Security Secretary Chris Tang answers questions about ‘absconders’ – a major bug-bear of the NatSec system. Under the Article 23 NatSec law, the authorities will cancel travel documents and (it seems) professional qualifications after a six-month period. If an absconder’s parents withdraw their own cash in Hong Kong and fly overseas to deliver it to him/her, they could get seven years in prison…
At a Legco bills committee meeting, lawmakers said the period is too long, with DAB chairman Gary Chan saying that endangering national security is “something worse than murder and arson”.
The Standard adds…
Former security minister, now New People’s Party lawmaker Lai Tung-kwok, as well as Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong chairman Gary Chan Hak-kan said the administration is “too kind” to only define suspects as “absconded” six months after a warrant is issued, as many fugitives have bad-mouthed Hong Kong after leaving the SAR.
Election Committee sector lawmaker Peter Koon Ho-ming said: “I am a priest, but government officials seem to have even more mercy than me.”
In response, Tang said: “If even the priest said so, I will consider it more seriously.”
That’s the same Koon from yesterday who called Apple Daily a ‘lousy newspaper’; also of Chan Tong-kai Taiwan murder suspect/extradition bill fame. From the SCMP in 2017…
In the eyes of his critics, Reverend Peter Koon Ho-ming is an outspoken cleric who has gladly embraced the Communist Party as if it is a benevolent master over Hong Kong.
But the 51-year-old provincial secretary general of the local Anglican church said his detractors have it all wrong. Not only were his uncles purged during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, Koon said, he wept and felt betrayed as he saw the Union flag come down on June 30, 1997 – the night the British government handed the city over to Chinese leadership.
But seems he got over it.
Speaking of the ‘will I be imprisoned for having an old newspaper?’ question, ExCo member Ronny says…
“If you keep a copy at home as a memento and read it in the loo in your free time, it proves that you do not have a mens rea [an intention to commit an offence],” Tong told a radio show on Monday.
“But if you show it to people visiting your place from time to time and say ‘It is different now. What was said before is true’, then you may be committing an offence with seditious intention as you are using it to achieve subversion or other unlawful purposes.”
Store it in the loo – keep a lid on it.
Ah beloved vicar Koon, the one who spent $30k for three days local transport during the last “election”. By the way, you know when someone’s election expenses are absolutely bogus when they detail down to the dollar the “adhesive tape” used from the church office ($7 worth) and three biros ($18) as expensed gifts but then round the “transport” gift from an anonymous offshore entity to a nice even $30,000. Pie Jesu.
And if you only collected Apple Daily’s most salacious gossup columns (which is what sold most of their copies), you are presumably guilty.of colluding with …
Ronny is becoming more patriotic every day. I would LOVE to see that “brother 11-video”.
I keep China Daily in my loo, but not to read.
That flag comment will come back to haunt Rev Koon if Joephy or similar decides he’s not being quite ‘righteous’ enough.
“But if you show it to people visiting your place from time to time and say ‘It is different now. What was said before is true’, then you may be committing an offence with seditious intention as you are using it to achieve subversion or other unlawful purposes.”
But Ronny you child molesting sellout cunt, it is now different and what was said before is true. If anything films like “Ten Years” which warned of this bad future were too optimistic.
Do Chris Tang and the HKCCPSARG automatically assume “absconders” are all young kids reliant on parental support??
I’m just making sure so that i can prepare for any eventuality. Do i need to photograph myself on the loo reading the old copy of the Apple Daily held up against my face? Will this help people understand my intentions are only bowel easement and satisfaction seeking?
> Nepo Baby,
Because of NSL and Arse 23, we are all guilty of something, and it’s only a question of if & when they want to persecute us.
That’s the intention of both Rule By Laws.
@Load Toad: “…we are all guilty of something, and it’s only a question of if & when they want to persecute us.”
Sounds like the Catholic Church (and any of its spin offs). No wonder that so-called reverend Koon has been getting press lately.
Koon was a property developer in China before a mysterious ‘Road to Damascus’ event saw him reincarnated in Honkers as a man of the cloth who, with miraculous intervention, managed to take control of the property interests of the Anglican church.
$400m was invested in units in upmarket developments. Would be interesting to know how much their value has slumped.
Ambitions included developing a 300 bed private hospital on the church site on Lower Albert. When this plan was opposed and he failed to take the top post at the church it was time for another career change, so now the tax payer is the benefactor.
What should be truely shocking, but the community has become immune to betrayals, is the fervour shown by some legislators to make NS even more onerous than the published text.
The only consolation is that at some point they may themselves be back stabbed and subjected to the conditions they pushed for.
To be fair, Rev Koon is an Anglican, a group formed literally around the idea of changing your creed to please the king. So he’s only being consistent with the OG despot-fans like Cranmer.
@Nepo Baby
“Sounds like the Catholic Church (and any of its spin offs). No wonder that so-called reverend Koon has been getting press lately.”
The Catholic Church has nothing to do with Reverend Koon and his activities. He is a communicant of the Anglican Church.
The Crusades took place during the 13th century and the Inquisition was active during the 15th – 17th centuries. That was a long time ago.
In addition to providing comfort and spiritual sustenance to tens of billions of people over the course of two millennia, the Church continues to operate more schools, hospitals, elder care facilities, homeless shelters and food kitchens than any other non-governmental body on the planet.
May God bless you and your loved ones.
@Seamus O’Herlihy
Good points but let’s also not forget the rampant pedophilia, sexual abuse and attendant cover ups, the Magdalene Laundries, the pandering to and appeasing of dictators (Mussolini, Hitler, Xi, and most recently Putin), the Vatican Bank scandals… etc etc.
All those were rather more recent: the Vatnikcan’s call for Ukraine to surrender to Putin was just last week.
@Seamus
Amen
@Papal Bill
You must be a barrel of laughs to live with, always finding the black cloud in every silver lining.
@Natasha Fatale
What can I tell you? I reckon that, much like Jimmy Savile, the Catholic Church should not be allowed to sweep their long-standing record of sexual abuse and other sins under the rug just because they “do a lot of work for charity and hospitals”.
And if you think pointing out institutionally covered up sexual abuse isn’t a barrel of laughs, you probably haven’t had enough Frankie Boyle in your life — so here’s a linky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28GyV7NJxD0
@Papal Bill
Thank you for the Frankie Boyle link. Once was enough.