Thread by @suelinwong

As I've been covering the escalating political crisis in Hong Kong, I’ve often wondered: does Hong Kong still have the rule of law? A thread and my story with @nicolle_liu about what we discovered 1/ on.ft.com/35dzvgp

The rule of law encompasses many things inc an independent judiciary, separation of powers, effective restraint on government power and equality before the law. HK’s rule of law is ranked among the best in the world but … 2/
data.worldjusticeproject.org

Beijing’s understanding of the RoL is fundamentally different to how the Hong Kong ppl understand it. Beijing emphasises the aspect of the RoL where citizens obey the law & de-emphasises the gov being bound by the same law, @WilsonLeungWS & @antd told me 3/

The problem is now that Beijing’s fundamental animus towards the common law and its belief in rule BY law rather than rule OF law is playing out in Hong Kong’s legal system 4/

We saw it this morning in the dramatic intervention by China’s parliament which signalled its “strong dissatisfaction” with yesterday’s ruling by the Hong Kong high court which found an anti-mask ban unconstitutional 5/ ft.com/content/e7c40a…

We saw it earlier this month when Han Zheng, Beijing’s top official on HK affairs, said it was “the common responsibility of HK’s executive, legislature and judiciary” to stop the violence 6/ xinhuanet.com/2019-11/08/c_1…

The Hong Kong Bar Association which represents the city's barristers hit back saying any statement from Beijing that might be seen as telling judges what to do could be an encroachment on the independence of the judiciary 7/ hkba.org/sites/default/…

Separate but related, the lack of accountability of HK’s police force is also a threat to the rule of law & is a huge driver in the escalating tensions in HK. Latest opinion polls show 51% of HKers now have zero trust in the police, compared to 6.5% before the protests began 8/

This lack of accountability is a distinct shift from Umbrella in 2014 when 5 police officers were imprisoned for assault. A retired superintendent was also convicted of assault - you can watch a video of it here & compare it to videos of police now 9/ hongkongfp.com/2019/01/21/jus…

“No one follows the rules and guidelines any more,” a frontline police officer told us for our story today. “When my colleagues break the law, they never admit it and our superiors provide cover for them.” 10/

Since protests began in June, we’ve also seen the gov rely on injunctions inc one banning the doxxing of police but no one else, despite ppl on all sides falling foul of this malicious practice 11/

Lawyers I spoke to said Joshua Wong being barred from running in this weekend’s district council elections was an example of the executive branch of government exercising its power arbitrarily for political ends 12/

We’ve also seen the gov use informal directives to largely ban the types of public assemblies that made world headlines in June when an est 2m ppl took to the streets. They’ve also imposed a de facto curfew on the city by shutting down the subway at first sign of protest 13/

Everything we’re currently witnessing is part of a broader trend of the erosion of the rule of law in HK and the encroachment of Beijing. My predecessor @benjaminbland wrote a sweeping piece documenting this at the end of last year 14/
ft.com/content/43a34a…

In the course of my reporting, I pondered: can you have rule of law without democracy? If you don't have a democratic system, how do you put political pressure on the government to enforce the law fairly? 15/

Also, what kind of law does an 18 year old HKer study now, if they want to be a lawyer and will be at the height of their career in 2047 when HK’s current common law system may not exist? 16/

Thanks to everyone who spoke to me for this piece. One key difference btw HK & the rest of China is its RoL & whether it can maintain it is a key q for its future. Imp to remember this ongoing crisis was sparked by a legal bill & the desire for HKers to maintain the RoL 17/17