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$90 Million HKD Collected in Anti-Pandemic Fines, Govt Data Shows

#SocialDistancing #COVID19 #PoliceState

Source: Inmediahk

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$90 Million HKD Collected in Anti-Pandemic Fines, Govt Data Shows

In response to the outbreak of #WuhanPneumonia in early 2020, the government enacted a series of social distancing measures, including a #GatheringBan, #MaskMandate, and mandatory use of the "#LeaveHomeSafe" contact tracing app. These regulations are part of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, also known as Cap. 599.

From April 1, 2021 to Feb 28, 2022, police had issued 21,613 tickets against more than 1,100 individuals for Cap. 599 violations, collecting $89,980,000HKD in fines for the government.

The number of tickets issued, by regulation, are:

Gathering ban (599G): 13,525 tickets
Mask mandate (599I): 6102 tickets
Business and premises regulation (599F): 1986 tickets

Since the 5th wave of outbreak earlier this year, the number tickets for violating the mask mandate more than doubled, rising from January's 550 to February's 1909.

Source: In-Media HK
https://bit.ly/37enUnZ

Related news: a few instances when 599G and 599I tickets were issued:

Hong Kong Police Ticket 14 Pro-democracy Elderly for violating gathering ban, each fined for HK$5,000
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27235

Hong Kong Police Accuse Civilians Queueing Up to Enter Courtroom of Breaching the Gathering Ban
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/28952

Carrie Lam Defends Top Officials for Violating Gathering Ban in Extravagant Banquet with Property Developer: "You can't just turn away after seeing abalone"
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30485

#SocialDistancing #COVID19 #PoliceState
#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
#Court
Hong Kong democrat and DJ
#TamTakChi jailed for 40 months over 11 charges, including ‘uttering seditious words’

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Apr19

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#Court
Hong Kong democrat and DJ #TamTakChi jailed for 40 months over 11 charges, including ‘uttering seditious words’

//Hong Kong pro-democracy activist “Fast Beat” Tam Tak-chi has been sentenced to 40 months in jail and given a HK$5,000 fine after being convicted of 11 charges, including seven counts under the colonial-era sedition law.

The DJ and former vice-chair of People Power has been held in custody since he was arrested in September 2020. He appeared in front of handpicked national security judge Stanley Chan at the District Court on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old activist faced 14 charges, including “uttering seditious words,” disorderly conduct in a public place, conspiracy to utter seditious words, holding or convening an unauthorised assembly, incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorised assembly, and refusing to obey an order given by an authorised officer...

After the court session ended, Tam shouted: “Mum, take care of yourself, you will have to live longer to wait for me.”

Tam’s ex-DJ partner, former lawmaker Raymond Chan, was among those sitting in the public gallery. People stood up and waved at Tam as he stepped into the dock, and the activist waved back.

Tam is among the 47 pro-democracy figures awaiting trial under the #NationalSecurityLaw over their roles in a primary election for the 2020 Legislative Council election, which was later postponed.//

Read more:
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/04/20/breaking-hong-kong-democrat-and-dj-jailed-for-40-months-over-11-charges-including-uttering-sedition-words/

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Apr19

#FastBeat #Sedition #Censorship #Save47
#Court #PoliceState
2 handed suspended 2-month sentences for inciting others to cast invalid votes in Hong Kong’s ‘patriots only’ election

//Two people who were convicted of inciting others to cast invalid votes in Hong Kong’s “patriots only” legislative election last December have been given suspended sentences of two months’ in prison.

...The pair were accused of sharing a Facebook post by self-exiled pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui calling on Hongkongers to cast blank or invalid votes in the Legislative Council (#LegCo) election. As part of Beijing’s sweeping electoral overhaul, the authorities amended electoral laws last year, making it illegal to incite others to cast invalid votes and obstruct others from voting.//

Read the full article:
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/04/19/2-handed-suspended-2-month-sentences-for-inciting-others-to-cast-invalid-votes-in-hong-kongs-patriots-only-election/

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Apr19

#Election #ICAC
PolyU becomes fifth Hong Kong university to fully cut ties with #Students’Union

//The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU) has cut ties with its students’ union, becoming the fifth university to order its student body to vacate campus premises since the implementation of the #NationalSecurityLaw.

In an email sent to the union on Friday, the university said that it had repeatedly requested the union to sign an Acknowledgement of Compliance since 2013, according to former PolyU students’ union chief Alan Wu. The acknowledgement required the student body to abide by certain terms and conditions to use the university name.

The university ordered the 28-year-old students’ union to cease using the university name and using university resources, and to vacate campus premises by July 15, 2022.//

Read more:
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/04/19/polyu-becomes-third-hong-kong-university-to-fully-cut-ties-with-students-union/

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Apr19

#University #Censorship
#FailedState
Hong Kong's #COVID Hospital Switches Computer to Chinese for Mainland Medics, but Needs Local Staff to Retype in English

Source: Inmedia #Mar15

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#FailedState
Hong Kong's #COVID Hospital Switches Computer to Chinese for Mainland Medics, but Needs Local Staff to Retype in English

The first batch of Chinese mainland medical staff arrived in Hong Kong in March 14, 2022, and are assigned to work at the temporary #AsiaWorldExpo isolation facility.

In preparation, the computer system for clinical management at the facility has been changed to display Chinese.

The President of Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association, #LingSiuChiTony, revealed in a radio interview that after discharging a patient from the makeshift hospital, Hong Kong medical staff have to retype the documents by mainland medics before submitting them to the #HospitalAuthority (#HA) network, as Hong Kong's medical records system is in English. He was also concerned about the diagnosis process; although most of the mainland staff were from Guangdong -- where Cantonese is spoken -- their medical as well as conversational language both have differences from those used by Hongkongers.

The mainland medical staff serving in the COVID hospital are exempt from registration. Although the HA claimed to take responsibility for them, if a medical incident were to occur, it would be difficult to hold them responsible.

"Since they (mainland staff) are not locally registered, we cannot hold a disciplinary hearing on them or revoke their license. By the time of the hearing, they may have left Hong Kong already."

Source: Inmedia #Mar15
https://bit.ly/3q7pn5P

#HKPDA #WuhanPneumonia #OmicronWave
#WhiteTerror #Oppression
Over a dozen companies refuse to transport #PillarofShame, citing concerns over Chinese government's reprisal

Source: Inmediahk; #Apr19

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#WhiteTerror #Oppression
Over a dozen companies refuse to transport #PillarofShame, citing concerns over Chinese government's reprisal

The Pillar of Shame - the Tiananmen memorial at the University of Hong Kong (#HKU) which stood for more than 20 years - has been dismantled and packed away in cargo containers by the University management in the middle of the night in December 2021.

Since then, the creator of the Pillar, Danish artist #JensGalschiøt, had been attempting to ship the Pillar back to Denmark.

In a statement, Galschiøt said that his team, including lawyers, 2 shipping companies, and even the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs were involved in the effort, but they had yet to find a company to move the cargo container from storage to the container wharf.

12 shipping companies turned them down, all citing concerns over the Chinese government taking vengeance on them.

Galschiøt reiterated that he is still hopeful for success, but it remains unclear as to when the Pillar can be shipped out of Hong Kong.

Source: Inmediahk; #Apr19
https://bit.ly/3918PH7

See also:
The Pillar of Shame is being destroyed in these minutes : Jen Galschiot calls for public record on Twitter (Dec 23, 2021)
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/31702

New School for Democracy Announces Rebuilding Pillar of Shame in Taiwan: "One Pillar Falls, Thousands More Will Be Raised" (Jan 27, 2022)
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/15

#June4 #TiananmenMassacre #Memorial
Media is too big
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Voices of April: Video Protesting Shanghai Lockdown Goes Viral in China, Despite Chinese Censors

On April 22, A 6-minute protest video about Shanghai's locked-down residents went viral on Chinese social media.

Source:
Zoanhae Vision 上海眼界 Youtube channel, What's On Weibo

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Voices of April: Video Protesting Shanghai Lockdown Goes Viral in China, Despite Chinese Censors

On April 22, A 6-minute protest video about Shanghai's locked-down residents went viral on Chinese social media.

The video featured audio snippets from various videos recorded in #Shanghai throughout April, when the city was plunged into a month-long #COVID lockdown since late March. The recordings, played over black-and-white drone footage of the city, documented the residents' ordeal over the past month: food and supply shortages, quarantine separating parents from their children, pets being beaten to death, hospitals turning away patients, makeshift hospitals missing essential supplies and even lacking a roof, and so on.

China's government censors moved quickly to block the video, but netizens continued to tenaciously spread the video on social media and instant messaging platforms in China.

Netizens have added English translations and reposted the video on Youtube. Watch here: (turn on English captions)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWW6r2iOwzU

For a more detailed recap of the video, see also:
The Voices of April – The Short Online Life of a Shanghai Protest Video
https://www.whatsonweibo.com/the-voices-of-april-the-short-online-life-of-a-shanghai-protest-video/

The video ends with a simple message for the city's suffering residents: "Shanghai, get well soon."

#HumanitarianCrisis #ShanghaiLockdown #PoliceState #WuhanPneumonia

Source:
Zoanhae Vision 上海眼界 Youtube channel, What's On Weibo
#Solidarity #StandwithUkraine
"We Stand with You": Train in Ukrainian Colors Running in Western Japan

A railway operator in the western Japanese city of Takamatsu repainted one of their trains in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, in solidarity with the war-torn country. The train began service in its new colors on April 19, 2022.

Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad Co., the company operating the train, said on Twitter that they wanted to recognize the staff of Ukrainian railways who continued operating trains to transport civilians to safety, some of them tragically losing their lives amid the ongoing conflict.

The two-car train wrapped in yellow and blue also bore messages saying "We stand with you," "To the Ukrainian railway operators working to protect people's lives-" and "We wish for world peace" on both sides.

Source: Channel C HK, #Apr20
https://bit.ly/3xFtbQh

#Train
Around 1% of Hong Kong civil service employees quit in 2021/22

Source: Ming Pao; #Apr19

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#Resignation
Around 1% of Hong Kong civil servants quit in 2021/22

In Hong Kong, a rise in civil servants and Administrative Officers of the Government quitting their jobs is noticeable in recent years.

In the first 9 months of 2021/22, 8,274 civil servants have left the government, among them, 2,800 handed in their resignation.

The resignations, which represented a 50% increase than last year, were said only made up a small percentage of those who left at the same period. An official source from Civil Service Bureau claimed.

Hong Kong has around 178,000 government workers as of the end of March 2022. Those resigned accounted 1.6%, the highest figure since the return of Hong Kong to China.

The labour union representing civil service employees raised their concern over the vacancy arising from the increase in departure and decline in recruitment, amidst also political and work pressure.

Source: Ming Pao; #Apr19

https://bit.ly/3KaPqAc

#FailedState #CivilServant
Putin: Countries who set up a #Ukraine no-fly zone will be considered at war

Source: TW Apple Daily #Mar06

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Putin: Countries who set up a #Ukraine no-fly zone will be considered at war

Russian President #VladimirPutin said on March 5 that any country intending to set a no-fly zone above #Ukraine will be deemed as participating in an armed conflict.

According to AFP, #Putin told staff of Russian airline company Aeroflot that he needed a "demilitarised" and "denazified" Ukraine as a neutral neighbouring country. He also considered that the western measures on #Russia were like a declaration of war, "but thank God it has not come to that," he said.

Ukraine have been asking the West to set up a #NoFlyZone over their airspace. Putin commented that Europe and the whole world would face "colossal and catastrophic consequences" if countries followed Ukraine's call.

Source: TW Apple Daily #Mar06

https://tw.appledaily.com/international/20220306/NDT4MSZZD5HM5KH2UXA3RX7VBE/

#RussianInvasion
[Special] Taiwanese students living in HK under National Security Law - some got back to Taiwan, some stay.

Translated by Guardians of Hong Kong

In the past ten years, many Taiwanese further their post-secondary education and stay for career development in Hong Kong which has comparatively more international exposure than studying in Taiwan.

This year, among the many crying and hugging scenes in the Hong Kong International Airport, there were some Taiwanese friends. Wing-Yan (pseudonym), a Taiwanese who completed her bachelor degree in the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and stayed for 7 years, left Hong Kong in Aug 2021 and returned to Taiwan.

Read our fully translated story here:
https://telegra.ph/Special-Taiwanese-students-living-in-HK-under-National-Security-Law---some-got-back-to-Taiwan-some-stay-12-31

Source: The Stand News #Aug20

Reporter: KWAN Kwun-kei

#NSL #ChinaTaiwan #TaiwaneseInHK #Taiwan
Chinese #Drones Company #DJI denies accusations of leaking Ukrainian Military Secrets

Source: Unwire.hk #Mar31

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