There can't be enough flags over at Lee Tung Avenue,
or elsewhere in Hong Kong, it seems
Hong Kong's opposition-free Legislative Council passed a bill yesterday that outlaws the desecration
of the Chinese national flag and national emblem on the internet. The Amendments to the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance "aims to ensure the proper use of, and “preserve the dignity” of, the
national flag and national emblem, as well as boosting a sense of
national identity among Hongkongers and promoting patriotism".
Also, "Under the new law, a national flag or a national emblem must not be
displayed upside down, or used in any way that the authorities deem as
“undermining the dignity” of the flag and emblem." But to judge from the incorporation of the Chinese national flag in many an ornamental display in various parts of Hong Kong in recent days, it seems okay for it to be displayed in a way that might be said to be aesthetically dubious or problematic -- just so long as it's bigger and flies higher than the Hong Kong flag that it sometimes (but not always) gets displayed along.
You'd think that all that red that can be seen pretty much all around town in the days leading up to China's National Day would spark joy (since red is traditionally considered to be an auspicious color by the Chinese). But the likelihood is that it will cause an angry red mist to descend over certain people; at least that seems to be the thinking behind the government's decision to deploy 8,000 police officers to keep the peace tomorrow.
All jokes aside, there's of course plenty to make people angry and upset in Hong Kong (besides literally red flags). Just look at Hong Kong Free Press chief editor's Tom Grundy's list of just some of the developments in Hong Kong in one recent 24 hour period -- which, by the way, doesn't include Hong Kong’s Lingnan University's announcement today that they fired two pro-democracy professors (and respected scholars), Hui Po-keung and Law Wing-sang, earlier this month and further film censorship details disclosed in a New York Times piece yesterday that saw such as short film director Mok Kwan-ling having been asked to make 14 cuts to her 25-minute-long Far From Home, a dramatic work about a family caught in the tumult of the 2019 antigovernment protests in Hong Kong that had originally been set to be screened at a local film festival in June (but ended up not being so).
Among the "developments" on Tom Grundy's list though was that which saw seven people -- including five teenagers, the youngest of whom is 15 years of age -- having been charged yesterday under the national security law with conspiring to incite subversion and denied bail. Among the reaction to the news was this Tweet: "If a 15-year-old teenager can endanger national security, then the problem is not the teenager, but the country". And for the record: yes, I see much truth in it. Underlying their youth, "The [case's] first defendant... appeared in the defendants’ dock in a school
uniform — clothes he was wearing when he was taken into custody — while
two others wore t-shirts printed with cartoon characters."
Also appearing in court in a t-shirt printed with a cartoon character was June 4th vigil leader Chow Hang-tung. Up for bail for a fourth time (and denied it once more) today, she had been forbidden by prison staff from wearing her t-shirt of choice: that which bore the slogan ""Resist together" in Chinese. So she ended up wearing a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it!
In other June 4th related news: "Hong Kong’s national security police have frozen the bank accounts and
assets belonging to the now-defunct group behind the city’s annual
Tiananmen Massacre commemorative vigils." This is further to the HK$2.2 million worth of its assets that the national security police already froze earlier this month.
And in a further financial attack on its enemies, the authorities -- this time via financial secretary Paul Chan -- went about seeking to wind up of Next Digital (Apple Daily's parent company), saying the move was in the public interest yesterday. Separately, six former executives and journalists of the now-shuttered Apple Daily appeared in court on Thursday on charges of collusion under Hong Kong’s national security law. Almost needless to say, they have been denied bail and in custody for a number of months now, and will remain behind bars for at least a couple more weeks since their case is set to only continue to be heard on October 12th.
If all this isn't already enough to make you dizzy, let's return to the topic ot t-shirts and slogans on them: More specifically, the trial of the second person to be tried under the national security law in Hong Kong began earlier this week; and five black t-shirts printed with the words “I’d rather die speaking than live in silence” in Chinese and “Give me liberty or give me death” in English owned by the defendant, Ma Chun-man, were submitted as evidence by the prosecution of his "inciting secession". Other apparently incriminatory evidence against the pro-democracy protestor: a notebook with the words “Captain America’s diary of resistance” -- and no, I'm not making this up!
Once more, I can't help but conclude that things have become so farcical that one would want to laugh if not for the fact that the developments have such serious consequences for people (including at least one individual as young as 15) and Hong Kong in general. Also, that if you live here and aren't feeling upset by what's happening in Hong Kong these days, you really don't care much for this city and its people.
Amidst it all though, it's not like we've given up on Hong Kong, etc. She may not be a Hong Konger but Megan Ranney MD MPH's outlook is one that many of us here can relate to:
Someone asked me today how I stay positive.
Answer: I don’t.
But: I refuse to give up.
And I refuse to let others give up.
Which means that, together, slowly, persistently, we can create hope
Over & over again.
#keepgoing
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