Already a subscriber?Chinese Premier Li Qiang has arrived in Australia with hopes of increased trade and tighter diplomatic relations high on the agenda. I am also packing my bags for a visit to Canberra. But our conversations with Australians are likely to be very different.
At 76-years-old, my father is Hong Kong’s oldest political prisoner. He sits in solitary confinement, where he risks spending the rest of his life. Hong Kong authorities are persecuting him because he published a newspaper that dared to criticise Beijing and demand democracy. He chose to stay because, despite the litany of legal charges the government had thrown at him, he knew it was the duty of those who have tasted freedom to stand up for it.
My father’s case should be a red flag to those who still wish to make their money in China. The price of doing business in Hong Kong now is to toe the authorities’ arbitrary red lines. And these lines are constantly shifting. Authorities have wide and discretionary powers to punish all perceived dissent under its national security laws.