Following overseas press reports about activists who have fled overseas, and the granting of asylum status to Ted Hui in Australia and Tony Chung in the UK, Hong Kong presents its latest angry press statement…
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government made a solemn statement yesterday (August 16) to express strong disapproval and opposition against the harbouring of criminals in any form by any country…
A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said, “Following the ‘black-clad violence’ and the Hong Kong version of ‘colour revolution’ in 2019, a number of criminals who have committed serious offences endangering national security absconded … During abscondence, they continued to blantantly [sic] engage in acts endangering national security. These are out-and-out shameful and cowardly acts.
“…Hong Kong has an independent judiciary with the power of final adjudication. Everyone shall receive a fair and just trial. Any country that harbours Hong Kong criminals in any form shows contempt for the rule of law, grossly disrespects Hong Kong’s legal systems and barbarically interferes in the affairs of Hong Kong. Turning a blind eye to the offences committed by the criminals and disregarding the potential security threats posed to the local community and residents, they shall eventually bear the consequences of what they have done.”
Fans of these press releases will detect a change of tone here, with less of the ‘despicable’ rhetoric (‘grossly’ and ‘barbarically’ notwithstanding) and a focus on the wrongness of the absconders rather than of foreign officials or commentators. Maybe someone has decided the usual strident phrasing strikes external audiences as unhinged and is counterproductive. Or perhaps the regular Pyongyang-trained PR specialist is having a well deserved rest on a beach for August.
From HKFP – a list of performances, NGOs’ gatherings and other events in recent years cancelled because venue owners suddenly found they had to do maintenance work, or in one case encountered an ‘irresistible force’. They include Denise Ho concerts (twice), Pink Dot (after 10 years with no problem), a high school debating competition, an author’s appearance and a football game.
A (probably paywalled) WSJ editorial…
Closing arguments in the year-long trial of Jimmy Lai were postponed again Friday until he can be fitted with a heart monitor. The 77-year-old publisher has been jailed for nearly five years, most of it in solitary confinement and wretched heat…
Though Hong Kong’s authorities have spent more than a year trying to document the supposedly nefarious activities he is accused of against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, all they have proven is that he was an energetic newspaperman.
Hong Kong was once known for its rule of law and free press. But China has imposed a national-security law on the territory that it has used to shut down criticism and toss critics in jail. Its harsh treatment of Mr. Lai has turned the local businessman into the world’s most famous imprisoned champion of freedom.
Enter President Trump. He has said in the past that he would try to free Mr. Lai from prison. And this week he told Brian Kilmeade of Fox Radio that “I’m gonna do everything I can to save him.” Mr. Lai spoke admiringly of Mr. Trump long before he was arrested and jailed.
…Hong Kong authorities claim Mr. Lai is getting “appropriate” care. But the Communist Party can’t want Mr. Lai to die the way Nobel laureate and human-rights activist Liu Xiaobo did in 2017 shortly after a medical release. The stain on China’s image would be substantial.
If Mr. Lai’s trial resumes, he is certain to be convicted given the current state of Hong Kong justice…
As a recent satirical headline suggested, Trump’s summit with Putin was so embarrassing that he might try to use the Epstein files as a distraction. It is a stretch to expect some sort of principled or strategically coherent action out of the White House. And the idea that Beijing worries about the PRC’s reputation is no less fanciful.
On other matters – RIP actor Terence Stamp. Apparently he was in some Superman and Star Wars stuff, but his best films were the Oz classic Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Steven Soderbergh’s 1999 The Limey, which has flashbacks to the main character’s early life in the form of clips from one of Stamp’s earliest performances, Poor Cow, in 1967, and a soundtrack featuring the Who, Hollies and Byrds.
Wot? A HK Gov press release and not a single “resolutely” included? Maybe the junior secretary at the Liaison Office is using AI these days. Gives her more time to slurp her breakfast congee and apply yet another layer of make-up.
Let’s not forget Stephen Frears’ The Hit (1984), with Stamp, John Hurt and Tim Roth in perfect harmony driving through sunny Spain.
Rest in Peace, guv.
It’s pretty rich criticising Mr Trump for failing to spring Jimmy Lai when Mr Lai is a British citizen and the current UK government has been busy kissing Beijing’s ass at every turn.
Here’s an idea: No mega-embassy in London for the CCP until Jimmy Lai is free.
The chances that Kier Starmer can man up enough to embrace that simple proposal in defence of a brave British citizen wrongfully imprisoned for years are slim and none, and Slim just left town.
But let’s blame Trump anyway.
Fuck the UK, and fuck its useless, pusillanimous government.
I fear Steve-O here is having a case of “TDS”.
I wonder if Steve-O looks anything like the Jabba he models his words after? Steven Cheung.
Trump can’t even convince his own political cult to get himself out from under the accusations of being a pedophile enabler. He’s cooked, but his policies will continue to chug on for the power centres they serve. At least until the next regime comes in to replace him with something maybe worse, but probably not better for anyone except those same power centres. Something something gasps of a dying empire