#PoliceState #SaveAppleDaily
National Security Police Arrests News Commentator; Pro-democracy #AppleDaily Will Shut Down In One Day

[Update: At around 16:10 on June 23, 2021, Next Digital released a new statement, annnouncing the closure of Apple Daily on June 24, 2021, due to the safety concern of its staff. The last edition will be released and the homepage will cease operating at 23:59 on the same day.]

At around 15:20 on June 23, 2021, #NextDigital, the parent company of #AppleDaily announced that the last edition of the pro-democracy newspaper will be released on Saturday, June 26 the latest, under the current circumstances in Hong Kong.

The homepage of the newspaper will be closed at 23:59 on the same day.

The company thanks the readers for their genuine support and the commitment of the newspapers' journalists, staff and advertisers.

However, according to several sources including iCable News, Now News and Stand News, the newspaper might shut down the earliest on Thursday, June 24, 2021--which is in one day.

On June 17, 2021, the police raided the newspaper, took away at least 38 computers and a large amount of journalistic material and arrested 3 editors and 2 executives on the charge of NationalSecutityLaw. Among them, editor-in-chief #RyanLaw and Next Digital CEO #CheungKimHung have been detained since then.

The founder of the newspaper #JimmyLai has also been jailed.

The authorites froze the assets of the 26-year-old newspaper and three connecting companies, obstructing its operation. The Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong SAR Government, #JohnLee, openly asked people and companies to "cut ties" with the pro-democracy newspaper.

On June 23, the police arrested a 55-year-old man, accusing him of "colluding with foreign powers" and "violating the National Security Law". The man, with the pen name "#LeePing", is a news commentator for Apple Daily's China news.

The police said more arrests might take place.

Source: Apple Daily; Stand News; InMedia #Jun23

#PressFreedom #PoliticalProsecution

https://bit.ly/3gPdn4U
https://bit.ly/3zLZR9w
https://bit.ly/2UyLHIV

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Related News:

Arrests, National Security Charges and Frozen Assets: Pro-Democracy Apple Daily Might Shut Down in 5 Days

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30172

#NextMegazine chief: “We’ve tried and enjoyed media freedom in the past. We have no regrets.”

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30201

News Anchor Wishes Hongkongers Safe
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30177

Former Staff Bids Farewell to the Newspaper
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30179

Apple Daily Stops its English and Finance News

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30188

#PoliceState #AsiasFinest
Two more ministers with a police background in Hong Kong; Pro-China lawmaker: "I don’t think there’s any problem with a police state"

Source: InMedia #Jun25

Read more
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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30267

#PoliceState #AsiasFinest
Two more ministers with a police background in Hong Kong; Pro-China lawmaker: "I don’t think there’s any problem with a police state"

On June 25, 2021, the Hong Kong SAR government announced personnel change in the top adminstration, where at least two more officials with law enforcement backgrounds will take up key senior positions.

The current Secretary for Security #JohnLee has been appointed as the new chief secretary. He is the city's first top minister with a police background.

Police Commissioner #ChrisTang will become the Secretary for Security. One of his deputies, #RaymondSiu, is promoted to the police chief.

The personnel change was announced by Chief Executive Carrie Lam in Hong Kong and officiated by the State Ministry of the PRC in Beijing.

The "promotion" has stirred up discontent among the public. Many deemed it as a blatant manifestation of a "police state" in Hong Kong.

However, pro-Beijing lawmaker Alice Mak, of the Federation of Trade Unions, said, "If it’s a police state, why not? I don’t think there’s any problem with a police state."

The government's announcement came one day after the police and the Security Bureau had cracked down the city's pro-democracy newspaper #AppleDaily, by forcing the newspaper and related magazine under #NextDigital to close down on June 24, 2021. The police arrested and charged several editors, news commentators and executives under the #NationalSecurityLaw, while the Security Bureau froze the assets of the newspaper and three related companies.

Source: InMedia #Jun25
https://bit.ly/3dvEvE3

#FailedState #PoliticalSuppression

#FailedState
Carrie Lam Defends Top Officials for Violating Gathering Ban in Extravagant Banquet with Property Developer: "You can't just turn away after seeing abalone"

On July 11, 2021, Hong Kong Chief Executive #CarrieLam spoke in a #CommercialRadio program and defended three top government officials who had violated the #GatheringBan by participating in an extravagant dinner with another 5 people in March 2021.

One of the five people comes from the top management of Evergrande Real Estate Group, a China-owned property developer headquartered in Shenzhen.

Read more:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30467

The three top officials are Commissioner of Customs and Excise #HermesTang; Director of Immigration #AuKaWing; and the Undersecretary for Security, #SonnyAu. The banquet cost at least HKD 2,380 per head.

Lam claimed that “they didn’t know what was on the menu" and they couldn’t just "stand up and leave when they saw abalone."

Lam called on people to look at the incident in a "more humanised way”.

In the same program, Lam also openly said that she 'does not expect" #JohnLee, former Secretsry for Security and the new Chief Secretary, to do much, other than national security issues. Lam added that Lee, the second highest government official in the city, was not familiar with "poverty alleviation, youth or ethnic minority works".

Source: RTHK; Stand News #Jul10

https://bit.ly/3yS0xc2

#Abalone #Banquet #599G #AsiasFinest #Inequality #PropertyDeveloper #Evergrande

#PoliceState
#Taiwan #Scholar refutes HK government's labelling of police knifing incident as “local terrorism”

In less than 4 hours after the police knifing incident took place in Causeway Bay on 1 July, 2021, the Hong Kong government's Secretary for Security #ChrisTang, hastily concluded the attack as a “lone-wolf terrorist act”.

Tang further condemned those attempted to pay tribute to the deceased man, calling such action as “glorifying terrorism and encouraging violence."

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary #JohnLee warned citizens against what he called "local terrorism" in his first blog post as the city’s second ranking official.

Taiwan scholar, #ShihChienGu who specializes in global counter-terrorism, however, considered such allegations unfounded.

He did not agree that public mourning advocates terrorism. Instead, he asked the Hong Kong Government to investigate reasons for the incident to render public sympathy.

Shih further explained that there are two basic concepts to Terrorism, one is whether it causes panic in society and the other is whether it has a political purpose.

The man who knifed the police officer didn’t cause social alarm. If the action was out of the man's discontentment, it is neither politically driven.

Shih opined that the assault against pro-democracy protesters in Yuen Long on 21 July 2019 was a terrorist attack as it shocked and provoked panic in local community. If the collusion between assailants and police is evident, the attack could be deemed a “state terrorism”. That is to say, the regime is using illegal means to intimidate its own people.

Shih Chien-yu is a guest professor in the Taiwan Tsinghua University.

Source: HKCnews; #Jul7

https://bit.ly/3wEWRZT

#StateTerrorism #Propaganda #WhiteTerror #Censorship

Hong Kong Government Ousts Elected Lawmaker #ChengChungTai by "Disqualification"

The ‘Candidate Eligibility Review Committee’ of the Hong Kong SAR Government ousted CHENG Chung-tai, one of the final two opposition lawmakers from the city's lawmaking body, Legislative Council, on Thursday, 26 Aug, 2021. The news was announced by Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu.

Hong Kong's next Chief Executive will be selected by a non-elected 1,500-membered electoral in 2022. All of the members must be screened by the ‘Candidate Eligibility Review Committee’, chaired by #JohnLee, the city's former Security Chief.

The Committee has reviewed 1,498 electoral candidates and disqualified two of them. One of them is opposition lawmaker CHENG Chung-tai. Lee claimed, once Cheng loses his electoral candidature, he is disqualified immediately from his lawmaker seat.

Lee claimed that the committee had asked Cheng for information in ‘some matters’. After Cheng replied, the Committee for ‘Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong SAR’ said Cheng did not qualify.

Source: Initium Media #Aug27
https://bit.ly/3ykshFu

#PoliticalSuppression #Disqualifications #DQ #PoliceState #FakeElection #ChiefExecutiveElection #NationalSecurityLaw

Governmdnt Official 'Recommends' Legal Aid Cases Use Government-Appointed Lawyers Only

The Hong Kong SAR government and the pro-Beijing camp had made numerous accusations that the legal aid system is being abused. #JohnLee Ka-Chiu, the Chief Secretary for Administration, had evaluated the system and presented a series of recommendations to the Legislative Council on Oct 22, 2021.

The report recommended that lawyers for criminal cases be appointed by the Legal Aid Department (#LAD), rather than allowing aid recipients to nominate their own lawyer. Only "special cases" will be exempted, for example when the self-nominated lawyer has represented the defendant before.

They also suggested a limit of legal aid for cases related to judicial reviews, allowing a maximum of 3 cases for barristers and 5 for solicitors.

The government also proposed to "enhance case management". If the LAD believes there is a conflict of interest of the original-appointed lawyer, they will suspend the legal aid or appoint another lawyer. And if the client seeks voluntary legal advice without LAD consent, the LAD will also withdraw the aid.

#LegalAidDepartment #LegalAssistance #RightToCounsel #JudicialReview

Source: Stand News #Oct26
https://bit.ly/3jucdMX

See also:

Protesters' Fund In Support of Hong Kong Pro-democracy Movement Will Cease Operation
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30820

#SmallCircleElection #CCPInfluence
Ex-police officer oversees crackdown on pro-democracy protests is sole candidate in Hong Kong's #ChiefExecutiveElection

#JohnLee, a career police officer turned hardline security official, is running unopposed to take over the Chief Executive job in Hong Kong’s elections next month.

As the sole candidate with #Beijing’s blessing, he is all but guaranteed to become the next chief executive.

Hongkongers have not had a direct say in who serves as their chief executive since the handover in 1997. Instead, the post is selected by a small committee of society stakeholders called the Election Committee.

In March, 2021, Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral process, expanding the committee to 1,500 members but also tightening the criteria for candidates. New measures included a two-step national security screening process to ensure all members were loyal to the CCP.

Sources: InmediaHK, Reuters #Apr15

#PoliceState #Regime

Business connections of #JohnLee’s sons with CE electors revealed

//A #Factwire investigation reveals that the two sons of John Lee, the Chief Executive candidate likely to be running unopposed this year, both have connections with members of the current #ChiefExecutiveElection Committee in the business field, although John Lee’s team said he has not been involved in these connections.

John Lee’s older son, Gilbert Lee, is a senior executive at Hang Seng Bank, whose direct superior, Diana Cesar, is the bank’s chief and a finance subsector member of the Election Committee. Gilbert Lee was awarded a position in a government panel last year, soon after his father became the Chief Secretary for Administration.

Lee’s younger son Jacky Lee is a business partner of Li Sing-tui, a member of the Election Committee and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (#CPPCC). Together, they own and operate a kindergarten in Dongguan that costs over HKD 70,000 a year to attend.//

Read full article:
https://www.factwire.org/en/business-connections-of-john-lees-sons-with-ce-electors-revealed/

Source: Factwire #Apr15

#CCPRules #HongKongElection

#SmallCircleElection #CCPRules
Former Security Head Nominated for Chief Executive Election in Hong Kong Without Any Program

In Hong Kong, #JohnLee, a former police commissioner and the secretary for secutity until recently, claimed that he has submitted 786 nominations to the Election Committee, making him the sole candidate in Hong Kong's #ChiefExecutiveElection.

Lee was known for his pro-Beijing stance and hardliner attitude in suppressing the city's prodemocracy protests.

Lee was asked by journalists to comment on the legitimacy of the election, as he has been nominated without having any program nor statement.

Lee did not give a direct response, but said, "it takes time to write a statement." Lee claimed that he is a pragmatic person and would be able to realise the policy he proposed.

Source: InMedia #Apr15
https://bit.ly/378khQJ

#Regime #PoliceState

Who is John Lee?: Sole Candidate in Hong Kong's #ChiefExecutive Election

//Hong Kong’s former chief secretary #JohnLee has officially thrown his hat into the ring for next month’s leadership race after he submitted 786 nominations on Wednesday, April 15, 2022. The 64-year-old is the sole hopeful in the small-circle election scheduled for May 8, 2022. Lee is on track to be elected as the next chief executive by the 1,462 Election Committee members he vetted last year.

Lee’s appointment by 0.02 per cent of the population will mark the first time a former police officer assumes leadership of the city. Known for his hardline approach since he took the helm of the Security Bureau in September 2017, Lee’s tenure saw the 2019 protests and the subsequent enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law.

He gained an unprecedented promotion last June to the second-highest role in the administration, where he was entrusted to chair a powerful committee to ensure election candidates were Chinese patriots.

In response to accusations that frontline police had failed to display their warrant cards, making it difficult for people to file complaints against the force, Lee said on June 19, 2010, "The design of the uniform leaves no space for displaying the police officer’s number.”

...Lee at the time called on journalists to distance themselves from “evil elements” who “damaged press freedom.”

On June 17, 2021, Lee condemned journalists from #AppleDaily and #StandNews:

"Ordinary journalists are different from them… [for] anyone who tries to use journalistic work as a shield to engage in crimes endangering national security, the SAR government must use the strictest measures to clamp down [on them]. “//

Read more:
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/04/18/who-is-john-lee-12-quotes-from-hong-kongs-unopposed-leadership-hopeful/

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Apr18

#Regime #SmallCircleElection #ChiefExecutiveElection #NationalSecurityLaw

#YouTube terminates campaign channel of sole Hong Kong chief executive candidate #JohnLee, citing need to comply with #US #sanctions on ex-official

//Online video sharing platform YouTube has terminated the campaign channel of Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu, citing the need to comply with US sanctions placed on the former official.

The platform, operated by US giant #Google, made the rare move in taking down Lee’s YouTube channel early on Wednesday, clipping the Beijing-endorsed candidate’s ability to share videos of him meeting different sectors publicly.//

Source: SCMP #Apr19
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3174862/youtube-terminates-campaign-channel-sole-hong-kong-chief

#ChiefExecutiveElection #SmallCircle

#PoliceState #SmallCircleElection
Hong Kong small-circle leadership race: Meet John Lee – the ex-police officer #Beijing trusts

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #May8

Read more
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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/32676

#PoliceState #SmallCircleElection
Hong Kong small-circle leadership race: Meet John Lee – the ex-police officer #Beijing trusts

[On May 8, 2022, #JohnLee, the sole candidate in the election, was selected by an election committee with 1,000 or so members to be the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, after the end of #CarrieLam's term. Lee received 1,416 votes to become the political leader of a city of more than seven million people. Read: https://hongkongfp.com/2022/05/08/breaking-sole-candidate-john-lee-selected-as-hong-kongs-next-leader/]

//As a former beat cop who rose to become Hong Kong’s security chief, John Lee is the one person China’s leaders trust to run the city as their loyal lieutenant, analysts and insiders say.

Lee, 64, is expected to be anointed Hong Kong’s next chief executive by a small committee on Sunday, the culmination of a choreographed, Beijing-blessed race with no other candidates...

It also places a security official in the city’s top job for the first time, a man who played a key role in the suppression of huge democracy protests and Beijing’s subsequent political crackdown.

Insiders say Lee’s unwavering commitment to that role won China’s confidence at a time when other Hong Kong elite were seen as insufficiently loyal or competent...

Given his security background, it seems unlikely Lee — already sanctioned by the United States — will reverse Beijing’s campaign against dissent.

Where he will enter less familiar territory is the world of business, an area where Hong Kong is suffering...//

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #May8

#Regime #ChiefExecutiveElection

#PoliceState
Hong Kong Police Surround Pro-democracy Group Calling for Universal Suffrage on Election Day

In the past it would have been common to see protests during the #ChiefExecutive Election in Hong Kong.

It is, however, not the case anymore, as almost all the pro-democracy legislators have been jailed, coupled with the reformation of the electoral system.

On the early morning of May 8, 2022, the League of Social Democrats (#LSD), a pro-democracy group, tried to head towards the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center (#HKCEC) to protest; however, their members were stopped and searched by the police in Central Plaza, and were thereby banned from entering HKCEC.

As early as at 7:30am, over 30 policemen, all wearing stabproof vest, were stationed outside the clinic of Family Planning Association of Hong Kong in Wan Chai.

The chairperson of the League of Social Democrats Chan Po-ying comdemned the newly formed government for not tolerating opposing ideas, ‘Does #JohnLee’s “Starting a New Chapter” mean banning peaceful petition?’ she asked.

Chan also expressed that Hong Kong is ruled by fear, and that organisations often have to think twice before conducting any activity. She added that the League of Social Democrats understood the ineffectiveness in protesting, but still wished that the community was not silence. She then moved on to encourage organisations in the society to persevere, whilst lamenting over John Lee’s ‘lack of competitor’ in his run for Chief Executive, that the pro-establishment camp ‘didn’t even try to find him (John Lee) an opponent’, showing how pathetic the society was.

Source: InMedia #May8