Category Archives: Blog

Welcome to Hong Kong, where – in a barely surprising plot twist – 15 of 47 people who haven’t done anything illegal are given bail but stay in jail anyway. Who wrote this show trial script? It’s corny and predictable. … Continue reading →

Happy hundredth to the NatSec Law! An on-the-spot report of the bail proceedings for the pan-dem 47, giving a taste of the idiocy of it all. It prompts the question: why is Beijing going to such bizarre – and probably … Continue reading →

…for those exhausted after following the bail hearings for the 47 ‘with multiple defendants nodding off’… The HK Dept of Justice seems more than usually thin-skinned about criticism that the charges against the 47 are a farce. The HK and … Continue reading →

So we are now entering the Arresting Defendants’ Lawyers Outside Courts stage of becoming a banana republic.  An interesting list of the 47 pan-dems’ desperate (and perhaps demeaning) attempts to obtain bail, knowing that under the NatSec Law there is … Continue reading →

In the last few days’ horrors…  Local CCP media blast a senior civil servant at the Unpatriotic Mural Removal Dept for supposedly turning a blind eye to Lennon Walls, causing divided loyalties for laboriously patriotic Regina Ip, who (correctly) sees … Continue reading →

Just a handful of links after a wearying week in Mainlandization. William Pesek puzzles over the Hong Kong government’s efforts to maximize inequality as the city struggles with pandemic and underlying political divisions. Everyone Thinks Budget Was Garbage Shock Horror. … Continue reading →

The Hong Kong government complains bitterly that the pandemic is forcing it to run a deficit, and this is unsustainable, and maybe taxes will have to go up – otherwise how can we afford civil servants’ mega-pensions and the Lantau … Continue reading →

This is all getting confusing. And I don’t just mean Carrie’s genius lateral-thinking breakthrough that Beijing must end ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in order to save it.  One day Beijing announces the banishment of non-patriots (ie pan-democrats and critics) from … Continue reading →

The CCP wishes to remind us that it is really serious about cleansing Hong Kong’s public space of critics, opponents and people who think for themselves. Even all those District Council members you elected will be methodically ostracized by the … Continue reading →

This has been a long time coming… The Hong Kong government announces plans to transform RTHK from a public service to a state mouthpiece (story here). It begins by identifying ‘problems’ (not listening to complaints, management being ‘weak’) and outlining … Continue reading →