Hong Kong Politics After the National Security Law: Autocratization and Its Consequences

Ortmann, Lau, and Chan together with the contributors provide an innovative assessment of the impact of the National Security Law on Hong Kong politics. The law was introduced by the Chinese government in 2020 and has since fundamentally transformed the political landscape of the former British colony. The book explores how Hong Kong’s transformation in governance, law, education, and civil society has amounted to one of the most significant episodes of autocratization in the world in recent years.

Each chapter provides theoretical and methodological approaches to capture the different dimensions of the influence of the National Security Law on Hong Kong politics. The trends discussed in the book are of global relevance to the discussion of the current trends of increasing autocratization and this provides insights into the institutional transformations and the adaptive response from Hong Kongers. Also, the extra-territorial application of China’s National Security Law has inevitably global implications, which makes it important to investigate how the Hong Kong overseas diasporas are responding to these challenges.

The book is an indispensable resource for scholars and experts on Hong Kong Politics, China’s policy toward Hong Kong, international policymakers, journalists, students, and those who are interested in the growing global trend of autocratization.

Stephan Ortmann is an assistant professor in the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Metropolitan University. He is a political scientist who is interested in contentious politics, civil society and political transformations in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Vietnam.

Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University, Bangladesh and was formerly a Lecturer in History at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research interests include international relations, geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific, Global South (Africa and South Asia), Chinese foreign policy and Hong Kong politics.

Kenneth Ka-Lok Chan is an associate professor at the Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, where he also served as the Director of the Comparative Governance and Policy Research Centre and Programme Director. His research interests include Comparative Politics, Communist & Postcommunist Politics, Democracy and Electoral Integrity, as well as Government & Politics of Hong Kong.