More than a thousand lawyers dressed in black took to the streets of Hong Kong in a silent march Friday against what they describe as “interference” by Beijing in the city’s judiciary.
China issued its first-ever policy document stipulating how Hong Kong should be governed earlier this month, in what was widely interpreted as a warning to the city not to overstep the boundaries of its autonomy.
It included an assertion that judges should safeguard national security and sovereignty, a move which has angered many in the the city’s legal community.
Photo: AFP
The lawyers dressed in black suits and ties walked down the streets in silence from the High Court to the Court of Final Appeal where they gathered to observe three minutes of silence.
Organizers said 1,800 people attended the march, with law students also taking part.
“We want to send a very clear message to the central people’s government: Do not interfere, do not damage our rule of law. It is too precious for Hong Kong,” said lawmaker and lawyer Dennis Kwok, who also organized the march.
“When it comes to the rule of law, we will not budge an inch. We will not accept anything that compromises the rule of law, including the white paper,” Kwok said.
“What they are proposing is a sort of democracy where judges have to toe the line and where there is no impartiality in the courts, where they do what they’re told,” human rights lawyer Michael Vidler said at the protest.
However, the silence was broken at the beginning of the march when more than a dozen pro-Beijing protesters played the Chinese national anthem and shouted “Support the white paper” and “We are Chinese people” on loudspeaker.
After the publication of the white paper, the Hong Kong Bar Association said in a statement that judges should safeguard judicial independence, as they are not the government’s “administrators.”
“We are concerned about the rule of law, the international image of Hong Kong and the independence of the judiciary, which is a very important cornerstone of an international financial center,” pro-democracy lawmaker and solicitor James To told reporters.
“They just want their sovereignty to extend to the judiciary, which on the mainland is part of the governmental system; they may have misunderstood Hong Kong values,” said To, who also attended the protest.
“There is no intention to interfere with the rule of law and judicial independence of Hong Kong,” the Hong Kong government said in a statement in response to the march.
Fears over China’s influence have intensified since the white paper, which galvanized more than 750,000 residents to vote in an unofficial democracy poll that has angered Beijing.
The 10-day referendum, which ends today, puts forward proposals that would give the public a say over the choice of candidates for the city’s leader, who is currently appointed by a 1,200-strong pro-Beijing committee.
Residents are to be able to vote for the chief executive in 2017, but China has rejected the idea of giving them a say in who can stand for the post. Many democracy advocates fear Beijing will hand-pick sympathetic candidates.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The