Apple Daily Goes Anglo

Jimmy Lai Chee-ying started Apple Daily back in 1995

The big news today?

Apple Daily has launched an English edition!

The popular paper in Hong Kong started by Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in 1995 is now available in English in the mobile app version:

 

The tagline is the clever: An Apple A Day Keeps The Fake News Away!

An introduction says:

"CCP voted to impose a national security law on Hong Kong. Their move would erode human rights, freedom and autonomy in the city. Working as a guardian and protector of civil society, Apple Daily diligently holds the Hong Kong and Beijing governments accountable; uncovering political scandals and wrongdoings of people in power, exposing government ineptitude and oppression, and reporting the truth to its readers."

So far initial comments are that it's difficult for people outside Hong Kong to download, and the stories are roughly translated from Chinese to English and therefore need a bit of work to finesse them to be as racy as the Chinese edition.

Nevertheless, for many non-Chinese readers, it's an insight into what's going on in those colourful broadsheet pages.

Hedging Bets

Money changers have been busy in the last few days

After the National People's Congress endorsed a resolution to draft the national security law for Hong Kong, a lot of locals ran to money exchanges to buy US dollars.

There were fears that the Hong Kong dollar could be unpegged from the US dollar after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that the city was no longer autonomous from mainland China in light of the new law that will prohibit secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference.

Hongkongers are buying up lots of US dollars

While Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said earlier this week the peg would remain the bedrock of the city's financial system, with foreign reserves of more than US$440 billion, there were long queues outside money changers.

One money changer surnamed Wong in Sham Shui Po had to turn away 600 customers who wanted to buy US dollars. They would have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday for more American cash to arrive at the shop.

Wong reported a 10-fold increase in demand for US currency this week, with customers looking to switch sums of hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars at a time.

When US dollars ran out, customers changed their money into other currencies, like the pound, euro, or Australian dollar. "People will take anything you have," Wong said.

37 Shouson Hill Road is near Ocean Park

Meanwhile the US government is also unloading its Hong Kong assets too. It owns six multi-storey mansions at 37 Shouson Hill Road near Ocean Park resort and has put them up for sale. The six mansions has as many as 10 mansions, measuring 47,382 square feet in total and selling them for between HK$3.1 billion to HK$5 billion.

The asking price is less than the HK$5.93 billion for a neighbouring site that was sold to China Resources in June 2018 of a comparable size.

The US government bought the land back in 1948 for an unknown price and then construction on the site wasn't completed until 1983.

Nevertheless, given the current situation in Hong Kong with the pandemic, protests and now the national security law, it may take a while to sell these prime properties that overlook Deep Water Bay...

Lam's Open Letter in Open Media (For Now)

Carrie Lam's open letter was published in 13 newspapers today

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor splashed out on HK$2.54 million (in taxpayer money) on front page ads in 13 Chinese newspapers today -- except Apple Daily.

The fact that the city's leader who hasn't a shred a credibility left to her name -- it is amazing she still goes out in public -- is telling Hongkongers to support the national security bill that was voted to go ahead by the National People's Congress yesterday.

HK$2.54 million was spent on the full page ads

Why would we even listen to her?

Her arguments in her open letter are so weak. She talks about "opposition forces and organizations advocating 'Hong Kong independence' and 'self determination'" when there has been no substantial proof of this at all, something that Beijing has claimed and Lam is parroting.

She then says: "Hong Kong has become a gaping hole in national security, and our city's prosperity and stability are at risk."

But instead when the national security law is enacted, Hong Kong's status as a financial hub will fast disappear. Freedoms we enjoy now, freedom of speech, expression, press, assembly, these will not be as free and investors' confidence in the city is leaving fast. Why else did the Hang Seng Index plunge 5.56 percent last week? It's still down in the doldrums this week.

Lam insists the new law is crucial for HK

What makes Hong Kong a great city to do business is that is has freedom of information and rule of law. But once these are undermined by Beijing, dragging the city to be further mainlandized, then that is the end of the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg.

Does Lam realize that? Oh wait she's just repeating the mantra she's been instructed to follow.

She says the current political situation has made it difficult to pass Article 23 so it is up to the NPC to do that for us -- and write an even better law!

"It also demonstrates the commitment of the Central Authorities to fully and accurately implement "One Country, Two Systems" as well as their care for Hong Kong people," she writes.

Apple Daily chairman Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's response is amusing:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CarrieLam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CarrieLam</a> publishes her &quot;letter to HKers”, on front pages of all newspapers today, except Apple Daily. She says <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CCP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CCP</a> loves us so it has to put a dagger above our heads. What a pathetic thought it is?! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NationalSecurityLaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NationalSecurityLaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/kLLh7npBFD">pic.twitter.com/kLLh7npBFD</a></p>&mdash; Jimmy Lai (@JimmyLaiApple) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimmyLaiApple/status/1266215354209951744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Lam insists only "an extremely small minority of illegal and criminal acts and activities" will be targeted, so why the big deal of the NPC having to pass this law instead of going through the Legislative Council? Obviously Beijing has had enough with waiting 23 years and wants this done as soon as possible.

Lam out in North Point to urge support for the law

In addition she reiterates that ordinary people's lives won't be affected, but how does Lam know that for sure when she isn't even privy to the drafting of the law? How can she even guarantee this?

So for her to as for "your full understanding and staunch support" for the national security law is unbelievable.

Her humiliation knows no bounds.

Hong Kong's National Security Law Green Lighted

President Xi Jinping votes on the national security law

The deal is done.

This afternoon the National People's Congress voted to authorize the Standing Committee to tailor make a national security law for Hong Kong.

Matthew Cheung was on CNN today

How did the vote go down? 2,878 for, one against -- wonder who that was -- and six abstentions.

So now the Standing Committee will draft the law, as early as June, that will prohibit acts of secession, subversion, terrorism or conspiring with foreign influences in Hong Kong. It will also allow mainland agencies, like the secret police to legally operate in the city.

What the law will look like is anyone's guess, but it has apparently included the phrase: any actsthat "seriously endanger national security", an umbrella term for... anything.

Meanwhile Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung was on CNN trying to reassure viewers that life will be the same in Hong Kong for 99.99 percent of the people, but could not provide any specifics or guarantees this would be the case.

Carrie Lam signed her name supporting the law

He kept saying the law was being drafted and that the concerns and aspirations of people would be passed on to the Standing Committee...

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was also seen on the streets of North Point, saying how so many people supported the national security law.

Are they trying to convince themselves? Because they aren't doing a good job of convincing the rest of us.

But at the same time, China still needs Hong Kong as a legitimate financial hub.

According to stats from Refinitiv, since the handover Hong Kong has handled 356 Chinese companies' IPOs, which exceeds 281 in Shanghai, 59 in the New York Stock Exchange, 22 on the Nasdaq, and 4.8 in London.

Graph showing HK's importance for China IPOs

If Beijing wants Chinese companies to continue having legit IPOs then Hong Kong's freedoms need to remain. Once those freedoms are threatened, Beijing can kiss those IPOs good-bye.

Late last night word came down that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Hong Kong was not sufficiently autonomous from the mainland to warrant its special trade status, and that sanctions could be imposed.

China reacted with furious words, describing the US as having "gangster logic", saying it was "utterly imperious, unreasonable and shameless for some in the US to stigmatize and demonize China's just and legitimate measures to plug the loopholes in national security, and even threaten with sanctions based on their domestic law," adding that the US went "all out to reinforce their own national security legal system".

Mike Pompeo says Hong Kong not autonomous

The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump in November. It requires the State Department to certify at least once a year that the city retains enough autonomy to justify favourable trading terms. It also specifies that officials responsible for human rights violations in the city could be subject to sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes.

This seems like a stronger threat to Beijing, though the implications for American businesses in Hong Kong will be murky.

At least it was a stronger signal than the joint statement from Canada, the US, UK and Australia expressing concern, but not much else. Does Beijing care? Words sadly won't be enough to move Beijing to take the moral high ground. Instead it will consider these four countries as meddling in Hong Kong's affairs and will be determined to enact the law as soon as possible.

National Anthem Urges Hongkongers to Rise Up

March of the Volunteers urges people to rise up

The Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers was written by Tian Han. He was a drama activist, playwright and leader of revolutionary music and films, translator and poet.

He joined the Communist Party in 1932 and wrote numerous one-act plays and screenplays. During the Sino-Japanese War, he composed a dozen librettos for Chinese opera encouraging resistance against the Japanese.

Tian Han wrote the lyrics

After 1949 Tian was president of the Beijing Experimental School of Traditional Opera, chairman of the Chinese Dramatists' Association, and vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. He wrote and adapted plays and librettos like The White Snake in 1958, and a play called Xie Yaohuan, about a great dramatist from the Yuan dynasty.

However, by 1964 the play was attacked for being a veiled criticism of chairman Mao Zedong. As a result Tian was persecuted by the Gang of Four during the Cultural Revolution and died in jail. In 1979 he was posthumously rehabilitated by Beijing.

Which makes it ironic that the lyrics Tian wrote for March of the Volunteers in 1934 were adopted as the country's national anthem, that by the way is only one minute and 27 seconds long.

It is this anthem that the Chinese authorities insist everyone in Hong Kong must pay respects by standing up for it -- even if you are in wheelchair bound and singing the song. If the anthem is altered in any way, the accused if convicted could face up to three years in prison or a HK$50,000 fine.

This afternoon several pan-democrats made a valiant effort to explain to the Legislative Council why Hong Kong does not need to implement the national anthem bill. They explained that other countries asked that people respect the anthem, in the case of the United States to stand up and put their right hand across their heart, but there are no particular punishments or fines for not doing so.

Over 360 people were arrested today

Others said that forcing this bill down people's throats just made the regime less palatable to the public and even worse, could the pro-establishment lawmakers face themselves in the mirror for passing this bill when hundreds of people outside around Hong Kong were being arrested for trying to protest against it?

Indeed over 360 people were arrested today, many of them young people for just expressing their opinion about the national anthem bill. All they did was shout slogans and sing Glory to Hong Kong, or just wear a T-shirt that said: "Stand with Hong Kong".

Thousands of police officers swarmed the city and pounced on anyone to them had the potential for dissent. One officer even said on a loud speaker: "Originally, if you didn't come out, nothing would happen. Stop shouting slogans, you know there is no use. I urge you to leave before you are arrested and taken to court.

Police were heavy handed with protesters

Go back to your office. Go back to your normal life".

But people in Hong Kong don't have a normal life now -- they are literally pondering their existence in the city.

One local journalist, Mary Hui summed up today succinctly in one of her tweets today: "What we're seeing in Hong Kong today is a vivid portrayal of a hugely paranoid state that is acutely aware of its absolute lack of legitimacy among the populace. Why else detain dozens of pedestrians at a time, & have heavily armed riot police on seemingly every other street corner?"

Perhaps the greatest irony is that March of the Volunteers' lyrics are a call to action, urging people to rise up against oppression:

Lots of pepper balls and pepper spray were used

Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!

With our fresh and blood, let us build a new Great Wall!

As China faces its greatest peril

From each one the urgent call to action comes forth.

Arise! Arise! Arise!

Millions of but one heart

Braving the enemies' fire! March on!

Braving the enemies' fire! March on!

March on! March on, On!

Beijing's Alternate Universe for Hong Kong

With the new national security law coming in, the sun is setting on Hong Kong

Today was another day where many things happened and we're still trying to absorb it all.

First, Macanese casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun passed away in Hong Kong. He was 98 years old. His daughter Pansy Ho Chiu-king confirmed the news in a press statement to reporters flanked by numerous members of the family.

Stanley Ho's family gathers to announce the patriarch's death

He has had a colourful life to say the least, having been born rich, only for the family to lose it all, and Ho started all over again in Macau and built the then Portuguese colony into the Monte Carlo of the east, and in the new millennium it eclipsed Las Vegas in casino earnings.

Not only did Ho make himself wealthy, but his family too (17 children with four "wives"), some of them becoming billionaires themselves. But now that he's gone, the family members may be fighting over the spoils...

And this is happening as Beijing continues to dismantle Hong Kong's political and legal institutions.

The proposed security law -- of which there are no details -- has apparently been amended today to not only prevent, stop and punish "acts" but "activities" as well that are deemed to be a threat to national security.

Ho built a gambling empire in Macau starting in 1962

It will be voted on on Thursday then forwarded to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislative body, to craft the bill. So it is voted on before it is hammered out... sounds like the cart before the horse, and expanding the definition to be as encompassing as possible.

Michael Tien Puk-sun, a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC opposed the amendment, one of the few who did. He questioned what this would mean for people who participated in protests that suddenly became violent.

Another deputy wondered if people gathering for the annual June 4 candlelight vigil would run afoul of the law, adding this law would provoke fear in the city.

Meanwhile Philip Dykes, head of the Hong Kong Bar Association questioned why Article 23 was written into the Basic Law if national security legislation could be imposed by Beijing under Article 18 instead.

Philip Dykes wonders why Article 23 was written in Basic Law

Article 23 stipulates Hong Kong must enact its own laws to outlaw treason, secession, sedition, subversion, theft of state secrets, and foreign political interference.

"If you are seeking to enact laws under Article 18 relating to subversion and secession... etc etc, and Article 23 covers exactly the same territory, what's the purpose of Article 23? Why was it put there in the first place? It will be a complete overlap and that can't have been the intention of the drafters," Dykes said.

"It's a matter of Chinese constitutional law. I want it explained to me how this bypass can be made. Because Article 23 was completely redundant."

Will Dykes ever get his answer?

Not only is this questionable, but also foreign judges will not be able to rule on cases regarding national security. Hong Kong has had foreign judges since the handover in July 1997 to help maintain its credibility as an international financial hub.

The Court of Final Appeal has 23 judges, 15 of whom are foreign, from Canada, Australia and the UK.

The Court of Final Appeal has 23 judges, 15 are foreign

Macau has already had this arrangement of no foreign judges hearing national security-related cases since 2018; only judges who are of Chinese nationality can hear these cases.

Earlier today Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-gnor held a press conference in which she tried to establish an alternate universe by saying the new national security law would not affect daily life in Hong Kong.

She pointed out other western countries had enacted similar laws without scaring investors away, and that only a small group of people would be affected by this law.

"Law enforcement agencies... must not affect the basic rights and freedoms that residents enjoy under [local] law," Lam said.

She said it was "untrue" the NPC Standing Committee had no legal authority to craft such a law for Hong Kong, that it was undermining the principle of "one country, two systems", and that the law would destroy the city's status as a global financial hub.

Lam says the NPC is not doing going against the Basic Law

Can we just say that stocks didn't plunge as low as they did yesterday, but they were still struggling to get back to where they were five days ago.

She added: "We are a very free society. For the time being, people to have this freedom to say whatever they want to say. But ultimately, what is to be provided in this piece of legislation is for all of us to see in order to be assured that Hong Kong's freedoms will be preserved."

Note the phrase: "for the time being"... very ominous.

Even Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah added to the propaganda chorus, writing on her blog the new national security law did not trample on "one country, two systems" or the Basic Law.

Their explanations are hardly reassuring to the skeptical public except for those who just want protesters thrown in jail.

Security is tight around the Legislative Council today

There were calls by protesters tonight to gather at the Legislative Council before lawmakers vote on the contentious National Anthem bill. Anyone who misuses or insults March of the Volunteers faces up to three years in prison and fines as high as HK$50,000 (US$6,450).

Riot police were stationed around the legislature complete with giant water barricades, but nothing happened so far.

Students are calling for a general strike tomorrow instead of returning to class after a four-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Things are all happening so fast there is hardly enough time to voice opinions let alone absorb what is going on.

Lam and her administration have lost so much credibility in the last year it's impossible to trust them at all. They have completely sold out Hong Kong and dragged us along into the mainlandization of the city whether we like it or not...

Plugging Loopholes with More Holes

Hong Kong's constitution is under threat by Beijing

As the National People's Congress moves full speed ahead to pass the national security law that was "tailor-made" for Hong Kong, the city's professional body of barristers says Beijing has no legal authority to enact the law, which it adds has "a number of worrying and problematic features".

HKBA points out holes in the national security law

The Hong Kong Bar Association was also concerned about mainland agencies setting up in the city to safeguard national security, saying it was "entirely unclear" how that arrangement would comply with Article 22 of the Basic Law, that stipulates Beijing departments would not interfere in local affairs.

It adds it was "entirely unclear" how these proposed agencies would operate and be bound by Hong Kong laws, if they would have the power of enforcement and whether such powers would be limited to laws currently in force in the city.

As Martin Lee Chu-ming said in The Guardian, the Hong Kong Bar Association says the national security law does not meet the categories of laws in Annex III of the Basic Law, that are confined to defense, foreign affairs, and matters outside the limits of the city's autonomy.

The Basic Law also says that city itself should enact these laws, not Beijing.

Tam Yiu-chung says people can comment on the new law

In addition, there doesn't seem to be any public consultation on the proposed law, though Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong's only representative in the NPC Standing Committee, says there is a website where the public can log in their comments about the national security law.

However, when reporters looked into it, the website only shows the number of comments it has collected, but does not display the comments, or any government feedback.

Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a political academic at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says the NPC's opinion-collecting mechanism is very outdated.

"It's only a passive way of collecting opinions," he said. "In the colonial period, many consultative committees were set up in Hong Kong, pooling representatives from different groups... In foreign democratic countries, they rely on elections to gain a public mandate."

Antony Dapiran says Beijing is pressing the nuclear option

But we're afraid to tell Choy that we're not in a democratic country, we're a part of China, and it wants us to lose the "one country, two systems" tagline and become further integrated with the mainland starting with this national security law.

Australian author and lawyer Antony Dapiran says Beijing dropping this political bombshell late last week, outlawing secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign influence over the heads of the democratically-elected legislature.

"This is the Nuclear Option: Beijing's ultimate power to impose whatever it wants on Hong Kong, outside and above Hong Kong's constitutional, political and legal structure," he writes in his newsletter.

It is hardly reassuring when Maria Tam Wai-chu vice-chairwoman of the Basic Law Committee says with the new security law, secret agents could come to Hong Kong to investigate cases here with the local police in a "joint effort".

Maria Tam says there's nothing to worry about the new law...

She said police from outside Hong Kong would need "approval" from local authorities to conduct investigations. "And you cannot investigate on your own."

"I'm not worried about anybody being arrested by a police officer from the mainland and then taken back to China for investigation or punishment," Tam added. "It's not, not going to happen."

Errr, right. We'll take your word for it, Maria, like every other pro-Beijing politician in Hong Kong trying to sell the national security law as no big deal...

Martin Lee and the Communists

Martin Lee spoke at a lawyer's march protesting the extradition bill last year

I read an article in The Guardian today about Martin Lee Chu-ming, the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong that subsequently became the Democratic Party.

The 81-year-old was arrested last month on charges of organizing and participating in an illegal assembly in Victoria Park on August 18 last year.

He told The Guardian that his father, Lee Yin-wo was a general in the Kuomintang army who fought against the Japanese. After the Communists defeated the KMT, many went to Taiwan, but Lee moved his family to Hong Kong. Martin Lee was born there in 1938 when his mother was on vacation, and they went back to China.

Martin Lee with his father Lee Yin-wo and son Joseph

Martin was 11 years old when the family moved to Hong Kong and his father became a school teacher at a Jesuit school called Wah Yan College, Kowloon.

Many years later Lee told his son he chose to move the family to Hong Kong because it was a safe haven for his children, and he didn't want to be involved with either the KMT or the Communists.

He felt the KMT were corrupt, and the Communists were not to be trusted.

Even though Lee knew Zhou Enlai from their student years studying in France together, Zhou invited the elder Lee back to China many times, but he declined the offer.

He told his son: "Don't trust the Communist party. When they need you, they'd give you everything, but when they're done they'd drop you, kick you and stamp on you."

Martin Lee has always remembered this.

In the early 1980s, Lee was one of the 23 Hongkongers who was on the Basic Law Drafting Committee. But when the Tiananmen Square massacre happened in June 1989, he criticized Beijing for crushing the democracy movement and Lee was banned from the body.

Lee was arrested last month for illegal assembly last August

In 1994 Lee founded the Democratic Party and has been a thorn in the side of Beijing ever since, a "traitor" for lobbying western countries' support of Hong Kong democracy.

He thinks it is ironic that the safe haven that his father moved his family to is now under threat with the proposal to pass the national security law on Thursday.

"They [Beijing] have completely breached the [Sino-British joint declaration] agreement," Lee said. "There should be only one body to legislate laws in Hong Kong and that's that's the legislative council."

Lee said the most chilling aspect of China's move was that "they have set a precedent for Beijing to legislate on Hong Kong's behalf. We're the meat on the chopping board."

Police used the water cannon against protesters, reporters

Since 2003 Beijing has wanted to legislate the national security law, and the urgency has quickened due to its claim that last year's protests were due to "foreign forces"; it is applying the national security laws through the Basic Law's Annex III that allows national laws to be implemented.

Lee said Chinese laws can only be applied through this mechanism of they are related to defense, foreign affairs, or "matters outside Hong Kong's autonomy", but the national security laws do not fall into any of these categories.

In addition, Lee said what the current Chinese regime is doing goes against late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's desire to keep Hong Kong without change for 50 years so that China could catch up.

"Deng Xiaoping wanted 'one country, two systems' because he wanted China to change," Lee said. "Now China doesn't even want to follow the rules of its own book... they are unwilling to undercut their power and they fear you're a threat. But if you continue to suppress people like this, things will explode."

Police fired several rounds of tear gas at protesters

And they did this afternoon, with thousands of people ignoring social-distancing regulations and coming out in Causeway Bay to vent their anger towards the national security bill. They shouted slogans, like "Hong Kong independence is the only way out!"

They clashed with police who responded with tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons. Some 180 people were arrested, many people were injured.

Like Lee, the protesters don't trust the Communists either and don't want to go down without a fight.

"I won't allow this to be end of Hong Kong," said Lee. "Hong Kong may be a tragedy but I won't give up... even if you jail me, kill me. I will still point out it's their fault. Democracy will come to China one day."

First Dip in Months

Thirty-three swimming pools in Hong Kong reopened on Thursday

On Thursday public swimming pools in Hong Kong reopened cautiously after two months because of the coronavirus pandemic and I gave it a shot.

A fellow gym member who is also an avid swimmer texted me to say she had gone at 1pm and was so excited she swam 4k. For her it was a breeze because she had been swimming in open water for the past two months and built up enormous shoulders, sending me a picture of her hulking upper arms as proof.

The pool in the right was closed, but the other one was open

She encouraged me to try the pool out before the hordes came and I decided to take her advice.

At around 8.30pm that evening, I headed over to the pool and was surprised to find I was the only person entering the lobby area, where there was a temperature scanning device. No one said anything to me as I went through the turnstile up to the changing room.

There was hardly anyone in there either -- just another person who was dressed and ready to leave -- just as I was getting ready to go in.

It was so bizarre as the place is usually buzzing with mothers corralling their children into the showers, or coming out with towels wrapped tightly around their bodies, or busy blow-drying their hair.

My favourite area, the 25-metre pool was closed, so I had to either make do with the 50-metre pool inside or outside and I chose the latter.

There were barely 20 people in the large pool which again was a strange sight, but it was good not to see too many people in there. I went into the far side and the water was refreshingly cool. However, the first several laps were a struggle! It was almost as if I had forgotten to swim properly and on top of that not being used to the long distance.

Social distancing was maintained in the pool

I did freestyle for one length and then breast stroke on the return, followed by a few seconds of rest before heading back out again. By around lap 16 I started getting the hang of it, stroking properly and breathing; swimming forces you to breath out slowly as you blow bubbles, unlike wearing a surgical mask on land where you take very shallow breaths.

There was some light rain as we swam, but thankfully they disappeared, along with more swimmers in the pool.

Don't know when the next time I'll be back, but yes, it was good to be back in the pool again.

Hongkongers Fearful of National Security Law

Investor reaction to the national security law was swift today in Hong Kong

 

This morning investors were very worried about the national security law that was proposed by the National People's Congress today. The Hang Seng Index plummeted 5.56 percent -- the largest single day drop since 2015 -- over fears of the new legislation and that it would further provoke protests.

Indeed there were some attempted protests today, but many protesters might have been scared off by the sight of so many riot police. Nevertheless, a number of pan-democratic lawmakers marched to the liaison office in Western to voice their protest against the upcoming law.

Lawmakers and activists marched to the liaison office today

Surely there will be many contacting emigration consultants again and re-checking their bank accounts to see if they have enough money to leave Hong Kong. Others are resigned to their fate, not able to leave, or refuse to leave the city they call home.

Today the mood was sombre, but Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor tried to play down concerns about the security law with a press conference at 8.30pm this evening.

Standing behind her were her entire cabinet as well as Executive Council members -- all of them wearing the government-produced Cu+ Mask. And for the record, hardly anyone wears these masks on the streets of the city.

Behind all of them was a banner that was too wordy and very mainland: "Full support for establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security".

Carrie Lam tried to assuage fears... but hardly convincing

What a mouthful.

Despite the stock market plunging today over 1,100 points, Lam said there was business support for the stability the legislation would bring.

"You have quoted the public response by one of the chambers [American Chamber of Commerce]," Lam said. "But I have also read press statements issued by some of the Hong Kong local chambers... anything safeguarding national security, that will help stabilize the environment, is also very good for local investment sentiment."

We shall see in the coming weeks and months how people vote with their feet. Will people continue to feel comfortable being in Hong Kong or will they seek stability elsewhere?

Her words are hardly reassuring, but then again when was she ever reassuring?

The Darkest Day in Hong Kong (so far)

The 2003 protest against Article 23 had half a million people turn out

At around 3.30pm the skies in Beijing suddenly turned very dark. It was very ominous, just as the two sessions were about to begin in the Chinese capital.

Then later in the afternoon word came from Beijing that the National People's Congress will put through legislation to enact Article 23, the national security law that will ban all seditious activities aimed at toppling the central government and interfering in Hong Kong's affairs.

It will be proposed tomorrow and will be voted on on May 28, thus completely bypassing Hong Kong's Legislative Council; in other words, "one country, two systems" is dead in Beijing's eyes. The Basic Law means nothing.

“This is the end of #HongKong, this is the end of 'One Country, Two Systems'.” https://t.co/Tg28B6uBEV pic.twitter.com/oDzqvneIul

— Richard Pyne (@richardjpyne) May 21, 2020

The central government has been waiting since 1997 to pass this contentious law, only to have it shelved in 2003 when half a million people came out in the streets to protest against it, resulting in Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa retreating with his tail between his legs, and his then security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee leaving the city for a few years to study a masters degree in East Asian Studies at Stanford University.

This afternoon the skies went ominously black suddenly

Fast forward to 2014 after Beijing decided that in electing the next Hong Kong chief executive, China would choose the three candidates, which erupted into the Umbrella Movement, an unprecedented occupation of parts of the city that were paralyzed for 79 days, but did not resolve anything.

And then last year no one could have predicted the protests against the extradition bill would manifest into a massive anti-government movement that had peaceful marches of over 2 million people that later led to violent clashes between protesters and the police. The authorities used lawfare, or the law to prosecute everyone from pan-democratic politicians to youngsters. Calling protesters rioters meant that if convicted, they could be in jail for 10 years. And yet they continued to come out and voice their dissatisfaction with the government.

Meanwhile it became more and more obvious Beijing was involved, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was only going through the motions. And when on July 1 Legco was stormed, and then July 21, when the national emblem at the liaison office was splashed with black paint, Beijing's patience was worn down to threads.

Last year's protest march in June drew 2 million people out

For a country that likes to play the long game, waiting 23 years for the national security law to be passed in Hong Kong seems relatively short, but perhaps Beijing wants to lay down the law now to show who's boss, or terrified of the city descending into chaos and thinks this law will set its residents straight.

But for us in Hong Kong it's a shock and sadness that we are powerless to do anything about this, that Beijing never intended to uphold "one country, two systems" or the Basic Law. The Hong Kong as we know it will change forever.

Beijing is using the pandemic to push through this legislation as quickly as possible to avoid criticism from other countries that are too busy tending to those infected with the virus (that seems to have originated from Wuhan).

How will we Hongkongers move forward? Should we even stay here anymore? Many have been asking this question in the last few days. While some had thought of emigrating because of the protests, the rest of us were willing to stick it out. But what now?

The end of the British Empire in Hong Kong in 1997

We are the frogs in the water that is already boiling. It's not a good sign.

I remember June 30, 1997. Despite the heavy rain that drenched Prince Charles, Hong Kong had such a party atmosphere; looking back it was naive at the time. Hotels and restaurants had an excuse for two parties, one British-themed, the other Chinese. But what did it all mean after July 1, 1997?

It actually seemed fine, business as usual. People even came back to Hong Kong, lured by business and job opportunities.

But now, 23 years later, what has happened? How did we get here? And what do we do now?

Life No Longer a Bowl of Cherries in China

Last year when Chilean cherries were on sale in China, it was "cherry freedom"

Last March I wrote about "cherry freedom", where people boasted on social media how they could afford expensive foods to show off their wealth. It started with imported cherries, and then a vegetable called xiangchun that cost 80 yuan to 100 yuan for 500 grams, which equated to a lobster, 10 abalone, or 39 crayfish.

But it looks like those "cherry freedom" days are over following the coronavirus pandemic that has made a huge dent in the Chinese economy, let alone the entire world.

Previously there was a big demand for Chilean cherries and Peruvian avocados by the Chinese middle class. But now sellers at the Jiangan wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Guangzhou are feeling the effects of battered consumer confidence due to declining job prospects and incomes.

These were the first batch of Peruvian avocados sold in China

"Demand has plummeted since the outbreak started. Retailers are very cautious about placing orders... most of us have been losing money, whether selling imported fruit or domestic fruit," said Li Xiaoqiang, a fruit importer at Jiangan market.

"We keep reducing the prices. Take Chilean grapes. The wholesale price used to be 180 yuan (US$25.37) for 8kg, and it is now just 100 yuan or even 80 yuan. Our importers' losses could be up to 800,000 yuan for a container."

Egyptian oranges used to be 100 yuan for 15kg around the same time last year, but now are only 70 yuan.

"Imported cherries are even harder to sell," Li added.

While the market's operators claim 80 percent of China's imported fruits first stop at Jiangan, these days vendors are passing the time playing games on their phones.

80 percent of China's imported fruits go to Jiangan Market

One merchant surnamed Wang said last year the market used to sell 60 to 80 containers of imported oranges a day, but now only sell 15 containers with the price slashed to 50 percent.

"Imported oranges are mainly for hotels, restaurants, clubs and karaoke lounges -- if oranges don't sell well, it means China's service industry is still in deep trouble," Wang said.

Over the past decade China's fruit imports had been steadily rising from US$1.63 billion in 2009 to US$10.3 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Patricia Lin is a white-collar worker in Shanghai and had her pay cut last month, while friends were laid off due to the pandemic. "To be honest, the only thing in my head these days is how to cut spending and save enough money to pay my home mortgage.

"Fruits are good and necessary for health, but I think I won't be able to afford imported cherries or Japanese grapes for a long while. Instead I will turn to local fruits like apples and pears," she said.

How will Li steer China's economy out of the pandemic?

Imagine how many millions of other people have the same thinking as Lin and then you have a serious cascade effect on not only the fruit business, but every other sector as well, particularly luxury, fashion, and restaurants.

Beijing may have hoped people getting back to work would help get things back to normal, but it won't be like before. Wonder if this will be reflected in Premier Li Keqiang's work report later this week when the "two sessions" start on May 22, and what the country's economic road map to economic recovery will be.