Hong Kongers fight on and push back!

A battle between darkness and light over Hong Kong

 

Copies of Apple Daily have been flying off shelves

in recent days!

Hong Kong is not dead.  That's the message of defiant Hong Kongers out there who won't deny that the city been dealt a number of body blows over the past year and more -- and also aren't without fear of the enemy -- but still will do what they can to hold the line, and even push back as much as and however we can.  

Observe, if you will, the reaction Hong Kongers had to the arrests under China's security law for Hong Kong at the beginning of this week of Jimmy Lai and co.  Soon after news came of the Next Media tycoon being taken into custody by the police, Hong Kongers began buying up shares of the media company's stocks -- and in such great quantities that it surged by over 1000 percent by yesterday!  And even while the company's offices were raided by hundreds of police on Monday, its staff still managed to put out a new edition of its flagship publication, Apple Daily, the next day (and even livestreamed the process!). 

With its editor vowing that "We shall fight on", Apple Daily upped the ante by deciding to print five times more copies for Tuesday than its usual run of 70,000.  As it turned out, 350,000 copies were not enough to satisfy the demands for the openly pro-democracy newspaper -- with more than 500,000 copies ending up being printed and snapped up by Hong Kongers eager to show their support for the newspaper, its parent company, its owner and press freedom.  And when Hong Kongers gathered for shopping mall protests yesterday evening, many of them had with them copies of Apple Daily.
 
Later in the evening, there came welcome news of the release on bail of Jimmy Lai, Agnes Chow and the eight other individuals arrested under the security law on Monday.  And while the bail set for them is very high (with Jimmy Lai's topping up at HK$800,000) and they still will have to stand trial at some point in the future, it was a relief to know that they are out of custody, however temporarily, and were not bundled across the border to rot in Mainland Chinese prisons -- like the security law allows.

There is speculation that the relative restraint shown by the powers that be is because of the international publicity and outrage that greeted the news of the arrests (and attendant raid on Apple Daily).  And while Jimmy Lai (who was treated to a hero's welcome upon his return to work today) was the focus of attention in places like the USA and Britain (the latter of which he is a citizen of), Agnes Chow -- who is fluent in Japanese (as well as Cantonese and English) -- was the individual whose arrest the Japanese particularly reacted to.  

One wonders whether the realization that the world is watching also has had an influence in the authorities over in China deciding yesterday that the entire Legislative Council -- including (rather than excluding) those pro-democracy legislatures disqualified for running for the next LegCo elections -- are to stay on for a year, now that the elections have been postponed until next September (at the very least).  But if the authorities think that the democrats will quieten down and be grateful for this decision, it's worth noting that there are legal figures who are disputing whether Beijing's wading in to make this decision violates Hong Kong's Basic Law!

On the subject of the legal sector: There continue to be signs that Hong Kong's judiciary is insisting on its independence and not acting the way that the powers that be want them to.  A case in point: earlier today, a magistrate not only ruled in favor of a pro-democracy district councillor and her assistant who had been accused of assaulting police officers last August but slammed the two police officers concerned for "telling lie after lie"!  And another magistrate similarly ruled that a police witness had lied to in a police assault case that presumably involved a pro-democracy accused yesterday.

Speaking of the powers that be: also yesterday came a piece of news that I found ironic and actually kinda funny. In response to the American government declaring that Hong Kong-made products imported to the United States will have to carry "made in China" labels from this September 25th, the Hong Kong government says it's considering taking action to keep "made in Hong Kong" labels on locally made products.  So, does this mean that they want to assert that there's a significant and substantial difference between (made in) Hong Kong and China and help push back against the subsuming of Hong Kong into (greater) China (too)?! :D

Yet another wave of assaults on Hong Kongers' freedoms

Holding up a beautiful apple on a train ride in Japan

in what can seem like another lifetime

How free can a city be when at least one of its university campuses 

is ringed with barbed wire and other formidable fencing? :(

While attending the trial of the Democracy 15 less than two weeks ago, a friend and I chatted during one of the court breaks about the national security law arrests and wondered how come it had yet to be applied to big, "obvious" names.  Well, it turns out that we didn't have to wait all that long for the authorities to go ahead and do just this: with the most (only?) pro-democracy tycoon in Hong Kong, Jimmy Lai, having been arrested for alleged foreign collusion this morning.

More than, incidentally, the media tycoon is a member of the Democracy 15 (along with the likes of Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, Figo Chan and Lee Cheuk-yan).  Lai also was one of the 25 pro-democracy figures arrested last Thursday for "knowingly taking part" in the "illegal assembly" that was this year's June 4th candlelight vigil in Victoria Park.

As the minute and hours ticked by, Twitter reports appeared of six others having been arrested along with Jimmy Lai, and their including his two sons and senior management of his media company.  Reports came too of Mark Simon, the aide who looked to have broke the news of his boss' arrest, additionally being wanted by the police.  Put all this together and the sense is that the authorities are going after Lai's Apple Daily, the most (only?) major pro-democracy Chinese language media in Hong Kong, and want to shut it down. 

As the day went on, there got to be a general sense of the freedom of the press being under serious attack in Hong Kong.  This stems not just from seeing Apple Daily's offices being raided an operation that involved hundreds of police officers entering and searching it while Apple Daily staff livestreamed their own offices being raided and their boss being perpwalked through his own building (and, separately, the executive director of Next Digital, Apple Daily's parent company).  

Rather, the police also unveiled new arrangements today that have them deciding who can have attend the press briefings and conferences they conduct and also appear to have their "particular" definition of "press conference" which doesn't allow room for a Q&A session!  And the fact that the police chose to bar not only local outlets like Stand News -- and until they successfully protested, public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) -- but also international outlets such as Reuters, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse (AFP) -- shows all the more how determined the authorities are to shackle what used to be -- but, alas, no longer is -- "Asia’s greatest, freest and most international city".

A further note on Jimmy Lai's two sons; neither of whom works for their father's company.  Journalist Melissa Chan was moved to suggest the following: "Jimmy Lai has shown he's willing to give up his wealth, his freedom, for his convictions. So they go after the only thing that might break him: his children."  In her Twitter thread on this subject, she went on to state that: "Hong Kong (I hope) isn’t there yet, but they’ve been cases where Beijing would torture the son or daughter in the next jail cell so the activist could hear, to break them. There is no more apt word to describe this as anything but evil."

In reaction to what amounts to an attack by the authorities on Apple Daily, Hong Kongers did something which has astounded onlookers: they went and bought shares of Next Media to show their support of Jimmy Lai and his company!  And I think it's safe to say that  every copy of Apple Daily will be sold out tomorrow (as it has today) -- and yes, the newspaper will continue to be published (even while its boss in custody).  How's that for defiance?

At the same time, of course we in Hong Kong know that the attacks on our freedoms will continue.  Already today, more security law arrests took place.  Hours after those of Jimmy Lai and his associates, there followed those of Wilson Li, a freelance journalist with Britain’s ITN and an ex-member of the now-disbanded student group Scholarism, along with acitivist Andy Li.  Then came the arrest of Agnes Chow: just 23 years of age and now possibly facing life imprisonment.    

Amidst all this, writer Kong Tsung-gan effectively being hounded out of Hong Kong will not capture as much attention as it deserves.  But I think the controversy that has recently swirled around him (whose Tweets I have found invaluable) (and also Hong Kong Hermit), which has prompted a number of people to point out that Hong Kong identity is not restricted to ethnic Chinese (and, for that matter, just those ethnic Chinese who were born in Hong Kong -- otherwise the likes of Nathan Law and Edward Leung would not be Hong Kongers too), may make lots of people realize that we are all Hong Kong(ers) now (a sentiment I've now seen voiced in the New York Times and Hindustan Times in recent weeks as well as by Hong Kong Watch's Benedict Rogers, among others).    

Sanctions for Hong Kong government officials, and merriment for regular Hong Kongers!

Rogue and revolutionary? ;b

After I finished writing up yesterday's blog post, I proceeded to check my messages and saw that I had been sent photos of bottles of champagne and celebratory emojis galore by friends.  A quick scroll through the news got me realizing why this was the case: namely, the American government's having slapped sanctions on super unpopular Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and eleven other government officials in response to the crackdown on free speech and political freedoms in the city!

For the record: the twelve people concerned are Carrie Lam, Police Commissioner Chris Tang, his predecessor Stephen Lo, Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng, Security Secretary John Lee, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong, his deputy Zhang Xiaoming, Liaison Office chief Luo Huining, director of the new Office For Safeguarding National Security Zheng Yanxiong, the secretary general of the Committee For Safeguarding National Security and Chief Executive's Office head Eric Chan, and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang.  And should anyone be unclear as to why the American government has decided to impose sanctions on them, their crimes are detailed in a U.S. Department of the Treasury press release for all to see!

  

The call to impose sanctions on Carrie Lam and co have been made by a number of people for some time now.  But I think it's not something many folks actually believed would really happen.  And the fact that it has happened is a major indictment of how low the Hong Kong and those that rule over it has fallen in the eyes of the international community -- and yes, I'm expecting other governments (notably the British) to do the same thing now that the Americans have gotten the ball rolling.    

 

If truth be told, I'm not quite sure what practical effect this action can and will achieve -- beyond the escalation of laam chau (something which the authorities have long publicly said they don't want, yet seem to contribute so much to fuelling the flames).  At the same time though, I totally get where Hong Kong Hermit is coming from when he Tweeted last night that, at the very least, there's the satisfaction at seeing that "some absolutely wretched people are put onto an international naughty list, and it's top banter"!

Among other things, there's been much merriment had from seeing so many normally pretty private information about the sanctioned individuals (including home addresses, passport and identity card numbers!) put out in the open by the American government.  The reactions of former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and perenial aspirant Regina Ip to not being on the list have also caused much laughter along with those who have the dubious honor of being on the list.  And, as more than one wag has noted, the strong official government reactions to the imposition of the sanctions show that those who claim to scoff at it have, in fact, been pretty hurt by it.

Also, remember Carrie Lam stating that China's national security legislation for Hong Kong would "target only an extremely small minority"?  While I continue to doubt that she really thought that would be the case, I do get the feeling that she really didn't think -- or believe -- that she'd end up being targeted by the other side for her part in letting that piece of legislation be imposed on Hong Kong!   

A couple of Wuhan coronavirus-related notes before I end today's blog post: Firstly, Hong Kong reported 69 new cases today -- and while that number brought the total tally past the 4,000 mark, it's worth noting that today's figure is the lowest for the territory since July 21st (when 61 cases were reported).  And secondly, local medical experts were asked about the government’s announced plan to offer universal voluntary coronavirus tests and they expectedly turned out to be not too enthused about the idea.

The venerable Dr Yuen Kwok-yung was quoted as saying that if people are allowed to collect specimen at home themselves, they may hurt themselves and not get anything useful.  Another medical expert, Dr David Hui, pinpointed nose swabs as being difficult for people to perform themselves (as this testing scheme would have them do).  And a third medico, Dr Wong Lei-po, cited overseas example of children biting off and swallowing parts of the swab sticks when the tests were performed at home!  Talk about more good reasons to discourage people from carrying out these tests and participating in yet another not particularly well-thought-out government's scheme!

Still more political persecution and Wuhan coronavirus testing suspicions in Hong Kong

At Victoria Park for last year's June 4th vigil

Hong Kongers remember even when they can't get into the park

Twenty-five Hong Kong activists were told by the police yesterday that they'll be charged with "knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly" for taking part in a banned candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Victoria Park this past June 4th.  This is on top of thirteen people having been charged with "inciting unlawful assembly" for the same event some weeks back. 

The sense that the authorities are just piling it on can be gleaned from the fact that many pro-democracy activists having been slapped with a crazy amount of charges.  A case in point: One of the 25 individuals told yesterday that they're facing these latest charges, Figo Chan, the 24-year-old vice-convenor of the very established Civil Human Rights Front, alone now faces no fewer than 10 charges: Two counts of announcing an unauthorised assembly; three counts of inciting others to take part; two counts of organising; and three counts of participating.  And veteran pro-democrat Lee Cheuk-yan currently faces just one fewer charge -- all nine of which stem from his having called for and/or participated in four different rallies in the past year.

Whither Article 27 of the Basic Law which promises/promised that “Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to form and join trade unions; and to strike”?  And do realize that the "unlawful assembly" that these people are being charged for taking part in (and, in some cases, "inciting") was the latest in a series of annual vigils which Hong Kongers took pride in their city being alone among all the cities in China in (once) having been able to openly commemorate. 

It truly speaks volumes about the current state of Hong Kong that pro-democracy politicians and activists -- some young enough to still be of (graduate) student age, many old enough to have memories of the 1989 massacre -- have been charged, and could be potentially jailed for years, for their involvement in this particular peaceful event.  And for those who want to argue that taking part in a vigil was irresponsible during a pandemic: consider that the event was held outdoors and look at the pictures showing that people were practicing social distancing at it!  (Also, for the record, there has not been a single coronavirus case linked to attendance at the Victoria Park vigil -- or, for that matter, any pro-democracy/anti-security law protest -- even while there have been for (pro-Beijing) Handover celebrations!)

On the subject of the Wuhan coronavirus: Hong Kong had 89 daily new cases today; continuing that double digit trend which began this past Monday (after a 12 day streak which saw the territory worryingly registering triple digit daily new case numbers).  What makes this downward trend even more promising is that Hong Kong's testing numbers have risen to around 13,000 tests per day in the past week (compared to an average of 9,500 daily in July and 3,600 daily in June).  Put another way: increased testing has not resulted in seeing higher numbers of people in the territory testing positive for the coronavirus.

Despite these developments, the ultra unpopular Carrie Lam announced today -- in front of a backdrop with the words "Fight the Virus with [sic] Central Government's Full Support" -- that the government will introduce a voluntary coronavirus testing scheme that could cover millions of Hong Kong people.  What remains to be seen though is how many Hong Kongers would willingly subject themselves to these tests which will be "conducted with the support of the Central Government" (i.e., by Mainland Chinese teams).   

After hearing the news this afternoon, I asked a friend if she'd be willing to take these tests.  "Of course not!" was her very emphatic reply.  I get the distinct feeling that sentiment is shared by a good many Hong Kongers who are dissatisfied with the actions Carrie Lam and her administration have taken (and not taken) with regards to fighting the Wuhan coronavirus along with preventing it from coming into, then spreading within, Hong Kong for much of this year.  

And should there be any doubt: no, people's worries that the coronavirus tests will be used to collect DNA sample (as has happened in Xinjiang) most definitely will not be allayed by Carrie Lam saying that they won't be; this especially since she -- who has a habit of chuckling and smirking when making supposedly serious statements -- observably smirked while doing so!   

Sunny, super high visibility, summer views from the Star Ferry (Photo-essay)

One year ago today, I found out through experience what tear gas smells like.  In the past year, I've been tear gassed so many times that I've actually lost count of how many times I've been treated to a tear gas buffet by the Hong Kong police (though I definitely do remember being tear gassed last Christmas Eve and that my worst tear gas experience took place last September).  And although there's not been as much tear gas having been unleashed in Hong Kong thus far in 2020 as in the second half of 2019, that doesn't mean that much of this year has not been a nightmare one in this part of the world (thanks in no large part to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic but also China deciding to impose a custom security law for Hong Kong).        

Because I've had so much else to be upset about, I've not griped much about how very hot much of this summer has been -- with last month turning out to have been Hong Kong's hottest July on record (with a mean daily air temperature of 33.3 degrees Celsius -- 1.9 degrees more than normal)!  Instead, I've tried to look at the bright side of the weather we've been having, which has included 37.7 more hours of sunshine in July than usual as well as super high visibility days along with lots of beautiful sunsets.  

And because so much of social media, along with international news coverage, has been focused on the terrible explosion(s) that have destroyed and damaged a good part of Beirut (a city already troubled by so much, including the coronavirus; with this Tweet made just hours before the latest disaster beset the city is even more heartbreaking to read now), I'm going to share some photos -- taken on rides on the Star Ferry in recent weeks -- of this part of the world that hopefully will put one in a more positive frame of mind.  For, yes, things can get so much worse in the blink of an eye but, surely, our situations can get better than how they currently are.  Also, amidst it all, let's remember that the fact that we are alive, still healthy (touch wood!), able to appreciate beauty and live to fight another day can in and of themselves be worth being thankful for...

Among the bluest I've ever seen the sky over Hong Kong

and waters of Victoria Harbour!

 

View over to the Lion Rock from a Star Ferry 

making its way across the harbor

Speaking of the Star Ferry, here's one of its boats whose very sight 

can bring to mind many happy memories for many of us

 

A rare photo by me that shows passengers on the Star Ferry (as I usually 

prefer to take seats with unimpeded views of the passing scenery)!

  

Sunny day view from on board the currently untouristy feeling boat

 

 This past July may well have been the first time that I've seen 

Castle Peak, way over in western Hong Kong, from Victoria Harbour!

Alternatively, it's become pretty usual to see the 

Kai Tak Cruise Terminal with no cruise ships docked there :S

Honestly, and actually, I really do f**king love Hong Kong!

Less like Asia's World City and more like another Xinjiang?

Asia's World City -- for how much longer?

Barbed wire fencing in the city 

Hong Kong’s daily coronavirus infection numbers fell below 100 for the first time in 12 days today, with today's reported total of 80 cases (along with two additional deaths).  Caution is still urged though, and the authorities have extended existing social distancing measures for at least another week.  And, of course, I don't foresee their going back on their decision on Friday to postpone the Legislative Council elections (by at least one year).        

Incidentally, the record daily number of new daily coronavirus cases for Hong Kong remains at 149 -- the high reported last Thursday, the day before the government decided to announce the postponement of the Legislative Council elections.  Since then, Hong Kong's daily infection numbers have been 121, 125, 115 and now 80.  Dare I say that this points to a downward curve in terms of the numbers?         

Some might find it ironic, funny or both that the Wuhan coronvirus threat could be contained within days of the election postponement.  Oh, and the announcement of Hong Kong's first daily double (as opposed to triple) digit infection number in 12 days happens to have come one day after a medical team arrived from Mainland China to conduct nucleic acid Covid-19 tests here.

There are some within the system who have opined that this external help will be appreciated since Hong Kong's medical system is currently being (over-)stretched.  But it would be a stretch indeed to say that this Mainland Chinese team's arrival in Hong Kong has been universally welcomed; with suspicion and fears arising from a number of quarters that this team are going to collect Hong Kongers' DNA for surveillance purposes a la Xinjiang.

While the powers that be have denied that this is the case, one can see where these doubts come from since at least one Mainland Chinese firm that has been conducting coronavirus testing has been linked to the forced collection of genetic material of Ughyurs in Xinjiang.  And the leader of the Mainland Chinese team stating today that they are here to help expand Hong Kong's testing capabilities to more than 200,000 people a day is not going to calm people down since there hitherto had not appeared to be a perceived need to test so many people here for the coronavirus in a single day; with there being more than 200,000 people tested in Hong Kong in a month only in July!  

Already, there's been some pushback from local medical experts on the need do such mass testing. Chinese University of Hong Kong respiratory medicine expert Dr. David Hui has highlighted too that such a move would require a city-wide lockdown where nobody is allowed to leave their homes as well as enormous manpower to pick up the samples within a week.  Also, as I understand it, all a coronavirus test can do is determine if a person is infected or not at the time that he or she takes the test.  So it'd be pretty pointless, really, to test so many at random unless you're going to keep on testing those with negative results again and again and again for who knows how long to make sure that they are not infected (and infectious) and are staying that way!

Getting back to the fear that Hong Kong will be turned into another Xinjiang: the fact of the matter is that they've been with us for a while.  And, surely understandably, these worries have increased in recent months with China's announcing and then bringing into effect a draconian security law for Hong Kong; with some observers outside of Hong Kong now seeing what Hong Kongers have been seeing and saying for months.

As an example, here's sharing a series of comments made by Chinese law and governance expert Carl Minzner on Twitter:  

It’s easy to think that Hong Kong & Xinjiang are just two totally different issues. One, a cosmopolitan global city with a primarily Han population. The other, a heavily rural Central Asian region with a large Muslim population (Uighurs being the most well known minority).

But from the standpoint of a stability-obsessed one-Party state, they look similar.

Both are border regions with populations that embrace identities that do not fully conform with the increasing narrow ethnocentric line being promoting by Beijing.

Both have institutions (cultural, religious, and in Hong Kong, political) that - at least in the past - had a degree of autonomous space.

And both also have links to a diaspora population overseas that Beijing is really concerned about.

That’s why it’s important to look at the new National Security Law not simply as a tool to go after a few outspoken individuals, but as a key step in what is likely to be a more comprehensive effort to rectify Hong Kong society.

And that has already been done in Xinjiang.

Writing on July 31st, Minzner went on to state the following:

 Here’s one particularly distressing thing to consider. Right now, Beijing is primarily focused on figuring out how to extend its controls *within* Hong Kong. Schools, Legco. At some point, courts.

But at some point - perhaps after the exodus of some fraction of Hong Kong’s population and the emergence of a more organized set of voices overseas, Beijing is going to turn its sights on how to tighten its grip on the Hong Kong diaspora.

And at that point, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they started reaching for some the tactics employed in Xinjiang - applying pressure on family and relatives in Hong Kong, as a tool towards that end.

As it turned out, we didn't have to wait for long to see how prescient he was.  For later that same day, it was revealed that the Hong Kong police had issued arrest warrants for six individuals who all now no longer reside in Hong Kong.  

In reaction, like his fellow "wanted individual" Simon Cheng before him, Nathan Law proceeded to announce that he had severed ties with his family (no doubt to try to protect them from having pressure applied on them by the authorities).  For even as Hong Kongers fear that Hong Kong will suffer the fate of Xinjiang, they also have tried to learn lessons from it: with the chief one being that we need to resist rather than just accept whatever fate the powers that be intend for us, even when the world sees it as inevitable.  

Commenting on one more political disturbance which took place late last night/month

The kind of view that makes many of us f**king love Hong Kong

I sincerely hope that those Hong Kongers who have felt obliged

to go into political exile in recent years can return some day to

enjoy views like this, along with the peace they evoke

Soon after I posted yesterday's blog entry, I discovered that more political ructions had taken place in what really had proved to be a pretty tumultous 24 hours for Hong Kong.  For after Carrie Lam announced the postponement of the Legislative Council elections for (at least) a year, the Hong Kong police competed for attention by issuing arrest warrants for six pro-democracy activists currently living in exile. (That state-controlled Mainland Chinese media first broke the news should tell you who's behind the decision to seek the arrest of these individuals accused of breaching the city's new national security law.)

Hong Kongers have focused on 27-year-old disqualified legislative councillor Nathan Law being among the six.  It stands to reason, since he's the best known of the sextet.  (As an aside: I may be a political junkie in the eyes of many but even I had not previously been all that familiar with Wayne Chan -- or, for that matter, the Hong Kong Independence Union party that he was the convenor of -- and Honcques Lau, whose lack of fame can be seen by the RTHK report I've linked to above misspelling his surname).

It's well noting though that others include Simon Cheng -- the former UK consulate worker abducted, detained and tortured by Chinese security forces on a work trip to Shenzhen -- and Samuel Chu, an American citizen of 25 years who currently lives in the US.  With regards to the latter: I wonder how much his being the son of Reverend Chu Yiu-ming (of Occupy Central with Love and Peace fame) is a factor in his being on this "wanted" list.  

As the Hong Kong police's actions have shown, the now more than a month old Chinese security legislation for Hong Kong really is intended to cover everyone, regardless of their citizenship and place of residence.  A lawyer, Michael Vidler, has since come out and asserted though that being on a wanted list created by them -- as opposed to, say, Interpol -- doesn't really mean much unless the person in question is in Hong Kong.  Which is fine if the people concerned never want to return to this part of the world -- but, given their obvious love for it, it surely would be a big torture and sacrifice to feel that they have to permanently stay away from here.   

Understandably then, as Simon Cheng made clear in an interview he gave to RTHK today, these actions are having a "chilling effect" on a lot of ordinary people who have a network or connection to Hong Kong.  And make no mistake: quoting Antony Dapiran, "This is the beginning of a series of moves intended to cut them off from their support base, friends and family in [Hong Kong], with the ultimate aim of isolating them and rendering them impotent (the same playbook China has followed to deal with all of its exiled dissidents)."     
 
At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if these further attempts at repression result in more pushback from the international community (and, already, there's been more in recent weeks than I think the likes of Xi Jinping as well as his Hong Kong underlings anticipated).  Just today, it was announced that Germany -- where, one of the individuals on this new "wanted" list, Ray Wong, resides after being granted asylum there -- has finally joined the ranks of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and others in suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. (For the record: these countries do not have extradition treaties with China; yet another reminder of how different Hong Kong used to be from Mainland China as well as how it's becoming/become no different in the eyes of much of the world.)

While we're on the subject of activists in the Hong Kong police's bad books: Teen activist Tony Chung, whose late night arrest on Thursday -- along with three similarly youthful others -- turned out to be just one of a number of shocking "developments" this week, has been released on bail -- and ordered to remove certain social media posts within 72 hrs following his security law arrest earlier this week. The problem is that he and others had consistently stated that the new pro-independence account in question was started by overseas Hong Kongers. So, as journalist-law student Elson Tong chillingly pointed out in a Tweet: "By making it a bail condition that Chung "remove" the post, Beijing effectively demands overseas activists... cease action using friends in HK as hostages."

As we approach the end of the first day of this new month of August, the agitators have appeared to pause for a bit.  Maybe they've decided they've done enough this week and thus have earned a weekend's rest.  In any case, it's allowed the rest of us to catch our breaths and at least one good summary to appear as a reminder of how much Hong Kong has been transformed (read: shackled) in just one month. 

In the "thank goodness for small mercies" department: The Typhoon Warning Signal Number 3 which was raised last night has now been lowered .  So yes, Hong Kong still has been spared by typhoons thus far this year.  And on the Wuhan coronavirus front: the daily case numbers appear to be holding steady rather than exponentially increasing -- with 125 new cases reported today (more than ideal but not a record!); though, sadly, there have been another three, maybe four, deaths too.  (Update: the death toll is now up to 33; which means there were a record five deaths on the first day of this new month. :( )