Riveting live action from Sunday’s improved Election Committee ‘election’, with a whole 4,000-odd voters. Some of them had to wait more than an hour to cast their vote, and counting the ballots somehow took 13 hours. An HKFP op-ed on Hong Kong’s new political era (‘non-political’ might be a better term).
Most media continue to say ‘the oh-so powerful EC will elect/choose 40 LegCo members and the next Chief Executive’. At the very least, shouldn’t they say this is ‘the official definition of its function’ – or just use the trusted phrase ‘rubber-stamp’? Why do editors present the official fiction as fact?
The latest NatSec police round-up is of Student Politicism members on suspicion of ‘conspiracy to incite subversion’. The cops carry off big boxes of M&M chocolate, wet wipes and panty liners (prisons-compliant supplies for inmates) as evidence.
The CTU, being smeared by Beijing-run press as an agent of foreign forces, begins to disband. Hong Kong local officials suddenly find the body plays a role in employee training and must now hurry to make alternative arrangements. Several minor unions are also dissolving themselves before the NatSec police come to round them up. Hong Kong Journalists Association next.
Holmes Chan at Vice reports on the ‘surreal trial’ of Tong Ying-kit, complete with scoop-of-the-month quotes from a judge…
[Tong] didn’t do much of anything—he didn’t commit murder or arson,” the judge said wryly. “He is the most benevolent terrorist in the world.”
…the judge said that, before Tong, they had never heard of jury-less criminal trials at the High Court. It was standard to have a jury even in cases involving triad bosses or violent sociopaths. If the government wanted to protect jurors, the judge said, “There must be some other way apart from abolishing the whole system.”
At Hong Kong U, academics say…
…they are more cautious about what they say in class, afraid that their own students could report them to authorities
…rumors circulate among professors and students that a student who got a grade they didn’t like reported their lecturer to the National Security Hotline, set up so the public can inform authorities about breaches of the national security law, according to two lecturers.
Such fears are also affecting primary and secondary schools, though so-called officials deny it…
“The allegation by the so-called departing teachers is totally biased and unfounded on evidence,” the Education Bureau said in a statement to Reuters.
Charles Mok on how the overdue updating of Hong Kong’s privacy laws has morphed into (politically motivated) restrictions on doxxing…
The government may only want to weaponize the privacy law to arm itself with yet another tool against expression of dissent, rather than genuinely protecting people’s privacy…
The chilling effects will be immense, leading to even more self-censorship and further erosion of Hong Kong’s freedom of expression. It will not only be another brick in the territory’s new great firewall of internet censorship, but also leave Hong Kong’s privacy protection regime further behind the rest of the world.
A non-pro-Beijing column sneaks into the SCMP: getting a taste of life under Communism, where everything is about ‘patriotism’…
The more accurate reading is that a patriot is someone who accepts Communist Party rule of Hong Kong and will unquestionably do as they are told. That’s a tall order for people trained as academics or journalists among professions whose job it is to research, analyse, strive for accuracy and point out what’s good and bad.
Juxtaposition of the day: a 2017 quote from Anne Stevenson-Yang about Evergrande – ‘biggest pyramid scheme ever’ and a 2017 quote from Morgan Stanley on why Evergrande’s use of leverage is ‘a positive’. In a similar vein, the Asia’s Best Companies awards picked up by Sinic Holdings earlier this year. That’s the one that fell 87% yesterday.
An essential holiday culinary tip from the SCMP: how you can make mooncakes at home.
Wondering which judge went off the reservation. The ironically humorous quote about the “most benevolent terrorist in the world” would lead me to guess Bokhary.
Evergrand; Patrick Boyle update fir anyone interested.
https://youtu.be/wXCpis_Mlwk
A Bloomberg view: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-09-20/are-hong-kong-s-property-tycoons-next-in-china-s-crackdown
The Blue Ribbon, Pro Establishment, Pro Beijing genii are going to be amazed they are on ‘The List’ too
The saddest realisation for me is that when people like Charles Mok, who do have a slightly effective voice in things, start spinning out overly simplified truths, we are actually getting further away from the real issue.
It’s not JUST that we are eroding under the pressure of a Leninist system. It’s like we are being taught and agreeing to learn how to be coerced into accepting a completely delusional, and fake, form of governance. The fact that Mok abets it by trying to convince us that the real erosion is freedom of expression is giving truth to the lie. He himself can’t see the real issue.
Hong Kong is losing its culture of freedom of expression.
No, Hong Kong is being used as a tool to convince the rest of the world that Leninist anarcho-socialist anti-capitalism will be the wave of the future.
China is coming for all of your systems. They want to eliminate anything that is natural, real, human and organic.
Their system cannot exist wherever there are naturally cynical and freedom-loving people. So they have to eliminate every aspect that nurtures it. Mok should just say that. But he wants to live, I guess.
The ‘patriotic’ barrow boy from Montreal has been elected (uncontested). If you need another excuse, then this one will do.
BOYCOTT LAN KWAI FONG
Given that anyone who’s anyone must be a patriot first (see above definition) then whatever else second, it is logical to conclude that it will soon no longer necessary to have academic or professional qualifications? Provided one is sufficiently patriotic, this will offset any deficit in terms of education, experience or ability. That won’t make much difference to the civil service/disciplined services, but it will be interesting to see how the new cohort of ill-educated, inexperienced and unqualified professionals, e.g. doctors, will utilise patriotic zeal in lieu of ability, e.g. when it comes to treating their patients … Are we, perhaps, on the cusp of a “great leap forwards” for Xianggang?
@Load Toad
Once again, fascinating analysis. I highly recommend that people take a look at this video. Prof Boyle has a refreshingly sardonic BS-free style which readers of this august organ will no doubt enjoy.
As he mentions. many of China’s middle classes might be getting a bit edgy at the moment:
“You put your life savings in a bank [Evergrande’s “wealth creation” division] and you don’t really want to be offered a parking garage in a ghost city in exchange”.
Editors have long since abandoned any pretence of fact checking, hence the equal airtime given to the likes of Trump, Brexiteers, and climate crisis deniers in the interests of “fairness”. Taking Stinky Ping at his word us the logical next step, leading to headlines outlining the communists’ hurt feelings over Pacific defence pacts instead of the reality of the free world rejoicing at a poke in Stinky’s eye. They even try to stoke up fear of war when in any real conflict the so called PLA would collapse faster than their stolen tech.
‘…so-called departing teachers’. Wot?
@Pope Innocent: Wishful thinking. Remember, the PLA still has the final go-to: Many, many bodies to throw into a fray.
Update from Prof Boyle
https://youtu.be/0FCRReOtLc0
This is not WWII. Bodies count for nothing, especially bodies which have to get across to Taiwan in the first place. That is if they don’t first balk at being asked to actually risk their lives in a fight rather than shooting at their own unarmed civilians.
@Chinese Netizen and Pope Innocent – Taiwan has one advantage over the PLA. China has to secure total victory over the Taiwanese defence forces for their invasion to succeed. Taiwan doesn’t need to crush China’s forces completely, only make the attack too costly for them.
“ @Pope Innocent: Wishful thinking. Remember, the PLA still has the final go-to: Many, many bodies to throw into a fray.”
No to mention nukes and a reliable delivery system.
And then, regarding an invasion of Taiwan and any other costly military adventure the CCP enter into, there is the question of all those ‘only child’ men and women of the PLA. One has to wonder what the effect of that might be on the home front, if any.
It ain’t just nukes and delivery. It’s deterrence.
Wanna know how many nuclear subs are just sitting off mainland China with nuclear ballistic missiles and even highly effective non nuke ballistic missiles?
Wonder why the Aussies were strong armed into jilting the Frogs in favor of American nuclear subs?
@Pope Innocent: You’re beyond innocent if you think PLA members aren’t brainwashed enough to question orders. Just look at the HKPopo.
Nuclear weapons are a terrible invasion weapon. I do despair at the quality of armchair generals in these comments. It’s all very well if you can’t be bothered to do some basic research before parroting CCP propaganda, but at least apply a minimum of common sense.
“To the extent that the plan is to impose genuine CCP-friendly Leninist-style governance, this must go on until Hong Kong becomes Mainland-without-the-capital-controls.”
How long until Beijing considers it a national security threat for Hong Kong to be without capital controls?
My guess: there won’t be a formal change in Hong Kong’s freedom-of-capital-controls policy.
However, during periods of uncertainty, Beijing have its non-official channels “incentivize”to threaten those in positions of control over capital flows to follow the Mainland’s example in restricting capital flows.
It’s just a matter of time, in my view.