HONG KONG – Under a gray rain, a Hong Kong police drilling team entered the parade of the police academy on Thursday and showed a newly acquired skill: Goose step in the style of the Chinese army’s locked kneeling march, a departure the long-bent British-style bent knee in the former colony.
The exercise team was watched by hundreds of supporters who gathered in the stands to celebrate the National Security Education Day, 10 months after Beijing launched a radical crackdown on dissent in the city.
With promotional panels in the city and events organized at schools and other institutions, the activities aimed to expand support for a new security regime, including a national security law that makes crimes such as sedition and foreign collusion punishable by life in prison.
Thursday’s events also highlighted that Hong Kong, returned to China in 1997 under an agreement to give the city limited self-government, is now under Beijing’s control. Senior local and Chinese officials gave speeches warning of serious consequences for anyone crossing the bottom line of China’s national security. Many of the city’s most prominent democracy activists are in prison or on trial.
The sight of Hong Kong police marching on the mainland formed the strongest symbol of Beijing’s influence and became the focus of the day.