In 2020, the Hong Kong government described Civil Human Rights Front protesters as ‘lawful, peaceful and rational’ and said it would ‘humbly listen’ to their views. Then they suddenly declare the organization all but criminal. For similar reasons, the once-obscure speech therapists’ union is derecognized.
Now Carrie Lam jumps on the People’s Daily warning-to-Law-Society bandwagon, warning that the administration might cut ties…
“Lam said the government has learned in the past 2 years that, without the protection of the NSL, HK could become a bridgehead to harm national security. The government has since realised the true nature of many groups that it was willing to interact with and respected in the past.”
The word ‘learned’ here apparently means ‘we read it in People’s Daily and we have to follow CCP orders, so we must now maintain that this longstanding and respectable professional body is now potentially a threat to the great nation of the PRC’.
Beijing’s press are criticizing one candidate for Law Society elections for an interview she gave with the Norfolk Daily News, while the Secretary for Justice promises ‘Mainland opportunities’ to solicitors if they vote the right way. (Not Norfolk, England; not Norfolk, Virginia; Norfolk Nebraska.)
Despite government assurances that Beijing’s anti-sanctions law could be passed locally and not worry the business community, we ‘learn’ that the measure will be inserted directly into Hong Kong’s Basic Law – so maybe banks are screwed (or the law is purely symbolic).
And the U-turns keep coming. The Hong Kong government issues new Covid/quarantine rules again, causing yet more inconvenience to anyone with the temerity to travel. Here’s a thread on research into the ‘latency’ period for Delta variant of Covid, suggesting that a 14-day quarantine is more than ample.
The government is in a tight spot. It can’t admit that Mainland vaccines are less effective than Western ones (Bell’s palsy, anyone?). It can’t open borders to other countries before the Mainland does, in order to align with Beijing’s zero-infection approach (itself driven by face, such as a patriotic need to prove local vaccines’ worth). Nor can Hong Kong appear different from China these days. It can’t relax social distancing rules as they provide an excuse to ban protests. In any case, the CCP seems inclined to isolate the country from the rest of the world simply to keep evil hostile forces out. Must be agonizing for officials who are traditionally obsessed with cramming the city full of tourists – look on the bright side.
The almost total lack of Mainland grockles is the only bright side to HKG these days.
“Despite government assurances that Beijing’s anti-sanctions law could be passed locally and not worry the business community, we ‘learn’ that the measure will be inserted directly into Hong Kong’s Basic Law – so maybe banks are screwed (or the law is purely symbolic).”
Anti Sanctions Law can be inserted into Annex 3 and still be passed locally: See National Anthem Law. If you recall the National Anthem Law was inserted into Annex 3 and it wasn’t activated right away unlike the NSL which was promulgated; we had to wait for Legco which “localized” the law and removed parts that weren’t compatible with our legal system such as 15 day summary detention with zero due process.
Anyway they didn’t make that mistake again with the NSL, but it’s possible they’re feeling magnanimous since unlike the national anthem law we now have a compliant rubber stamp legislature and this will give banks some breathing room.
Personally I really enjoy seeing the banks squirm so I don’t mind this at all while on the other hand NSL was quite distressing.
1. Are there really hostile forces trying to get into China and destabilise it? I can’t see why anyone would spend the time to try. Let it fall on its own merits.
2. “The government has since realised the true nature of many groups that it was willing to interact with and respected in the past.” So, we are to believe that there is no city / territory security apparatus that would be able to suss this out over three or four decades?
3. Why don’t we hear from Bernard Chan anymore? He was the one in the SCMP acting as a voice of reason, telling anyone who would care to read his column that things in Hong Kong are fine, it’s these stupid. protesters who can’t seem to understand the benefits of Hong Kong’s ties to China, like all the free money they are going to give us!
What happened to him? Was he disappeared?
Meanwhile, in other news, 3 former HKU students union leaders have been arrested under the NSL for promoting terrorism by expressing remorse for the man who killed himself after stabbing a policeman. So I suppose that if I express remorse, or even general concern, for the 3 students, I am in breach of the NSL too? Good job I can show them what I think at the polls…
I think the CE-in-name-only is actually now fully embracing being a total c**t. She had better plan on retiring in the HKCCPSAR or the mainland for the rest of her days. Same goes for the cabinet of flunkies, lackeys and lickspittles.
@ Chinese Netizen
It would make for an interesting purge locally if the current faction of the Mainland CCP was replaced….sorry ‘improved’.
@ Load Toad — “The almost total lack of Mainland grockles is the only bright side to HKG these days.” Yeah, Hong Kong is already so miserable without them. The thought of Hong Kong with security law *and* Mainland tourist hoards is just…
@ Chinese Netizen — Do you wonder too why those positions still exist? As sinecures and/or to “keep up appearances” which look to still be fooling many foreign governments, businesses, etc.?
The Chinese locusts and daai lok lo will never come back. Never is a long time, but 10 years at least. They know they are not welcome anymore, and they know that the shopping experience isn’t really that great anymore (not that cheap and often can get the same elsewhere in China). That means a mega-blow to the hotel and tourism industry and the luxury retail sector. CWB looks like Beirout these days: endless rows of boarded up shop fronts. Even long-time luxury watch and jewelry shops are closing and they are not being replaced. This is not temporary: it’s a paradigm shift to a new reality. Sometimes I love the raw destructive power of unbridled capitalism. Don’t you?
The CCP news outlets don’t even seem to be getting their citation correct. It looks like the interview was with Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer, which is a syndicated column.
@ Joe Blow….when HK is the only city outside the mainland people can visit without quarantines…I think one or two might pop over for some tax free shopping.