Hong Kong's White Terror

These people ran in the primaries; most were charged today

 

On February 28, 1947, an anti-government uprising in Taiwan was violently quashed by the ruling Kuomintang. There are no definitive reports on how many were killed, ranging from 5,000 to 28,000. It was the start of the White Terror, where thousands of other Taiwanese went missing, died or were imprisoned.

Benny Tai speaks to media outside police station

On February 28, 2021, Beijing via the Hong Kong government charged 47 people with "conspiracy to commit subversion", which violates the national security law.

These people, pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers and district councillors were among the 55 arrested back in early January for organizing the unofficial primaries in its camp to see who would have the highest chance of winning in the Legislative Council elections that were scheduled to be held last September, but the government postponed them because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It was hoped that with more pro-democrats in the Legislative Council, they would have the opportunity to veto the budget and force Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to resign -- this is in the Basic Law -- and also to influence the composition of the 1,2000-member election committee that chooses the next chief executive.

Last year's primaries drew over 600,000 voters

Many well-known people are now charged under the national security law, including former lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting, former Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, and district councillors Lester Shum and Fergus Leung Fong-wai. Activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and People Power's Tam Tak-chi are also included, though they are already in jail serving time for other sentences.

That primaries vote? Organizer Tai was hoping for 200,000 Hong Kong residents to cast their ballots -- more than three times that amount turned out.

These 47 will face their charge in court tomorrow, but the chances of them getting bail are very very slim; they will probably be remanded into custody until their trials come up.

Basically the government has jailed the political opposition even though they already quit in November.

Clancey was arrested in January, not charged today

American-born lawyer John Clancey, 79, was originally arrested in January and was not charged today but he isn't giving up the fight.

"Most people are ready to sacrifice when they see someone in need," Clancey said outside the police station before his bail appointment. "I think we must maintain the positive view the Hong Kong people have had for so many years of being able to build a better society based on human rights and working for democracy."

Some of those charged were ordered a few days ago to report to the police today, and many said farewell to friends, some posted online they believed they did nothing wrong, nor did they regret their actions, and some bought prison necessities, including sneakers without laces.

Chow had his tattoo done ahead of court hearing

Activist Owen Chow Ka-shing who was charged today seems mentally prepared for the road ahead. On social media he posted a photo of a Buddhist chant newly tattooed on his right arm.

"It looks like the suffering will continue indefinitely," he wrote. "What we need is not imagination about suffering but hope and determination beyond suffering."

Were Devices Taken Across the Border?

Did the Hong Kong police send devices to China? It says no

Yesterday The Washington Post reported that the 53 pro-democracy activists who were arrested in one massive operation last week that later included Joshua Wong Chi-fung and radio presenter Tam Tak-chi already in jail, had their phones and laptops taken away to the mainland to extract information from them.

Activist Owen Chow Ka-shing said that when he was arrested, the police already had the phone numbers of his three phones, calling each one to locate them in his flat. 

Owen Chan says police took his three phones

In the end the police took 200 devices from the 53 activists who were arrested in one day and The Post says these digital items were sent to the mainland where the authorities there have sophisticated data-extraction technology, according to two sources.

After the activists and former lawmakers were released on bail and their devices returned to them, they later reported unusual activity on their social media. For example, even though Tam was in jail, it looked like he joined the encrypted messaging app Telegram and contacted people on it.

The administrator of his Facebook page said Tam did not reactivate his account and urged people to ignore the messages.

However today, the Hong Kong police spokesman Kwok Ka-chuen rejected the claims in The Post's report and denied the seized devices were sent to the mainland.

53 people were arrested, 200 devices taken Jan 6

It also condemned what it said were unfounded accusations, saying people with ulterior motives were spreading misinformation through the media to mislead the public and incite hatred towards the police.

Meanwhile The Post's reporter, Shibani Mahtani said she sought police comment before the story was published and did not receive a denial from the police's public relations branch.

"We stand by our reporting and sourcing," she said on Twitter.

Then how does one explain why Tam was supposedly on Telegram when he was in a jail cell, and the unusual social media activity while the activists and former lawmakers were detained by police?

Nevertheless the police should have denied the police report when it was given the chance. Responding to a story more than 12 hours later doesn't help the force's image.

People are joining Signal, but will they use it?

In the meantime in the last few days, lots of people have opened accounts on Signal, another encrypted messaging app, worried their data on Whatsapp will be shared by its parent company, Facebook.

It is quite amusing to see a massive migration of people to the app, but will they really use it when the vast majority of people still use Whatsapp and Facebook?

I joined Signal last year but have only really used it once...

Families Continue Fight for Justice

Families of the 12 detained appealed to the police for help

 

The families of the 12 people who were captured at sea by the mainland authorities are not giving up on having some kind of contact with their loved ones, who were labelled as "separatists" by Beijing.

Today they held a press conference in front of the police headquarters in Wan Chai, saying they want the police to speak to their mainland counterparts and push to get the marine radar data from that day.

Andy Li is one of the 12 detained last month

In addition they want Hong Kong officials to get directly in touch with the 12 and find out why mainland authorities have refused to allow family-appointed lawyers to meet with them at the detention centre in Shenzhen's Yantian district.

The 11 men and one woman were trying to flee to Taiwan last month before the Chinese coast guard intercepted them. They are linked to protest cases from last year, and one, Andy Li was previously arrested under the new national security law. It is believed they were hoping to gain asylum in Taiwan.

"Up till now, the lawyers appointed by the families have not been allowed to meet with the detainees. In other words, the conditions of the arrested persons are still known only to the Chinese authorities," said a statement from the families that was read out by local activist Owen Chow Ka-shing, who has been assisting them.

"The Hong Kong government has only used official information from China, becoming a willing mouthpiece of the Chinese government, and has never provided any details of sent anyone there to clarify doubts."

Lee claims 12 are in good health with no proof

On Saturday, Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu told TVB that the fugitives had "selected lawyers" from a list approved by the mainland authorities, prompting a backlash from the families, who said the city authorities were failing to ensure their loved ones' basic rights.

Even though no local officials have visited them, Lee claimed all the detainees were in good health, and that the Hong Kong government was notified about the arrests five days later.

But family members of the 12 want the government to do more, such as meet with them face-to-face or at least by phone, and to ensure their appointed lawyers can get access to their relatives.

They also urged the Marine Department to disclose key data, including radar records of the speedboat in question. Knowing the marine police's patrol routes that day could help in getting a clearer picture of what happened.

The families also want the Hong Kong police to ask their Chinese counterparts the exact time, location and process of arrest, and if any of them were injured.

Chinese coast guard arrested the 12 last month

During the press conference, the father of Li Tsz-yin, the 29-year-old surveyor, said: "I hop

e the Hong Kong government can hep me get back my son and ensure he has the least of his rights guaranteed."

Even if he cannot visit his son in Shenzhen, he hoped to receive photos verifying he was being detained. in Yantian.

It is absolutely gut-wrenching to watch the families of the 12 detained be met with silence from the mainland, and the reassurances from Lee are hardly reassuring, and only demonstrate his blind faith.

The least the Hong Kong government can do is visit these dozen people in person to reassure their families that they are still alive. But no, officials don't seem interested at all in assisting the families and just parrot what they've been told by the mainland.

While Beijing may call them "separatists", the 12 still deserve equal justice under the law, and a good start would be allowing their lawyers to see them...