The Odyssey - Democracy in Hong Kong

[Randy W]

Since the new U.S. administration took office, it has not changed the hegemonic behavior of its predecessor on issues related to Hong Kong, having launched at least 13 smear attacks against China on those issues and raved about "standing with Hong Kong people" many times, according to an article titled Who do U.S. politicians really stand with? -- Truth about U.S. blatant interference in China's internal affairs on Hong Kong-related issues.
If the United States really wants to "stand with" the Chinese people who "pursue" human rights, it should side with the overwhelming majority, not the other way around, said the article. 
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-08/04/c_1310107873.htm

from China Pictorial on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/ChinaPic/posts/4012115225580503

from the linked Xinhuanet article

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While the U.S. side alleged that the targets of its so-called "sanctions" have "undermined the high degree of autonomy promised to the people in Hong Kong," the U.S. accusation was not consistent with the facts. The NPC has made decisions on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong and improving the electoral system of Hong Kong respectively. The improved electoral system has ensured the implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," which excludes anti-China, destabilizing forces from the governance structure and better guarantees the national security and the safety of the HKSAR's body of power. It has also better reflected the extensive and balanced political participation by Hong Kong residents, which in no way weakens Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, but is more conducive to the healthy and orderly development of Hong Kong's democratic system.

 . . .

The U.S. side, by choosing to announce the so-called "sanctions" against Chinese officials on the eve of the high-level strategic dialogue between China and the United States in Alaska, sought to use extreme pressure to gain bargaining chips. However, such unilateral "sanctions" were only a bluff. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said previously that the U.S. unilateral sanctions are not adopted by the United Nations, thus having no legal effect in Hong Kong. The HKMA's position on unilateral U.S. "sanctions" is clear: Hong Kong banks have no legal responsibility to act in concert with those "sanctions."

 

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

US offers temporary ‘safe haven’ for Hongkongers

Thousands of Hongkongers are now eligible for temporary “safe haven” in the US under an executive order signed by President Joe Biden.

Read more: sc.mp/q3oj

https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/1273237773121819/

[Randy W]

Beijing unexpectedly postpones vote on adding anti-sanctions legislation to Hong Kong’s Basic Law

• The law, designed to punish companies that abide by US sanctions or fail to carry out China’s, has prompted anxiety among some foreign investors
• The National People’s Congress Standing Committee will ‘continue to study related issues’, city’s sole delegate to the body tells Post

Voting on whether to put foreign companies in Hong Kong in between a rock and a hard place.

 

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Confirming the postponement, Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said the body had decided “not to vote for the time being and will continue to study related issues”.

“I believe this will make the anti-foreign sanctions law even more effective,” he said.

 . . .

“The NPC and its standing committee, as the highest authority of the country, make decisions on Hong Kong matters based on the city’s interests. The government will fully support, implement and cooperate [with its decisions],” a government spokesman wrote.

As state media CCTV and Xinhua reported that the standing committee had approved a number of other resolutions, a glaring omission was the resolution to insert the sanctions law to Annex III of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.

 

 

[Randy W]

Hong Kong’s neighbouring economic zone of Qianhai in Shenzhen will expand eight times to give city ‘wider stage’ to excel

• Beijing’s plan calls for spreading the zone across more than 120 sq km and deepening service trade liberalisation with Hong Kong and Macau
• Experts predict Hong Kong professionals most set to benefit will hail from technology, finance, education, medicine and law

Qianhai is home to about 11,500 Hong Kong-invested companies. Photo: Xinhua

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Hong Kong’s status as a financial hub is set to receive a major boost as Beijing moves to expand the Qianhai economic zone in neighbouring Shenzhen by eight times, paving the way for potentially closer technology and business ties between the two places.
The zone would offer a “wider stage” for Hong Kong to expand its growth and for young people to seize new opportunities, according to mainland officials, as state media Xinhua reported that the size of the area would increase from 14.9 sq km (3,706 acres) to 120.6 sq km.
Originally created in 2009 to boost cooperation between businesses in Shenzhen and Hong Kong focused on the service industry, Qianhai is home to about 11,500 Hong Kong-invested companies, accounting for more than 10 per cent of registered enterprises that make tax contributions in the area.

 

[Randy W]

Hong Kong Tycoons Won’t Escape China Crackdown
Investors are clearly worried that Beijing’s recent ‘common prosperity’ call could soon be heard in the freewheeling financial center, too

from the WSJ

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Hong Kong’s home prices have more than tripled in the past 15 years, according to an index compiled by property agent Centaline. With median house prices at 20.7 times median household income, Hong Kong was the least-affordable housing market in the world for the 11th consecutive year in 2020, according to research company Demographia.

Investors are clearly worried that Beijing’s recent calls for “common prosperity” could soon be heard in the freewheeling financial center, too. Skyrocketing housing prices are one cause of wealth inequality in the city, where homeownership is lower than in many developed economies. Real estate billionaires in the city of seven million are some of the richest people in the world.

State media have seized upon unaffordable home prices as a reason for the 2019 protests. With Beijing getting more assertive in the city, it is unsurprising that more aggressive policies to tackle the issue appear to be in the pipeline. Property tycoons have long been influential under the city’s political system.

Hong Kong’s housing market has produced immense wealth for some people. Leaner times could be ahead.

 

 

[Randy W]

Amnesty International to close its Hong Kong offices by year’s end, citing national security law

Amnesty International has announced it will close its two Hong Kong offices by the end of 2021.

from the SCMP on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/3101745730151433/

[Randy W]

Hong Kong passes bill to ban films deemed threat to national security
Hong Kong legislators have passed a bill strengthening the city's film censorship law. The Chief Secretary will be allowed to ban previously approved productions deemed a threat to national security.

from the SCMP on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/635018484346802/

 

[Randy W]

What would you think his chances are?

An Artist Is Imploring China to Grant Him Safe Passage to Hong Kong to Dismantle His Threatened Tiananmen Square Monument

The Danish artist said his presence is required on site to ensure the sculpture isn't destroyed.

from Artnet news

The Pillar of Shame statue that commemorates the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. (Photo by Miguel Candela/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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Jens Galschiøt, a Danish artist who created a monument dedicated to the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, is requesting assurance of safe passage for himself and his employees to travel to Hong Kong to dismantle the sculpture, which has been on display at the University of Hong Kong for more than 20 years.

Galschiøt wrote in an open letter that his presence is “necessary” on site to take down the massive copper sculpture, titled The Pillar of Shame, which weighs two tons and stands more than 26 feet tall, noting that without proper safety measures, “significant and irreparable damage” could befall the work, the artist has said.

In October, the university announced plans to remove the work and sent a letter to the now defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, ordering it to be removed from the premises, which Galschiøt saw as another step toward erasing evidence of the massacre.

“They really want to destroy everything about a story that China doesn’t want people to know about,” Galschiøt told Artnet News.

Despite the work order stating that The Pillar of Shame must be removed by a deadline of 5 p.m. on October 17, no immediate action was taken, and according to the original letter from the university, it is now deemed “abandoned” and risks being torn down without consideration for the work itself. The artist wants to bring the sculpture back to Denmark, but has said that China’s new security laws in Hong Kong makes it so that “there is a legal basis for arresting foreign nationals who engage in activities that criticize China.” Removing the sculpture “could be perceived as criticism,” he added.

The enhanced security laws have led to the dismantling of numerous civil society organizations, including the Hong Kong Alliance, which was accused of being an “agent of foreign forces.” Just days before the annual memorial exhibition and Tiananmen vigil was set to take place, Chinese authorities shut down the June 4th Museum.

Galschiøt said that many of his contacts in the alliance were now in jail and could not be reached.

 

 

[Randy W]

1/ Hong Kong's trade office in London has warned the UK's Sunday Times that its article may be illegal under Hong Kong law which forbids the incitement of an election boycott. The letter says the law is applicable internationally.

from the Hong Kong Free Press HKFP on Twitter
https://twitter.com/hongkongersin/status/1469375665460084736

 

1/ Hong Kong's trade office in London has warned the UK's Sunday Times that its article may be illegal under Hong Kong law which forbids the incitement of an election boycott. The letter says the law is applicable internationally. pic.twitter.com/3S2iIuJeGt

— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) December 10, 2021

 

 

 

1 week before the Legislative Council election, #HongKong government keeps writing letters to foreign media including @FT @business @WSJ @TheEconomist @washingtonpost  that they may violate #NationalSecurityLaw by reporting the plan by some #hongkongers to boycott the election.

1 week before the Legislative Council election, #HongKong government keeps writing letters to foreign media including @FT @business @WSJ @TheEconomist @washingtonpost that they may violate #NationalSecurityLaw by reporting the plan by some #hongkongers to boycott the election. pic.twitter.com/qHELB8obzF

— HongKongersin (@hongkongersin) December 10, 2021

[Randy W]

Pro-establishment bloc dominates Hong Kong Legislative Council after record-low turnout for election
The pro-establishment bloc in Hong Kong nearly swept all seats in the city’s Legislative Council poll held on Sunday, December 19, 2021. Only one centrist candidate won a seat in a revamped Legco, after traditional opposition parties stayed out of the race. It was the first Legco poll since Beijing’s overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure that only “patriots” could run for office. Voter turnout was the lowest since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997 at 30.2 per cent, compared to 58 per cent in the most recent Legco vote in 2016. 

from the SCMP 

 

[Randy W]

Beijing defends ‘democracy with Hong Kong characteristics’ model as white paper day after Legco election, cites end goal of universal suffrage

• Within hours of Legco election closing, central government publishes strategy on developing Hong Kong-style democracy
• White paper is only the second covering Hong Kong political reforms to be released by Beijing in seven years

Copies of the white paper titled “Hong Kong Democratic Progress Under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems” issued by the State Council Information Office. Photo: Handout
 

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“The central government will continue to develop and improve democracy in Hong Kong in line with its realities … It will work with all social groups, sectors and stakeholders towards the ultimate goal of election by universal suffrage of the chief executive and all members of the Legislative Council.”

The paper noted that while Hong Kong was a special administrative region directly under the central government, the city could “develop democracy with its own characteristics in light of its actual conditions”.

The document was issued by the State Council Information Office, which had published a white paper, called “China: Democracy that Works”, about two weeks ago as part of a broader effort to promote the country’s system of governance as more representative and effective than the US model.

 

 

[Randy W]

University of Hong Kong removes ‘Pillar of Shame’ sculpture marking Tiananmen crackdown

The Pillar of Shame sculpture at the University of Hong Kong has been removed. The artwork commemorates victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, when protesters demanded greater democracy and government transparency.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/608343027083749/

from the HKFP

University of Hong Kong removes Tiananmen Massacre monument in dead of night
Security staff surrounded the site as the view was obscured with curtains and plastic barriers at around 11pm. The move was reportedly approved by the institution’s ruling body.

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Views of the area were obscured with curtains and plastic barriers at around 11pm. Construction noise could be heard as the area was cordoned off without notice and surrounded by security guards.

 . . .

Jens Galschiøt’s Pillar of Shame monument has stood on campus for over two decades, though – in October – university authorities demanded its removal amid a crackdown on those commemorating the 1989 massacre.

In a statement on Thursday, he said: “I’m totally shocked that Hong Kong University is currently destroying the Pillar of Shame… It is my private property and the sculpture belongs to me personally… I will claim compensation for any damage to the sculpture.”

“t is a disgrace and an abuse and shows that Hong Kong has become a brutal place without laws and regulations such as protecting the population, the arts and private property… And it’s even more grotesque that they use the Western holiday, Christmas, to carry out the destruction of the artwork,” he added.

 

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

More Tiananmen crackdown monuments removed from Hong Kong university campuses
Two more monuments commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown were removed from two university campuses in Hong Kong in the early hours of Christmas Eve.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/345037710407073/

[Randy W]

Five Journalists and Pop Star Denise Ho Arrested in Hong Kong for Sedition

from Variety

 

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National Security Police in Hong Kong on Wednesday arrested seven people associated with Chinese-language online media company Stand News. They include pop star-turned-pro-democracy activist Denise Ho.

Later in the day, the publication dismissed all its staff and announced its immediate closure. It emerged that the police had seized HK$61 million ($7.8 million) of assets.

“Police National Security Department conducted a search against an online media company in Kwun Tong with a warrant issued under Schedule 1 of the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, authorizing Police to search and seize relevant journalistic materials. Over 200 uniformed and plainclothes police officers have been deployed during the operation,” said the Hong Kong government in a press statement on Wednesday morning.

 . . .

The mass arrests come just a day after the authorities leveled additional charges against publisher Jimmy Lai, six people and three companies associated with the now extinct news publication Apple Daily.

 

 

[Randy W]

Carrie Lam denied that “suppression” was behind the arrest of 7 people, including Stand News editors, which led to the online platform’s closure - they were obviously guilty of SOMETHING.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/1084089842387208/

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)