Two Apple Daily Executives Charged, Supporters Buy Paper

Law (left), Cheung (right) charged with national security law

Following the arrest of five Apple Daily executives on Thursday, two were charged with violating the national security law, while the other three were released on bail today.

Chief editor Ryan Law Wai-kwong and chief executive Cheung Kim-hung were charged with conspiring to collude with foreign forces, while associate publisher Chan Pui-man, chief financial officer Chow Tat-kuen, and digital director Cheung Chi-wai were released after being detained for 40 hours, pending further investigation.

Chan praised Apple Daily staff for their hard work

Emerging from Tseung Kwan O police station after 10pm, Chan was sad that two of her colleagues were charged, but that she would go to court tomorrow morning to support them.

"Over the past 40 hours when I was detained, I know my colleagues in Apple Daily have been standing fast professionally," she said. "They continue to cover and report the news. I am very proud of them. I am touched. We will do our best."

Around 12.15am last night Apple Daily had a Facebook live video filming vans being filled with stacks of the Friday edition of the paper and they fanned out across the city distributing the paper to news vendors. 

The reporter explained to some 2,000 viewers that the vans would have to do several rounds to send out 500,000 copies of the paper.

A man buys some 20 copies to show his support

Then around 12.30am the first stacks of the paper arrived at a news stand in Mongkok and already there was a line of people waiting to buy the paper. The vendor had to assemble the pages together before selling them. Some people bought one or two, but there were others who bought, 10 or 20 copies each.

A reporter asked why they bought so many, and they said it was to support Apple Daily. When asked if he had some words for the newspaper's staff, a young man said: "You usually 'add oil' when people are not trying hard enough. Everyone at the paper is doing their best, so it would be unethical to 'add oil'."

Another man said he bought the paper to support press freedom. When asked for his surname, he thought for a second and said, "Poon, my name is Poon." 

Sure.

Interestingly government adviser and senior council Ronny Tong Ka-wah clarified that buying a copy of Apple Daily did not violate the national security law. 

Why did he even say that?

"The core issue was [the articles] calling for foreign forces to impose sanctions or take hostile action against Hong Kong and the central government. Any other acts that do not touch on this would not offend the law, such as buying copies of the newspaper," Tong said during a Friday morning radio show.

However, Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun, chair of public law of the University of Hong Kong's law department, disagreed, noting police had also frozen HK$18 million (US$2.32 million) in assets of the three affiliated Apple Daily companies.

"If the arrests only [targeted] the senior staff... why did [police] not freeze the assets of the five senior staff members instead?" he said on another radio program.

But everyone is wondering how much longer Apple Daily will continue as there are rumours it could be shut down by July 1...

 

Is Casting a Blank Vote a Crime?

What will voter turnout be like in the upcoming Legco election?

 

Now that Hong Kong's electoral system has been overhauled to make it near impossible for pro-democracy politicians to run, let alone win, will anyone actually participate and cast a vote?

In the 2019 district council elections, almost 3 million people voted, 71 percent of registered voters -- an unprecedented turnout -- and what was the result? 17 of the 18 district councils were won by the pro-democracy camp.

Tse says calling for blank votes could be a crime

But the Hong Kong government cannot expect such a turnout again, unless people cast blank ballots.

And pro-Beijing lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun warns that could be a crime.

On Sunday, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah said officials would study whether more regulation was needed to prevent people from casting blank votes.

Speaking on RTHK, Tse agreed with Cheng that it was a person's civic responsibility to cast a ballot, but said there was no law against casting blank votes.

However, Tse said, if someone were to call for such action in an organized manner, that might amount to subversion under the national security law, or other criminal offences.

Meanwhile on Commercial Radio, Hong Kong legal academic Johannes Chan Man-mun said people would be put off by more government regulation and this could lead to protest voting.

Chan says people might cast protest votes

Chan said he thought the government would look into the issue of blank votes, as there are concerns the voter turnout will dip significantly, with the pro-democracy side showing no interest in voting.

Instead he called on the government to think about why people would cast blank votes instead of worrying about the possibility.

Chairman of the Democratic Party Lo Kin-hei said casting blank votes is a way for the people to express their dissatisfaction, and that they did not like any of the candidates. He questioned whether Hongkongers' only choice was to support the government.

Perhaps this time Hong Kong really will have a silent majority?

Where's Hong Kong's "High Degree of Autonomy"?

Agnes Chow's dreams of running for political office were shut down today

The Hong Kong government is shifting the goal posts again on behalf of Beijing, this time in an upcoming by-election.

You may recall six pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified from being lawmakers when it was decided that they did not take their oaths of office properly.

One person who wanted to run in the race was Demosisto's Agnes Chow Ting, but today she found out she was rejected as a candidate.

The reason?

Lam claims self-determination is not allowed in Basic Law

Not because she advocated independence -- we know is a complete no-no -- but because she promoted self-determination.

In a statement, the government said:

"Self-determination" or changing the HKSAR system by referendum which includes the choice of independence is inconsistent with the constitutional and legal status of the HKSAR as stipulated in the Basic Law, as well as the established basic policies of the PRC regarding Hong Kong. Upholding the Basic Law is the basic legal duty of a legislator. If a person advocates or promotes self-determination or independence by any means, he or she cannot possibly uphold the Basic Law or fulfill his or her duties as a legislator.

Wait a second. Does the government even understand what a referendum is? A referendum means everyone has a say to vote on an issue in how Hong Kong moves forward. It is not determined by a small group of elites, but democratically through one person, one vote.

But no, the government or Beijing is so terrified of this possibility that it has decided self-determination should not be allowed in Hong Kong.

Joshua Wong says youth will be even more disillustioned

However, the same government statement says earlier:

Article 12 of the Basic Law states that the HKSAR shall be a local administrative region of the PRC, which shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy and come directly under the Central People's Government.

So what does "high degree of autonomy" mean then, if we are not allowed self-determination?

Of course Chow was upset by the decision, saying, "It is obviously a political decision and political screening, and the government is trying to shirk responsibility [by passing it on] to the returning officer, who should be only in charge of executive procedures," she said. "We can see that Hong Kong is not ruled by law or [governed by] the rule of law, but only ruled by the Beijing government."

One of Demosisto's platforms is to have a city-wide referendum on the city's political future, including the option of independence from China.

"The government did not only disqualify Chow, but all members of Demosisto, and even the entire younger generation," says Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the party's co-founder. "I am not certain how many young comrades can stand as candidates in future."

Law professor Johannes Chan says Chow's rejection is illegal

Basically the government has decided Demosisto is an outlaw, that its political thinking is illegal and therefore its candidates are disqualified.

Is this how Chief Executive Carrie Lam thinks she can heal the rift between the generations? She has just inflamed the youth even more.

What is wrong with Chow running in a by-election? What are the chances of her winning? And even if she does win, Legco is still stacked with pro-establishment lawmakers. Why is the government so worried?

Legally the government may not be allowed to do what it just did, according to Michael Davis, a former law professor at the University Hong Kong. He warned Chow's disqualification was wrong and the government was on a "slippery slope", while former university law dean Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun said there was no legal basis for such a move.

A march is planned tomorrow to government headquarters, and in the meantime does Chow have any legal recourse? If so we hope her lawyers are filing the papers now for Monday morning.

The government is fixing the race by changing the rules. How convenient.

Beijing's Draft Ruling on Oath-Taking

This will probably the last time antics like this will be seen in Legco

The National People's Congress Standing Committee has drafted its interpretation of how Hong Kong lawmakers should take their oaths.

The whole issue erupted thanks to Youngspiration lawmakers Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, who said "Chee-na" during their oath-taking over three weeks ago, that refers to a derogatory term the Japanese used during World War II.

Law experts who have looked at the draft say it's so detailed, that it amounts to making a new law for the city. It is believed to prescribe the format and conduct of lawmakers taking the oath, the consequences of not complying to the rules, and defining what "allegiance" means, according to the Basic Law.

Johannes Chan worries about Beijing legally interfering

However, Johannes Chan Man-mun, a constitutional law expert at the University of Hong Kong, says this could set a precedent for Beijing to to make its own interpretation of the law in Hong Kong if it doesn't like it, or does not trust local judges in dealing with sensitive issues.

"It is acceptable Beijing wants to define words like 'allegiance' and 'uphold', but to add in so much other detail is not interpreting the law, but making a new law, which the Standing Committee cannot do," he said.

Bar Association chairwoman Winnie Tam Wan-chi SC said the interpretation posed a "limited impact" on the court case.

She noted Beijing seemed to be more concerned about the format and conduct of oath-takers, while arguments in court at the moment are more focused on whether the court had jurisdiction to rule on Legislative Council matters.

Tam said the ruling may be a good thing, though it gives the impression Beijing is interfering in the judicial process.

Sixtus Leung's oath-taking was declared invalid

Perhaps this is Beijing's way of giving its two cents' worth, trying not to look like it is overriding "one country, two systems", but at the same time wanting to stop juvenile antics once and for all.

Looking into Yau Wai-ching's background, it seems curious that she interned at Ta Kung Pao, a very pro-Beijing newspaper. While an internship is one thing, and being a localist is another, one can't help but keep in mind how distinctly polar opposites these two positions are.

The same could be said for Sixtus Leung who is said to have links with the Liaison Office in Western.

And now that I think about it, while we did see the pair march in the rally on Wednesday night, neither of them showed up at the finish, in front of the Liaison Office...

What is going on?