Happy hundredth to the NatSec Law!
An on-the-spot report of the bail proceedings for the pan-dem 47, giving a taste of the idiocy of it all. It prompts the question: why is Beijing going to such bizarre – and probably counterproductive – lengths to quell disquiet in Hong Kong? Even allowing for the CCP’s usual paranoia? Why have they decided to cut through all that 1 country 2 Systems/Basic Law stuff and just seize direct control?
Joseph Lian in the (maybe paywalled) NYT thinks it’s because Xi is angling to remain in power beyond the usual two terms. He needs some Big Victories to justify it, and yet he is surrounded by problems – from Belt-and-Road, to Taiwan, to rivalry with the US. A decisive crushing of Hong Kong’s ‘threat to national security’ opposition movement fits the bill perfectly.
This would account for the timing of the charges against the 47 pan-dems (the proceedings look rushed as well as rigged), just ahead of the two meetings in Beijing. The idea would be to make it look like Xi has faced down a mortal threat, and is emerging triumphant. Give the guy a third term!
Carl Minzner on the Xi personality cult being nurtured in official publications…
In these articles, Xi is the focus. He is the one that is making things happen. It isn’t about the Party. It isn’t about institutions. It isn’t about other leaders. It’s about him.
The fate of Hong Kong now can only be permanent, tighter CCP control. Mainland think-tank guy Tian Feilong on Beijing’s plans to reshape – indeed, replace – its Hong Kong ruling class. Less space for hangers-on and ‘rubber stamps and loyal garbage’. Those who live by the shoe-shine die by the shoe-shine. But watch them grovel and beg for another kick in the teeth as the CCP shoves them to one side.
From Hong Kong Watch, a big and well-researched report ‘Red Capital’ on how Beijing has been gradually expanding its influence in Hong Kong’s economy. Just read it.
Schutzhaft
Just a week or two ago I did in fact explain the value to the CCP of ‘useful’ enemies or threats (see above). It applies to all individuals and organizations that want to hold on to the levers of control, but feel deeply threatened. My thesis is that if you lay low for long enough the people in power will switch their attentions to things closer to home, and as a consequence start beating themselves up. The acknowledged drawback is that it requires a long game. However, in reality it is the only feasible option.
You Lot should be more open to some of the ideas I toss out. You may regard me as ‘cock cheese’, but the fact is that your side ain’t doing at all well. In football parlance, you’ve just about been booted off the park. It stems from having too much emotion. Lots of huffing and puffing, and claims that you are going to blow some houses down.
Just a stab in the dark, but I bet think tank guy Tian Feilong drops a LOT of cash monthly on streaming girls…
https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007490989/love-factory.html?smid=url-share
Beijing still thinks that its problem was that its lackeys were too lazy, incompetent, or insufficiently loyal. They want only the highest quality lackeys.
Of course there shall be zero lessons learned about running a system only attracts top value talent if it is the only game in town. What is this, a Disney movie?
What is this, a Disney movie?
More like a Hammer House of Horror
Do any of you people actually read a Reactor 4 post? Whenever I see that name I get a Yonden Achoo! reaction and I scroll right down to the next item.
Given this evening’s events, particularly from our highly esteemed and famously prepared and impartial Department of Justice, is reference to Kafka or Orwell more apt?
Just got me Xi Jinping “The Governance of China”, Volume II. After about half an hour flicking through I have read enough, and henceforth it will now be a conversation piece decorating my coffee table. Same blah blah and pseudo scientific drivel what I used to read as a student activist in the seventies from the Helmsman predecessor. What a Great Leap Backwards!
CY interview : “Many friends in Hong Kong, including some from the opposition camp, say they love Hong Kong very much… How did the Hong Kong they love so much come into existence? It exists under the People’s Republic of China, which is being ruled by the Chinese Communist Party.
The Hong Kong that we love so much, including our way of life and the capitalist system………………………………….was designed by the Chinese Communist Party.”
So 1842 to 1997 to be airbrushed from the local annals.
The post at the top seems right. Emperor Xi is desperate to remain in power and he needs something to distract from all his recent failings (garterbelt and road, Wuhan virus, etc.).
@Mary: CY thinks that his record has been vindicated by the disastrous reign of Carrie Lam and is hoping that they’ll make him CE again.
Looks like he and Regina are competing to impress Beijing with most obnoxiously jingoistic displays they can muster.
Marky Jones: I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job of late not feeding the troll. Let’s keep it that way.
And to answer your question: No.