One of the few photos I have in which there are two
inflated giant yellow rubber ducks rather than just one!
Let's start the week with a few updates. Firstly, the Double Ducks are no longer in Hong Kong; with one of them having been deflated in the full view of the public -- again! -- yesterday afternoon! In the short time that they were in Hong Kong, they spawned memes galore, and were the cause of lots of mirth and entertainment. And helped make Hong Kong a bit more yellow (again) for a while!
Speaking of there being more Hong Kong yellow about: The latest twist in the Glory to Hong Kong tale sees the protest anthem -- specifically, the versions by DGX Music -- "reuploaded to streaming platforms KKBox and Spotify, days after [its composer, known as Thomas, told the Hong Kong Free Press] that it had been removed by the distributor." (It's worth noting, however, that the song that "dominated the Apple iTunes charts this month until it abruptly vanished last week [is] still missing from Apple Music".)
"Thomas – from distributor Dgx Music – previously told HKFP that he was
unable to explicitly explain the song’s disappearance from platforms." But, although some suspicion did fall on him/his group for having practiced self-censorship and removed the song from the streaming platforms, it's one that he's now emphatically denied.
And in a Facebook post today, "he said that a new, 2023 album of songs – including Glory to Hong Kong
and three new tracks – had been reshared on various platforms". Also, that "I
resolutely oppose any behaviour that attempts to curb freedom of thought
and speech… I really understand everyone’s view that they ‘do not want
to lose the freedom of choosing music either.’ Despite facing different
difficulties, I still want to defend this aspiration."
On a more somber note: the story about the Hong Konger arrested for sedition as a result of social media posts she made while studying and living in Japan has now been picked up by the Japanese press. The following are quotes from a Japan Times article that came out yesterday:
Yuen Ching-ting, 23, had returned from Tokyo in February to renew her identity card and was arrested in early March — a day before her scheduled flight to Japan — over her posts on social media, the South China Morning Post reported...Police said in April that her posts included phrases such as “Hong Kong independence” and “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”...The defense pointed out that most of the posts in the case were made overseas, with the court hearing that only two were made from Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reported.Yuen’s lawyers also referred to the statute of limitations for sedition offenses, set at six months, claiming that she made her last social media post more than a year ago in May 2022, Nikkei Asia reported.
But the prosecutor said Yuen’s posts to Facebook and Instagram came between September 2018 and early March this year, adding that they were accessible in Hong Kong even if they were created in Japan, the report said.
I don't know about you but that last bit is shocking to me! (For the record: the sedition law that Yuen has been charged with breaking is not universally applicable the way that the national security law is supposed to be. But if the prosecution's declaration that just because a social media post is accessible in Hong Kong, the laws of Hong Kong apply to it...!)
Some other points worth noting from the article: "Under the conditions of her bail, Yuen is required to delete all the
social media posts related to her case, report to a police station twice
a week, and cannot travel abroad, join online chat groups with more
than five people, or speak to the media, the report said." In addition: "Police are also allowed access to her social media accounts, if necessary, according to the South China Morning Post." And I'm sure they'll deem it very necessary! Also, I would love to be wrong about this but it sounds like the police intend to use her accounts to investigate/possibly implicate her friends and other contacts.
Another detail about this case that I find really chilling: Yuen was arrested as a result of a tip off using the National Security Reporting Hotline (that was launched in November 2020 and reportedly had attracted more than 400,000 tips in 2022)! Think about it: people are actually informing on others; and with consequence. If nothing else, this is just going to create more distrust, even fear, among Hong Kongers of one another. Something that does not make for a healthy, happy society at all! :(
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