Dear constituents of New Territories West,


 


This is your legislator Eddie Chu. Four tumultuous and exciting years in the Council has come to an end and it is time to say goodbye. 


 


At the time of my election in 2016, there was a sense of hope that we might be able to change things and make progress in the democratic movement if we can mobilize stakeholders in self-help community projects and political debates concerning the future of Hong Kong. 


 


No one then could have imagined how far Hongkongers would have gone in our fight for freedom and democracy. We have been in the international spotlight since last year confronting the biggest mafia group in the world and we are now suffering the wrath of it. We fought against the extradition ordinance but now our friends are in mainland custody after they were captured in the open sea; we have rejected the enactment of article 23 for 20 years and now under the national security law imposed by CCP, sooner or later we will have our own Liao Xiaobo who was imprisoned and died there simply because he spoke out. 


 


And it was during the time when Professor Benny Tai was fired by the University of Hong Kong and Apple Daily was raided by hundreds of police, I learnt that as a member of the sixth-term Legco, I was given, needless of election, one more year in office, just because CCP is too afraid to carry on the legislative council election on the sixth of September. 


 


Furthermore, it hinted that even those four legislators being disqualified by returning officers will be accepted in this de facto appointed legislature. And CCP's old parrots interpreted this decision as a show of benevolence and a chance given to those disqualified candidates to "correct" their thoughts and behaviors.


 


Should I be grateful or should I be fearful of this real-life episode of Black Mirror? 


 


Neither way, I would say, as when we look into this situation from a wider perspective, it is apparent that CCP needs the democrats to stay more than the Hong Kong people. 


 


According to the recent speeches of US Secretary of State Pompeo, the promise made by CCP to develop democracy and uphold freedom in Hong Kong is in fact the litmus test of whether China itself can be truly modernized and be accepted as a responsible partner in world politics. 


 


The aspiration that China itself will one day take the path of freedom and democracy was also the reason why Hong Kong people had been believing in a gradual approach of democratization and tolerated the semi-democratic system for more than 20 years. 


 


But the nonstop political repressions and manipulations since 2014 made it clear to both Hongkongers and the world that CCP chose the opposite path of expanding its totalitarian empire with the help of economic power and artificial intelligence. The reality is CCP dictatorship not only cannot tolerate a liberal and democratic metropolis within, but cannot control its impulse to export authoritarian governance around the world, exploiting the liberty of the West to undermine the democratic system as a whole.


 


Desperate Hongkongers pushed to the corner finally erupted last year and major countries in the West are also shifting its relationship with China from integration and cooperation to confrontation. 


 


In return, CCP tries to tame the people of Hongkong with the draconian national security law. But still more than 600,000 citizens participated in the democratic camp primary election in July to show defiance. Beijing's worst scenario is that the democratic camp wins the majority of the legislative council which as a result forces it to either fulfil the political demands of Hongkongers or to dismantle the whole system altogether. The former will trigger the demise of the dictatorship itself, while the latter will trigger another round of retaliations from the West. 


 


Therefore, CCP may be as desperate as Hongkongers and the cancellation of the September election is in fact an act of self-rescue. CCP wants to buy time and avoid the worst scenario. To lure the democratic legislators into accepting this one-year appointment is the essential element of this soft-landing approach.


 


While I don't want my colleagues to become unintended partners of CCP, I totally understand why many of them are reluctant to leave. To the moderates of the democratic camp, it is indeed not an unattractive offer because at the end they want to believe that the path of gradual democratization still exists. They think to resume to business-as-usual would also give a break to the exhausted people of Hong Kong.


 


But different public opinion polls show the majority of democracy supporters wants it the other way. They think to accept the CCP appointment will send a wrong signal to the world that Hongkongers are giving up. On the contrary, to boycott the illegal interim legislature synchronizes with the international world in its demand for an immediate resumption of the election.


 


For example, German foreign minister Heiko Maas in his recent press conference with the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi prioritized the issues of Hong Kong and urged CCP to revoke the national security law, to stop screening candidates on the basis of political beliefs and to resume election "quickly and unhindered." He even talked about possible EU sanctions. These are unprecedented strong messages that we should ride on rather than ignore. 


 


We have reached the point of no return. The comparatively harmonious time between China and Hong Kong before 2014 was long gone and in the future we either fight and be defeated or be defeated without a fight. 


 


That is why I call on democratic legislators to boycott the one-year appointed legislature and join our fellow citizens in this new phase of fight for an election that can truly reflect the will of Hongkongers.


 


Thank you for your support in these years. Hopefully in one day I can run in a free and fair election and be your legislator once again. 


 


Your legislator, 


 


Eddie Chu