Residents of Hong Kong had a perfectly natural response after a devastating fire in an apartment complex killed at least 159 people last week: They mourned the tragedy, which left thousands homeless, and tried to make sense of what had happened. They demanded an independent investigation and official accountability.

What they got from their leaders were smears and intimidation.

In Hong Kong, a city that prided itself on civic engagement and the rule of law, public grief and anger have become politically dangerous. The authorities are now determined to ensure that the fire does not result in anything resembling collective action.

The police detained and then released a university student who handed out fliers calling for an independent inquiry, according to local news reports. And a news conference planned by lawyers, social workers and policy experts was canceled after an organizer was summoned by the police.

A national security official toured the charred Wang Fuk Court apartment complex, where, as a government-affiliated newspaper claimed, in a clear reference to 2019 anti-government protests in Hong Kong, “black-clad rioters” and pro-democracy supporters attempted to “hijack” relief efforts for anti-government purposes. Separately, Beijing’s national security branch in the city warned against “using the disaster to cause chaos in Hong Kong.”

It was an extraordinary message to send the public when the city was still in shock, when dozens of bodies were yet to be identified. Yet the logic behind it is familiar.

Beijing imposed a national security system on Hong Kong after the protests in 2019. It has effectively criminalized anything that officials consider counter to the interests of China or Hong Kong. As shown in the past week, the authorities in Hong Kong have internalized a crisis-management playbook that the Chinese Communist Party has relied on since the Tiananmen massacre in 1989.

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