The Hong Kong authorities have a new favorite buzzword: “soft resistance.”

香港当局如今有一个新近爱用的热词：“软对抗”

The phrase, which is used to describe anything seen as covertly subversive or insidiously defiant against the government, is showing up in news reports, speeches by top officials, and warnings from government departments. Officials and propaganda organs have warned of the threat of possible “soft resistance” in a book fair, music lyrics, a U.S. holiday celebration and environmental groups.

这个词被用来形容任何被视为暗中颠覆或隐性抗拒政府的行为，它频繁出现在新闻报道、高层官员讲话以及政府部门的警告中。官员和宣传机关称，“软对抗”的威胁可能出现在书展、歌词、一个美国节日庆典，甚至环保团体中。

The term and its widespread official use reflect the political climate of a city that has been transformed since Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020, after quashing mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.

这一术语及其官方的广泛使用反映了香港政治氛围的转变。2019年的大规模民主示威被镇压、2020年北京强加国安法之后，这座城市已被改造。

Protests disappeared, and the political opposition was largely dismantled by the yearslong crackdown that followed. Now, with such “hard resistance” held at bay, the authorities appear to be targeting what they see as the next threat: subtler, inconspicuous expressions of discontent.

抗议消失了，政治反对派在随之而来的多年打压下基本瓦解。如今，“硬对抗”被遏制后，当局似乎盯上了他们眼中的下一个威胁：更为隐蔽、不显眼的异议表达。

Officials have warned that Hong Kong continues to be threatened by foreign forces, led by the United States, that seek to destabilize Hong Kong in order to block China’s rise. To the authorities, “soft resistance” is nothing short of a national security threat, and at least a dozen senior officials have used the term in recent weeks. Warning signs include messaging that is deemed to be critical of the government or sympathetic to the opposition or to protesters, whom the authorities have described as rioters or terrorists.

官员们警告称，香港依旧受到外国势力——主要是美国——的威胁，意图破坏香港稳定以阻挡中国崛起。对当局而言，“软对抗”堪称是一种国家安全威胁。仅在最近几周，就有至少十几名高官使用了这个词。需要警惕的迹象包括任何被视为批评政府的言论，或对反对派、示威者表示同情的立场——当局将这些人称为暴徒或恐怖分子。

“Soft resistance is real and lurks in various places,” John Lee, the city’s leader, warned in June. He cited the threat of unspecified forces that “don’t want our country to prosper and become stronger,” saying that such actors had planted agents in Hong Kong to undermine stability.

“软对抗存在是真实的，而且潜伏在不同地方，”香港特首李家超在6月警告说。他未指明地提到一些“不希望我们国家好、强大起来”的势力，声称这些势力在港安插特工，破坏社会稳定。

6月，香港国安法实施五周年庆典上的儿童。

Mr. Lee pointed to what he described as an attempt to turn public opinion in the city against organ donations, after Hong Kong and mainland China started exploring establishing a system for doing so across their border. In 2024, after thousands of people appeared to withdraw from the organ donation system, two people in Hong Kong were sentenced to prison, accused of using fake registrations and cancellations to create the illusion that there was widespread opposition to the system.

李家超举例称有人试图操纵舆论，反对陆港两地探索建立跨境器官捐赠体系。2024年，在数千人似乎撤销了捐赠登记之后，香港有两人被判刑，两人被控利用虚假登记和取消登记行为制造出社会普遍反对的假象。

The term “soft resistance” is being used so widely that Hong Kong’s justice secretary, Paul Lam, felt the need to explain it officially for the first time, in late June. He told local media that it referred to using false or misleading information to incite the public, or to cause people to have a “wrong understanding” of the government. But he also said that the term was hard to define, and that “soft resistance” was not necessarily illegal.

“软对抗”的说法传播如此之广，以至于香港律政司司长林定国在6月底不得不首次公开作出解释。他对当地媒体称，这指的是利用虚假或误导性信息煽动公众，或让人们对政府产生“错误理解”。不过他也承认，这个词难以界定，而且“软对抗”并不必然违法。

The phrase was first coined by Beijing’s representative to Hong Kong in 2021. It was revived by another high-ranking Beijing official in June, at a celebration of the fifth anniversary of the imposition of the national security law.

这个词最早是在2021年由北京驻港代表提出的。之后在2024年6月国安法实施五周年的庆典上被另一名北京高官重提。

As part of the term’s current resurgence, a major Hong Kong broadcaster aired a series of episodes that repeatedly warned against “soft resistance,” pointing to perceived threats like a children’s book that portrayed the police as wolves. The education secretary said that public schools had been warned against letting teachers and students participate in a U.S. Consulate Independence Day event, over concerns about “soft resistance.”

随着这一说法回潮，香港一家主要广播机构推出了系列节目，反复对“软对抗”提出警告，所指的威胁甚至包括一本把警察描绘成狼的儿童读物。教育局局长则称，公立学校已被提醒不要让师生参加美国领事馆的独立日活动，理由同样是担心“软对抗”。

But even some within the pro-Beijing establishment are expressing concern that the government’s campaign risks stifling expression and hurting the economy.

但即便是在亲北京阵营内部，也有人担心政府的运动可能会压制表达、损害经济。

Ronny Tong, a prominent legal figure and member of the Executive Council, a top advisory cabinet, said in an interview that the government’s response to the U.S. Consulate event appeared to be “overdoing it a little bit.”

资深法律界人士、行政会议成员汤家骅在接受采访时表示，政府对美领馆活动的反应似乎“有些过火”。

美国驻香港领馆6月举办的独立日活动。香港教育局局长称，已提醒公立学校不要让师生参加该活动。

He said that even the word “resistance” was excessive when applied to a minority of people who were unhappy with the government, whom he said should be dealt with using “soft measures, not strong words.”

他说，没有必要将“抵抗”一词套用到少数不满政府的人身上，应该用“软性方式，而不是强烈字眼”。

Prominent business figures with ties to the government say that the repeated emphasis on perceived security threats is undercutting more urgent efforts to attract foreign investment and preserve the city’s image as a global hub.

一些与政府关系密切的知名商界人士也说，当局反复强调所谓安全威胁，正在削弱更为紧迫的任务——吸引外资，维持香港作为全球枢纽的形象。

“We, Hong Kong’s pro-establishment, must clearly understand what the top priority is — national security or the economy, that’s in itself contradictory,” David Tai Chong Lie-A-Cheong, a Hong Kong businessman and a member of an advisory body to Beijing, said in an interview.

“我们这些建制派必须清楚明白，最优先的是国家安全还是经济？这本身就是矛盾。”香港商人、北京咨询机构成员李大壮在接受采访时说。

“When officials are constantly saying that Hong Kong is not safe, would you invest here?” asked Mr. Lie-A-Cheong, a former chairman of the Hong Kong France Business Partnership, a semiofficial group that promoted trade with France. He said that foreign business groups were having a hard time understanding the direction of Hong Kong’s policies.

“当官员们不断宣称香港不安全时，你会来这里投资吗？”曾担任港法贸易伙伴委员会港方主席的李大壮反问。他说，外国商界团体正在努力理解香港政策的走向。

Mr. Lie-A-Cheong described the situation in Hong Kong as “heart-wrenching” and said: “As a pro-establishment member for decades, I feel we have failed our jobs.”

李大壮形容香港的局势“令人心痛”，并表示：“作为几十年的建制派一员，我觉得我们没有做好本职工作。”

即使亲北京建制派人士都在表达担忧，认为政府的举措可能会限制表达并伤害经济。

To businessmen like Lew Mon-hung, who was also in the same advisory body to Beijing, the government should prioritize economic development and improving people’s livelihoods. He said that people had complained to him about financial difficulties, as the city’s property, retail and service sectors have suffered in recent years.

另一位同为北京咨询机构成员的商人刘梦熊则认为，政府应该优先发展经济、改善民生。他说，很多人向他抱怨财务困难，因为香港的地产、零售和服务业近年来受到严重打击。

Instead, “they are focusing on opposing so-called ‘soft resistance’,” Mr. Lew said. The approach was fueling concerns among Hong Kongers about the future of “One Country, Two Systems,” he said, citing a policy meant to protect the city’s autonomy under Chinese rule, including the freedoms of speech, press and publication.

“相反，他们却专注于打击所谓‘软对抗’。”刘梦熊说。他警告，这种做法正在加深港人对“一国两制”前景的担忧——“一国两制”原本旨在保障香港在中国统治下的自治，包括言论、新闻和出版自由。

“Everyone is asking whether they’re trying to bring a Cultural Revolution approach to Hong Kong,” he added, referring to a movement in the 1960s and ’70s to purge elements deemed disloyal to Communist Party orthodoxy. (Mr. Lew said he himself had fled China during that period by swimming across to Hong Kong, which was then a British colony.)

“大家都在问，他们是不是要把‘文革’那一套带到香港？”刘梦熊补充说。他提到自己当年就是在“文革”时期从内地游泳逃到当时还是英国殖民地的香港。

That sense of ideological zeal appeared to be mirrored in Beijing-controlled media in Hong Kong, which have lauded crackdowns on what they portrayed as hidden threats.

这种意识形态上的热情似乎也在香港的中共控制媒体中得到呼应，这些媒体大肆宣扬对所谓“潜在威胁”的打击。

In July, the Wen Wei Po newspaper published a front-page article that said an independent book fair was “full of ‘soft-resistance’ intentions,” pointing to “anti-China and destabilizing Hong Kong” books at the event.

今年7月，《文汇报》在头版刊登文章，声称某独立书展“充满‘软对抗’意味”，指责展会上出现了“反中乱港”的书籍。

Some even see environmental activism as a potential hotbed of political opposition.

甚至有人认为，环保行动也可能成为政治反对的温床。

The city’s development secretary, speaking to the Wen Wei Po in June, said that some criticism of government’s moves to dismantle environmental protections, in an effort to reclaim land around the city’s iconic Victoria Harbour, could be regarded as “soft resistance.” She accused one organization, which she did not name, of “deliberate provocations.”

6月，香港发展局局长在接受《文汇报》采访时称，一些人批评政府为填海开发维多利亚港一带土地而削弱环保措施，可能属于“软对抗”。她还指责某个未具名的组织“蓄意挑衅”。

Not long after, a 30-year-old group dedicated to protecting the harbor disbanded.

之后没过多久，一个有30年历史、致力于保护维港的团体宣布解散。