City A.M. - 'Analysis: Freedom is on its last legs in Hong Kong as Beijing takes control of children's books'. Johnny Patterson

It is almost a parody of the stereotypical authoritarian coup. But it’s real, and horrifying.

Three members of Hong Kong’s union for Speech Therapy have been arrested for writing a “seditious” children’s book called “The Guardian of Sheep Village”. The story about sheep and wolves has a thinly veiled political message and now seemingly even writing allegories or fairytales can now be considered a crime in Hong Kong’s increasingly dystopian nightmare.

The thin skin of the Hong Kong government is typical of authoritarian leaders around the world, and follows an alarming pattern. They are so insecure and incapable of taking criticism that they’re purging the content people consume from cradle to coffin. 

The sedition law is being used to stamp out free expression. University students have been arrested for handing out pamphlets, and a radio DJ who crossed the line was recently sent to the slammer.

Meanwhile Joshua Wong’s books have been removed from libraries, and a new ‘patriotic education curriculum’ is now mandatory in schools. 

Free expression is on its last legs in Hong Kong. The mass arrests of Apple Daily journalists and the closure of the newspaper is the most egregious example, but everyone is feeling the anaconda begin to suffocate them. I spoke this week to one journalist in exile who said to me: “I moved to the UK nine months ago, but following the arrests of commentators, I now consider myself an exile. I cannot return home, the risk of arrest is too high.”

Of course, internet freedom still lives on. But for how much longer?

Carrie Lam is currently in a stand-off with the big Western social media giants over a privacy law which would force big tech firms to pass over customer data to the state. Google and Facebook have threatened to leave the city if this were to pass. If that happens, and China’s Great Internet Firewall is erected in the city, the last vestiges of freedom of expression would be well and truly snuffed out.

The factor driving people to leave Hong Kong more than any other is the threat of brainwashing and the clampdown on freedom of expression. I have lost count of the number of conversations I have had with Hong Kongers who have arrived under the BNO scheme who are saying that they have left because they do not want their children to be brainwashed. 

As tens of thousands of people move to the UK, we have a responsibility to welcome them. The dystopian city they are leaving behind has left many with trauma, it is vital that they find welcome in London and further afield.

Johnny Patterson is Policy Director of Hong Kong Watch. This article was published in City A.M. on 23 July 2021. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images via City A.M.)