World must push back against China’s refusal to honour its Hong Kong deal

By US Rep. Ted Yoho

#OpinionArticle published on Hong Kong Free Press #4Oct2020

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/25831

World must push back against China’s refusal to honour its Hong Kong deal

By US Rep. Ted Yoho

#OpinionArticle published on Hong Kong Free Press #4Oct2020

// It is no secret that China has been strong-arming Hong Kong, forcing its residents to flee oppression. The national security law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison...

Recently, 12 young activists, terrified about the implications of the new law, fled the city by speedboat only to be apprehended by Chinese authorities. They have been detained in mainland China for over a month with no access to legal representation. Their case confirms the worst fears of Hongkongers. No one in Hong Kong, or the rest of the world, should face life in prison for going to the street to exercise their free speech and speak truth to power in criticising their government...

The Hong Kong we see today is unrecognisable from before, with “One Country, Two Systems” forcibly molded into “One Country, One System.” We need to reject the recent actions by the CCP and impose consequences on Beijing for its actions towards Hong Kong.

The truth is, President Xi and the CCP cannot survive with people who have tasted liberty, free thought and self-determination. The US must continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong and work with our allies to put pressure on Beijing to honor its past agreements. The time is now to work together in pushing back against Beijing’s underhanded tactics and protecting the people of Hong Kong. //

Read full article:
https://hongkongfp.com/2020/10/04/world-must-push-back-against-chinas-refusal-to-honour-its-hong-kong-deal/

#FloridaRep #TedYoho #USHouseOfRepresentatives #US #China #Save12HKYouths #AntiCCP

#OpinionArticle #Court #PoliticalSuppression
"I Do Not Plead Guilty": Hong Kong Journalist Facing Legal Challenge for Unveiling Suspected Police-Triad Collusion

Source: Stand News; #Mar24

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29316

#OpinionArticle #Court #PoliticalSuppression
"I Do Not Plead Guilty": Hong Kong Journalist Facing Legal Challenge for Unveiling Suspected Police-Triad Collusion

[Editor's note: This is an opinion article written by Au Ka-lun, a veteran journalist in Hong Kong.

In this article, Au recounted what happened during a court hearing where Bao Choy, a journslist working for the public broadcaster RTHK, was charged by the Hong Kong authorities for "giving false statement". The case has stirred up the population's outcry for censoring media freedom and infringing free speech.]

On March 24, 2021, in the courtroom of the Western Magistrate’s Courts in Hong Komg, veteran journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling resonantly said “I do not plead guilty”.

It is noteworthy that Choy said “I do not plead guilty" (我不認罪) instead of “I plead not guilty” (我唔認罪).

Bao Choy is a professional broadcaster who knows well the subtle difference between “do not” (不) and “Not” (唔) in Cantonese.

In Cantonese, the negation word that is pronounced “ng” is hard to sound out loudly, making it more difficult to be heard and message less affirmative.

Comparatively speaking, the sentence “I do not plead guilty” is more resounding and powerful.

Although I cannot see Bao Choy’s eyes and face through the screen, her clear response to the Court--by saying “I do not plead guilty” twice--found resonance outside the wall of the courtroom.

I heard not only her determination and defiance, but also her unyielding spirit with no fear, complaint and regret.

During the court hearing, the entire news documentary program, Hong Kong Connection: The Truth of 721. Perhaps, which was produced by Choy, was shown.

All those inside and outside the courtroom watched the investigative news programme, which is about the triad attack on pro-democracy protesters and passersby in Yuen Long on July 21, 2019, together.

We saw footages where a large group of white-clad gangsters gathered in the early afternoon; we even saw plain-clothes police officers witnessing the gathering of these Triad members.

The documentary recorded the suspected collusions between the police and the gangsters; questioned the police’s leniency towards the Triad; and demonstrated the journalists’ persistence in reporting the truth.

However, the Hong Kong authorities has deliberately tossed these facts aside. They charge a journalist for checking the car plates and owners' information.

It is a simple case, in which both the prosecution and the defendant did not summon a witness.

The case is upright and aboveboard, leaving Bao Choy nothing to defend for herself but holding her head high and said, “I do not plead guilty.”

Source: Stand News; #Mar24

https://www.thestandnews.com/court/%E8%94%A1%E7%8E%89%E7%8E%B2-%E6%88%91%E4%B8%8D%E8%AA%8D%E7%BD%AA/

#BaoChoy #AuKaLun #Journalism #Professionalism #RTHK

#OpinionArticle #SaveAppleDaily
Former Apple Daily Staff Bids Farewell to the Newspaper

Source: Terry’s Lazy Class #Jun21

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30179

#OpinionArticle #SaveAppleDaily
Former Apple Daily Staff Bids Farewell to the Newspaper

[Editor's note: The following was written by veteran media worker Terry Yeung, who used to work at Apple Daily and is now publishing regularly on different social media platforms. Yeung recounted his visit to the Apple Daily office after learning the news of the newspaper's forced closure on June 21, 2021]

"After receiving the news, I broke into tears during a meeting. I bought some cakes and hurried back to my 'old home'.

I left Next Digital for some time, but this place is always my alma mater.

Entering through the gate, I bumped into Ms S, who hired me seven years ago. She took me in and let a dumb kid have his first taste in the media industry.

I just took this photo with a banner that writes “Great Work, colleagues!”. It was hanged on the second floor, visible from the lobby.

Ms C of Finance News rushed over for a hug. Her eyes were all red.

Ms F and Mr. H from the same team patted me on the shoulder. The silence said all.

I visited the 'Apple Seed' team and greeted Ms I, who was burying herself in work in order to make sure every colleague is well.

Animal News reporter Ms A hugged me as soon as she saw me. We have known each other for seven years.

I ran into Manager B, a very good friend of mine. We used to go buy siu mei at the Canteen on the fifth floor together.

The cashier screamed when she spotted me. Another familar face from the canteen cried out: “Why are you coming back? Are you paying me a visiting?”

Some former colleagues were taking group photos in the lobby, while some others were still busy in meetings as usual.

If there is still Apply Daily tomorrow, there are articles to be written and printed.

This is the daily routine in Next Digital--things got to be done. It is a sad moment, but there is no time to be immersed in sadness.

Today, many people cried while hugging me. After that, they continued to write articles and work in silence.

As long as Apple Daily is still here, there are news to be published.

The office of Mr. Cheung Kim-hung is vacant.
The seat of Mr. Lai Chee-ying is empty.

The staff of the newspaper vow to work until the end, until they can report news no more.

It is my honour to have been a part of Apple Daily."

Source: Terry’s Lazy Class #Jun21

https://www.facebook.com/108102623935984/posts/529270185152557/

#PoliceState #NationalSecurityLaw #PressFreedom #HongKongMedia #Journalism #FreeJimmy #SaveAppleDaily

====
Related News:

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

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30172

Voices are Disappearing in Face of "Stability and Prosperity"

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30175

#OpinionArticle
Hong Kong’s Stage-Managed Election Is Fooling Nobody

Source: Bloomberg #Nov7

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#OpinionArticle
Hong Kong’s Stage-Managed Election Is Fooling Nobody

//Arrangements for Hong Kong’s first legislative election under a revamped system are leaving little to chance. There must be competition — but not too much, and of the right kind. Meanwhile, the anti-corruption agency has warned against calls to cast blank ballots or abstain from voting — two of the few ways left for people to register disapproval of a Beijing-designed process from which political opposition has been excluded.

As of Nov. 3, five days after nominations opened, only 48 had been received for the 90 seats in the Legislative Council. The nomination period runs until Friday. 

Hong Kong’s electoral system was always designed to favor pro-establishment interests. In the last LegCo election in 2016, when turnout reached a record 58%, only half the seats in a 70-member council were directly elected. After Beijing’s changes, just 20 seats, or less than a quarter of the expanded chamber, will be chosen by the full electorate of 4.5 million. Even if opposition candidates somehow got past new vetting procedures and achieved a clean sweep, they would still be in a minority. With the result not in doubt, such micro-management should be unnecessary. Why bother?

In practice, most authoritarian regimes attach a high significance to elections because they are seen as conferring legitimacy. Feigning conformity to established rules carries a ritual and symbolic power, as Lee Morgenbesser, who studies authoritarian systems at Australia’s Griffith University, has observed. Dictators from Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus to Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad have proclaimed a democratic mandate after elections that were clearly far from free and fair. 

Autocracies have three, mutually reinforcing pillars of stability, according to the German political scientist Johannes Gerschewski: repression, co-optation and legitimation. After the instability of the 2019 pro-democracy protests, Hong Kong has relied primarily on the first, aided by a national security law that China imposed in mid-2020. Opposition candidates have been arrested, civil society has been hollowed out, and the media environment has become more constricted.//

Source: Bloomberg #Nov7
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-11-07/hong-kong-s-stage-managed-election-process-will-be-tested-by-turnout

#LegCo #Election #FailedState

#OpinionArticle
Can China be trusted? As the Russia-Ukraine war shows, #Beijing often says one thing and does another

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Mar23

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#OpinionArticle
Can China be trusted? As the Russia-Ukraine war shows, #Beijing often says one thing and does another

//The war in Ukraine helps to explain this paradox. Less than two months before Russia’s invasion, Chinese President #XiJinping told Ukraine President #VolodymyrZelensky that he attached “high importance to developing the Chinese-Ukrainian strategic partnership.” But only weeks later, Xi and his Russian counterpart, #VladimirPutin, declared that their countries’ budding alliance had “no limits.” 

...There is debate regarding the extent to which Xi and other Chinese officials had advance knowledge of the invasion. If they did, that makes them complicit in aggressive war and ongoing Russian war crimes in Ukraine. It would also mean that claims of ignorance by Chinese officials are not to be trusted.

And if they didn’t have knowledge of the invasion, the Russians didn’t trust them enough to give forewarning. Either way, there’s distrust of China.

...According to reports, Russia has requested that China provide it with weapons to bolster the assault on Ukraine. It is unclear whether China will fulfil that request. Chinese writing on bomb fragments in destroyed Ukrainian hospitals and schools – favourite targetsof the Russians – would not be good for China’s reputation.//

Read the full article
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/03/23/can-china-be-trusted-as-the-russia-ukraine-war-shows-beijing-often-says-one-thing-and-does-another/

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Mar23

#RussianInvasion #WarCrime #HumanitarianCrisis