Wrong place, wrong time

Hong Kong’s Gay Games expects low turnout of participants. No-one’s sure whether they’re supposed to support this event or not. Government-funded tourism/promotion bodies like the idea as a trendy attraction for visitors, while top-level officials either find gay stuff too icky (remember Carrie’s ‘same-sex games’), or are perhaps nervous about national leaders’ suspicion of people who breed civil-society activism rather than children. (That said, it looks like civil servants designed the mascot.) The government has just issued a warning about how the event needs to ‘abide by local laws and regulations’, with ominous mention of licences and permits. Some more-worldly pro-government figures (Regina Ip) have long embraced gay rights, while many of the earthier patriotic brigade (New Territories lawmakers) rant about decadent Western influence. Meanwhile, many sympathizers of gay and other minority causes are repelled by some top Gay Games organizers’ establishment connections. Things were so much simpler pre-NatSec Law. Maybe try Taipei next time.

Samuel Bickett examines the Court of Final Appeal’s ruling on mandatory minimum sentences and guilty pleas…

…surprisingly … the Court of Final Appeal took the opportunity to challenge certain of the more extreme pro-Beijing sentiments within the judiciary, particularly the intermediate-level Court of Appeal…

…[mandatory minimum sentences] disincentivize guilty pleas for many defendants, especially those—like Lui—who expect to be sentenced at the lower end of one of the NSL’s sentencing ranges. Even taken separately from the overall repressive nature of the NSL, mandatory minimums simply don’t work well in the context of Hong Kong’s justice system, where mitigation practices seek to promote the administration of justice.

…Though the CFA’s decision on mandatory minimums was anticipated, the Court also took the opportunity to sharply criticize the Court of Appeal for some of it’s more extreme pro-Beijing positions. 

A little light reading for the weekend…

Another WaPo editorial – on China’s Covid cover-up…

…Chinese authorities had acknowledged on Dec. 31, 2019, that there were 27 cases of “pneumonia of unknown origin,” and 44 confirmed cases on Jan. 3, 2020. The Wuhan health commission reported 59 cases on Jan. 5, then abruptly reduced the number to 41 on Jan. 11, and claimed there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission or any signs of doctors getting sick.

That claim was a lie. The coronavirus was running rampant. Doctors at the radiologist’s hospital, and other hospitals, were getting sick. But China’s Communist Party leaders prize social stability above all else. They fear any sign of public panic or admission that the ruling party-state is not in control. The authorities in both Wuhan and Beijing kept the situation secret, especially because annual party political meetings were being held in Wuhan…

New Lines mag looks at the murky forces attacking Beijing’s critics by impersonating them.

CMP on what a ‘Chinese discourse and narrative system’ really means.