Reframing Hong Kong: Legitimation in the Post-National Security Law Era

In 2020, the Chinese government imposed the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong, which transformed the liberal authoritarian regime into an illiberal one. This article examines how the government has tried to legitimise this regime change while promoting the growing integration of the territory into the Chinese state. It does so by analysing a newly created National Security Exhibition Gallery unveiled in 2024, which displays the new political narratives that are used to justify the changes. The article argues that the regime’s legitimacy discourse has shifted from institutional and procedural foundations to one centred on nationalism and the Chinese Communist Party, while continuing to invoke the longstanding rhetoric of ‘stability and prosperity’. Through a critical reading of the exhibit’s visual and textual narratives, the article shows how the state seeks to reshape public memory, reframe dissent, and align Hong Kong’s identity with the ideological norms of the mainland.