The Mainlandization of Hong Kong's judiciary continues apace

A protest sign from a different time in Hong Kong history

 

Themis, the Greek Goddess of Justice and Law, still stands high

atop the main facade of the Court of Final Appeal Building

-- but is justice really still blind in Hong Kong?

Various members of the press and public -- the latter of whom included "Grandma" Alexandra Wong -- queued up overnight last night to make sure they could get into the court and witness the Court of Final Appeal's handing down its ruling as to whether Jimmy Lai would be allowed out on bail after being charged under China's security law for Hong Kong this morning.  As many of them probably could have predicted, the answer was in the negative; this especially after it was revealed that Carrie Lam had met privately with Chief Justice Andrew Cheung four days before the court heard that particular appeal. 

 

Consequently, the 73-year-old pro-democracy media tycoon will be spending Chinese New Year behind bars.  So much for the long held English common law idea of "innocent until proven guilty", and a sure sign that Hong Kong's legal system is falling in line with China's, which presumes that suspects are guilty until proven innocent.   

 

In another sign that Hong Kong's judiciary is becoming Mainlandized, it has been reported that Hong Kong has decided against using a jury for the first trial under the national security law imposed by Beijing.  Instead, the trial of Tong Ying-kit will be heard by three judges who have been appointed to try national security cases. 

 

A measure of how much of a sea change this represents can be seen by way of trial by jury having been used by Hong Kong’s common law legal system for 176 years and described by its justice department as one of the judiciary’s “most important features”.  Su Xinqi (who goes by Xinqu Su over on Twitter) ended her report by stating the following: 

Hong Kong’s internationally respected legal system has come under sustained pressure in the politically charged wake of 2019’s huge pro-democracy protests and Beijing’s subsequent crackdown.

The national security law imposed by Beijing has silenced dissent and dented the legal firewall between the business hub and the mainland.

Senior Chinese politicians, state media outlets as well as leading pro-Beijing figures and newspapers within Hong Kong have also lobbied for reforming the judiciary or criticised recent judgments and sentences they dislike. 

Opponents fear those calls could presage the arrival of a legal system more akin to the authoritarian mainland.

Inside China, criminal courts have no juries, answer to the party and have a near-universal conviction rate.

In other news: yes, there currently is another "ambush-style" lockdown being effected tonight.  And for the record: Last night's two "ambush-style" lockdowns saw more than 1,500 people tested for the Wuhan coronavirus but no new cases.  Not counting tonight's operation, some 24,000 people have been tested over the course of the "ambush-style" lockdowns, with a grand total of just 4 of them testing positive for the coronavirus.  Oh, and today saw Hong Kong reporting 26 new cases; 5 of them imported.    

Criticism is positive, and will help keep the Hong Kong spirit alive!

Photo taken exactly one year ago today

 

Another photo from last February 8th: Yes, some people have been 

advocating wearing masks and supporting medical workers 

for more than a year now! 

 

As I write this blog post, still more -- yes, you guessed it! -- "ambush-style" lockdowns are taking place in parts of Hong Kong.  Tonight, the ninth straight evening that this has happened, sees buildings in Jordan and Sham Shui Po placed under lockdown.  And after the previous night's turned up four Wuhan coronavirus cases (from over 2,000 people tested), you just know that the government is going to consider these operations a success; this even though yet another medical expert (University of Hong Kong microbiologist Dr Ho Pak-leung this time around) has come out and stated that the government is locking down the wrong places.

 

The sense that I'm living in a nightmarish version of Groundhog Day (the movie) here in Hong Kong is compounded by the news yesterday that police officers attached to the National Security Law had arrested the radio host best known as Giggs again.  (The first time they did so was back in late November last year.)  And this is before factoring in that tomorrow, Jimmy Lai will go to court once more (this time to hear the Court of Final Appeal's verdict on his bail hearing).  

 

Truly, it is hard to not feel numb, if not bored, when reading what can appear to be the same bad news over and over again.  But it's imperative that we don't feel this way because, among other things, we really don't want for the current state of affairs to become the new, accepted "normal"; this not least because it's hard to shake off the feeling that if we do, (much) worse will come.  For many people, the story of the boiling frog is really pertinent to Hong Kong's situation these days.

 

With regards to the "ambush-style" lockdowns: Their optics still can look alarmingly bad but the frequency of their occurence appears to have led operations to go on more smoothly now.  There are reports that the food -- or, at least, the cup noodles -- supplied to residents affected by the lockdown has improved.  And a friend whose building was one of those locked down last night praised the medical personnel who he dealt with as efficient and courteous.

 

Even while all this may well be the case, one can't forget the fundamental fact that the Hong Kong government has taken to openly ambushing its own people.  Which makes it, in the words of Margaret Ng, "a government that wrongs people."  And, okay, yes, this is all for the sake of public health currently.  But with a wide-ranging national security law in place, it surely will be just a matter of time when attempts will be made to effect "ambush-style" lockdowns in the name of national security?     

 

Doubtless there are people who think that it's best to stop complaining and be quiet.  After all, what good has protesting done for Hong Kong?  Call me delusional but I still do believe that, without protests, all the ill that has beset Hong Kong in recent years would have occurred even sooner.  The frog would still have been boiled, just less noticeably.  

 

Also, funny but true: as a Hong Kong woman noted to her fellow members of a Clubhouse room that included Mainland Chinese along with Hong Kongers (before the Great Firewall of China came down on Clubhouse), "one of the biggest cultural differences between HK & mainland is that HKers aren't used to things being described so positively all the time. "We criticise day in day out…when we're critical we’re not just criticising mainlanders. We criticise everything”".  In other words: criticizing is very much a part of being a Hong Konger.  And here's adding the thought that maybe it's Hong Kongers' unwillingness to accept that things can't be better that has propelled Hong Kong and keeps it very spirit alive?! 

Hong Kongers under pressure from the Wuhan coronavirus, the government's anti-pandemic measures, and more political moves by the government!

Even the birds are social distancing in Hong Kong these days

 

If Hong Kong were a bird, it'd be this black-crowned night-heron:

missing one key limb but still standing and quite pissed off looking! :S*

 

For the sixth straight day in a row this week, there are areas in Hong Kong that have been subjected to "ambush-style" lockdowns.  Tonight, it's two separate residential buildings in To Kwa Wan and the Gold Coast.  Last night, it was a private housing estate in Yuen Long and a public housing block in Ma On Shan -- and yep, you guessed it: no positive cases of the Wuhan coronavirus were found once more.  Also, for the record, the total of new case numbers for today was 16: the lowest figure since November 19th's 12.  

 

In its determination to bring the coronavirus case numbers down further, the authorities have announced still lower criteria for compulsory testing to be triggered in a building.  Beginning today, residential buildings will be subject to a mandatory testing order if there is one new coronavirus case, whether or not the source of infection is traceable.  This comes less than a week after less than a week after the government specified that people living in buildings with one new case with an unknown source would be ordered to undergo coronavirus tests.        

 

Dr Ronald Lam, the new controller of the Centre for Health Protection, has described these actions as "very vigilant type of ring-fencing".  I'd wager that many Hong Kongers would feel it's more a case of a tightening of the noose around their necks; this especially since, at the same time as these "ambush-style" attacks -- whose name a medical expert has said "sounds awful, militaristic & hostile" -- are going on, Hong Kong has been reeling under still more political attacks unleashed by its own government.   

 

The Hong Kong government may want people to think that what's happening in Hong Kong is normal, okay and not that different from before.  But just consider how difficult and risky, and thus infrequent, large scale civil disobedience has become in this long time City of Protest.  (And how much more difficult the authorities want to make it.)  

 

Also, how the very proposals that prompted hundreds of thousands of regular folks (with regards to the security law back in 2003) -- millions even (to oppose extradition to China in 2019) -- to rally and march in the streets have now come to pass in this territory.  And although it hasn't officially come into being (with a one month "consultation period" scheduled to take place), notices sent out earlier this week by the city's Education Bureau outlining a dramatic overhaul of the education curriculum has sent chills down the spine of many parents, teachers and other Hong Kongers.  

 

Under the proposed curriculum, all students in Hong Kong, from as early as the age of six years, are to be taught to "understand the country's history and development, the importance of national security, the national flag, national emblem and national anthem." A measure of how wide-ranging national security issues are can be seen in the proposal for them to be taught across a range of subjects, from general studies and history to biology and music, as well as instructions given to administrators and teachers regarding how they should handle discipline issues and failure to respect the new guidelines.  In short: everything is national security if that's what the authorities want it to be.    

 

When faced with all this, it is really easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless.  But, in all honesty, I truly do feel that resistance is still possible.  (To this end, here's stating for the record that on the very same day -- today -- that the organisers of the annual June 4th candlelight vigil had their flower stall banned from Victoria Park (for the first time ever), I saw that the League of Social Democrats' were able to set up their "Free Hong Kong" booth installed in the middle of Causeway Bay again!)  

 

At the very least, there is, as characterized by Peter Baehr (of Lingnan University), "the potential of Hongkongers to remain self-respecting, self-possessed moral agents in the new order." And "[p]recisely because their situation is not without precedent, recalling how others withstood dictatorship may help Hong Kong people endure it too"; something which he proceeds to do in his piece on Dictatorship and Responsibility in Hong Kong.    

 

On a less rarified and more practical note, I've found a The Guardian article on "How to stay healthy, happy and combative in impossible times" which came out back in June 2019 to be helpful to read from time to time.  I've found a similar piece which came out in the same publication yesterday, this time dispensing tips on how to cope with lockdown stress, informative too.  And yes, just think: Hong Kongers have had the double pressure of dealing with political oppression as well as the pandemic for over a year now-- and, actually, have managed to cope a hell of a lot better than many others could expect to, and would, in the same circumstances; some times with that feisty sense of humor that I've come to see as so very Hong Kong!  

 

*Update: I've been told on the comments thread that night-herons have been known to look deceptively one-legged but actually have both legs intact.  In which case: if Hong Kong were that black-crowned night-heron in my photo, it'd actually be in better shape than it might seem to onlookers!  (Something I'd actually welcome...!)

Nobel Peace Prize and media musings on yet another night of "ambush-style" lockdowns

 

Hong Kong bird brains say "no" to lots of things

(including, in this case, frequenting barbecue areas)

 

Honestly though, if people really want to get to a particular

place, they won't let government-erected obstacles get in their way!

 

As I write this, another couple more "ambush-style" lockdowns are taking place.  And yes, this really has gotten old really fast.  This especially since all these "ambush-style" lockdowns have yielded a total of two positive cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (the second of them from one of three lockdowns effected yesterday) and Hong Kong's daily new case numbers showing a distinct downward trend (for even with there being 22 today, three higher than yesterday, it's still lower than the day before's 25 and last Thursday's 39).    

 

With their being obviously so disproportionate to the current pandemic situation in Hong Kong, suspicions have arisen -- as well as criticisms made -- about what are the real reasons for these operations: with the most benign being that it's just performance theater for Beijing to more malign ones going back to fears that people have of Hong Kong becoming another Xinjiang (specifically, a place where DNA samples are collected for surveillance use).  Somewhere closer to the latter on the suspicion spectrum is the sense that these pandemic lockdowns are dress rehearsals for non-pandemic lockdowns and also getting Hong Kongers to become used to, and consequently accept, such incursions on people's liberties.         

 

Here's the thing: if people felt that the government were on their side, they wouldn't be so suspicious of something like this.  But they most certainly don't feel that, do they?  (Check out the PORI poll showing how low Carrie Lam rates compared to the previous Chief Executives -- yes, even 689! -- and the last Governor of Hong Kong.)

 

More than incidentally, belated recognition that Hong Kong really is having its freedoms suppressed can be seen in such as its being downgraded from "flawed democracy" to "hybrid regime" in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) annual democracy index for 2020 released yesterday.  Granted that it's still not classified as possessing "an authoritarian regime" (like mother China).  But, truly, how many people living in Hong Kong want Hong Kong to become more like Mainland China in any regard, particularly with regards to political oppression (with a BBC piece on the abuse of Ughyur women placed in "re-education camps" containing descriptions that is the stuff of nightmares)?  

On a more positive note: there also has been belated recognition of the righteousness of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement; with it being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by a bi-partisan group of American lawmakers who wrote in their submission that: “This prize would honour their bravery and determination that have inspired the world... We hope that the Nobel committee will continue to shine a light on those struggling for peace and human rights in China and we believe the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong is deserving of recognition this year.”

 

This development follows two Norwegian lawmakers nominating Martin Lee for the same prize earlier this week; an action which prompted a truly laughable reaction from Chinese state media.  And a few days before that, three other Norwegian lawmakers had nominated the Hong Kong Free Press for the prize -- resulting in the amusing sight of the Hong Kong Free Press reporting about its own Nobel prize nomination!

 

Less amusing, of course, is Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) having to report time and time again criticisms of it by the likes of Carrie Lam, who actually had the temerity today to castigate the public broadcaster for having had seven "seven substantiated complaints" made against it.  A reminder: this is the woman whose China extradition bill got millions of people (including two million on one single day) out protesting in the streets against not only the proposed bill but also the "leader" who brought it into being!  And the same individual who had said she would resign if public opinion was against her when she was a Chief Executive candidate but has not done so despite being the least popular Hong Kong Chief Executive by far!      

Sadly, RTHK's life as a public broadcaster a la Britain's British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) or  the USA's National Public Radio (NPR) appears to be numbered.  But Hong Kong's most trusted broadcaster is not going down without a fight -- and continues in the meantime to put quite a bit of sass into its Tweets along with truth and quality in its reporting.  

 

Also, remember Nabela Qoser?  At the end of last month, she decided to accept the short-term contract she was offered and stay with RTHK; secure in the knowledge that she has the support of many of her colleagues, more than 60 of whom staged a protest against her ill-treatment by the authorities that saw them wearing black and masks bearing Qoser’s face, and chanting slogans such as "We are also Nabela Qoser" and "Today it's Nabela Qoser, tomorrow it could be you or me".

Getting away from it all by hiking up to Boa Vista and other beautifully green parts of Hong Kong (Photo-essay)

The pandemic shennanigans continue -- including three more "ambush-style" lockdowns effected in Sham Shui Po, Jordan and Tin Shui Wai this evening despite a total of seven previous "ambush-style" lockdowns, including four lockdowns between Monday evening and Tuesday morning along with that which took place over the weekend at Laguna City and the one which was effected late last week in North Point, not uncovering a single positive case of the Wuhan coronavirus.  And for the record, there were a total of 25 new cases confirmed today; leading to my thinking that there's a noticeable downward trend in terms of infection numbers. 

 

Adding to the craziness that seems to pervade Hong Kong's government ranks: allegations were made today by a pro-Beijing legislator that the anti extradition bill protestors were on drugs; something that even the police chief could not accept, even while agreeing that he thought the protestors had acted strangely.  (After not being able to convince with their arguments re foreign influence(r)s paying protestors, I guess this is the new argument they're trying to make: which goes to show how truly out of touch they are regarding how people feel -- or how deranged they are themselves.)

 

Thankfully, for a few hours this afternoon, I was able to get away from this madness -- and go indulge in some "forest bathing" over in Tai Tam Country Park.  It may seem like small consolation but, truly, I do feel that being able to go hiking in beautifully green sections of the Big Lychee really help me to stay sane as well as physically healthy, and remember how wonderful Hong Kong can be/is...

 

Just half an hour on from the trail head, one already is

pretty high above the city and in green space!

As Mount Parker Road wends up hill, the views and 

surrounding area get greener and greener :)

 

The turning on the right leads to an unpaved trail

that few people (still) seem to know about 

 

The last view on today's hike of the Victoria Harbour

and points north of it

 

Click on the above image to get the panoramic view

of southeastern Hong Kong Island from Boa Vista!

 

View from the dam at Tai Tam Lower Reservoir

that takes in Mount Butler in the distance 

A masonry bridge casts a shadow over

a section of Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir

 

Looking out from the edge of Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir

near hike's end back at Boa Vista and its neighboring hills :)

On the day that the United Kingdom opens a new immigration route for a good number of Hong Kongers

 

How free is Hong Kong these days?

 

They may not jail us all but they've already jailed more people

than we would like (and think is fair and just)

 

Leave Hong Kong before it’s too late, say those who now call Britain home.  Thus reads the headline of an Observer article out today, the first day that the United Kingdom opens a new immigration route for residents of the former British colony who have British National (Overseas) (B(N)O) status and their dependents that's long overdue.

  

On Friday, we saw the Communist Chinese regime and the Hong Kong government's reaction to the British government's previously announced move.  And even while their declaration that they were no longer recognize B(N)O passports as legal travel documents were not entirely unexpected, they frankly were still upsetting and sowed greater fear and confusion -- the latter of which, at least, the likes of Lo Kin-hei have sought to remedy -- among many Hong Kong residents who already have been feeling pretty jittery for some time now. 

 

Months ago, a friend who is a B(N)O passport holder -- but has never set foot in the United Kingdom thus far in his life -- told me of his and his wife's plans to emigrate to Britain after this new immigration route came into effect.  A few weeks ago, he told me that they've sold their house and a few days ago, he told me that he's already scheduled for movers to pack up and ship out their belongings not too far in the future now.    

 

He's not the only one with plans to leave Hong Kong, and also was not the first.  Another friend announced his and his wife's decision to move to Britain last July 1st, the day after China's security law for Hong Kong came into effect.  And I know of three other people (two of them born in Hong Kong but all of them holding Australian citizenship) who left Hong Kong in the latter part of last year.    

Of course, pretty much every year that I've been in Hong Kong, I've had friends leave the territory.  But all this feels very different.  In a nutshell: a lot more people (contemplating) leaving these days are doing so because they feel they have to leave rather than because they actually want to, and earlier than they would like for safety's sake; and a good number of people who have felt obliged to leave still very much have their hearts in Hong Kong (or Hong Kong in their hearts).  

At the same time, there also are those (still) determined to stay and exercise those freedoms they have that still remain.  Against the odds, they still refuse to give up.  And while some people might see them as waging a hopeless battle, I must admit to finding it admirable and really touching that there are people still resisting and giving voice to their hopes and wants for Hong Kong still.

 

Take, as example, what I came across in Causeway Bay yesterday afternoon: a stall set up by the League of Social Democrats (LSD) festooned with messages and slogans like "Free Hong Kong" and "Release All Political Prisoners", and entreaties to Save the Hong Kong 12; and where people could write messages to political prisoners and sign banners calling for their release as well as pick up free festive but also political fai chun.

 

At a time when some people have become afraid to openly state that they are pro-democracy in public, on line and even at gatherings with friends or family, it's quite something to see that there are still a good number of people willing to be so open about their political affiliation and wishes.  In a free part of the world, it may not seem like a big deal.  But in present day Hong Kong, this demonstration that the Hong Kong spirit of resistance is still alive came across as pretty courageous and hearteningly inspirational; this especially since a police van had parked nearby and there were a number of foot patrols in the area too.

Too much news to process today

  

 

No analysis for now.  Instead, I just want to state that seeing the above list of news articles over on the Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) website has put butterflies (or worse) in my stomach.  In particular, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments stopping their recognition of British Overseas Nationals (BNO) passports from this Sunday, and the Hong Kong government moving to require people to register their identity when buying pay-as-you-go mobile phone SIM cards, are causing alarm bells to ring pretty loudly for me. 

 

Oh, and Joshua Wong pleaded guilty today to another 2019 unauthorized assembly charge.  (Sentencing details to be revealed on March 23rd.)  And a grand total of zero infections were uncovered in the North Point lockdown (which ended this morning); leading more than one person to suspect that, as journalist Ryan Ho Kilpatrick Tweeted, "govt tactics are starting to look either performative or a piecemeal enforcement of the mandatory testing rejected by most HKers last Sept".  Truly, it is getting clearer and clearer by the day, if not hour, that all is not well in Hong Kong. :(