The Stand News trial gets slightly meta, as the prosecution raises the case of the NatSec 47 – proceedings taking place in parallel in another court…
[Prosecutor] Ng then asked [ex-editor] Chung what [op-ed contributor Nathan] Law had meant in stating that the case of the 47 “was not about the law” and that “the Chinese Communist Party blatantly abused its power.” The author was also cited as saying that the national security case was a “manipulatable state-level trial.”
(This prosecutor does not appear to have a great sense of irony.)
Chung told the court that the ex-lawmaker saw “the entire case as a political trial manipulated by the Beijing authorities, in the end they just use the Hong Kong court to carry out the suppression of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp.”
…“To always think of the public as irrational or capable of being easily misled, so that the authorities and elites need to censor thoughts and speeches beforehand – is what I will not accept in my heart,” Chung added.
The prosecutor also asked Chung if he agreed that Law’s accusations that the CCP could “hide the sky with one hand” and that the court “worked with the CCP to carry out a state-level trial” would be the most eye-catching parts of the op-ed.
Mandatory outdoor mask-wearing is extended for another two weeks. I had this deranged idea that after the last extension was greeted with mockery, the authorities would finally let go of this symbolic and farcical requirement – if only to belatedly accord with the Chief Executive’s claim two weeks ago in Saudi that Hong Kong had no Covid restrictions. I will now reluctantly concede to skeptics that we are going to be forced to wear these things until at least November. 2025.
On the subject of skeptics – they are recommencing their pub gatherings.
Some weekend reading…
The Guardian on Beijing’s barring of state companies from ‘big four’ audits.
CMP on Beijing’s China International Communication Center – which does friendly co-production with overseas media to ease them gently into telling good China stories.
…“To always think of the public as irrational or capable of being easily misled, so that the authorities and elites need to censor thoughts and speeches beforehand – is what I will not accept in my heart,” Chung added.
Isn’t this the crux of what virtually ALL NatSec prosecutions have been built on so far? The public’s gullible naivete of being misled by no good democrats? (okay, to be fair, you did warn of the prosecutor’s lack of self awareness)
You mean Carolina Reaper, methinks…
No masks by November, 2025? Ever the optimist, Hemlock.
From the linked Standard article:
“… health “experts” say rules on face coverings should only be ditched after the winter influenza peak …”
Which all but suggests masks may be enforced every winter.
And let’s not forget the sinister “Covid-19 viral load detected in sewage” – FFS.
I am surprised that chilli extract isn’t banned as a controlled substance in HK yet.
Also my bet is on the mask mandate being done by Easter when it starts to warm up to fit their dumb “flu season” narrative
What will happen to all the pop-up mask stores? Every fifth shop in my hood sells masks.
@Joe Blow – hence the real reason for the continuous mask mandate extensions; to make sufficient time for the dismantling of the patriotic mask industry and creation of the next artificial government expenditure, in order to keep happy snouts in the trough. Northern Metropolis and Central Waters (CBD 3) will take time to get established.
@Joe Blow
The same thing that most likely happened to the businesses the mask shops replaced: shut due to government zero covid mandates killing their business dead.
@ Mark Bradley
Agree with your forecast “… mask mandate being done by Easter”
Hong Kong Sevens is the last weekend in March 2023 (March 31-April 2). John Lee will have noticed that the Sevens last autumn (November 4-6, 2022) proved impossible to enforce masks in the stadium. He’d rather claim a win of “No Masks in Hong Kong” to help normalise things finally than try and fight it
So Chris Tang and the Choi woman, both govt ministers, can mingle with hundreds of maskless spittle ejecting runners while the rest of us would be booked for violating NS, or sedition, or something, if we let our masks slip while taking a solitary stroll on the waterfront.
Do as we say, not as we do.
Security Secretary Chris Tang proves once again that the government lives on a different planet from the rest of us by claiming that prison visitors are seeking to instil hatred of the government among young protesters in jail. Does he really think they don’t hate the government already?
John Lee will have noticed that the Sevens last autumn (November 4-6, 2022) proved impossible to enforce masks in the stadium.
Indeed, he and the other ex-plod were to the forefront in setting an example by not wearing masks in the stadium. Meanwhile Hard-line Lo continues to invent specious reasons for masking-up.
@Ho Ma Fan
You make a good point but I hear that the “patriotic mask industry” is now hard at work making “Hello Happy Hong Kong” masks to hand out to tourist arrivals.
Anyone catch Dr Mask on the Saturday evening news on telly? He was going on about if we got rid of masks, more people would smoke. He clearly doesn’t get out much – masks aren’t getting in the way of those smoking outside the Hospital Authority facility just across the street from where I live.
Until something is done to put him out of our misery, he’s just gonna keep coming up for reasons to keep the mask mandate.
Make that “..coming up WITH reasons to keep the mask mandate.”
Simply thinking of Dr Mask winds me up so much my brain pops out of gear. Who would’ve thought there could be anyone worse than Nurse Chan? Oh, sorry – I forgot: not only is each CE worse than the last… the CE’s choice of muppets further scrapes the bottom of the Kai Tak nullah.
@Low Profile: Translation – prison visitors keep political prisoners’ morale up so that we are unable to break them mentally and it is pissing us off.
Also it pisses us off that there are still people in society who are sympathetic towards political prisoners and we have to sit there and put up with it because of “rules”. Can’t we arrest the lot of them?