Hong Kong’s response to deadly fire is squeezed by China’s firm hand
Official efforts to control the public response include a threat to arrest those who direct their anger at the government.
The fire in a Hong Kong high-rise last week was followed by an outpouring of support for victims and official efforts to control the public response, including a threat to arrest those who direct their anger over the tragedy at the government.
It was a display of how the once-freewheeling city of Hong Kong has been brought to heel by strict national-security laws and Beijing’s growing control.
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon and engulfed seven of eight towers in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex. It wasn’t brought under control until more than 24 hours later. At least 151 people died and many of the complex’s 4,600 residents, including seniors who had lived there for decades, lost their homes.
On Sunday, thousands of people had gathered outside the charred buildings in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district to lay flowers and leave mementos and messages such as “rest in peace" and “Hong Kong be strong." At a plaza at the complex, people manning a local relief effort collected donations and distributed essentials such as clothing, bedding, diapers and food to residents displaced by the fire.
By Sunday evening, the donation booths were gone, replaced by police command tents.
Government authorities have stepped in with official relief measures and sanctioned mourning activities, such as flying flags at half-staff and the establishment of designated condolence sites.
Beijing’s national-security office in Hong Kong warned that any attempt to exploit the fire to create disorder would be punished by law. The office said anti‑China groups and individuals were spreading false information, undermining relief efforts and inciting resentment toward the government and its leaders.
Alleged rabble-rousers are “attempting to use the victims’ grief to advance their political ambitions, pushing Hong Kong back into the turmoil of the extradition-bill unrest and reviving the darkest days of violent unrest," the security office said.
“Darkest days" refers to the months of protests and violent unrest in Hong Kong in 2019 that were sparked by a proposed law that would allow the extradition of suspects for prosecution in mainland China.
Hong Kong adopted a strict National Security Law the following year that gave China’s central government a much stronger hand in policing dissent. Authorities have since treated large, spontaneous public gatherings with suspicion.
The national-security regulations, which were expanded last year, feature broad provisions against subversion and foreign collusion that have been used to clamp down on popular expressions of dissent.
The recent tragedy came as the Hong Kong government has been campaigning to boost turnout for a legislative council election scheduled for Dec. 7. Following a 2021 revamp of the Hong Kong electoral system, candidates must undergo a vetting process to ensure political loyalty and the number of directly elected seats has been reduced.
The government said last week that election activities would be paused while authorities address the fire and its aftermath. Officials haven’t said that the election would be postponed.
A petition circulated online by activists demanded an independent investigation of the fire that goes beyond construction materials and addresses how Hong Kong is run. The list of demands in the petition echoed the protest chants of 2019.
The Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights, a group of rights advocates, said that the national-security laws may keep people from expressing opinions about what happened. “They fear questions regarding the cause and handling of the disaster could be deemed as sedition," the group said.
A person who was seen distributing fliers demanding an independent investigation and government accountability was detained by national-security police on Saturday, and has since been released on bail, the rights group said. The Hong Kong police didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Investigations into the cause of the fire and its rapid spread have focused on a renovation project at Wang Fuk Court, including the bamboo scaffolding and green netting that encased the towers.
As of Monday afternoon, Hong Kong police said they had arrested 13 people on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire, including scaffolding contractors, while the city’s anticorruption commission said 12 people had been arrested as part of a corruption investigation related to the renovation project.
“No matter who you are," Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang said on Monday, “as long as our investigation uncovers evidence, we will arrest you."
Over the weekend, a Chinese central government agency ordered a nationwide inspection of high‑rises. It will focus on fire risk, especially in buildings under renovation where bamboo or wooden scaffolding, as well as non‑flame‑retardant safety nets are in use.
The Hong Kong government said Monday that seven of 20 scaffold-netting samples tested had failed to meet fire-resistance standards. Authorities also noted safety hazards associated with bamboo scaffolding, a longtime Hong Kong construction practice, and said they would discuss the gradual introduction of metal scaffolding.
The government’s development bureau said that investigators weren’t singling out bamboo scaffolding as the cause of the fire and that no conclusions have been reached. Follow‑up measures involve a comprehensive review of all scaffolding, both bamboo and metal, as well as safety nets and related regulations, the bureau said.
Write to Jason Chau at jason.chau@wsj.com
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