Still more arrests in Hong Kong, and attempts to crush the people's spirit and destroy the city's soul :(

 

 Call it morbid but I can't think of those Hong Kongers who 

sought to flee this territory by boat whenever I'm on a boat now :S

 

Seemingly perennially in the news in Hong Kong these days:
the Wuhan coronavirus, oppression and dissent (the last by alumni 

and parents upset by the deregistering of a teacher)

Today marks the seventh Sunday since 12 Hong Kongers attempting to seek political asylum in Taiwan were apprehended by the Mainland Chinese coast guard, with what we now know was the help of the Hong Kong authorities, when they attempted to flee Hong Kong on a speedboat.  (The government has yet to officially confirm this, and probably never will; but there's ample evidence for this being the case.  Also, here's a reminder that, on the 50th day since their arrest, the loved ones of the detainees -- and the lawyers they hired -- have yet to be able to see them or get actual evidence that they are still alive and in one piece.)   

Yesterday, nine of their friends were arrested by the Hong Kong police for their role in assisting them in their attempted bid for freedom. Put another way: their alleged crimes involved doing such as funding and providing the speedboat, and providing accomodation for the 12 prior to their journey back on August 23rd.

The newly arrested nine consist of four men and five women aged between 27 and 72 years. They include Christina Tang (previously an aide to former pan-democratic lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung), a lawyer’s assistant, an administrative clerk, a salesperson and a chef.  Like the 12 arrested for illegally crossing the Hong Kong-Mainland Chinese border on their ill-fated attempt to get to Taiwan, all of them had previously been arrested for participating in anti-extradition bill protests.

Are they criminals? The Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese authorities say yes. I think though that most Hong Kongers will see them as victims, martyrs, even heroes and heroines. And the more that the authorities do to try to punish people like this, the further they get to winning the hearts and minds of the populace. Hence my often suspecting that they no longer seek to do this; and, instead, "just" are intent on crushing Hong Konger spirits and destroying the city's soul.

And even while Hong Kongers have showed remarkable fight and admirable resilience, I do find myself worrying far more than I like about how long this can be kept up.  Sadly, certain institutions appear to have fallen; notably the city's oldest and top rated university.  

In recent years, there have been signs that the University of Hong Kong (HKU) was losing its way -- including when human rights lawyer Johannes Chan's nominated for pro-vice chancellor was rejected back in September 2015.  More recently, Occupy Central co-organizer Benny Chan was sacked by the university, despite being a tenured professor, less than one month after China's security law for Hong Kong came into effect.  

Then, earlier this week, in a move suspected to be politically motivated, the university's Mainland China-born vice chancellor, Zhang Xiang, decided not to renew the contract of Japanese American public health expert, Keiji Fukuda.  To ram home the sense of how wrong this decision is, one day later came the news that the obviously highly respected Professor Fukuda had won this year's HKU Faculty Knowledge Exchange Award!  

Still, a worse act in the eyes of many was perpetuated by the university when it effected the tearing down of a campus Lennon Wall yesterday.  In reaction, lawyer-writer Antony Dapiran was moved to Tweet the following: "Appalling. Universities a bastion of free expression? No more."  Also on the same social media platform, HKU associate professor of English, Jessica R. Valdez, shared that: "I am very disappointed in my university for taking this action. This past month I went out of my way each day to reassure myself the Lennon Wall was still there 😧 sad for our students".         

 

It seemed particularly sad that the tearing down of the Lennon Wall at Sun Yat-sen's alma mater took place on Double Tenth, the anniversary of the Wuchang Uprising seen as the start of the 1911 Revolution which led to the end of Chinese imperial rule.  It remains to be seen whether HKU students will attempt to erect, and be successful in keeping up, another Lennon Wall on their university campus.  

 

All this also has me wondering: for how long more will the Tiananmen Massacre Pillar of Shame remain on the same Hong Kong university campus?  (And looking back now, it's actually amazing that the students were able to perform their annual ritual of washing this Hong Kong memorial to the 1989 massacre victims this past June 4th!)