Freedom score for Hong Kong hits seven-year low as Beijing’s ‘ever greater influence’ cited
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Hong Kong’s latest global score for freedom has fallen to a seven-year low of 59 out of 100, according to an annual report by a Washington-based human rights NGO, which blamed the figure on Beijing’s “ever greater influence” on the city’s political affairs.
The Freedom House report for 2018, released on Tuesday, also cited the “expulsion of four pro-democracy lawmakers from the legislature” and “jail sentences against protest leaders” as key contributors to Hong Kong’s score.
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The report covered 209 countries and territories, with its results derived from assessing 25 indicators of how much political and civil rights, as well as freedoms individuals in a place were enjoying.
The city ranked 111 overall, and the report gave Hong Kong a score of 59 this year, placing it on par with Fiji. That was one point behind Ecuador and Burkina Faso. The highest possible mark is 100.
Hong Kong’s score this year was down from 61 in the 2017 report. It was also the lowest since 2012, when overall scores for all places studied were made available.
The city’s tally stood at 67 from 2012 to 2014. It dropped to 65 in 2015 and dipped further to 63 in 2016.
In the categories of political rights and civil liberties, Hong Kong’s scores remained unchanged over the past year at five and two respectively, on a scale of one to seven, with seven being the least free and one being the freest. The city’s press freedom was rated as “partly free”.
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As for its overall freedom rating, Hong Kong scored 3.5, with the city categorised as “partly free”.
On the court cases cited by the report, Ip said: “The government went through proper procedures to pursue the cases in the higher court, be it the disqualifications or the harsher sentencing. This is our legal system, and we are known for having an independent judiciary. One could not have been able to reach the conclusion, without a great deal of imagination, that it was Beijing orchestrating from behind.
Barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah, also an executive councillor, described the Freedom House report’s citing of the disqualification cases as “most unfortunate and unfair”.
“The disqualification cases happened not because of anything done by the government but because the people involved chose to treat clear legal requirements as having no effect,” he said.
“Freedoms in Hong Kong are alive and well. Just ask anyone here.”
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It said the expulsion of four pro-democracy lawmakers from the legislature because of their “insincere” oaths of office had made it “easier for pro-government forces to pass major legislation and rule changes”.
The three freest countries, each scoring 100, were Sweden, Norway, and Finland.