Hong Kong is sadly not without its share of ugliness in the national security law era

 

A no longer uncommon occurence in national security law era 

Hong Kong: people (dressed in black and/or on the young side

being stopped and having their ID checked by the police)

 

In my previous blog entry, I mentioned how much I still really f**king love Hong Kong and find much of it to be really beautiful.  This doesn't mean though that I am blind to the ugliness that's become part and parcel of national security law era Hong Kong. 

 

Even before I got back to the Big Lychee, the police state aspect of the regime currently installed here appeared to rear its ugly head.  And no, I'm not talking about people boarding a flight to the city being required to take a rapid antigen test (RAT) still (though, interestingly enough, no one seemed interested in seeing my photo evidence of my negative result!). 

 

Rather, for the first time ever, I observed at least one passenger on my Cathay Pacific flight (back) to Hong Kong -- or more, since the airline's staff told me that this is now the case for some 5 percent of their passengers -- being called to the counter at the gate for an additional passport check on top of  the same travel document being looked at at the check-in counter and again while passengers are in a queue to board the plane.  

 

And although the airline staff informed me that this was a Cathay Pacific requirement rather than one made by either the Hong Kong government or that of the government of the country that I was in, I can't help but wonder if this has to do with China's national security law for Hong Kong, which the regime has stated is extra-territorial.  

 

Then, when one deplanes at Hong Kong International Airport, one is greeted by a row of customs officials and security types who look like they're waiting to make some arrests -- NOT a welcome sight, I assure you!  And something I'm sure that many tourists (Hello Hong Kong!) along with returning residents who have not travelled outside Hong Kong for a time expect nor want to see.

Something else that I think many tourists to Hong Kong are not prepared to see -- and which many Hong Kong residents (continue to) find disturbing as well as sad -- is the now fairly regular stopping and searching of individuals (be they because they are dressed in black, on the young side, or a darker skin color than the majority of the populace).  And for the record: this happens all over the territory; on Hong Kong Island, Kowloonside and the New Territories; and during the day as well as at night. 

 

And then, of course, we have the continuing political persecution and prosecution -- including in the courts themselves. Currently, there are two high profile trials going on. The one that's caught more international attention involves the national security law trial involving 47 participants and organizers of pro-democratic primaries for the Legislative Council Election. (Note that that Election was subsequently postponed by a year (due to Covid, officially), at which point no pro-democracy candidates ended up taking part in -- thanks to the bulk of the Hong Kong pro-democracy politicians having been behind bars by then.)

 

There's also the sedition trial involving former chief editors of the now defunct independent/pro-democracy media outlet, Stand News, "which began last October and was supposed to last 20 days, will continue until the end of March, the court has heard".  Already, there have been many ridiculous moves on the part of the Department of Justice, whose lead prosecutor for the case, Laura Ng, has shown herself to be quite the... idiot. Take the exchange that occured in court on Friday (and was reported by the Hong Kong Free Press) as just one example: 

Ng "asked [former chief editor] Chung [Pui-kuen] why Stand News featured a segment labelled “Hong Kong Independent Bookstores” – the Chinese characters of which were the same as “Hong Kong Independence Bookstore.”

“Was there any special meaning in it?” Ng asked.

Chung paused for a moment before telling her that the term referred to bookshops which were not part of a franchise. He said that Stand News had invited independent bookstores to recommend books to its readers.

“Oh…maybe I saw ‘Hong Kong Independence’ and thought too much into it,” Ng said, before moving on to the next article"!!!!!

More than by the way, Chung Pui-kuen's comments in court have been exemplary, particular those that explain what journalists do and press freedom is supposed to mean/entail/involve. Laura Ng, on the other hand, shows that the best brains in Hong Kong most definitely do not belong to those who choose to work for Hong Kong's Department of Justice. 

 

And yet, the Department of Justice will probably win the case; thanks to the judges being handpicked by the authorities and the trial being jury-less (since the authorities don't seem to trust that ordinary folks/the peers of the accused will find them guilty).  Something of note: to date, every national security law and sedition trial presided over by designated (think hand-picked) national security judges in recent years has been ruled in favor of the proesecution.  

 

Still, never say never.  As the proverbial "they" have advised: Prepare for the worst but hope for the best.  And yes, Hong Kongers are still hoping, against the odds.  We persist.