“We are in every corner, we look”

From a woman waving a colonial era flag at a shopping center, to bakeries officials who sell protest symbols on them – dozens of hong Kongers have been reported to police by one man for what he believed were national security violations.

“We are in every corner of society, we watch to see if there is anything suspicious that could violate the National Security Act,” says former banker Ines Tang before the BBC World Service.

“If we find these things, we go and announce it to the police.”

When the United Kingdom returned to Hong Kong to China 28 years ago, internationally binding treaties guaranteed the city’s rights and freedoms for 50 years. But the National Security Act (NSL) imposed by Beijing a year after the mass protests on Hong Kong democracy in 2019, was criticized for shaking free speech and press, and for the introduction of a new culture of information.

The law Criminalizes the activities considered to be calls for “secession” (detachment from China), “undercut” (undermine the authorities or authority of the government) and a conspiracy with foreign forces.

An additional security law called Article 23Voted last year, the restrictions further tightened.

With new laws and arrests, there are limited reports on Pro-China “Patriots” by Hong Kong “ – The people who now run the police in the city, as well as the ordinary citizens who openly support them. But the BBC spent weeks in an interview with 60-year-old Innes Tang, a known self-listed patriot.

He and his volunteers have taken screens from social media from any activities or comments that they believe they can violate the NSL.

He also created a hot line for public advice and encouraged his online followers to share information about the people around them.

Nearly 100 persons and organizations have been reported to the authorities by him and his followers, he says.

“Did the reporting work? We wouldn’t do it if he didn’t,” says G -N Tang. “Many were discovered by police … with some who led to prison.”

Mr. Tang says that he himself did not investigate alleged violators of the law, but simply reported incidents that he believes he has imposed control-he writes it as “proper cooperation in the Community Police”.

Mr. Tang is not the only so-called. A patriot who participates in this type of observation.

Hong Kong authorities have created their own hot national security line, receiving 890,000 tips from November 2020 to February this year – the BBC Security Bureau told the BBC.

For those reported to the authorities, pressure may be ruthless.

As the NSL had come into force in 2020, more than 300 people were arrested for national security crimes by February this year. And approximately 300,000 or more hong Kongers have constantly left the city in recent years.

Pong Yat-Ming, the owner of an independent bookstore that hosts public talks, says he often receives inspections from government services who cite “anonymous complaints”.

He received 10 visits for a 15-day period, he says.

Kenneth Chan, a political scientist and a university lecturer who has been involved in the urban pro-depository movement since the 1990s, jokes that he “became a little radioactive these days.”

Some friends, students and colleagues are now retaining their distance because of his candid views, he says. “But I would be the last person to blame the victims. This is the system.”

In response, the Hong Kong government said it “attaches great importance to maintaining academic freedom and institutional autonomy.” But this adds that academic institutions “have the responsibility to ensure that their operations are in accordance with the law and meet the interests of the Community as a whole.”

Ines Tang says he is motivated to report people with love for Hong Kong and that his views on China were cultivated when he was small when the city was still a British colony.

“The colonial policies weren’t really that big,” he says. “The best opportunities were always provided to the British and we (the locals) did not actually have access.”

Like many of his generation, he is breastfeeding to unite with China and remove the colonial rule. But he says many other hong Kongers at the time were more concerned about their livelihood than their rights.

“Democracy or freedom. All these were very abstract ideas that we didn’t really understand,” he says.

The average citizen should not become too engaged in politics, he says, explaining that he has become politically active to restore what he calls the “balance” of the Hong Kong society after the 2019 turbulence.

He gives a voice, he says, what he calls the “silent majority” of Hong Kongers who do not support independence from China or with the interruption created by the protests.

But other Hong Kongers consider rallies and demonstrations a long -standing tradition and one of the only ways to express public opinion in a city that does not have a completely democratically chosen leadership.

“We are no longer a city of protests,” says Kenneth Chan, who specializes in Eastern European politics. “So what are we? I still have no answer.”

And patriotism is not a negative thing in its essence, he says.

It’s “value, maybe even a virtue,” he says, although it must allow citizens to keep a “critical distance” – something that does not happen in Hong Kong.

In 2021, the election reform was promoted – stating that only “Patriots”, which “swore in loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party,” can take important positions in the government or legislative council (LEGCO) – Hong Kong Parliament.

As a result, the Council is struggling to function, believes that China -based commentator on China Liu Mont Hung, a former member of the Chinese government consultation body, CPPCC.

“The public believes that many of these patriots are” verbal revolutionaries “or political opportunists – they don’t really represent people,” he says.

“That is why ridiculous policies are still going to a huge majority. No one will be restricted or opposed, no one can be considered.”

Even Patrini Ines Tang says he wants to see the current system challenged.

“I don’t want to see every policy pass with 90% of the vote,” he told the BBC.

There is a danger that the national security law will be armed, he says when people say, “If you do not agree with me, I blame you for violating the National Security Act.”

“I don’t agree with this type of things,” says G -N Tang.

The Hong Kong government said: “The improved Legco has already ridden extremists who want to impede and even paralyze the work of the government without finding an intent to enter a constructive dialogue to present the interests of all Hong Kong people.”

So far, says G -n Tang, he has stopped reporting people. According to him, the balance and stability returned to Hong Kong.

The number of large -scale protests has decreased at all.

In academic circles, the fear of observation – and how life can change for someone who violates the laws – means self -censorship and censorship, have become the “order of the day,” says Kenneth Chan.

Prodemocratic parties are no longer presented to the legislative council and many have dissolved – including the Hong Kong Democratic Party, once the most powerful party.

Ines Tang has now directed his views abroad.

“There are no specific problems in Hong Kong, so I wondered – should I not look at how I can continue to serve my community and my country?” He says.

“For a non -politician and civilian like me, this is an invaluable opportunity.”

He now works as a representative of one of several non -profit groups by regularly visiting the UN in Geneva to speak in conventions, giving China’s perspective on Hong Kong, human rights and other issues.

D -Tang is also in the process of establishing a media company in Switzerland and registers as a member of the press.

For Kenneth Chan in Hong Kong, his future hangs in balance.

“One third of my friends and students are already in exile, another third of my friends and students are in prison, and I’m something like … in a limb,” he says.

“I talk freely with you today … No one would promise me that I would continue to do it for the rest of my life.”

In a written response to the BBC, a spokesman for the Hong Kong government said national security is a major priority and inherent right for any country. He “aims only at an extremely small minority by people and organizations who pose a threat to national security, while protecting the life and property of the general public.”