The day baby powder and wet wipes joined chocolates, hair pins and illustrated children's book by speech therapists as threats to national security in Hong Kong

 

Safeguarding national security -- including against students 

who have stockpiled chocolate and other items -- 

is a major priority in Hong Kong these days

 

Weird and absurd things are happening in Hong Kong once more.  Yesterday saw some 4,800 people take part in the selection of a 1,500 seat "election committee" that will determine (with the help of Beijing) next March who will be Hong Kong's Chief Executive.  So hard was it to believe that so few people have a vote in these proceedings that AFP's Hong Kong bureau chief, Jerome Taylor, initially Tweeted that only 0.6% of the Hong Kong population had a say in this matter before realizing that it actually was just 0.06% of the territory's total population that did so!

 

Amazingly, despite the vast majority of the seats in Sunday’s vote being one-horse races, with just 364 contested, it took over 10 hours for the votes to be tallied!  Maybe the vote counters could have done with the help of extra pairs of hands -- like those belonging to the up to 6,000 police officers deployed around the city yesterday to ensure the safety of these "elections".  But, then it really would be too absurd to call upon the police to count votes, right?

 

The thing is, though, that the police often seem to be carrying out so many bizarre acts these days that one doesn't quite know what they're capable of doing next.  Take, as an example, what happened earlier today to three student activists.  The headline of the 24MatinsUK article really sums up the absurdity of their case: Speeches and prison snacks spark Hong Kong security arrests. 

 

To elaborate: the national security police have arrested three members of pro-democracy group Student Politicism.  The group’s convenor Wong Yat-chin, permanent secretary Chan Chi-sum and former spokesperson Jessica Chu Wai-ying -- none of whom are more than 20 years old -- are accused of inciting subversion of the state through their social media platforms and street booths.  Among the "subversive acts" that the Hong Kong police has alleged that Student Politicism has carried out are the following: encouraging people not to use the government's voluntary LeaveHomeSafe pandemic app -- something which I had hitherto not heard was an unlawful act! -- and urging people to prepare themselves for the next "revolution" (cultural or actual?) by taking up martial arts training!!

 

After the trio's arrest, the police went to Student Politicism's warehouse in Kwai Chung and seized some 40 boxes of yellow M&Ms, Pop-Pan Spring Onion & Chive Crackers, towels, masks, body wash, panty liners, books and other items that the activists had assembled and were planning to distribute to people jailed for their involvement in the pro-democracy protests that began in 2019 as anti-extradition bill protests.  Based on what the police siezed from the warehouse, even Johnson's baby powder and Dettol wet tissues are considered seditious by the national security police.   

 

In all honesty, I thought things had already gotten pretty ludicrous when Secretary for Security Chris Tang alleged earlier this month that China's national security could be threatened by inmates in Hong Kong's prisons having too many chocolates and hair clips in their possession.  But the police really do appear to be taking all this very seriously -- which begs the question: what kind of government feels threatened by chocolate, hair clips, baby powder and wet wipes/tissues?!

 

One answer: the kind of government that considers Tong Ying-kit to be a terrorist for what, in a different era, would merely be seen as a dangerous driver.  In an article by Holmes Chan that came out just today, a Hong Kong judge -- speaking under the cloak of anonymity -- described the 24-year-old Tong as "the most benevolent terrorist in the world", pointing out that the erstwhile volunteer medic "didn’t do much of anything—he didn’t commit murder or arson”, after all.  

 

A recap: On July 1st, 2020, "Tong drove his motorcycle across the city while flying a flag with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times"... At around 3:30 PM, his vehicle sped past a few police checkpoints and eventually collided with officers, injuring three of them. The officers were briefly hospitalised, with the most serious injury being a thumb dislocation" (my emphasis). 

 

For that, he was charged with terrorism (as a result of his crashing into the police officers) and inciting secession (because he flew the flag that he did), and found guilty (by three hand-picked judges, as opposed to a jury of his peers) on July 27th of this year.  Already behind bars for almost a year before his trial commenced, Tong was slapped with a nine year prison sentence for his "crimes".  

 

As Holmes Chan's article reminded us: "Tong’s legal team filed an appeal against both conviction and sentence. The legal battle is far from over."  And there are people who believe that justice can and will be served in Hong Kong still.  I get the distinct feeling though that they are increasingly in the minority these days; this not least because the majority are seeing with their own eyes how much of an Absurdistan Hong Kong has become.