Chinese Whispers: Hong Kong's National Security Law, one year on

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

News Commentary, News, Daily News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the 12 months since the enactment of the National Security Law on Hong Kong, opposition leaders, journalists and activists have been arrested; reforms on education and elections begun; and last week saw the emotional closure of the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily.

On this episode, I speak to Jennifer Creery, who works for the Financial Times in Hong Kong, about the situation on the ground; and Professor Jeff Wasserstrom, a historian of China at the University of California, about the last year and the city's future. We reflect on the strategic erosion over time of Hong Kong's autonomy, the importance of education that the CCP places on its Hong Kong policy, and whether the 2019 protests actually expedited the choking off of the city.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The Spectator is searching for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs to enter the Spectator Economic Innovator of the Year Awards in partnership with Charles Stanley wealth managers.
0:10.1	If you have a business that disrupts an existing market, a smart new way of doing things, or something that has incredible social impact, then apply by 1st of July at spectator.co.uk forward slash innovator.
0:31.2	Hello and welcome to Chinese Whispers with me, Cindy Yu. Every episode I'll be talking to journalists, experts and long-time China watchers about the latest
0:41.6	in Chinese politics, society and more.
0:44.9	There will be a smattering of history to catch you up on the background knowledge and some
0:48.2	context as well.
0:49.5	How did the Chinese see these issues?
0:53.1	It's been one year since the implementation of the national security law upon Hong Kong.
0:58.0	What has the last 12 months been like and what does the future hold for the city now?
1:03.0	In this episode of Chinese Whispers, I speak to two people in the know.
1:07.0	Shortly will be joined by Professor Jeffrey Wastroam,
1:10.0	a historian of China from the University of California,
1:13.5	an author of Vigil, Hong Kong on the Brink.
1:16.9	But first, I catch up with Jennifer Carey, who listeners of the Spectators' podcast might remember from Coronomics,
1:23.0	our short series about coronavirus around the world.
1:26.0	Jennifer is a Hong Kong-based journalist who was at the time
1:29.1	with a Hong Kong free press website and is now a journalist at the Financial Times. I started by asking
1:35.0	her what the last week has been like in Hong Kong with the closure of Apple Daily in what has been
1:39.7	quite an emotional time for the history of press freedom in the city. Yeah, you're right. This is,
1:45.7	this is sent shutters through society, both through the industry and also just regular people.
1:52.1	It's very much a watershed moment that has the potential to dramatically alter Hong Kong's political
1:57.8	landscape. You know, this was the first time that police have arrested
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.