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Category: kong

  • ‘Silver’ protest democracy activist keeps marching for Hong Kong

    In her youth, 72-year-old Yeung Po Hei was a staunch communist, delivering a public eulogy for late supreme leader Mao Zedong and later joining the ranks of nationalistic supporters of Beijing during the labor movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.

    But by 2019 she was spearheading a ‘silver protest’ in Hong Kong as part of the city’s fight to hold onto its vanishing freedoms.

    Concerned about the subsequent crackdown on public dissent that followed, Yeung, like many other Hong Kongers, headed to democratic Taiwan.

    Now, five years after the 2019 protests that began as a mass popular movement against extradition to mainland China and broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections, she is on the move again, seeking a new life in the United Kingdom.

    “I remember telling my friends that I wouldn’t leave [Taiwan], even if there was war in the Taiwan Strait,” Yeung told RFA Cantonese as she left the island with her luggage en route to the U.K. “I could just tend to my vegetables and make myself food out back.”

    But that changed with the 2022 local government elections.

    “I was pretty disappointed with [those] elections, mainly because a lot of candidates had been accused of corruption, with a good deal of evidence against them, but they still got elected anyway,” Yeung said.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.2.jpg
    Yeung pores over her extensive newspaper cuttings collection as she packs to move to the United Kingdom. (Cheng Hao-nan/RFA)

    “What were Taiwanese voters thinking? I always thought Taiwan was a democratic society, but how is it being implemented?”

    But it wasn’t just the politics. Yeung’s plan to make a living by running a bookstore in a quiet backwater in Taiwan’s Yilan county proved harder than she had imagined.

    ‘A lot of rationalizing’

    Back in Hong Kong, Yeung was a staunch supporter of the Chinese Communist Party, keeping faith until the fall of the Gang of Four in 1979. 

    Yeung took a large personal archive of newspaper reports and other material documenting her years of social activism in Hong Kong with her to the U.K.

    “Firstly, it’s about the memories, and secondly, it’s a record of Hong Kong’s history,” said Yeung, who took part in the blind labor movement of the early 1970s that campaigned for better pay and conditions for blind workers, alongside fellow Maoists and communist-leaning students.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.3.jpg
    Yeung Po Hui in her former home in Taiwan’s Yilan county. (Alice Yam/RFA)

    When late Mao died in 1976, Yeung was head of her university’s students’ union, and gave a public speech eulogizing him.

    “There was a lot of rationalizing,” she said of her idealism at the time. “I thought that if you wanted socialism, then that had to be led by the Chinese Communist Party.”

    “Later, I saw the bad things the Communist Party did, the blood on its hands,” she said. “It wasn’t until June 4, 1989, that I realized that the Chinese Communist Party is really evil.”

    After the Tiananmen massacre shocked the world in that year, Yeung withdrew from political movements to raise her kids and be a housewife for a few years.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.4.jpg
    Yeung Po Hui as the first female president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong students’ union in the 1970s. (Photo courtesy of Yeung Po Hui)

    It wasn’t until Hong Kong’s teenage activists led by Joshua Wong rose up in protest at plans to force “patriotic education” on Hong Kong’s schools in 2012 that she started to get involved in activism again.

    “Someone in the pro-establishment camp [in Hong Kong] was saying that national education was a necessity,” Yeung said. 

    Lin Bao quote

    For her, the attitude seemed to recall a quote by late disgraced Chinese leader Lin Biao: “Those who understand have to implement it. Those who don’t understand, also have to implement it.”

    “That really got me thinking, because that’s how we came out [during the Cultural Revolution] at the time, only to be deceived by the Gang of Four,” she said. “I thought, if that’s still the way things are today, then I want to stand up and oppose this.”

    Yeung started to be more engaged in social activism after that point, but no longer as a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party.

    “My only regret is that I was so ignorant and naive,” she said of her early support for Beijing. “If I had to it all over again, I would read more books and reports.”

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.5.jpg
    Yeung at a rally marking the anniversary of the 2019 protest movement in the U.K., June 2024. (Matthew Leung/RFA)

    By the time millions were turning out onto the streets to oppose extradition to mainland China, Yeung was one of the organizers, gathering other people of her generation to take part in marches and rallies as the “Silver Parade.”

    But now, years of passionate engagement with politics have started to take a toll on her, both physically and mentally.

    “People who stay behind in Hong Kong, who stay in that environment, are the brave ones,” Yeung said. “But I don’t agree that people who leave have given up on Hong Kong.”

    To the people of Taiwan living under the threat of encroaching Chinese political and military power, Yeung said: “Don’t waste the experience of the anti-extradition movement … It is really a good lesson and I hope the Taiwanese people can learn from it.”

    Even in the U.K., Yeung has continued to attend events marking the 2019 protest movement, saying that everyone can contribute to the campaign for democracy in Hong Kong ‘according to their own abilities.”

    “What you can’t do in Hong Kong, you can do after you leave,” she said. “If I am able to go, I always do, sometimes out of a sense of responsibility.”

    But she is now also focusing more on her health, and enjoying her retirement.

    “You can only keep going longer if you rest when you’re tired,” she said.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alice Yam and Matthew Leung for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘Silver’ protest democracy activist keeps marching for Hong Kong

    In her youth, 72-year-old Yeung Po Hei was a staunch communist, delivering a public eulogy for late supreme leader Mao Zedong and later joining the ranks of nationalistic supporters of Beijing during the labor movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.

    But by 2019 she was spearheading a ‘silver protest’ in Hong Kong as part of the city’s fight to hold onto its vanishing freedoms.

    Concerned about the subsequent crackdown on public dissent that followed, Yeung, like many other Hong Kongers, headed to democratic Taiwan.

    Now, five years after the 2019 protests that began as a mass popular movement against extradition to mainland China and broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections, she is on the move again, seeking a new life in the United Kingdom.

    “I remember telling my friends that I wouldn’t leave [Taiwan], even if there was war in the Taiwan Strait,” Yeung told RFA Cantonese as she left the island with her luggage en route to the U.K. “I could just tend to my vegetables and make myself food out back.”

    But that changed with the 2022 local government elections.

    “I was pretty disappointed with [those] elections, mainly because a lot of candidates had been accused of corruption, with a good deal of evidence against them, but they still got elected anyway,” Yeung said.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.2.jpg
    Yeung pores over her extensive newspaper cuttings collection as she packs to move to the United Kingdom. (Cheng Hao-nan/RFA)

    “What were Taiwanese voters thinking? I always thought Taiwan was a democratic society, but how is it being implemented?”

    But it wasn’t just the politics. Yeung’s plan to make a living by running a bookstore in a quiet backwater in Taiwan’s Yilan county proved harder than she had imagined.

    ‘A lot of rationalizing’

    Back in Hong Kong, Yeung was a staunch supporter of the Chinese Communist Party, keeping faith until the fall of the Gang of Four in 1979. 

    Yeung took a large personal archive of newspaper reports and other material documenting her years of social activism in Hong Kong with her to the U.K.

    “Firstly, it’s about the memories, and secondly, it’s a record of Hong Kong’s history,” said Yeung, who took part in the blind labor movement of the early 1970s that campaigned for better pay and conditions for blind workers, alongside fellow Maoists and communist-leaning students.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.3.jpg
    Yeung Po Hui in her former home in Taiwan’s Yilan county. (Alice Yam/RFA)

    When late Mao died in 1976, Yeung was head of her university’s students’ union, and gave a public speech eulogizing him.

    “There was a lot of rationalizing,” she said of her idealism at the time. “I thought that if you wanted socialism, then that had to be led by the Chinese Communist Party.”

    “Later, I saw the bad things the Communist Party did, the blood on its hands,” she said. “It wasn’t until June 4, 1989, that I realized that the Chinese Communist Party is really evil.”

    After the Tiananmen massacre shocked the world in that year, Yeung withdrew from political movements to raise her kids and be a housewife for a few years.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.4.jpg
    Yeung Po Hui as the first female president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong students’ union in the 1970s. (Photo courtesy of Yeung Po Hui)

    It wasn’t until Hong Kong’s teenage activists led by Joshua Wong rose up in protest at plans to force “patriotic education” on Hong Kong’s schools in 2012 that she started to get involved in activism again.

    “Someone in the pro-establishment camp [in Hong Kong] was saying that national education was a necessity,” Yeung said. 

    Lin Bao quote

    For her, the attitude seemed to recall a quote by late disgraced Chinese leader Lin Biao: “Those who understand have to implement it. Those who don’t understand, also have to implement it.”

    “That really got me thinking, because that’s how we came out [during the Cultural Revolution] at the time, only to be deceived by the Gang of Four,” she said. “I thought, if that’s still the way things are today, then I want to stand up and oppose this.”

    Yeung started to be more engaged in social activism after that point, but no longer as a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party.

    “My only regret is that I was so ignorant and naive,” she said of her early support for Beijing. “If I had to it all over again, I would read more books and reports.”

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.5.jpg
    Yeung at a rally marking the anniversary of the 2019 protest movement in the U.K., June 2024. (Matthew Leung/RFA)

    By the time millions were turning out onto the streets to oppose extradition to mainland China, Yeung was one of the organizers, gathering other people of her generation to take part in marches and rallies as the “Silver Parade.”

    But now, years of passionate engagement with politics have started to take a toll on her, both physically and mentally.

    “People who stay behind in Hong Kong, who stay in that environment, are the brave ones,” Yeung said. “But I don’t agree that people who leave have given up on Hong Kong.”

    To the people of Taiwan living under the threat of encroaching Chinese political and military power, Yeung said: “Don’t waste the experience of the anti-extradition movement … It is really a good lesson and I hope the Taiwanese people can learn from it.”

    Even in the U.K., Yeung has continued to attend events marking the 2019 protest movement, saying that everyone can contribute to the campaign for democracy in Hong Kong ‘according to their own abilities.”

    “What you can’t do in Hong Kong, you can do after you leave,” she said. “If I am able to go, I always do, sometimes out of a sense of responsibility.”

    But she is now also focusing more on her health, and enjoying her retirement.

    “You can only keep going longer if you rest when you’re tired,” she said.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alice Yam and Matthew Leung for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘Silver’ protest democracy activist keeps marching for Hong Kong

    In her youth, 72-year-old Yeung Po Hei was a staunch communist, delivering a public eulogy for late supreme leader Mao Zedong and later joining the ranks of nationalistic supporters of Beijing during the labor movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.

    But by 2019 she was spearheading a ‘silver protest’ in Hong Kong as part of the city’s fight to hold onto its vanishing freedoms.

    Concerned about the subsequent crackdown on public dissent that followed, Yeung, like many other Hong Kongers, headed to democratic Taiwan.

    Now, five years after the 2019 protests that began as a mass popular movement against extradition to mainland China and broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections, she is on the move again, seeking a new life in the United Kingdom.

    “I remember telling my friends that I wouldn’t leave [Taiwan], even if there was war in the Taiwan Strait,” Yeung told RFA Cantonese as she left the island with her luggage en route to the U.K. “I could just tend to my vegetables and make myself food out back.”

    But that changed with the 2022 local government elections.

    “I was pretty disappointed with [those] elections, mainly because a lot of candidates had been accused of corruption, with a good deal of evidence against them, but they still got elected anyway,” Yeung said.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.2.jpg
    Yeung pores over her extensive newspaper cuttings collection as she packs to move to the United Kingdom. (Cheng Hao-nan/RFA)

    “What were Taiwanese voters thinking? I always thought Taiwan was a democratic society, but how is it being implemented?”

    But it wasn’t just the politics. Yeung’s plan to make a living by running a bookstore in a quiet backwater in Taiwan’s Yilan county proved harder than she had imagined.

    ‘A lot of rationalizing’

    Back in Hong Kong, Yeung was a staunch supporter of the Chinese Communist Party, keeping faith until the fall of the Gang of Four in 1979. 

    Yeung took a large personal archive of newspaper reports and other material documenting her years of social activism in Hong Kong with her to the U.K.

    “Firstly, it’s about the memories, and secondly, it’s a record of Hong Kong’s history,” said Yeung, who took part in the blind labor movement of the early 1970s that campaigned for better pay and conditions for blind workers, alongside fellow Maoists and communist-leaning students.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.3.jpg
    Yeung Po Hui in her former home in Taiwan’s Yilan county. (Alice Yam/RFA)

    When late Mao died in 1976, Yeung was head of her university’s students’ union, and gave a public speech eulogizing him.

    “There was a lot of rationalizing,” she said of her idealism at the time. “I thought that if you wanted socialism, then that had to be led by the Chinese Communist Party.”

    “Later, I saw the bad things the Communist Party did, the blood on its hands,” she said. “It wasn’t until June 4, 1989, that I realized that the Chinese Communist Party is really evil.”

    After the Tiananmen massacre shocked the world in that year, Yeung withdrew from political movements to raise her kids and be a housewife for a few years.

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.4.jpg
    Yeung Po Hui as the first female president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong students’ union in the 1970s. (Photo courtesy of Yeung Po Hui)

    It wasn’t until Hong Kong’s teenage activists led by Joshua Wong rose up in protest at plans to force “patriotic education” on Hong Kong’s schools in 2012 that she started to get involved in activism again.

    “Someone in the pro-establishment camp [in Hong Kong] was saying that national education was a necessity,” Yeung said. 

    Lin Bao quote

    For her, the attitude seemed to recall a quote by late disgraced Chinese leader Lin Biao: “Those who understand have to implement it. Those who don’t understand, also have to implement it.”

    “That really got me thinking, because that’s how we came out [during the Cultural Revolution] at the time, only to be deceived by the Gang of Four,” she said. “I thought, if that’s still the way things are today, then I want to stand up and oppose this.”

    Yeung started to be more engaged in social activism after that point, but no longer as a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party.

    “My only regret is that I was so ignorant and naive,” she said of her early support for Beijing. “If I had to it all over again, I would read more books and reports.”

    ENG_CHN_INTERVIEW SILVER PROTESTER_06252024.5.jpg
    Yeung at a rally marking the anniversary of the 2019 protest movement in the U.K., June 2024. (Matthew Leung/RFA)

    By the time millions were turning out onto the streets to oppose extradition to mainland China, Yeung was one of the organizers, gathering other people of her generation to take part in marches and rallies as the “Silver Parade.”

    But now, years of passionate engagement with politics have started to take a toll on her, both physically and mentally.

    “People who stay behind in Hong Kong, who stay in that environment, are the brave ones,” Yeung said. “But I don’t agree that people who leave have given up on Hong Kong.”

    To the people of Taiwan living under the threat of encroaching Chinese political and military power, Yeung said: “Don’t waste the experience of the anti-extradition movement … It is really a good lesson and I hope the Taiwanese people can learn from it.”

    Even in the U.K., Yeung has continued to attend events marking the 2019 protest movement, saying that everyone can contribute to the campaign for democracy in Hong Kong ‘according to their own abilities.”

    “What you can’t do in Hong Kong, you can do after you leave,” she said. “If I am able to go, I always do, sometimes out of a sense of responsibility.”

    But she is now also focusing more on her health, and enjoying her retirement.

    “You can only keep going longer if you rest when you’re tired,” she said.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alice Yam and Matthew Leung for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong revokes six UK-based exiled activists’ passport | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong revokes exiled activists’ passports over UK spying charge

    Hong Kong’s security chief on Wednesday revoked the Chinese passports of six U.K.-based activists including former pro-democracy lawmaker Nathan Law, imposing financial sanctions on them and hitting back at the British government for “deliberately discrediting” the city with spying charges against one of its officials.

    Secretary for Security Chris Tang revoked the Chinese passports of U.K.-based activists Christopher Mung and Finn Lau, former pro-democracy lawmaker Nathan Law, former British consular employee Simon Cheng, who co-founded the advocacy group Hongkongers in Britain, and overseas YouTube hosts Johnny Fok and Tony Choi. 

    Tang warned that anyone found engaging in any financial transactions with them would be prosecuted.

    The six, who already have arrest warrants and bounties on their heads, have been named as “fugitives” under the “Article 23” Safeguarding National Security Law passed in March, the government said in a statement.

    “We are targeting these six specified fugitives who have fled to the U.K. [because] we have noticed that the British government, many politicians, organizations and media have deliberately tried to discredit our government,” Tang told journalists in a briefing on Wednesday.

    “The British government is prosecuting one of our colleagues at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London on trumped up charges for violating the U.K. National Security Law,” Tang said. 

    ENG_CHN_HK UK ACTIVISTS_06122024.2.jpg
    A man is detained after policemen fired tear gas at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Nov. 12, 2019. (Philip Fong/AFP)

    He said the six activists “have been sheltered in the U.K. as they continue to advocate for subversion” of the Chinese government in Beijing.

    Bill Yuen, an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London has been charged with spying for Hong Kong, along with British Border Force officer Peter Wai. A third defendant, former Marine Matthew Trickett, was found dead in a park last month, although British police say they aren’t treating his death as suspicious.

    The trio were charged with “assisting a foreign intelligence service” and “foreign interference” under the National Security Act 2023, and stand accused of forcing and entering a property in the United Kingdom and of targeting exiled Hong Kong activists on British soil, according to the Metropolitan Police and the prosecution.

    Could target others

    Back in Hong Kong, Tang warned that “anyone who uses any means, regardless of platform, to provide funds for these people or handle funds for them is in violation of our laws.”

    The authorities have also placed restrictions on real estate owned by the activists in Hong Kong, preventing them from selling it or renting it out to anyone, and revoked some of their professional qualifications and directorships, a largely symbolic move given that they are unlikely to return.

    ENG_CHN_HK UK ACTIVISTS_06122024.6.jpg
    A profile of wanted exiled activist Nathan Law, is seen on a noticeboard outside a police station in Hong Kong, China, June 12, 2024. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

    Tang said the authorities could also issue similar sanctions targeting other prominent overseas activists.

    Police warned that anyone acting for the “fugitives” in financial or property matters could risk a seven-year jail term under the Article 23 legislation. 

    Finn Lau said via his X account that the move was announced on the fifth anniversary of a mass protest in 2019 that “symbolizes the unity of Hong Kongers,” and was another example of “transnational repression” by the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities.

    Lau said the cancellation of his Chinese passport was meaningless, as he has only ever held a British National Overseas, or BNO, passport, and that he would continue to advocate for human rights and democracy. 

    “The fighting spirit of Hongkongers, including mine, prevails,” he tweeted.

    ‘Will only strengthen our resolve’

    Simon Cheng said the measures were “politically motivated and ineffective.”

    “Our lives and advocacy continue unaffected in the U.K.,” he said via his X account. “The attempts to silence us will only strengthen our resolve to fight for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong.”

    ENG_CHN_HK UK ACTIVISTS_06122024.4.jpg
    Hong Kong’s activists Finn Lau and Tony Chung take part in a rally in solidarity with Hong Kong residents, as the Article 23 national security laws come into force, in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. (Hollie Adams/Reuters)

    The London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch said the move was the first time the authorities had used the Article 23 law to target the passports of activists in exile.

    “Hong Kong Watch condemns this outrageous manoeuver by the Hong Kong authorities to further target, intimidate and silence these six pro-democracy activists living in the UK who have simply advocated for their freedoms,” the group’s Chief Executive Officer Benedict Rogers said in a statement.

    “It is no coincidence that the authorities have canceled their passports on the same day that millions of Hong Kongers are commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 2019 anti-extradition law protests in Hong Kong,” he said.

    On June 12, 2019, Hong Kong police fired rubber bullets, pepper spray, and tear gas as tens of thousands of people surrounded the city’s legislature in a bid to block a debate on a law allowing extradition to mainland China.

    ENG_CHN_HK UK ACTIVISTS_06122024.5.jpg
    In this picture taken on Aug. 17, 2023, former Hong Kong veteran unionist Christopher Mung Siu-tat poses for a portrait in Bristol. (Justin Tallis/AFP)

    Crowds of mainly young people shouting “Withdraw the law!” and “No China renditions!” surrounded government headquarters and the Legislative Council, which was forced to postpone a debate on the government’s changes to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance.

    Wielding umbrellas and wearing masks, protesters used metal road barriers to block off access to the LegCo chamber, charging past police in full riot gear to gain access to the street outside government headquarters in Admiralty district.

    While the bill was eventually withdrawn months later, protesters had by then expanded their campaign to demand fully democratic elections in the city.

    By 2020, China had imposed a national security law banning criticism of the authorities and criminalizing calls for Hong Kong to hold onto its promised freedoms, ushering in a crackdown on all forms of public dissent that continues today.

    Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Lee Heung Yeung for RFA Cantonese, Chen Zifei for RFA Mandarin.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • 2 more British judges resign from Hong Kong final appeals court

    Two senior British judges have resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court, with one citing the “political situation” in the city weeks after the authorities passed a second security law adopting China’s vague and sweeping definition of a ‘state secret.’

    Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins, who had both been serving as non-permanent overseas judges in Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal — a post that is often seen as a bellwether of confidence in post-handover judicial independence — tendered their resignations, the Hong Kong government said in a statement on Thursday.

    The announcement has sparked fresh concerns over Hong Kong’s ability to maintain itself as a separate, common law jurisdiction in the face of huge political pressure from the ruling Chinese Communist Party to implement a similar “national security” regime to that already under way in the rest of China.

    The resignations come just a few weeks after Hong Kong passed a second security law, known as Article 23, that analysts say effectively imports the mainland Chinese concept of “national security,” which includes cracking down on political dissent and criticism of the authorities, into the city’s judicial system, which was once famed for its impartiality.

    The recent conviction of 14 former democratic lawmakers and pro-democracy activists for “subversion” for organizing a democratic primary in a bid to secure a majority in the Legislative Council has also highlighted how definitions of “national security” offenses have largely shifted to Beijing’s interpretation.

    Collins told The Associated Press that his resignation was “because of the political situation in Hong Kong,” adding that he continues “to have the fullest confidence in the court and the total independence of its members,” while Sumption said he would make a statement next week.

    Court of Final Appeal

    There are currently eight judges from the U.K., Australia and Canada still sitting on the Court of Final Appeal, which replaced Britain’s Privy Council as the city’s highest judicial authority after the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. Usually, an appeal panel would include the chief justice, three Hong Kong judges and a non-permanent judge who could be a foreign national.

    ENG_CHN_HONG KONG JUDGES_06072024.2.jpg
    A pedestrian passes the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong, on March 30, 2022. Two British judges have resigned from Hong Kong’s top court, the city’s judiciary said, deepening worries over the city’s rule of law under a Beijing-imposed national security law. The judiciary said in a statement Thursday June 6, 2024 that Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins, who both serve as non-permanent overseas judges of Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal, have tendered their resignations to the city leader. (Kin Cheung/AP)

    Sumption and Collins aren’t the first overseas judges to step down following the imposition of the National Security Law by Beijing in 2020. Non-permanent Court of Final Appeal judges  Robert Reed and Patrick Hodge stepped down in March 2022 citing the crackdown on dissent under that law.

    Australia-based lawyer and rights activist Kevin Yam said the resignations show that the judges “have lost confidence in the city’s executive and legislative arms.

    He said the city’s judicial independence has been undermined by “bad lawmaking.”

    “It doesn’t matter how independent a judge is; they must ultimately judge cases according to the law,” Yam said. “If the laws are very bad, then [independence] is of no use.”

    Exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, also a lawyer, said he believes the conviction of the 14 pro-democracy activists was a turning point for confidence in Hong Kong’s judiciary.

    “The case of the 47 activists was a key turning point, because … international criticism was unprecedented, and the verdict was highly political,” Hui said. “I also think the two judges would have faced great criticism if they had stayed on at the Court of Final Appeal.”

    “They may have said that they have faith in the independence of Hong Kong judiciary to be polite, but if they really had that confidence, they wouldn’t be leaving,” he said. “This is a vote of no confidence, but with their feet.”

    Regrets

    Hong Kong’s Department of Justice expressed “regret” at the resignations, but said it was grateful for the judges’ contribution.

    “This incident will not shake or impair DoJ’s determination and confidence in upholding the rule of law, including the independent judicial power exercised by the courts,” the department said in a statement.

    ENG_CHN_HONG KONG JUDGES_06072024.3.JPG
    Lord Lawrence Collins. (Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal)

    The city’s Chief Executive John Lee also expressed “regret” about the resignations on Friday, but repeated government assurances that Hong Kong’s promised rights and freedoms had been unaffected by the crackdown launched in the wake of the 2019 pro-democracy movement.

    “Hong Kong has transitioned from chaos to order,” Lee said in a reference to the 2019 pro-democracy protests. “The only difference is that national security is now better safeguarded, [while] the safety and stability of Hong Kong is now better upheld.”

    Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said the judiciary would continue to uphold the rule of law and judicial independence in Hong Kong.

    “Suitable candidates from overseas common law jurisdictions will continue to be appointed to the Court as Non-Permanent Judges,” Cheung said in a statement on Friday.

    “All judges and judicial officers will continue to abide by the Judicial Oath and administer justice in full accordance with the law, without fear or favor, self-interest or deceit,” he said.

    ENG_CHN_HONG KONG JUDGES_06072024.4.jpg
    Lord Jonathan Sumption. (Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal)

    Both Sumption and Collins were listed as former judges on the top court’s website on Friday.

          

    Their resignation came as legal experts warned that the Article 23 legislation has brought with it a “multitude” of business and legal risks, including to political activists, international NGOs and lawyers.

    ‘Remain a fantasy’

    The London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch quoted legal experts as saying that the principle of national security is now “supreme” in Hong Kong’s legal and political systems.

    “Any notion that Hong Kong can simply switch its focus from security to the economy…will remain a fantasy as the world loses confidence in Hong Kong’s ability to serve as Asia Pacific’s top financial center,” the group said in a 40-page report on the impact of the new law published on June 6.

    “As with the People’s Republic of China, national security will take precedence over everything else,” the report said.

    This is in line with similar moves in China, where foreign businesses are now limiting their exposure to such risks, it said.

    It warned that “a wide barrage of new offenses … have unreasonably low bars for conviction,” and that many offenses don’t require even incitement of violence to achieve a conviction.

    “In some cases, mere recklessness suffices to complete the offense, lowering the bar of conviction to dangerously low levels,” the report said.

    It warned that the Article 23 legislation makes ample provision for authorities in Hong Kong to pursue their opponents in exile, as well as for the targeting of normal advocacy, lobbying, academic research and reporting activities by businesses or NGOs under clauses relating to “foreign collusion” and “foreign interference.”

    “Institutional convergence between Hong Kong and mainland China will continue to erode Hong Kong’s strength and attractiveness as a vibrant business hub as we once knew it,” the report concluded.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Ka Ming Lee and Kwong Wing for RFA Cantonese, Chen Zifei for RFA Mandarin.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Has the Hong Kong trade office in Washington been closed?

    A claim emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, or HKETO, in Washington has been closed down. 

    But the claim is false. U.S. lawmakers proposed a bill to close HKETO offices in the United States but it has not been passed. Keyword searches found no credible statements or reports to back the claim. 

    The claim was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on May 13, 2024.

    “The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in the United States has officially closed its doors. The bridge and link between China and the world has collapsed, and an era has come to an end,” the post reads in part.  

    HKETOs promote Hong Kong’s trade outside the territory. There are 14 such offices across the world with three in the U.S.

    Hong Kong has full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations. The city’s Basic Law, which is often referred to as its constitution,  provides that it shall be a separate customs territory and may, using the name “Hong Kong, China”, participate in relevant international organisations and international trade agreements, such as the World Trade Organization.

    Similar claims have been shared on X here and here as well as some media outlets as seen here.

    1 (5).png
    Claims of the supposed closure of the HKETO office in Washington spread across social media (right) before being quoted in reports published by Taiwanese media (left). (Screenshots/Yahoo News and X)

    However, the claim is false.

    The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs introduced the HKETO Certification Act in November 2023 calling for the removal of privileges and the potential closure for all HKETO offices in the U.S. 

    But the bill has not been passed. 

    An AFCL journalist visited the HKETO branch in Washington and found it was open as normal. 

    2.jpg
    AFCL staff visited the HKETO branch in Washington in mid May and found it was open as normal. (Rita Cheng/RFA)

    Keyword searches found no credible statements or reports to back the claim.

    Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Taejun Kang.

    Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Zhuang Jing and Rita Cheng for Asia Fact Check Lab.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Security tight in Hong Kong on Tiananmen anniversary | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Security tight in Hong Kong on Tiananmen anniversary | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Taiwan holds up torch of Tiananmen as Hong Kong is silenced

    Taiwan was due on Tuesday to mark 35 years since Chinese soldiers fired on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, with a series of events including a silent prayer, art exhibitions and a candlelight display.

    The day, known simply as “June 4th” to Chinese speakers, inspires monuments and activities around the world in honor of dead democracy activists, but the island’s capital, Taipei, has taken on the added significance of being the only place in the Chinese-speaking world where a memorial is openly held.

    The event will be hosted on the grounds of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, named after Taiwan’s previous authoritarian leader. Since the island’s democratic transition, the venue has served as a staging ground for protests and human rights rallies.

    While the vigil will be primarily about remembering the Tiananmen Square massacre, it will feature booths representing other political causes, ranging from Tibet to Hong Kong and Taiwanese civil society organizations.

    Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said in a post on Facebook that it was important to respond to authoritarianism with freedom and that the memory of June 4 would not disappear.

    “This reminds us that democracy and freedom do not come easily and that we must build consensus with democracy and respond to authoritarianism with freedom,” Lai wrote.

    “The memory of June 4th will not disappear in the torrent of history. We will continue to work hard to make this historical memory last forever and move everyone who cares about Chinese democracy.”

    Taipei takes over from Hong Kong, a former British colony that for 30 years hosted the world’s largest annual Tiananmen Square vigil until pro-democracy protests in 2019, resulted in a broad political crackdown.

    At its peak in 2019, the Hong Kong vigil drew a record 180,000 people as the city simmered with political frustration, but no formal remembrance has been permitted since then due at first to COVID-19 limits on gatherings and, later, to national security laws.

    The Hong Kong group that organized the vigil folded in 2021, citing the new political situation, and its leaders were prosecuted for subversion and sedition for their involvement in a 2019 democracy rally. No other organization has stepped up to take its  place.

    On Tuesday,  police in Hong Kong tightened security around Victoria Park, where June 4 candlelight vigils had  been held annually, witnesses said. 

    Last Tuesday, Hong Kong police arrested six people for sedition under a national security law enacted this year, stemming from what media said were online posts linked to June 4. Two more have been arrested since.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong High Court finds 14 democracy activists guilty of subversion | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

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  • Hong Kong High Court finds 14 democracy activists guilty of subversion

    Hong Kong’s High Court found 14 of the city’s leading democracy activists guilty of subversion on Thursday under a tough national security law imposed on the city by China four years ago.

    They were among 16 defendants on trial. Two of them, former district councilors Lee Yue-shun and Lawrence Lau, were acquitted and released while the 14 were remanded in custody, media reported.

    The remaining 31 defendants in the so-called 47 trial had already pleaded guilty to the charge of “conspiracy to commit subversion,” which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

    The trial is the biggest ever prosecution of pro-democracy activists in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula meant to preserve the freedoms that have ensured its status as an international financial hub.

    Former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan were among the 14 found guilty by the three government-appointed judges, who took four minutes to deliver the verdict. 

    AP24151087891966.jpg
    Police officers stand guard outside the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts in Hong Kong, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Chan Long Hei/AP)

    Justice Andrew Chan, representing the panel of judges, then adjourned the hearing until the afternoon for “whatever applications that the parties may wish to pursue,” according to the Hong Kong-based English daily South China Morning Post.

    The case centers around an unofficial primary election held in July 2020 which the defendants said was intended to pick the best candidates to win a majority in local elections.

    Prosecutors said the 47 wanted to paralyze the city’s legislature by winning the power to veto budgets.

    The National Security Law was introduced in June 2020. A year earlier mass protests broke out in Hong Kong in opposition to what many residents saw as the erosion of the freedoms guaranteed when Britain returned the territory to China.

    Western countries including the United States and Britain have criticized the security law as a setback for freedoms in the city.

    Beijing and the city’s government said the law was necessary to prevent outside interference and preserve the stability upon which the city’s economic success is based.  

    Edited by Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong arrests Chow Hang-tun and others under new security law | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Hong Kong trade offices ‘keep an eye’ on ‘anti-China’ activities

    The role of Hong Kong’s overseas Economic and Trade Offices has changed, and should include “keeping an eye” on ‘anti-China’ activities, a top government adviser has said, appearing to confirm claims that the offices have been targeting pro-democracy activists on foreign soil.

    Regina Ip, a former secretary for security who is currently convenor of the city’s Executive Council, or cabinet, made the comments after British police charged three men with spying for the Hong Kong authorities, accusing them of running surveillance and other operations targeting exiled democracy activists on U.K. soil.

    Hong Kong and Chinese officials typically refer to pro-democracy activists at home and overseas as “anti-China” forces, accusing them of trying to undermine the government with the help of foreign powers.

    Ip appeared to refer to those activists in an interview with Hong Kong’s Now News on May 18.

    “A group of anti-China members in [the U.K. Parliament] and some Hong Kong exiles are causing trouble there, often introducing bills against the city and even calling for sanctions,” she said.

    ENG_CHN_HKUK SPIES_05212024.2.JPG
    Defendant Chung Biu Yuen leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service, in London, Britain, May 13, 2024. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

    “The [trade office] must pay attention, probably by gathering intelligence,” she said in comments reported by the English-language South China Morning Post newspaper. “Such so-called gathering of intelligence means merely paying attention to these developments.”

    Ip’s comments came as Bill Yuen, an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London who holds dual Chinese and British nationality, prepares to appear at the Old Bailey on May 24 charged with “assisting a foreign intelligence service” and “foreign interference” under the National Security Act 2023.

    Yuen’s co-defendants, Peter Wai, 38 and Matthew Trickett, 37, face similar charges, and the trio stand accused of forcing and entering a property in the U.K. and of targeting exiled Hong Kong activists on British soil, according to the Metropolitan Police.

    The accusations come amid growing concerns over Chinese Communist Party infiltration of all aspects of British life, and warnings from Hong Kongers in exile over growing acts of violence by Beijing supporters and officials alike.

    More than economic activities

    Political commentator Benson Wong said Ip’s comments will likely damage the reputation of the trade offices.

    “Regina Ip’s comments … seem to confirm that some staff working in the London office aren’t engaged in economic and cultural activities,” Wong said.

    ENG_CHN_HKUK SPIES_05212024.3.PNG
    Peter Wai (front row, left) is shown in police uniform in an undated photo. (Peter Wai via Facebook)

    “It’s still unclear whether the Economic and Trade Office will be required to abide by certain commitments, or even have some of its privileges canceled,” he said.

    U.S.-based exiled activist Anna Kwok, who heads the U.S.-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, said the Hong Kong offices have long spied on overseas activists wherever they are located.

    “We’ve always had good reason to believe that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices are carrying out a lot of activities including monitoring Hong Kongers, not just in the U.K., but in the United States as well,” she said.

    “We’ve heard in the past few years of Economic and Trade Offices monitoring Hong Kongers in the United States,” said Kwok, who has an arrest warrant and a bounty on her head issued by Hong Kong’s national security police. 

    ENG_CHN_HKUK SPIES_05212024.4.PNG
    Screenshot from Matthew Trickett’s LinkedIn page. (RFA)

    “The simplest example is that when we go to a demonstration, people we suspect are employees of the Economic and Trade Offices take photos of everyone there to identify them.”

    “One person told us that he was asked about the Hong Kong Democracy Council at a very ordinary dinner by a member of staff at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, including personal information about the Council’s members,” Kwok said.

    Kwok said the Hong Kong Democracy Council will step up its campaign for a bill banning the offices to be introduced to Congress.

    Gathering intelligence

    Meanwhile, Regina Ip said foreign consulates in Hong Kong likely also engage in such activities.

    “I believe that each of the consulates based in Hong Kong is gathering intelligence. Some of the intelligence is publicly available, [such as] TV programmes, media and online information,” she said.

    “If our personnel are making similar collection efforts at the [trade offices], why would it be against the law? I really do not understand,” Ip said.

    ENG_CHN_HKUK SPIES_05212024.5.JPG
    Defendant Chi Leung Wai, also known as Peter Wai leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service, in London, Britain, May 13, 2024. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

    U.K.-based Hong Kong activist Simon Cheng, who has reported being followed on April 9 in central London by unidentified people speaking Mandarin, said Ip should know the difference between a consulate and Hong Kong’s trade offices, which aren’t regulated by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

    “Some countries allow the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices a quasi-diplomatic status, but that’s up to the host country to allow them that courtesy,” Cheng said. “Some countries may do this according to agreements signed with the Hong Kong government, but such agreements aren’t regulated by the Vienna Convention either.”

    “Such diplomatic courtesies can easily be revoked unilaterally,” he said.

    Cheng, a former trade representative for Scotland based at the British consulate in Hong Kong who was detained and tortured by Chinese state security police during the 2019 protest movement, said consulates have teams of staff dedicated to gathering news and information about their host country or city, but such newsgathering is part of legitimate attempts to understand the places they are posted to, and to get a feel for public opinion there.

    ENG_CHN_HKUK SPIES_05212024.6.JPG
    Pro-democracy campaigner and political science assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University Benson Wong packs up his office in Hong Kong, after receiving a letter in February from the university stating that his contract will not be renewed this year, July 19, 2018. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP)

    China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom Zheng Zeguang expressed “serious concerns” to the British government about the spying accusations on May 15, saying the case had been “fabricated” to “smear and attack” the Hong Kong government.

    “All those accusations are groundless and slanderous,” Zheng said in comments posted to the embassy website, accusing the British police of “wantonly harassing, arresting and detaining” Chinese citizens in the U.K. 

    Eleven people including Yuen, Wai and Trickett were arrested in a nationwide operation but eight were later released without charge, the Metropolitan Police said on May 13.

    “This constitutes a grave provocation against China and severely contravenes basic norms of international relations. It is totally unacceptable,” Zheng said.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kit Sung and Kwong Wing for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Head of embattled Hong Kong journalists’ union to step down

    Ronson Chan, an outspoken critic of diminishing press freedom who currently chairs the embattled Hong Kong Journalists’ Association, has said he won’t run again for office in union elections at the end of next month, saying he had been told that the organization would continue to be targeted by the authorities if he didn’t step down. 

    “I was going to fight for a last term … [but] I have decided not to run for re-election,” Chan announced via Facebook on May 14. “There seem to be more attacks when Ronson Chan is linked with the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association than when they are separate.”

    Chan, a former deputy assignment editor at now-shuttered independent media organization Stand News, first took the job following the raid on pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai’s Next Digital media empire and the closure of its flagship Apple Daily newspaper in June 2021, an indication, he believed, that the 2020 National Security Law was going to be used to put pro-democracy media and anything that journalists wrote on trial.

    ENG_CHN_RONSON CHAN_05202024.2.jpg
    Ronson Chan (C), chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), talks to a police liason officer outside Mongkok police station in Hong Kong on September 19, 2022, before he was charged with obstructing police after he was arrested earlier this month over a dispute with two officers who asked to see his identification while he was covering a local residents housing meeting. (Peter Parks/ AFP)

    Officials in China and Hong Kong repeatedly claim that journalists are safe to carry out “legitimate” reporting activities under both the 2020 National Security Law and the Article 23 Safeguarding National Security Law, which was passed on March 23.

    But Lai is currently on trial for “collusion with foreign forces” for printing articles in the Apple Daily. 

    Journalists and press freedom campaigners, meanwhile, say press freedom has gone sharply downhill, as Beijing ramps up its mission to protect “national security” with a constant expansion of forbidden topics and “red lines” in recent years.

    Chan was arrested in September 2022 after he asked a police officer to show his warrant card during an ID check while on a journalistic assignment, just before he had planned to leave the city to take up a journalism scholarship at the Reuters Institute at Oxford University.

    ENG_CHN_RONSON CHAN_05202024.3.jpg
    Copies of the last issue of Apple Daily arrive at a newspaper booth in Hong Kong on June 24, 2021. (Vincent Yu/AP)

    He was subsequently charged with “obstructing a police officer in the course of their duty” and has remained in Hong Kong.

    In his Facebook post, Chan called his years as a journalist at the now-shuttered Stand News, and his time as chairman, “the highest honor of my life,” but cited repeated attacks on him from government and pro-Beijing sources as the reason for his decision. 

    He told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview: “This was a very difficult decision, but if I had stayed in post, it would have negatively affected the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association.”

    “I had no choice but to get off the ship,” said Chan, adding that he had received messages from pro-government sources warning him that the attacks on him and on the Association would continue if he remained chairman.

    “What I was told was, if you stay on, then the attacks and criticism will continue,” he said. “There was even an article about me in a pro-government media outlet in the past couple of days that asked the question ‘Can Ronson Chan remain in place as chairman? Should he?’.”

    “When I heard these things, I thought it would be pretty difficult if I were to stay in the job,” he said.

    ENG_CHN_RONSON CHAN_05202024.4.jpg
    Stand News chief editor Patrick Lam is brought to the news outlet’s office building in handcuffs after police were deployed to search the premises in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong district on December 29, 2021. (Daniel Suen/AFP)

    The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association has been singled out on a number of occasions for criticism by officials and in pro-China media, which claimed he recruited a 13-year-old to join the organization and that he protects “disruptive elements” in the city.

    Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang has claimed that the HKJA doesn’t represent journalists in the city, while the tax authorities recently presented the union with a HK$400,000 tax bill following a “review” of its tax affairs.

    Chan told RFA that he hadn’t expected how comprehensively the Hong Kong media would be put under pressure in the wake of the 2020 national security legislation.

    “We had one executive member who resigned,” he said. “He had been working in news, but when Radio Television Hong Kong found out that he was an executive member of the Association, they transferred him to subtitles.”

    ENG_CHN_RONSON CHAN_05202024.5.jpg
    Workers carry a box of evidence from the offices of Stand News in Hong Kong on December 29, 2021, after police raided the office of the local media outlet and arrested six current and former staff. (Daniel Suen/AFP)

    He said the number of people entering the once-thriving media industry is now very small, and very few are now willing to risk serving on the Association’s executive committee.

    The Association, one of the few civil society groups still standing in the wake of the post-2019 crackdown, is now painfully exposed, Chan said.

    “Now that so many civil society groups, opposition political parties and groups have been wiped out, we now find ourselves on the front line, standing alone,” he said. “The exposure feels cold and painful, but I’ll bear it for now.”

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • YouTube blocks banned Hong Kong protest anthem ‘Glory to Hong Kong’

    YouTube has blocked access to dozens of videos containing the banned protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” for viewers in the territory following a court injunction last week that said it could be used as a “weapon” to bring down the government.

    The company, which is owned by Google’s parent Alphabet, said 32 videos featuring the banned song have been geoblocked and are now unavailable in the city, which is in the throes of an ongoing clampdown on public dissent.

    “We are disappointed by the Court’s decision but are complying with its removal order by blocking access to the listed videos for viewers in Hong Kong,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement sent to multiple media organizations. 

    “We’ll continue to consider our options for an appeal, to promote access to information,” the statement said, adding that Google search results for the song would also be invisible to users in the city.

    Public performances of the song are already banned in Hong Kong, as its lyrics are deemed illegal under stringent national security legislation.

    But the Court of Appeal on May 8 granted the government a temporary injunction to address its continued availability online, calling it a “weapon” that could be used to bring down the government, and an “insult” to China’s national anthem.

    “Glory to Hong Kong,” which sparked a police investigation after organizers played it in error at recent overseas sporting fixtures, was regularly sung by crowds of unarmed protesters during the 2019 protests, which ranged from peaceful mass demonstrations for full democracy to intermittent, pitched battles between “front-line” protesters and armed riot police.

    The song calls for freedom and democracy rather than independence, but was nonetheless deemed in breach of the law due to its “separatist” intent, officials and police officers said at the start of an ongoing citywide crackdown on public dissent and peaceful political activism.

    Government injunction

    Last week’s ban came after the Court of First Instance rejected the government’s application for an injunction on July 28, 2023 citing a “chilling effect” on freedom of expression.

    The injunction bans anyone in Hong Kong from “broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing” the song with seditious intent, including online.

    The Hong Kong government had earlier asked Google to alter its search results, to no avail.

    While Hong Kong isn’t yet subject to China’s Great Firewall of blanket internet censorship, some websites linked to the protest movement including HKChronicles are blocked by internet service providers in the city. The website of the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch is also blocked.

    A Wikipedia entry for the song appeared at the top of Google search results for the phrase “Hong Kong national anthem” outside the city on Wednesday. 

    The song’s labeling as “Hong Kong’s national anthem” on YouTube has been “highly embarrassing and hurtful to many people of Hong Kong, not to mention its serious damage to national interests,” the Court of Appeal judges said when they granted the injunction last week.

    Hong Kong passed a law in 2020 making it illegal to insult China’s national anthem on pain of up to three years’ imprisonment, following a series of incidents in which Hong Kong soccer fans booed their own anthem in the stadium.

    “The song has also been sung and promoted by prominent anti-China destabilizing forces and national security offenses fugitives in events provoking hatred towards the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government,” the judges wrote.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Joshua Lipes.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Lee Heung Yeung for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong trade official accused of spying for city’s government | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Portraits of jailed Hong Kong journalists lit up the night in DC and London | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • European Parliament calls for repeal of Hong Kong security laws

    Brussels, April 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed Thursday’s call by the European Parliament for the repeal of two Hong Kong security laws that it said undermine press freedom and for the release of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

    The parliamentary resolution condemned Hong Kong’s adoption last month of a new security law, which includes offenses for treason, sabotage, sedition, theft of state secrets, and espionage. The latest legislation expands on a Beijing-imposed 2020 national security law, under which more than 200 people — including Lai — have been arrested, according to the European Parliament.

    “The European Parliament’s resolution sends a clear signal to Hong Kong authorities — we are standing shoulder to shoulder with Apple Daily’s Jimmy Lai and pro-democracy activists who have been jailed for speaking out against repression,” said Tom Gibson CPJ’s EU representative. “Hong Kong and Chinese authorities should repeal the Hong Kong security laws and stop harassing and prosecuting journalists.”

    In 2023, the European Parliament urged Hong Kong to immediately and unconditionally release Lai, saying that he had been detained on “trumped-up charges.”

    Lai faces life imprisonment if convicted of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the 2020 security law.

    A former British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 with the guarantee of a high degree of autonomy, including freedom of speech, under a “one country, two system” formula.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong loses ground as top container port amid change in status

    Major shipping companies are pulling out of Hong Kong as it loses its status as a free, international container port, according to analysts, who blamed a recent political crackdown and structural changes for the development.

    “Hong Kong is being rapidly deselected from the East-West trades by all major shipping lines,” the Danish-based consultancy Sea-Intelligence said in an April 2 report citing recent data from shipping lines.

    Total container volumes coming through Hong Kong fell to 14.3 million TEUs in 2023, the lowest volume since 1998.

    While the decline was exacerbated by the closure of Hong Kong’s borders during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, cutting off cross-border road links and prompting shipping lines to send containers straight to Shenzhen, political factors including the international reaction to the city’s ongoing crackdown on dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement also played a role, according to industry analysts.

    “Hong Kong enjoyed a special relationship with the United States and other countries, because it was seen as semi-independent and autonomous, with little interference from mainland China in its day-to-day operations,” Tom Derry, Chief Executive Officer at the Institute for Supply Management, told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview. “That’s no longer seen as the case.”

    “Foreign nationals, both U.S. and from other countries, have been arrested under charges due to the new National Security Law,” Derry said. “The rule of law in Hong Kong is seen as being a little more arbitrary today than it was in the past, because national security cases can only be heard by specially appointed justices in Hong Kong, not by the main judicial system.” 

    “So Hong Kong’s … special status as a preferred port has been eroded. It’s to the detriment of Hong Kong and to the benefit of other mainland Chinese ports.”

    On Jan. 18 RFA Cantonese shot footage of the No. 9 Container Terminal at Kwai Ching, which was once stacked with containers several high, and which is now an empty expanse of concrete.

    According to Derry, Hong Kong was hit by the loss in May 2020 of its separate trading status previously accorded by the U.S. government — a move that was in direct response to the crackdown on the 2019 pro-democracy movement — and by tariffs imposed on technology products amid a Sino-U.S. trade war begun under the Trump administration.

    “Mainland China has 38% market share, the largest in the world, in those particular kinds of firms,” Derry told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview. “Hong Kong enjoyed a large volume of integrated circuits that were moving to those [electronics] firms in mainland China and then moving from those mainland China firms back through Hong Kong and to their ultimate destinations around the world.”

    “That has been significantly impacted by the removal of preferential status, and by the later imposition of tariffs … which has only made those conditions a little bit worse,” he said.

    Derry said Indonesia, Singapore and Manila will be significant beneficiaries of the shift away from Hong Kong, including Manila due to a significant semiconductor presence in the Philippines.

    “Those will be the beneficiaries, and it will be Hong Kong’s relative loss,” he said.

    Shipping containers are seen at a port of Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, Nov. 5, 2021. (Kin Cheung/AP)
    Shipping containers are seen at a port of Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, Nov. 5, 2021. (Kin Cheung/AP)

    Meanwhile, a recent network overview from the Gemini Cooperation shipping alliance of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, revealed no direct deep-sea calls in Hong Kong since the alliance pivoted to using Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas as major hubs on regional container shipping routes, downgrading Hong Kong to the status of “feeder” port with cargo trucked or shipped to Yantian in the neighboring mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.

    Hong Kong isn’t the only port that will lose direct connectivity under the Gemini network: the northeastern Chinese port of Dalian, Taiwan’s Kaohsiung and South Korea’s Busan have also been downgraded.

    Yet the damage to its status as an international container port will likely be extensive, with the city’s port losing throughput traffic from Hapag-Lloyd of around 615,000 20-foot-equivalent units (TEU)  a quarter and around 261,000 TEUs a quarter from Maersk to Yantian, according to U.K. maritime consultancy MDS Transmodal.

    Consolidating routes

    The developments come as the Alliance, which groups South Korea’s HMM, Japan’s Ocean Network Express and Taiwan’s Yang Ming shipping lines, is cutting the number of direct port calls it makes to Hong Kong from 11 to just 6, Sea-Intelligence reported.

    Hong Kong will only be included on one of Yang Ming’s 13 regional and trans-Pacific routes from 2025, according to a press release published to Yang Ming’s website.

    The consolidation of routes “does not bode well for the Port of Hong Kong,” Sea-Intelligence commented in its report. “Analysis of network design and network efficiency will show that fewer, but larger, hubs are economically more efficient. Hong Kong appears to be the first major ‘victim’ of this.”

    An aerial view shows containers at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal in Hong Kong, China June 6, 2021. (Aleksander Solum/Reuters)
    An aerial view shows containers at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal in Hong Kong, China June 6, 2021. (Aleksander Solum/Reuters)

    Hong Kong’s Transport and Logistics Bureau issued a statement in response to RFA Cantonese reporting on the issue on April 5, calling it “unreasonable.”

    “Radio Free Asia’s unreasonable comments on the rapid deterioration in Hong Kong’s status as an international shipping hub have no basis in fact and have been fabricated out of thin air,” a spokesman for the bureau said in a statement.

    “This is wanton criticism and attack … and can never be accepted.”

    Declining numbers

    It cited the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index Report（2023), a collaboration between China’s state news agency Xinhua and the Baltic Exchange, which claimed that the city ranks fourth in the world as an international container port.

    However, Lloyd’s List ranked Hong Kong 10th in the world in terms of throughput last year, one place lower than in 2022.

    Financial commentator Joseph Ngan, a former assistant controller at Hong Kong’s i-CABLE News, wrote in a recent commentary for RFA Cantonese that Hong Kong has indeed “lost its role as an entrepôt port,” citing figures that showed a 0.8% decline in the city’s exports in the year to Feb. 29, 2024 and a 1.8% decline in imports, “far worse than market expectations.”

    Ngan cited data from the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board, which shows that the throughput of Kwai Tsing Container Terminal, which accounts for 70% of Hong Kong’s total cargo volume, fell for 25 consecutive months to the end of December 2023, the largest decline on record. 

    Shipping containers stack at the Kwai Chung terminal at Hong Kong's port on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.(Vincent Yu/AP)
    Shipping containers stack at the Kwai Chung terminal at Hong Kong’s port on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.(Vincent Yu/AP)

    Total throughput fell by nearly 14% for the whole of last year, Ngan wrote, citing a further double-digit decline in February following a brief spike ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in January.

    Hong Kong’s biggest container terminal operator, CK Hutchison, saw a 9% decrease in its China-Hong Kong port revenue and a 18% fall in its gross earnings last year, Ngan wrote.

    “We have seen that the ranking of container terminals has dropped from No. 1 in the world 20 years ago to the bottom of the top 10,” Ngan wrote. “It is clear from the data that container throughput has plummeted.”

    He said Hong Kong officials were choosing to deny the problem in favor of issuing positive propaganda about the city’s outlook instead.


    Translated by Luisetta Mudie.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by .

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong arrests 291 for endangering national security in past 4 years

    Hong Kong has arrested 291 people for endangering national security in the near four years since the city’s first national security law took effect. They range from 15 to 90 years old, according to the Hong Kong Security Bureau.

    The data revealed come as the bureau was asked by lawmakers about the authorities’ expenditure used to explain to the public the legislation for the second national security law, commonly known as Article 23, which was passed last month. 

    While the government didn’t disclose the expenditure, it stated in its written response to the Legislative Council (LegCo) that “smear campaigns” against the legislation are still occurring and the “Response and Refutation Team” therefore will continue to operate.

    LegCo is holding a special Finance Committee meeting this week to review government expenditure in 2024/25. 

    In its response, the security bureau said that as of March 8, its hotline had received more than 700,000 reports related to national security. In addition, as of December last year, among the 10,279 people arrested in connection with the 2019 anti-extradition related movement, 35 people were wanted by the court for failing to attend court hearings and 26 people released on bail failed to report to the police.

    Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, and 15-year-old Form Three student arrested under national security law

    Until March 8, among the 291 arrested, 218 were men and 73 women, between 15 and 90 years old. More than 170 people and five companies have been prosecuted, and 112 people have been convicted and sentenced or are awaiting sentencing.

    The oldest arrested was 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong, while the youngest was a 15-year-old secondary school student. 

    In May 2022, the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police arrested five trustees of the defunct “612 Humanitarian Support Fund,” including the then 90-year-old Cardinal Zen, on suspicion of violating the “collusion with foreign forces” rule under the National Security Law. 

    Less than a year earlier in September 2021, the same division arrested seven members of the organization “Light City People,” charging them with “conspiracy to commit terrorist activities.” The then 15-year-old student, among this group, pleaded guilty and was imprisoned for six years.

    The government’s written document did not disclose the conviction rate of cases involving the national security law, but past reports show that the conviction rate of cases after trial is 100%, and the maximum sentence is nine years in jail.

    Translated by RFA staff. Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Cheryl Tung for RFA Mandarin.

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  • Hong Kong denies entry to campaigner en route to Jimmy Lai trial

    An advocacy worker for the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders has been denied entry to Hong Kong, en route to monitor the national security trial of pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai.

    Taipei-based Aleksandra Bielakowska was held for six hours, searched and questioned after arriving at Hong Kong’s International Airport on Wednesday, the group said in a statement.

    She had been planning to meet with journalists in the city in the wake of a stringent new security law passed last month under Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law, and to monitor a hearing in Lai’s ongoing trial, the group said.

    “[They asked] what I’m doing here, if it’s a work-related visit. I said of course, yes, because I’m [an] NGO worker,” Bielakowska said in an interview with RFA Cantonese on Thursday after her return to Taiwan. 

    “They searched my belongings, in depth, in detail — they scanned them twice, checked my shoes, everything, checked how much money I had,” she said, adding that 12 officers and staff were watching her the whole time she was being interviewed and searched.

    “The person who questioned me was an immigration officer, plus there was a customs officer, but I couldn’t tell if there were any police or plainclothes officers inside of the room, because they hadn’t given me any IDs,” Bielakowska said. “But there were some people who didn’t look like immigration officers.”

    ENG_CHN_HK_RSFDeniedEntry_04112024.2.jpg
    Aleksandra Bielakowska, left, and Shataakshi Verma of Reporters Without Borders stand outside a Hong Kong court for Jimmy Lai’s trial in December 2023. (RSF)

    Eventually, she was given a notice of refusal of entry, with a reason she described as “nebulous.” Immigration officers refused to clarify the reason for the decision, even when asked repeatedly, Bielakowska said.

    Hong Kong’s immigration authorities have a stated policy of not commenting on individual cases. A form handed to Bielakowska said only that she would be “imminently/immediately” removed from the city “within a reasonable time,” and that this justified her detention.

    Article 23

    The Safeguarding National Security Law, known as “Article 23,” was billed by the government as a way to protect the city from interference and infiltration by “hostile foreign forces” that Beijing blames for waves of mass popular protests in recent years.

    But its critics — and some of the city’s residents — say it will likely have far-reaching effects on human rights and freedom of expression that go further than the 2020 National Security Law under which Lai is being prosecuted, with a far broader reach and tougher penalties.

    Jimmy Lai stands accused of “collusion with foreign forces” and faces a potential life sentence, yet the case against him relies heavily on opinion articles published in his now-shuttered flagship Apple Daily newspaper.

    ENG_CHN_HK_RSFDeniedEntry_04112024.3.JPG
    Jimmy Lai is escorted by Correctional Services officers to get on a prison van before appearing in a court in Hong Kong, Dec. 12, 2020. (Kin Cheung/AP)

    Bielakowska, who was allowed into Hong Kong in December 2023 to monitor the start of Lai’s trial, said Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, isn’t a political organization and that she wasn’t doing anything “seditious.” 

    “We just fight for the rights of journalists and press freedom around the world,” she said. “It’s our obligation as an NGO to attend the hearings and the trials.”

    Bielakowska’s colleague, Asia-Pacific Bureau Director Cédric Alviani, was allowed to enter Hong Kong, but returned to Taipei the next day “for security reasons,” she said.

    ‘Dire erosion’

    RSF said it was “appalled” by the treatment of Bielakowska, who was “simply trying to do her job.”

    “We have never experienced such blatant efforts by authorities to evade scrutiny of court proceedings in any country, which further highlights the ludicrous nature of the case against Jimmy Lai, and the dire erosion of press freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong,” RSF’s Director of Campaigns Rebecca Vincent said in a statement, calling for an immediate explanation from the Hong Kong authorities.

    Vincent said the remainder of Lai’s national security trial “cannot take place in darkness.”

    “The world must know what is happening in Hong Kong, which has implications for global press freedom,” she said.

    ENG_CHN_HK_RSFDeniedEntry_04112024.4.JPG
    An immigration document issued to Aleksandra Bielakowska of Reporters Without Borders in an undated photo. (RSF)

    The group said it was the first time any of its representatives has been denied entry or questioned at Hong Kong’s airport. Its staff had t

    raveled there without hindrance in June and December 2023, and were able to meet with journalists and diplomats, as well as monitoring court proceedings without any problems, it said.

    RSF said it regularly monitors trials around the world as part of its normal work defending press freedom – from proceedings against journalists in Türkiye, to the ongoing US extradition case against Julian Assange in UK courts.

    Plunging rank

    Hong Kong ranks 140th out of 180 in RSF’s 2023 World Press Freedom Index, having plummeted from 18th place in the past two decades. The rest of China ranks 179th out of 180 countries and territories.

    To Yiu-ming, a former assistant professor at the Department of Journalism at Hong Kong’s Baptist University, said the questioning of Bielakowska would send a strong message to foreign journalists and international organizations that follow developments in Hong Kong.

    “Most importantly, this will have a negative impact on the way that foreign media and the international community view Hong Kong, particularly the impact of the Article 23 legislation on press freedom in Hong Kong,” To told RFA Cantonese in an interview on Thursday.

    He said that rather than laying down clear guidelines about who will be denied entry, they are proceeding on a case-by-case basis.

    “I think [such cases] will be subject to review by national security police,” To said.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Spurned by local viewers, Hong Kong TV stations look north for profit

    Hong Kong’s television stations, crimped by declining earnings, have looked to fill air time with mainland Chinese-related content to attract advertising dollars from China, in a shift that feeds into a vicious cycle that could further alienate the city’s own viewers.

    The gradual erosion of press and civil society freedoms in Hong Kong with the Beijing-imposed National Security Law in 2020 and the recent enactment of the second national security law, have all but turned Hong Kong viewers away from the TV stations’ increasingly self-censored news content, which only worsened their credibility and draw as a media.

    i-Cable Communications, which runs the Cable News station that was once regarded for its insights and reports on China, saw net losses of HK$589.2 million (US$76.3 million) for 2023, even though the scale had narrowed by a third. 

    The company said it was collaborating with the Hong Kong government as part of its commitment to society, to develop programs aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of the government among a public that has been increasingly distrustful of the authorities since the 2019 protests and the subsequent crackdown on democratic figures. The programs included one that raises awareness of national security in schools. 

    Collaborations with the Guangdong Radio and Television Station to produce a series of programs were also underway to tap new viewers in the Greater Bay Area, a Beijing-designed regional bloc to integrate the once freewheeling Hong Kong into the mainland Chinese fold.

    Public credibility of Cable News is seen to have hit a snag at the end of 2020, after i-Cable fired scores of journalists, among which its best investigative reporters for China news who had reported on issues that would have struck Beijing’s raw nerves, like human rights abuses and the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan city.

    Morale and credibility have yet to regain, according to a current Cable News reporter who went by the pseudonym Wendy, evidenced by the current high turnover rate in the news department and difficulty to recruit journalists.

    “Some reporters left for another TV station because their pay didn’t increase. But it’s also because the degree of freedom now is much lower than before. For example, [in the past] the China team would fly to Beijing to report in-depth. But now most of the reporters in the China team stay in the company to see what’s trending on Weibo,” Wendy said.

    Picking up story ideas for China news reports from Chinese social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat has become a staple in newsroom operations. They are relatively safe as the posts would have been scrutinized by Chinese censors within the Great Firewall.

    On the other hand, the risks of enterprise news reporting in Hong Kong have risen with last month’s swift passage of Article 23 – the second national security law – which expanded the scope of what constitutes a breach of national security by creating new offenses and increased punishment for offenders. 

    But the vague language in the latest legislation also increased uncertainties and fear among local media practitioners on what is lawful to report and what isn’t. Journalists say the propensity to self censor or even not report is a new normal.

    ENG_CHN_HKTV_04042024_2.JPG
    i-Cable TV news journalist talks to the media after being laid off in Hong Kong December 1, 2020. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

    Survival of the biggest

    In the past era of cable TV pay channels, Cable News was seen as Cable TV’s “trump card” to attract subscribers. However, in recent years, viewers have turned to other free online platforms for more balanced content, in part because broadcasters are under pressure to self censor in a relatively more controlling regime where company management intervenes to avoid offending Beijing. 

    The broadcast of Cable News content has since transferred to i-Cable’s free HOY Information Channel.

    i-Cable’s plight is not isolated. Losses also clouded Television Broadcasts (TVB), the city’s big brother in broadcasting, which reported a 5.5% drop in net loss to  HK$762.7 million for 2023. 

    TVB, in which Chinese private equity firm CMC has a controlling stake, said it is also banking on the Greater Bay Area market to boost viewership. Its mainland China operations revenue is increasing, driven by sales from dramas co-produced with the Chinese companies.

    To Yiu-ming, a former journalism professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, pointed out that once a TV station loses credibility for its news coverage, it also loses public support, and will have to rely more on mainland advertisers for profitability.

    “You have all the power, but you have lost the masses. You can definitely decide who will head the news department, but you cannot decide how many viewers will watch your content. Now that the economy is growing slower, there will be less substantial pieces of advertisement available. And if there were, they’d go to television stations with higher ratings such as TVB. Which means, TVB, without the support of Hong Kong viewers, can still survive.”

    Last month, the Hong Kong government swiftly passed Article 23, which expanded the scope of what constitutes a breach of national security by creating new offenses and increased punishment for offenders.

    To Yiu-ming observed that since July last year, TVB’s “Jade” and “Pearl” channels have successfully landed in the Greater Bay Area, directly obtaining advertising broadcast rights and revenue in the southern Guangdong province. This gave them an edge that others lack.

    Translated with additional reporting by RFA Staff. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Sam Yuen for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China bans ‘former good friend’ from talking about Hong Kong | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

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  • China bans ‘former good friend’ from talking about Hong Kong

    China’s former “good friend” economist and ex-chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia Stephen Roach said he was prohibited from discussing Hong Kong in his speech while attending the China Development Forum in Beijing last week.

    Roach was invited to speak at this year’s forum in his capacity as senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where he had hoped to raise his concerns about Hong Kong’s future. 

    But he told Radio Free Asia that he was stopped, as organizers made it clear before, during and after the forum that they did not want to hear sharp questions, only “views constructive to China.”

    “I’ve written a few articles that raised serious concerns about the future of Hong Kong and those touch on sensitivities in Beijing, and largely for that reason, they asked me not to speak about that at the China Development Forum.”

    In addition, he criticized Hong Kong academic and business representatives at the forum for not truthfully reporting Hong Kong’s situation to Beijing.

    He cited, as an example, his discussions on China’s financial market policies with a 20-year acquaintance and current chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Laura Cha, on a separate occasion on the sidelines of the forum.

    Roach said he had raised three points: Hong Kong and China’s economies are interdependent on each other, concerns about the negative impact of the U.S.-China political conflict on Hong Kong trade, and worries of Hong Kong’s autonomy especially after the enactment of the second national security law, commonly known as Article 23.

    “So I said all three of those will spell trouble for Hong Kong in the years ahead, and Laura Cha agreed with two of my three points – the Chinese economy, the adverse impact of the U.S.-China conflict,” Roach said.

    “But she did not agree with my point on Hong Kong’s political autonomy being compromised by either Beijing or its own,” he said, adding that his argument stemmed from an economic consideration and not politics, which almost no one has disputed. 

    Roach stated that “Hong Kong is over” in a February commentary published in the Financial Times, attributing the demise of the city, an international financial center, to its domestic politics, China’s structural problems and the worsening U.S.-China tensions.

    He also then claimed the turning point of Hong Kong’s decline was when former Chief Executive Carrie Lam introduced the extradition bill that triggered large-scale democratic demonstrations in 2019. He described Beijing’s subsequent imposition of the national security law in 2020 to have “shredded any remaining semblance of local political autonomy.” 

    Last month, the Hong Kong government swiftly passed Article 23, which expanded the scope of what constitutes a breach of national security by creating new offenses and increased punishment for offenders. 

    A transformed platform

    The first China Development Forum was opened in 2000 by then Premier Wen Jiabao. But it was conceived by Wen’s predecessor, the reformist premier Zhu Rongji, as a platform for Chinese leaders to debate and discuss policies and issues in the presence and participation of foreign experts.

    In previous years, the forum also featured a closed-door discussion with foreign chief executives where China’s number two in power, the Chinese premier who has traditionally held the economic portfolio, entertained questions from foreign investors. The premier’s meeting was canceled this year.

    ENG_CHN_Roach_04022024_2.jpg
    Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, center, listens to a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the opening session of China’s 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

    Roach has attended the forum for 24 consecutive years, since the first edition in 2000. He said in the Zhu era, issues could be discussed freely and openly, recalling a session at the 2001 forum in which Zhu sat in and participants openly debated on issues.

    “I urge current Chinese and Hong Kong leaders to do likewise. Debate on issues and not based on personal political agendas.”

    Roach’s recent “Hong Kong is over” theory has incited fury among the establishment, including former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Executive Councilor Regina Ip. Still, he vowed to continue to speak out for the benefit of Hong Kong and China.

    When asked whether he would be worried about not being able to return to Hong Kong after Article 23 was passed, the economist paused before responding.

    “If constructive criticism causes uncomfortable reactions from politicians and business people, they need to look at themselves,” he said.

    Should he be unwelcomed to return, he stressed that he will continue to write and speak to tell the truth, as “debate is more important than personal pressure.”

    According to Roach, foreign investors are seriously assessing the risks of doing business in Hong Kong, amid the uncertainty of how Article 23 will be enforced and interpreted, which has cast a shadow on the city’s autonomy under the one county, two systems principle. 

    Compounded by the U.S.-China spat, capital outflows may intensify, he warned.

    Since the beginning of 2020, the U.S. has announced three rounds of sanctions, sanctioning a total of 18 Beijing and Hong Kong government officials, including Chief Executive John Lee, Chief Secretary Eric Chan, Security Secretary Chris Tang, and Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary Erick Tsang. 

    U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced last Friday his intention to impose entry restrictions on more Hong Kong government officials. 

    This year’s China Development Forum was attended by more than 200 delegates, including eight representatives from Hong Kong. 

    Business leaders apart from Laura Cha included Johnson Cha, chairman of C.M. Capital Advisors, Jacob Kam, chief executive officer of MTR Corporation, Vincent Lo, chairman of Shui On Group, and Richard Li, chairman of Pacific Century Group. 

    From academia, there were Lawrence Lau, economist and former vice-chancellor the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Zheng Yongnian, founding director of the Institute for International Affairs at CUHK Shenzhen, who is regarded as one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “national mentors”, and Li Cheng, a political scientist at the University of Hong Kong.

    Translated with additional reporting by RFA Staff. Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kwong Wing for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Bookshop closes in Hong Kong


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  • Hong Kong book lovers mourn closing of independent bookstore | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Young activists recall abuse at Hong Kong juvenile correctional facility

    Young political activists jailed under a crackdown on public dissent have described a litany of physical and sexual abuse inside one of Hong Kong’s juvenile offender facilities, according to recent online reports and interviews with RFA Mandarin and The Reporter magazine.

    While accounts of abuse and sexual assault by police officers and prison guards have emerged in recent years among former protesters and activists, not many have been confirmed or even fully investigated.

    But on Jan. 19, a Correctional Services officer and five young inmates at the Pik Uk Correctional Institution were remanded in custody on charges of causing “serious bodily harm” to an 18-year-old inmate, including causing rectal perforations with a wooden implement, online court news service The Witness reported.

    The victim required surgery and a stoma bag as a consequence of the attack, the report said.

    The case prompted another young activist who had been detained in the same juvenile facility under the 2020 National Security Law to speak about another unreported incident there.

    Wong Yat Chin, of the activist group Student Politicism, took to Facebook to talk about a rape and abuse and anal assault with a toothbrush perpetrated on a 15-year-old boy in Pik Uk, which houses young male inmates up to the age of 21.

    “The 15-year-old boy was under duress and didn’t dare to tell his family about the anal rape,” Wong wrote. “It wasn’t until he was hospitalized for persistent bleeding that Correctional Services officers called the police.”

    “A few months later, the police gave up the prosecution, saying there was insufficient evidence,” wrote Wong, who was serving a three-year jail term in Pik Uk at the time.

    The Correctional Services Department then issued a statement accusing Wong of “slander.” But the Ming Pao newspaper later reported that a case sounding much like the one he described was reported to police on Jan. 30, 2022.

    According to Wong, prison guards don’t always carry out assaults themselves, but allow certain inmates known as “B Boys” special privileges to “discipline” fellow inmates.

    He also described bullying and physical assaults he and his fellow inmates suffered at the hands of guards and other inmates acting under duress.

    Youth prison population growing

    Since the pro-democracy movement of 2014, the authorities have prosecuted large numbers of young people for taking part in “illegal” public gatherings, “rioting” and other protest-related charges, as well as more serious offenses like “terrorism” and “subversion” for peaceful activism under the 2020 National Security law.

    According to the Hong Kong Correctional Services Department, the number of people in custody under the age of 21 rose from 4% to 6% of the total population, with a total juvenile prison population of around 450 as of the end of 2022.

    ENG_CHN_HKPrisonAbuse_03282024.2.JPG
    Hong Kong democracy activist Tony Chung poses in a bedroom in Britain on December 29, 2023 (Ben Stansall/AFP)

    A former Pik Uk inmate who gave only the pseudonym Cheung Tz Hin for fear of reprisals told RFA and The Reporter that he recalls an incident in which guards had a group of seven cellmates squat down in a stairwell that wasn’t covered by surveillance cameras after they sang the banned protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” in their cell the night before.

    To their shock, Cheung and the others were slapped around by the guard.

    “At first I thought he would stop short,” he said. “I never expected he would actually hit us.”

    From time to time after that, guards would also shove Cheung and another cellmate around at random times, elbowing them and hitting them on the palms or the soles of the feet with a metal ruler, Cheung recalled.

    Prison rules bar singing by inmates, but Cheung said exceptions were made for inmates who sang songs with no political content, for their own entertainment.

    “It felt like the correctional officers were really selective, and targeted us in particular,” he said.

    Beaten within earshot

    He said guards and their proxies used to take their victims to the stairwell behind the daily activities room, where the sounds of them being beaten would drift through for the other young inmates to hear.

    One inmate would walk around on crutches after these assaults, he said.

    “We could see a little [of what was going on] through a gap, but mostly we could just hear the sound of hitting, which was very regular,” Cheung said. “We would see him walking around on crutches because the soles of both feet had been beaten.”

    ENG_CHN_HKPrisonAbuse_03282024.3.JPG
    Hong Kong activist Wong Yat-chin, who founded a group called Student Politicism in 2020, poses during an interview with AFP in Hong Kong July 14, 2021. (Anthony Wallace/AFP)

    The attacks were to have tragic consequences. After four nights of this treatment, Cheung heard the guards gossiping about the boy’s suicide attempt by drinking detergent.

    He fell to the ground foaming at the mouth, and had to be sent to an external hospital for gastric lavage, Cheung heard them saying. He was later transferred to a forensic psychiatric facility at Castle Peak Hospital, but never returned.

    “Usually, he would have come back to Pik Uk 14 days later,” Cheung said, “but I never saw him again, and I heard from the staff that he never came back from Castle Peak Hospital.”

    Hong Kong independence activist Tony Chung, who has served a 21-month jail term for “secession” under the 2020 National Security Law, spent some time after his release campaigning for the rights of other prisoners in Hong Kong.

    He told RFA Mandarin and The Report that he once tried to help a teenage inmate “forced to have oral sex to the point of ejaculation” by another inmate at Pik Uk to file a complaint.

    But he was never allowed to meet with the youth alone, only with another inmate who he suspected was actually the perpetrator of the alleged assault.

    “The older inmate who was rumored to be the perpetrator asked him in a provocative tone of voice: ‘Has someone been treating you badly? Tell me!’ and the boy whispered ‘No,” and changed the subject, and that was that,” Chung said.

    More abusive than adult prisons

    Chung, who is now seeking asylum in the United Kingdom and is once more wanted by the authorities, said juvenile institutions lend themselves far more readily to abuse than adult prisons for a number of reasons.

    For example, guards and fellow inmates rarely show newcomers how to do their chores properly, offering ample opportunity for physical reprisals when they’re not up to standard, he said.

    “If you keep doing it wrong, they just beat you up,” he said. “If you do it wrong again, they will gradually increase the level of violence if they find that you can’t fight back.”

    ENG_CHN_HKPrisonAbuse_03282024.4.JPG
    A correctional officer holds a video camera at Pik Uk Prison in Hong Kong, October 23, 2019. (Phillip Fong/AFP)

    And according to Cheung Tz Hin, guards in adult prisons are a little more concerned about angering the wrong people in a city where criminal gangs, or triads, might target off-duty officers who have mistreated one of their own.

    In the facilities for younger inmates, Chung said that any attempt to complain or investigate is met with stonewalling by prison guards, who cow prisoners into keeping quiet in the event of any inquiries.

    Public data from the Correctional Services Department shows a total of 579 complaints filed by persons in custody over the past five years, with only 12 substantiated or partially substantiated following investigation.

    Much of the reason for this is that guards and their favored inmates are well aware of the best blind spots in which to carry out their attacks, which are seldom picked up by surveillance cameras.

    No one will speak up

    In Hong Kong, one of the duties of the Justices of the Peace appointed by the Chief Executive and Chief Secretary is to “ensure that persons in custody are not be treated unfairly or exploited.”

    Justices of the Peace inspect the city’s four juvenile detention facilities and halfway houses every two weeks or at least once a month, and would be an ideal channel through which to raise a complaint.

    But nobody would dare to speak to them publicly in front of fellow inmates and guards, according to Chung and Cheung.

    There was a flurry of public concern about prisoner abuse in Hong Kong when dozens of high-profile pro-democracy activists and opposition lawmakers were released from their sentences in the wake of the 2014 Occupy Central movement and the 2016 “Fishball Revolution” in Mong Kok. 

    But the 2020 National Security Law forced many civic groups and prisoner charities to disband out of fear of further prosecution.

    Chung said anyone advocating for prisoners in Hong Kong now faces the additional risk of prosecution under the new Safeguarding National Security Law, which took effect on March 23, as well as the 2020 National Security Law.

    “I’m no longer in Hong Kong, so I don’t have to worry about being accused of inciting people to hate the government,” Chung said. “But others are still in Hong Kong, so I’m a bit worried about them.”

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Hsieh Fu-yee for RFA Mandarin/The Reporter.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • RFA closes Hong Kong bureau after passage of new security law

    Radio Free Asia on Friday announced it has closed its Hong Kong bureau, saying the city’s recently enacted national security law, also known as “Article 23,” has raised safety concerns for its reporters and staff members.

    RFA will no longer have full-time personnel in Hong Kong but will retain its official media registration there, the organization’s president and chief executive, Bay Fang, said in a statement.

    “We recognize RFA’s frontline status – as it is among the last independent news organizations reporting on events happening in Hong Kong in Cantonese and Mandarin,” she said.

    “For our audiences in Hong Kong and mainland China, who rely on RFA’s timely, uncensored journalism: Rest assured, our programming and content will continue without disruption,” Fang said.

    Hong Kong was once a bastion of free media and expression in Asia, qualities that helped make it an international financial center and a regional hub for journalism.

    But demonstrations in 2019 led to the passage of a national security law in 2020 that stifled dissent. Soon after, The New York Times announced it would relocate its digital news operations to Seoul. 

    In 2021, the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was forced to shut down amid an investigation conducted under the 2020 law.

    Sweeping new powers

    Last week’s enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also referred to as Article 23 based on a clause in Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, has intensified uncertainties among Hong Kong journalists.

    It has created new offenses, increased punishment for offenders and granted the government sweeping new powers to crack down on all forms of dissent. 

    It includes a reference to “external threats” and uses China’s expansive definition of “national security,” which journalists and critics say is vague. 

    In February, Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang accused RFA of reporting what he described as “false” criticism that the new law would target media organizations. He called the media outlet a “foreign force” that was misleading the people of Hong Kong. 

    “Actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a ‘foreign force,’ raise serious questions about our ability to operate in safety with the enactment of Article 23,” Fang said in Friday’s statement.

    Opened in 1996

    RFA opened its Hong Kong office – its first overseas bureau – in 1996. The organization is funded by the U.S. Congress but operates as an editorially independent private news organization. Its mission is to provide news in languages and regions where authorities censor news and stymie the freedom of expression and the press.

    The ranking Democratic member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks, representing New York, said he was “deeply concerned” by the decision, calling RFA “a longstanding beacon of independent journalism” in Hong Kong.

    “Since the passage of Hong Kong’s National Security Law in 2020, RFA has been a rare source of independent news coming out of Hong Kong despite facing unrelenting pressure and harassment,” he said in a statement. 

    “The closure of RFA’s bureau in Hong Kong, after 28 years, is a stark reminder of how brazenly Beijing has extinguished Hong Kong’s autonomy.” 

    RFA’s restructuring of its on-the-ground operations means that staff members will be relocated to the United States, Taiwan and elsewhere amid the closure of the physical bureau, the organization said.

    “RFA will shift to using a different journalistic model reserved for closed media environments,” Fang said. “I commend RFA’s journalists and staff for making this difficult transition possible.”

    Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Matt Reed for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong lawmaker deletes Facebook posts under new security law

    Hong Kong lawmaker Paul Tse, who was among dozens of pro-government legislators who voted in favor of the city’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance last week, has removed posts from his Facebook page for fear that comments he had posted there earlier could be used to prosecute him under the law.

    Tse’s Facebook account was unavailable when checked by RFA Cantonese on March 27.

    The move came after Tse, who represents the tourism sector in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, was criticized by Chief Executive John Lee in January for sounding like an opposition politician after he accused the city’s government of caring more about the opinions of social media users in mainland China than those of Hong Kong’s tax paying citizens.

    Tse’s move underscores fears among Hong Kongers that the new law, which critics say will undermine human rights protections, will mean ever-widening definitions of what constitutes a crime, and leave people vulnerable to malicious reporting to the authorities.

    Hong Kong lawmaker Paul Tse appears to have hidden or deleted all posts from his Facebook account as of March 29, 2024. (Image from Facebook)
    Hong Kong lawmaker Paul Tse appears to have hidden or deleted all posts from his Facebook account as of March 29, 2024. (Image from Facebook)

    Lee warned that Tse’s criticism of the government’s law enforcement tactics was “dangerous,” and reminded him of rhetoric from the 2019 protests, as well as “soft confrontation,” the government’s term for subtler forms of opposition and criticism that it also regards as potentially criminal.

    “Soft confrontation” was one of the terms used by Lee and his officials as justification for a second national security law under Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, which functions as a constitutional framework for the city’s government.

    Social media criticism

    Tse told a question and answer session in the legislature on Jan. 25 that the Hong Kong government seemed more responsive to social media criticism from the rest of China than to its own people.

    “Law enforcement forces have seemingly given the public the impression that they value the online opinions of Xiaohongshu users, who are not taxpayers, more than Hong Kong citizens, who actually pay tax,” Tse said, referring to a social media and e-commerce platform described as “China’s answer to Instagram.”

    He quipped that the attempt to placate mainland Chinese public opinion would lead to “Xiaohongshu running Hong Kong,” a play on the government’s insistence that only “patriots” loyal to Beijing should run Hong Kong.

    Tse singled out heavy-handed police enforcement of jaywalking penalties and heavy fines on restaurants for creating obstructions, as well as “cracking down on bookstores.”

    Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee (C) applauds with lawmakers following the passing of Article 23 legislation at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on March 19, 2024. (Louise Delmotte/AP)
    Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee (C) applauds with lawmakers following the passing of Article 23 legislation at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on March 19, 2024. (Louise Delmotte/AP)

    “Some Hong Kongers feel that the government’s style of governance is far removed from the reality of actual Hong Kongers who pay their taxes,” Tse said.

    Repeated calls to Tse’s phone rang unanswered during office hours on Wednesday.

    However, Tse wrote in a column in the Economic Journal newspaper that he had deleted his Facebook account due to fears that his past posts about Xiaohongshu running Hong Kong and other topics would be used to accuse him of “incitement to hatred,” possibly through a malicious tip-off via the much-used national security hotline.

    Tse’s Facebook account was visible again by noon GMT on Friday, but all posts appeared to have been hidden or deleted.

    ‘No need to panic’

    By contrast, fellow LegCo member Doreen Kong said she wasn’t worried about her recent comments criticizing the government for spending HK$50 million, or US$6.4 million, on an illuminated egg art installation in the Central business district.

    “If you do not intend to endanger national security, you will not break the law,” Kong told the Hong Kong Economic Journal. “There is no need to panic.” 

    The article also quoted lawmaker Lau Chi-pang as saying that he isn’t worried about keeping books banned under the national security crackdown for private use.

    “I research riots, so it’s normal for me to have historic data about riots,” the paper quoted Lau as saying. “Any research into Hong Kong between 2010 and 2020 will inevitably involve inflammatory propaganda and publications from that era.”

    Interactive installations of the 'teamLab: Continuous' by Japanese brand teamLab, an interdisciplinary group of artists are placed by Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, March 25, 2024. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)
    Interactive installations of the ‘teamLab: Continuous’ by Japanese brand teamLab, an interdisciplinary group of artists are placed by Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, March 25, 2024. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

    Documentary films depicting the 2019 protest movement have been banned from public screening in Hong Kong, because they are deemed to “glorify” a protest movement that the government has said was an attempt by “hostile foreign forces” to overthrow the government.

    Lau said a historian who privately read Guerilla Warfare by Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara but didn’t try to put its ideas into practice wouldn’t be committing “incitement” under the national security law.

    RFA Cantonese reached out to fellow lawmaker Gary Zhang, who has also made some remarks that are critical of government policies, and to former pro-democracy lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen, regarded as the only token “opposition” member of LegCo, for comment on Wednesday, but neither responded.

    The current Legislative Council was elected under new rules that only allow “patriots” approved by the government to run, and has no remaining opposition members, with many former pro-democracy lawmakers in exile or on trial under the 2020 National Security Law.

    ‘Seditious’ speech

    Meanwhile, Albert Chen, chair professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, was at pains to reassure people that they were unlikely to run afoul of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance unwittingly.

    The law’s provisions regarding “seditious” speech were most worthy of the public’s attention, Chen said in comments reported in the Ming Pao newspaper on March 27, reminding readers that Hong Kong’s courts heard more than 30 cases of “sedition” in 2020 alone.

    Citizens should “pay attention to relevant legal standards” in their speech, to avoid accidentally running afoul of the law, he told the paper.

    But he said “constructive criticism” was unlikely to be judged to be “incitement of hatred or contempt of the government” under the new law, without detailing what criteria might be used to gauge if criticism was “constructive” or not.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Sam Yuen for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.