…in a couple of days. First trip away from Hong Kong since December 2019. Hopefully, I am not going to get the same result as: Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Professor Sun Dong (the latest); Police Commissioner Raymond Siu; Head of Immigration Au Ka-wang; Commerce Secretary Algernon Yau; and Deputy Chief Secretary of Administration Warner Cheuk – plus any other government officials I’ve missed.
What are they all up to? Did they sneak through the barrier tape into a country park barbecue pit? Does this mean the Hong Kong government is a ‘cluster’? Should it be sealed off and shut down, or put in an isolation camp?
This week’s NatSec horrors, courtesy of HK Free Press…
Chow Pak-kwan is found guilty of (take a deep breath), obstructing a police officer and attempting to escape from legal custody in November 2019. (Video of incident here.) A judge tells Chow Hang-tung she will get a fair trial – ie, be able to defend herself – even though prosecutors refuse to disclose full details of the ‘foreign forces’ she was allegedly colluding with. And journalist Bao Choy appeals against her conviction for making false statements to obtain vehicle registration data regarding the July 2019 Yuen Long MTR station attack.
Speaking of which, some sensible points about the Hong Kong parliament-in-exile.
The fate of Hong Kong’s ‘secrets’ Facebook pages.
The Guardian on China’s property mess…
…just as it has become impossible for President Xi Jinping to U-turn on the mass lockdowns that have stunted economic activity, it also appears increasingly unlikely that he and his politburo will reverse the crackdown on reckless lending in the property market that has led to a 40% fall in the sale of homes this year.
I’ll be going to South Korea. Guess it’s a once-every-quarter-century kind of place: a quick flick through old passports reveals that I was last there in November 1998, when Kimpo was still the main airport, the parks were full of guys in suits who hadn’t told their families they’d lost their jobs owing to the Asian financial crisis, and half the cast of Extraordinary Attorney Woo probably hadn’t been born.
The futility of all this RAT testing is apparent in the infection rate at Tamar.
And perhaps the bugs in the plumbing system that resulted in Michael Suen ending up in hospital with legionaries a decade ago are still lurking in the private loos?
I know a family of three, all vaccinated, who tested positive for Covid during June. Like all sensible people, they did not report it to the authorities. They stayed home.
For four days, each of them experienced mild fatigue, headache & generalised muscle pain, and then the flu was gone.
For that the Hong Kong authorities have destroyed normal life and ruined the economy whilst their inflated paycheques flowed on without interruption.
To call them horses’ asses is an insult to horses.
I am loving that show, thanks for calling it out. And of course massively appreciate the insight on HK.
the HK government is a ‘clusterfsck’ more like
Is there an outbreak of COVID within the senior government officials due to them all licking the same a*$* ?
all licking the same arses
Just takes one to pick up a dose of monkeypox…
O/T but an interesting change in language by the GIS (0r whatever they now call themselves) re the popo
The Force commends outstanding bank staff for helping police combat scams (with photos)
And in a ‘good news’ story, DAB apparatchiks are to fan out across the region to clarify any “misunderstandings” people in the real world may have about the city. [RTHK’s quote marks]
Could it be the DAB’s own initiative? Maybe Starry herself, in her curious belief that ASEAN is a (single) market.
It’s going to be interesting to find out what happens when reality answers back.
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1664931-20220831.htm
@Eggs & Ham – perhaps the DAB shares the government’s persistent delusion that anyone who disagrees with them just needs to have things “explained” better. It never seems to occur to them that we already understand their viewpoint perfectly well – we just don’t like it.
“the international media has not properly reported the whole situation, in particular what really happened in 2019”. They can take along the revised school books.
In view of the lack of charisma and poor language and communication skills of the party the local National Front wallahs at the targeted locations are going to have to work OT to drum up an audience.
Does anyone else wonder if Hemlock has been warned off?
@Eggs n Ham
And by “misunderstandings” we mean “clear grasp of the depressing new reality”…
Does anyone else wonder if Hemlock has been warned off?
Well, someone is acting as moderator.
@ Sam Clemens–
I’ve been stewing over this for days, but I have to say that your Covid comments are dangerously misinformed. It’s true that for many–most–people the symptoms and follow-on effects are mild, negligible even. But your anecdotal non-evidence proves nothing.
For some people, Covid is very dangerous indeed. It has killed 6.5 million people worldwide so far, and has debilitated many more in ways that are frightening and life-changing. Also, the social pressure to “get back to normal” makes life a lot more risky for people with comorbidities who are disproportionately likely to suffer the worst effects of a Covid infection. (Full disclosure: I am in that group. I have not eaten in a restaurant since early 2020, and I don’t think I’ll ever fly again.)
It’s possible and necessary to draw a distinction between the Hong Kong government’s idiotic mishandling of the pandemic (as dictated by the CCP’s illogical rigidity) and the need to take precautions against the quite legitimate dangers of this illness. A number of countries have developed rational middle ground strategies for coping with Covid while managing, with necessary adaptations, to resume something approaching “normal” life. Regrettably, Hong Kong is not one of those places, and I’m stranded these days in the US, where the current policy is a radical experiment in libertarian health care. You’re on your own, folks, full stop. Thank you, Dr. Ayn Rand.
So yeah, I’m bitter. And angry. Because it didn’t have to play out this way.
@steve
I understand your point of view.
The Great Barrington Declaration advocated a science-based policy of Focused Protection in October 2020, before vaccines were available. It has yet to be refuted.
https://gbdeclaration.org/