Hong Kong Silenced – A new Telegraph podcastMass arrests. Newspaper raids. Protests banned Exiled politicians. This curriculum is designed to brainwash.China has spent decades perfecting its strategy to suppress dissent and rewrite the history. Beijing now unleashes those tactics on Hong Kong.It all happens under the new National Security Law, which Beijing imposed on Hong Kong almost a year ago. This law criminalizes vaguely defined crimes such as subversion, secession and foreign collusion that can lead to up to life imprisonment.The Telegraph's new podcast, Hong Kong Silenced is a four-part series that focuses on how Hong Kongers have experienced life in the past year.Ted Hui, Nathan Law, and other pro-democracy activists have fled the city and sought asylum in the UK, USA, and Australia. Many of their peers, including Joshua Wong, a well-known activist, and Claudia Mo, moderate politicians, were denied bail and left wandering between jail cells and courtrooms.Apple Daily, Hong Kong's most well-known tabloid, was shut down. Jimmy Lai, a vocal critic of Beijing's authoritarianism has been taken into custody. The city has barred some journalists from leaving, which has had a chilling impact on the media industry.Civil servants must pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Those who refuse are deemed unfit to serve.Teachers, lawyers, and business leaders fear that their words could be used against them. People who are just trying to run their businesses, raise their children and keep their jobs are being intimidated into silence.Amnesty International warns that the law created a crisis in human rights and set Hong Kong on a fast track to becoming a police-state within a year.This is also a story of China, a rising global power, and how it views democracy and human rights. And what happens to those who challenge this view.Continue the storyThe Telegraph spoke with Hong Kong citizens from all walks of society for months.These stories show how once-glowing global business hub lost its precious freedoms and what it means for Hong Kong residents to say that their beloved city has become just another part China.This four-part documentary podcast follows their journeys. It is set against the dramatic score that Hong Kong sounds like today, where it sounds more like a place of dissent, debate, and protest than it does now.You can listen to Hong Kong Silenced by using the audio player at top of the article or subscribe free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
