What passes for "normal" these days in "dynamic zero", national security law-era Hong Kong

People will be free to gather in barbecue sites 

again soon -- Woo hoo! :D

 

For those people thinking that Hong Kong is back to normal, consider this: There are individuals celebrating the announcements made yesterday by the Hong Kong government that "Bars and restaurants will be allowed to open all hours from next week while public barbecue pits will also reopen... The changes, which take effect in one week, will also see people attending functions such as weddings allowed to remove their masks when photographs are being taken."  For this is what passes for the relaxing of social distancing measures in this part of the world!

 

With regards to the barbecue pits: Would you believe that Hong Kongers have not been allowed to make use of public barbecue pits (which are found in country parks and scenic locales such as by public beaches -- and popular among young Hong Kongers, families and domestic helpers on their days off) since July 15th, 2020?  So this makes it so that since they only finally reopen this November 3rd, they will have been closed for 841 days?! 

 

As for bars and restaurants: "Under the present regulations, restaurants must close at midnight, while bars are allowed to serve no later than 2am. The removal of the opening hour restrictions will be welcomed by the hospitality industry ahead of next month's football World Cup, where many key games will kick off at 3am."

 

But as is pointed out in the RTHK article I've been quoting: "Other rules, such as the mask mandate, vaccine pass and limits on the number of customers at restaurant tables, will stay in place." And, of course, limits on public gatherings because many of these "social distancing" regulations are, of course, designed to make protesting (for democracy, against the incarceration of political prisoners -- of which Hong Kong now has thousands, ranging in age from those in their teens to 80 something year olds -- and such) well nigh impossible rather than truly science-based anti-Covid measures.

 

Some other signs that the idea that "Hong Kong is healing" can't be taken seriously: as the US-based Hong Kong Democracy Council pointed out in a Tweet, "Today in Hong Kong, 8 protesters aged 19-61 were sentenced to 44 to 56 months in prison for "riot" during the police siege of Polytechnic University on Nov 18, 2019, nearly 3 years ago, for doing little more than being there."  And as lawyer-activist Samuel Bickett noted: "These trials are happening every couple of weeks in Hong Kong and rarely reported—mass trials of “rioters” who are convicted and sentenced to years in prison with little attention to their individual culpability. Most were merely present nearby an incident."

 

Also, as the trial of Chow Hang-tung continues, we have the following craziliy unjust situation: "The leader of Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigil group still can't see the actual materials she's being prosecuted over, as authorities cite national security".  A reminder: Chow, along with two other ex-standing committee members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong, stand accused of failing to comply with a national security police data request.

 

As a Hong Kong Free Press piece relates: "Under the national security law, the commissioner of police, upon approval from the security chief, can issue a notice requesting information such as financial records from foreign or Taiwanese political groups, and their agents.  Prior to the trial, the prosecution applied for Public Interest Immunity (PII) to conceal information of the materials concerning the case, claiming that the disclosure would “harm public interest.”

 

Chow, a trained lawyer who is defending herself in the trial, "has requested the prosecution to disclose more concealed materials during a national security trial on Friday after saying that the redaction of information prohibited her from having a fair trial."  This seems a fair request.  And, frankly, one would have thought that she wouldn't even have had to request to see those redacted and concealed information.

 

As barrister Edward Wong, who is representing Tang, argued: "The right to fair trial would require the opportunity to test or to testify against the evidence produced, or in this case, relied heavily upon by the prosecution".   In response, the presiding "magistrate ordered Chow, who has been remanded in custody since September last year, to draft and submit to the court and prosecution a list of materials that she would like the prosecution to disclose, and the reason to disclose them. The trial will continue on November 7."