Message from a cabbie

Hong Kong’s English-language press tends to refer to prominent pro-Beijing figures as ‘heavyweights’. This is partly because these individuals’ United Front honorifics are laughable, not to say long-winded. You can’t squeeze ‘Member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress’ into a headline.

It also creates a corridors-of-power mystique. It’s not necessarily that the media want to puff them up out of deference, but reporters understandably don’t want to appear to be quoting a nobody. A ‘heavyweight’ sounds influential, even though in reality it’s just a blindly loyal, slogan-reciting, impotent shoe-shiner occupying an ornamental position while awaiting the CCP’s parting kick in the teeth.

Then you have pro-Beijing figures who are too pitiful to warrant the ‘heavyweight’ tag. Priscilla Leung attracts such labels as ‘outspoken’ or ‘firebrand’. She is so transparent and opportunistic in her attempts to ingratiate herself with her United Front masters that there is no point in hinting that she might have substance or authority. And you can’t fit ‘loathsome venomous psycho toad-sucking child-weasel misfit’ into a headline.

The pro-Beijing (but occasionally slapdash about it) Standard takes thinly disguised pleasure in reporting a cab driver telling Priscilla to take a hike

It adds that Hong Kong’s uprising is moving on to the book-burning phase. Music fans are breaking discs by Canto-pop stars who have used Hong Kong’s recent protests as a chance to flout their patriotic credentials and burnish their Mainland commercial prospects.

A commentator tells the paper that this time is different from Occupy. After the 2014 events, the government had some success in directing anger at the protesters for defiling rule of law, causing economic ruination, ending civilization, etc. This time, not so many people are buying attempts to mask a political crisis as a law-and-order problem. Maybe zealous police roundups of suspects and hyper-aggressive prosecutions could backfire.

The implication is that a chunk of previously passive middle-ground ‘silent majority’ now hate the government. CY Leung they could ignore, but Carrie Lam has proved too much to stomach. An administration with a clue would worry about this. Watch these zombies blithely press on.

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18 Responses to Message from a cabbie

  1. Truncate Beaver says:

    Generally speaking, the cognitive dissonance of anti-democratic politics eventually self destructs the establishment. I really want that to happen here.

  2. Flagfall says:

    However, laudable his action, isn’t the cab driver breaking by-laws by not accepting Priscilla as a passenger?

  3. Chinese Netizen says:

    It doesn’t help when you’re a shoe shining, arse licking toady and actually LOOK like an arse licking toad.

  4. Mark Bradley says:

    I just hope HK doesn’t get the Congress Poland treatment. Similar to China, Poland was cut apart into smaller pieces by foreign powers.

    Congress Poland was a nominally sovereign state in personal union with the Russian Empire.

    Congress Poland’s constitutional relationship with the Russian Tsar was similar to the relationship HK has with China.

    On paper Congress Poland had the most liberal constitution in Europe during 1815. It was one of the smallest Polish states with a population of 3.3 million. The Polish kingdom had “golden liberty”, its own currency, a separate customs territory, border, legal system, police force, army (like what China promised Taiwan if it became an SAR), freedom to practice freemasonry, etc.

    In practice the kingdom’s autonomy started eroding rapidly and the Russians would regularly interfere. It happened at a faster rate than HK. The Kingdom only had semi autonomy for about 15 years with its autonomy liquidated after the 1831 Polish uprising was crushed in November.

    In 1841 the Polish currency called the zloty, was replaced with the Russian rubel.

    The loss of autonomy made the Polish nobility and urban bourgeois nostalgic of the semi autonomous status they enjoyed before 1831. There was another uprising on January 1863 which lasted until June 18 1864. Congress Poland was absorbed into Russia and turned into a Russian province called Vistula Land and Russification was now complete.

  5. old git says:

    The basis of the extradition law change’s dancing partner – the assets freezing law change – is in Clause 29 of the the FATF / OECD Executive Summary on AML https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/mer/MER%20Hong%20Kong%20ES.pdf .

    It says:
    29. The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance offers a wide range of assistance and is generally satisfactory. The power vested in the Central People’s Government (of the PRC) to direct refusal of a mutual legal assistance request is potentially of concern, however it is sparingly exercised. The absence of a mechanism enabling Hong Kong to render comprehensive assistance to (and seek assistance
    from) the PRC and Macao presents a notable gap in an otherwise sound mutual legal assistance regime.

  6. I think you mean “flaunt”, not “flout”. Otherwise, spot on.

  7. Mark Bradley says:

    The FATF absolutely sucks and they need to shove off. None of their imbecilic decrees do anything to stop money laundering, but they certainly do inconvenience small business and regular people.

  8. Stanley Lieber says:

    Thank you for the Hemlockian reference to the “CCP’s parting kick in the teeth.”

    I knew it wasn’t Orwellian.

  9. Hong Kong Hibernian says:

    @ “Mark Bradley”: your post about Russo-Polish relations was hilarious! Thanks for the laugh. 1815 until 1864 indeed.

    Perhaps the 五毛 bit was the second sentence? (yawn)

    Just a quick glance around any part of Hong Kong gives the observer a decent idea of popular sentiment: black shirts everywhere, worn by young and old and ages in between. Even considering the odd mainland agent and mainlanders hoping to fit in, the numbers don’t lie.

  10. Mark Bradley says:

    @ “Hong Kong Hibernian” I’m glad you were entertain by my comment, but I assure you that I am not a wumao and despise them as much as you do. But I do worry and am anxious how this will all end.

    I 100% support the protesters, and hate Carrie and Commies alike. I’m just worried we’re going to get squashed like a bug but like with Congress Poland it probably would have happened regardless.

  11. Mark Bradley says:

    Correction: I’m glad you were ENTERTAINED by my comment. I figured I would correct this before I’m accused of writing Engrish.

    I just want HK to maintain the status quo. Direct rule will suck big time and gives me anxiety just thinking about it. I marched on 16th as well. There’s no way that I can find a government that shoots kids in the head and freaks out more over harm to symbols than people to be acceptable.

  12. Real Schnapps Purveyor says:

    Good to see our friend, Real Tax Payer, out there in solidarity with… someone?!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUaGtCGJvcw

  13. steve says:

    Mark Bradley: “There’s no way that I can find a government that shoots kids in the head and freaks out more over harm to symbols than people to be acceptable.”

    This a key observation, and a sure tell that authoritarians are in charge.

  14. Bill Eaval says:

    This from the Malay Mail: During the rally supporting the police, Tam reportedly said that Hong Kong would be hopeless if protests in the island state persisted.

  15. Din Gao says:

    @Old Git & Mark Bradley
    Facebook Message to FATF on 15 June pm:
    Your report https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/mer/MER%20Hong%20Kong%20ES.pdf is being quoted by the CE HK as a reason for trying to force through her dreadful extradition bill which is tearing HK apart.
    http://www.fatf-gafi.org
    No response.

  16. Din Gao says:

    @Real Schnapps Purveyor

    Quoting the visiting alien Peter Bentley from his interview in your link:

    1. the LegCo beseigers would have been shot with real bullets in the UK or USA, France or Germany; tens or even hundreds of people would have been killed or injured

    2. HK is a free place; there is nothing you can’t do in HK

    3. Young people don’t realise how good life really is in HK

    4. HK is a free place and most parts of China are also free

  17. Casira says:

    Funny how the same Peter Bentley also appears in 2014 articles
    https://news.yahoo.com/vision-hong-kong-protest-becomes-traffic-free-oasis-030412977.html

    For some people, practical inconveniences outweigh any sense of positive change.
    “It’s incredibly selfish of the students to hold demonstrations in a public area,” said retiree Peter Bentley, who has lived in Hong Kong for 30 years.
    “I think the whole thing’s wrong.”

  18. dimuendo says:

    If anybody actually knows the seemingly ubiquitous semi derelict dressed in a blue vest and passing apparently under the name Peter Bentley could they please bring to his attention that if the Legco demonstrations had occurred in England (what he said, not the UK) then they would certaintly NOT have been met with live ammunition and would NOT have resulted in deaths.

    I am sure the same with France, where the rather more violent guillet jaunes demos did not result in live ammuntion being used, as far as I am aware, nor Germany, which remains acutely aware of its heritage. AS for the USA I could not possibly comment.

    It is a shame the mainland journalist interviewing the blue vest did not ask him what did he think of the police withdrawing and what of allowing the youngeters for a reported eight (8) hours to attempt to and eventually succeed in breaking into Legco.

    Plus given the effort put into getting the video well seen ( I received it from 3 unconnected people before it being placed on here by Real Schnapps Player – and I am not a “social media” person) did they not pick somebody who was a little more “personable”? Maybe even wearing a collared shirt and either had hair or the modish shaven head?

    Compare the “I don’t need sex, the government fucks me everyday”. A serious message/expression of opinion, presented with wit by a spokesperson who appeared to have had a wash in the last week.

    Sorry if the above sounds snobby, albeit honest, but Mr Blue Vest goes seamlessly from expressing a particular point of view to which people might share to gross prejudical over statement of a type that needs to be challenged on every possible occasion.

    Why are the police currently (and for several commsssioners now, with honourable exceptions) so poorly led, down to the level of say Superintendent and , possibly, badly trained?

    Finally would the police, lawyers, Department of Injustice readers, please explain why if the rule of law still applies in Hong Kong, that Junius Ho has not had his collar felt for incitement to: murder, riot, criminal damage etc etc? Or is he protected/untouchable in some way? Only asking for a friend.

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