By Jerome A. Cohen
Here is a passionate legal endorsement of the forthcoming NPC Decision and consequent NPC Standing Committee legislation by Grenville Cross, one of the ablest pro-Beijing lawyers in Hong Kong. His orientation is that of the former government prosecutor that he was, rather than that of a defense counsel or neutral observer. CGTN, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, notes that the opinions of Mr. Cross do not “necessarily” reflect its own. It identifies him as a law professor but fails to state where he teaches.
As in some of his previous relevant op eds, Mr. Cross focuses on stamping out violence and threats to public order and national security but seems much less concerned about the impact that such efforts can have on freedoms of expression. For example, I know what it means to use force to “disestablish, intimidate or overthrow the central government” but I don’t know what it means to criminalize activities of a non-forceful nature that oppose the central government. What “other serious criminal means”, i.e., other than force, does he (and the central government) have in mind?
A similar question arises regarding his enthusiasm for punishing support for HK’s secession from the PRC.
Also very troublesome is his belief that “it is also necessary to criminalize organizing or supporting the activities of any organization proscribed on national security grounds, including organizations affiliated with mainland bodies which have been banned by the central government for security reasons .” This is hardly a narrow definition of “criminal activity”. It could easily punish Hong Kong people for going to a protest meeting or march sponsored by a Hong Kong human rights organization if that organization has been cooperating with a Mainland organization that has been arbitrarily banned by the PRC, which often happens.
In the eyes of Mr. Cross, “all right-thinking people now recognize” that such prosecutions would guarantee full protection and a safe future to Hong Kong’s people. He apparently only knows “right-thinking people”, not “rights-thinking people”! This Cross is too much to bear!