In this first of a two-part series, we look at the workings of the law and how ‘soft resistance’ signals a next phase, and more importantly, as the focus shifts squarely to the economy.
A year after being arrested under Hong Kong’s domestic security law, former district councillor and theatre personality Katrina Chan Kim-kam has not been charged but feels society has already punished her.
Two theatre companies she worked with dropped her. An academic institution acted on an anonymous complaint and terminated her part-time teaching job, with no room to appeal.
Earlier this month, she was told to withdraw from a play she had been rehearsing since April for its November opening.
“The theatre company told me they had to ‘play safe’ to avoid trouble,” Chan, 38, told the Post.
Chan was arrested in May last year and accused of publishing seditious materials related to Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on protesters at Tiananmen Square, on a Facebook page about jailed activist Chow Hang-tung.
Out on bail, she has to report to police monthly. A licensed social worker, she has not landed any job in the sector. She will have to inform prospective employers of her current situation. She has been operating a stall selling incense and essential oils at a Sham Shui Po shopping centre.
