A rejuvenating hike up to Ma On Shan Country Park's Ngong Ping Plateau and then down to Mui Tsz Lam with a good friend (Photo-essay)

It's not been a great week for Hong Kong; what with a number of political arrests of politicians and journalists (not just Radio Television Hong Kong's Bao Choy Yuk-ling but also another female reporter -- this one from online media outlet Ben Yu Entertainment -- identified only as "Ho") having taken place along with such "developments" as the launching of a "snitch" line which reportedly received more than 2,500 "tip offs" in the first 24 hours of its operation and a man getting dealt a 55-day prison sentence for throwing one single metal can onto the road in Sai Wan Ho last November 11th.  

 

But I'm in better spirits than might be expected -- thanks to having spent time hanging out with a few friends in recent days.  For example, today saw me going on a rejuvenating hike on what turned out to be a beautiful blue sky afternoon up to the Ngong Ping plateau in Ma On Shan Country Park and then down to Mui Tsz Lam with the woman that I often describe as my oldest friend in Hong Kong (not in age but in terms of the length of our friendship!).   

More than incidentally, this particular friend of mine was one of the people who was at Admiralty on June 12th when the police started firing tear gas and beating up anti-extradition bill protestors.  And while hiking this afternoon, we couldn't help but talk about our fears of what all that inhaling of tear gas has done to our lungs (since we are among those Hong Kongers who've inhaled it more times now than we can actually remember).  At the same time though, we actually did manage to complete the hike okay -- and even enjoy our afternoon's countryside excursion (which really did offer up a number of splendid sights).  So I guess we're more resilient than we might think... and, yes, really do f**king love Hong Kong!

 

A beautiful day for a hike in the Hong Kong countryside!

 

Quite a few cows decided the Ngong Ping plateau

was the place to be this afternoon too! ;b

 

Pyramid Hill dominates the landscape at the plateau

 

The actual plateau is visually not to be sniffed at too! :)

 

Ditto, especially on a clear day like today, the view from

Ngong Ping plateau of Sai Kung town and the peninsula beyond!

 

It was hard to tear ourselves away from the Ngong Ping plateau

but there were other sections of trail to go on

 

At Mui Tsz Lam, I looked back up at the mountains

and caught sight of this series of seasonal waterfalls

(which I had never seen on my previous visits to the area!)

 

Also not seen on my previous visit to the area: this terraced

plot of land currently under cultivation! :O

No arrests today but still plenty of troubling developments taking place in Hong Kong

A reminder of how beautiful Hong Kong can be

 

A Lego ad with a message that's applicable to a larger world!

 

The eyes of much of the world remain transfixed on the USA and its still ongoing election saga.  Even many Hong Kongers have had given quite a bit of attention to the political events unfolding half a world away (but with what many believe will have major ramifications over on this side of the globe). At the same time though, Hong Kongers need to keep an eye on what's happening domestically; and  hope that the world have not looked completely away from what's going on in Hong Kong (and Beijing) and has not looked away as it's not at all as if the persecutions and repression have stopped in recent days.  

 

So it meant a lot to many Hong Kongers to see that the United States government actually did take time to call on the Chinese Communist Party "and their Hong Kong proxies" to cease their efforts to crush press freedom in Hong Kong in the wake of journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling arrest's on Tuesday.  Ditto re our seeing that Bao Choy is standing her ground post getting out on bail, and going ahead and Tweeting earlier today that: "Words can't express my gratitude for the help and blessing from my friends, fellows, and everyone who support #PressFreedom . We may have to walk in the shadow of journalism greatness, but we will never walk alone" (https://twitter.com/Baochoy/status/1324182615566397440).

 

Should it not be readily apparent: Hong Kongers need to stay strong and continue to have support from others because they are under great threat from very powerful forces.  Michael Chugani states it very clearly in an article published today that dramatically outlines the following:

Beijing is now systematically ripping out Hong Kong’s soul, changing the city as we know it. At least 10 of the 21 opposition lawmakers who chose to remain in the extended Legislative Council have been arrested for various charges.

Another three who chose not to remain also face charges, as do numerous other opposition figures. Many opposition election candidates have been disqualified. Anti-government protests have become a thing of the past. The opaque national security law’s many red lines gives the government a free hand to define free speech and what constitutes a security threat.

Many Hongkongers now believe Beijing’s ultimate goal is to stifle political dissent, kill off the opposition, control media freedom, weaken our independent judiciary, and turn Legco into a rubber stamp. That will make Hong Kong like the mainland, where speaking your mind is taboo.

And although there were no new political arrests today, the Hong Kong police did do something else to threaten Hong Kong's distinct culture and society.  More specifically, the local constabulary has launched a hotline inviting people to report suspected breaches of the SAR's national security law.  In other words: they have established a "snitch" line to encourage people to -- shades of East Germany's Stasi, the Nazis' Gestapo and the Chinese "Cultural Revolution" -- spy, inform on and betray their fellow Hong Kong residents, neighbors, colleagues, and even friends and family.

Also, while I can count on my fingers the number of times I've actually heard the Chinese national anthem being played in Hong Kong, I may well be hearing the March of the Volunteers a lot more often in the not so distant future; with plans in the offing for it to get played much more often than has thus far been the case.  On a related note: There appear to be quite a few more Chinese national flags waving about in Hong Kong since -- if not July 1st, then October 1st.  Either that or their size has been markedly increased to make them harder to not notice when one passes by one hanging from a flag pole in front of a police station or school or atop some other building, be they government or privately owned!

Further threats to Hong Kong's press freedom by way of the shock arrest of a Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) journalist

 

Still alive and beautiful but not able to fly as easily as it would like, 

with wings that are no longer whole: a visual metaphor for Hong Kong? 

First, the Hong Kong police did nothing on July 21st, 2019 -- or, at best, arrived late at the scene of a terrible attack inside Yuen Long MTR station.  Then, on August 26th of this year, they arrested victims of the attack (including Democratic Party legislative councillor Lam Cheuk-ting) and sought to rewrite history by painting an alternative picture of what happened that night.

One major reason why they have not been able to plausibly do so is that the press (including in the person of Gwynneth Ho, then a Stand News reporter, now a political activist) were there to live stream and bear witness to what was happening on the night.  And in aftermath, the likes of the New York Times and Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) produced in-depth investigative videos of the Yuen Long attacks; with RTHK's Hong Kong Connection program revisiting the incident again -- and providing additional information -- and uploading that particular episode onto Youtube just a few days ago.

For this and many other reasons, Hong Kong's sole public broadcaster has ended up in the powers that be's bad books.  RTHK has been under threat for some time now; and the Hong Kong police force have shown their displeasure by doing such as ending the partnership which had enabled the production of  Police Report, a weekly program telling the public about recent crime trends and giving crime prevention advice that had run for 47 years before its termination this year. Then today, the police took things further by arresting the producer of RTHK's Yuen Long attack programs.     

 

Coming the day after legislative councillor Ted Hui's arrest and two days after the arrest of seven other democratic political figures, this latest negative "development" is pretty shocking.  (I realize Hong Kong is now effectively a police state, especially after the implementation of China's national security law for Hong Kong, but, in all honesty, we never want to get to thinking or accepting that this is all to be expected and "the new normal".)  A measure of the scale of the shock can be seen by the likes of The Guardian (over in the UK) giving Bao Choy Yuk-ling's arrest front page coverage on its website on the USA's election day.    

 

Over here in Hong Kong, pro-democracy politicians released statements that Choy's arrest represents a clear arrest on Hong Kong's press freedom.  RTHK also has reported that the chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Chris Yeung, was upset by the arrest of their station's producer and has accused authorities of “exhausting every possible way” to make life difficult for journalists who are trying to uncover the truth.  

 

It really is stressful to be a reporter in Hong Kong these days, and maybe more so if you work for RTHK than many other organizations.  (In fact, I sometimes wonder who actually feels more under pressure: the staff of RTHK or Apple Daily!)  Something that should be of some comfort though to these journalists: that senior people in their organization still will come to their defence, and pretty promptly too.  In Choy's case, RTHK's Director of Broadcasting, Leung Ka-wing, went on the record within hours of the news of her arrest to state that that the organization is "afraid" and "worried" but will not alter its editorial principles or stop investigative reporting.     

 

Sad but true: this is something that can't be taken for granted anymore in Hong Kong -- along with senior personnel of major organizations being moved to do the right thing.  Indeed, also today, the New World First Bus company came out and stated that it will not provide legal assistance to its driver charged with careless driving after sounding his horn at a protest unless he pleads guilty!  Consequently, the driver may end up applying to the 612 Humanitarian Fund established to help arrested protestors with such as legal assistance even though he was actually working on September 6th rather than actually out protesting on the street that day!   

Eight more political arrests in the past 48 hours in Hong Kong

 

Outside the Legislative Council Complex during the

Occupy phase of the Umbrella Movement

 

 

Both the Legislative Council Complex and Central Government 

Offices were much less easier to get near come May of this year :(

Two days ago, Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp celebrated seven anti-extradition bill protestors being cleared of charges of rioting during a protest in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay on August 31 of last year; with the judge ruling that the prosecution has failed to prove the offences beyond all reasonable doubt.  Less than 24 hours later, the Hong Kong police arrested the exact same number of pro-democracy politicians on charges relating to a chaotic Legislative Council committee meeting on May 8 that carry a penalty of a HK$10,000 fine and imprisonment for up to 12 months. 

 

The Democratic Party's Wu Chi-wai, Andrew Wan and Helena Wong, the Labour Party's Fernando Cheung and Steven Kwok, People Power's Ray Chan and independent activist Eddie Chu Hoi-dick generally represent the moderate sections of the pro-democracy camp.  If even this septet are being seen as enemies of the government, then it shows how extreme -- and intolerant -- the Hong Kong government has become.

 

At a media briefing yesterday, the police stated that they did not rule out more arrests.  And so it proved, with Ted Hui becoming the eighth pro-democrat politician arrested over the May 8th "LegCo mayhem" earlier today.  In a Hong Kong where "lawfare" has become pervasive and which has more and more clearly become a place where there are different sets of rules for pro-Beijingers vis a vis pro-democrats, it almost goes without saying that, as the RTHK article observed, "No members of the pro-Beijing camp have been arrested over the chaos."

 

Adding insult to injury was that among the eight arrestees are one (Ray Chan) who TV cameras clearly showed having his shirt collar grabbed and then being dragged several meters and to the ground by a pro-Beijing legislative councillor during the May 8th melee and another (Andrew Wan) who also ended up requiring medical treatment and being stretchered away by an ambulance crew!  It's also worth noting that a third member of this octet, Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, was the top vote getter of the 2016 Legislative Council elections -- with the 84,121 votes he received putting such as Carrie Lam's 777 and Leung Chun-ying's 689 truly in the shade and to shame.

 

Long time political observer, Stephen Vines, reports that: "A member of the pro-democracy camp believes that the spectacular show staged by the police and the Department of Justice (DoJ) is nothing but a warning to the current democratic lawmakers to immediately disengage in parliamentary protests so that LegCo can resume “normal” as it was before June of last year. This is because Beijing and the Hong Kong government urgently need to convince the international community that the city is “business as usual.”"

 

Weeks ago, when the pan-democrat camp was deciding whether to stay or leave Legislative Council in the wake of Carrie Lam's announcement back on July 31st that this year's elections would be postponed for (at least) a year, there were arguments made in favor of their remaining in the posts that they had been elected to four years ago (as well as against).  And while I had agreed with Stephen Vines then that "elected democrats have a responsibility to serve the people who elected them" and that "part of the defence of liberty involves the democracy camp clinging onto positions it already holds" as well as thought that it would be better for there to be some opposition legislators in the Legislative Council -- even if they were in the minority -- rather than none at all, recent events have got me thinking that maybe those who had made the case otherwise could have been right after all.

 

If nothing else, witnessing the likes of Junius Ho controlling important Legislative Council panels is really painful.  It also adds credence to the sense that "LegCo is now where the most odious rise to power while opposition voices are suppressed thru lawfare" (cf Jennifer Wang's Tweet at https://twitter.com/jenniferlywang/status/1322746650570321920)       

 

Looking for a silver lining in this cloud: All eight of the arrested individuals have been released on bail (unlike the likes of national security law arrestees Tong Ying-kit, Tony Chung and Tam Tak-chi).  And, at least for now, the Legislative Council's remaining pro-democrats have vowed that "we will not back down ... and we will continue to fight"; perhaps mindful that "As long as there is resistance, there is hope" and "It always seems impossible until it is done".     

Still living a nightmare more than one year on, but seeing that justice can prevail at times along the way

  

A mask worn by many people in Hong Kong on Halloween last year

 

Masks won every day by pretty much all Hong Kongers 

when out in public these days 

One year ago, I had a nightmare experience on Halloween.  Actually, if truth be told, it feels like I've been living in a nightmare for more than a year now, thanks to Carrie Lam having decided to introduce a controversial extradition bill and the Hong Kong police exercabating matters with their actions on June 12th, July 21st, August 31st and so much more.  And that's all before China stepped in -- or, perhaps more accurately, took off its mask and revealed its hand with such as the introduction of a national security law for Hong Kong.  Oh, and of course we can't forget the unleashing the Wuhan coronavirus onto the world.     

And even while things appeared to calm down quite a bit on the ground -- at least on the surface -- in recent weeks (and the spectre of Wuhan coronavirus also feels smaller than in previous months -- what with Hong Kong back to single digit numbers for new cases and even some days without any local transmissions, like today), the fact of the matter is that there always are goings on that those of us keeping an eye out for things that keep us troubled.  As an example: I was really upset to discover yesterday that, contrary to my earlier belief, Junius Ho (of Yuen Long 7.21 infamy) had, in fact, managed to wrest control of the Legislative Council's IT and broadcast panel, and was proceeding to make the kind of proposals that we feared that the pro-Beijingers would do upon truly gaining the upper hand in the legislature.  

   

I learnt about this in an Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) article reporting on Ho having called for Hong Kong's sole public service broadcaster to be merged with the government's public relations unit; a move that would truly neuter the already under threat organization.  One has to worry for the professional future of RTHK staffers Nabela Qoser and Yvonne Tong: the former of whom won many fans when she took Carrie Lam and her officials to task over what happened in Yuen Long on July 21st, 2019; the latter of whom's interview with a World Health Organization (WHO) senior official caused quite the sensation as a result of her asking him about Taiwan.  Furthermore, I do fear that the day when the Great Firewall of China will encircle Hong Kong -- and make the use of such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Blogger illegal -- is going to arrive sooner rather than later.

 

Ironically, this Halloween Day has actually brought some good news to lift up my spirits.  More specifically, there came news today that seven people, aged between 20 and 27 years, were acquitted of rioting during a protest in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay on August 31 last year; with presiding District Judge Sham Siu-man's stating that even if the defendants are to be regarded as being related to the incidents that occurred before their arrests, their participation in a riot was not the only reasonable inference.  

 

This same judge had previously dismissed the case against Jackie Chen, a social worker who had volunteered to monitor police behaviour during pro-democracy protests, "for the lack of prima facie evidence".  Predictably, the Justice Department has filed an appeal to reverse the judge’s decision.  And there also is the possibility that the Judge Sham Siu-man will be reassigned so that he won't be overseeing cases involving pro-democracy protestors; as has happened in recent months to two magistrates accused by pro-Beijingers of being biased against the police.  

For now though, we enjoy this victory for justice and the pro-democracy movement.  For if we can't allow ourselves to celebrate and savor such occasions, our world would feel so very dark and depressing; and it would be impossible to have any hope that we could, and can, ever emerge from this living nightmare still strong and sane.   

National security woes today, and more blows in the offing

  

 Predators seeking to catch victims in their web

abound in Hong Kong... 

 

...and so does continued resistance and dissent!

 

There was so much to take in and report this past Tuesday that I ended up not writing about political activist Tony Chung's rearrest by national security officers as he was making his way to the U.S. Consulate General here in Hong Kong (and also that of two other members of the Studentlocalism group).  Unlike with his earlier arrest on July 30th though, he's been denied bail as well as actually charged under the still new security law this time around; which makes the 19 year old's case, and plight, all the more serious now.   

 

What thus far is only the second case of an individual being charged under China's security law for Hong Kong which came into effect on July 1st (after Tong Ying-kit, who was arrested on the first day of the national security law's existence) sees Tony Chung being accused of: secession, money laundering and conspiracy to publish seditious material.  Seeing as the first charge carries a maximum penalty of lifetime imprisonment, it's obviously the most serious.  And at first glance, being accused of having organised, planned, committed or participated in "acts with a view to commit secession or undermine national unification between July 1 and October 27" does look to be pretty heavy stuff.     

 

But when you look at what he's actually done, things start looking really farcical.  For what you've got here for the most part is a teenager's advocating independence for Hong Kong on not much more than Facebook posts!  The following are a couple of choice paragraphs from a BBC report on this matter:   

According to Joshua Rosenzweig, the head of Amnesty International's China Team, "a peaceful student activist has been charged and detained solely because the authorities disagree with his views".

Consider it another way. Mr Chung is 19 years old. What views were you expressing when you were 19? What opinions were others expressing? Should you have been threatened with life imprisonment for them?

What mades these views from the BBC even more eye-opening is that I often have found this particular media outlet to be one of the more biased against the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement.  (How I wish that I could embed links to Tweets here but since I can't, here's posting its URL here: https://twitter.com/ataraxisfinch/status/1313783797800894465).  But, as with many Hong Kongers, I guess they're belatedly waking up to the harsh reality of living in Hong Kong under China's security law for it, with the previously cited article concluding as follows:-

In just a matter of months, the pro-Beijing camp in Hong Kong has made use of the new national security law to erode the harbour city's once vaunted freedom of speech. It is nothing short of a disaster for the vast majority of residents who voted for the pro-democracy block in the most recent local elections.

As a document, the proposed law was frightening, but now people are seeing the reality: state security agents grabbing teenage activists from cafes and taking them away perhaps for the rest of their lives. On the ground in Hong Kong, the shocking reality of the new legal regime is becoming clear.

Add the following development and the future is looking really bleak indeed for Hong Kong: The Hong Kong police is planning to launch a new hotline for gathering national security-related intelligence from members of the public.  Put another way: they want to encourage people to inform on one another; and, in so doing, are going to tear to shreds any trust that people have for family members and friends, never mind strangers in their midst.  

 

Alternatively put: I fear that a Cultural Revolution is coming to Hong Kong; brought about by a man who personally suffered during the Chinese Cultural Revolution but seemed to have emerged from it having learnt the wrong lessons.  For instead of "never again", Xi Jinping seems to think and act more in terms of "make sure you are the one with power to oppress others rather than be oppressed (once more)".   

 

So what are we to do about it?  It's going to be hard to do but we're going to have draw from inspiration on those freedom fighters who (eventually) prevailed, like Nelson Mandela, and such as Invictus, the Victorian poem that inspired him and kept his spirit defiant for so many years, whose concluding lines are as follows:-

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. 

The Wuhan coronavirus and other perceived Mainland Chinese threats to Hong Kong's health and wellbeing

The Pillar of Shame at the University of Hong Kong

 

We're living in a topsy turvy world where ideas once revered

are now not given much credence :(

 

Let's start off with the good news first: Hong Kong recorded zero new local Wuhan coronavirus cases for the second day in the row today; the first time this has happened since July 3rd-4th.  So I reckon it's pretty safe to say that our third coronavirus wave has truly subsided.  Further confirmation that this is so comes by way of the easing of certain social distancing measures.  This includes bars and restaurants being allowed to open until 2am (from the current 12 midnight) and operate at greater capacity, and public gazetted beaches being reopened.    

But even while the dine-in limit for restaurants will be raised to 6 (from the current four) this Friday, the public gathering will remain at four.  This has prompted jokes about how a legal party of six diners will become lawbreakers once they leave the restaurant they had been since they'd then constitute an illegal gathering on top of similar jokes cracked last week after the Hong Kong government announced that 30 person tour groups will be allowed even while four person gathering limits continue to be upheld.    

 

The cracks highlighting how ridiculous the government's decisions are elicit laughter from listeners but it's the kind of laughter that was recorded in Elenore Smith Bowen's Return to Laughter.  Specifically, "In an environment in which tragedy is genuine and frequent, laughter is essential to sanity...  It is often bitter and sometimes a little mad, for it is the laugh under the mask of tragedy, and also the laughter that masks tears."

 

Alternatively put: it is so very obvious to many Hong Kongers that the government is using the (threat of the) Wuhan coronavirus to suppress people and protest.  Thus it is that, as Renaud Haccart Tweeted back on September 15th: "As noted by other commentators, there’s a fair chance that group gathering rules will be the very last to go, as they provide the perfect cover for police to disrupt any public protest of any size or form and make arrests."

 

As things stand, the government appears to have gotten even to the hitherto highly trusted Professor Yuen Kwok-yung (of the University of Hong Kong's Department of Microbiology).  Either that or the strain has gotten to the good doctor as he's made pronouncements recently that have been greeted with suspicion and/or derision.  Take as an example his proposal that bar patrons use straws and wear masks while drinking.  (One reaction: "Does this man drink alcohol?  Or did he drink too much alcohol prior to coming up with this preposterous suggestion?!")  

 

In addition, there's his recent suggestion that tests be made mandatory for patients with mild symptoms associated with the Wuhan coronavirus (which provokes fears that it's going to pave the way for mandatory universal testing and the setting up of a "health code" a la Mainland China, along with DNA harvesting).  And on the same day as this proposal was reported on, the Hong Kong government has revealed plans to allow more Hongkongers to return from Mainland China without having to undergo quarantine from next month: i.e., effectively loosen health checks at the border!   

 

Whether they come into Hong Kong after undergoing quarantine or not, two people from Mainland China whose confirmed appointments and expected arrivals have already caused unease and dissent are the incoming vice president of research and vice president of academic development at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).  At a glance, it might be assumed that Hong Kongers (including pro-democratic councillors and civic groups, and HKU staff, alumni and current students) are exhibiting anti-Mainland Chinese sentiment but their opposition actually stems from fears that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) -- not (just) Mainland Chinese individuals per se -- are assuming control of Hong Kong's premier university (this not least since one of the individuals concerned was previously reported to be a Chinese Communist Party member).

 

Fears that pro-Beijing parties will unduly benefit from a government proposal to let Hong Kongers living in Mainland China cast ballots remotely in the city’s elections also are behind Hong Kongers' (strong) opposition to it.  Especially since the government is not planning to extend voting rights to Hong Kongers living in other parts of the world (like, say, Britain, the USA, Australia or Canada), this does smack of official efforts to ensure that the pro-Beijing camp does not get a pasting in future elections the way that they did at last November's District Council elections.  

Remember: there was much talk about those elections having been allowed to go ahead because the governments (in Hong Kong and over in Beijing) and pro-Beijing camp mistakenly believed that "the silent majority" was on their side; whereas this year's Legislative Council election was not allowed to go ahead as scheduled because they now know full well that the majority of people living in Hong Kong are not pro-Beijing (as well as are super anti-Carrie Lam and her administration).  And lest it not be obvious: despite whatever the powers that be say, the Legislative Council election was not postponed because of the Wuhan coronavirus! 

 

Something else that should be patently clear: despite the Legislative Council electoral system already being rigged, the authorities actually have to rig it further to actually ensure a victory for their allies!  On the one hand, this points to a seriously sad state of affairs in, and for, Hong Kong.  On the other, it goes to show how strong the opposition to the Hong Kong government (and its Beijing overlords) is -- and that, in some ways, is pretty heartening since, among other things, those who passionately love Hong Kong really are in the majority in Hong Kong.