Beijing has been steadily chipping away at the “one country, two systems” model to ensure Hong Kong becomes more like China before the 50-year guarantee enshrined in the territory’s Basic Law even makes it to the halfway point.
Unfortunately, it is succeeding all too well. Now Hong Kong has political prisoners, just like China.
On Thursday, Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), 20, Alex Chow (周永康), 26, and Nathan Law (羅冠聰), 24, were jailed for six months, seven months and eight months respectively for unlawful assembly in connection with a 2015 sit-in to defend Hong Kong’s freedoms that helped spark the “Umbrella movement.”
The territory could soon have more; Wong’s colleague and friend Derek Lam Shun-hin (林淳軒) faces sentencing next month for his role in a pro-democracy protest last year, not to mention the 13 activists who were jailed on Tuesday for storming the Legislative Council in June 2014 in a protest over a controversial government development project.
Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen (袁國強) yesterday denied there had been any political motive trying to ensure Wong, Chow and Law were jailed, even though the district court that found them guilty in April last year had sentenced Wong and Law to community service — which they have already performed — and given Chow a three-week sentence, suspended for a year.
Yuen’s denial is simply not believable, but what made his facile excuse even worse was that he tried to explain away his overruling of several senior prosecutors in having the department appeal to the Court of Appeal and push for jail terms for the trio by saying it had simply been a matter of a difference of opinion.
“Sometimes having a difference in opinion is a good thing, because if everyone has the same opinion then you can’t have a constructive discussion,” Yuen said.
However, Wong, Chow and Law are basically being jailed for having opinions that differ from that of Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — and to ensure they are not eligible to run for election for five years.
The trio, like most of Hong Kong’s democracy campaigners, would love to have a constructive discussion with their government and Beijing about politics and civil rights, but they cannot, because the CCP’s entire edifice is predicated on everyone having the same opinion as the party.
In Taipei, the New Power Party condemned Beijing for interfering with Hong Kong’s judicial system and hounding pro-democracy campaigners by abusing legal interpretations.
The government, in the form of the Mainland Affairs Council, simply “regretted” the ruling., with Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) saying it hoped that “the government of Hong Kong would respond to its people’s demands with positivity and tolerance, and conduct dialogue from a place of rationality, peace and patience to resolve their differences.”
The time for such mealy-mouthed niceties is past. Beijing’s hardline stance toward Hong Kong has only succeeded in driving more people into the democratic camp, just as its efforts to isolate and demean Taiwan have fueled a growing pride in being Taiwanese and non-identification with China.
Beijing’s idea of dialogue is for the other side to echo the CCP’s monologue. Why pretend otherwise?
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry