The recent visit of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office boss Xia Baolong seems to have prompted a flurry of interviews with senior Hong Kong officials in Wen Wei Po stressing their devotion to perpetual NatSec. The latest is Secretary for Environment Tse Chin-wan, who warns that the government will not grant funds to ‘non-patriotic’ NGOs. And at the same time, Greenpeace has to hold an eco-tourism forum online after Chinese U decides the physical venue needs ‘urgent maintenance’ – like a restaurant cancelling a Democratic Party dinner.
Playwright Candace Chong responds to the Culture Secretary’s warnings about ‘soft resistance’ in performance content, song lyrics, and storylines…
Chong wrote: “Breaking the law is breaking the law. You can prosecute someone suspected of breaking the law. [But] looking for soft resistance, that would become an operation to disturb people.
“Because your staff at every level will scrutinise us under a microscope, as [they] want to please their superiors or they are just afraid of making mistakes… how many innocent people and pieces of work would be wronged?”
The 48-year-old playwright also asked: “And will I be classified as ‘soft resistance’ for honestly sharing my opinions?”
A pro-Beijing veteran attempts to clarify…
Hong Kong should remain vigilant against the threat of “soft resistance,” but authorities are unlikely to “wrongfully accuse” individuals, according to Tam Yiu-chung, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies.
Speaking on a radio program on Monday, Tam said he supports reducing funding for groups involved in soft resistance but believes the government will act with caution and fairness.
“I don’t think the government would recklessly wrong anyone,” Tam said, adding that any action should consider the background, intent, and impact of the groups involved.
Tam emphasized that while soft resistance is not a pressing problem in Hong Kong, society must stay alert.
…On the question of whether satire or criticism of the government constitutes soft resistance, Tam said it depends on the intent and degree.
The Chief Secretary announces commemorative events for the 80th anniversary of victory in ‘the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War’. After occupying Manchuria in 1931, Japan launched a full-scale invasion in 1937, so plain ‘World War II’ has never fully reflected China’s part in the 20th Century’s biggest conflict. But it will be interesting to see how (or whether) the authorities’ official history of the era refers to the government and forces of the Republic of China, and the role of the Western allies in forcing the Japanese to surrender in September 1945. And whether the occasion involves gratuitous anti-Japanese sentiment.
New Zealand’s The Post blasts judge Sir William Young for taking a non-permanent position on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal, and demands he stand down…
China promised the people of Hong Kong that their freedoms would continue when it took over the British colony in 1997. Gradually and then aggressively, it has gone back on its word. Now a distinguished New Zealander has accepted a highly controversial posting working with this regime.
Once one of Asia’s freest places, Hong Kong is now a dangerous place to disagree in any way with the Chinese Communist Party. A vague and sweeping National Security Law imposed five years ago has criminalised dissent. Today, the city holds more than 800 political prisoners behind bars. Hong Kongers have been jailed for wearing a T-shirt that the authorities don’t like and for refusing to stand respectfully enough for the national anthem.
…In Hong Kong, the National Security Law has done away with trial by jury, replacing it with a panel of hand-picked judges: a violation of a promise China made in the city’s mini constitution. Defendants are typically denied bail, again despite constitutional promises that bail arrangements would remain unchanged from the British period. Ironically, foreign barristers, long a feature of Hong Kong’s legal scene, are denied in National Security Law cases. Foreign judges are fine, but lawyers acting for the defence are not.
It’s a disgrace that Judge Young is now working in a jurisdiction controlled by such a repressive government after his long and distinguished service in New Zealand. He should resign before the country is tainted by his participation.
Is that last NZ Post piece written by the same Mark Clifford who was once editor-in-chief at SCMP?
From a quick look at the lyrics for Soft Cell’s “Art of Falling Apart”, perhaps readers might find that an appropriate substitute for today’s missing equally carefully curated aural diversion?
It will also be interesting to see how or whether the exhibition covers the role of Wang Jingwei, who served as the head of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, the Japanese-backed collaborationist regime in Nanjing that ruled the whole of occupied China from 1940 to 1944.
Every time they mention National Security a) it doesn’t improve National Security. b) The coffin maker bangs yet another nail in the HKG coffin
I was pleasantly surprised to receive notice of the eco-tourism forum but had not registered as it was in Cantonese only.
The cancellation was expected. Green groups will be gradually squeezed out as they represent opposition to development plans.
The incident does underline how the hoo-ha about the rankings of our universities is hot air as they no longer have the atonomy prerequisite to the role of world-class institutions.
The cancellation of the ecotourism forum was likely due to the presence of Liber Research, which more than any other NGO has embarassed the government by exposing their land degradation shenanigans, with data. Amazing how scared this government is of a bunch of nerds staring at satellite imagery.
How much longer will we have to wait for roaming bands of vigilantes who are scouring the landscape for unpatriotic elements who defile the National Security Law and whose tongues will be cut out as punishment for the Worst Crimes Ever Committed Against the Glorious Motherland?
@ Ton Ton Macoute . . . you don’t work for Foshan Haitian by any chance?