Xia Baolong. Sounds like some sort of dumpling. Looks a bit like one. But will be decidedly less pleasant. The media (eg, here, here) quote endless experts sharing profound insights into how the Liaison Office/HK and Macau Affairs Office reshuffle will create a more ‘coordinated’ (top-down) chain of command from Emperor-for-Life Xi over Hong Kong, and be more hardline – without explaining what this will mean in practice.
Why won’t people spell this out? To repeat: a more politicized legal system and courts to repress civil society and rights; censorship of the Internet; criminalization of opinions; ideological pressure on civil servants and educators; propaganda in schools; and other measures in the name of ‘national security’ – gradually, over several years. Probably some superficial attempts at improving livelihood policies, but otherwise the exact opposite of the more representative government Hong Kong must have to retain its freedoms and identity. Removing crosses from churches will be near the bottom of Xia’s list.
I feel fairly confident in predicting that the Hong Kong ‘independence movement’ – originally a scare-mongering fabrication, and subsequently a provocative slogan used by naughty teenagers – is going to become something real.
On a lighter note, Hong Kong Land are taking WuFlu very seriously. I tried to enter Exchange Square 3 at 7.45 this morning to grab tons of free tissues a coffee from the Starbucks. A security guard said the door was for ‘exit only’. The next door I found was blocked off. The next one had another security guard saying ‘exit only’. So I gave up.
I declare the weekend temporarily closed as per the Preparedness and Response Plan for Novel Infectious Disease of Public Health Significance with a varied selection of links…
Hours of fun for all paranoids: frequent Hong Kong epidemic updates.
A (lengthy) video interview with Jeff Wasserstrom, author of Hong Kong on the Brink (a review here).
The SCMP’s history and heritage column gets massively bitchy about the interior décor/socialite daahlings…
A general lack of taste and genuine discrimination among a critical mass of people with large sums of money helps get people into the interior design trade.
From Asia Times, a not-too-cliched analysis of why Hong Kong is screwed as an economy…
After the handover, Hong Kong had some 20 years to reinvent itself. Not only did it fail to do so but the powers concerned even failed to recognize that such a need existed…
…barring the unexpected, it is clear that the central government has no interest in consolidating the autonomy of an appendage that, if anything, is proving troublesome.
The Smithsonian peels back Hong Kong’s Lennon Walls.
On national affairs, the Guardian looks at how the CCP puts control of information before human lives.
A scathing essay on the subject by academic/dissident Xu Zhangrun, translated by Geremie R. Barmé: Viral Alarm: When Fury Overcomes Fear…
A political culture has thereby been nurtured that, in terms of the real public good, is ethically bankrupt, for it is one that strains to vouchsafe its privatized Party-State, or what they call their “Mountains and Rivers” while abandoning the people over which it holds sway to suffer the vicissitudes of a cruel fate. It is a system that turns every natural disaster into an even greater man-made catastrophe. The coronavirus epidemic has revealed the rotten core of Chinese governance; the fragile and vacuous heart of the jittering edifice of state has thereby shown up as never before.”
Guardian synopsis of the essay here.
Less literary but just as brutal: Apple Daily’s Mark Simon…
The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest evil that currently exists in our world. It is a stone cold killer. No remorse over its actions, no regrets, just the desire to survive at the cost, if it has to be, of all others.
There is no compromise, no truce the Chinese Communists will abide that will protect the freedom of those who come into contact with the CCP. The academic, artistic, and business elites who seek to profit off trade with China are useful idiots who serve our freedoms up in exchange for profit. We cannot let these immoral elites be our front line in dealing with the Chinese Communist Party.
From China Change, a timeline of how China missed the chance to tackle WuFlu promptly.
From China File – views on the film One Child Nation.
HK Free Press – Denmark manages to ‘hurt the feelings’ again.
You say ‘cooptation’, I say ‘cooption’. SupChina looks at how big foreign companies in China like Apple have to serve the CCP.
The LA Times on why Macau’s casinos are OK with being closed for weeks (hint: licence-renewal coming up).
An entertaining account of how the ICAO’s CCP-grovelling, Taiwan-negating Twitter debacle unfolded.
The Taipei Times on Taiwan/Republic of China nomenclature.
And for music and tech-retro fans, the national anthem as early Carrie Lam ‘Virus Invaders’ computer game.
And what, pray tell, were you expecting?
Since before I settled here, I knew that after July 1 1997 I was to live on a patch of ground that was to be governed by the CCP. The CCP has never, ever, ever, ever, ever done “cute and cuddly”.
My view is that if you somehow end up occupying the same space as several hundred kilogram grizzly bear, Rule #1 is that you do not make a habit of prodding the 4cking thing. HK was OK – not 100% perfect, but easily livable. Now all of this protesting nonsense could bring down the whole damn caboodle.
I hope you lot of self-righteous, clever dick, democracy loons are all pleased with yourselves.
Have a nice weekend.
Mark Simon, eh?
I like the cut of his jib.
Looks like somebody didn’t get the memo:
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3050594/coronavirus-china-slams-australias-extreme-measures-after
Redacted #4, is your name real Quisling by any chance? Or are you just a huge fan of the man?
I knew that after July 1 1997 I was to live on a patch of ground that was to be governed by the CCP but it did not bother me because all I am concerned about is my own comfort and wellbeing.
I am intrigued to note that reactor#4 is now conceding the key consequences of increasing Commie rule in our sinking city, shifting from his early position that we have nothing to fear.
Has he paused to think how this might blot his copybook as Hong Kong’ prototype White Wumao?
I do hope he’s got a gum shield.
Nice hair though
@Reactor $4 – if you lent me money and I promised to repay, then failed to do so, would you argue that’s just the way things are and say it was better not to prod me? I settled here long before anyone knew for sure that after July 1 1997 I was to live on a patch of ground that was to be governed by the CCP. I stayed because I love this place and have family here – and because the CCP promised that it would stay largely unchanged. That promise has been comprehensively broken – should I just shrug my shoulders and let them shit on me, and the other 7.5 million people here? Or do what little I can to at least call out their hypocrisy, even if I can’t change it?
a few additions to Hemlock’s list for the WuFlu Weekend (apologies if they’ve been mentioned already):
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/the-weekly/hong-kong-protest-polyu.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/battle-for-hong-kong/
I must admit to feel some joy for the demotion of this awful Zhang Xiaoming, 689’s Godfather. Difficult to believe that his successor can be worse.
“strengthen law enforcement power”? After witnessing the bloody violence and another mass arrest by our “law enforcers” at Mei Foo, what can possibly getting worse? Shooting a few dozens at every protest? By all pessimism, I think our “law enforcers” hit the bottom already. I think, it will at least take some more years for them to sink even lower.
re the ICAO Twitter debacle”
Fang Liu is a Chinese attorney who is the twelfth and current Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization. She is the first woman to hold this position. Wikipedia
Born: 1962 (age 58 years), China
Alma maters: Wuhan University (China), Leiden University (Netherlands)
Enough said?
Reactor #4 is the equivalent of every other person in Legco – thinks only about themselves and their money and how protesters only affect their lives. Never a thought for the majority who are voting against the regime. That is why dictators and oppressive regimes and their enablers (read Reactor #4) remain in power.
If the ‘new guy’ who is a cross burner, thinks that we are going to be intimidated by his tough guy image, I say: bring it on, comrade! We are itching for a fight. And no, we are not afraid of the under educated HK popo ‘talents’. The numeric and intelligent advantage of the democratic protestors is no match for the sad, stressed out popo brigade.
It is going to be a long hot summer. Promise.
PS: Please ignore the Reactor troll: I know who he is, and if you did too, you wouldn’t bother replying today, or ever.
It’s disturbing that Reactionary #4 apparently doesn’t see himself in Mark Simon’s commentary: “The academic, artistic, and business elites who seek to profit off trade with China are useful idiots who serve our freedoms up in exchange for profit.”
The alternate explanation is that he has the attention span and reading comprehension skills of a gerbil.
The latter explanation is more comforting, as the first confirms the presence of (yet another) sociopath among us.
Gee, Disney has finally caved in and is going to allow the government to build temporary quarantine facilities on OUR land next to the theme park – note that there has never been any mention of Disney having paid for it, it just holds an option. By the time these are in place the epidemic will either have blown over or we will all be dead.
@Private Beach and others.
Clearly you are unaware of the concept of “small print”. To this end, your homework for this weekend is to download a copy of the Basic Law and read it intently. However, for every sentence and paragraph you work though, you must interpret it in the worse case scenario. If you do that, you will see where I come from.
Also, if you don’t believe the words, then look at the noise emanating from London, or to be more precise, the lack of. The silence is deafening.
Joe Blow.
You know the Reactor?
Bloody hell, mate. You must move in some pretty peculiar circles.
At least confirm for us that it’s not “Lonesome George”.
Donny Alexander named Reactor number 4. Perhaps Joe Blow can confirm or deny. Then ignore the Reactor 4, although some (by no means all) of his more recent uttterings have been semi reasoned.
@Red Dragon – it’s not George, or he would be constantly reminding us of his doctorate and accusing Hemlock of being (ex-) British intelligence.
And despite Joe Blow’s advice:
@Reactor #4 – perhaps you are unaware of the concept of good faith. Any law can be interpreted in bad faith to the benefit of one side – that’s why an impartial judiciary is so important. Unfortunately we don’t have one where the ultimate meaning of the BL is concerned – and whatever good faith China may have had originally has long been abandoned. Your only answer to this is apparently to just lie down and wait to be beaten into submission.
@Red Dragon: this one is for the record: Reactor #4 is NOT Lonesome George Adams. One lives in Sai Kung and the other in Stanley (last time I looked).