Photo/Illutration Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary John Lee attends a reception, following a flag-raising ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China, on July 1, 2021. (AP Photo)

A dystopian tale refers to an imagined future society or community characterized by rampant injustice and human misery.

“Ten Years,” a Hong Kong film released in 2015, depicts the city in the near future as Beijing keeps tightening its grip on the former British colony.

The story is set in 2025, and Cantonese, the principal language of Hong Kong, is about to be outlawed. People are expected to speak “Standard Chinese” (Mandarin), which becomes the lingua franca in business and education. Even taxi drivers are required to take tests in Mandarin.

Back to the present. Hong Kong residents have not yet been robbed of their mother tongue. But they are no longer at liberty to speak freely.

Pro-democracy media have been driven out of business, and street demonstrations are broken up right and left.

In politics, only those who have been officially endorsed as “patriots” are allowed to seek elected office. In a single-party dictatorship, patriotism apparently means refusing to acknowledge diverse opinions.

And now, an individual who symbolizes this situation is about to become the next chief executive of Hong Kong.

John Lee, a former police officer who later served as the secretary for security, must have won Beijing’s approval with his track record of directing crackdowns on pro-democracy activists.

An election will be held for this highest executive office, but it will be in form only.

The choice of Lee for the post is tantamount to declaring to the entire world that Hong Kong is now a police city under thorough surveillance, and no longer the open financial center it once was.

In fact, the powerful Hong Kong National Security Law is already in place.

Come to think of it, the dystopia in “Ten Years” had its “national security ordinance,” as if the film anticipated Hong Kong’s present-day reality.

When I saw the film immediately upon its release in Japan, I thought setting the story in 2025 seemed too soon in the future.

Now, I am thoroughly ashamed of how badly I misread the situation. I never imagined freedom could be stripped away so quickly.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Apr. 16

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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