It's slow going, but nearly every day, 87-year-old Xu Simin (
By far the most outspoken champion of pro-Beijing thought in capitalist Hong Kong, Xu's plea for more support of China often touches a raw nerve among many who cherish the capitalist lifestyle and worry their Western-style liberties are threatened four years after Britain gave up this enclave.
"Even before the People's Republic of China was born, I was already working for the Communist Party. Up until now -- it's been 52 years," Xu, who runs the monthly political magazine Mirror (鏡報月刊), said in an interview.
Mirror can be as dry as it is unloved by most people here. The standard fare includes somber essays attacking those who support independence for Taiwan or Tibet, with a few ads for mainland Chinese foods and medicines to help lift revenues.
Xu himself is anything but dry. He's known as "Cannon Xu" for his colorful outbursts -- even at times taking aim at China's government.
Xu calls himself a Chinese patriot, and in his unending campaign to instill more patriotism for the motherland, he targets local pro-democracy activists, Western countries he accuses of conspiring against China and the freewheeling local media.
Not long after the handover by Britain, Xu stirred an uproar by lashing out at government-owned Radio Hong Kong as "a remnant of British rule" for its critical reporting on the Beijing and Hong Kong governments.
Xu's relationship with the media is of the love-hate variety. He bombards local media, which he views as disrespectful and overly critical. His competitors, meanwhile, find Cannon Xu excellent fodder. His snappy quotes and outbursts make good stories, so Xu finds himself mobbed by reporters whenever he appears in public. He is frequently invited to appear on radio shows and to attend press parties.
Most recently, Xu took aim at the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which he considers a destabilizing force.
Falun Gong is banned in mainland China but it remains legal in Hong Kong and often protests here, angering Beijing's local allies.
Xu calls it US-backed subversion, which fits with his theory that the US feels threatened by China and wants to hold it back.
"They fear that China will grow strong. They fear that there are so many people in China," Xu said.
The recent US surveillance plane crisis heightened tensions and Xu places the blame firmly with US President George W. Bush, who is perceived as less accommodating to China than his predecessor, Bill Clinton.
"For its long-term interests, the US shouldn't be like this," Xu said. "It's wrong. Their China policy has been wrong for the past 50 years. China doesn't pose any threat to the US, not a bit."
Born to Chinese migrants in British-ruled Burma shortly after the Chinese monarchy was overthrown in 1911, Xu went into hiding in the Burmese countryside for three years for organizing anti-Japanese activities during the Japanese occupation in World War II.
Xu started supporting Chinese communists even before they took control of the mainland in 1949. That year, he joined the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body.
Two years after a 1962 military coup in Burma, Xu lost his Chinese-language newspaper business and, seeking refuge in the motherland, he took his family to Beijing.
At age 50, Xu hoped to serve the communist nation, but he was marginalized as an "overseas bourgeois" during the 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution.
Intellectuals and the rich were persecuted. Affluent Chinese returning from abroad, including Xu, were criticized for their overseas links.
Xu was stripped of his monthly allowance at an overseas Chinese affairs federation, and he was forced to watch numerous hostile criticism sessions where other overseas Chinese were branded as "bourgeois anti-revolutionists."
"I knew it was wrong," Xu said. "I was disillusioned."
He moved to Hong Kong in 1976 but remained loyal to mainland China. When the Cultural Revolution ended, he rejoined the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, after a gap of a decade.
Although revered by China for his loyal service, Xu was never a Communist Party member, and his outspokenness and radical ideas have led to a few run-ins with the party.
He recalled that he earned the nickname "Cannon Xu" in China in the early 1980s when the mainland was becoming more liberal. Xu recalls debating communist ideology on television and, during advisory body conferences, he attacked corrupt Chinese state enterprise officials in Hong Kong.
After the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Xu advocated the early release of jailed activists but found himself prevented from saying so before the political advisory conference.
Xu is fond of making bold forecasts, even predicting that the Communist Party's monopoly on power in China won't last.
"Give it another 20 years, there won't be communist single-party rule in China," he said. "China is changing. Do you believe China is still about Marxism, Leninism, communism? Capitalism -- they love money even more than we do in Hong Kong."
Despite his age, Xu has no thoughts of retirement.
"I have to keep writing my articles and to speak the truth," he said. "Don't force me to retire."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source