interests … will … bear the curse of history,” pressing the firm to review the plan.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that China’s influence be removed from the canal. The Xi administration, on the other hand, is pressuring the Hong Kong firm, probably because it believes that China would be at a disadvantage in the struggle for hegemony with the United States if port operations at the canal, which is a key trade hub, are put in the hands of the United States.

Chinese antitrust authorities have started a review of the planned sale. If the Hong Kong company’s transactions are influenced by Beijing’s intervention, the territory’s credibility as an international financial center will further decline, thereby damaging China’s national interests as well.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 7, 2025)