China under President Xi Jinping (習近平) likes to boast about its growing military might, and it is true that China today is more militarily advanced and better equipped than it has been in decades — or centuries. Yet it is still afraid of the pen.
Not just the pen in connection with paper and the written word, but the ever-growing criticism of Beijing’s authoritarian abuse of its own people, especially those who refuse to conform to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mindset.
It has been clear for years how afraid the CCP is of the pen in the hands of independent minds — that is why it jailed literary critic and author-turned-rights advocate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) in 2009 and kept the Nobel Peace Prize laureate locked up until he became terminally ill with liver cancer — the latest in a long line of writers to fall afoul of the regime.
However, it appears Beijing officials are scared by the physical presence of all pens — as well as lipstick, perfume and plants — perhaps they have watched one too many James Bond films.
Yet what else is one to make of the list of prescribed items distributed to those invited to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Shek Kong base in the New Territories yesterday to watch Xi, standing in a jeep, roll past 20 squads of soldiers in the biggest military parade staged in Hong Kong in decades?
Those attending the ceremony, as well as journalists covering it, were not allowed to bring pens, lipstick, sunscreen, eye drops, contraceptives, heroin, opium, marijuana or pets.
Beijing was obviously worried that the only way people might be able to bear to watch the spectacle was if they were stoned out of the minds.
Xi’s inspection of the troops was just part of an action-packed schedule for his three-day visit to Hong Kong to mark the territory’s handover to China 20 years ago today.
It is a trip that has led to an unprecedented security lockdown in several parts of Hong Kong — including the deployment of about one-third of its police force — and the arrest of several protesters on Wednesday, including Hong Kong Legislator Nathan Law (羅冠聰) and Demosisto Secretary-General Joshua Wong (黃之鋒).
When Xi arrived on Thursday, he said he had come to “map out the future” of the territory and that Beijing believes that its “one country, two systems” framework has been a success.
Demosisto’s response was to tweet: “There’s nothing to celebrate. #HongKong is dying.”
How true.
Twenty years of Chinese rule — not even halfway through the 50 years of continuity that Hong Kongers were promised as part of the 1984 Joint Declaration between Britain and China or the Basic Law that the Chinese National People’s Congress passed in April 1990 — and it is clear that the regional financial hub is not what it once was or had the potential to be.
While Beijing has kept its commitment not to impose the socialism practiced in the rest of China, it has chipped away at the bedrock of the territory’s capitalist system — its free press and independent judiciary — with such actions as the abductions of booksellers and others who are whisked out of the territory only to reappear in the hands of Chinese police and security officials across the border.
It has also broken promises to allow Hong Kongers the right to directly elect their chief executive.
Xi is scheduled to give a speech today at the official anniversary ceremony, as well as swear in the territory’s chief executive-elect, Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥), and the traditional massive fireworks show over Hong Kong Harbour is to cap the celebrations.
Xi and his supporters can celebrate. The rest of the world should raise pens as a symbol of mourning for what increasingly looks like the territory’s dystopian future, and to honor those in Hong Kong and China who are willing to take a stand against the CCP’s repression.
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