#OpinionArticle #WhiteTerror
Barrister Lawrence Lau: "Collective Punishment: We All Could Be Jimmy Lai"
//The day has finally come. Next Digital's Jimmy Lai was arrested for "colluding with foreign powers" - if he hadn't broken any laws before, they have now made one up for him. Ever since the National Security Law was passed on July 1, Lai was asked again and again whether he would leave the city. Again and again he said no; he would walk with Hongkongers, because Hong Kong is his home.
In this new age of One Country One System, what does "colluding with foreign powers" even include? Holding a conference with foreign academics? Using American eggs in your restaurant? There are no clear answers. What counts as "colluding with foreign powers" is entirely up to those up there, and them alone; it's collusion if they say so. This is the absurdity of the National Security Law: it runs completely contrary to what the modern world expects from the rule of law, that is, the letters of the law must clearly spell out its intents and requirements to the public, so that people can take care not to break it.
Two hundred Blue Berets marching into Apple Daily's offices seemed like a scene straight out of history movies, from Korea's Gwangju Uprising 40 years ago. In 1980, the military government stormed into a newspaper office and made indiscriminate arrests, trying to silence the news of their violent crackdown on the city. After the gunfire ceased, the government thought they had finally secured Gwangju for themselves; what they never imagined was that it spurred thousands of angry citizens onto the streets, ultimately leading to the democratization of Korea.
40 years later, we live in an age where information flows hundreds of times faster than in Gwangju, yet this totalitarian government is still trying to crack down on press freedom and stifle information flow in an attempt to keep us from the truth. Either they are stupid, or they no longer fear the consequences of their actions! If that is the case, then neither should they fear international sanctions. The treacherous acts of the Hong Kong Communists and evil police force have long been in plain sight of the international community. Government officials would be wise start buying plane tickets for their children studying abroad; just like Carrie Lam's son, they better hurry back to Hong Kong, and bask in the glory of China's Greater Bay Area - for the rest of their lives!//
Source: Lawrence Lau Wai-chung's Facebook #Aug10
#NationalSecurityLaw #FreedomOfPress #PoliticalOppression #JimmyLai #AppleDaily #NextMedia #Gwangju #Korea
#LawrenceLau
Barrister Lawrence Lau: "Collective Punishment: We All Could Be Jimmy Lai"
//The day has finally come. Next Digital's Jimmy Lai was arrested for "colluding with foreign powers" - if he hadn't broken any laws before, they have now made one up for him. Ever since the National Security Law was passed on July 1, Lai was asked again and again whether he would leave the city. Again and again he said no; he would walk with Hongkongers, because Hong Kong is his home.
In this new age of One Country One System, what does "colluding with foreign powers" even include? Holding a conference with foreign academics? Using American eggs in your restaurant? There are no clear answers. What counts as "colluding with foreign powers" is entirely up to those up there, and them alone; it's collusion if they say so. This is the absurdity of the National Security Law: it runs completely contrary to what the modern world expects from the rule of law, that is, the letters of the law must clearly spell out its intents and requirements to the public, so that people can take care not to break it.
Two hundred Blue Berets marching into Apple Daily's offices seemed like a scene straight out of history movies, from Korea's Gwangju Uprising 40 years ago. In 1980, the military government stormed into a newspaper office and made indiscriminate arrests, trying to silence the news of their violent crackdown on the city. After the gunfire ceased, the government thought they had finally secured Gwangju for themselves; what they never imagined was that it spurred thousands of angry citizens onto the streets, ultimately leading to the democratization of Korea.
40 years later, we live in an age where information flows hundreds of times faster than in Gwangju, yet this totalitarian government is still trying to crack down on press freedom and stifle information flow in an attempt to keep us from the truth. Either they are stupid, or they no longer fear the consequences of their actions! If that is the case, then neither should they fear international sanctions. The treacherous acts of the Hong Kong Communists and evil police force have long been in plain sight of the international community. Government officials would be wise start buying plane tickets for their children studying abroad; just like Carrie Lam's son, they better hurry back to Hong Kong, and bask in the glory of China's Greater Bay Area - for the rest of their lives!//
Source: Lawrence Lau Wai-chung's Facebook #Aug10
#NationalSecurityLaw #FreedomOfPress #PoliticalOppression #JimmyLai #AppleDaily #NextMedia #Gwangju #Korea
#LawrenceLau