Ɖ Gardịn vy on Ćîna’z rspons t dsnt: rpreśn, at hom n awe
(Transcription of an editorial published in the Guardian on 30 October 2022)
Ɖr r growñ cnsrnz ovr Bêźñ’z atmts t rstrict p’liticl xpreśn oṿsìz
Súnde 30 Octobr 2022
Śí Jinping’z līdrśp v Ćîna z nǎ indefiṇt. Nwn dǎts ẃt hiz ʈrd trm wl brñ: mor rijid p’liticl cntrolz. Ɖ parti dmandz obīdịns at hom. It asrts itslf mor confidntli abrōd. A sīńr ofiśl tld rportrz ɖt Ćînīz dploṃsi wd mnten its “fîtñ spirit”.
Ɖt rmarc cem dez aftr Manćestr p’līs sd ɖt ɖe wr invstgetñ ɖ asōlt v a Hoñ Coñ acṭvist hu hd bn dragd intu ɖ Ćînīz consyḷt’s grǎndz ẃn men fṛm ɖ bildñ dsruptd a protest on ɖ strīt ǎtsd. Asct abt ftij v him pŭlñ ɖ man’z her ɖ consl jenṛl, Źeñ Śiyuan, dnaid atacñ enwn bt olso sd it wz hiz “dyti”. P’līs hv nǎ sd ɖe r invstgetñ ɖ fl srcmstansz, n ftij śoz anɖr man, apaṛntli fṛm ɖ consyḷt, olso biyñ asōltd. Ẃt z bynd qsćn z ɖt ɖ protest wz pīsfl untl ɖ ofiślz cem ǎt n tòr dǎn a postr, n ɖt Ćîna’z chargé d’affaires in Lundn hz wornd ɖt “[pṛvîdñ] śltr t ɖ Hoñ Coñ indipndns elimnts wl in ɖ end onli brñ dzastr t Britn”.
Dez lêtr cem a storm ovr a netwrc v 54 “p’līs oṿsìz srvișntrz” – mostli in Yṛp – rportidli preṣ́rñ Ćînīz sitiznz, includñ disidnts, t rtrn hom. Ɖ Îriś guvnmnt hz ordrd wn in Dublin t clos; ɖ Duć guvnmnt n Cnedịn p’līs r invstgetñ ɖ activtiz v fsiḷtiz on ɖer sôl. Ɖ saits hlp Ćînīz sitiznz wɖ srṿsz sć az rnywñ drîvñ lîsnsz, bt ɖ Sefgard Dfndrz grūp, ẃć frst rportd on ɖm, sz ɖt ɖe r olso linct t pswedñ mîgṛnts t rtrn t Ćîna, includñ ʈru preśr on faṃlimembrz at hom. Ẃl most v ɖoz involvd apir t b sspctd v crîmz sć az teḷcomz frōd or c’rupśn, sć pṛsijrz ignor dy proses n srcmvnt forml xtṛdiśnmec̣nizmz, biyñ cnductd wɖt īvn ɖ nolij v hostneśnz. Mor cnsrnñli stl, disidnts in ɖ Neɖrḷndz rportd ɖt ɖ fsiḷtiz wr olso biyñ yzd t trac ɖm n ʈretn ɖm.
It hz loñ bn clir ɖt Bêźñ’z rpreśn dz nt end at Ćîna’z bordrz. In 2016, a Hoñ Coñ bcselr wɖ Swīdiś naṣ́naḷti, Ḡi Minhai, dis’pird fṛm hiz hoḷdehom in Tîland n ri’pird in cusṭdi in Ćîna. Hoñ Coñ’z dṛcońn naśnl-s’kṛti lw, impozd bî Bêźñ for yirz lêtr, gvz ɖ Ćînīz guvnmnt pǎrz t arest enwn vayletñ it ǎtsd ɖ rījn. Its ambiśnz t p’līs n limit p’liticl xpreśn oṿsìz r growñ.
F ɖ wst z sirịs abt dfndñ its valyz, it mst liv ɖm tù. Ɖ parḷmntri jônt cmiti on hymn rîts hz wornd ɖt ɖ public-ordr bil, ẃć gz t ɖ Hǎs v Lordz ɖs wīc, nt onli pozz an un’xptbl ʈret t a funḍmntl rît, bt “riscs … incuṛjñ uɖr neśnz hu wś t crac dǎn on pīsfl protest”. A deṃcraticli ilectd guvnmnt, subjict t ćecs n baḷnsz, includñ an indipndnt mīdia n hymn-rîts lw, z nt xmt fṛm cnsrnz abt ɖ iroźn v frīdmz. It śd b mor alrt t ɖ denjrz.
Abv ol, Britn mst mc clir ɖt it w’nt tred awe hymn-rîts cnsrnz fr ic̣nomic advantij, az it hz in ɖ past. Ɖ YC’z rspons t ɖ Manćestr insidnt hz so far bn strîcñli ḿtd. A promt invstgeśn intu, n ɖ cloźr v, rportd “srvișntrz” in Lundn n Glazgo, n a stroñ asrśn v ɖ Britiś cmitmnt t p’liticl frīdmz in ɖs cuntri, includñ pīsfl protest, z isnśl.
