Protests in Hong Kong were canceled according to the police threats when XI Jinping visited the city

One of the last remaining opposition groups of Hong Kong has canceled the only protest for democracy that was planned to visit Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday after its members were threatened by the national security police.

The League of the Social Democrats (LSD) announced on Facebook that they canceled the campaign on July 1, the 25th anniversary of the British handover of Hong Kong to China after the authorities had "spoken" to members and friends.

"It's a difficult situation and I apologize," wrote the group.

It was expected that it would be the only protest in the city in one day, where a number of activities of activist groups and residents of Hong Kong were traditionally held. Since its foundation in 2006, LSD has held a protest for basic democratic freedoms every July on July 1.

But a National Security Act that was banned subversion, secession, terrorism and secret agreements with foreign armed forces and Hong Kong 2020 imposed by Beijing has banned practically any sign of dissent.

"The civil society in Hong Kong no longer exists," Avery Ng Man-Yuen, former chairman of the LSD, told The Telegraph this week. "Ninety percent of the opposition leaders are in prison."

Mr. NG was released from prison in April after he was detained for 14 months for participating in an unauthorized meeting in 2019.

During this time, numerous political dissidents fled into exile, large independent news agencies had to close, and elections for the local legislative, which the West described as appearance.

"When I came back, the whole city had changed," he said.

The residents of Hong Kong are now more careful and quieter, for fear that any criticism of the government could be interpreted as a break in the law, he said.

"We never know where the 'red line' is going," said Mr. NG. "Even if they asked the national security police, they couldn't say. Obviously, it is because the 'red line' is constantly shifting."

This year, July 1st is also used to take the new government of the city, which is conducted by the newly elected Chief Executive John Lee, an ex-police officer who is considered his predecessor Carrie Lam by many as even harder and pro-Beijing.

XI's first trip outside of China for more than two years

Mr. XI will participate and his first trip outside the mainland of Chinese have been taking place since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020 - a sign of how important it is for him to keep Hong Kong under control.

"The main reason to go to Hong Kong is still that Beijing has to show that Hong Kong has stabilized and that they were successful in restoring the political order in Hong Kong," said Dongshu Liu, Assistant Professor of Chinese Politics at City University of Hong Kong. said Bloomberg.

The changes in the past two years have been dramatic.

In the past, more than 1,000 demonstrations took place annually in Hong Kong, with the police rate for demonstration applications according to the local newspaper Ming PAO.

That went back after 2020, when the National Security Act was implemented and the Covid 19 pandemic broke out.

Only 129 out of 3,749 Protest applications were approved this year. From 2021 to the present, not a single 75 applications were approved.

"We will do as much as possible as long as we can"

People who participate in protests are now routinely pursued by criminal law-under the National Security Act, Covid-related prohibitions of public meetings, a law against advertising on the street and the colonial crime of sedition.

"The government is equipped with a whole range of instruments from which it can choose to suppress all opinions that they don't want to hear," said Mr. NG.

The group tried to be creative. On the anniversary of the massacre on Tiananmen-Platz on June 4 of this year, their members were silent on the street with an "X" on their white masks. They were quickly paid by the police.

Against this background, the future of government -critical civil society looks bleak.

Most of these groups had to close last year and left LSD as one of the few remaining opposition votes. But they too face challenges.

The former chairman Leung Kwok-hungry was arrested and charged with “conspiracy for subversion”, which is punished with up to life sentence because he took part in an unofficial area code.

CHAN PO -ating, the current chairman of LSD and the wife of Mr. Leung, said that the police are now recording each of their movements when they are fighting on the street.

"Of course our strategies have to change in the face of the circumstances," said Ms. Chan.

"I have a pure conscience; everything we do is within the limits of the law. We are only committed to protecting fundamental rights, freedom of expression, freedom of thought."

Mrs. Chan said that the group would not dissolve, but admitted that they had considered this.

continue may seem hopeless, said Mr. Ng, "but the regime wants to make us believe - that everything is senseless and hopeless. We refuse to accept this as a reality."

"If we are the few remaining and are still able and willing to comment, we will do as much as possible as long as we can."