The phrase has no clear definition nor is it included in the city's laws, but this week it appeared in a guilty verdict issued by a Hong Kong court for the first time.
Li Jiexin, 69, was convicted Tuesday of unlicensed performance and fundraising after publicly playing "Glory To Hong Kong" -- an anthem that emerged during the city's huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Judge Amy Chan said Li's performance amounted to "soft resistance that instigated social conflicts".
"I was only playing 'do re mi fa so' and it turned out to be an enormous case," Li told reporters outside court.
Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law to quell dissent after the 2019 pro-democracy protests brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to call for more autonomy from mainland China.
Hong Kong will complete its own national security legislation next year, Lee said in his address, vowing to finish the task set out in the city's mini-constitution, but which has yet to be done since the territory was returned under Chinese rule in 1997.
The new law could address "soft resistance", according to Security Minister Chris Tang.
The rise of the ambiguous concept has triggered rare debate in Hong Kong's pro-establishment camp, which is the only game in town after the political opposition was wiped out under Beijing's national security law.
Legislator Paul Tse told AFP in August that criminalising "soft resistance" with further national security laws could be damaging.
"There will be a very big grey area and huge censorship threat," he said.
"In the long run it won't benefit us because no society can sustain without noises, not for long."
So far, 280 people have been arrested under Beijing's law.
- 'Hidden within Hong Kong' -
"Soft resistance" was first mentioned in a speech by Luo Huining, Beijing's former liaison chief in Hong Kong, on April 15, 2021 -- a day now dedicated to educating the Hong Kong public about national security.
"Anything that endangers national security, if it belongs to 'hard resistance', it should be struck by law," said Luo. "If it belongs to 'soft resistance', it should be regulated by law."
The term has since been used to describe criminal offences such as sedition, incitement, terrorism, and advocacy for Hong Kong independence, according to security chief Tang.
"Some national security perpetrators have continued to incite, infiltrate and collude with foreign forces through means like 'soft resistance'," Tang told pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po in June.
He also blamed "soft resistance" for causing "multiple social chaos in Hong Kong over the past 20 years".
Leader Lee -- under US sanctions for his role in cracking down on the 2019 protests -- had in July warned about "destructive forces engaging in soft resistance hidden within Hong Kong".
Taking a lead from Lee, customs commissioner Louise Ho later vowed to "strictly scrutinise 'soft resistance' items being imported".
- 'Ace card' -
Rare dissent emerged on Chinese social media platform WeChat in a July article that went viral.
"A small number of people... have turned the (national security law) into an ace card to promote their initiatives," anonymous influencer Jinghaihou wrote.
Such "irresponsible" use would damage Hong Kong's liberty and political pluralities, the writer said, adding that doing so could also constitute a form of "soft resistance".
The post echoed sentiments of "the relatively rational dove fraction" in Hong Kong's business sector, said a current affairs analyst, who requested anonymity for fear of being labelled as "soft resistance".
"Using soft resistance as an excuse, or the (national security law) as an imperial token is a main reason behind our loss of talents and foreign visitors," the analyst said.
The finance hub has suffered from a brain drain since 2019, with major international operations downsizing or exiting.
"They know if Hong Kong doesn't change path, the city will lose its edge."
Another Hong Kong-based scholar feared the phrase suggested a further crackdown on civil society.
"The regime... wants to completely reshape Hong Kong as an illiberal society with little to no dissidence," the scholar, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
"At the same time, it is likely meant to further strengthen self-censorship, which is already pervasive."
Hong Kong's leader says to create new national security law in 2024
Hong Kong (AFP) Oct 25, 2023 -
Hong Kong leader John Lee said Wednesday the semi-autonomous city would create its own national security law in 2024, four years after Beijing imposed sweeping legislation aimed at silencing dissent.
In a three-hour-plus policy address, the Beijing-anointed leader unveiled measures aimed at revitalising Hong Kong's Covid-ravaged economy and flagging population growth, while asserting the need to protect the Chinese city from "external forces".
"Some countries are undermining China and the implementation of 'one country, two systems' in Hong Kong for their own benefits," he said, referring to the governance model agreed by Britain and China under which the city would keep some autonomy and freedoms following the 1997 handover.
"External forces continue to meddle in Hong Kong affairs," he said.
"We must guard against those seeking to provoke conflict... and remain alert to acts of 'soft resistance' in different forms," said Lee, using a phrase that China and Hong Kong officials have started deploying in speeches to denote anti-government actions.
Massive pro-democracy protests rocked the city in 2019, bringing hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to call for greater freedoms and more autonomy from mainland China.
In response, Beijing imposed a national security law with sentences ranging up to life in prison. As of the end of September, 280 people have been arrested and 30 convicted under the security law.
Security chief-turned-leader Lee -- who is under US sanctions for his role in stamping out the protests -- said Hong Kong would "continue to safeguard national security".
"The government is pressing ahead to draw up effective legislative options and will complete the legislative exercise in 2024 to fulfil our constitutional duty," Lee said.
Under the Basic Law -- the city's mini-constitution -- Hong Kong is required to implement its own law combating seven security-related crimes, including treason and espionage.
The task, often referred to as "a constitutional responsibility" by the city's government, has yet to be fulfilled more than 25 years after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule.
The last legislative attempt in 2003 was shelved after half a million people took to the streets in protest.
Lee told reporters his administration would avoid a repeat of 2003 by "(ensuring) that people will understand what the eventual legislation will do to protect them".
Thomas Kellogg, executive director of the Center for Asian Law at Georgetown University, said the new legislative push was a "deeply disturbing development".
A new homegrown security law "would give the Hong Kong government the chance... to threaten an even broader array of individuals with legal penalties merely for exercising their basic rights," Kellogg said.
Lee also said Hong Kong would "roll out patriotic education to enhance national identity".
His announcement came a day after Beijing passed a law to strengthen "patriotic education" for children and families as "some people are at a loss about what is patriotism", said China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
- Housing and fertility -
Hong Kong -- which in April finally dropped harsh anti-Covid restrictions that left the finance hub isolated -- is "set to... resume growth" this year, Lee said, adding that the first half of 2023 has seen the economy grow 2.2 percent.
He unveiled measures to boost the city's ailing property market amid falling real estate prices, slashing stamp duty by half to 7.5 percent for non-local buyers and Hongkongers buying additional properties.
Hong Kong's "long-standing problem" of subdivided units -- flats divided into small spaces in often dilapidated buildings -- would also be tackled via a taskforce.
The issue of affordable housing remains one of the city's major policy roadblocks and something successive administrations have failed to tackle.
Lee also sounded the alarm on the "persistently low birth rate" in Hong Kong -- which last year recorded its lowest number of births since records began in 1961 -- set against a population that has among the longest life expectancies in the world.
A "one-off cash bonus of $20,000 (US$2,600) for each baby born today or after" will be offered to Hong Kongers or parents who are permanent residents -- a measure that will last for three years.
Researcher Tan Poh Lin said Singapore's experience with using cash gifts to boost the fertility rate "does not provide high confidence" that many families would be convinced.
"Given the size of the cash bonus, few couples are likely to respond by increasing fertility intentions... But it is a supportive gesture that can alleviate some of the upfront costs," said Tan, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore.
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