Message from Lord Patten on the 27th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong

Lord Patten of Barnes, Hong Kong Watch’s Patron and the last Governor of Hong Kong, has recorded a video message marking the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover and the fourth anniversary of the introduction of the National Security Law.

Lord Patten opened his remarks with reference to the Chinese Communist Party’s attempt to rewrite Hong Kong’s history as a former British colony, calling it an “occupied territory”. However, he pointed out how Hong Kong was once a safe haven occupied by refugees who fled from Communist China in pursuit of freedoms in Hong Kong.

The Chinese Communist Party, Lord Patten noted, has trashed the Sino-British Joint Declaration as a “historical document” despite its status as an international treaty registered at the United Nations. Referring to Xi Jinping as “China’s President dictator”, Lord Patten pointed out Xi’s increasing anxiety about the growing freedoms people enjoyed, and the CCP’s failure to understand that the values of freedom and rule of law embodied by Hong Kong are what constitute a free society.

Since the National Security Law was imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, Hong Kong has slipped into further decline as it came under the control of a “tinpot group of former police officers” who “wouldn’t know the difference between human rights and a truncheon”. Hong Kong had since seen the commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre prohibited, protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” banned, and political prisoners, such as British citizen Jimmy Lai, behind bars for their pursuit of freedoms and rights.

Lord Patten also shared his experience speaking with BNO Hong Kongers in Oxford, many of whom made the difficult decision to leave their home in hopes that their children could grow up in a free society. “That is the most telling indictment of Chinese Communism,” said Lord Patten, “and it’s a hope for the future because as long as people feel that as strongly as they do, Chinese dictatorship, the Chinese Communist Party has no long-term future.”

Lord Patten closed his message with remarks for Hong Kongers around the world:

“Dictatorships always end badly, and that’s going to be no different in China. So I do urge everybody who’s left in Hong Kong to understand that the rest of the world understands what you’re going through, understands that sooner or later, your aspirations to be free citizens – individuals in a free society able to say what you want and able to express your views to one another without running the danger of being locked up – and that we also want to say how much we welcome those who are contributing to us as part of Hong Kong’s diaspora now.

I’m sad that you’ve left Hong Kong. I hope that one day you’ll be able, if you wish, to return. But in the meantime, we’re hugely grateful for the contribution you’re making to free societies, which of course have their problems but ultimately allow ordinary people to solve those problems. That’s why plural societies always work better than communist dictatorships.”

香港監察贊助人、前港督彭定康勳爵（Lord Patten of Barnes）在7月1日發表錄影講話，回顧香港主權移交27年及《國安法》實施四年以來的變遷。

彭定康勳爵首先提到中國共產黨企圖改寫歷史，稱香港從來不是英國殖民地，而是「被佔領的土地」。他指出，事實上當時佔領香港的，絕大多數是為逃離中共而來港尋求自由的難民，香港由此成為這群人的避風港。

他又提到，中共將已向聯合國登記並生效的國際條約《中英聯合聲明》稱為「歷史文件」，印證中共已經毫無誠信可言。彭定康勳爵直指習近平為「中國國家主席獨裁者」，掌權後對人民日漸享有更大程度自由愈來愈不安，卻毫不明白香港所體現的自由和法治就是自由社會的基石。

他續指，自2020年當局強推《國安法》以來，香港迅速倒退成由昏庸警察管治的城市。包括行政長官在內的警察管治團隊只懂揮動警棍訴諸武力，卻不知人權為何物。在這樣的香港下，「六四」悼念活動被禁止，《願榮光歸香港》被禁播，包括英國公民黎智英在內的政治犯因追求自由和權利而坐監。

彭定康勳爵亦分享他在牛津與約千名BNO港人交流的點滴。當問到他們為何作出離開故土的艱難決定時，大多數人一再表示希望下一代能在自由社會中成長。他認為：「這是對中國共產黨最有力的控訴。我們要對未來抱存希望，因為只要人民一直強烈嚮往自由，中共這獨裁政權就沒有長遠的未來。」

彭定康勳爵最後寄語身處世界各地的香港人：

「獨裁政權總沒好結局，中共也不例外。因此，我鼓勵留在香港的人明白，世界其他地方的人都理解你們正在經歷的事情，也理解你們渴望遲早成為自由公民，能夠在自由社會暢所欲言，能夠互相表達意見，而不必冒險被監禁。我們也想說，我們非常歡迎現正貢獻英國社會的離散港人。

你們離開了香港，我很難過。我希望有朝一日，你們想的話，能夠回去。但同時，我們非常感激你們對自由社會所作的貢獻。自由社會固然有自己的問題，但終究會讓平民解決那些問題。這就是為甚麼多元社會總運作得比共產獨裁社會更好。」

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