In northern Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, an apartment complex known as Wong Fuk Court recently suffered a devastating fire on the 29th of last month, resulting in the deaths of 146 people. Amid ongoing disputes about responsibility for the tragedy, the Chinese government is intensifying crackdowns by labeling critiques related to the incident as anti-government actions.
According to reports from Hong Kong media like the Sing Tao Daily on the 1st, the National Security Office in Hong Kong announced it had arrested former district councilor Kenneth Cheung Kam-hung and a female volunteer the previous day. Local media reported that the two are accused of inciting public hatred towards the government concerning the fire catastrophe.
This move comes just a day after a university student, Miles Kwan, who had led an online petition demanding government accountability and systemic improvements, was arrested on charges of incitement. Observers interpret this as an attempt to strictly control critical opinions from the start to prevent situations similar to the large-scale anti-China protests that evolved into the 2019 “Hong Kong Pro-democracy Demonstrations.”
Previously, the Hong Kong National Security Office had issued a statement on the 29th, claiming, “During this critical moment, anti-China forces with ulterior motives are seizing the opportunity to stir disorder.”
The statement continued, saying, “Relevant Hong Kong government departments are investigating and suppressing treasonous acts that exploit disasters to create chaos in Hong Kong,” and expressed the belief that citizens would not be misled by petitions claiming to be “for the people,” which actually incite social conflict and division.
The Hong Kong National Security Office was established following the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law in response to the 2019 protests against the extradition bill, and has recently shown a more stringent stance on controlling public opinion in relation to the fire disaster.