A former Hong Kong district councilor arrested under Article 23 (but not charged), claims systemic repression after losing an acting role and teaching job within 24 hours.

In Brief

A former Hong Kong district councilor who was arrested under the city’s Article 23 national security law in May 2023, alleges she is being silenced after she was ousted from a theater production and lost her job, both events occurring within 24 hours of each other late last week. [See: “Ex-district Councillor Arrested Under Article 23 Says She Is Being ‘Silenced’ After Losing Job, Ousted From Play” by Hong Kong Free Press].

Katrina Chan was one of six arrests [some reports cite seven] tied to the “Chow Hang-tung Club” Facebook page in relation to social media posts about the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The page was named in honor of the vice-president of a group known for organizing annual Tiananmen Square vigils and advocating for “patriotic democratic movements” in China. To date, none of those arrested have been charged.

According to Ms. Chan, a government venue rented for the run of a play she was involved in risked being cancelled if she did not withdraw her participation in the production. She then lost a position as a teacher after an anonymous complaint letter was sent to her workplace.

Speaking to the Hong Kong Free Press, Ms. Chan criticized authorities for framing such incidents as isolated rather than acknowledging structural censorship under the security law. Hong Kong’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department declined to comment on specifics but affirmed adherence to rental terms, which mandate compliance with the Beijing-imposed security law.

In a social media post, Ms. Chan said the things that happened to her may be brushed off as “isolated incidents” – “wording that is most commonly used by those in power.”

“By reducing everything to the person, the broader effects on the public and society are obscured,” she wrote in Chinese. “The root of the problem lies in the system and structural shifts, not individual cases.”

Read the original report at the publisher’s website here.