August events of the 2019–2020 pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong
The month of August 2020 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests saw only sparse and relatively small protests, mainly due to the city going through a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and an outdoor gathering ban on groups of more than two people. As the impact of the Hong Kong National Security Law on the city became increasingly evident, and additionally in response to acts by representatives of the local and mainland governments throughout the protests, Western democracies continued to voice sharp criticism and implemented sanctions against China, with the United States imposing sanctions on 11 Hong Kong officials on 7 August. These developments supported the opinion expressed by former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind in late June that the protests had morphed from a mostly local dispute into an international one.
The arrest of Apple Daily proprietor Jimmy Lai on 10 August was seen by representatives of Western democracies and many observers as a violation of journalistic freedom. The arrest of pro-democracy politician and activist Agnes Chow on the same day fueled concerns that the National Security Law would, contrary to its Article 39, be applied retroactively. Concerns about opaque mainland laws taking precedence over Hong Kong's traditional legal procedures rose further after the mainland Chinese coastguard foiled an attempted escape of twelve people, including several activists, to Taiwan on 23 August. The twelve were detained across the Hong Kong border in Shenzhen, with no substantial further information about them transpiring well into September.
Events.
1 August.
Solidarity protest in Toronto.
A group of various Asian-Canadians gathered in front of Toronto's China embassy on Saturday to voice their concern of China's growing oppression in the region. Indian-Canadians protested Chinese invasion of Galwan Valley, Iranian-Canadians objected the recent talk of a potential "25-year land sale deal" the Iranian government plans to sell to China, Tibetan-Canadians denounced the decade-long invasion into the Tibetan Plateau, and Hong Kong-Canadians denounced the Hong Kong national security law and China's violation of Hong Kong's autonomy. The protesters demanded strong reactions from the Canadian government, and encouraged all Canadians to boycott Chinese-made products.
2 August.
International response: Switzerland.
Switzerland's foreign minister Ignazio Cassis noted in a local newspaper interview that human rights violations are on the rise in China, and that China's recent policies on Hong Kong would affect many Swiss companies that have long invested in Hong Kong. He stated that Switzerland "must defend its interests and values more robustly, for example by strengthening international law and the multilateral system" if China were to continue its current path. Spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin later denounced Cassis' statement as baseless accusation and meddling in China's internal affairs.
Solidarity protest in New York.
Hosted by the pro-Hong Kong group "New Yorkers Supporting Hong Kong" (NY4HK), around 50 people could be seen waving flags, singing, and chanting in Times Square for a protest, with organizers saying that over 50 more protesters were on the sidelines as they had not wanted to be photographed.
3 August.
International response: France.
France halted ratifying its extradition agreement with Hong Kong. The agreement was signed in May 2017 but it was never ratified.
4 August.
UK Parliamentary group found Hong Kong Police in violation of international humanitarian law.
The parliamentary organization, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong (APPG), published the results from its five-month long investigation into claims that the Hong Kong Police Force consistently violated humanitarian principles and human rights laws during the year-long Hong Kong Anti-extradition Protest since 2019. Medical workers, as protected by the Geneva Convention, “shall be respected and protected” in war and civil unrests, and “in no circumstances shall any person be punished for having carried out medical activities”. The 80-page report, titled "The Shrinking Safe Space for Humanitarian Aid Workers in Hong Kong", found no evidence to justify “stripping [first aiders] of the protections otherwise available to humanitarian aid workers”, concluding with strong statements denouncing Hong Kong Police Force's treatment of first-aiders. The group urged the UK to urgently "impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on those responsible for permitting the excessive police violence at high level in the administration, including but not limited to Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the Commissioner of Police."
6 August.
United Nation's Human Rights Committee listed a 27-point clarification request to the Hong Kong government over possible human rights abuse. The document, titled "List of issues in relation to the fourth periodic report of Hong Kong, China" raises questions and concerns over the legitimacy, procedural details, and compatibility of the new national security law with the Hong Kong Basic Law, the disqualification of legislative council election candidates, domestic abuse, gender-based violence, right to life and prohibition of torture, treatments to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, fairness and access to independence of judiciary and trial, right to privacy, freedom of expression, rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of association, and freedom to participation in public affairs.
7 August.
US imposes sanctions on 11 Hong Kong officials.
The US imposed sanctions on 11 Hong Kong officials for actions and involvements "undermining Hong Kong's autonomy and restricting the freedom of expression or assembly of the citizens of Hong Kong" during the year-long Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. The 11 individuals are: Carrie Lam, chief executive officer of Hong Kong, Chris Tang, Commissioner of Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF); Stephen Lo, Former Commissioner of HKPF, John Lee Ka-chiu, HKSAR Secretary for Security, Teresa Cheng, HKSAR Secretary for Justice, Erick Tsang, HKSAR Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Xia Baolong, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Luo Huining, Director of the Hong Kong Liaison Office, Zheng Yanxiong, Director, Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, and Eric Chan, Secretary General, Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR. Under the sanctions, companies and banks are not to make "contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods or services from any such person."
9 August.
International response: Five countries urge reinstatement of candidates, hastened elections.
In a joint statement by the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, the Hong Kong government was urged to reinstate the eligibility of disqualified candidates and to hold elections for the Legislative Council at the earliest, thus reversing the previous postponement by a year to September 2021.
10 August.
Police arrest Jimmy Lai, raid Apple Daily newsroom.
Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital and owner of the only pro-democracy print newspaper in Hong Kong, "Apple Daily", was arrested at his home on August 10 under the new national security law for alleged collusion with foreign forces. He was later taken to Next Digital's headquarter by approximately 200 police members as they raided the newspaper office for hours. Several computers and digital devices were confiscated. His newspaper, "Apple Daily", live-streamed the entire raid on their social media platform. In response to this arrest, pro-democracy supporters "rallied" Next Digital's stock for over 300% at some point during the day, and ended the trading day with over 180% increase. The day after the arrest, more than 500,000 copies were printed – the normal volume being 100,000 copies –, and citizens began to queue as early as 2:00 a.m. to buy these.
Police raids Nikkei office.
On 29 August, AFP reported that three police officers came to the Hong Kong office of "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" with court orders to investigate. It was related to the advertisement published by Demosistō one year ago calling on the international community to support the anti-extradition bill protests. It was suspected for 'dealing with property known or believed to represent of an indictable offences', and did not involve national security law. The source said that the police did not take away anything that day, and the "Nikkei" submitted the relevant documents two weeks later.
Further arrests under the national security law.
In addition to the arrest of Jimmy Lai, nine other individuals were also arrested or wanted by the end of the day under the new national security law. Lai's two sons, Lai Yiu Yan and Lai Gin Yan, were arrested separately from Jimmy Lai, four other Next Digital staff, including chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung and chief operating officer and chief financial officer Royston Chow Tat-Kuen, Agnes Chow, the 23-year-old prominent pro-democracy activist and the now-defunct Demosisto founder was arrested at her home, European news agency ITV Freelance journalist and Demosisto former member Wilson Li, Edward Lei, a donor to a localist pro-democracy group, and finally, Mark Simon, a journalist with close ties to Jimmy Lai, were wanted by the Hong Kong Police.
International responses to the arrests.
Various United States government officials spoke out on Jimmy Lai's arrest. Vice President Mike Pence posted a picture of him and Jimmy Lai on his Twitter account along with #FreeJimmyLai. State Secretary Mike Pompeo in an interview mentioned Jimmy Lai's arrest and the new Chinese sanction of US politicians. He stated that the United States is "going to respond in real ways so that the actions they've taken with respect to Jimmy Lai and the sanctions that they have nebulously imposed on some senior American officials in Congress, you can be sure the United States will measure them, respond to them, and help the Chinese Communist Party understand you're not going to take action against America or Americans without President Trump responding." National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien in a White House statement said that the United States was "deeply troubled" by the arrest, closing with the words, "We stand with Jimmy Lai and his sons and colleagues, and call on Beijing to repeal the national security law and restore Hong Kong's rule of law immediately". The following day, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made a statement condemning the series of arrests and Beijing's erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy. She ended her statement stating that the US is watching, and "the world is watching."
Japan citizens focused primarily on Agnes Chow's arrest and trended the #FreeAgnes hashtag on social media. Many high-profile celebrities supported the call to Agnes and her fight for democracy. While Japanese government officials did not specifically comment on the arrest, individual politicians commented on Hong Kong's overall social unrest and called for China to respect "One Country, Two Systems".
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) condemned the arrest as an erosion of Hong Kong's press and speech freedom.
Police defend limiting media access during Apple Daily operation.
During the raid on the Apple Daily offices in the morning, police had only admitted 15 news outlets inside the cordon. Those not admitted included international news agencies Reuters, AFP and AP, as well as local online media Stand News and InMedia. This step was seen by observers as a violation of the freedom of the press enshrined in the Hong Kong Basic Law, and also at odds with an October 2019 statement by Chief Executive Carrie Lam that "no vetting on who can conduct reporting" had been planned in the city. Police defended its decision by operational and safety concerns, constraints of the area, and "some police assessments". It was rare, it said, to have dozens of media agencies inside a cordoned-off area; also, police had been providing information on their operations to reporters and newsroom editors.
Other developments.
In retaliation for the sanctioning of Hong Kong officials by the United States on 7 August, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian announced unspecified sanctions against 11 US individuals including senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio – who both had been vocal supporters of the protesters since the early stages of the protest –, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth, and National Endowment for Democracy president Carl Gershman. Zhao said that the sanctions were imposed on the individuals because they had "behaved egregiously on Hong Kong-related issues" while White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said the sanctions were “symbolic and ineffectual”.
11 August.
Protests in Hong Kong.
Following an online call on Telegram messenger, dozens of protesters gathered at four shopping malls for "Sing with You" events to protest against the arrest of Jimmy Lai and other "Apple Daily" staff the previous day, and against the erosion of press freedom in the city in general. Some protesters wielded blank placards. During a protest in Langham Place shopping mall in Mong Kok, police raised a purple flag