The Communist Party of China is preparing for what state media called this Wednesday an \u201cunprecedented\u201d celebration of its ideology, responsible for at least 45 \u2026<\/b>
\nThe Communist Party of China is preparing for what state media called this Wednesday an \u201cunprecedented\u201d celebration of its ideology, responsible for at least 45 million deaths in China alone, in Hong Kong next week for the 100th anniversary of the Party. Under the One Country, Two Systems policy, Beijing agreed upon taking sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 that it would not impose communism on the capitalist city. Dictator Xi Jinping passed increasingly aggressive measures during the 2010s to undermine One Country, Two Systems, leading to multiple waves of protests that culminated in the 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. At its peak two years ago, a single protest against communism in Hong Kong attracted 2 million of the city\u2019s 7 million people. During the 2019 protest movement, polls indicated that a record low number of Hong Kong residents identified as \u201cChinese.\u201d Most, according to the University of Hong Kong, identify simply as \u201cHongkongers.\u201d Hong Kong\u2019s Beijing-controlled government arrested and brutalized many of the protesters throughout 2019, but failed to pass any laws that would limit their political freedoms. In response, the National People\u2019s Congress (NPC) \u2014 China\u2019s federal legislature, which has no formal power over Hong Kong \u2014 passed a law in May 2020 decreeing support for \u201csecession,\u201d \u201cforeign interference,\u201d \u201cterrorism,\u201d or \u201csubversion of state power\u201d a threat to national security. The \u201cnational security\u201d law requires a minimum of ten years in prison for anyone found guilty of violating it. While the NPC law violates \u201cOne Country, Two Systems,\u201d Hong Kong\u2019s police force is nonetheless enforcing it, most recently this week against the editors and staff of Apple Daily, an anti-communist newspaper forced to shut down Thursday. The Communist Party of China turns 100 years old on July 1, which the state-run Global Times propaganda outlet noted on Wednesday will allow for a celebration on the regime\u2019s part of the complete takeover of Hong Kong. \u201cFestive vibes fill Hong Kong with a week away from the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and also the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong\u2019s return to the motherland, which some local residents see as unprecedented,\u201d the propaganda outlet claimed, \u201cas it would also be the first time in Hong Kong to celebrate the birthday of the CPC on such an open and large scale.\u201d The state newspaper added that June 30 is also the anniversary of the drafting of the \u201cnational security\u201d law and that this, too, would be celebrated. \u201cChan Yung, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People\u2019s Congress (NPC), told the Global Times on Wednesday that this year\u2019s anniversary will be a turning point for Hong Kong, as it is the first time that the city will celebrate the CPC\u2019s anniversary so openly and grandly,\u201d the Global Times \u2018 reporting continued. \u201cIn the past, the CPC was a sensitive term for some people in Hong Kong. But now, the CPC has become a term representing positive energy, and it will become even more familiar to Hong Kong residents, Chan noted.\u201d The Communist Party will celebrate its seizure of Hong Kong by elaborately decorating buses and other public transportation vehicles and holding mass public events such as a fireworks display, according to state media. The latter presents a marked risk to the city given an out-of-control outbreak of Chinese coronavirus in Guangdong, the Chinese province bordering Hong Kong, but the Global Times did not indicate any concern on the part of Hong Kong authorities regarding the disease. That lack of alarm contrasts with Hong Kong officials\u2019 ban on any observance of June 4, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, allegedly due to the potential spread of Chinese coronavirus at such events. Prior to 2020, Hong Kong was home to the oldest memorial service in honor of the victims of communism at Tiananmen Square \u2014 the first memorial occurred in 1990. Hongkongers typically participate by the thousands in a candlelight vigil; many did so anyway, illegally, last year. This year, Hong Kong deployed 3,000 police officers to repress any displays in honor of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Estimates suggest the Chinese Communist Party killed as many as 10,000 people, most of them peaceful pro-democracy students, in the event. The Global Times celebrated the massacre this year as a \u201cpolitical vaccine\u201d against a free society and proclaimed Tiananmen Square \u201cembodies the Chinese people\u2019s confidence and pride in the politics of the country.\u201d A Hong Kong lawmaker falsely insisted that no one died in the massacre. \u201cOn July 1, Hong Kong\u2019s Central and Western District and Southern District will hold a float parade while variety shows will be held in Wan Chai District and Eastern District,\u201d according to the state newspaper this week. \u201cYoung people in Hong Kong will perform a 100-person flash mob singing at 25 iconic spots, including Golden Bauhinia Square.\u201d The coverage of the festivities did not mention the ongoing Chinese coronavirus pandemic. The treatment of Apple Daily this month \u2014 raided by hundreds of police officers and forced out of business through asset seizures \u2014 prompted international condemnation, which the Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed Thursday. \u201cHong Kong upholds rule of law. It is not a safe haven beyond the law. Freedom of the press does not entail impunity for crimes,\u201d spokesman Zhao Lijian insisted. \u201cAnti-China Hong Kong disruptors have no extrajudicial rights. The Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region] government ensures that laws are strictly enforced and complied with and offences are prosecuted. \u201cNo foreign country has the right to point fingers at or make irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs or China\u2019s other internal affairs,\u201d Zhao said, condemning the free states from which objections to the Apple Daily shutdown have emanated.<\/p>\n