Big Lychee, Various Sectors

Slightly maverick lawmaker Paul Tse criticizes Hong Kong’s Legislative Council for no longer exercising oversight over ‘serious matters’…

“…only two reporters attended the Public Accounts Committee press conference in May, and Legco has yet to convene a Committee of Inquiry meeting in the current term,” he said.

“The monitoring role of Legco has been distorted, and its very purpose has been repeatedly questioned.”

To address this, Tse suggested strengthening Legco’s monitoring function, which could “restore public support and trust in Legco and the government.”

Surely the whole purpose of an opposition-free legislature is to support the government and not have democratically elected troublemakers highlighting problems?

But if they want to stir things up, maybe the all-patriots could get some inspiration from the HK Outdoors blog’s view of the government’s plans for a South Lantau Eco-Recreation Corridor…

The planned project [basket of projects] is “eco” in name only, using eco for greenwashing rather than being of any substance.

Zero plans for any enhancements to the natural environment/biodiversity of south Lantau; instead, only projects that will damage the environment to varying degrees.

Kind of shocking, really, this can emerge from the “Sustainable Lantau Office”, which has been operating for several years now. 

…Chairlift, visitor centre with catering, boardwalks, education centres etc – There isn’t a shred of originality here! Just lazily cobbling together a bunch of ideas that are applied elsewhere, with no real thoughts or insights about Lantau itself; nothing even suggesting the consultants have taken part in any activities whatsoever, experienced issues like taking buses back to Tung Chung on busy days.

Credit where it’s due…

Cheung Sha Hillside Adventure – There is almost a good idea here, but only almost. 

Some weekend reading and viewing…

Marketwatch looks at the anti-Kamala Harris (and pro-Trump) content coming out on Chinese social media…

…with many spreading long-debunked rumors about her past romantic relationships…

And disapproval from state media…

[One] said, “Harris has not achieved any political achievements worth mentioning in the more than three years since she became vice president, her governing ability is limited, and she often laughs for no reason.” 

Perhaps the problem is that Harris is not in the pocket of Vladimir Putin and can’t be bought off by Beijing.

A pretty hefty (17-minute) trailer for TV series Zero Day – about a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, starting with a blockade.

As a clever touch, the trailer was released at the same time as an official annual air-raid drill.

RFA says…

People are shown trying to leave the island, amid a run on banks, the hasty evacuation of foreign citizens, young men pledging to defend Taiwan and infiltration by Beijing collaborators.

“The trailer reveals a very realistic description of a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, also China’s use of cognitive warfare and the incitement of internal unrest,” said Taiwan security expert Shen Ming-shih.

It does look pretty harrowing. It will be interesting to see how it impacts Taiwanese public opinion, and whether Chinese officials or state media respond.

While we’re at it – another (lighter and shorter) video from Taiwan incorporating a maritime theme.

The Committee for Freedom in HK report on Hong Kong companies helping Russian, North Korean and Iranian entities avoid sanctions is here. A synopsis from author Samuel Bickett…

Some of our most significant findings:

• Hong Kong’s exports of advanced tech to Russia surged after the invasion of Ukraine, with $750 million of shipments in Dec 2023–nearly 40% of the total–consisting of items on a US/EU list of the most essential components for Russia’s military systems.

• Hong Kong companies have long supported North Korea’s illicit shipping operations, facilitating ship-to-ship transfers and the creation of fraudulent ship identities to evade international sanctions.

• Hong Kong companies have facilitated the transfer of advanced drone and missile technology to Iran, which has been used to support military efforts in the Middle East and beyond, and facilitated the illicit sale of Iranian oil via ship-to-ship transfers at sea.

In the report, we call out by name companies and individuals who appear to be participating in these activities, using information found via Russian customs records collected by global security nonprofit C4ADS, Hong Kong corporate records, vessel tracking data, leaked Iranian emails, and other materials.

Story in tech publication the Register, saying ‘government doesn’t seem to mind’. And in Tradewinds…

Hong Kong has become vital to Russia’s efforts to evade sanctions by providing a “safe haven” for blacklisted shipowners to operate beyond the reach of Western regulators, according to a report.

…China does not recognise unilateral sanctions and the region’s chief executive, John Lee, said in October 2022 that Hong Kong would not enforce global sanctions against Moscow.

The comments gave the green light to “illicit operators to set up shop in the city”, said the report by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.

“Many have done so, from Russian tanker owners to Iranian exporters of drone technology.”

The report also covers Hong Kong’s role as an operational hub for shipping goods to and from other sanctioned nations, Iran and North Korea.

The report urges Western regulators to blacklist Hong Kong and Chinese banks along with logistics firms, insurers and corporate registry services.

No official response as yet. It will need more than the usual boilerplate.

Calling for sanctions counts as ‘conspiracy to collude with foreign forces’ under Hong Kong’s NatSec Law. Which brings us to Jimmy Lai, who is being tried for urging overseas politicians and governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong individuals such as government officials. His lawyers are arguing that there is no case to answer…

[Senior Counsel Robert] Pang said: “There may be some evidence of agreement to publish certain articles… to work with some organisations, but there is no evidence after the NSL was promulgated.”

From the Standard…

[Pang] said in a half-time submission that the prosecution’s description of the now-defunct Apple Daily as Lai’s political platform was “weird,” as it was a newspaper that exercised the watchdog role of the fourth estate in criticizing the government and publishing commentaries from different perspectives.

Pang said press freedom and freedom of speech are protected by the Basic Law and Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance.

…Pang conceded that Lai had requested sanctions before the law was implemented but insisted he stopped doing so upon realizing it could constitute a criminal offense with the law’s enactment.

Instead, Lai only expressed his views in articles and talk shows.

Regarding the conspiracy charge, Pang said it has to involve unlawful conduct or means, and without the “unlawful” element, the “conspiracy” would only amount to an agreement.

Lai, he said, might have reached agreements with some people, but they were made legally before the implementation of the law.

This is a NatSec court. They have a 100% conviction rate, apart from two acquittals in the HK47 case – which the government is appealing.

Following the WSJ’s firing of Selina Cheng, China Media Project looks at how most international and local media in Hong Kong dissuade employees from campaigning for press freedom…

In other parts of the world, getting elected to lead one’s local press group is a cause of celebration — a sign that a journalist has become a pillar of the professional community, esteemed and trusted by their colleagues. But for Selina Cheng, it was a cause for concern. The day after she was chosen by members of the Hong Kong Journalists Association to be their next chairperson, she told the China Media Project she was surprised not to have been immediately fired by her employer, the Wall Street Journal. When senior editors learned about her plan to stand on the eve of the election, her supervisor at the WSJ’s international desk in London told her to withdraw and quit the HKJA’s executive committee, where she had already served for three years.

Put bluntly, if a commercial enterprise wants to operate in today’s Hong Kong, it can’t oppose or contradict the authorities. HSBC or Manulife refuse emigres access to their MPF funds. Corporations will put their names onto joint public statements welcoming national security laws. Chambers of Commerce tiptoe around sensitive subjects like rule of law. They have shareholders’ (and they would argue employees’ and customers’) interests to protect. It’s either that, or leave.

The Guardian, of course, moved its correspondent to Taipei – and has found plenty of things worthy of coverage there. Following yesterday’s Reg-vs-democracy thing, an article on how Taiwan’s government gained voters’ trust…

In 2014, the Taiwanese government’s approval rating was less than 10%. Anything it suggested was automatically distrusted. Then, an uprising prompted a chain of events that would transform it into one of the most trusted democratic governments in the world.

On 18 March 2014, a coalition of students and civil society groups occupied the parliament, protesting against a proposed trade deal with Beijing that was being fast-tracked without scrutiny. The protesters included civic hackers using technology to promote transparency in government and experiment in digital democracy. During the weeks of the occupation, they demonstrated a different way of operating – through listening and building consensus, rather than directing and opposing.

After the protest something extraordinary happened. The government invited the protesters in – some became mentors to ministers, others were appointed as participation officers championing involvement in government departments, and a new team – the Public Digital Innovation Space – was established. One of the hackers, Audrey Tang, went from occupier to digital minister.

Hong Kong’s number-one glutton for punishment does an interview with a not-very-sympathetic London Times. It’s paywalled, but I’m going to force you to see the worst bits anyway…

Regina Ip, convenor of the executive council, Hong Kong’s de facto cabinet, said democracy had failed in the territory and was alien to “Chinese tradition”. She spoke during the trials of democracy campaigners who have been prosecuted under national ­security laws that have criminalised many peaceful expressions of political opposition.

…“Your model, the western model … you have to have competition, you have to have pluralism, you have to have ­diversity. That’s never the Chinese concept. That’s never part of the Chinese tradition.”

First, democracy never ‘failed’ in Hong Kong – because it never existed. Beijing vetoed any moves to self-rule during colonial times. It then hand-picked every post-1997 Chief Executive, while the legislature was packed with an unrepresentative majority of pro-Beijing lawmakers. These leaderships’ inability to meet public expectations led to the discontent that ultimately came to a head in 2019.

Second, to say that democracy is alien to the ‘Chinese tradition’ is simply to point out that ever since the overthrow of its Manchu rulers in 1911, China has been run by dictators, regardless of what the population might have wanted. It is not a cultural preference or lifestyle choice. If Reg is hinting that Confucian societies are unsuited or unfit for representative government, she should ask the people of South Korea and Taiwan if they want to go back to the pre-1990s police-state days.

(We could also add that, according to the official line, Hong Kong’s new all-patriots system is ‘more democratic’ than its predecessor.)

Her apparent hostility to competition/pluralism is bewildering. How else can good policy be decided except through debate about different ideas? If Reg is saying that competition should take place only among an elite, behind closed doors, that reduces the population to sheep with no control over their lives. Is she saying that’s their ideal function? That any who speak up should be jailed for ‘subverting state power’?

“People don’t vote for the common good,” Ip told The Times, in her office in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council ­(LegCo), a parliament from which all opponents of the government are excluded. “People vote for whatever serves their interests. Just following the popular will is dangerous.”

This is a dumb argument, much beloved of Hong Kong establishment ‘elites’ like property tycoons, who have never considered anyone’s interests except their own. When the UK was expanding the franchise beyond the wealthy in the 19th Century, Lord Acton, of ‘power corrupts’ fame, said: ‘The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern.’ In other words, there is no noble caste of unelected wise and impartial men who will decree what’s best for everyone else; only by letting everyone vote can you get a government that serves the overall good. (Usual disclaimers about messy processes, safeguards against ‘tyranny of the majority’, that Churchill quote, etc).

It is not a coincidence that the richest societies in the world are nearly all democracies. Even if democracy is an effect rather than cause of wealth, it doesn’t help the Reg argument.

And if people vote only for their own interests, look at the US, where a shocking number of gullible people will vote for tax cuts for billionaires provided you wrap that policy in a load of hogwash about guns, Jesus, abortion, ‘woke’ and thinly-veiled racism.

Ip indicated that there would be no return by those she dismissed as “directly elected rabble-rousers … the long hair and mad dog of our council”.

She added: “You cannot have a one-size-fits-all model, and our experiment with democracy failed in the past 20 years. It’s in China’s constitution that they are a one-party state. We were never asked to support the CCP. But as the ruling party, it’s a … political reality that you have to accept and support the CCP.

OK, whatever!

Brief videos by political scientist and ‘compulsive talker’ Huey Li on the superiority of China’s system, here, here and here. (Whole thread of them.)

Another interview: RFA with former US Consul General in Hong Kong Hanscom Smith…

Everyone was taken by surprise at the scope and vehemence of the protest movement. The Hong Kong government, and, I believe, Beijing [and] also Washington. No one knew that this was going to happen. It became clear that Hong Kongers were very frustrated. And I don’t think that you can necessarily paint the protest movement with a single brush. It was not, in my experience, an organized movement with a single leader…

…It’s an interesting question, the extent to which Beijing believed its [own] propaganda that in fact the protests were orchestrated by the United States. I believe that there are probably some senior people in Beijing who do believe that, and acted accordingly, because you’ve seen this since 2020, this rhetorical obsession with national security and this idea of instilling “stability” in Hong Kong, and an emphasis on “patriots governing Hong Kong.” I think there are probably other people certainly in Hong Kong and on the mainland who understand the true nature of what was happening in Hong Kong.

Including Reg, no doubt.

Some reading from the weekend…

Bloomberg report on Hong Kong migrants in the UK unable to get their Mandatory Provident Fund savings…

Leo moved to Manchester in 2022 on his BN(O) passport, and in March 2023 started the process of claiming the £50,000 ($65,000) from his HSBC pension account in Hong Kong. The core issue, he said, is that the bank won’t recognize his BN(O) passport as an official document that would allow him to access the cash.

And although he should be able to withdraw the money when he turns 65, he needs the cash now and is concerned about the Hong Kong stock market, which the money is heavily invested in. The Hang Seng Index, which is composed of the largest companies that trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is down more than 39% since a peak in February 2021.

A HSBC spokesperson said it follows the MPFA’s requirements for processing early withdrawals.

“In the case of permanent departure, scheme members are required to provide evidence of the right of abode outside of Hong Kong,” the spokesperson said. “The MPFA has publicly confirmed that a BN(O) passport cannot be used as such evidence.”

The MPF authority and HSBC are implementing a political decision the government made presumably to make life harder for those leaving Hong Kong. (As a sovereign nation, the UK has the right to grant residency to anyone it wants – but Beijing reacted badly to London’s measure for BNO passport holders.) The wider problem here is that the rule sets a precedent. If NatSec Hong Kong can arbitrarily block access to one group’s retirement savings, how can anyone be sure it won’t happen to others? For example, as retaliation against a particular country’s citizens, or to penalize individuals engaging in ‘soft resistance’, or just other emigrants?

Titles pulled from book fair…

The Trade Development Council has reminded exhibitors at the Hong Kong Book Fair to abide by national security laws after the organizer advised the removal of five books by former lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun and veteran journalist Allan Au Ka-lun from shelves.

According to Ng Chi-ching, a representative of publisher Bbluesky, the HKTDC had repeatedly approached the company prior to the start of the seven-day book fair to “remind” it to remove two sensitive books authored by Au and Shiu, despite these books being allowed in last year’s fair.

On Saturday, HKTDC staff insisted that a total of five books be removed, including “The Last Faith,” “Turbulence” and “2047 Nights” by Au, as well as “The Psychology of Imprisonment” and “Words from Within the Prison” by Shiu.

The HKTDC claimed the cited books contained “sensitive” content without specifying the reasons, saying they had received “complaints” about the material.

Only ‘insensitive’ books are allowed!

HKFP op-ed on the government’s longstanding strange hang-up about outdoor dining, despite its obvious popularity among both local people and the ever-so-important tourists…

Years ago, you found them all over the place; Luard Road, for example. A much wider road than traffic required, the Wan Chai thoroughfare was regularly reduced to two lanes by a row of street food stalls on each side.

Over the years they have gradually disappeared. This does not appear to be the result of a lack of custom. Most observers diagnose a classic case of official hostility.

There are numerous possible explanations for the al fresco phobia. One is that officials on principle detest the whole concept of cheap or rent-free space for small businesses. Another (related) one is that they want consumers to dine in buildings owned by landlords, either to look after the tycoons or to prop up land values. A third is that much of the street food – curry squid balls! – is unhealthy and they care about you symbolizes Hong Kong local culture, when the emphasis today must be on Chinese identity. A fourth is that officials want space for private cars to park rather than for the other 90% to use. A fifth is that authentic grassroots nightlife embarrasses the geniuses who dreamed up the dismal fake Night Vibes stuff. 

We could go on and on. But the most likely reason is simply bureaucratic laziness: why organize tiresome hygiene inspections and sanitation, when you can just ban the whole thing?

Still lots of street food in Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea – and the Mainland. 

An SCMP article looks at yet more Hong Kong residents going to Shenzhen on their days off – overseas domestic helpers…

They gathered at 7.30am at the Lo Wu checkpoint and took a two-hour bus ride to the destination, a resort offering natural scenery and amusement rides.

She had a thrilling time walking on a glass bridge, experienced the chill of artificial snow, and had a blast riding a roller coaster and a bumper car. The group returned to Hong Kong at around 8.30pm.

The tour package included a group visa, a lunch meal, a tour guide, a bus ride, insurance and entrance fees, and cost HK$350 (US$45) per person. Candaza said she spent about HK$300 more on street food, snacks and souvenirs.

…The growing interest in exploring the mainland among helpers has boosted the business of travel agencies offering low-fare day trips across the border.

Filipino Rizza Mae Zorilla Zubiaga, a 30-year-old former helper, now works part-time gathering helpers for such tours organised by a travel agency, after she went on the trips herself while working in Hong Kong last year.

She said she had seen more helpers signing up for the tours since the border reopening. She brought about 10 to 20 helpers to join the day trips every Sunday or every other Sunday, with more joining on public holidays.

Also in SCMP – Hongkongers are going to Shenzhen and beyond for quicker and cheaper medical treatment. Some scary stats on waiting times for procedures in Hong Kong public hospitals…

“I make these long, arduous trips across the border to get life-saving medication I cannot afford in Hong Kong,” 59-year-old Liu said.

Single and living alone, she quit her job in social services after she was diagnosed with lung cancer more than two years ago.

Then the cancer spread to her brain. She was told she needed a targeted drug which would cost more than HK$30,000 (US$3,800) a month in Hong Kong.

Unable to afford it, she went to mainland China, where the same medicine cost about 5,000 yuan (US$687) a month, less than a fifth of that in Hong Kong.

…Experts said the trend was largely market-driven, but also reflected the state of Hong Kong’s overwhelmed public medical system, with its notoriously long waiting times, while private care was beyond the reach of most people.

Meanwhile, lawmakers struggling to think up suggestions for the CE’s policy address call for Hong Kong to be a ‘healthcare hub’ for Mainlanders blah blah.

Happening later today Hong Kong time – at the Hudson Institute…

In recent years, the city has emerged as a top sanctions violator, a money laundering hub, and a transshipment center that plays a key role in providing Russia dual-use technology for its war effort. 

Experts will discuss new evidence of how the Chinese Communist Party is using Hong Kong to sow instability and conflict around the world and how the United States can better counter these illicit activities.

Angry press release on the way…

Despite relocating to Taiwan a few months ago, RFA has not forgotten its former base, reporting at some length on the falling number of school children in the city…

Hong Kong is expecting a sharp fall in the number of primary-school-aged children following a mass exodus of middle-class families fleeing a crackdown on political dissent.

The city’s Bureau of Education estimates, based on August 2023 population data from the Census and Statistics Department, that the number of 6-year-olds will fall by 31% from 49,600 in 2024 to 34,100 in 2030.

Many who have left the city did so citing political repression under a draconian security law, along with what they regard as the brainwashing of children in the form of “patriotic” and “national security” classes that are now mandatory from kindergarten to university, as the government encourages people to inform on each other.

…While the population showed a slight uptick following the scrapping of COVID-19 travel curbs, birth rates in the city haven’t caught up, with the number of newborns falling by 38% between 2019 and 2022, according to government data.

…Last month, the Education Bureau sparked a public backlash when it criticized Hong Kong’s schoolchildren for their “weak” singing of China’s national anthem, the “March of the Volunteers,” at flag-raising ceremonies that are now compulsory as part of patriotic “national security” education from kindergarten through to universities.

…Meanwhile, city officials are holding events to encourage praise for ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

The Education Bureau on Monday held an event at Pui Kiu Middle School to mark the first anniversary of the school’s receipt of a letter from Xi.

There’s more to come…

Speaking to reporters after the submission, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), Starry Lee, said it is the right time to put forward patriotic education.

“It is the right time to do so. First of all, our country [has] our own policy and legislation to govern that. Hong Kong, as part of the country, [we are obligated] to do that. We understand…it will further make ‘One Country, Two Systems’ a more effective system for our own country,” she explained.

Another idea from a lawmaker ahead of the CE’s policy address…

Hong Kong should again allow mainland women whose spouses are not permanent residents to give birth in the city with the aim of increasing the population to 10 million in a decade, Election Committee lawmaker Dennis Lam Shun-chiu has suggested.

…”If Hong Kong wants to maintain competitiveness, it needs to formulate a long-term plan to boost the population to 10 million within 10 years so as to promote sustainable economic growth,” he said while pointing out that the mainland’s international financial hubs, Beijing and Shanghai, each have populations of more than 20 million.

How does boosting the population promote sustainable economic growth?

Some weekend reading and viewing…

Video interview with Michael Pettis on the effect of falling property prices in China. “Low real estate prices are better for the economy than high ones. Higher property prices make some richer but others poorer.”

At least it’s not the End Times – the Guardian looks at the growing belief that China is entering a new, trashier, era…

In recent weeks, Chinese chat groups and WeChat feeds have been buzzing with discussion of whether China has entered a period of economic stagnation or regression in which failure is all but inevitable, called a “garbage time of history”.

The sentiment can be summed up by a graphic, widely shared on social media – and since censored on Weibo.

Entitled the “2024 misery ranking grand slam”, it tallies up the number of misery points that a person might have earned in China this year. The first star is unemployment. For two stars, add a mortgage. For a full suite of eight stars, you’ll need the first two, plus debt, childrearing, stock trading, illness, unfinished housing and, finally, hoarding Moutai, a famous brand of baijiu, a sorghum liquor.

(Helpful tip: if you’ve ever drunk Kweichow Moutai – HK$3,000-plus a bottle – and thought it utterly revolting, it’s because it needs to be accompanied by the extremely spicy and sour cuisine of southwestern China. You’re welcome.)

Also in the Guardian – single Chinese women go to Prague to freeze their eggs.

Center for European Policy Analysis piece sees ‘recent purges, disappearances, and mysterious deaths among officials’ as a sign that the CCP’s days are numbered… 

A foreign minister (Qin Gang) disappeared and no one, except Xi and his henchmen, knew if he was dead or alive.  A popular former premier (Li Keqiang) drowned.  His death was uninvestigated and unexplained.  Two ministers of defense (Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu) were purged in late June.  They were both expelled from the CCP; which heralds further punishment down the line.

An estimated 120 high-ranking officials, including military officers, executives of state-owned enterprises, and national leaders, have departed, in one way or another (including commanders of the People’s Liberation Army rocket force, a key element of the military.) These recent arrests mark something new.

It’s true that in the 14 years since he came to power, Xi’s security forces have arrested, sentenced, or executed approximately 2.3 million government officials. But few were of such seniority.

But Qin Gang is recognized as still alive…

Qin Gang, China’s former foreign minister who disappeared from public view more than a year ago, has lost his seat as a member of the elite Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party.

The decision was reviewed during the Politburo meeting held earlier this month and formally endorsed at the four-day meeting of the third plenary session, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday, citing a communique from the meeting.

The wording suggests he is not under criminal investigation.

There continues to be much speculation about the fate of China’s shortest-serving foreign minister, whose disappearance the ministry attributed to “health reasons”.

Can Hong Kong ever devise a publicly funded project – especially of the ‘hub’ variety – that doesn’t end up with a real-estate play? RTHK says…

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority will be allowed to sell residential developments within Zone 2 of the site and keep all proceeds received from tenders to private developers.

This means the development of hotels, offices and residential blocks in the zone will no longer be restricted by the “Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) only” model adopted since 2016.

…”Instead of having a constant stream of income in the many years in future, we are now cashing in for a lump sum upfront, which could help release the financial challenges or the requirement at present.”

The authority will have to meet certain requirements, including a triennial cap on operating deficits and a cap on the percentage of staff costs in relation to the total annual operating expenditure.

The body’s chairman, Henry Tang, said they can now avoid “drastic” cost-cutting measures such as reducing the number of days each week that the M+ museum is open.

The Standard gushes about the ‘exclusive community’ that will take shape amid the cultural treasures.

Does Hong Kong want a showcase or not? If you’ve ever been to the amazing range of museums and galleries on the Mall in Washington DC, or the British Museum, or the Louvre, or even the tiny but horrifying Museum of Parasitology in Tokyo, you will notice that they don’t survive by amputating parts of ‘Zone 2’ of their property for developers to build luxury apartment blocks. If it serves the public good to use taxpayers’ money to keep such facilities running (and we happily fund public schools and libraries), then just do it. Why fetishize ‘not straining the public coffers’?

(And why is Henry Tang the poor schmuck heading this up? The guy should be on display in a museum, not figurehead-running the things.)

In its editorials, the Wall Street Journal comes across as a stern critic of authoritarian regimes and a defender of individual liberty. But in real life, it seems it’s as ready to do a pre-emptive kowtow as any multinational bank or German trade minister. The paper fires Selina Cheng for taking part in the election for chair of the HK Journalists Association. 

A statement from her is here. According to Xinqi Su, WSJ sees a conflict of interest if an employee is promoting press freedom in her personal life while potentially writing about press freedom in her professional one. OK – so you can sort of see the point, though it’s close to saying a reporter can’t write about breathing or eating if she breathes or eats. We couldn’t think of a better argument.

The obvious context: the HKJA has recently been denounced by Hong Kong officials and Beijing’s Global Times.

Chief Executive John Lee wants young people to stick to private-sector homes…

Hong Kong’s leader has called on young people not to waste “potential and opportunities” by “deliberately” depressing their income below the limit allowed to apply for public housing.

Speaking to reporters ahead of his weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, … Lee said he had heard of some people ensuring that their earnings remained below the monthly income limit in an effort to be allocated a government-subsidised unit.

…The chief executive urged young people to work towards their aspirations and to reconsider settling for public housing. “If you give up on your dreams simply because of a public housing unit, I believe that would be regrettable,” he said.

It’s not regrettable at all. The amount of wealth you can accumulate over the years by not paying private-sector rental or mortgage payments makes applying for a public flat an entirely rational move. 

If you want public housing reserved for the genuinely poor, you need private housing that is affordable to the rest. Instead, Hong Kong administrations even now work to keep land – thus private-sector homes – expensive. (Indeed, they’ve distorted the market so much that some newer private-sector apartments are, if anything, smaller than the public ones.)

One (implicit) reason officials are squeamish about evicting relatively well-off tenants from public housing is that it would mean financially semi-ruining them. A family on around HK$40,000 a month – roughly 50% above median household income – could see rent multiply from, say, 10% to 50% of their income. 

(Hate to ask, but, as someone who spent most of his working life as a cop, has John Lee ever paid market rates for housing?)

On the subject of household incomes – some people’s are going to take a hit…

Some of China’s largest state-backed financial firms are asking employees in Hong Kong to return a portion of their pay, extending President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” campaign to the offshore business hub.

Some Hong Kong-based executives and even former employees at China Everbright Group and China Huarong International Holdings have been asked to pay back part of their past bonus in recent months…

The clawback amounts to less than 10 percent of bonuses at China Everbright, the main Hong Kong-listed arm of Everbright Group … after the central government inspected its local operations.

It is unclear how many employees will be impacted by the policy and how far it will extend below the executive ranks.

The development marks an escalation of austerity efforts at state-owned financial conglomerates, which have so far mainly limited pay for mainland-based employees.

Chinese bankers have come under increasing pressure in recent years as the Communist Party tightened its grip on the US$66 trillion (HK$514.8 trillion) financial sector, where high pay has also drawn public criticism.

Xi’s signature drive has sent shock waves through China’s financial industry since it was rolled out in 2021.

Won’t ‘even former employees’ be entitled to tell their old company in no uncertain terms to drop dead?

HK47 mitigation hearings will be suspended for a month or so, for reasons that are unclear. Something else for yesterday’s ‘fact sheets’ to explain.

Following a regular UN review of Hong Kong, all-patriots lawmakers vie with one another to think up ways the city’s ‘civil force’ – business folk and (no doubt publicly subsidized) sports and cultural figures – can counter foreign criticism of Hong Kong’s human rights situation…

Holden Chow said [Chief Secretary Eric] Chan had “relentlessly rebutted the smearing” from the West, while Priscilla Leung hailed Chan’s rebuttal as “pulling no punches.”

…“Foreign powers have long weaponised and politicised human rights to gain advantage over bilateral works with [China] and [Hong Kong],” Ma Fung-kwok said in Cantonese.

“It is a form of international struggle. While the UN makes a platform for officials, it’s more important that the civil force knows what to do” when faced with foreign criticism, he added.

…Junius Ho, who spoke during a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in March, said more NGOs in the city should apply for a status that would allow them to participate in UN hearings.

…Nixie Lam suggested the government organise mock UN hearings for young people dedicated to international lobbying, while Carmen Kan asked Chan to prepare fact sheets about the city’s security for members of business sector.

They said that could better equip residents to be able to “tell a good Hong Kong story” – referring to the government’s bid to shape a positive image of the city internationally.

Reflecting the official stance, the legislators’ assumption is that better communication can somehow ‘correct’ overseas perceptions of what is happening. No-one dares suggest that rounding up and jailing pan-dems or arresting people for wearing T-shirts is abnormal and not compatible with an international reputation as a free society.

Nor does anyone want to warn of the danger that Hong Kong’s businessmen and athletes could become pitied around the world as fact-sheet-wielding bores.

Regina in LegCo quizzing officials on their reluctance to change the taxi licensing system and enable ride-hailing services to operate legally. How, she asks, can the authorities still allow speculators to hold and trade the colonial-era permits for perpetuity?

Some might be puzzled that Reg is displaying a slightly maverick view. She does occasionally have one – such as support for gay rights. And, judging from some other lawmakers’ comments, it’s not unpatriotic, seditious or whatever to criticize the official (and wishy-washy) line on this particular issue. Public opinion clearly welcomes ride-hailing services. 

So she is not proclaiming herself an authentic radical and woman of the people here. Nor is she ‘jeopardizing’ her chances of ever getting to be CE. Leaving her age (73) aside, neither the office of CE nor the sort of people Beijing will pick, are what they were – and she must know that. I would guess she clings on to legislative and other positions out of self-regard more than anything else. 

But we can surmise something quite specific about her. And that is that the extended Ip – or at least Lau – clan are not among those establishment families that invested in the 18,100 taxi licenses back in the old days. Those people, who have probably never touched a Toyota steering wheel in their lives, are classic rent-seekers enjoying yields perhaps comparable to those of long-term landlords sitting on multiple small properties bought decades ago. 

Unlike apartments, new permits for public vehicles could be created overnight by the thousands. And that would happen, in effect, if and when Uber etc are legalized. Which might be why the bureaucrats are so desperate not to make a decision, because some – perhaps well-connected – investors are then certain to see a sharp fall in asset value and income. (The income comes from the drivers who rent the vehicles, typically on a per-half-day basis. No-one in this saga gives a damn about them.) 

The officials’ big idea is to allow existing cab owners to combine and form branded ‘taxi fleets’ that would accept online booking. Net result: some current red/green taxis become cosplay ride-hailing services. Uber etc remain at best in a legal gray zone. RTHK adds…

Transport minister Lam Sai-hung said on Sunday …the administration’s study does not take the price of taxi licences into consideration, adding that officials have the overall public interest in mind…

For those of us fortunate enough to be able to huddle up next to an air-conditioner all day – HKFP talks to people working outdoors in Hong Kong’s recent heat.