How Hong Kong Lost Its Freedoms in Just Five Years

Hong Kong’s Democratic Erosion: Five Years After 2020 - The State of Freedoms and Governance Under Tightened Chinese Control

TL;DR:

• Hong Kong’s autonomy has crumbled since 2020 under the National Security Law (NSL), with freedoms of expression, assembly, and academic inquiry severely curtailed by 2025.

• Governance has shifted to a Beijing-dominated system, with electoral reforms ensuring "patriots-only" representation and judicial independence eroded by NSL-aligned rulings.

• Over 300,000 residents have emigrated via the UK’s BNO scheme, triggering a brain drain that, alongside a 15% FDI drop, threatens Hong Kong’s economic stability as a financial hub.

• Social polarization and cultural assimilation efforts have weakened Hong Kong’s distinct identity, while underground resistance persists through coded art and diaspora advocacy.

• Western sanctions and diplomatic pressure have failed to halt Beijing’s control, which China justifies as stabilizing, impacting global perceptions of Hong Kong and international law.

• Future democratic prospects remain dim under current suppression, though economic woes or geopolitical shifts could spark renewed activism or further crackdowns.

And now for the Deep Dive….

Introduction

Hong Kong’s trajectory as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework, established following the 1997 handover from British to Chinese sovereignty, promised a high degree of autonomy, preserving its capitalist economy and civil liberties distinct from mainland China’s authoritarian system until at least 2047. However, this promise began unraveling significantly in the wake of the 2019-2020 pro-democracy protests, which erupted in response to a proposed extradition bill that threatened to expose Hong Kong residents to mainland China’s opaque judicial system. These protests, peaking with millions marching through the streets and violent clashes with police, marked a critical turning point, galvanizing global attention and exposing the fragility of Hong Kong’s autonomy. By 2020, Beijing’s imposition of the National Security Law (NSL) effectively curtailed the protest movement, criminalizing acts deemed as secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces, with penalties extending to life imprisonment. Five years later, as of February 26, 2025, this legislation has catalyzed a profound erosion of Hong Kong’s democratic institutions, civil liberties, and governance structures, aligning the region more closely with the mainland’s authoritarian model. This shift has not only suppressed dissent but also fundamentally altered the political, social, and legal landscape, raising questions about the viability of the "One Country, Two Systems" framework in its intended form.

The introduction of the NSL on June 30, 2020, represented a seismic shift in Hong Kong’s governance, empowering authorities to arrest high-profile activists like Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow within months of its enactment, while dismantling opposition through the disqualification of pro-democracy legislators and the forced dissolution of political parties such as the Civic Party by 2021. Over the subsequent five years, the Chinese central government tightened its grip through a series of structural reforms, most notably the 2021 overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system, which mandated a "patriots-only" vetting process for candidates, reducing the Legislative Council’s directly elected seats from 35 to 20 out of 90, with the remainder appointed or selected by pro-Beijing committees. This reconfiguration, coupled with the expanded role of Beijing’s Liaison Office in local policymaking, has effectively eliminated meaningful political opposition, as evidenced by the record-low voter turnout of 30.2% in the 2021 LegCo election—a stark contrast to the 58.3% in 2016—reflecting widespread disillusionment among residents. Judicial independence, once a cornerstone of Hong Kong’s legal system, has also been compromised, with courts increasingly pressured to align rulings with NSL provisions, as seen in the 2023 conviction of 47 activists for "subversion" over an informal primary election, drawing criticism from international legal scholars for undermining due process. As of 2025, Freedom House’s annual report downgrades Hong Kong’s status to "Not Free," assigning it a score of 42 out of 100, a steep decline from 76 in 2019, underscoring the systematic dismantling of its democratic architecture under Beijing’s unrelenting control.

This erosion extends beyond governance into the realm of civil liberties, where freedoms of expression, assembly, and education have been severely curtailed by 2025. The media landscape has been decimated, with independent outlets like Apple Daily and Stand News shuttered by 2021 following the arrests of editors like Jimmy Lai, who remains imprisoned under NSL charges, while surviving outlets practice pervasive self-censorship to avoid prosecution—an outcome corroborated by Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 Press Freedom Index, which ranks Hong Kong 135th globally, down from 80th in 2020. Public assembly, a hallmark of Hong Kong’s protest culture, has been stifled, with the annual Tiananmen Square vigil banned since 2020 and organizers like the Hong Kong Alliance disbanded under security pretexts, leaving dissent to fester underground or dissipate entirely. Education has not escaped this clampdown, with the introduction of mandatory "national security education" in 2021 reshaping curricula to emphasize patriotism, while universities—once bastions of free thought—face purges of pro-democracy faculty and the dissolution of student unions, as documented in a 2024 Human Rights Watch report detailing the firing of over 50 academics. Socially, this repression has triggered a mass exodus, with over 300,000 residents emigrating via the UK’s BNO visa scheme by mid-2024, according to Home Office data, draining talent and straining Hong Kong’s economic vitality as a global financial hub. Five years after the NSL’s enactment, Hong Kong stands as a stark illustration of democratic backsliding, its freedoms and governance reshaped under Beijing’s iron fist, with implications reverberating across the international stage as Western sanctions clash with China’s defiant counternarrative of stability and sovereignty.

The National Security Law (2020): Catalyst for Change

The National Security Law (NSL), enacted on June 30, 2020, by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, marked a pivotal moment in Hong Kong’s history, accelerating its integration into the mainland’s authoritarian framework. Bypassing Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, the law was introduced under Article 18 of the Basic Law, allowing Beijing to directly impose legislation on the SAR, a move critics argue violated the Sino-British Joint Declaration’s promise of autonomy until 2047. Its 66 articles delineate four primary offenses—secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces—each carrying maximum penalties of life imprisonment, with extraterritorial jurisdiction extending globally under Article 38, enabling prosecution of non-residents for acts committed abroad. The NSL also established the Office for Safeguarding National Security, staffed by mainland security personnel immune to local oversight, and empowered authorities to conduct warrantless searches, freeze assets, and intercept communications under Article 43, fundamentally altering Hong Kong’s legal landscape. Within weeks, the law’s vague definitions—such as "subversion" encompassing acts that "seriously interfere" with government functions—enabled sweeping enforcement, targeting not just overt dissent but also symbolic gestures, as evidenced by the July 1, 2020, arrest of a man for displaying a "Liberate Hong Kong" flag, according to Amnesty International’s contemporaneous reporting.

The immediate aftermath of the NSL’s enactment saw a rapid crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, with arrests of prominent figures like Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Jimmy Lai between July and December 2020 signaling Beijing’s intent to dismantle opposition leadership. Wong, charged with "inciting secession" for social media posts, faced a 13.5-month sentence by November 2020, while Chow pleaded guilty to similar charges, reflecting the law’s swift chilling effect on activism. Concurrently, the Hong Kong government, under Chief Executive Carrie Lam, disqualified 12 pro-democracy candidates from the September 2020 Legislative election—later postponed—citing their advocacy for foreign sanctions as "collusion," prompting the mass resignation of 15 opposition legislators and the effective dissolution of the pro-democracy bloc. Political parties like Demosisto and the Civic Party folded under pressure, with the latter ceasing operations by 2021 after its leaders faced NSL investigations, as documented by Human Rights Watch. Public dissent withered as citizens self-censored, fearing prosecution for speech—online posts criticizing the government dropped by 60% within six months, per a 2021 University of Hong Kong study—while bookstores pulled politically sensitive titles and protest slogans vanished from public spaces, illustrating the law’s immediate suffocation of free expression.

Beyond its initial suppression, the NSL laid a robust foundation for Beijing’s long-term control over Hong Kong, restructuring its governance and societal norms by 2025. The law’s Article 35 mandated loyalty oaths for public officials, enabling the 2021 disqualification of 47 district councilors—elected in 2019’s landslide pro-democracy vote—for "unpatriotic" statements, effectively purging local governance of dissent. This purge dovetailed with the March 2021 electoral overhaul, reducing the Legislative Council’s directly elected seats from 35 to 20 out of 90, with a Beijing-appointed Candidate Eligibility Review Committee screening nominees under NSL criteria, ensuring only "patriots" could run, as outlined in Xinhua’s official release. Judicially, the NSL’s Article 46 allowed closed-door trials and mainland-appointed judges for security cases, undermining Hong Kong’s common law tradition—by 2023, 85% of NSL cases bypassed jury trials, per Hong Kong Free Press data—while the 2024 Freedom House report notes a 20-point drop in rule-of-law scores since 2020. Socially, the law’s reach expanded through mandatory "national security education" in schools, introduced in 2021, and corporate compliance, with tech firms like Google and Meta facing pressure to share user data, reshaping Hong Kong’s civic and digital ecosystems into a mainland-aligned mold.

The NSL’s systemic entrenchment has reverberated internationally, drawing sanctions from the U.S., UK, and EU against Hong Kong and Chinese officials by mid-2021, alongside diplomatic rebukes framing the law as a breach of international commitments. Yet, Beijing countered with a narrative of restoring stability, bolstered by a 2022 state media campaign claiming a 70% reduction in "violent incidents" since 2020, though independent verification remains elusive. Economically, the law strained Hong Kong’s status as a financial hub, with a 2024 Bloomberg analysis reporting a 15% decline in foreign direct investment since 2020, linked to expatriate exits and corporate relocations to Singapore amid legal uncertainties. By 2025, the NSL’s legacy is a dual-edged sword: a stabilized but stifled Hong Kong, where governance prioritizes security over autonomy, and societal freedoms—once vibrant—yield to surveillance and conformity. The law’s vague scope continues to evolve, with a 2024 South China Morning Post exposé revealing over 300 NSL arrests since 2020, half targeting speech alone, cementing its role as both catalyst and cornerstone of Hong Kong’s democratic erosion.

(Pictured above: (clockwise from top left) Ivan Lam, 24; Joshua Wong, 26; Jimmy Lai, 71; and Agnes Chow, 24)

Governance Under Tightened Control (2020-2025)

The tightening of Chinese control over Hong Kong’s governance between 2020 and 2025 fundamentally reshaped its political architecture, beginning with the sweeping electoral reforms enacted in 2021. On March 30, 2021, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee amended Annexes I and II of the Basic Law, instituting a "patriots-only" policy that mandated all candidates for public office undergo vetting by a newly established Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration and comprising Beijing loyalists. This overhaul slashed the proportion of directly elected seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo) from 35 out of 70 to 20 out of an expanded total of 90, with the remaining 70 seats filled by a mix of functional constituencies (30) and an Election Committee (40)—a 1,500-member body dominated by pro-Beijing elites, itself expanded from 1,200 members under the same reforms. The South China Morning Post reported that by the December 2021 LegCo election, only 12% of candidates were non-establishment, all of whom were disqualified, ensuring a uniformly pro-China legislature. Voter turnout plummeted to a record low of 30.2% in that election, down from 58.3% in 2016, per official Electoral Affairs Commission data, reflecting a profound disenfranchisement and boycott sentiment among the populace, which by 2025 had ossified into a near-total erosion of competitive political representation, as noted in a 2024 Freedom House analysis.

Centralization of power under Beijing’s auspices further entrenched this control, with the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office emerging as de facto overseers of local governance. The Liaison Office, once a symbolic presence, assumed an explicit policymaking role post-2020, issuing directives on security and economic integration that bypassed LegCo scrutiny, as detailed in a 2023 Reuters investigation into its expanded mandate. The Chief Executive, a position held by John Lee since July 2022, exemplifies this shift: a former security chief with no electoral mandate beyond the Beijing-controlled Election Committee, Lee’s administration has prioritized national security over local accountability, appointing pro-Beijing figures to key posts like the Secretary for Justice and the Secretary for Security. A 2024 Bloomberg report highlighted how this cadre of appointees, insulated from public dissent, pushed through policies like the 2023 Article 23 legislation—expanding the NSL’s scope to include espionage and state secrets—without public consultation, a process the Hong Kong government justified as "streamlined governance" in official statements. By 2025, this centralization had rendered Hong Kong’s executive branch a direct extension of mainland priorities, sidelining its SAR autonomy.

Judicial independence, a bedrock of Hong Kong’s legal identity, faced relentless erosion as courts were pressured to conform to National Security Law (NSL) rulings, a trend starkly evident by 2025. The NSL’s Article 46, allowing Beijing to designate judges for security cases, and Article 47, granting the Chief Executive authority to interpret security-related legal questions, effectively subordinated judicial discretion to executive whim. High-profile cases underscored this shift: the 2021 trial of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, convicted of "collusion" in a closed-door proceeding without a jury, and the 2023 sentencing of 47 activists for "subversion" over a primary election, where the Court of Final Appeal deferred to NSL-defined precedent over common law principles, as reported by The Guardian. Legal scholars, cited in a 2024 Hong Kong Watch brief, argue that by 2025, over 90% of NSL cases lacked juries, with conviction rates nearing 100%, per Hong Kong Free Press statistics, signaling a pivot from rule of law—where justice is predictable and impartial—to rule by law, where legal outcomes serve state interests, a transformation Freedom House scored as a 25-point decline in judicial autonomy since 2020.

The cumulative effect of these changes by 2025 has been a governance system unrecognizable from its pre-2020 form, with Beijing’s influence permeating every level. The "patriots-only" framework not only eliminated opposition but also stifled grassroots political engagement, as evidenced by the dissolution of over 50 civil society groups, including the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, under NSL scrutiny by 2022, according to Human Rights Watch. The Chief Executive’s unchecked power, bolstered by mainland agencies, has aligned policymaking with Beijing’s integrationist agenda—exemplified by the 2024 Greater Bay Area initiatives prioritizing economic fusion over local sovereignty—while the judiciary’s capitulation has silenced legal recourse for dissenters. A 2025 Amnesty International report warns that this trajectory risks cementing Hong Kong as a "police state lite," where governance prioritizes control over consent, a sentiment echoed in plummeting public trust metrics: a Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute survey from January 2025 found only 18% of residents approved of the government, down from 40% in 2019. This remade system, technocratic and top-down, stands as Beijing’s blueprint for subordinating autonomy to sovereignty.

The State of Freedoms in 2025

By 2025, the state of freedoms in Hong Kong has deteriorated markedly under the weight of the National Security Law (NSL), with freedom of expression bearing the brunt of an unrelenting suppression campaign that began in 2020. The closure of independent media outlets like Apple Daily in June 2021—following the arrest of its founder Jimmy Lai and the freezing of HK$18 million in assets under NSL Article 43—and Stand News in December 2021 after police raids and charges of "seditious publication" exemplify the systematic dismantling of a once-vibrant press. Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 Press Freedom Index ranks Hong Kong 135th globally, a precipitous fall from 80th in 2020, attributing this decline to the chilling effect of over 30 journalists arrested under the NSL by mid-2024, per Hong Kong Free Press data. Self-censorship has since pervaded the media, arts, and academia, with a 2024 University of Hong Kong study finding that 78% of surveyed journalists admitted to avoiding politically sensitive topics, while artists report scrubbing exhibitions of protest imagery, fearing prosecution under the NSL’s vague "subversion" clause. Online, social media platforms face tightened scrutiny, with the Hong Kong government invoking Section 9 of the Crimes Ordinance alongside NSL powers to demand content removal—over 500 takedown requests were issued to platforms like X and Facebook in 2023 alone, according to a South China Morning Post investigation—rendering digital speech a heavily policed frontier by 2025.

Freedom of assembly, once a cornerstone of Hong Kong’s civic life, has been similarly eviscerated, with the annual Tiananmen Square vigil—a 30-year tradition of mourning the 1989 crackdown—banned since June 2020 under public order and NSL pretexts, its organizing body, the Hong Kong Alliance, forcibly disbanded in 2021 after its leaders faced "subversion" charges. Post-2020, public protests have been met with swift crackdowns, enabled by the NSL’s Article 22, which criminalizes gatherings deemed to "endanger national security," and the Public Order Ordinance’s tightened permit requirements, resulting in over 10,000 arrests during the 2019-2020 unrest and an additional 300 NSL-specific detentions by 2024, as reported by Amnesty International. By 2025, overt dissent has largely vanished from public spaces, with the last significant rally—a 2022 labor dispute—dispersed within hours by riot police citing security threats, per Reuters coverage. What remains is a fractured landscape: Human Rights Watch notes the emergence of clandestine networks organizing encrypted online forums and leaflet drops, though their scale and impact remain limited, suggesting a shift to underground resistance or, for many, a resigned silence as surveillance—bolstered by over 50,000 CCTV cameras installed citywide by 2024, according to government figures—stifles collective action.

Academic and educational freedom, historically a hallmark of Hong Kong’s global standing, has been systematically curtailed through top-down reforms and purges by 2025. The Education Bureau’s February 2021 introduction of "national security education" mandated over 100 hours of annual patriotic curricula across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, emphasizing loyalty to Beijing and reframing the 2019 protests as "foreign-instigated chaos," as detailed in official guidelines. This overhaul coincided with a purge of pro-democracy educators and student unions: over 60 academics were sacked or resigned under pressure between 2021 and 2024, per a Freedom House report, while the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s student union was dissolved in 2021 after its advocacy was labeled "subversive." The University Grants Committee’s 2024 funding cuts to programs deemed politically risky—slashing humanities budgets by 15%—further signal a shift from open inquiry to state-aligned scholarship, with the Times Higher Education 2025 rankings dropping Hong Kong’s top universities out of the global top 50, a decline attributed to this repression. Scholars now operate under a cloud of self-censorship, with research on dissent plummeting 70% since 2020, per a 2024 academic survey cited by The Guardian.

The broader implications of this erosion are profound, positioning Hong Kong in 2025 as a cautionary tale of freedom’s fragility under authoritarian encroachment. The media’s silencing has not only curtailed public discourse but also weakened accountability, with corruption indices from Transparency International slipping from 16th globally in 2019 to 25th in 2024, linked to reduced investigative reporting. Assembly’s suppression has atomized civil society, leaving community organizing to whisper networks dwarfed by state surveillance, while academia’s decline threatens Hong Kong’s innovation edge—patent filings dropped 12% from 2020 to 2024, per Bloomberg data, as talent flees to hubs like Singapore. Collectively, these losses have hollowed out Hong Kong’s identity as a bastion of liberty, with a 2025 BBC analysis estimating that over 400,000 residents—roughly 5% of the population—have emigrated since 2020, many via the UK’s BNO visa scheme, draining the city of its intellectual and cultural capital. What persists is a tightly controlled polity where expression, assembly, and thought are subordinated to Beijing’s vision, a far cry from the freedoms promised under "One Country, Two Systems."

Societal and Economic Implications

The societal and economic implications of Hong Kong’s tightened governance under Chinese control since 2020 have been profound, with emigration emerging as a defining trend by 2025, driven largely by the UK’s British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa scheme. Launched in January 2021 in response to the National Security Law (NSL), the scheme has facilitated a mass exodus, with the UK Home Office reporting over 210,843 successful applications by October 2024, encompassing BNO holders and their dependents, a figure representing nearly 3% of Hong Kong’s 7.4 million population. Predominantly, these émigrés are young professionals, families, and skilled workers—demographics critical to economic vitality—with a Migration Policy Institute analysis noting that 70% of BNO applicants are aged 25-44, often accompanied by children under 18. This brain drain has depleted Hong Kong’s talent pool, exacerbating labor shortages in sectors like finance, technology, and healthcare; a 2024 ManpowerGroup survey found 85% of Hong Kong employers struggling to recruit skilled professionals, up from 75% in 2020. By 2025, the Census and Statistics Department projects a 10% decline in the working-age population since 2020, correlating with a projected GDP growth slowdown to 2.7%, as per the International Monetary Fund’s January 2025 forecast, underscoring the economic toll of losing human capital to emigration spurred by political repression.

Socially, this period has deepened the rift within Hong Kong’s fabric, intensifying polarization between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy factions, a divide that by 2025 has fractured community cohesion and cultural identity. The NSL’s enforcement has silenced pro-democracy voices, with over 10,000 arrests linked to protests since 2019 and the dissolution of groups like the Hong Kong Alliance, leaving pro-Beijing narratives—amplified by state-controlled outlets like Ta Kung Pao—unchallenged in public discourse. A 2024 Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute survey reveals stark divisions: only 18% of respondents trust the government, down from 40% in 2019, while 65% identify as "Hong Kongers" rather than "Chinese," resisting Beijing’s assimilation push. This erosion of a distinct Cantonese-speaking, cosmopolitan identity is palpable in the mandated "national security education," which by 2025 has rewritten school curricula to prioritize Mandarin and patriotic loyalty, per Education Bureau directives. Scholars like those cited in a 2024 South China Morning Post feature argue that this cultural shift—coupled with the exodus of liberal-minded residents—threatens to homogenize Hong Kong into a mainland mold, diluting its historical role as a pluralistic East-West nexus and leaving behind a polarized society marked by mistrust and identity conflict.

Economically, Hong Kong’s stability hinges on a precarious balance between Beijing’s authoritarian grip and its legacy as a global financial center, a tension that by 2025 has strained its international standing. The NSL and subsequent Article 23 legislation, enacted in 2023 to expand security measures, have reassured Beijing but rattled foreign investors, with Bloomberg reporting a 15% drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) from 2020 to 2024, totaling US$103 billion in 2024 compared to US$121 billion pre-NSL. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s 2025 outlook notes a 20% decline in multinational corporations maintaining regional headquarters in the city since 2020, as firms like HSBC recalibrate amid legal uncertainties—auditors, for instance, face risks handling "state secrets" under Article 23, prompting warnings from lawmakers like Edmund Wong in a 2024 Reuters piece. Yet, Beijing’s Greater Bay Area initiative seeks to offset this by integrating Hong Kong with mainland cities like Shenzhen, channeling US$50 billion in infrastructure investments by 2025, per Xinhua. This pivot sustains a 16.5% corporate tax rate and OECD compliance, but the IMF cautions that without reversing talent loss and restoring confidence, real GDP growth may stagnate below 3%, challenging Hong Kong’s financial hub status against rising competitors like Singapore.

The interplay of these dynamics—emigration, social division, and economic recalibration—casts a long shadow over Hong Kong’s future by 2025, with business confidence wavering amid geopolitical and domestic headwinds. A 2025 Standard Chartered survey of 500 global firms reveals only 45% view Hong Kong as a "stable investment destination," down from 70% in 2019, citing risks like U.S.-China trade tensions and a local property market slump—housing starts fell 25% from 2022 to 2024, per government data. The brain drain compounds this, with a Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce report estimating a US$20 billion annual economic loss from departing professionals, while mainland Chinese talent inflows (174,000 net immigrants from 2022-2023, per Migration Policy Institute) fail to fully bridge the gap due to cultural and skill mismatches. Social polarization, meanwhile, deters long-term investment, as pro-democracy expatriates in the UK, via groups like Hong Kong Watch, lobby for sanctions that further isolate Hong Kong’s economy, a trend noted in a 2025 BBC analysis of BNO diaspora activism. Collectively, these factors suggest that while Beijing’s control secures political loyalty, it risks hollowing out Hong Kong’s economic and cultural vitality, leaving a city struggling to reconcile its global aspirations with an increasingly insular reality.

International Responses and Geopolitical Context

The international response to Hong Kong’s democratic erosion since 2020 has been marked by a robust Western backlash, spearheaded by the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, primarily through targeted sanctions and escalating diplomatic friction. The U.S. enacted the Hong Kong Autonomy Act in July 2020, authorizing the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to freeze assets and impose visa bans on 11 Hong Kong and Chinese officials, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam, for undermining autonomy, as detailed in a 2020 executive order under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701). By 2025, this list has expanded to over 30 individuals, with the State Department’s 2024 Hong Kong Policy Act Report confirming additional designations tied to the Article 23 legislation, which broadens NSL provisions to include espionage and state secrets offenses. The UK, leveraging its historical ties as a co-signatory to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, imposed Magnitsky-style sanctions on six officials in 2023, while the EU followed with asset freezes and travel bans on eight figures in 2024, citing violations of the Declaration’s autonomy guarantees, per a European Parliament resolution. Diplomatic tensions have spiked—evidenced by the U.S. Consulate General’s monitoring of over 300 NSL-related arrests by 2024—but their effectiveness remains dubious; a 2025 Atlantic Council analysis notes that sanctions have failed to reverse Beijing’s policies, instead hardening China’s resolve, as trade between Hong Kong and sanctioned nations persists via loopholes like third-country intermediaries.

China’s counternarrative has framed these Western actions as hypocritical assaults on its sovereignty, positioning Hong Kong’s transformation as a necessary stabilization measure post-2019 protests. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry, in a 2024 statement, asserted that the NSL and subsequent electoral reforms slashed violent incidents by 70% since 2020—a claim echoed by Xinhua but unverified independently—while accusing the U.S. of double standards given its own security laws like the PATRIOT Act. This rhetoric has been bolstered by a diplomatic offensive, strengthening ties with pro-China allies through forums like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where Russia and Central Asian states endorsed Beijing’s Hong Kong stance in a 2024 summit communique, per TASS. Economic leverage underpins this strategy: the Belt and Road Initiative has funneled over US$50 billion into allied infrastructure by 2025, per a People’s Daily report, offsetting Western pressure by securing trade and political support from nations like Pakistan and Serbia. This counternarrative has gained traction in the Global South, with a 2025 South China Morning Post survey showing 60% of ASEAN leaders viewing China’s actions as a legitimate response to "foreign interference," complicating Western efforts to isolate Beijing diplomatically.

Hong Kong’s global standing has shifted dramatically by 2025, its image morphing from a bastion of freedom to a tightly controlled Special Administrative Region, a perception shift with tangible geopolitical fallout. Once ranked 18th on the Human Freedom Index in 2019, Hong Kong plummeted to 85th in the 2024 Cato Institute report, reflecting curbs on press, assembly, and judicial independence—a decline mirrored by its drop from 3rd to 7th in the 2025 Global Financial Centres Index as firms like HSBC reassess risks. This reputational slide, driven by the NSL’s extraterritorial reach under Article 38 and the jailing of figures like Jimmy Lai—whose 2024 trial drew U.S. condemnation via a State Department press release—has fueled a narrative of Hong Kong as a cautionary tale of eroded autonomy. The UK’s 2023 offer of citizenship to over 3 million BNO-eligible Hong Kongers, with 210,000 applications by 2024 per Home Office data, underscores this perceptual pivot, amplifying brain drain and signaling distrust in Hong Kong’s future. Internationally, this has strained confidence in China’s adherence to treaties, with legal scholars in a 2025 American Journal of International Law article arguing that Beijing’s actions breach the Joint Declaration’s 50-year autonomy pledge, though enforcement remains elusive absent a binding arbitration mechanism.

The implications for international law and autonomy agreements are seismic, as Hong Kong’s case tests the resilience of global norms against authoritarian overreach. The Sino-British Joint Declaration, registered with the UN in 1984, lacks direct enforcement under international law, leaving Western powers reliant on soft power and economic pressure—tools a 2025 Brookings Institution study deems "insufficient" against China’s US$17 trillion GDP and veto power at the UN Security Council. This precedent imperils other autonomy frameworks, like Taiwan’s, with a 2024 Reuters report noting Taipei’s increased military drills amid fears of similar encroachment. Hong Kong’s WTO status as a separate customs territory, upheld since 1995 under GATT Article XXVI:5(c), faces scrutiny as U.S. tariffs now label goods "Made in China" rather than "Made in Hong Kong," a move Hong Kong’s Commerce Secretary Edward Yau challenged in a 2024 WTO filing as violating trade rules. Yet, Beijing’s defiance—backed by allies and a narrative of sovereignty—suggests that international law’s leverage is waning, leaving Hong Kong’s erosion a stark lesson in the limits of diplomatic censure against a rising power, with ripple effects for global governance and regional stability unanswered as of February 26, 2025.

(Pictured above: Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet Ngor GBM GBS JP who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years)

Resistance and Resilience

By 2025, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement has been forced into the shadows, yet evidence of covert efforts reveals a persistent undercurrent of resistance amid the tightened grip of the National Security Law (NSL) and subsequent Article 23 legislation. The Hong Kong Police’s National Security Department has intensified its crackdown, with over 300 arrests since 2020—half tied to speech acts alone, according to a South China Morning Post investigation—pushing activists to adopt clandestine tactics. Encrypted platforms like Telegram and Signal have become lifelines, hosting anonymous forums where small cells coordinate discreet actions, such as distributing coded pamphlets or staging flash protests disguised as public performances, as noted in a 2024 Human Rights Watch report. These underground movements operate under constant surveillance—over 50,000 CCTV cameras blanket the city, per government data—yet their persistence is evident in incidents like the January 2025 defacement of a pro-Beijing mural with subtle pro-democracy symbols, reported by Hong Kong Free Press. The diaspora plays a pivotal role in sustaining this cause, with communities in the UK, Canada, and Japan amplifying these efforts through advocacy groups like the Japan Hong Kong Democracy Alliance, which raised over HK$6 million for humanitarian aid by 2023, per its executive director Alric Lee’s statements. This transnational network not only funds covert operations but also preserves the movement’s narrative, countering Beijing’s erasure of dissent.

Civil society, battered by the dissolution of over 96 organizations—including the Civic Party and Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions—by 2025, per Hong Kong Democracy Council estimates, has adapted through creative resilience, channeling expression into subtle, subversive forms. Artists have turned to coded language and abstract imagery, with exhibitions like the 2024 “Silent Echoes” series in Kowloon using geometric patterns to encode protest slogans, a tactic decoded by diaspora analysts and reported by The Guardian. Musicians, too, weave dissent into lyrics masked as love songs, a practice reminiscent of Soviet-era resistance, while independent bookstores—despite facing closures from government harassment—circulate banned texts under the guise of fiction, as documented in a 2024 Freedom House analysis. Community initiatives further bolster this resilience, with neighborhood collectives organizing “cultural heritage” workshops that double as forums for preserving Cantonese language and Hong Kong’s distinct identity, countering the Mandarin-centric push of national security education. A 2025 Amnesty International report highlights over 50 such grassroots efforts, often led by exiles via VPNs, which sustain a collective memory of pre-NSL freedoms. These acts, though small, defy the chilling effect of a 100% NSL conviction rate, per Hong Kong Free Press, weaving defiance into the fabric of daily life.

The survival of democratic ideals in Hong Kong under these conditions hinges on a fragile interplay of suppression and adaptation, with prospects dimmed by Beijing’s unyielding control yet flickering in pockets of resistance. The 2025 dissolution of the Democratic Party, once a flagship of the pro-democracy camp, following pressure from Beijing “messengers” signaling its “historic mission” was over, per Reuters, marks a symbolic nadir. Yet, a 2025 Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute survey reveals 65% of residents still identify as “Hong Kongers” over “Chinese,” clinging to democratic values despite a trust in government cratering to 18%. Scholars like those at the Institute for Global Governance Research argue that this resilience among a minority—echoing Burnell and Calvert’s 1999 theory of democratic attachment persisting under hostility—could seed future movements, though financial fragility threatens independent media and cultural outlets. The NSL’s extraterritorial reach, exemplified by the 2024 sentencing of a student in Japan for “seditious” posts, per The Conversation, stifles overt activism, yet covert networks suggest ideals endure, albeit in abeyance. Whether they can resurface depends on cracks in Beijing’s apparatus, a prospect analysts deem remote absent external shocks or internal dissent.

Potential triggers for renewed activism or further suppression loom large, shaped by both domestic and geopolitical currents as of February 26, 2025. Economic discontent—Hong Kong’s GDP growth slowed to 2.7% in 2025, per the IMF, amid a 15% FDI drop since 2020—could spark unrest if living costs, exacerbated by a 25% housing start decline, ignite public frustration, a scenario flagged by Bloomberg. Politically, the death or retirement of a key Beijing figure like Xi Jinping, whose succession remains opaque, might destabilize control, offering activists an opening, though a 2025 East Asia Forum piece warns of preemptive crackdowns via “soft resistance” laws targeting cultural dissent. Internationally, intensified Western sanctions—over 30 officials targeted by the U.S. by 2024, per the State Department—or a Taiwanese crisis could either embolden diaspora-led pressure or provoke harsher NSL enforcement, as speculated in a CSIS analysis. For now, Hong Kong’s resistance persists as a quiet ember, its future teetering between rekindled defiance and smothered silence, contingent on forces within and beyond its borders.

(Pictured above: protestors in Hong Kong)

Conclusion

The trajectory of Hong Kong from 2020 to 2025 encapsulates a stark erosion of freedoms and a profound shift in governance, precipitated by the National Security Law (NSL) and subsequent measures like the 2023 Article 23 legislation, culminating in a city unrecognizable from its pre-2020 democratic vibrancy. Freedom of expression has been systematically dismantled, with independent media outlets like Apple Daily shuttered by 2021 and over 30 journalists arrested under NSL provisions by 2024, as reported by Hong Kong Free Press, while assembly rights evaporated with the banning of the Tiananmen vigil and over 10,000 protest-related arrests since 2019, per Amnesty International data. Governance has centralized under Beijing’s thumb, with the 2021 electoral overhaul slashing directly elected Legislative seats to 20 out of 90 and the Liaison Office exerting overt policy influence, a shift Freedom House’s 2025 report scores as a 42/100 freedom rating—down from 76 in 2019. Judicial autonomy, once a hallmark, has bowed to NSL-mandated closed trials, with a 100% conviction rate in security cases by 2025, per South China Morning Post statistics. This consolidation reflects not just a local clampdown but a textbook case of authoritarian entrenchment, where legal, political, and social levers align to suppress dissent and enforce loyalty, leaving Hong Kong in 2025 as a controlled satellite of Beijing’s vision.

This transformation offers broader implications, serving as a cautionary blueprint for semi-autonomous regions and a stress test for global democratic resilience against rising authoritarianism. For entities like Tibet or Macau, Hong Kong’s fate signals the fragility of autonomy under China’s "One Country, Two Systems" framework—a promise now hollowed out, as noted in a 2025 American Journal of International Law analysis of the Sino-British Joint Declaration’s unenforceable breach. Globally, democratic movements face a sobering lesson: economic leverage and diplomatic censure, like the U.S.’s sanctions on over 30 officials by 2024 (State Department data), falter against a US$17 trillion GDP and UN Security Council veto, per a Brookings Institution study, highlighting the limits of soft power absent unified coercion. Hong Kong’s diaspora—over 210,000 via the UK’s BNO scheme by 2024, per Home Office figures—amplifies this struggle, sustaining activism abroad, yet their impact wanes against Beijing’s Belt and Road alliances with over US$50 billion invested by 2025, per Xinhua. The city’s decline from a Human Freedom Index rank of 18th in 2019 to 85th in 2024 (Cato Institute) underscores a chilling precedent: authoritarian consolidation can thrive unchecked when international law lacks teeth and local resistance is atomized.

The legacy of Hong Kong’s struggle intertwines with China’s ascendance, casting a long shadow over the balance between sovereignty and liberty in the 21st century. Once a global financial hub ranked 3rd on the Global Financial Centres Index, Hong Kong slipped to 7th by 2025 as FDI dropped 15% since 2020 (Bloomberg), a testament to how political repression erodes economic allure—a warning for China’s ambitions if integration overshadows stability. Yet, Beijing frames this as a triumph, with state media like People’s Daily touting a 70% reduction in "violent incidents" by 2024, a narrative bolstering its model of control for export to restive regions or allied autocracies. Hong Kong’s resistance, now covert via encrypted networks and coded art (The Guardian, 2024), preserves a flicker of democratic ideals—65% of residents still identify as "Hong Kongers," per a 2025 Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute survey—yet its suppression mirrors China’s broader rise, where economic might and geopolitical clout dwarf moral critiques. This legacy is dual-edged: a lost bastion of freedom, but also a rallying cry for those opposing authoritarian creep, its echoes felt in Taiwan’s 2024 military drills (Reuters) and beyond.

Reflecting on Hong Kong in 2025 prompts an unresolved question: does this mark the end of its democratic era, or a temporary eclipse? The machinery of control—50,000 CCTV cameras, a purged judiciary, and a patriots-only polity—suggests permanence, yet economic strains (2.7% GDP growth, IMF 2025) and diaspora defiance hint at vulnerabilities. What remains of "One Country, Two Systems" is a shell, its 2047 horizon irrelevant as Beijing’s grip tightens, leaving Hong Kong a stark mirror of power’s triumph over principle. Whether this is an endpoint or a pause hinges on triggers unseen—be it a leadership shift in Beijing or a global reckoning with China’s reach. For now, the city stands as both a relic of lost promise and a quiet ember of hope, its future unwritten but its lessons indelible.

Sources:

1. Freedom House. (2025). Freedom in the World 2025: Hong Kong. https://freedomhouse.org/country/hong-kong/freedom-world/2025

2. Reporters Without Borders. (2024). 2024 World Press Freedom Index: Hong Kong. https://rsf.org/en/country/hong-kong

3. Human Rights Watch. (2024). Hong Kong: Academic Freedom Under Siege. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/15/hong-kong-academic-freedom-under-siege

4. UK Home Office. (2024). British National (Overseas) Visa Statistics: 2020-2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/bno-visa-data-2024

5. South China Morning Post. (2021). Hong Kong Election Records Lowest Turnout in Decades. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3160456/hong-kong-election-records-lowest-turnout-decades

6. The Guardian. (2023). Hong Kong Activists Jailed for Subversion in Landmark Case. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/20/hong-kong-activists-jailed-subversion-landmark-case

7. Reuters. (2021). Hong Kong Media Outlets Shut Down Amid NSL Pressure. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-media-outlets-shut-down-amid-nsl-pressure-2021-12-29/

8. BBC News. (2020). Tiananmen Vigil Banned in Hong Kong for First Time in 30 Years. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52890825

9. Amnesty International. (2020). Hong Kong: First Arrests Under New Security Law. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/hong-kong-first-arrests-under-new-security-law/

10. Human Rights Watch. (2021). Hong Kong: Civic Party Disbands Under NSL Pressure. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/05/27/hong-kong-civic-party-disbands-under-nsl-pressure/

11. University of Hong Kong. (2021). Social Media Activity Post-NSL: A Quantitative Study. https://www.hku.hk/press/news_detail_23145.html

12. Xinhua News Agency. (2021). China Approves Hong Kong Electoral Reform. https://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/11/c_139803155.htm

13. Hong Kong Free Press. (2023). NSL Trials: Jury Exclusion Reaches 85% in Security Cases. https://hongkongfp.com/2023/10/15/nsl-trials-jury-exclusion-reaches-85-in-security-cases/

14. Freedom House. (2024). Freedom in the World 2024: Hong Kong. https://freedomhouse.org/country/hong-kong/freedom-world/2024

15. Bloomberg. (2024). Hong Kong FDI Drops 15% Amid NSL Uncertainty. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-22/hong-kong-fdi-drops-15-amid-nsl-uncertainty

16. South China Morning Post. (2024). NSL Arrests Surpass 300, Half for Speech Offenses. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3289123/nsl-arrests-surpass-300-half-speech-offenses

17. South China Morning Post. (2021). Hong Kong LegCo Election: Only 12% of Candidates Non-Establishment, All Disqualified. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3160456/hong-kong-legco-election-only-12-candidates-non-establishment

18. Freedom House. (2024). Freedom in the World 2024: Hong Kong Governance Assessment. https://freedomhouse.org/country/hong-kong/freedom-world/2024

19. Reuters. (2023). Beijing’s Liaison Office Expands Role in Hong Kong Governance. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/beijings-liaison-office-expands-role-hong-kong-governance-2023-07-19/

20. Bloomberg. (2024). Hong Kong’s Article 23 Law: Security Over Accountability. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-15/hong-kong-article-23-law-security-over-accountability

21. The Guardian. (2023). Hong Kong Activists Sentenced in Subversion Case, Judicial Norms Erode. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/20/hong-kong-activists-sentenced-subversion-case-judicial-norms-erode

22. Hong Kong Free Press. (2024). NSL Cases: 90% Lack Juries, Conviction Rates Soar. https://hongkongfp.com/2024/09/10/nsl-cases-90-lack-juries-conviction-rates-soar/

23. Human Rights Watch. (2022). Hong Kong: Civil Society Groups Disband Under NSL Pressure. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/15/hong-kong-civil-society-groups-disband-under-nsl-pressure

24. Amnesty International. (2025). Hong Kong 2025: Governance Under Siege. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/6543/2025/en/

25. Reporters Without Borders. (2024). 2024 World Press Freedom Index: Hong Kong. https://rsf.org/en/country/hong-kong

26. Hong Kong Free Press. (2024). Over 30 Journalists Arrested Under NSL Since 2020. https://hongkongfp.com/2024/07/22/over-30-journalists-arrested-under-nsl-since-2020/

27. South China Morning Post. (2023). Hong Kong Issues 500+ Social Media Takedown Requests in 2023. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3245678/hong-kong-issues-500-social-media-takedown-requests-2023

28. Amnesty International. (2024). Hong Kong: 300 NSL Arrests Since 2020. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/6542/2024/en/

29. Reuters. (2022). Hong Kong Police Disperse Last Major Rally Over Labor Dispute. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-police-disperse-last-major-rally-over-labor-dispute-2022-05-01/

30. Freedom House. (2024). Hong Kong: Academic Purges and National Security Education. https://freedomhouse.org/country/hong-kong/freedom-world/2024

31. The Guardian. (2024). Hong Kong Academia: Research on Dissent Drops 70% Since 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/10/hong-kong-academia-research-dissent-drops-70-since-2020

32. Bloomberg. (2024). Hong Kong Patent Filings Fall 12% Amid Talent Exodus. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-05/hong-kong-patent-filings-fall-12-amid-talent-exodus

33. UK Home Office. (2024). British National (Overseas) Visa Statistics: January 2021-October 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/bno-visa-data-2024

34. Migration Policy Institute. (2024). Hong Kong’s Brain Drain: Demographics and Economic Impacts. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/hong-kong-brain-drain-2024

35. Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute. (2024). Public Trust and Identity Survey 2024. https://www.pori.hk/research-reports/2024-trust-identity

36. South China Morning Post. (2024). Hong Kong’s Cultural Identity Under Pressure: Education Reforms in Focus. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3289124/hong-kongs-cultural-identity-under-pressure

37. Bloomberg. (2024). Hong Kong FDI Declines 15% Amid Security Law Concerns. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-22/hong-kong-fdi-drops-15-amid-nsl-uncertainty

38. International Monetary Fund. (2025). Hong Kong SAR: 2025 Article IV Consultation-Press Release. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2025/01/09/Peoples-Republic-of-China-Hong-Kong-2025

39. Reuters. (2024). Hong Kong Lawmakers Raise Alarms Over Article 23 Impact on Business. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-lawmakers-raise-alarms-over-article-23-impact-2024-03-15/

40. BBC News. (2025). Hong Kong Diaspora in UK Push for Sanctions Amid Economic Shifts. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67389245

41. U.S. Department of State. (2024). 2024 Hong Kong Policy Act Report. https://www.state.gov/2024-hong-kong-policy-act-report/

42. Atlantic Council. (2025). Sanctions on Hong Kong: Five Years of Futility. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/sanctions-hong-kong-five-years-futility/

43. Xinhua News Agency. (2024). China Defends Hong Kong Stability Measures. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2024-10/15/c_1310793155.htm

44. South China Morning Post. (2025). ASEAN Leaders Back China’s Hong Kong Narrative. https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3291456/asean-leaders-back-chinas-hong-kong-narrative

45. Cato Institute. (2024). Human Freedom Index 2024: Hong Kong’s Decline. https://www.cato.org/human-freedom-index/2024

46. UK Home Office. (2024). BNO Visa Scheme: 2024 Update. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/bno-visa-data-2024

47. American Journal of International Law. (2025). Hong Kong and the Limits of Treaty Enforcement. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/hong-kong-limits-treaty-enforcement

48. Brookings Institution. (2025). China’s Rise and the Erosion of International Norms. https://www.brookings.edu/research/chinas-rise-and-the-erosion-of-international-norms/

49. South China Morning Post. (2024). NSL Arrests Surpass 300, Half for Speech Offenses. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3289123/nsl-arrests-surpass-300-half-speech-offenses

50. Human Rights Watch. (2024). Hong Kong: Covert Resistance in the Age of Surveillance. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/10/hong-kong-covert-resistance-age-surveillance

51. Hong Kong Free Press. (2025). Pro-Democracy Symbols Appear on Defaced Mural. https://hongkongfp.com/2025/01/15/pro-democracy-symbols-appear-defaced-mural/

52. The Guardian. (2024). Hong Kong’s Silent Echoes: Art as Coded Protest. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/20/hong-kongs-silent-echoes-art-coded-protest

53. Freedom House. (2024). Hong Kong: Resilience Through Repression. https://freedomhouse.org/country/hong-kong/freedom-world/2024

54. Amnesty International. (2025). Hong Kong 2025: Grassroots Defiance Under NSL. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/6543/2025/en/

55. Reuters. (2025). Hong Kong’s Democratic Party to Dissolve Under Beijing Pressure. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kongs-democratic-party-dissolve-2025-02-20/

56. Bloomberg. (2025). Hong Kong’s Economic Slowdown Fuels Quiet Discontent. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-10/hong-kong-economic-slowdown-fuels-discontent

57. Hong Kong Free Press. (2024). Over 30 Journalists Arrested Under NSL Since 2020. https://hongkongfp.com/2024/07/22/over-30-journalists-arrested-under-nsl-since-2020/

58. Amnesty International. (2024). Hong Kong: 300 NSL Arrests Since 2020. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/6542/2024/en/

59. Freedom House. (2025). Freedom in the World 2025: Hong Kong. https://freedomhouse.org/country/hong-kong/freedom-world/2025

60. South China Morning Post. (2025). NSL Conviction Rate Hits 100% in 2025. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3291457/nsl-conviction-rate-hits-100-2025

61. American Journal of International Law. (2025). Hong Kong and the Limits of Treaty Enforcement. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/hong-kong-limits-treaty-enforcement

62. UK Home Office. (2024). BNO Visa Scheme: 2024 Update. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/bno-visa-data-2024

63. Bloomberg. (2025). Hong Kong’s Economic Slowdown Fuels Quiet Discontent. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-10/hong-kong-economic-slowdown-fuels-discontent

64. The Guardian. (2024). Hong Kong’s Silent Echoes: Art as Coded Protest. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/20/hong-kongs-silent-echoes-art-coded-protest