The stricter law will target previously approved films. Showing a work perceived as a threat to national security can lead to a three-year prison sentence.
How many films will be affected by the new censorship law?Image: Felipe Dana/AP/picture alliance
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Hong Kong authorities have unveiled on Tuesday a new censorship law by which already-released films will also be scrutinized for content breaching the "national security law."
"Any film for public exhibition, past, present and future, will need to get approval," Hong Kong commerce secretary Edward Yau told news agency AFP.
Censoring China criticism
The law would allow authorities to censor content they perceive as promoting secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces. It aims to prohibit all forms of criticism of the Chinese government, which has been cementing its control over Hong Kong for the past two years.
Following Hong Kong's months-long pro-democracy protests in 2019 against the growing influence of mainland China, the China-imposed security law has allowed authorities to crack down on any activity believed to "threaten China's national security."
This led to severe restrictions on activities carried out by the democracy movement across academia, media and the arts.
Hong Kong's free press in peril
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For example, "rules of conduct" for artists which have been in effect in China since March 2021 state that their work should express "love for the party and its principles" and serve "the people and socialism."
Muzzling Hong Kong's film scene
The announced measure is an extension of a law that had been announced in June, which targeted new releases only.
The broadcast of the Academy Awards was also banned in Hong Kong for the first time this year.
It is a tough blow for Hong Kong's historically prosperous film sector, which boasts renowned major studios and a thriving indie scene. Its most famous directors include Wong Kar-wai, Tsui Hark, John Woo and Stanley Kwan, while actors such as Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat, Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Maggie Cheung are also world stars.
The new law includes increasing the maximum sentence for showing illegal films to up to three years' imprisonment, along with a fine of a HK $1 million (around €110,000 / $130,000).
The new law still needs to be approved by the city's legislature. But as the local government has also been purged from any opposition over the past year, this step is seen as a mere formality.
Hong Kong and China's persecuted artists
Hong Kong artists expressing pro-democracy views are having their creativity clipped like some mainland peers. Here is a list of those targeted by Beijing.
Image: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/picture alliance
Self-described 'cultural fireman'
Kacey Wong left Hong Kong for Taiwan recently, citing lack of space for artistic expression. Famous for his political performance art, the Cornell-educated artist has targeted issues like the Tiananmen Massacre or Chinese censorship. Here he is seen doing his 2018 performance piece, "The Patriot," playing the Chinese national anthem on an accordion inside a red cage.
Image: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP
A song about choice
A strong supporter of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, Anthony Wong (left) had performed a song entitled "A forbidden fruit per day" at a 2018 by-election campaign. "This song is about choice, whether society has a choice," he'd said. Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has now charged the singer with "corrupt conduct."
Image: Alvin Chan/SOPA/Zuma/picture alliance
Tyranny can't trump creativity
Cantopop singer, actress and pro-democracy activist Denise Ho remains blacklisted for joining Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement. During a 2019 TED Talk, she said tyranny can't trump creativity. "Whether it is the protest on the streets that is taking a new fluidity, or the way that people reinvent themselves, the system needs time to counter it to find solutions."
Image: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
A peace prize while imprisoned
The late Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" while serving his fourth prison term. The Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, and philosopher was arrested numerous times, and has been described as China's most prominent dissident and its most famous political prisoner.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
Art as a tool for freedom
Contemporary artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei was jailed in 2011 purportedly for tax evasion. He was released after 81 days and this diorama is a chilling account of his incarceration. Ai is clear about the purpose of his art: "If my art has any meaning, it is as a tool for freedom. If I see people victimized by authoritarianism, I am a soldier in defending their freedom."
Image: Federico Gambarini/dpa/picture alliance
When truth becomes taboo
Filmmaker and author Zhou Qing has paid a high price for writing about taboo topics. In a 2011 interview, he said, "In China, possession of the truth has brought people endless grief. A normal citizen who knows the truth and speaks it might lose his or her family or job. A writer who reveals truth courts the danger of imprisonment. An official who insists on truth might lose his or her life."
Image: Ai Weiwei/Zhou Qing
Using pop culture to pan propaganda
Born and raised in Shanghai, Badiucao is a renowned Chinese political cartoonist, artist and rights activist who moved to Australia to study in 2009, and has lived there since. He adopted this pen-name to protect his identity. He makes political statements by mashing satire and pop culture with typical images from Communist Party propaganda. President Xi Jinping is a recurrent subject of his.
Image: Libor Sojka/Ctk/dpa/picture alliance
From hero to zero
Initially feted by Chinese state media as "the pride of China" for her Best Director win at the 2021 Golden Globes, Beijing-born Chloe Zhao's Oscar win later went largely ignored, with social media mentions of it being scrubbed. It is speculated that her 2013 interview with Filmmaker Magazine, in which she described as China "a place where there are lies everywhere" was the reason for the snub.
Image: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/picture alliance
