Self-Censorship Suspends Press Awards

The FCC decided at the last minute to suspend the HRPA

There is a lot of fury and disappointment over the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong for suspending its Human Rights Press Freedom Awards that would have been held on May 3, Press Freedom Day, at the last minute. 

The club's president Keith Richburg, said the decision was made after the board had a lengthy discussion about it on Saturday.

"Over the last two years, journalists in Hong Kong have been operating under new 'red lines' on what is and is not permissible, but there remain significant areas of uncertainty and we do not wish unintentionally to violate the law," he said.

Richburg said suspending awards was unusual

Richburg described the suspension as an unusual step to take just weeks before the winners were to be announced on May 3, acknowledging that it is likely deeply disappointing to the candidates, the judges and everyone else who took part.

He added suspending the awards was a very tough decision to reach, and that it "in now way reflects the FCC Board's view of the content of any of the entries or the work of the independent judges."

Nevertheless, Richburg said the FCC will continue to promote press freedom in Hong Kong, though "recent developments" -- without citing which -- might require changes to the club's approach.

In response, some of the FCC's press freedom committee members resigned, including journalists Shibani Mahtani, Timothy McLaughlin, and Mary Hui. Five other committee members have also reportedly resigned.

"As a former winner and judge of the HRPA, I feel nothing but the deepest regret and do not stand by this decision," said Mahtani, who is the SouthEast Asia and Hong Kong bureau chief for the Washington Post.

Many of the events and talks are held here

"It is an award that meant something not only to Hong Kong, but journalists across Asia who covered some of the most consequential developments in the region last year," she said.

"It is emblematic too of the self-censorship many institutions feel forced to subject themselves to in today's Hong Kong, whether with or without their merits."

It would have been the club's 26th year in handing out awards, and many of them would have been won by Stand News, a pro-democracy news outlet that shuttered late last year.

What is also interesting to note is that the HRPA are traditionally co-hosted by Amnesty International and the Hong Kong Journalists' Association. Amnesty has left Hong Kong, while the HKJA is meeting to discuss whether it should disband or not.

These are the times we live in, but as the Foreign Correspondents' Club, it has an obligation to stand up for press freedom and other human rights, and yet it has cowered from this mandate, choosing instead to stay silent probably in the hopes of being able to renew the lease on the property on Ice House Street.

Mahtani resigned in protest

What is the club good for these days? They hold a few guest speaker talks, but it is mainly run by non-journalists now, and serves cheap drinks (and good curries I heard).

The least the club could do is continue to speak out about press freedom when people like Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying is in jail along with his senior editors, editors at Stand News are languishing in jail, and most recently journalist Allan Au who was arrested two weeks ago.

But it seems the club is more concerned about preserving itself than taking advantage of its unique position and speaking out on behalf of local journalists, as well as the HKJA, where its leaders, currently Ronson Chan, and previously Chris Yeung, risked its position to speak out as much as possible.

Many feel the FCC chickened out and has lost all credibility with the journalism community in Hong Kong -- or what's left of it.

It's no wonder that local journalists never had an interest in joining this club in the first place, which hardly represented them.

Lam says press freedom is protected in Basic Law

Ironically today Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pronounced that press freedom, which is enshrined in the Basic Law, has been safeguarded and upheld in the SAR since the handover, meaning almost 25 years.

When asked about the FCC suspending its HRPA and political scientist Chung Kim-wah fleeing to the UK, Lam claimed they were isolated incidents.

"So I would say that the two examples you have given are those isolated incidents, which might have given people that impression, especially people who tended to misunderstand the constitutional safeguards for press freedom, and that is one has to observe the law in exercising your freedom," she said.

But journalists are observing the law, and yet they are caught in the crossfire, Mrs Lam... for whatever charges the national security police wish to prosecute them... surely that is the erosion of press freedom...

Controversial Art Taken Down at M+

Comparison of Leung's photo with Wang's work

Still jet lagged and haven't thought of a new blog yet so we will continue on here!

Two disappointing things have happened recently that demonstrate the ongoing deteriorating situation in Hong Kong.

Vidler's firm stops operations on June 3 this year

First is that well known law firm Vidler & Co which handled many human rights cases as well as the 2019 protests, will cease operations from June 3. The announcement was made by the Law Society of Hong Kong, notifying its members of the firm's imminent closure after 19 years.

Senior partner Michael Vidler has not commented publicly about the announcement.

The firm has represented such activists as Joshua Wong Chi-fung, and worked on cases like Indonesian journalist Veby Mega Indah, who lost an eye after a police projectile allegedly hit her on September 29, 2019. While Vidler & Co filed an application in the High Court in December that year to reveal the identity of the shooter, Vidler told Ming Pao in February the following year that the firm did not represent her anymore.

Vidler represented Veby Mega Indah in 2019

Another case the firm worked on was a woman who was allegedly raped in the Tsuen Wan Police Station. Then police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung claimed the case was an attempt to "mislead the police", alleging the claim was not consistent with the video evidence.

Legal representatives of Vidler & Co hit back, claiming Tang was trying to "publicly discredit" the woman.  

The firm is also known for being involved in LGBTQ cases.

Interesting to note Vidler & Co will be closing the day before the 33rd anniversary of June 4... coincidence?

Also along the same vein, contemporary art museum M+ has reopened, months after the fifth wave began in late December. The new head of M+, Bernard Chan toured the museum on April 21 and notably three works were replaced that were related to Tiananmen.

Wang Guangyi's portrait of Mao

One is Wang Xingwei's New Beijing, painted in 2001 showing two injured penguins on the back of a makeshift tricycle flatbed. It is a riff off of photographer Leung Heung-shing's photograph of a man trying to cycle as fast as he can to take two victims to the hospital.

Another piece is Wang Guangyi's Mao Zedong: Red Grid No. 2 (1989), showing a painted portrait of the Great Helmsman, though with a red grid painted on top as if the leader is in a cage.

Finally, Zhou Tie-hai's Press Conference III (1996) refers to the Cold War. These works are now probably stuck in the museum's gulag, never to be seen in person again, though they can be found online on the M+ website.

M+ response?

"It has always been M+'s plan to rotate over 200 artworks in the first year after its opening," a statement read. "Nine out of over 200 have been rotated before reopening, in particular those which are in greater need for conservation."

Controversial artist Ai Weiwei's work Whitewash, featuring old jars that have been repainted is still there, though the black and white photograph of him giving the middle finger to the Gate of Heavenly Peace across from Tiananmen Square is not available...

This Ai Weiwei photo is not shown at M+

In any event, we can't help but be amused that pro-Beijing stalwarts who are staunchly behind chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu, are angry that their star nominee cannot post his campaign videos on the YouTube video-sharing platform because the company needs to comply with US sanctions against him.

Lee called the sanctions "unreasonable",  a "bullying act" and a means to "exert pressure to make him have hesitations" regarding the upcoming election.

"Any country's official should strive for the best to defend their country's national security," he said. "Their unreasonable act will just strengthen my belief that what I am doing is right."

We hope Lee knows what he is doing because he is also getting a lot of ridicule for the copywriting on his campaign materials. A social media group has criticised the choice of words and grammar in Chinese and English, pointing them out much like a teacher does with a nasty red pen.

Perhaps even more entertaining is that Lee's campaign team actually follow many of these correction suggestions.

All for the greater good, right?

Democratic Party to Vote on its Future

Lo (centre) says Democratic Party can continue to be relevant

 

Lo Kin-hei, chairman of the Democratic Party says the party should continue to exist even if it doesn't take part in the Legislative Council elections in December.

Members of the party will vote on Sunday to decide if the party should take part in the elections or not. 

However, former Democratic Party lawmaker Fred Li Wah-ming has already voiced that the party should dissolve if it chooses not to field candidates.

Li says the party should dissolve if not in election

Lo says people should be able to decide for themselves, after months of discussions and deliberations.

"Fred Li is a member who is more publicly known and more experienced. But he is still a party member and he has one vote, and he still has to persuade other party members whether to follow him or not," Lo said.

"The most important thing to me is that the party makes a decision altogether in the [extraordinary general meeting] this coming Sunday and we respect that result no matter what. I think that is the way a political party can go forward in the future."

He believes the Democratic Party will still have influence among the public as long as people agree with its work, and it will continue to speak up for Hongkongers regardless of whether it joins the Legco polls or not.

"We have had no Legislative Council seats for almost one year, and we are still trying to keep up our district and community work," Lo said.

Even if the Democratic Party decides to take part in the elections, the newly elected Election Committee may disqualify the candidates it puts forward.

The Election Committee decides who runs

As part of its policy platform, the Democratic Party suggests human rights should be part of the national education curriculum, and implement Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law to eventually achieve universal suffrage in Hong Kong to "fulfill promises made to Hong Kong people".

The party also suggests scrapping the Lantau Tomorrow Vision project, and end the "small house" policy under which male indigenous villagers in the New Territories and their descendants can build houses without paying a land premium.

Chris Tang is now a JP

The government has appointed Tang as a Justice of the Peace

 

Secretary for Security and former police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung can now add Justice of the Peace to his name card.

He and 29 others were appointed, including former Chief Secretary, Matthew Cheung Kin-cheung, though he is a Non-official Justice of the Peace.

Cheung is a Non-official Justice of the Peace

According to the government, the main function of Justices of the Peace is to visit correctional institutions, detention centres or other institutions to ensure their effective management and that no individual is unfairly treated or deprived of his or her rights.

The Justices of the Peace will ensure that complaints lodged by individuals are handled in a fair and transparent manner, the government said.

How honorable of Tang to take on this position...

More Arrests This Morning

Police made another swoop of 11 people this morning

 

This morning Hong Kong woke up to more arrests. This time it was 11 alleged accomplices to the 12 who tried to flee to Taiwan and ended up being caught by mainland authorities.

Eight men and three women were arrested for "assisting offenders". Under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, this charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.

Two underage fugitives returned to Hong Kong

According to an unnamed source, these 11 people were accused of sponsoring the fugitives' attempt to abscond, with the amount of funds offered by each of them, ranging from a few thousand Hong Kong dollars to tens of thousands. 

"They also provided help, such as introducing middle men to the fugitives, arranging shoreline pickups and providing hiding locations," the source said.

The 12 fugitives were arrested last August by the Chinese coastguard. Ten were jailed for between seven months to three years on December 30 in Shenzhen for illegally crossing the border. They were fleeing charges related to the 2019 anti-government protests.

The two others were underage and had jumped bail in Hong Kong. They were recently handed back to local police and will face trial.

One of the most prominent arrested this morning was 72-year-old lawyer Daniel Wong Kwok-tung, who is also a Kowloon City district councillor. His Facebook page said officers from the police's National Security Department arrived at his home at 6.10am on Thursday.

Wong told Hongkongers not to give up as he left

As he was escorted from his office handcuffed, Wong said, "Democracy, rule of law, human rights, persistence. Hongkongers, don't give up."

Wong is known for tirelessly providing legal assistance to protesters arrested during the 2019 protests and was also behind a campaign to set up a cafe in Taiwan to employ exiled Hong Kong protesters.

He is the second lawyer to be arrested in a week after American John Clancey who was one of the 53 people swept up by the authorities in a mass arrest.

In addition to Wong, a 29-year-old Ukrainian man who works in a restaurant was arrested, along with two students and a 29-year-old independent musician called Rono Fok.

Many campaigned for their release when detained

The 11 arrested today join another nine who were taken into police custody in October on suspicion of helping the 12 escape. They are accused of providing the fugitives with the boat, as well as accommodation, transportation and money.

The authorities had warned people who assisted the fugitives would be arrested, and now here we are. 

Unless the police have more people in mind they want to arrest?

China's Verbal Joust with Canada

 Cong warns Canada about taking Hong Kong asylum seekers

 

The 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and China was marked by a war of words sparked by Cong Peiwu, the Chinese ambassador to Canada.

He urged Canada not to accept people from Hong Kong who participated in last year's anti-government protests, describing them as "violent criminals". Cong also warned that accepting these people would jeopardize the "health and safety" of 300,000 Canadians who live in Hong Kong.

When asked by the media if this was a threat, Cong replied, "That is your interpretation."

How is that not a threat?

Over 9,000 people were arrested last year

Cong went on to say: "We strongly urge the Canadian side not to grant so-called political asylum to those violent criminals in Hong Kong, because it interferes in China's domestic affairs, and certainly it will embolden those violent criminals," he said.

This is strange logic -- wouldn't China be happy to see so-called "violent criminals" move to another country so Hong Kong will be "safer"?

In any event so far the number of actual convictions of protesters has a very low success rate in the courts, so his description of last year's participants as "violent criminals" is overblown.

Canada has accepted at least two activists from Hong Kong, granting them protection as early as September. There are apparently 45 people waiting for approval.

The Chinese envoy warned of further consequences if Canada accepted more Hong Kong asylum seekers.

"If the Canadian side really cares about the stability and the prosperity in Hong Kong, and really cares about the good health and safety of those 300,000 Canadian passport holders in Hong Kong and the large number of Canadian companies operating in Hong Kong... you should support those efforts to fight violent crimes," he said.

Champagne says Cong's words were "disturbing"

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne later called Cong's statements inappropriate.

"The reported comments by the Chinese ambassador are totally unacceptable and disturbing," the minister said in a statement.

"I have instructed Global Affairs to call the Ambassador in to make clear in no uncertain terms that Canada will always stand up for human rights and the rights of Canadians around the world."

Interesting Champagne did not summon Cong for a dressing down, which would have made for good political theatre.

In any event, the ambassador also lashed out, saying China would have a "strong reaction" if Canada's Parliament were to pass any resolution that condemned China's treatment of Uyghurs as "genocide". 

Uyghurs in an "education training centre"

According to experts studying what is going on in Xinjiang, China's westernmost province, over 1 million Uyghurs have been forcibly living in detention camps since 2017, though the Chinese government has called them "vocational and education training centres". 

"We will take resolute measures to safeguard our sovereignty and national security," Cong said. He rejected widespread allegations that genocide is happening in Xinjiang, saying Uyghurs "live in harmony ... and [China's] human-rights record is the best in history."

His words are so amazingly false, when there are many testimonies from exiled Uyghurs who have given first-hand accounts of their experiences in these camps, as well as loved ones who haven't heard from their parents, brothers, sisters and other relatives for months or years. And when they finally emerge, they are a shadow of their former selves.

There are also statistics the birth rate in Xinjiang has plunged after academic Adrian Zenz published a report that found the number of sterilizations in the province surged from almost 250 per 100,000 people in 2018 from 50 per 100,000 in 2016. Zenz says this follows the United Nations' definition of genocide.

Michael Kovrig (left) and Michael Spavor

As for the detentions of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, Cong insisted there was no "coercive diplomacy on the Chinese side", even though the two were detained soon after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested on a US extradition request.

Canada is finally taking a firmer stand with China, but it really needs to have its ducks lined up in order to play hardball with Beijing. China has a lot of diplomatic tactics up its sleeve, and Ottawa needs to be ready to hit back.

Disney's US$200M Mistake

Mulan is out in theatres across China tomorrow... how will it do?

Disney's live-action remake Mulan is opening in theatres tomorrow in China, but there is so much controversy around the film that one wonders if the movie studio will ever make back the US$200 million it spent to make it.

Donnie Yen enthusiastically shaking Xi Jinping's hand

Already last year pro-democracy Hongkongers were determined to boycott the film after actress Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan, supported the police and their excessive force during the protests last summer on her Weibo account.

Protesters were also not impressed with actor Donnie Yen who has written social media posts praising Beijing, and there's a video clip of him shaking Chinese President Xi Jinping's hand and not wanting to let go...

But now after months of delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mulan is finally out, and the credits have rolled to reveal Disney thanked eight government entities in Xinjiang, including the public security bureau in Turpan, a city in eastern Xinjiang where several internment camps have been documented. Another credit went to the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda department in Xinjiang.

Detention camps were only 7km from where Disney filmed

At the time Disney filmed Mulan, probably around 2018, did studio executives know what was going on in the region where its Uighur residents are under severe repression and surveillance? Shawn Zhang, the graduate student who has studied satellite maps on Xinjiang to find the internment camps, says the film crew were a few only 7 kilometres from an internment camp.

Critics are also blasting the studio for kowtowing to the Chinese government.

Isaac Stone Fish is a senior fellow at the Asia Society, and in a column in the Washington Post he wrote: "It's sufficiently astonishing that it bears repeating. Disney has thanked four propaganda departments and a public security bureau in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China that is the site of one of the world's worst human rights abuses happening today."

Chinese dissident artist Badiucao, who lives in Australia satirizes the film by depicting Mulan as a guard in one of the internment camps in Xinjiang.

Badiucao's satirical take on Mulan in Xinjiang

"It's very problematic and there's no excuse. I mean, it's clear, we have all the evidence showing what is going on in Xinjiang," he said.

Badiucao also accused Disney of "double standards", embracing western social justice movements such as MeToo and Black Lives Matter, while turning a blind eye to China's rights abuses.

However it's not just Disney to blame for bending to Beijing. In the upcoming Tom Cruise film Top Gun: Maverick, the Taiwanese flag that was on his bomber jacket in the original movie has been digitally erased, and the storyline in the 2013 film World War Z removed China as the source of a zombie virus.

And it's not just Hongkongers who are boycotting the film, but also activists in Taiwan and Thailand.

So any bets on how well Mulan will do?

If anything this fiasco sheds more light on the horrific plight of Uighurs to the rest of the world, at Disney's expense, at the tune of US$200 million.

Reunited At Last

Lawyer Wang Quanzhang reunited with his wife Li Wenzu and son in Beijing

This morning there was news that Li Wenzu, the wife of human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang was in hospital for acute appendicitis which was worrying, but in an interesting change of heart, the authorities were driving the 43-year-old from Jinan in Shandong province to Beijing to see her.

Really?!

It was hard to believe, but it is true.

一个等待5年的拥抱！ pic.twitter.com/B6rZXWcWsH

— Suyutong 🎗️ (@Suyutong) April 27, 2020

Their reunion after five years is so emotional for anyone watching this video.

"This is like a dream come true," Li said, as she sobbed on Wang's shoulder. "Quangquan, come give your daddy a hug," she said to their eight-year-old son.

Meanwhile Wang told a Hong Kong newspaper he was taking each day slowly as he adjusted back to life with his family.

"I haven't seen my wife and child for five years. It's been a long time since I cuddled them," he said, adding that he had to spend another 14 days in quarantine at home.

In a still from video footage, the trio embrace at home

"In the last five years, I've been completely disconnected from the outside world. I feel a little dazed. I will try my best to get back to the world."

Li said that when Wang arrived, several police and district staff tried to get into their apartment, but she fought with them to keep them out.

She hoped there would be no more separations and that they could be a family again.

For Li, the pain of the appendicitis was "worth it" for her husband to return.

"Although it hurts very, very much, almost killed me, I feel... thankful, because he would not have come back if I had not had it," she said.

Despite his release, human rights groups believe the authorities will continue close surveillance of the 44-year-old lawyer, who was jailed for almost five years for state subversion.

When Wang found out his wife was hospitalized over the weekend, he tried to get a taxi to Beijing and was stopped.

So what led to the change of heart?

Possibly due to the intense international media attention surrounding Wang's case and his stoic wife suffering from acute appendicitis. How intense will the surveillance be in Beijing, following his 14 days of "quarantine"?

We will soon find out. But in the meantime this is the best news in a long time. 

Rights Lawyer Wang Quanzhang Still not Home

Emily Lau holds up a picture of Wang in front of the Liaison Office in HK

Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang was "released" 15 days ago from prison after serving almost five years in prison for subversion of the state. Then supposedly as a precaution to protect his family from him possibly having the coronavirus, he was sent to his home in Jinan, Shandong province for two weeks.

But that 14-day quarantine is over and yet Wang is not allowed to go back to Beijing to be reunited with his wife, Li Wenzu and their son. She fears that he is being held under house arrest.

"Today is the 15th day and he still can't return to Bejing," she said on Sunday. "I really cannot accept this."

Wang is still under house arrest in Jinan, Shandong province

Li said in the past two weeks she is only able to have phone conversations with Wang -- monitored by the police -- who determine how long the calls are and the content of their dialogue. She said Wang had told her the online posts she made "were causing him trouble" and ordered her to delete them.

She said Wang called her on Saturday to tell her he was not able to come back to the Chinese capital because he had "just come out and needed to get used to (everything)".  She questioned whether he was speaking of his own will.

"This is not the Wang Quanzhang I knew," she said. "The pain is like a knife stabbing into my bleeding heart."

When Chinese rights activists are released from prison but put in de facto house arrest for many years, this practice is called "non-release release" by rights groups and legal experts like Jerome Cohen.

Li Wenzu and her son have yet to be reunited with Wang

Francine Chan, executive director of Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group said: "The harassment, surveillance and effective house arrest of Wang Quanzhang after his 'release' vividly illustrate China's use of the pandemic to extend Wang's imprisonment in violation of Chinese and international law."

What can Li do now to so that she and her son can be reunited with Wang?

He has already suffered so much physically and psychologically since 2015. Isn't that enough punishment already?

Li's fight for Wang will have to continue if she wants to see her husband again, in person.

When will Wang Quanzhang be Truly Free?

Wang Quanzhang with his family before he was detained in August 2015

 

This morning Wang Quanzhang, the last of the 709 lawyers was released today from Linyi City Prison in Shandong province after serving a five-year sentence for "subverting state power", but he is not received into the arms of his wife, Li Wenzu and their son; instead he was escorted to his hometown in Jinan, also in Shandong, where he has a place.

Apparently this action was taken as a precaution to quarantine him for 14 days because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Li, who is in Beijing, worries this is an excuse to put Wang under house arrest and would be subjected to surveillance.

Jerome Cohen says non-release release is not new in China

"I think (the authorities) have been lying to us step by step," she said. "They used the pretext of the epidemic as an excuse to quarantine him for 14 days when he should have been able to return to his home in Beijing according to the relevant legal guidelines."

This existence of being released, but not fully free from the authorities is what eminent Chinese legal expert Jerome Cohen calls "non-release release".

He explains this is not new in China -- it was used during the Communist Party's "anti-rightist campaign" in 1957-58, when people were subjected to punishment by "reeducation through labour" and has been modified in recent times.

"In the past decade, non-release release has been customized to suit the Party's needs for effectively suppressing human rights lawyers on a more individualized basis than a formal system might allow, and also for a longer time than formal criminal or administrative sanctions might seem suitable. To the public, non-release release looks better than sentencing a lawyer to life in prison, but it can nevertheless amount to a more discreet form of stifling someone forever," he writes.

Li Wenzu has her head shaved in December 2018

Five years ago Wang, a human rights lawyer, was one of 300 lawyers and activists who were arrested in a nationwide crackdown on July 9, 2015 in a bid to silence China's emerging rights defense movement, hence the name 709. Wang was taken away in August.

While other lawyers had already stood trial and released on bail or given suspended sentences, Wang was held incommunicado for three years. His wife Li tried to find out where her husband was held, turning the housewife into an activist.

In April 2018, she started on a 12-day march from Beijing in Tianjin where she believed Wang was being held. However the authorities stopped her from completing her quest. In December that year she and two other women publicly shaved their heads to protest the continuing detention of Wang.

When the state finally gave notice to Wang's family of his detention, they did not tell his family of his whereabouts nor allow them to see him; the lawyers they hired were dismissed by the authorities, and on the day of his trial, he fired the court-appointed lawyer, as if to make the point that the trial was a sham. It resulted in his trial being further postponed.

Li and her son anticipating her husband's release

So while Wang has tried to stand up to the system the best he can, one can only imagine his fragile mental and physical state after being detained for so long without access to his own legal representation let alone his family until last June, which was devastating for Li to see her husband's mental state.

"I can't wait to hold him again, but I don't know when that will happen," she said a few days ago.

On March 12 he sent a letter to her with a simple wish:

"What I want the most after getting out of here is to live freely, where there is no one knocking on my door. Let us restart a life we had built," he wrote.

We hope so too.

Publisher Gui Minhai Officially Back in Jail

Gui Minhai flanked by two guards in a group interview in February 2018

In the midst of tackling the coronavirus crisis, a Chinese court today convicted Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai for "illegally providing intelligence for overseas entities," almost five years after he was detained.

He was sentenced to 10 years and deprivation of political rights for five years. A statement by the Intermediate People's Court of Ningbo said Gui would not appeal at the end of the trial.

In January 2018, Gui was traveling with then Swedish consul-general in Shanghai Lisette Lindahl and another Swedish diplomat on a train from Shanghai to Beijing. But when the train stopped in Jinan West Station in Shandong province, a group of plainclothes agents boarded the train and took Gui away within seconds.

Gui made a forced confession in 2016

However what does it mean to be charged for "illegally providing intelligence for overseas entities"?

Gui's long-time friend Bei Ling does not believe his friend received a fair trial in China. He also suspects the "intelligence" Gui was accused of providing was the detail of how he was kidnapped by Chinese agents in Thailand five years ago and brought to the mainland.

"What intelligence can he possibly have? He has been under surveillance by the Chinese government all the time and had his movements restricted," Bei said. "The only intelligence is how he was abducted by Chinese agents from Thailand."

Gui was one of the five booksellers who were disappeared in 2015. In his case Gui was taken from his apartment in Pattaya, Thailand and then sent to China. Later Gui made a video-taped forced confession, claiming to return to the mainland of his own volition to own up about a drunk-driving accident in Ningbo in 2003. He served two years in jail for this conviction. 

Then after he was taken off the train in January 2018, on February 18 that year, Gui made another strange statement in front of Hong Kong, Taiwanese and mainland media, denouncing the Swedish government for using him as "a chess piece" to make trouble with Beijing.

Gui with his daughter Angela in an undated photo

He also claimed Swedish diplomats were pressuring him to leave China.  Gui made these accusations in a 20-minute interview in a detention facility in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, with guards flanking him. 

And now he is back in jail again.

Sweden's foreign minister Ann Linde demanded on Tuesday that the Chinese authorities release Gui. "We have always been clear that we demand that Gui Minhai be released so that he is able to reunite with his daughter, his family, and that demand remains," she said.

We of course demand immediate access to our Swedish citizen in order to give him all consular support that he is entitled to," she added.

In a separate statement, the Swedish foreign minister said its diplomats "did not have access to the trial. We were unable to review the indictment or offer access to legal counsel."

Meanwhile Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in Beijing that Gui's rights and interests had been fully guaranteed, and that consular visits in general were put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak.

How convenient.

Lam Wing-kee is surprised by Gui's conviction -- again

Gui's publishing associate, Lam Wing-kee said he was "a little surprised" that the mainland authorities had persisted with the case. "They arrested five people, all because of a certain book. This shows there could be further spillovers from this case," he said.

"I believe they want to use the trial [of Gui] to warn others against doing anything which may be found unacceptable by the Chinese authorities. Also, they want to send out the message that they won't let go their control of Hong Kong, even during a critical time when they need to spend a great deal of time and effort in tackling the coronavirus outbreak."

Lam suspects that since Gui has effectively been behind bars since 2015 that he may only serve another four years in jail. "This could be the reason why he did not want to appeal against the court's decision," he said.

Gui's case is tragic -- he has already been through so much and now several more years in jail. There are fears of his health condition worsening, as his daughter Angela claims he has symptoms of ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. When will his family be able to see him again?

Hong Kong's Growing Blacklist

Kenneth Roth is returning to New York after being stopped in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government is becoming more active in banning people from coming into the city. Just last week American photographer Matthew Connors was denied entry into Hong Kong after he had come in twice before to cover the anti-government protests. He was detained for four hours and then sent back to New York.

Photographer Matthew Connors wasn't allowed in last week

Another was American academic Dan Garrett was also not allowed to enter Hong Kong in September after he had testified at the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) in Washington DC about the ongoing protests in the city. He had previously visited and lived in Hong Kong for two decades.

Then days before the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in June 2019, US-based exiled student leader Feng Congde was denied entry into Hong Kong and sent back to Tokyo.

Now the latest is the executive director of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth has been stopped from entering Hong Kong and sent back to New York. He was planning to be here to release a report on Wednesday on the organization's World Report 2020.

In a video message on Twitter recorded from Hong Kong International Airport, Roth explains the report's lead essay says, "the Chinese government is really trying to deliberately undermine the international human rights system, not simply suppress the rights of people at home, but also undermine the ability of anybody else to try to hold China to human rights standards".

Academic Dan Garrett was barred from entering in September

"I had hoped to spotlight Beijing's deepening assault on international efforts to uphold human rights," Roth said. "The refusal to let me enter Hong Kong vividly illustrates the problem."

The former federal prosecutor tried to find out from immigration officers why he was not being allowed to enter Hong Kong, but only replied it was for "immigration reasons" without a valid reason. The city's blacklist seems to be growing longer these days.

Roth says in his video that he will return to New York and hold the press conference there, but "this  episode is just the latest evidence that the Chinese government is doing everything it can to undermine the enforcement of human rights standards". Human Rights Watch has since said the press conference to launch the report has now been cancelled.

Former Tiananmen leader Feng Congde was barred in June

How can the Hong Kong government continue to convince the world that it continues to uphold "one country, two systems" when it bans people like Roth, Garrett, Connors and Feng from entering?

Wonder if Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will answer that question honestly on Tuesday during her weekly press conference...

Bloody Sunday in the Mall

The attacker (far right) treated by paramedics before he was arrested

The 22nd consecutive weekend of protests has resulted in more bloodshed -- not from a gun but a knife -- and teeth.

Political differences these five months between family members have led to many not speaking to each other or having continuous arguments. But tensions escalated further tonight in Taikoo Shing when one man who is allegedly from the mainland, had dinner with his relatives and then pulled a knife on them, injuring his sister, her husband and another relative.

The moment just before he bit off part of Andrew Chiu's ear

If that wasn't enough, the attacker then lunged at district councillor Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, biting part of his ear off.

Onlookers who were so angry and shocked by the incident that they started beating up the perpetrator, leaving him bloodied too. He was later arrested by police.

Chiu was sent to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan. "Part of the ear, we understand, is unfortunately ripped, but the scope of his injury is unclear," said district councillor Patrick Wong Chun-sing.

This afternoon protesters were encouraged to "go for a walk" in Admiralty, Mongkok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun from 1pm in protest against alleged police brutality.

However things got hairy when riot police stormed New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, reminiscent of what they did back on July 14. This time they used pepper spray to try to disperse demonstrators and shoppers which led to scenes of shock and fear as many families with young children were there. The police rode the escalators and threatened to shoot rubber bullets at people.

Tensions rose in New Town Plaza in Sha Tin this evening

At least three people were treated for pepper spray, a middle-aged man was given an ice pack after pepper spray hit his head, and paramedics gave oxygen to a young man who had asthma.

"The actions of the police are despicable. They can't just come into shopping malls and do this to young people," said a 54-year-old woman surnamed Wong.

The police also stormed Tai Po Mega Mall and at Tuen Mun's Trend Plaza, residents tried to lock the mall's doors with plastic cords to prevent the police from entering. Earlier about 50 riot police were outside the mall doing spot checks on people's bags and demanding to see identity cards.

Then at Cityplaza in Taikoo Shing, people dressed in black sang "Glory to Hong Kong" and folded paper cranes before the police stormed in, stayed for about 40 minutes, and then angry residents shouted at the police to leave, and they beat a hasty retreat.

Police were armed with pepper spray and rubber bullets

Early this morning the police reported over 200 people were arrested on Saturday for charges such as illegal assembly, possession of an offensive weapon, defying the face mask ban while at at an illegal assembly.

This past Tuesday Chief Executive Carrie Lam said there could not be any constructive dialogue until violence was cleared from the streets of Hong Kong, but human rights lawyer and executive director of Human Rights Watch Sharon Hom disagrees.

While on the current affairs show The Pulse aired on RTHK, Hom says that attitude profoundly misreads the cause of the ongoing demonstrations.

"The cause of the ongoing protests is not the violence. It's like the chicken and the egg, they're [the Hong Kong government and Beijing] missing the fact that you have to ask the question: why is it that such diverse sectors and broad continuing support of Hong Kong society? You have doctors, journalists, lawyers, and social workers, not to mention all the young people in the schools. Why is it that they are continuing the support the movement? Why are they on the streets?



"So rather than saying, 'Stop going out on the streets and then maybe we'll talk', you have to first say, 'Why are they on the streets? Why are they out there?", she continues.

"I think of particularly the young people on the front line, who are engaging in violent acts that you can see, either throwing petrol bombs, or in some cases property damage, I think that's more tricky, and the tricky thing is we need to understand what is fueling that rage? It doesn't excuse it, but we need to understand that."

The pan-democrats' poster of Lam in the Legislative Council

If our "fearless" leader Lam really wants to break the political impasse, she needs to ask why people of all ages and sectors are out protesting every weekend. They are not afraid of the police despite their escalated tactics week after week, nor are they afraid of face mask bans, or pseudo curfews imposed by the MTR.

If she doesn't try to find out the answer, the violent clashes will continue and more blood will continue to be on her hands. Cue Lady Macbeth...