Two systems go: a new law grips Hong Kong
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A sweeping new national-security law deeply undermines Beijing’s “one country, two systems” approach in the territory; under it, arrests have already been made. What next for Hong Kong’s activists and its businesses? Malawi’s overturned election is a ray of hope that democracy can survive both incumbents’ strongman tactics and covid-19. And the varied successes of pro- and anti-Trump tell-all books.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm your host, Jason Palmer. |
| 0:09.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:18.0 | A close run election, widespread claims of vote rigging, protests and court challenges. |
| 0:24.0 | Historically, tales of disputed polls in Africa often end with strong man incumbents staying in power. |
| 0:31.0 | In Malawi though, a more hopeful story is playing out. |
| 0:37.0 | And there seems to be an endless supply of writers wanting to dish the dirt on President Donald Trump or to lavish praise on him. |
| 0:45.0 | All those books are finding plenty of readers, with the sales and reviews differ depending on their political bent. |
| 0:55.0 | First up though. |
| 1:01.0 | Today Hong Kong woke up to life under a sweeping new national security law. |
| 1:06.0 | It was passed yesterday by mainland China, which released the text only after rubber stamping the new rules. |
| 1:13.0 | Despite the new threat of a potential life sentence in jail, demonstrators gathered to protest against the legislation, although not nearly as many as hit the streets last year. |
| 1:36.0 | Police fired tear gas on a group that had gathered and dozens were arrested. |
| 1:41.0 | It's no coincidence that the law went to affect on the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China in 1997. |
| 1:48.0 | Back then, China promised a transitional 50 year period, preserving Hong Kong's way of life and political freedoms, an arrangement known as one country, two systems. |
| 1:58.0 | The legislation will not undermine one country, two systems, and Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy. |
| 2:05.0 | Yesterday, Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, sent a recorded message to the UN's Human Rights Council about the new law. |
| 2:11.0 | She said it was only necessary because opposition had become violent. |
| 2:15.0 | During this period, groups advocating Hong Kong independence and self-determination, incited protestors, very often, radicalized young people to desecrate and burn the national flag, vandalized the national anthem, and stormed the central government's office in Hong Kong. |
| 2:33.0 | It is a culmination in a series of changes that have made the territory less free. |
| 2:37.0 | It's already begun to transform Hong Kong's internal politics and international relations. |
| 2:42.0 | Until this law was promulgated late last night, very few people, if any, in Hong Kong, really knew what was in it. |
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