The Odyssey - Democracy in Hong Kong

[Randy W]

 

How Britain planned for the current situation all the way back in 1981. Macau's citizens are eligible to emigrate to Portugal.

 

from the SCMP

 

Maybe Britain or the US will come to Hong Kong’s rescue. And pigs might fly

• Britain will not reverse policy and start recognising Hong Kong BN(O) passport holders as citizens. The US will not throw open its doors to Hongkongers.
• No one is coming to our rescue. The only capital city worth visiting in a pickle is Beijing

For the second time in a fortnight, holders of British National (Overseas) Passports rally outside the British consulate in Hong Kong, on September 15, to demand the same rights as British passport holders. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

 

In 1979, then-leader Murray MacLehose became the first British-appointed governor to visit the mainland since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. He met China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Precisely what was said remains murky, except on one point: Hong Kong people should put their hearts at ease because the future would be fine. This message was duly passed on to the good citizens of Hong Kong.

Following the visit, the British government began to consider the possibility that there might be no role for the country to play in Hong Kong after 1997. It also foresaw a danger that post 1997, something might happen to cause Hongkongers to lose confidence in the territory and consider emigration.

Whitehall prepared for this contingency by introducing the British Nationality Act of 1981, which provided inter alia that with effect from January 1, 1983, residents of the various British Territories would have different residency rights. Their passports (British Dependent Territory Citizen ones for those not from the UK) would give right of abode only in the British territory from which they came. The Hong Kong-only BTDC passports were later superseded by BN(O) ones.

At one time, there were around 3.4 million people holding a BN(O) passport, but bit by bit as their uselessness became more apparent, renewals dwindled and by 2006, only around 800,000 were current. By 2017, the number had dropped further to 60,000. Most local people now carry the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport. Which brings us to the present day, with a Conservative prime minister leading a minority government struggling with Brexit.

 

 

 

 

 

estimates are revised as to when pigs might fly - from the SCMP

 

Make BNO Hongkongers full British citizens, Boris Johnson urged by top political figures as UK election approaches

• Several influential parliamentarians call on prime minister to give holders of British National (Overseas) passports full citizenship
• The call, which its supporters say would correct ‘historic error’, injects the issue into Britain’s elections

 

“The BNO passports were a historic error. Unlike in other colonies, the UK unilaterally revoked the residency rights of all Hongkongers without consulting them. This included people who fought in the British army and who served in the police force,” the letter stated.

“We hope you act boldly to take this important decision before it is too late,” they wrote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

from the Singapore Times, via the SCMP - see http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46920-developing-democracy-in-hong-kong/?p=642381

 

 

 

Why Macau has been spared from the political turmoil now gripping Hong Kong

 

• Macau residents have fully embraced ‘one country, two systems’ and its economy is doing better than Hong Kong’s

 

 

 

. . .

In 1985, then British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd learned that Portugal, wanting to do the honourable thing by its subjects in Macau before returning sovereignty to China, was contemplating granting full Portuguese citizenship to all born there before November 20, 1981.

He immediately ordered his officials to pressure Lisbon to drop the idea. Reason? He did not want people in Hong Kong to demand similar treatment from Britain later on. To Portugal’s credit, it ignored London and went ahead to accord citizens’ rights to some 85,000 Macau residents who qualified.

Clearly British politicians like Chris Patten forgot this episode, or chose not to remember, when they waxed lyrical about their moral duty to look out for those in Hong Kong who yearned to live free.

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP - a view from Hong Kong

 

 

14 minutes to obliterate Hong Kong: deconstructing Donald Trump’s bizarre boast

• Yonden Lhatoo breaks down the US president’s astonishing claim that he stopped his Chinese counterpart from wiping out the protest-torn city with a million PLA troops

This kind of talk also exposes an appalling lack of understanding as to how things really work in this part of the world, and how Beijing won’t need the likes of Trump to prevent a crackdown on Hong Kong that it doesn’t even need to contemplate, let alone execute, when it can showcase the endless anarchy here as proof to the international community of its tolerance and benevolence.

Don’t forget the chaos that has overtaken this city of fewer than 7.5 million works to the Communist Party’s propagandist advantage, enabling it to convince more than 1.4 billion people across the border that this is what happens without its unifying leadership. Sure, Beijing officials do make the occasional, obligatory threatening sounds, but they have allowed Hong Kong to burn for half a year now and look set to play the long game.

 

Trump claims he told Xi, “You will be making a big mistake. It’s going to have a tremendous negative impact on the trade deal.”

And therein lies the rub. When will our starry-eyed revolutionaries understand that Hong Kong is just a minor pawn to be sacrificed in the greater chess tournament of the US-China trade war, and their well-being is the least of Washington’s considerations, despite all its virtue signalling over democracy and human rights.

 

 

 

In my own view, vetoing the Hong Kong Democracy and Human Rights Act would just be a freebie handed on a silver platter to the CCP.

China has a stake in Hong Kong, as does the U.S., thanks to the US-Hong Kong Policy Act, which allows us to continue treating the city as a separate entity from mainland China. 1200 U.S, companies are reliant on this policy, as is the ability to by pass the tariffs.

 

The only possibilities that I can see for change would eliminate the US-Hong Kong Policy Act - and hasten the arrival of 2047 and the end of the Basic Law - unless the rioting can be STOPPED.

[Randy W]

from the NY Times



Would-Be Chinese Defector Details Covert Campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan


The claims by an asylum seeker in Australia couldn’t be independently verified, but Western officials are treating them seriously.

“I do not want to see Taiwan becoming a second Hong Kong,” he wrote. “And I would not become an accomplice in the conspiracy of turning an originally democratic and free land into autocratic land.”

. . .

In his account, Mr. Wang said he was involved with the apprehension by Chinese agents in 2015 of five booksellers in Hong Kong, an incident often cited by demonstrators. He said he received orders “to pay close attention” to one of them, Lee Bo, for his involvement in publishing a gossipy book called “Xi Jinping and His Six Women” that purported to delve into the personal life of China’s top leader.

. . .

Mr. Wang’s allegations seem certain to reverberate widely in Taiwan, in Hong Kong and on the mainland. Although China’s intelligence operations in Taiwan and Hong Kong have long been presumed to be robust, the statement provided an extraordinary amount of detail.

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

Election day in Hong Kong: more votes by lunchtime than in all of 2015

• Hongkongers from across the political spectrum hit the polls early
• Results in local contests will be seen as a barometer of support for the anti-government protests roiling the city

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

Hong Kong’s district council elections traditionally handle municipal matters. This year it was a global event as almost 3 million residents clamoured to be heard

• Voter turnout was confirmed at 71.2 per cent of 4.1 million registered to vote, compared with 47 per cent in the 2015 polls
• It far surpassed the record of 58 per cent set in 2016’s Legislative Council elections, where at least 10 localist candidates were elected

 

 

 

Analysts said a strong showing by the opposition pan-democrats would show Hongkongers still backed the protesters, despite their growing proclivity towards violence. There was little desire among them to got zek – a favourite Cantonese phrase literally meaning to cut the mat – or cut ties with the protesters even as the radical core had disrupted the lives of many with their mayhem and caused a dent to the city’s economy and international standing.

Conversely, the clear message from voters also would be that they were rejecting embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s leadership and her handling of the crisis, sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, roiling the city for nearly six months.

On the other hand, if the pan-democrats did not make dramatic headway and the pro-establishment camp retained its hold on the ground, more conservative voters were also sending a signal that they were tired of the violence of the past months and desired a return to normalcy.

. . .

On Sunday, anything but black appeared to be the new black, as protesters studiously avoided wearing the colour, as agreed on their telegram channels.

 

 

[Randy W]

"As of 2.30am, Hong Kong’s largest pro-Beijing party says more than 100 of its 182 members sent to the district council polls have lost."

Hong Kong elections: at least seven pro-Beijing lawmakers lose district council seats

• Huge surge of support for pro-democracy camp which has already taken more seats than it had before
  
• Shock defeats for Junius Ho, Michael Tien and Holden Chow, while Starry Lee holds on against 'Long Hair'
  

[Randy W]

from the SCMP today (Monday morning)

 

Hong Kong elections: tsunami of disaffection washes over city as pro-Beijing camp left reeling by record turnout and overwhelming defeat

• By 9am, pro-democracy camp has won 17 out of 18 district councils, all of which were previously under pro-establishment control
• Result set to give pan-democrat bloc significant increase in seats on election committee that chooses city’s chief executive

 

Pro-democracy supporters celebrate huge gains in the district council elections. Photo: AP

 

The pro-Beijing camp had only managed to secure 42 seats as of 7am. Independents, who are not endorsed by either camp, had won 24 seats.

Since the pro-democracy bloc won majorities on nearly all district councils, it is likely to be awarded about 120 seats on the election committee that selects the city’s chief executive.

Although the district councils handle local matters and have no direct say over the chief executive’s programme, the elections were seen as a barometer of support either for the anti-government protest movement or for the embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her handling of the roiling unrest.

With the thrashing suffered by the pro-Beijing camp, the government’s allies, it would appear Lam’s position was becoming increasingly untenable, even as she herself on Sunday tried to frame the elections as being about district-level matters.

 

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP - it's all about independence of the judiciary

 

Top judge Geoffrey Ma reasserts Hong Kong’s judicial autonomy after Beijing criticism

• Ma speaks publicly for first time since mainland official said power to interpret city’s mini-constitution rests solely with nation’s top legislative body
• Features of local legal system ‘guaranteed and spelled out in the clearest of terms in the Basic Law’

 

Speaking on Sunday evening at a gala dinner on the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Hong Kong’s law school, Ma renewed calls for a proper understanding of the city’s legal system when a local court ruling is being criticised. The chief justice did not directly mention Zang’s remark.

“Our legal system rests on fundamental principles and features, such as equality before the law; determination of disputes strictly in accordance with the law; the presumption of innocence; the guarantee of a fair trial; and, above all, the independence of the judiciary,” Ma said during an address to the event.

“These and others are all the features of common law, and it’s important to understand that they are guaranteed and spelled out in the clearest of terms in the Basic Law.”

 

 

[Greg.D.]

China sets up Hong Kong crisis center in mainland, considers replacing chief liaison

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-shenzhen-exclusive/exclusive-china-sets-up-hong-kong-crisis-center-in-mainland-considers-replacing-chief-liaison-idUSKBN1Y000P

 

"The office has come in for criticism in Hong Kong and China for misjudging the situation in the city. “The Liaison Office has been mingling with the rich people and mainland elites in the city and isolated itself from the people,” a Chinese official said. “This needs to be changed.”

 

The Liaison Office may face increased pressure after city voters delivered a resounding defeat to pro-Beijing parties in local district elections on Sunday. Pro-democracy candidates won over 80 percent of the seats, securing their first ever majority after running a campaign against Beijing’s perceived encroachments on Hong Kong’s liberties."

[Greg.D.]

Stung by Hong Kong vote, China slams Reuters report on liaison office shake-up

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/stung-by-hong-kong-vote-china-slams-reuters-report-on-liaison-office-shake-up/2019/11/26/3a279e9a-1023-11ea-924c-b34d09bbc948_story.html

 

BEIJING — China’s Communist Party admonished the Reuters news agency Tuesday over what the party called a “false report” about a move to replace the head of the government’s Hong Kong liaison office for failing to foresee the resounding defeat of the pro-Beijing establishment in local elections last weekend.

 

Reuters reported Tuesday that the Chinese leadership had set up a crisis command center in a luxury villa on the outskirts of Shenzhen, on the mainland side of the border with Hong Kong, to deal with the long-running political unrest in the semiautonomous financial hub.

The report said Beijing was considering replacing its most senior official stationed in Hong Kong, liaison office Director Wang Zhimin, because it was dissatisfied with his handling of the crisis.

 

.........

 

The Foreign Ministry’s office in Hong Kong said Tuesday that it had lodged “solemn representations” with Reuters about the “false report.” It said it had urged the agency “to uphold a true, professional and responsible attitude, and immediately stop spreading false information.”

 

The ministry has insisted throughout the six months of protests in Hong Kong that the unrest is an internal domestic matter and that China will never waver from the “one country, two systems” formula under which Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.

 

Under that framework, Hong Kong is supposed to enjoy a degree of autonomy and relative political freedom until 2047, but its residents are bristling at Beijing’s increasingly muscular control over the territory. Tensions burst into the open in June, when the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government moved to implement a law that would have allowed Hong Kongers to be extradited to the mainland.

 

Hong Kong has a much stronger and more transparent rule of law than the mainland, and many residents feared that the proposal, which has since been scrapped, could be used to target Beijing’s critics.

 

The Reuters report, which cited Chinese officials briefed on the discussions, said that Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other top officials have been receiving daily written briefings from the villa, named Bauhinia after the flower emblem of Hong Kong, bypassing the liaison office in Hong Kong.

 

Embattled Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam had attended meetings there, according to the report, which could not be independently verified.

 

China’s leaders appear increasingly vexed about how to deal with the unrest in Hong Kong, analysts say, as a months-long crackdown marked by thousands of arrests has only hardened public opinion against Beijing. Having repeatedly refused to offer concessions, Beijing finds itself with few options.

[Greg.D.]

Beijing Was Confident Its Hong Kong Allies Would Win. After the Election, It Went Silent.

 

BEIJING — The Chinese government seemed confident that its allies would prevail in the Hong Kong elections on Sunday.

For a week, commentators wrote brassy pieces saying the Hong Kong public would go to the polls to “end social chaos and violence,” a vote against what they saw as rogues and radicals. Editors at state-run news outlets prepared stories that predicted withering losses for the protest movement.

When it became clear early Monday that democracy advocates in the semiautonomous territory had won in a landslide, Beijing turned silent. The news media, for the most part, did not even report the election results. And Chinese officials directed their ire at a familiar foe: the United States.

....

After the election loss, Chinese officials resorted to a favorite tactic by blaming the West, a nationalistic message that plays well to the masses at home. For months, officials have said the protests are the work of foreign “black hands” bent on fomenting an uprising in the former British colony.

“Beijing knows very well that they lost the game in the election,” said Willy Lam, a political analyst who teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “Beijing had to blame somebody, so in this case it is blaming outside foreign forces, particularly in the United States, for interfering in the elections.”

 

...

 

It didn’t matter that the elections on Sunday were for district councils, some of the least powerful positions in Hong Kong’s government. Like those in the pro-democracy camp, the Chinese media also appeared to position the vote as a referendum on the protests, albeit as a chance for the public to decry the violence and the pro-democracy movement.

But the vote on Sunday severely undercut the government’s narrative.

In a rebuke to Beijing, pro-democracy candidates captured 389 of 452 elected seats, far more than they had ever won. Beijing’s allies held just 58 seats, down from 300. It was a strong message from Hong Kong voters, with record turnout of 71 percent.

....

The failure of the political establishment in Beijing to predict the outcome also raised questions about the party’s grasp of the political forces in Hong Kong. There are grumblings that Mr. Xi’s government has misread the grievances of the protesters and underestimated the depth of the anger in Hong Kong.

Chinese state media has simultaneously argued that the frustrations have stemmed from economic issues like sky-high housing costs and depicted demonstrators as paid thugs. And those provocateurs, in Beijing’s view, didn’t have the broad support of the Hong Kong public.

“They believed in their own propaganda,” said Wu Qiang, a political analyst in Beijing who is critical of the government. “They thought the situation would pivot and the public would support them.”

[Greg.D.]

Seems Xi Xiping is having a bad month. Probably even a bad year. His signature move of iron-fisted suppression of the people is doing poorly in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan (he's totally lost the good will that existed between the two) and who knows how it's doing in the country as a whole (his retro style is not unanimously loved in the circles of power there). You know Chinese don't talk about it and aren't allowed to talk about it; the nightly news is a string of images of military might (not a sign of confident strength). They can only manage to buy international alliances (have to say: he saw an opening so he stepped in).

The following essay might be hard to open, so I will include what I can. A nice summary of all the ways it's going poorly for the party and stirring tribute to the power of liberty over cowed obedience.

-------------------

Across China, the clocks are striking thirteen. The people of Hong Kong hear it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/across-china-the-clocks-are-striking-thirteen-the-people-of-hong-kong-hear-it/2019/11/26/4b40ede6-106c-11ea-b0fc-62cc38411ebb_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

By
David Von Drehle
Columnist
November 26, 2019 at 5:19 PM EST

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” So George Orwell opened his novel “1984,” on a weird and chilling note. The reader wonders: Does anyone notice something wrong?

Across China, clocks are striking thirteen. But unlike the sheeple of Orwell’s grim prophecy, thousands of freedom-loving Chinese are awakening to the ominous chime and rising against Big Brother.

China’s communist government is increasingly brazen about creating a massive surveillance state, in which millions of cameras track every person’s whereabouts, every purchase is recorded in state databanks, every keystroke on the strictly controlled Chinese Internet is scrutinized. Powered by facial recognition software and other tools of artificial intelligence, this tireless web of watchers aims to control all that is done and said — even thought — inside the rapidly rising superpower.

On Sunday, pro-democracy voters turned out in record numbers to oust communists from their local district councils.

The regime of Xi Jinping had wagered that Hong Kong’s wealthy majority would be content to trade human rights for cold, hard cash in the form of business as usual in the high-rise office suites. Instead, despite the near-daily protests and violent clashes that have sent the city into a recession, they cast their ballots for more disruption. Why? Because they hear the clocks striking thirteen.

Xi faces the most significant challenge of his power-grabbing career. Having moved to reassert the Communist Party’s dominion over a rapidly modernizing nation, he now sees China’s most modern territory fighting back. The protests in Hong Kong — and even more important, the pro-democracy landslide — vindicate the tattered faith that progress and freedom go hand-in-hand. It is a faith that strikes directly at the dark heart of one-party tyranny.

For a government that prides itself on careful strategic steps, the extradition bill has been a bungle of epic proportion. Not only has the attempted overreach roused the people of Hong Kong; their example will be noted in Shanghai, Shenzhen and even Beijing itself. Moreover, years of progress toward the party’s cherished goal of the reabsorption of Taiwan has been derailed. Everywhere, people who might have resigned themselves to dictatorship now realize that liberty has more support than they had dared to hope.

That awakening may shed light on the extraordinary leaks in recent days of secret government documents. The two troves, published by the New York Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, add up to one of the largest security breaches in Chinese Communist Party history.

......

These leaks let the outside world know that liberty has friends even inside the Chinese government. Some unknown number of officials with access to the dirty secrets of the ruling party is willing to risk their lives to resist Big Brother. The spirit of freedom is not limited to the Hong Kong frontier.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Randy W
added highlight (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

Donald Trump signs Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law, brushing off China’s warnings

• Trump signs legislation that could sanction the Hong Kong government for not upholding autonomy from mainland China
• Beijing has blasted the act as ‘meddling’ and vowed ‘consequences’ if the US leader signed it

 

 

The legislation has provoked a backlash from the Chinese government, which on Monday summoned US ambassador to China Terry Branstad to warn that Congress’ passage of the legislation last week constituted “meddling” in the country’s internal affairs and would result in “consequences”.

Trump also signed into law the PROTECT Hong Kong act, which will prohibit the sale of US-made munitions such as tear gas and rubber bullets to the city’s authorities.

“I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China and the people of Hong Kong,” Trump said in a White House press release. “They are being enacted in the hope that Leaders and Representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences leading to long term peace and prosperity for all.”

. . .

The law will, among other mandates, allow Washington to suspend Hong Kong’s special trading status based on an annual certification by the US State Department about whether the city retains a sufficient degree of autonomy under the “one country, two systems” framework.

It will also give the State Department the discretion to sanction people deemed responsible for acts that undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy from mainland China, and directs its officers not to deny visas to individuals subjected to “politically motivated” arrests or detention in the city.

The bill’s author, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, said that with the legislation’s enactment, the US now had “new and meaningful tools to deter further influence and interference from Beijing into Hong Kong’s internal affairs.”

In accordance with the law, the Commerce Department will have 180 days to produce a report examining whether the Chinese government has tried use Hong Kong’s special trading status to import advanced “dual use” technologies in violation of US export control laws. Dual use technologies are those that can have commercial and military applications.

The law requires that the Commerce Department, in conjunction with the Treasury and State departments, produce the export control report annually for at least seven years.

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/355665009819/videos/445295082853999

South China Morning Post

40 mins ·

Quote

As American celebrates Thanksgiving, thousands gathered in Central to thank the US for signing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law.

Full story:  http://sc.mp/1xivv

Edited June 25, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Greg.D.]

Special Report: How Hong Kong's greatest tycoon went from friend of China to punching bag

 

HONG KONG (Reuters) - In January of 1993, an ambitious Chinese Communist Party boss, a 39-year-old official with chubby cheeks and a mop of black hair, visited Hong Kong. He was seeking out the city’s rich among the shimmering skyscrapers, hoping to secure investment in Fuzhou, the second-tier city he ran in mainland China. His name was Xi Jinping.

 

That August, Xi received a guest back home. Hong Kong’s most famous tycoon, Li Ka-shing, known locally as “superman” for his business acumen, had come to town. A photograph from the event shows Xi grinning as he walked beside Li, who held a bouquet of flowers in his hand. In the background, a long banner hung with the message to “warmly welcome” Li Ka-shing.

 

During those days, in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, Beijing was desperate to fire up a languishing economy. National leaders and provincial potentates were courting Li for his cash and the star power his name brought to development projects on the mainland. That time has passed.

 

Xi is now the strongman leader of a rich and rising power that controls Hong Kong. Instead of feting the 91-year-old businessman, Beijing has harangued him for failing to deliver in the rebellious city. When the Party was looking for a chorus of influential voices to counter the protests that began this summer, Li offered only even-handed pleas for restraint. In an online video of comments he made at a monastery, Li asked that the leadership show “humanity” when dealing with young protesters.

 

The response was brutal. The Party’s central legal affairs commission in Beijing publicly accused Li of “harboring criminality” and “watching Hong Kong slip into the abyss.” A pro-Beijing trade union leader in Hong Kong posted a Facebook item mocking him as the “king of cockroaches” with an image that pasted Li’s head atop a picture of a fat insect.

 

.....

 

The vilification of the city’s preeminent capitalist was a rare public display of the new power dynamic, businessmen and analysts say. It sent a clear message that Li and his fellow Hong Kong tycoons must toe the line and unequivocally condemn the protests, which present the most serious challenge to Communist Party rule since Tiananmen.

 

The now-scrapped legislation that sparked the recent unrest would have allowed for extraditions from Hong Kong to mainland China. It also provided an avenue for the seizure of assets, according to a statement by the Hong Kong Bar Association. That could have exposed the city’s tycoons to the same fate as wealthy mainlanders who have been stripped of assets in Xi’s anti-corruption drive.