Policy platform spotted in HK

Posted on July 8, 2016 by biglychee

Yesterday it was lawmaker and pro-Beijing veteran Tsang Yok-sing – today it’s hereditary tycoon and ex-Chief Secretary Henry Tangproclaiming that the Chinese government does not pick Hong Kong’s Chief Executive. “I always believe the CE election is fair and open,” he says. (The ‘always’ there is a nice touch.)

In the background: the sound of the most intensely gritted teeth ever.

Henry knows extremely well just how efficiently Beijing decides the result of Hong Kong’s CE ‘election’ in advance – even reserving the right to change its mind at the last minute.

He was the pre-determined ‘winner’ during the run-up to the 2012 selection ceremony by a 1,200-strong committee. Most of the city’s tycoons had publicly announced their support for him. Then, his extramarital affairs and illegal basement mysteriously-but-professionally came to light. With just days to go, the main United Front groups on the Election Committee were maintaining that they had yet to make up their mind how to cast their ballots, and some of the grubbier and dimmer members openly whined that they weren’t sure who they were supposed to vote for. The word finally came down, and CY Leung emerged with his famous 689 votes.

Although the Election Committee is carefully packed with enough obedient loyalists to ensure a majority, it is unlikely that the Chinese Communist Party leaves anything to chance. You do not have to be a huge cynic to presume that the ballots are numbered in such a way that votes can be traced – or that the whole vote-count can be falsified.

As is customary among those assured of the job, Henry didn’t bother putting together a serious manifesto. Most politicians in Hong Kong are essentially role-playing and have few ideas about policy. It’s quite a shock when you actually see a fairly comprehensive platform.

Still (understandably) miffed about being refused a TV broadcasting licence, businessman Ricky Wong plans to run in September’s Legislative Council elections on an ‘Anyone but CY’ ticket. He has a real, and quite interesting, platform…

Leaving aside the gimmicky electronic referendum thing, there’s something here to annoy everyone. ‘Pocketing’ a quasi-democratic electoral reform is unacceptable to any serious pro-democrat. Flexibility on this is what makes the ‘third way’ semi-dems people such hopeless losers. But Ricky is just getting started.

His support for a third runway and development in country parks and opposition to rent control and working-hours laws are all standard pro-business positions, but unpopular among environmentalists and pro-labour/grassroots groups. Opposition to independence and support for a national security law are obvious pro-Beijing positions, bound to anger localists and civil-rights activists respectively.

Proposing an end to the New Territories ‘small house’ policy is common sense but unacceptable to officials petrified of upsetting the Beijing-friendly rural mafia. Legalizing Uber similarly threatens untouchable vested interests. Both these ideas will have various radical-minded and idealistic policy wonks salivating. Admitting more foreign-trained doctors similarly makes sense and pisses off a cartel.

Letting schools stick with Cantonese and limiting new immigrants’ access to welfare and public housing will appeal to localists and upset Motherland- and integration-adoring patriots.

Oh, and ‘fair, open bid for TV spectrum’.

Election freaks are having a field day working out whether Wong will take more votes from Regina Ip or the pro-dems onHong Kong Island (he’s looking for signatures, if you’re interested).

Since it cuts through the normal pro-Beijing-pro-dem divide, this policy platform might seem all over the place. But it is in many ways quite coherent: it bows to the reality of Chinese sovereignty, it supports business, and it puts Hong Kong people before parasitical interest groups and outsiders. It’s what the Liberal Party – or something like it – would propose if Hong Kong had a democratic political system (Ricky was associated with the Liberals way back). His opponents’ ideas, by contrast, will be piecemeal and, mostly, insipid. A pattern that Henry Tang might recall.

I declare the weekend open with a puzzle: how do Hong Kong government information officials promote ‘peace of mind in times of typhoons’ with a visual of hands forming a roof over an open book?

Don’t go into the office, make sure your books don’t get wet.

http://biglychee.com/?p=16232

Govt aware of Singapore train woes earlier: report

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  Govt aware of Singapore train woes earlier: report
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A new report says the Hong Kong government was informed about problems with train compartments manufactured on the mainland long before MTRC awarded a contract to the same firm.

Carriers shipped to Singapore by CSR Qingdao Sifang were found have cracks and the compartments were then sent back to the mainland.

Thursday's report by Hong Kong news agency FactWire contradicts a comment by the Transport Secretary, Anthony Cheung, who said on Wednesday that he was not aware of the issue.

FactWire quoted sources as saying that multiple emails were sent from January to August last year to the Transport Bureau informing them of the defects. The report did not identify who sent the emails but said they obtained copy of the mails from a government source. 

The MTR Corporation awarded the contract for 93 trains to CSR Qingdao Sifang in July last year. 

The emails, sent to the bureau before the contract was finalised, stated that it found the MTR Corporation's tendering process to be unusual and hasty, as the company did not conduct technology exchanges or made site visits to the factory before making the purchase. The government was then asked to intervene.

FactWire reported that officials responded in February last year, saying they will follow up on the matter. Three months later, the corporation awarded the bid to the company. 

The Transport Bureau then got another email, demanding a freeze of the tendering process.

Cheung, while denying any prior knowledge of the matter, said on Wednesday that the administration was highly concerned about the matter. He said the corporation has been asked to report to the government about this as soon as possible.

The corporation had said it conducts stringent safety assessments on newly-purchased train compartments and reports on the tests to the government before they are put into use.

http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1271171-20160707.htm

Hong Kong’s illegal e-waste dumps ... whose fault? War of words between US watchdog and government

Hong Kong’s environmental protection department under fire for failing to prevent the import of electronic waste, with activists claiming they have been providing information on illegal dump sites since 2007.

SARAH.KARACS@SCMP.COM

UPDATED : Thursday, 07 July, 2016, 9:07am

Illegal e waste dumping grounds in Yuen Long. Photo: Bruce Yan

A war of words has broken out over claims by the government that a major US watchdog had failed to alert the environmental protection department of a number of toxic electronic waste sites in the New Territories.

Hong Kong’s environmental protection department has come under fire for failing to enforce transboundary laws preventing the import of electronic waste, following a report by watchdog Basel Action Network that used GPS trackers to expose Hong Kong as a “pollution haven” for US exporters, with 37 out of 65 items exported out of the US to Hong Kong.

The network claims to have alerted the department of the specific sites earlier this year. But a spokesman for the department, Gary Tam, in an email exchange with Basel Action Network’s director Jim Puckett, accused the network of failing to notify them of specific sites.

“Mr Puckett of Basel Action Network had [not] informed the environmental protection department about the hazardous e-waste entering Hong Kong,” said Tam.

A map of the illegal e-waste dumping sites in Hong Kong visited by the Post. Image: SCMP Graphics

“We have provided all of the 47 locations that we have discovered to the department via our tracking technology on June 16. Prior to that, we provided them with four sites,” said Puckett.

The network has accused the department of failing to act on years’ worth of notifications of different hazardous e-waste sites where exporters rely on lax enforcement and legislative loopholes unique to Hong Kong to bring toxic materials in. It has threatened to file official complaints with the parties to the Basel Convention and to mainland China delegates.

“We complained about this as early as 2007, to which the department simply replied that it was difficult [to curtail illegal imports]” said Puckett.

Puckett has been a chief proponent of international policies within the United Nations Basel Convention - the international body which prevents the export of hazardous waste from the developed to the developing world - since its inception in 1989.

“Even though Hong Kong responded and agreed to ban notifications of imported e-waste contraband sent to them from the US or Canada, they very rarely prosecuted these cases but merely turned them back to the US, knowing full well that the US government would do nothing to apprehend the exporters,” Puckett added.

“The operations conducted in New Territories are illegal and if one is truly interested in curtailing illegal imports, the government would very obviously close down the magnet for these imports and not just look at the odd container at the port.”

The South China Morning Post, with the help of Basel Action Network, visited a portion of sites where hazardous and legally dubious dismantling of electronic components was taking place, and found seven out of ten sites still in operation.

“In the past five years (2011-15), the department inspected about 3,200 containers and completed prosecutions of around 100 cases. All illegally imported e-waste had been returned to the originating places of export,” said Tam.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1986362/hong-kongs-illegal-e-waste-dumps-whose-fault-war

Hong Kong anti-graft high-flyer Rebecca Li set to be moved

Short reign of ‘uncompromising’ deputy commissioner and chief ICAC investigator is almost over, sources say, with rising star Ricky Yau set to replace her

NIALL.FRASER@SCMP.COM

UPDATED : Thursday, 07 July, 2016, 12:28pm

Rebecca Li (right) with her predecessor Ryan Wong in 2005. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Hong Kong’s internationally respected Independent Commission Against Corruption is facing turmoil at the top as the future of its deputy commissioner and most senior investigator hangs in the balance.

Despite still being officially listed last night as head of the powerful investigative unit that has spearheaded the work of the ICAC over more than four decades – the Operations Department – sources have told thePost that Rebecca Li Bo-lan’s short reign as anti-graft investigator-in-chief is over.

Li became the first woman to lead the investigative arm of the commission when she took over, in an acting capacity, from retired graft fighter Ryan Wong Sai-chiu on July 17 last year.

In 2000, she became the first ICAC officer to be sent for special training with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Unconfirmed reports emerged on Wednesday that the 53-year-old – described by former and still serving colleagues as “uncompromising” and “the type of investigator that no-one under a cloud of suspicion would want on their tail’’ – would be replaced by younger, rising star, Ricky Yau Shu-chun.

Due to the seniority and sensitivity of the position she was given in an acting capacity almost exactly a year ago, her confirmation as Hong Kong’s top anti-corruption fighter would have required the approval of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and, almost certainly, clearance from Beijing.

The commission declined to answer any questions on Li’s position on Wednesday and neither Li nor her apparent successor Yau were answering their phones.

However, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Post: “She has told her colleagues that the decision has been made and she is gone. The whole organisation is waiting for an internal announcement to confirm what is already a done deal.’’

Another source told the Post that a formal statement would be made by ICAC Commissioner Simon Peh “very soon”.

The Operations Department is the investigative arm of the ICAC and its largest department, with a staff of more than 800 people.

Li joined the ICAC in 1984 as an assistant investigation officer in the Operations Department.

Her talent was recognised early and she was the first officer to be sent to the FBI for training.

In 2002, she was promoted to chief investigation officer, and two years later to assistant director of investigations. In 2010, she became director of operations managing private-sector probes.

In 2007, Li received the ICAC medal for distinguished service.

Li has worked on such high-profile cases as the arrest of Mo Yuk-ping, the wife of Shanghai tycoon Chau Ching-ngai, who was convicted of bribery, falsifying tax invoices and embezzlement.

Mo was convicted of manipulating the shares of her husband’s former company and served a two-year sentence for conspiracy to defraud and perverting the course of justice.

Li also headed the probe into former deputy inland revenue commissioner Agnes Sin Law Yuk-lin, who swindled the city out of HK$330,000 in rental allowances.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1986358/hong-kong-anti-graft-high-flyer-rebecca-li-set-be-moved

Hong Kong unlikely to return bookseller wanted in mainland China

Lam Wing-kee (right) is defying Chinese police orders to return to the mainland and submit the names of customers of Causeway Bay Bookstore. Photo: WSJ

Hong Kong officials have ruled out any chance a local bookseller wanted in mainland China would be sent back after mainland authorities threatened him with tougher punishment if he did not return.

Security officials also said they would further investigate the case of Lam Wing-kee, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Lam’s revelations last month about being secretly arrested and interrogated in China over his company’s books rekindled fears Beijing is tightening its grip on Hong Kong.

Lam, who went missing last year, said he was allowed to return to Hong Kong in June on condition he bring back information about his bookshop’s customers.

Instead, he called a news conference to talk about his ordeal of being held for months in the city of Ningbo, near Shanghai, and vowed never to return to the mainland.

Lam was one of five men who worked for a Hong Kong publisher churning out racy books on China’s communist elite.

They operated their business legally in Hong Kong, which has wide autonomy and a separate legal system, but their books were banned in the mainland.

Lam and the others disappeared last year, only to turn up months later in the mainland, detained or involved in investigations.

Ningbo police warned Lam on Tuesday to return to the mainland, “otherwise they will be forced to take other legal measures”, according to WSJ, citing the official Xinhua news agency.

The police said  Lam violated his bail terms by declaring his intention not to return to the mainland.

Hong Kong Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said there is “no legal arrangement for the transfer of persons to the mainland authorities” because Hong Kong has no extradition agreement with the mainland.

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

RA

http://www.ejinsight.com/20160707-hong-kong-unlikely-to-return-bookseller-wanted-in-mainland-china/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=20160707-hong-kong-unlikely-to-return-bookseller-wanted-in-mainland-china

Why chief executive and pro-Beijing camp not always in same boat -Man Wei-yan

Former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-wah traces the problems of governance to the fact that the chief executive is not allowed to have any party affiliation under the election ordinance. Photo: HKEJ

Former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-wah recently weighed in on the difficulties the current administration is facing, saying the inability of the government to govern effectively has its roots in the fact that the chief executive finds it hard to secure votes in the legislature because he is not allowed to have any party affiliation under the existing Chief Executive Election Ordinance.

On the other hand, Professor Lau Siu-kai, former chief adviser to the Central Policy Unit, said denying the chief executive of any party membership does stand in the way of achieving effective governance.

However, that built-in disadvantage in the system can be remedied if the chief executive forms a close alliance with pro-establishment parties in the Legislative Council, he said.

But since pro-establishment parties in the legislature and the chief executive represent different and even conflicting sets of interests, forming a close and long-term partnership between the two is easier said than done, he said.

In fact, Professor Lau raised a very interesting question: Why are the chief executive and pro-establishment parties in Legco, both of whom are endorsed by Beijing, representing two different sets of interests? Aren’t they supposed to be representing the same vested interests?

My answer is that the chief executive election and the Legco election are two entirely different ball games both in terms of the election process and the demographics of the voters.

In the chief executive election, only 1,200 people in the city have the right to vote.

These people often represent the economically well-off sectors of society, such as big business and the professional sector.

In order to gain their support, any candidate for chief executive has to answer the requests of these voters and serve their interests.

As such, it is fair to say that the chief executive generally represents the interests of the privileged class.

However, the Legco election is an open election in which people from all walks of life are allowed to vote, and many of them belong to the underprivileged class or the working poor.

Likewise, in order to win their votes, those running for Legco seats have to promise to look after their interests.

Simply put, political parties in Legco, be they pan-democratic or pro-establishment, all represent the interests of the common people in society.

Such a fundamental difference in the demographics of voters between the chief executive election and the Legco election explains why the CE can’t always find common ground with the pro-establishment parties in the legislature on any particular issue, let alone form a sustainable ruling coalition, because they often represent conflicting interests.

Numerous attempts in the past, such as appointing pro-establishment lawmakers to the Executive Council or designating them as bureau chiefs, have failed to build a long-term and sustainable partnership between the two.

Unless the issue of different demographics and rules of the game between the CE and Legco elections is addressed, I can’t see any promising prospect of any viable and stable partnership between the chief executive and pro-establishment parties in the legislature in the foreseeable future.

This article appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on July 6.

Translation by Alan Lee

[Chinese version 中文版]

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

CG

http://www.ejinsight.com/20160707-why-chief-executive-and-pro-beijing-camp-not-always-in-same-boat/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=20160707-why-chief-executive-and-pro-beijing-camp-not-always-in-same-boat

Carrie Lam’s ‘seven visions’: A closer look -Joseph Wong Wing-ping

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam shared her "seven visions for Hong Kong" at a forum last weekend. Photo: HK Govt

Speaking at a forum organized by the civilian think-tank Path of Democracy last weekend, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor outlined her “seven visions for Hong Kong”.

At the end of her speech, the top government official invoked the lyrics of the all-time famous song “Imagine” written by John Lennon.

As Lam put forward a detailed blueprint for the future of Hong Kong, it has added to the speculation about her potential candidacy for the chief executive job next year.

While it remains to be seen if she will join the race or stay away, her “seven visions” do deserve further discussion and close scrutiny.

Let’s now list the the so-called visions. The are: 1. Upholding the rule of law and judicial independence; 2. Protecting human rights and freedom; 3. Facilitating democracy and fair elections; 4. Promoting a diversified economy and a healthy job market; 5. Nurturing the youth and attracting both foreign and domestic talent; 6. Fostering a more balanced urban development and improving the living environment in the city, and; 7. Promoting social harmony and friendly neighborhoods.

As far as “upholding the rule of law and judicial independence” is concerned, I believe nobody in Hong Kong would disagree with that, and Secretary Lam herself did live up to the promise. As far as I know, Lam, throughout her term as chief secretary, has never openly criticized any verdict given by courts over various judicial review cases filed by civilians.

However, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, her immediate superior, did not exercise the same degree of restraint as Lam did over the past four years on this issue. Leung has continued to criticize the public for abusing the judicial review mechanism, accusing people of stalling government infrastructural projects due to political motives.

I have pointed out numerous times before that if the head of the executive branch continues to question the rulings of the judiciary, it constitutes an open violation of the rule of law and judicial independence.

As Leung’s top official, it is Lam’s responsibility to strongly advise her boss against doing so, if she is really committed to upholding the rule of law as she has claimed.

There are two scenarios. She might have told her boss not to criticize the court but he didn’t listen, or she didn’t try to stop him at all. Either way, Lam hasn’t fulfilled her duty properly, and to some extent she is complicit in her boss’s violation of the rule of law and judicial independence by remaining silent.

Regarding her second vision, which is “protecting human rights and freedom”, Lam said that while rights must be protected, nobody is justified in breaking the law under any circumstance. What she said might be true, but is only part of the whole truth.

The whole truth is, citizens in Hong Kong should be asked to abide by the law with the assurance that the laws that are imposed on them are just and rightful, and that authorities are enforcing the laws fairly and impartially.

Unfortunately, the distinctly different ways the police and the Department of Justice treated protesters who broke the law during the Occupy Movement and law enforcement officers who were caught on camera beating passersby and some activists suggest that authorities are not enforcing the law equally and impartially.

How can Lam expect citizens to willingly obey and respect the law when the law itself isn’t applied to each and everyone in society equally?

On her third vision, which is “facilitating democracy and fair elections”, Lam stressed that it would be impossible for any future chief executive to win the hearts and minds of the people and rule with a clear mandate if he or she is not elected through “one person one vote”.

The fact is, the people of Hong Kong were indeed allowed “one person one vote” in the political reform package put forward by the administration last year. But under the framework laid down by the “831 Resolution”, the candidates had to be screened by Beijing beforehand through a nomination committee that lacked both credibility and representativeness.

That is the reason why the reform package failed to gain widespread support among the public.

Lam owes the people of Hong Kong a clear answer as to whether she thinks the “831 Resolution” was a mistake. Unless she takes a clear stance on the issue, she is in no position to talk about promoting democracy.

As for the other visions that she laid out, I will discuss them in my next article.

This article appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on July 6.

Translation by Alan Lee

[Chinese version 中文版]

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

RC

http://www.ejinsight.com/20160707-carrie-lams-seven-visions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=20160707-carrie-lams-seven-visions

Antony Leung in everyone’s faces, again

Posted on July 7, 2016 by biglychee

The recent pondering of incumbent CY, plus Carrie, John Tsang, Regina and Tsang Yok-sing as possible next Chief Executive overlooked Antony Leung. He had dropped off the radar in recent months, in the manner of one who has better things to do. But, almost instantly, the former Financial Secretary reappears, heading up some sort of think-tank proposing education reforms.

The main impression is that the Hong Kong education system is so antiquated that unremarkable and obvious ideas come across as exciting and radical. Apparently, it has not yet occurred to local universities to interview prospective students…

When reporters ask, Antony naturally says this publicity-seeking is nothing to do withwanting to be CE. They should put the question differently: “Wouldn’t you agree that anyone wanting to be CE must be mentally deranged?” The answer would be far more telling.

Antony Leung’s presence in the list of possible-next-CEs makes little difference. He is a remote and not-very-popular reminder of the Regina-era under CH Tung. Beijing will choose whoever it wants regardless of how much or little they wave their arms and shout Me! Me! Me! For some reason, Tsang Yok-sing sees fit to deny this indisputable fact. But the alternative is that the Chinese Communist Party would delegate authority to any other entity – in this case a dolt-and-shoe-shiner-packed panel of 1,200.

The jockeying for attention in the meantime may not always be what it seems. It could be that some of the hopefuls are pretending to appear to want the job because Beijing’s officials have told them to. There are no limits to the self-absorbed and malevolent or simply pointless micro-management that can come out of the Liaison Office.

Correction from SCMP: Our article today on China’s new Y-20 military transport confused the aircraft’s maximum take-off weight of around 200 tonnes with its payload, which is around 50 tonnes. We regret any confusion. Thank you for your attention.

http://biglychee.com/?p=16226

Generation Z speaks out on HK, China and 2047

Young activists come face to face with the police at a protest in Mong Kok during the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Photo: Bloomberg

by Joyce Lee Ching-yan / Today, 17:08

“If Hong Kong nativism is wishful thinking, then platitudes like ‘democracy for China’ sound more like squaring the circle. A drop of clean water can only be devoured in a pool of sewage. That is exactly why Hong Kong cannot change China.”

Those are the words of a young Hongkonger named Henry. Born in August 1997, he is now a medical student at the University of Hong Kong.

In an interview with the Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly, Henry admits that he couldn’t have said those words just three years ago.

Some are preparing for a violent revolution

As he grew up, he considered himself a patriot.

But in high school, his view of China changed after he came across books about the Great Famine of 1959-1961 and the labor camps during the Cultural Revolution.

His political awakening instilled in him a fear of Communism.

Throughout the 2012 protests against government’s plan to launch National Education in all schools, Henry participated as a volunteer for Scholarism, the leading light of student resistance and the predecessor of the new political party Demosistō.

Though the mass demonstrations forced the embattled Leung Chun-ying administration to abolish a mandatory curriculum and allow schools to determine whether to launch the subject or not, Henry said the protest was a failure.

“Schools are instilling patriotism, love for the Communist Party, among students in a more covert way, and the Education Bureau is still steadfast in using Mandarin (Putonghua) to teach the Chinese Language subject,” he said.

“When I hear that pupils are still talking in Putonghua after school, I feel Cantonese and our local identity are in deep peril.”

The 2014 Umbrella Movement further cemented Henry’s resolve.

“When I see people, wearing goggles and helmets, block the road in Mong Kok with makeshift barricades made of bamboo and timber and the fierce clashes in the streets, I told myself that there is no turning back for Hong Kong, when just a few years ago pepper spray may be the most ‘powerful’ weapon in police operations. I guess next time rubber bullets may be fired.”

Henry now makes no bones about his anti-China stance: he advocates Hong Kong independence as the only way out for the territory, including its pursuit of democracy.

“It’s hard for me to imagine what will happen in 2047 when today’s cross-border relations are already nearing a bursting point. If we sit idle, then there will be no Hong Kong in 2047.

“The right timing for Hong Kong independence can be when uprisings erupt in China, the party’s infighting gets out of control or even when there is a war between China and the United States. You can’t rule these out in the next few decades.”

Henry said he was told that some groups in the city have been preparing for a future revolution. “They are valiant or radical, whichever way you like to call them, and they are even preparing physically, like in fighting clubs.”

But Henry said he dares not to be on the front should there be a violent revolution. “I will take part as a doctor for first aid on the scene.”

No democracy for HK even when there’s democracy in China

The 19-year-old, Canada-born Jerry is now a sophomore student in economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

He never regards himself as a Chinese and even doesn’t bother applying for a home return permit, the document required for travel to the mainland.

In the interview, he insisted on using China to refer to the mainland.

A member of the CUHK students’ union, Jerry was one of the organizers of the June 4 forum this year that was part of the call to boycott the candlelight vigil in Victoria Park, with the most vocal chorus on campus being “democracy for China has nothing to do with Hong Kong”.

“Old-line democrats’ illusion of ‘democratic reunification with China’ has long been shattered. I found through my contacts with Chinese that they hate Hongkongers, especially in the cyber world, and even when there is democracy in China, they won’t give it to Hong Kong while hatred is there.”

Jerry said separatists like him have to thank Leung Chun-ying as he is the “father of Hong Kong independence”.

“For instance, only after his attack at a book titled ‘Hong Kong Nationalism’ (香港民族論) in his Policy Address, calling it a fallacy, did I begin to read the book.

“And, there would have been no Umbrella Movement and Hong Kong nativism had it not been for his administration’s crackdown and firing of tear gas.”

He said he may become a full-time social activist after graduation and is keen to see a revolution before 2047, even not a bloodless one, as otherwise the cost of doing nothing is even bigger.

Love the country means love the party

Titus, born in March 1997 and also a CUHK student, told the Monthly that his father, an evangelist, once gave up the chance to immigrate to Australia as he wanted to carry out missionary work in China and advocated democracy for the nation.

This upbringing influenced Titus a lot, until the Umbrella Movement.

“I began to realize that love for country has long been hijacked by the Communist Party and the Chinese identity nowadays only means citizen of the People’s Republic of China and national security is actually the security of the party.

“History textbooks in high school are written with the kind of dogma and political correctness like territorial integrity and reunification are paramount to a nation and thus the well-being of its people. But in China’s history, the period when all thoughts and philosophies were able to flourish was always when the country was split, like during the Warring States period.”

Tutus’ major is history and political science.

He even has an idea for Hong Kong to survive: to learn from Finland.

Finland was merely a dependency of the former Soviet Union and it avoided open revolt against Moscow for the sake of its own existence.

Ultimately, it has outlived the Communist regime after the latter’s 1989 collapse.

Maybe Hong Kong needs to seek some tactical compromise, given the disproportionate mismatches in size and population between the two places.

“But at crucial junctures the government must have the guts to face up to the north, like in the booksellers crisis and Beijing’s political bullying. But the Leung administration is simply a puppet.”

This article appeared in the July issue of the Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly.

Translation by Frank Chen

[Chinese version 中文版]

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

CG

Beijing has to reflect on why many young Hongkongers, especially those born after the 1997 handover, are not exactly fond of China. Photo: Bloomberg

Demonstrators rebuild a barricade near the Central Government Offices in the 2014 protest. Some of them have been preparing for more confontational rallies in future. Photo: Bloomberg

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Police refusing to protect me: Lam Wing-kee - RTHK

Lam Wing-kee says he feels his personal safety is now under threat. File photo: AP

Causeway Bay bookseller Lam Wing-kee claims police has turned down his request for protection, after he told them he was being followed around. 

In an exclusive interview with local newspaper Mingpao on Wednesday, Lam said when he reported that someone was following him on a bike, police dismissed the person as a curious onlooker.

Lam said some people who followed him were showing "triad-style" behaviour and he felt his personal safety was under threat. 

On one occasion, he said four men had followed him until he entered a building. He said a shop owner nearby later told him that the men continued their watch outside the building after he went in.

Lam said the people looked like mainlanders and he did not believe they were journalists or the paparazzi. 

But the Secretary for Security, Lai Tung-kwok, said later that police who investigated Lam's complaint found that a car that was tailing him belonged to a media organisation. 

Democratic Party legislator Albert Ho, who has been helping Lam, urged the police not to arrive at a premature conclusion that only reporters have been following the bookseller.

He said some of those who followed Lam may have been reporters, but the police are not in a position to say all of them were journalists. Ho said Lam told him that some of those who followed him made an effort to make themselves conspicuous to let know they were following him. 

In a related development, the state-owned mainland newspaper People’s Daily said Lam’s account about his detention on the mainland were all lies.

In an article published in the newspaper’s overseas edition, it said some people are using Lam’s case to stir up "confrontational sentiments" between Hong Kong people and mainlanders, so as to fuel the movement for Hong Kong's independence. 

The article said the Hong Kong police and the public security departments on the mainland will very likely work more closely than before, adding Lam’s plan to escape legal sanction by running away to Hong Kong was doomed to fail.

_______________________ 
Last updated: 2016-07-06 HKT 13:45

http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1270915-20160706.htm

HK govt should give full protection to Lam Wing-kee -SC Yeung

Mainland authorities play a video showing Lam admitting that he breached the laws of China during their meeting with Hong Kong officials in Beijing. Photo: TVB

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying now finds himself in a very difficult bind.

Amid the public outcry over the revelations of bookseller Lam Wing-kee regarding his abduction and detention in the mainland, our leader had to show that he cares for Hong Kong people, regardless of what his critics say.

And so he sent a top-level delegation to Beijing to discuss the cross-border notification mechanism, which appears to have been violated with the disappearance of the five booksellers last year and, as it turned out, their detention in the mainland.

His objective, obviously, was to show to Hong Kong people that the “one country, two systems” principle is alive and well, meaning, respected by the authorities on both sides of the border.

But what he might not have anticipated was the response from Beijing, which turned the tables on Lam and accused him breaching his bail conditions by not returning to the mainland.

What CY Leung’s delegation got, instead of assurances that the “one country, two systems” principle is intact, is a nothing less than an ultimatum from the mainland authorities.

“Lam is a wanted man in China and he should return to China to face the charges,” Beijing’s Public Security Ministry told the visiting Hong Kong delegation. “We may consider taking action if he does not.”

What did CY Leung expect to get from his bosses, anyway? Did he think that his justice minister Rimsky Yuen and security chief Lai Tung-kwok could go to Beijing and lecture their mainland counterparts, their bosses, on the mechanics of the notification system and the “one country, two systems”?

They were the ones who were lectured on, and shown a video of Lam admitting that he breached the laws of China and pleading for leniency.

Of course, under the circumstances he was in, Lam would admit to anything as he was in no position to assert his rights or protest his innocence.

And to show that Lam’s rights were respected while under detention in Ningbo in Zhejiang province, the video also shows Lam staying in a clean and cozy cell with a nice bed, and being given ample meals, appropriate medical checkups and a regular haircut.

In short, the video is saying that Lam was treated well.

Then, the mainland security officials issued a statement detailing Lam’s alleged crimes and the others who were also involved.

In the video, Lam admitted that he and another man had used a mainland bank account to collect more than 400,000 yuan (US$59,780) by selling 368 banned books in the mainland.

But there was no mention of the fact that though the books they sold are banned in the mainland, those books are not banned in Hong Kong, and that their bookstore is a Hong Kong company, and the business was conducted in Hong Kong.

Did CY Leung’s men dare to point out these little details to their mainland counterparts?

Perhaps that’s the meaning of “one country, two systems” as far as Beijing is concerned: A Hong Kong citizen can be arrested by mainland authorities in the mainland and charged with conducting illegal business in the mainland, although their business is entirely legal in Hong Kong.

We could only imagine Yuen and Lai humbly nodding their heads as they listened to the Beijing officials’ lecture.

But if we are to believe that “one country, two systems” is still being implemented in this part of the world, we should assert that Lam, or any other Hong Kong citizen for that matter, is protected by Hong Kong laws, and not subjected to China’s laws, while living and conducting their business in their own city.

If we are to believe that “one country, two systems” is alive and well, Hong Kong officials should unequivocally point out to their mainland counterparts that Hong Kong and China are two different jurisdictions, operating under legal systems that are independent of each other.

What would now be the response of CY Leung’s administration?

If he agrees with Beijing’s assertion, then he could have Lam arrested and sent back to the mainland to face the music.

But that would be a patent violation of the “one country, two systems” principle, something that is unlikely to earn him the sympathies of Hong Kong people.

But if he is to assert the “one country, two systems” principle, then he should ensure Lam’s protection, and prevent him from being abducted again and whisked off to a mainland cell.

However, that would not endear him to his Beijing bosses, and further lessen his chances of getting their blessing for a second term in office.

Beijing is clearly putting pressure on the Hong Kong government to toe the line as far as the Causeway Bay Bookstore case is concerned.

After returning to Hong Kong following eight months of detention in the mainland, Lam expressed fears for his personal safety.

The Hong Kong police offered to give him protection, but that obviously is of little comfort to him, as he was prompted to cancel his plan to join the July 1 pro-democracy march after noticing that some people are closely monitoring his movements.

Lam told Hong Kong media on Wednesday that he was being followed by four men and he felt his life was under threat.

He is currently living in a safehouse, but, again, that really doesn’t assure his safety.

Lam also said he is not sure if Hong Kong police are ready to provide him protection, noting that officials have said they don’t think he is in danger at the moment.

Lam, in fact, said Hong Kong police didn’t want him to stay in Hong Kong.

Considering Beijing’s insistence that Lam is a wanted man, one could surmise that mainland officials will do their best to take him back to China. 

That could explain why four men, according to Lam, have been following him.

But Hong Kong officials said Beijing did not urge the Hong Kong side to arrest Lam.

That is far from reassuring. We can only hope that we won’t learn one day that Lam has again disappeared, although, if that happens, we already know why.

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

SC/AC/CG

http://www.ejinsight.com/20160705-hk-govt-should-give-full-protection-to-lam-wing-kee/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=20160705-hk-govt-should-give-full-protection-to-lam-wing-kee

China’s latest soft-power victory

Posted on July 6, 2016 by biglychee

Like some insecure egotistical bullying narcissist-pedant-bore, the Chinese government cannot do the decent and advisable thing, and quietly tiptoe away after being caught abducting and forcing confessions from the Hong Kong booksellers. It must have the last word and attempt to prove itself correct. The clumsy ‘documentary’ style video on Lam Wing-kee tries to establish that his incarceration and treatment were legal, humane and even at times quite jolly, and the dastardly double-crossing fiend is now reneging on his bail conditions, and presumably hurting the feelings of the Ningbo Public Security Bureau.

Individuals who have this obsessive ‘last word’ personality defect are not interested in whether others see them as right or wrong; they simply must convince themselves in their own mind that they have triumphed. But it’s different for Chinese officials. The Communist Party cannot be wrong, so it must concoct a face-saving ‘truth’ – Lam and colleagues are guilty and due process prevailed. They will stubbornly stick to this story with a straight face. There is also a subliminal warning here: we can control not just your body through kidnapping and your words through forced confessions, but what everyone else perceives and remembers about it afterwards.

No, it doesn’t work in Hong Kong – but the Communist Party isn’t to know that.

Beijing’s supporters and sycophants here are in an above-averagely awkward position. They cannot openly admit that Xi Jinping’s henchmen broke all the supposedly sacrosanct Basic Law/One Country Two Systems rules to keep the chubby despot’s sex life secret. But to echo the Chinese government’s blatant lies is to look ridiculous; only the most extreme and obtuse loyalists can handle that degree of humiliation. All the average local official or establishment figure can do is change the subject, use the word ‘concern’ a lot, or nervously imply that we don’t know exactly what happened but everyone must obey the law when they are in the Mainland – and live with the fact that all right-minded people in the city will mock him as another pitiful piece of slime who sold his soul for a Gold Bauhinia Medal or cross-border business deal.

Meanwhile, let’s all focus on pretending not to notice how strange, embarrassing orilluminating it is that Hong Kong has extradition agreements with loads of important, cool and even humdrum foreign countries, but not with the rest of its own sovereign nation and we-love-integration glorious motherland.

http://biglychee.com/?p=16214

35 SMRT trains recalled by China manufacturer due to defects: report

Yahoo Singapore July 5, 2016

Yahoo Singapore file photo of an SMRT train car under service

A Chinese manufacturer is secretly recalling 35 SMRT trains due to cracks and structural defects found in them, according to a report by FactWire of Hong Kong on Tuesday (5 July).

A source from the Chinese railway industry told the Hong Kong news agency that Singapore train operator SMRT was shipping the defective trains back to manufacturer CSR Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Company for replacement and repair. According to sources, the trains were stored at SMRT’s Bishan Depot.

Around 1am on 12 June, FactWire said its reporters saw two train cars wrapped in green covering being transported out of the depot. Around 3am, the train cars arrived in Jurong Port. The reporters used a drone camera and spotted six train cars in one corner of the port.

Another source confirmed that the train that was spotted was to be shipped to Qingdao, where CSR Sifang’s factory is located. In late June, FactWire reporters went to the factory in a district in Qingdao. Two CSR Sifang staff confirmed that the train arrived at the factory on 25 June and was shipped from Singapore.

Outside the factory, FactWire reporters saw train cars wrapped in green covering with “E27” printed on it, the same marking as the covering spotted in Singapore.

The defective trains were part of SMRT’s C151A series, according to FactWire. The manufacturing contract of the C151A trains was awarded in May 2009 to a consortium including Japanese company Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Company, its Singapore subsidiary and CSR Sifang. A total of 35 C151A trains were shipped to Singapore from May 2011 to 2014 and put into service.  

Sources from China and Singapore told FactWire that problems with the trains have surfaced since they began service in 2011. They said the trains were of poor quality and glass next to passenger seats have shattered repeatedly.

In December 2011, SMRT experienced its worst train service disruption to date, which the operator suspected were caused by the C151A trains, the report said.

A subcontractor for the trains’ components said SMRT greatly reduced the operational frequency of the defective trains and asked to delay payment for the extra C151A trains.

One of the China railway industry sources said that the quality issues of the C151A trains began to worsen in 2013 due to serious structural problems.

A source from CSR Sifang said that Kawasaki was taking over the manufacturing of the train car body while the Chinese company was responsible for reassembly.

One former SMRT worker told FactWire, “I’ve never encountered a situation like this in all my decades of working in railway construction. Replacing the whole frame (of the train) – you can tell how serious (the problem) is.”

Another former SMRT worker said, “(Chinese-made trains) are very cheap. How can you have (something) that is very good and pay a very cheap price? So this is (the) trade-off.”

SMRT, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority and the parent company of CSR Sifang did not respond to requests for comment from FactWire.

In response to the posts about the defective trains, SMRT said on its Facebook page on Tuesday, “Our engineers discovered that 26 of the 35 trains delivered by the manufacturer had cracks in the structure connecting the car body and the bogie after they were delivered in 2013. 

“Since then, we have been working closely with LTA and the manufacturer to rectify the issue. The defective trains, which are still under warranty, will be repaired by the manufacturer.”

The operator said that a monthly safety assessment is conducted by LTA and the manufacturer before each train is put into service.

LTA has also responded and said that it has been working closely with Kawasaki and CSR Sifang on the defects that were found on the C151A trains.

“These defects, found on the train body, are not safety-critical and do not affect the train’s systems or performance. The train manufacturer will be required to make good the defects as part of their warranty,” LTA said.

“Trains on the rail network are extensively tested to ensure the safety and reliability of the train,” it added.

For more on FactWire’s exclusive story, click here.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/35-smrt-trains-recalled-by-china-manufacturer-due-100717823.html

Lines drawn as legal battle over third Hong Kong runway begins

Campaigners fearful of environmental damage aim to stop work from starting next month as marine expert warns it ‘could be the last stand’

ERNEST.KAO@SCMP.COM

UPDATED : Tuesday, 05 July, 2016, 2:16pm

Opinion is divided over the third runway project. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

A four-day judicial battle between activists and airport officials over the contentious third runway project begins today, with the former hoping that a High Court decision will stop initial works from commencing next month.

The judicial review lodged by Lantau resident Ho Loy and supported by the Dolphin Conservation Society and People’s Aviation Watch, challenges the Environmental Protection Department’s issuing of an environmental permit to the Airport Authority. They were granted leave last February.

Hong Kong airport landing charges to soar by up to 27 per cent

Marine biologist Dr Samuel Hung Ka-yiu, who chairs the society and has lobbied hard against the plan since its inception, said he was optimistic that there will be a positive result.

“This could be the last stand,” said Hung. “We feel our reasoning is strong and exposes very obvious breaches of procedural justice.”

The challengers say there are two unresolved areas of the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) – airspace and habitat loss – both of which contain major, unaddressed issues.

The team is pointing to a lack of immediate mitigation measures to compensate more than 650 hectares of irreversible habitat loss, mainly to the Chinese white dolphin, offering instead an enlarged marine park when the project is complete in 2023.

The report was also said to have “written off” cumulative impacts from major infrastructure projects nearby such as future reclamation works off Lung Kwu Tan and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge’s artificial island.

Another point in their crosshairs was the authority’s floating of additional “enhancement” measures, unrelated to the EIA and not legally binding, to spruce up the project and put “icing on the cake”, said Hung.

He believed this was a move to appease members of the Advisory Council on the Environment, which must endorse the report before it can be passed on to the director of environmental protection for the stamp.

The challenge will also raise issues with the assessment of noise and air quality impacts, which was based on assumptions that airspace issues with the mainland would be resolved.

“The EPD never got a confirmation on this from the Civil Aviation Department,” said a spokeswoman for the People’s Aviation Watch concern group. “If the assumptions are wrong in the first place, its likely that the outcome will be, too.”

Hung claims a victory for his group may render the authority’s environmental permit null and delay the project. The legal team, led by Senior Counsel Nigel Kat, will cite the KCRC Corp’s HK$7 billion bid to build a rail rink through the Long Valley wetland, which was rejected by the EPD in 2000 on grounds that the operator would not be effective in compensating habitat loss. A subsequent appeal was also turned down.

But a defeat would mean initial reclamation works for the HK$141.5 billion runway and the collection of fees from travellers to pay for it will begin as planned on August 1, an outcome they believe would set a precedent for exploiting the EIA system.

“In the future, anyone will just submit a lousy EIA, ignore everyone’s comments, and then propose enhancement measures to get the approval,” Hung said.

A spokesman for the authority declined to comment as the case had entered judicial proceedings.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1985335/lines-drawn-legal-battle-over-third-hong-kong

‘Let’s wait and see’: Legislative Council president keeps Hong Kong guessing on possible run for city’s top job

Jasper Tsang Yok-sing refuses to rule out running for chief executive but says he is flattered by support from those urging him to stand

TONY CHEUNG AND GARY CHEUNG

UPDATED : Tuesday, 05 July, 2016, 9:48am

Jasper Tsang Yok-sing on Monday. Photo: Sam Tsang

Beijing will allow at least two pro-establishment candidates, including a top minister in the current administration, to run in the chief executive ­election next March, according to the Legislative Council president.

Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, who will retire after the Legco term expires in September, does not rule out running for the top job.

“Let’s wait and see,” Tsang told the Post on Monday. “I am fed up with answering this question again and again ... But I am sober enough to understand my limitations.”

Tsang has repeatedly said he will not stand for the city’s top job as he will be 70 next May. But recalling how many people had encouraged him to step up over the past few years, he said: “I am flattered.”

In 2012, Executive Council ex-convenor Leung Chun-ying defeated former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen to secure the city’s top job by garnering 689 votes from a 1,200-strong election committee. Leung told the Post last week he would wait until after September to decide whether to seek a second term.

His top ministers – Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah – may be possible challengers, according to some commentators.

But others believe with the pro-establishment camp deeply divided by the bitter leadership race in 2012, Beijing is unlikely to allow two loyalist heavyweights to engage in another dogfight next year.

The Legco president, who decided against running the last time, just weeks before the chief executive election was held in March 2012, said he had no doubt there would be “a genuine competition” next year.

“The competitor will not be reliant on pan-democrats’ support ... but someone supported by the pro-establishment camp and trusted by the central government,” he said.

“This must be the case; I cannot see any other possibility.”

Tsang suggested even a competition that involved pointing out each other’s weaknesses and mistakes would not necessarily divide the ­pro-establishment camp unless it descended into mud-slinging “to expose each other’s scandals”.

“Many people have said the central government would not want two ministers to compete with the incumbent chief executive, and it will be one minister at most, [otherwise] there will be a bigger impact on the city’s governance,” Tsang said.

He jokingly said he would follow Lam’s wisdom to “wait and see” whether to join in.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1985336/lets-wait-and-see-legislative-council-president-keeps-hong