…another angry press statement blasting overseas criticism of the legal system, in which the Hong Kong government…
…strongly disapproved and firmly opposed the acts of the so-called “international legal team” for Lai Chee-ying and his son Sebastian Lai, and those of Sebastian Lai himself, to scandalise the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) and the judicial system of the HKSAR, and to abuse the United Nations mechanisms by soliciting the United Nations Human Rights Council to interfere in the judicial proceedings of Lai Chee-ying’s case concerning the NSL.
Lai junior told the UN body…
…that his father had been subject to “a litany of legal proceedings that have resulted in lengthy and disproportionate terms of imprisonment”.
“He now faces trial on trumped-up charges of sedition and endangering national security for his journalism, a trial that could condemn him to spend the rest of his life in prison,”
The government press release also contains a warning that…
Making a statement with the intent to interfere with or obstruct the course of justice, or engaging in conduct with the same intent, is very likely to constitute the offence of criminal contempt of court or the offence of perverting the course of justice.
Before the ink has dried on this one, government angry-statement-writers are surely getting to work on another. The US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee introduces a resolution…
…condemning Beijing’s destruction of Hong Kong’s democracy and rule of law in addition to its political persecution of Jimmy Lai and other pro-democracy advocates.
Among other things, the resolution…
Condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) practice of bringing false and politically-motivated charges against Hong Kongers, as well as the state-directed theft of Apple Daily…
Maybe (at least because of the direct reference to the CCP and Apple Daily’s closure) the next statement will use more original outraged language.
(Innovation-hub-worthy brainwave… ‘Outraged Press Release Bingo’®, where you cross off words as they appear: ‘so-called’, ‘scandalize’, ‘insult’, ‘smear’, ‘deplores’, ‘hegemony’, ‘travesty’, ‘wanton’, ‘dotard’, etc.)
“…doomed to fail…”
As an experiment, I asked ChatGPT to “write a typical Hong Kong government press release condemning overseas criticism of Hong Kong’s legal system”, and got this:
“The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) strongly condemns the recent wave of overseas criticism directed at our legal system. It is regrettable that certain individuals and organizations have chosen to make baseless and unfounded allegations about the independence and fairness of our judiciary.
The HKSAR has a long-standing tradition of upholding the rule of law and judicial independence. Our legal system is based on the common law tradition and is widely recognized as one of the most transparent and effective in the world. The courts are impartial and make their judgments solely on the basis of the law and the facts of each case.
The recent criticisms of our legal system are clearly politically motivated and are designed to undermine the legitimacy of our institutions. We will not tolerate any attempt to interfere with the judicial process or to undermine the independence of our courts. We urge those who are making these baseless allegations to refrain from doing so and to respect the integrity of our legal system.
We also wish to remind the international community that the HKSAR is a separate legal jurisdiction from the mainland of China. Our legal system operates independently of the Chinese legal system, and we are committed to upholding our unique legal framework.
In conclusion, the HKSAR government strongly condemns the recent overseas criticisms of our legal system. We will continue to uphold the rule of law and judicial independence, and we call on all parties to respect the integrity of our institutions.”
Who needs civil servants when a machine can do the job? At least it would save taxpayers the expense of a few Civil Service salaries. ChatGPT could also write the other formulaic releases whining about the wrong anthem being played at some obscure tiddlywinks tournament, or the SAR dropping a few more places in some world index of human rights or press freedom.
@LowProfile:
ChatGPT, or ChatCCP, amirite?
Obvious next step is for every one and anyone to use chatgpt to generate apologies whenever blablbla happened that triggers a condemnation from CCP, and just let the bots talk it out themselves.
Keen observers will have noted that our CE is taking Follow the Leader to new levels as he has recently adopted the Pooh profile of one button stretched over a rotund tum.
The humourless gits called the cops on an online parody government press release congratulating a porn star on her career success (in lieu of Michelle Yeoh).
Because of course they did.
Nobody had better ask ChatGPT to write a pornographic HK government screed. They’d have to ban the AI.
“ and to abuse the United Nations mechanisms by soliciting the United Nations Human Rights Council to interfere in the judicial proceedings of Lai Chee-ying’s case concerning the NSL.”
Once again these fucking cunts incite hatred on themselves as I am boiling with rage reading that. It’s not an abuse of UN mechanism to report what is objectively someone’s human rights getting violated!! You don’t want to offer the usual due process? Then fuck off and deal with UN scrutiny as you aren’t upholding ICCPR despite it being ratified for HK. Just writing “NSL shall comply with ICCPR” in the NSL and then not granting the accused the level and quality of due process that actually complies with ICCPR requirements is not compliance with international law so SHUT THE FUCK UP and deal with the scrutiny you deserve instead of making enraging screeds that nobody buys.
@Stu – there was a scene in the 1985 movie Real Genius that now seems quite prescient. When protagonist Mitch Taylor attends classes and notes that as term goes on fewer and fewer students are attending lectures, replacing themselves with tape recorders. At the end of a tremendously 80s montage, even the lecturer has replaced himself with a tape player and Mitch is the only human in the room. So it’s not a question of if it’s possible, but how long it would take for people to notice that no one is at the helm.
@Ho Ma Fan: Absolutely LOVED that movie! Still a big Val Kilmer fan to this day.
@Load Toad, it’s missing the words so-called, steadfastly and resolutely. Apart from that it’s pretty accurate!