Shadowy messengers delivering threats to Hong Kong civil society

Shadowy messengers delivering threats to Hong Kong civil society

HONG KONG: Covert meetings, whispered threats, and mysterious phone calls-warnings of reprisals by authorities from shadowy messengers are hounding Hong Kong’s civil society as China flattens a pro-democracy movement. Unlike the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong long hosted a vibrant landscape of citizens’ groups who cultivated rights advocacy, union mobilisation and civil disobedience as a key fabric of the once-outspoken city.

But a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 to snuff out dissent has knee-capped the sector, leaving people fearful that the law’s vaguely defined crimes will be used to target their work. More than 50 civil society groups specialising on issues ranging from labour to education have since announced their closure or been shuttered after national security arrests.

Often the pre-emptive shutdowns came after staff were subjected to a shadowy campaign of threats and intimidation, according to five people AFP spoke to with firsthand knowledge. The warnings typically arrived via phone calls and messages from so-called “middlemen”, who assumed a conversational tone while revealing knowledge of each recipient’s personal life. Some came face to face.

Veteran NGO worker Mario-using a pseudonym due to fears for his safety-said his colleagues received disconcerting messages from several middlemen last summer. “They would tell you