[cletus]

So here's a fun fact about the "security" laws China forced down Hong Kong's gullet recently: they apply to everyone on the planet. They're vague and "subversion" pretty much includes anything you want to include. It's anything that makes the Chinese government or Chinese officials look bad, basically.

So, if you're not even a citizen of China and you're sitting in Europe or the USA and you make some critical post about China to such a degree that the Chinese government deems it "subversive" and you then make the mistake of transiting the Hong Kong airport, you can be arrested and sent to the Chinese mainland for trial.

Interestingly, Qatar has a similar law but it's more limited in scope at least. If however you have a job in Qatar, I'd highly suggest you don't say anything negative about Qatar or the royal family, even on a Facebook post while in a completely different country. People can and have been arrested for this.

Also, Qatar is one of the few countries that require an exit visa to leave the country so think twice about working there regardless of that.

But I digress. I think it's fair to say that any notion of Hong Kong independence or sovereignty is a thinly-veiled illusion at this point.

[guardiangod]

1. The 'princess' of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, was transferring flight in Canada when she was arrested on behalf of US.

2. China realizes this is a serious advantage and want to arrest foreign dissidents when they transfer flights in China. But no one transfers flight in any Chinese territories except in...Hong Kong, with its international airport.

3. China pressured the HK government to pass a security law that allows HK government to arrest anyone on behalf of PRC for extradition purposes, even for transferring flights.

4. The HK civilians revolted against the law for obvious reasons.

5. PRC flipped the table, suppressed HK, declared the Sino-British Joint Declaration to be invalid, and changed all the HK government's security officials to ones from the mainland. Oh, and the brainwashing starts.

Meanwhile, Meng Wanzhou is relaxing in her multimillion dollar mansion in Vancouver arguing Huawei has no ties to the PRC. roll eyes

[smnrchrds]

The Meng Wanzhou case is an interesting parallel. She is a Chinese citizen who was arrested in Canada en route to Mexico for allegedly breaking American laws regarding Iran while in Hong Kong. No country comes even close to US when it comes to projecting power and having the power to bend the world to their will. It makes sense for another superpower to try to at least move in the direction of acquiring said power.

[robbedpeter]

1.) There's a difference between suppressing civil liberty and breaking international sanctions. Meng Wanzhou and China dared the US to enforce its sanctions on Iran. They did. That's not at all equivalent to disappearing people who dare to criticize China or its communist dictatorship.

The whataboutism and misdirection in your response invalidates any point you may have buried in there. Just... stop.

Humans have rights. The sooner China grows the fuck up and comes to terms with that basic tenet of civilization, the better things will be for all of humanity.

[danrocks]

This is correct. If you live in America and you say something that suggests Hong Kong should be independent or that the CPG shouldn't have authority here, you can get arrested when transiting via Hong Kong.

[Cyph0n]

It’s not just Qatar. All of the Gulf monarchies operate in a similar fashion, with the possible exception being Kuwait (closer to a constitutional monarchy than the rest).