Hong Kong Current Events

[Yu Ominae]

Update so far in HK:

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/09/17/ho...contain-china/

Freedom House gave the pro-democratic movement the 2020 award.

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/10/07/ho...illing-effect/

A primary school teacher is persona non grata to teach professionally due to "supporting" pro-independence movements.

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/10/15/br...oon-jimmy-lai/

HKPF raided another office owned by Jimmy Lai with a search warrant despite insistence to wait for a lawyer to show up.

[TinyRedLeaf]

To me, this was a heartfelt documentary, capturing the hopes, fears and uncertainties of five Hong Kong youth, who all turned 23 this year. They were among the 50,000-plus babies born in 1997, the year Hong Kong was handed back to China. The five youth featured in the documentary included two police officers, who spoke frankly about how the protests had affected them personally, despite their sincere efforts to uphold the law they're sworn to protect. The documentary was produced by CNA's Northeast Asia correspondent, Wei Du.

Note: The title "23" has a double meaning. It's not just referring to the age of the five youth, but also to the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, which states that the SAR government "shall enact laws on its own, to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government".

YouTube

https://youtu.be/RAR_IdNEmZ0

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 under a promise of autonomy for 50 years. That year, 59,250 babies were born in the city. Now at 23, five people of the handover generation embark on individual journeys to pursue dreams, love and careers. In a period of turbulence, each through their own way, strive to build a better future for themselves and the city they call home. Set amidst key political events occurring 23 years after the handover, in 2020, this documentary is an intimate and revealing portrait of people grappling with change sweeping across their city, and their lives.

[Yu Ominae]

This PSN Chinese disclaimer came up recently:

Spoiler for Space:

[Yu Ominae]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/poli...-hong-kong-if/

Ottawa has a plan to airlift Canadians living/working in HK just in case.

[Yu Ominae]

Major ruckus in the LegCo.

Now it's mostly filled with pro-Chinese politicians.

[Yu Ominae]

More updates on what's happening at the LegCo.

[Infinite Zenith]

From the South China Morning Post, Joshua Wong, Ivan Lam, and Agnes Chow are remanded in custody. Their trial for an incident on June 21, 2019, is scheduled to begin on December 2 and last a maximum of six days. Lam and Wong changed their pleas to guilty ahead of this trial.

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

#FreeAgnes is still trending, not to anyone's surprise.

Fortunately, hashtags don't accomplish anything. She'll stay imprisoned for the duration of her term, and we'll see if the world still remembers her after that.

[Yu Ominae]

Wong was in solitary confinement. Hong Kong correctional officer spotted something foreign during an X-ray scan. They didn't say what it is.

----

Lam delivering her 2020 speech at the LegCo, praising the NSL with no pro-democractic lawmakers.

[Yu Ominae]

Lam went out on a whim and did this:

Piles of cash at home’: Hong Kong leader says US sanctions mean she has no bank account

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has said she keeps “piles of cash” at home because she has no bank account after the United States imposed sanctions on her in response to the crackdown on free speech and political freedoms in the city.

Lam was targeted, along with 14 other senior city officials, in the toughest US action on Hong Kong yet since Beijing imposed the new law on the territory in late June.

The move by Washington freezes the US assets of the officials and criminalises any financial transactions in the US.

In an interview with local English TV channel HKIBC aired on Friday night, Lam said she was “using cash every day for all the things” after being sanctioned.

“Sitting in front of you is a chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region] who has no banking services made available to her. I’m using cash for all the things,” Lam told HKIBC. “I have piles of cash at home, the government is paying me cash for my salary because I don’t have a bank account.”

But Lam said she was keen to avoid deterring anyone from serving in public office, adding: “To be so unjustifiably sanctioned by the US government, it’s an honour.”

Lam earns HK$5.21m (US$672,000) a year, and is one of the highest paid leaders in the world.

Her remarks sparked a public backlash, with social media users posting photos of coins in their piggy banks at home to contrast with Lam’s wealth.

Others questioned how her large salary would be transported to her residence in cash.

In August, Lam had told media that she faced “a little bit of inconvenience” as a result of the sanctions which hampered her use of credit cards.

[Infinite Zenith]

The sentencing is now done. Per the SCMP:

• Joshua Wong gets 13.5 months in prison
• Agnes Chow gets 10 months in prison

From what I've read, this was Chow's first criminal conviction, and her lawyers' requests of having her sentence commuted to community service were rejected. According to The New York Times, for the past while, Chow's found it tricky to adjust to life in prison, and former Demosisto Nathan Law suggests that this initial sentence is only the tip of the iceberg.

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/12/04/ho...-been-elusive/

An editorial on how supporters have either chose to dig in HK to "fight" or go to exile to protect themselves/their families.

[Infinite Zenith]

Following up with last week's trial, Agnes Chow applied for and was denied bail.

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/12/09/wh...y-confinement/

An editorial on what decision was made to single out Joshua Wong for an X-Ray before he got locked up in solitary.

[Yu Ominae]

Jimmy Lai is arrested by HKPF's National Security Department and is charged under the NSL for working with other countries to undermine the HK SAR government.

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/12/15/15...dus-continues/

The unnamed girlfriend of the teen who got shot with a live round in October 2019 secretly flew to Britain and is now filing an asylum claim.

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/12/16/pr...rotest-arrest/

Dissident actors. A lot of them are either pro-China or if they're pro-democrat, they keep it in the closet.

[Yu Ominae]

https://hongkongfp.com/2020/12/22/ho...st-group-says/

The teen shot by police in 2019 escaped HK and is living in an undisclosed place.