Joshua Wong 黃之鋒  😷Verified account

1.2/ It comes to an uneasy situation that China does not see the political consequences that it has to face when defying oppositions & imposing a draconian security law to trample upon HK's autonomy, crushing dissidents or even threatening ex-pats and foreign institutions in HK.

2/ There is something the international community can do to stop China. 2.1/ Since China is a realist power with little faith in liberal values and rule-based systems, concrete actions are the one reason for China to reconsider its costs of suppression.

2.2/ In order to stop China's reckless move, the world needs to have a robust mechanism against China's human rights misconducts, including human rights clauses in trade agreements with China, embargo related to sensitive items like dual-use goods and technology.

2.3/ After all, with HK as the last beacon of liberty on China's soil, lots of mainland human rights defenders count on this city as their last resort for supporting their human rights works. When Beijing imposes a sweeping law in HK, it will kill civil society in both places.

3/ China would try to arrest and take activists to the mainland once the laws are in place. 3.1/ With the same national security law, China has already killed the civil society in the Mainland, with journalists, activists, religious groups, publishers, liberal thinkers...

3.2/ ...human rights lawyers, bloggers or even ex-pats thrown into prisons. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo was even imprisoned until his death. For a long period of time, Beijing has viewed the autonomous movements organized by protesters, as threats to its security.

3.3/ When China now takes an unprecedented move to impose an unpopular law, it's evident that our freedom is on the brink of collapse. Beijing will claim to narrow its attack target at "a small group of people."...

3.4/ ...However, once the law is put in place, there is no check & balance on how China uses the law, let alone any abuses of power. In the face of this imminent threat, HKers and I will strive by all means to safeguard our vanishing liberty. We hope the world can stand with us.