“Be careful or eyes will be plucked out”, China’s response to criticism by Five Eyes alliance over silencing of pro-Democracy activists in HK

The US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, who form the Five Eyes alliance, have strongly criticised the arrest and silencing methods used by China to stop the pro-Democracy activists in Hong Kong. The alliance rebuked China over imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong and urged it to reverse the new rules.

In response to the criticism, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned countries to stay out of China’s affairs saying: “They should be careful or their eyes will be plucked out”. He further told journalists in Beijing on Thursday that the Chinese never make trouble and are never afraid of anything, and it did not matter if they had five or 10 eyes.

In early November, the Hong Kong government expelled four pro-democracy lawmakers from its legislature after Beijing passed a resolution allowing the city’s government to dismiss politicians deemed a threat to ‘national security’. In protest against the expulsion, all of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers announced their resignations creating a crisis for the government.

Early this week, Foreign ministers from the Five Eyes alliance called upon China to reinstate them and reminded China that the expulsion was clear breach of Beijing’s legally binding commitments to protect the territory’s freedoms and autonomy. Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy were pre-conditions to the hand over of the territory by the UK back to China in 1997.

China imposed Hong Kong’s new national security law

In June China passed a controversial national security law in the island nation which was in the grip of pro-democracy and anti-Beijing protests for many years. The new law imposed on Hong Kong, reduced the island’s autonomy and made it easier to punish demonstrators. The new law outlaws demonstrations against the government in the name of “secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces”.

China says that the law was imposed to bring stability to the territory. However, the western governments and human rights groups are not buying it. They say the new security laws completely curtail freedom of speech and the right to protest. Numerous pro-democracy groups were disbanded out of fears of retribution by the Chinese state machinery and possible brutal use of force against them.