Hong Kong’s New Film Censorship Law: The CCP’s latest clampdown on freedom

Who does not love watching a movie? Whether it is visiting a local cinema with friends, streaming the latest movie from home, or rewatching your favourite film on a rainy day, films have the power to comfort, entertain, and educate. But even this right is now being trampled upon in Hong Kong.

At the end of October, Hong Kong’s legislature passed a new law banning films that are said to violate China’s national security. It is the latest measure in a series of CCP-issued clampdowns that has further restricted the rights of millions throughout the territory.

Passed in order to ‘safeguard national security,’ the government in Hong Kong has stated that the new censorship law - officially known as the Film Censorship (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 - is aimed at movies that ‘endorse, support, glorify, encourage and incite activities that might endanger national security.’ However, with no guidelines on what this clause actually means, or how it will be interpreted, the power to decide whether to ban the screening of any film now rests in the hands of one man, Hong Kong’s security chief, John Lee Ka-chiu.

Mr. Ka-chiu even has the power to ban screenings of films that have already been aired. In other words, the new law can be used to retroactively ban previously permissible content.

For observers and critics of the CCP this latest power-grab comes as little shock. Guo Wengui (also known as Miles Kwok), an exiled Chinese dissident based in New York – who fled Hong Kong for fear of political persecution – has long warned that total censorship across the territory was always the ultimate ambition of Beijing’s ruling party.

Mr. Kwok has first-hand experience of the oppressive nature of the regime, having been subject to political attacks even before the security law was passed, and has been a persistent critic of the party’s overreach both at home and abroad. Most recently, he was said to have been devastated by the disbandment of The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), a Hong-Kong based pro-democracy group that separated this summer due to China’s ongoing clampdown.

Many believe that the first target of this new law will be ‘10 Years’, a Hong Kong-produced film that portrays the territory’s future in a dystopian manner. Other prime targets will likely be documentaries referencing the infamous 2019 protests in Hong Kong against the CCP, such as ‘Revolution of Our Time’ and ‘When a City Rises’.

Punishments for transgression can include up to three years in prison and fines of £95,000 (USD 130,000), providing film-makers with ample reason to be deterred - whether from pursuing original projects to have their existing works screened in Hong Kong.

Kiwi Chow, the filmmaker of ‘Revolution of Our Time’, believes that the law will “worsen self-censorship and fuel fear among filmmakers.” Even non-political films will likely start self-censoring to comply with the new law, and any political film screened in Hong Kong going forward will likely consist only of CCP propaganda.

Kenny Ng, an associate professor at the Academy of Film at Hong Kong Baptist University succinctly summarises that “adding national security clauses to the bill is clear political censorship.”

But how did Hong Kong, a city known for its development, free trade, and thriving economy, get to this point?

Since 1997, when the sovereignty of Hong Kong passed from the British to China, there has been a power struggle between Hong Kong and mainland China. Wanting their freedom from the CCP, Hong Kong has long fought for less government interference.

However, as the CCP continues to expand its authoritarian reach in everyday life in China, its shadow of control has expanded past the mainland. Interweaving itself within the Hong Kong administration, the CCP has gradually increased its authority and control within the special administration.

Today, the Hong Kong legislature has no opposition lawmakers left and consists solely of pro-CCP lawyers appointed by the Chinese government in Beijing. As a result, new censorship laws, such as the amendment of the Film Censorship Bill initiated at the end of October, can pass without any resistance.

Crucial to the future of Hong Kong will be the extent to which the abuses inflicted upon its population continue to be heard by the outside world. In the words of Iris Kwong, one of the directors of ‘When a City Rises’, “with any social movements around the world, there often isn’t a tonne that people can do, but what is worse is when people don’t know that it’s happening.”

Presently, individuals in Hong Kong still have the tools at their disposal to overcome censorship. But their ability to employ them is being diminished everyday. Increasingly, it will fall on the free populations of the Western world to amplify the voices of those who have been quietened by draconian legislation.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes