The following is a letter from our reader expressing her support for the National Security Law for Hong Kong, which she says better protects the rights and freedom of Hong Kong residents.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Recently, the Hong Kong National Security Law has been extensively reported in the media, and many people fear that with this law, the freedom and human rights of Hong Kong citizens would be undermined. I am a Hong Kong citizen, and a mother of three children. I am writing this letter to express my personal views and share my personal experiences.

According to many worldwide organizations, Hong Kong was ranked one of the cities with the highest level of freedom and safety in the world. With low crime rates and high level of personal freedom, we were very assured to raise our children in this beautiful and peaceful city. In the past two decades, under the “one country, two systems” policy, Hong Kong people actually enjoyed more freedom and economic benefits with support from the Chinese mainland.

Things have changed dramatically since the anti-government protests from June 2019. The protesters claimed they were fighting for the freedom of Hong Kong, but what exactly were they fighting for?

Hong Kong was already ranked third globally, well above the United States, in a joint Cato and Fraser Institutes’ freedom index. In fact, the protesters were the ones who took away freedom from Hong Kong citizens, and turned Hong Kong into a dangerous city filled with violence and crimes.

The period from June 2019 to February 2020 was the darkest period in Hong Kong that we have ever experienced. Rioters threw gasoline bombs on the streets, locked down universities and the airport, set public transport facilities on fire, destroyed multiple stores and violently beat up strangers who stood up to them, or had different political views. The whole city was put to a stop, everybody lived in fear and distress everyday, there was neither freedom nor safety; we could not even carry on with our normal lives that every human being deserves. The rioters caused tremendous damages to Hong Kong, but most of them were not punished, because Hong Kong did not have the right law to protect our national security. We have had enough! We need the national security law to protect us!

The Hong Kong National Security Law does not have any negative impact on the human rights of people here. In fact, it is a guardian that protects our human rights, freedom and peaceful life. I love our motherland deeply, and thus I sincerely hope the international community would respect our country’s right to safeguard national security, as well as Hong Kong people’s wish for the stability and harmony of this city.

Best Regards,

Fiona Zhuang