The 26th anniversary of the handover is noted by overseas media. A WaPo op-ed is likely to get both barrels from the Hong Kong government’s press-statement writers…
One might think that Chinese authorities, having quashed the pro-democracy protests that erupted in 2019, would ease up. After all, they’ve shuttered all free media, neutered judicial independence, destroyed civil society and suppressed all political opposition. But since last year, the Chinese government has ramped up its effort to snuff out Hong Kong’s autonomy and Hong Kongers’ rights, even while exporting its authoritarianism around the world.
Many have written off Hong Kong. But paying continued attention is crucial because it tells us something important about the character of Xi Jinping’s government. For the Chinese Communist Party today, too much repression is never enough. China is becoming more emboldened. That spells danger for Taiwan and the rest of the world — unless the lessons of Hong Kong are learned.
A Mainichi editorial says much the same…
…it has become evident that the “one country, two systems” principle guaranteeing a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong is now just facade, tarnishing the shine of the beloved cosmopolis. Beijing and the Hong Kong government must face up to this reality.
At home, the CE repeats warnings about ‘soft resistance’, and imploring everyone to be vigilant against it. Yet we still do not know what it is. Perhaps it is ‘soft power’ in reverse – wielded by the government’s critics or opponents?
(Barely worth mentioning – but a dismal op-ed in the SCMP remarks that ‘Hong Kong’s core values – including a high degree of autonomy, an independent judiciary and the protection of rights, especially free speech – should not be forgotten. They haven’t been. Nor has the dodo.)
Will the press release blasting the WaPo exceed the rhetoric of Saturday’s outburst against EU politicians? If it does (if they can manage it), I can’t wait…
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) today (July 1) strongly disapproved of and firmly rejected the move of certain members of the European Parliament, by jointly writing to the President of the European Commission upon the third anniversary of the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL), to not just wantonly slander and smear the NSL, but also openly clamour for so-called “sanctions” against officials discharging the responsibility of safeguarding national security.
A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said, “The HKSAR Government strongly disapproves of the unfounded remarks by certain members of the European Parliament, out of despicable political motives upon the third anniversary of the implementation of the NSL, to attack the HKSAR in its dutiful, faithful and lawful implementation of the NSL. While the ‘black-clad violence’ and Hong Kong version of ‘colour revolution’ back in 2019 severely damaged the social stability of Hong Kong, the successful implementation of the NSL has enabled the livelihood and economic activities of the Hong Kong community at large to swiftly resume as normal and the business environment to be restored. However, those politicians turned a blind eye to all these facts. Not only did they insist on making absurd, unfounded and fact-twisting remarks against the NSL in the hope of interfering in Hong Kong’s law-based governance and undermining the city’s rule of law as well as its prosperity and stability, but they also clamoured for so-called ‘sanctions’ against officials safeguarding national security dutifully. Their political grandstanding rife with ill intentions have been seen through. Their despicable plots are doomed to fail.
“The HKSAR Government despises such so-called ‘sanctions’ and shall never be intimated. It will continue to resolutely discharge the responsibility of safeguarding national security. It strongly urges the concerned politicians of the European Parliament to immediately stop acting against the international law and basic norms of international relations and interfering in Hong Kong matters, which are purely China’s internal affairs.”
There’s more. And no paywall!
I feel Hate Week is about to be proclaimed in Hong Kong and all over the territory leading Trans Communists will lead shrieking, salivating displays of hatred against dissidents, real or imagined.
Book you seats now. If you can get one. They like you to stand.
NOTE: There is less phlegm and snot to be wiped off your face the further back you are in the throng.
“As usual, the face of Jimmy Lai, the Enemy of the People, had flashed on to the screen. There were hisses here and there among the audience. The little white-haired woman in the DAB gave a squeak of mingled fear and disgust. Lai was the renegade and backslider who once, long ago (how long ago, nobody quite remembered), had engaged in counter-revolutionary activities, had been condemned to death, and had mysteriously escaped and disappeared. The programmes of the Two Minutes Hate varied from day to day, but there was none in which Lai was not the principal figure. He was the primal traitor, the greatest defiler of the Party’s authority. All subsequent crimes against the Party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies, deviations, sprang directly out of his newspaper. Somewhere or other, he was hatching his conspiracies: perhaps somewhere beyond the sea, under the protection of his foreign paymasters, perhaps even –so it was occasionally rumoured — in some hiding-place in Hong Kong itself.”
An interesting typo there – “intimated” for “intimidated”. Apart frtom that, most of the vocabulary is expected – “so-called”, “doomed to fail” – but I dfon’t think we’ve seen “wantonly” before.
A) Is it possible to demand the arrest and prosecution of the overseas writers for Mainichi and WaPo on NSL grounds?
B) “…to not just wantonly slander and smear the NSL, but also openly clamour for so-called “sanctions”…yada yada yada… Can one slander and smear an inanimate…thing? And aren’t “sanctions” called precisely that?
C) “Their political grandstanding rife with ill intentions have been seen through. Their despicable plots are doomed to fail.” Sentence of the week!
If the Government does not retrieve that sliver of land from the golf club, I can envision another round of local unrest in the streets like we have never seen before.
@Regina: Nah…the People have been sufficiently cowed. Anyone that gives a crap have either left or are trying to.
I go straight to the end of each government rant to seek reassurance that the evildoers du jour are “doomed to fail”. Yet again, I was not disappointed.
Is there a whiny expression that has not been inserted into the HKSAR increasingly verbose PRs? Words like despicable in an official document are embarrassing and indicate a clutching at straws rather than the sophisticated, urbane image we should be projecting.
@Low profile
Not so much a typo as a Freudian slip, given the unelected government’s total lack of public oversight and accountability.
A spokesman for the HKSAR Government”
Why is the spokesman not identified?
Could it be that the spokesman is a Mainlander (certainly sounds like one) and doesn’t want that to be confirmed?
Two systems my a$$
Dear gods, is the woman sane?
The Convenor of the Executive Council on Monday praised the leadership of Chief Executive John Lee in guiding Hong Kong out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked about Lee’s achievements after twelve months in Hong Kong’s top job, Regina Ip told RTHK the CE had shown the world that the SAR was open for business again.
“Reopening Hong Kong to the world, putting Hong Kong on the map again, he [Lee] and his officials have been doing a lot of travelling to bring people back to Hong Kong, to improve our image,” Ip said.
“I think that’s one of his greatest achievements.”
Funny enough, I saw an job ad from Citi in HK today on the internet… highlighting the great outdoor opportunities and convenience…
Re: wmjp – She has finally accepted that she will never get the No 1 seat, nor any state legislator role, and that to remain in the limelight going forward must hold onto the Exco post with the related obsequious baggage that entails.
@wmjp: So has Ip improved her own image by bringing her daughter back to Hong Kong?
Vag reminds me of Gloria Swanson’s character in “Sunset Boulevard”.