Pro-Police Rally Today, Anti-Extradition Tomorrow

A large rally was held at Tamar today in support of the Hong Kong Police

The weather has become unsettled again because of a typhoon passing by on Taiwan's east coast, and this weekend there has been rain on and off. Despite the unsettled conditions, a march to support the Hong Kong police was held this afternoon, and organizers say over 300,000 came to the rally at Tamar in Admiralty, while the police said it was 165,000.

Nevertheless, more than 60 relatives of police officers signed an open letter to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, urging her to stop using the police officers as "human shields" between the government and the public, and to set up a judge-led inquiry committee.

Afterwards, some people tore messages from Lennon Wall

"We are furious that front line police officers have to stand in the forefront in the face-off with protesters in demonstrations arising from political controversies... Front line police officers are forced to bear the consequences of the government's maladministration," the relatives wrote.

The rally had some star power, with TVB star Nat Chan Pak-cheung and Maria Cordero, as well as former secretary of justice Elsie Leung Oi-see, while co-convenors of the event included Margaret Leung Ko May-yee, managing director of Chong Hing Bank, Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, vice-president of the Fok Ying Tung group, and former police commissioner Tang King-shing.

When the rally was over, some participants went over to the "Lennon Wall" in Admiralty and pulled down the hand-written messages there, while putting up some pro-police newspaper articles.

Where will tomorrow's march end? Wan Chai or Central?

In the meantime, since Lam has not addressed any of the protesters' demands, another march will be held tomorrow afternoon. Civil Human Rights Front had planned the route to start from Victoria Park to the Court of Final Appeal in Central, but the police have said the march has to end at Southern Playground for safety reasons.

The police are wary of marchers passing by the police headquarters in Wan Chai as well as the Legislative Council in Admiralty, where there have been attacks on these buildings. So we'll have to see what happens tomorrow -- will it all end abruptly at Southern Playground? Will some other protesters find another government building to vent their frustration and anger?

Stay tuned.

Growing Chorus Against Hong Kong's Extradition Bill

Hong Kong people have protested against extradition with no response

Hong Kong people have tried to voice their displeasure and fears of the upcoming extradition bill the government is trying to push through, but they were ignored.

Now the foreign embassies in the city are speaking out -- which they rarely do.

Thirty-two diplomats were invited to a closed-door lunch meeting in the Legislative Council today, where they expressed deep reservations about the extradition bill. The lunch follows a formal diplomatic protest by European Union officials on May 24 against the government's planned changes to the extradition laws, which would allow suspects to be handed over to authorities in mainland China and other places.

Elsie Leung says the bill must be passed soon... but why?

Eleven representatives from the EU handed a formal note to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, urging her to be more clear about the extradition bill.

Earlier former Justice Minister Elsie Leung Oi-sie insisted the bill had to be passed quickly, and even compared it to the "co-location" joint immigration and customs arrangement at the West Kowloon terminus, saying once it was implemented, nothing happened, and that given time, the same would be the case with the extradition bill.

However, she is comparing apples and oranges, and the fact that she insists the law has to be changed as soon as possible means Leung is not concerned about all the details in the bill and its implications.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, chairwoman of the New People's Party, and one of the chief executive's advisers in the Executive Council, said no diplomats voiced support for the bill.

"Some were worried whether human rights protections under the amendments were too weak, because [the proposal] will not be scrutinized by Legco," she said.

Ip added some diplomats felt the government did not hear the views of international business sector on the issue. That led her to suggest the Hong Kong government has to do more to explain the changes in the bill.

Carrie Lam needs to explain the bill more clearly to everyone

Meanwhile, Dennis Kwok, a Civic Party lawmaker, said diplomatic representatives of the European Union and at least five other foreign countries, including Germany and the United States, expressed deep concerns over the extradition bill, as well as the government's decision to bypass the bills committee's scrutiny.

The diplomats also voiced concerns over the lack of legal protection and the unlikeliness of the chief executive not refusing Beijing's demands.

These really are the core issues -- Lam is stuck between a rock and a hard place, while the changes to this extradition bill will prevent people in Hong Kong from having the legal protection they enjoy now.

Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong claimed some diplomats supported the bill but refused to divulge who they are.

Shall we hazard a guess?

In any event, the fear is that when the extradition bill is passed, it would allow the transfer of fugitives to any jurisdiction which Hong Kong lacks any treaty with, including the mainland.

Cohen says the extradition bill could have scary implications

China legal scholar Jerome Cohen says democratic governments have not signed an extradition treaty with the mainland because they know alleged offenders cannot get a fair trial. And so even 22 years after Hong Kong's handover to China, there has been no extradition treaty made with Beijing.

He adds China's failures to meet international standards of due process are well known, including its arbitrary, often lengthy, secret and incommunicado detention, widespread existence of torture and frequent denial of the help of defense counsel.

The police, prosecutors and judges all work for the Communist Party political-legal committee, and the new National Supervision Commission that controls them, Cohen says. "A single party leader's brief instruction can determine guilt or innocence, the duration of a sentence or even the death penalty."

Cohen says once the extradition bill is passed, it will be easier for China to extradite those "fugitives" it wants without having to kidnap them -- like tycoon Xiao Jianhua being whisked out of the Four Seasons Hong Kong in 2017-- and that person will not have much access to a legal defense.

"Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the impending amendment is its application, not only to all SAR citizens and foreign and Chinese residents of the SAR, but also to anyone who passes through Hong Kong," he says. "This will lead to more than the reciprocating of Canada's recent detention of Huawei's CFO at Vancouver airport for extradition based on alleged violations of American law while in Hong Kong."

Is that chilling enough to be worried about Hong Kong passing the extradition bill?

About 3,000 people marched yesterday in protest, and expect tens of thousands more to show up June 4 in Victoria Park.

Carrie Lam Officially in the Race

Carrie Lam unveils her slogan, "We Connect", but what does that mean?

This afternoon former Chief Secretary Carrie Lam ChengYuet-ngor officially threw her hat into the race to become the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

She made the announcement at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, and managed to round up a big support base that featured a number of tycoons, such as Peter Woo Kwong-ching, retired Wheelock and Wharf Holdings chairman, Stewart Leung Chi-kin, chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association's executive committee, businessman Allan Zeman, Lee Shau-kee, Henderson Land chairman, and Robert Kuok, founder of the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.

So the developers must have been rubbing their hands with glee when hearing Lam promising to ease the housing issue with more land for homes.

Kan stands among some business heavyweights for a photo

Political heavy weights were there too, like Elsie Leung Oi-sie, vice-chairwoman of the Basic Law Committed of the National People's Congress, and Maria Tam Wai-chu, local deputy to the National People's Congress.

However, not a single pan-democrat was seen at the event.

On stage Lam ditched her usual serious demeanor and tried to look energetic, with a group of young people behind her, all of them wearing T-shirts that read: "We Connect". Connect to what? Certainly not the rest of us. Perhaps she means she connects with Beijing?

Lam tried to give a more down-to-earth picture of herself, talking about how she was raised in Wan Chai and remembers how her parents worked so hard so that they could afford a flat in Quarry Bay.

She got a few people to vouch for her, including elder son Jeremy, who flew down from Beijing for the event. At first he wasn't enthusiastic about his mother's political ambitions, but apparently has now turned around. Interesting her other son and husband didn't make any public endorsements.

In her speech she recalled how her family was so optimistic about the future, as if a hint to suggest she could bring back that positive attitude.

John Tsang seems more popular with average people

But how is she going to do that? She is not seen as a grassroots person -- taking a taxi in the middle of the night up to her former residence at The Peak because she didn't now where to buy toilet paper. And Lam didn't seem sympathetic when she represented the government during the 2014 Umbrella Protests when it had a meeting with the student leaders during a televised showdown.

Nevertheless, word on the street is that Lam is the favourite to win the election in March. But you never know -- one misstep and things could sway in favour of second favourite John Tsang Chun-wah. He appears to be the one the public favours for his easy-going attitude and seems to be more of a local guy despite going to school in the United States.

So has the race begin in earnest now? We the people who are unable to cast a ballot can only watch from the sidelines. With four candidates, it's already an interesting race.

Further Erosion of "One Country, Two Systems"

Martin Lee says "one country, two systems" has been undermined by Beijing

A former Basic Law drafter is concerned about how two localists have given Beijing license to undermine the "one country, two systems" concept.

Martin Lee Chu-ming, founding chairman of the Democratic Party, said he was suspicious about the actions of Youngspiration lawmakers-elect Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, who were disqualified by the High Court on Tuesday.

Speaking after a Commercial Radio program, Lee said the Hong Kong government and Beijing could point to Leung and Yau and say "not only do they want independence, they were insulting the people of China. Of course we should get rid of them".

Leung and Yau have given Beijing the excuse to change oath

"Then they have become good excuses for Beijing not only to attack them, because they could be removed anyway by the judge even without the interpretation, but making life very difficult for so many of us and in fact destroying 'one country, two systems', giving them the excuse to do so," Lee said yesterday.

He said Beijing's interpretation of the Basic Law had destroyed the "one country, two systems" principle as it suggested the city's public officers, including judges, had to pledge allegiance to both China and "its special administrative region".

The interpretation says "the taking of the oath stipulated by Article 104 of the Basic Law is a legal pledge made by the public officers to the People's Republic of China and its Hong Kong special administrative region".

This is different from the Basic Law that says: "principal officials and members of the Legislative Council... must swear to uphold the Basic Law and swear allegiance to the Hong Kong special administrative region."

Elsie Leung says the oath was changed to safeguard the law

Lee said this suggested officials and lawmakers had to pledge allegiance to the mainland's constitutions as well as the Basic Law.

He said this would have major consequences and questions could be raised over several lawmakers having dual nationality.

"If they have a US or British passport, how are they pledging allegiance to the country? Chinese law does not recognize dual nationality," Lee said.

However, Elsie Leung Oi-sie, vice-chairman of the Basic Law Committee under the National People's Congress Standing Committee, rejected Lee's criticisms and said the committee had acted in accordance with the law.

"There is no question of it destroying the rule of law. The move is to safeguard the rule of law and the 'one country, two systems' principle."

Leung said it was the fault of the Youngspiration pair for refusing to acknowledge Hong Kong is a part of China.

She said the ruling was not aimed at "chasing dissident voices out of the Legislative Council".

The debate continues, but Lee is right. The nature of "one country, two systems" has changed in Hong Kong. The mainland continues its dragging of the city closer to the mainland...

Hong Kong Moving the Goal Posts

The Electoral Affairs Commission is changing the rules of candidate elegibility

The two-week nomination for candidates to run in the upcoming Legislative Council elections on September 4 has started, but the Hong Kong government has put up a new roadblock.

Apart from candidates having to make the standard declaration to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the city, the Electoral Affairs Commission now says candidates have to sign a second form agreeing to Hong Kong being an inalienable part of China or face disqualification.

It seems the government is trying to screen out people -- ie localists who are running on platforms promoting separatism or returning to colonial rule -- even before they try to go out on the hustings.

Localists like Edward Leung may be disqualified for his views

The reactions are predictable -- the pan-democrats are up in arms, calling it political censorship -- which it is -- and are not ruling out a judicial review of the electoral commission if it does not clearly spell out the consequences if a candidate does not sign the second form.

Is the commission allowed to create such forms on a whim? Do these forms have any legal basis?

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen denied political censorship, and said candidates could submit their nomination without signing the new form, but that could be a factor in deciding whether to approve the applicant's candidacy or not.

Other senior government officials, like vice-chairwoman of the Basic Law Committee for the National People's Congress and former Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie says the second form just repeats the requirement that all candidates swear their allegiance to Hong Kong.

Elsie Leung says pledging allegiance to Hong Kong is normal

It's obvious the government (or Beijing) is not taking any chances to jinx the upcoming elections. What does the pro-Beijing camp have to worry about? The pan-democratic camp is more splintered than ever with so many different political parties.

If the government and Beijing were really concerned about knowing what Hong Kong people think about how they are being governed, then they would allow all these candidates to run and see what the results were after the election.

It is the best way to gauge the electorate, as this year there will probably be a lot of young people casting votes because they want a greater say in their future.

But it seems the government is too insecure to let any candidate run and wants to control the process. How is that democratic? This is one of the last bastions of where Hong Kong people can exercise their right to vote and already it's being screened...

More Questions Than Answers

Lam Wing-kee (in the hat) with Albert Ho (right) at the march this afternoon

The weather was erratic again today and I almost left my flat without taking an umbrella.

When I got to the bank, the bank teller turned around and saw it had begun to pour. "Did you bring an umbrella?" he asked.

I didn't want to wait around, so I trudged up the hill through the rain in flip flops to the gym and luckily it was a short walk, but my feet were soaked.

Soon afterwards it stopped raining.

But then it started again about an hour later.

Lam speaks to the protesters in Causeway Bay

I worried that it would rain for the scheduled march to protest against Beijing's alleged suppression of free speech following bookseller Lam Wing-kee's revelations of how he was detained for eight months on the mainland.

But Hong Kong people really do care about what is happening to our city -- some 6,000 of them braved the threat of rain this afternoon to march from where the Causeway Bay Books shop used to be to the liaison office in Western in three hours.

Leading the charge were Lam and lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan, whom Lam contacted when he had second thoughts on returning to the mainland with the hard disk from Causeway Bay Books.

Lam's revelations this week have shocked and frightened a lot of people in Hong Kong. Even more shocking is today's reported statements from former secretary for justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie.

Quoting Article 6 of the Chinese Criminal Law, she warned that Hong Kong people could risk being detained on the mainland if they had broken mainland laws in whole or in part in Hong Kong.

Excuse me? That's completely news to me, and I'm sure the rest of us 7 million people in Hong Kong.

Elsie Leung now tell us the laws are not what we thought

Has this been in effect since 1997? If so, no one told us that.

Therefore, according to China, Lam broke the law by mailing banned books from Hong Kong to the mainland.

"Hong Kong people should not assume they would not be arrested for acts which contravene the mainland's laws when they return to the mainland, simply because of their capacity as Hong Kong residents," she added.

Leung also said Article 7 of the same document states that mainland law is applicable to any citizen of the People's Republic of China who commits a crime outside the territory.

"It's my understanding that, whilst the Chinese Criminal Law does not apply in Hong Kong, the extra-territorial reach of Article 7 does extend to Hong Kong," she said.

It's chilling -- absolutely chilling to hear this now, almost 19 years later.

Again -- how come we only found out about this now? And we thought all along it was "one country, two systems", but in fact it isn't what we thought.

Who was the one who lulled us into thinking everything would be OK until 2047? Where were the British in negotiating this? And what about the Hong Kong experts who were involved in drafting the Basic Law? How come no one told us this was in the law?

Too many questions, and not many answers.

Very troubling indeed.

Classical Music Eye Candy

Wang Yujia wore this dress tonight, the same as when she met the Queen

Tonight was the first of two concerts given by fast-rising star Wang Yujia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the handover. The concert was sponsored by a health product company, though not all members of the audience got any samples to try.

There were some bigwigs sitting in prime seats -- former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, former secretary for justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie, and members of Tung's extended family, as the Tung Foundation was a sponsor.

The orchestra players had settled in, practicing on stage and were about to finish, when Grandpa Tung decided to go up the stairs to the loo. And we actually waited for him to come back and take his seat before the concertmaster came out.

Seriously?

Wang showing off some leg and skin in a concert in LA

If it was any other person, the concert would have started without him/her and they would have to wait at least half an hour to get back in.

But back to the concert. I saw her perform back in May 2007 in Beijing when she was 19 years old and was impressed then so I was curious to see how Wang had developed her musical talent.

From then to now she has gotten some flack for her outfits, though she seems to brush off the critics. She's worn very short dresses, and says she'll get to wearing longer ones when she's 40.

Uh huh.

Tonight she walked out in a florescent lime green dress with a deep V at the back, and lots of intricate cut outs in strategic places, and there was a mini train at the back. It was a pretty amazing feat not to trip on her dress.

But I wish she'd have a stylist help her pick some not so obnoxious clothes... you can be a rebel at the keyboard and look cool too...

For tonight's concert she played Mozart's Piano concerto no. 9 in E flat, K.271, Jeunehomme -- but not from memory. The sheet music was placed on top of the piano and she had no problems playing and flipping pages at the same time.

However, not having memorized the piece seem to have prevented her from fully expressing herself, even though she had fantastic technique in manipulating the piano to get the sounds she wanted.

This piece is Mozart's ninth piano concerto out of 27, and academics consider it to be the first of the composer's outstanding works. It started off light and refreshing, with the piano coming in very soon after the beginning.

But things seemed to drag in the second movement that Wang seemed to play robotically, though things picked up at the end. It seemed like a piece she didn't seem keen to perform and felt like her talents were wasted -- that she was raring to go elsewhere.

She got a rousing applause and came out several times and made very energetic bows with her arm across her heart... then walking carefully back inside. Wang finally did an amazing encore, a riff on a minuet that had a jazzy lilt and technically became more intense towards the end.

Like Lang Lang, she's a show stopper and it was a nice way for her to finish her participation in the concert.

And likewise it seemed Grandpa Tung had had enough for the day; he and members of his entourage left during intermission. Too bad for them because they missed a fantastic performance.

Conductor Jaap van Zweden led the orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Eroica. Originally Beethoven wrote this piece dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, a musical way to pay homage to the leader.

Two years later, though, Napoleon declared himself Emperor, which meant he would consider himself above others. Beethoven was so angry that he apparently ripped his title page in half and threw it on the floor. It was later changed from to Eroica.

The performance overall was so energetic and lively, it was a pleasure to watch van Zweden in action. I sat on the balcony, on the left side of the concert hall and was able to see him making facial expressions, and a closer look at the musicians.

Most commendable were clarinetist John Schertle and flautist Megan Sterling.

What a contrast between the first and second halves of the concert! Glad I stayed to the end!

Yujia Wang Triptych 1 -- Mozart

Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 9 in E flat, K.271, Jeunehomme

Allegro

Andantino

Rondeau: Presto

Beethoven: Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Eroica

Allegro con brio

Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

Scherzo: Allegro vivace

Finale: Allegro molto

Clarification Please

Zhang Dejiang's statements on Hong Kong's future is subject to interpretation

Ah the Chinese language can be so.... vague.

It's open to so many different interpretations which is why Chinese officials love it. They can make these pronouncements that are difficult to translate because other languages, such as English can be very precise.

The latest is the top official in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs, Zhang Dejiang, who spoke at the National People's Congress, saying achieving universal suffrage in 2017 is "an historic opportunity not to be missed".

However, he also warned that "a missed opportunity would not come again", creating a sense of panic that if pan-democrats veto the upcoming political reform package, then Hong Kong people would have lost their only chance at "one man, one vote".

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, interpreted Zhang's words this way:

"He said some forces have publicly vowed to vote down the package to elect the chief executive by universal suffrage in 2017... he said they are exhausting all means to obstruct Hong Kong's path to democracy," Fan said.

In meetings with local deputies yesterday, Zhang reiterated universal suffrage in 2017 must be based on the framework which was set down by the NPC Standing Committe in August.

This means two to three candidates running for chief executive, must be first approved by Beijing before being put on the ballot that every one would be able to vote for. And this is exactly why tens of thousands occupied the streets in Central, Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mongkok for 79 days.

Fan added Zhang also told local deputies that "it is difficult to eliminate the negative effects of Occupy Central... which reflected that the young people lack understanding about the Basic Law and the country".

Or is this Fan's way of explaining to Zhang that young people in Hong Kong still don't understand that they are Chinese?

Another Hong Kong delegate, Brave Chan Yung, also expressed fears that the city was missing its only opportunity for universal suffrage, and that if it was voted down this time, another chance would not come again.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said Zhang's words should be interpreted as "a warning".

However, Elsie Leung Oi-sie, deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, believed Zhang was not saying that Hong Kong's political system could not be changed after 2017.

So what did Zhang really mean?

Chinese officials can say whatever they want and then backtrack later because what they said originally was so vague that it could have been interpreted a number of ways.

And that's what we're seeing here, which is much like a dog chasing its tail -- going around in circles.

Can we get a clarification once and for all? Or perhaps Zhang is couching his words to suit possible circumstances for later?

Divide and Conquer?

Elsie Leung would like you to believe "external forces" are at work in Hong Kong

We're now wondering if Beijing's release of the white paper is a tactic to divide and conquer Hong Kong.

All kinds of groups are split about the document that claims the city is irrefutably under the authority of Beijing.

The latest is the Law Society claiming the white paper is "positive", whereas the Bar Association immediately criticized it for saying judges were on par with "administrators" like the chief executive and top officials who are expected to "love the country", and judges should take into account China's national interests and security.

This is difficult in practice because most of Hong Kong's judges are foreigners.

Or perhaps Beijing didn't get that memo?

We also have former justice minister and now deputy director of the Basic Law Committee under the National People's Congress Elsie Leung Oi-sie giving her interpretation of the white paper.

She says Beijing is concerned about the possibility of external forces at work in Hong Kong.

"The central government is worried about the country's situation," Leung said on Commercial Radio. "Hong Kong is such a free city, and many non-residents here can [engage in] activities here, so [the white paper] says we have to stay vigilant about whether external forces are meddling in Hong Kong's internal affairs.

"Hong Kong would be doomed if we engaged in a 'colour revolution'; in fact intense movements have been on the rise recently, and I think [Beijing's] worries are not groundless."

Excuse me, Ms Leung, but can you please explain what these "external forces" are?

Does she (or China) think there some kind of infiltration of Hong Kong society by foreign influences that are programming us to incite revolution through Occupy Central? Makes it sound like a plot from an espionage movie.

As far as we know, Occupy Central was the brainchild of a Hong Kong person by the name of Benny Tai Yiu-ting. He floated the idea of Occupy Central over a year ago and now, weeks before July 1 the Chinese government has mounted this campaign to try to scare local people, but in fact it has infuriated them.

If anything it is Beijing that is the "external force" creating tensions in Hong Kong. As Tai says, "We have never tried to [engage in] subversion... We are only fighting for genuine universal suffrage," he told RTHK show City Forum.

Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has also waded into the discussion, saying the publication of the white paper was for "a small minority of people who have a vague and one-sided understanding of the Basic Law".

If it is such a minority, why the need to release the paper in such a heavy-handed way and in seven languages?

Tsang's argument is weak and same with Leung.

What other excuses are they going to throw our way before July 1?