Global Times Chief Editor Steps Down

Hu Xijin launched the English version of Global Times in 2009

It was interesting to find out that Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of Global Times who is a well-known and vocal propagandist on Twitter, has abruptly retired at the age of 62.

Apparently there were rumours yesterday of him stepping down but Hu did not confirm them until noon today on his Weibo.

"I'm approaching 62. It's time for retirement," Hu posted on Thursday. "I have gone through the retirement formalities and no longer serve as the editor-in-chief of the Global Times."

Hu is an outspoken propagandist on social media

The Chinese version of Global Times was launched in 1993 as a staunch and unabashedly nationalist tabloid paper. Hu was the editor-in-chief in 2005 and four years later launched the English version of the newspaper, managing both editions.

"I'll continue to contribute to the party's journalism and publicity work as a special commentator of the Global Times. Thank you for your support," he wrote in the Weibo post.

It is believed he will be replaced by Wu Qimin, international section deputy director of People's Daily. It will be interesting if she gets the top job, as critics describe Global Times as "China's Fox News" for its strong patriotic slant, with Hu's interest in the People's Liberation Army as well.

Nevertheless, why is Hu leaving so suddenly? China Media Project suggests perhaps the central leadership wants to rein in loose cannons "firing against the discipline coming from above", or could it possibly have to do with his recent comments about tennis star Peng Shuai that raised eyebrows.

Did Hu make missteps in the Peng incident?

He tried to look like he'd gotten a scoop when he posted video footage of the tennis player going out to dinner and the people in in the clip emphasised many times in it the day it was recorded which was bizarre and backfired spectacularly.

Nevertheless for Hu to retire at 62 seems too early for him -- what is he going to do? 

Following his post, there were some 6,000 comments. "Old Hu, thank you for speaking for China. You have my support! Wish you a happy life after retirement," posted one internet user.

"Good for you. You don't need to tell lies anymore," wrote another.

Walking on the Colourful Side

Colourful ribbons shimmering in the wind

My walk along the harbourfront has become more interesting.

Today we saw a lot of new additions, some of which make us question where our taxpayer dollars are going.

Near the PLA dock in Central is a cordoned off space called Design District HK and there is a giant undulating net tied with 18,000 colourful ribbons. It looks like a rainbow-coloured rectangular carpet waving in the breeze.

Swings anchored to the ground

It happened to be the first day today of the event, and we had to use our LeaveHomeSafe app and take our temperature before going into the space free of charge. Inside there are a number of large green (fake grass) circles on the ground, presumably for social distancing.

It was nice to lie under this art installation called River of Light by artist Patrick Shearn, but after a few minutes of admiring it and taking pictures, then what? We walked back to the entrance nearby and they politely told us we had to walk to the far end of the grounds to exit. 

With no signage saying so it was annoying to have to walk all the way to the end.

Nevertheless we continued on our way eastward and saw the water barriers were removed just past the Wan Chai Star Ferry pier. The area near the pier is covered in fake pink roses, and it's pathetic to see this cheesy floral theme is still used and now with some seating in pink complete with flamingos, or decorated with more fake flowers.

In the distance we saw some rubber tire swings (with fake pink grass) seating and thought we could have some fun on it. But when we sat on them, they didn't move! The rubber tire swings were anchored at the bottom with chains.

Why? WHY?

The letters "V" and "H" for Victoria Harbour

Why can't we swing on these swings?! The authorities are probably terrified someone is going to get hurt.

That was really infuriating.

And to complete the area, there was a "V" and "H" to denote "Victoria Harbour" that people could pose with. Whoohoo.

When we finally arrived at the Wan Chai Harbourfront Promenade, there were what looked like giant bendy straws at the end. When we went around them, they made different percussion sounds like synthesizer bells or xylophone which was interesting. 

It's called Sky Castle designed by Australian multimedia design studio Eness in collaboration with Hattrick Creative.  

So we ran around and around these giant archways where senors triggered them to release sounds and would probably make more "music" if more people went around them.

Giant tubes that make sounds! Great for kids

Perhaps the Hong Kong government realizes people need some things to keep them occupied, and this public art will get them out and about discovering the harbourfront. It also helps that there are giant green arrows on the ground pointing to where people should go...

However at the same time each of the sections have wildly different design elements that aren't very consistent or cohesive. It seems no thought was put to having a consistent theme and each section was determined by a singular group or individual. 

This does not work well. The High Line in New York works so well because the overall look is very consistent, even though the plantings may be different. The benches are quite similar or site specific, but still keep with the same kind of minimalist design. 

Instead on the Hong Kong waterfront it's a hodgepodge of different things for different people, which is understandable to a degree, but they vary so much in terms of their overall look that it's hard to believe they are all connected by one path.

But really, can something be done about those swings?

Pan-Democrats Unite to Fight, while PLA Dock now Official

Pan-democrats have three less members, but ready to fight

 

As the Legislative Council elections in early September were postponed due to pandemic concerns (cough cough), the government somehow wrangled a way to extend the sitting of Legco for another year with Beijing's consent.

That left lawmakers, particular pan-democrats who had planned to leave and those who were going to stay to ponder if they still wanted to keep those positions or change their minds.

That's because Beijing's decision of extended the term goes against the Basic Law, and that the lawmakers' mandate was over when the term ended.

It was such a gut-wrenching decision for them to make that they commissioned a poll conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute and Chinese University's public opinion survey centre. 

Lam says the bloc has three priorities in Legco

The results were announced today in a press conference, but were hardly definitive. Of the 2,579 respondents, 47.1 percent said the lawmakers should stay, while 45.8 percent said they should leave, and 7 percent had a neutral position.

The "stay" camp didn't have a decisive majority, so the pan-democrats were back at square one to decide for themselves what to do.

Yesterday Raymond Chan Chi-chuen and Eddie Chu Hoi-dick announced they were leaving, and today Civic Party's Tanya Chan announced tearily that she would leave as well.

At the press conference, Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai said the bloc, including all seven incumbents from his party, had made "a very difficult political judgment" to serve out the extended term.

"We believe it is important for us to maintain the battlefront in Legco to fight the tyranny," said Wu, who is now convenor of the new bloc. "We will relentlessly block all evil government policies, in hope of slowing down the erosion of freedom in Hong Kong."

Fellow Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting said the 19 who decided to stay had established three priorities for the extended term: continue to pressure the administration over the plight of the 12 Hongkongers detained in Shenzhen; block amendments to Legco ordinances to investigate supporters of last year's anti-government protests; and to call for an early resumption of legislative elections.

Chan tearfully announced she would leave Legco

Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung of the Labour Party had earlier announced he would leave, but is now staying.  

Currently there are 65 lawmakers in Legco, 41 in the pro-establishment camp and previously 22 pan-democrats, now down to 19, and two independents.

So now what? Political scientist Ivan Choy Chi-keung of Chinese University believes the remaining pan-democrat lawmakers could become more radical in Legco.

"[Pan-democrats] might adopt a more confrontational approach towards the government in the council," he said. "They have to prove that they will not betray the democratic supporters."

They also need to be more coordinated in their efforts which means being united on every issue to have as much of a presence in Legco as possible; divisions within the camp will render them powerless, and so it won't be surprising if the pro-Beijing camp try to divide and conquer them.

Now that this quandary has been dealt with, can we talk about today's low-key announcement?

This is the blocked off PLA dock, an eyesore

At the Central harbourfront, in front of Tamar, is a 150-metre long thin sliver of land that is barricaded with an ugly fence while weeds have grown in the unkempt space.

Meanwhile people walking along the waterfront have to purposely go around it, and for years, activists have campaigned for the dock to be opened up most of the time for public use.

However, the cordoned off area is a military dock for the People's Liberation Army to use, and today it is officially theirs.

As of this morning at 7am it was declared a military restricted zone that will be managed and used by the PLA Hong Kong Garrison from now on.

Does this mean soldiers will be posted at this strip of land? Or will it continue to remain a locked-up eyesore?

These people are not wearing masks or distancing

In any event, during this morning's ceremony, 11 special guests stood shoulder to shoulder and were not wearing masks. They included Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her deputy Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, and liaison office director Luo Huining.

How is it that they can stand together and police aren't ticketing them for not social distancing or not wearing masks?

Seems like a two-tier system going on... 

Or should we wait what happens in the next two weeks?

Picture of the Day: Pokemon Craze

There was a long queue of people waiting patiently to get on the tram!

This past week has been crazy on the streets of Hong Kong, watching people become particularly zombie-like, glued to their phones without a regard to their surroundings.

Thousands of people here have become addicted to Pokemon GO and I've heard of people bumping into lamp posts and trying to play the game surreptitiously under their desks at work.

The police, hospitals and even the People's Liberation Army have all warned players to stay away from their premises, worried they will cause havoc. It would be good not to stray into PLA territory as you never know what might happen...

Not having downloaded the game myself, a few friends have showed me how the augmented reality game works. It's like being in a virtual world where you catch virtual monsters with a ball that you can collect at various points in the city.

As you go by a certain landmark, there's a large disc that players have to spin to get more balls. And it also has a picture of the restaurant or shop that you are approaching.

Then you use these balls as ammunition to hit these pokemon or monsters. The more you shoot down, and the more rare they are, the more points you score. And then you can go to Pokemon Gyms to beef up your strength, which are highly prized places.

That's how the game gets people out to play, which is a good way to encourage them to explore neighbourhoods and meet up with friends.

One of the best ways to play Pokemon GO is on the tram, because you can pass by a lot of places on Hong Kong island for only HK$2.30.

So perhaps I should not have been surprised when I saw a massive line-up for the tram at the Kennedy Town terminus this afternoon after I came back from the gym. There must have been over 30 people waiting in line, when usually there is only a handful.

Hong Kong Tramways that runs the trams must be happy about this unexpected windfall -- its revenues have been dropping because of the MTR expansion to Western and also because it's summer not many are willing to sit in a tram without air conditioning.

But who knows how long this Pokemon Go crazy will last? Two friends remarked that they downloaded the game and within 20 minutes of playing it lost interest. On the other hand there are many others who are completely addicted and are posting updates of what they find on Facebook.

While I'm not too crazy about Pokemon hunters wandering around without noticing who or what they are bumping into, at least they are giving the trams a lot of business!

China's Strangled Air Space

Shenzhen Airport is being punished for delays partly not of its own doing

Er... we don't quite understand why China's Civil Aviation Administration is punishing Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport for flight delays, saying they had caused "significant social impact".

Flight on-time rates have dropped to a decade-low, and now the airport in southern China is not allowed to accept new flights, routes and charters until the end of the year, according to the regulator.

The ban will affect Shenzhen airport's income as it makes most of it from charter flights, while it won't affect major airlines too much.

It also reprimanded Shenzhen Airlines and China United Airlines for a series of incidents in which a passenger opened a plane's emergency door after another fainted while being stuck on board for four hours waiting to take off.

Frustrated passengers created chaos in May after flight delays

Flight delays have dropped for the fourth consecutive year to just 68 percent last year, the lowest rate since data was made available in 2006. The flights were delayed an average of 19 minutes last year, an improvement of two minutes from 2013.

However isn't the authority punishing the wrong people?

It should really take this issue up with the People's Liberation Army, which controls China's airspace, only 20 percent of which is open for civilian use. And the air force has been using the air space a lot these days, conducting frequent drills.

"There will only be more and bigger drills. That will become the norm," said retired PLA general Xu Guangyu.

It seems not many people -- mainland passengers know that the PLA monopolizes the air space and only allows commercial flights to take off and land when it is done with training and such.

No one explicitly explains the reasons behind these delays and so mainlanders think it's the airlines' fault, when it's really the PLA. If they knew the truth, how would these passengers react? Would they be understanding because they want to be seen as patriotic? Or throw a tantrum they think they have every right to fly too?

What the airport looks like free of problems...

As a result there are horrendous delays especially in flights to and from Hong Kong to Beijing and Shanghai. Cathay Pacific is looking to cut down on its number of flights to avoid inconveniencing its passengers and staff, and even admitted having to load on more fuel in case the planes had to keep circling in the air.

That's why as a rule of thumb, many who travel to and from China on business always take the first flight out to ensure being relatively on time; going any time after that is no guarantee the plane will follow the flight schedule...

The demand for flights in China is growing exponentially every year and yet the flight schedule is strangled because it must follow the PLA's whims.

To make things even worse, Beijing's two airports will be closed on September 3 from 9.30am to 12.30pm for the military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

It's as if the entire country must shut down to observe this event. While it makes nationalistic sense, it doesn't economically, particularly when China's economy is slowing.

'One would think the government would coordinate better with commercial airlines to keep the tourism industry running relatively smoothly, but until the PLA relinquishes more control over the Middle Kingdom's airspace, we're going to continue seeing frustrated passengers taking their anger out on airline staff, when it should really be at the PLA...

Greed: How Much is Enough?

With corrupt Chinese officials, how much cash can one stash in one's home?

How much is enough to live on?

For corrupt Chinese officials, not matter how much they embezzle it's never enough.

Take disgraced former general Gu Junshan, who allegedly took more than 20 billion yuan in taxpayer money.

He was a former deputy logistics chief of the People's Liberation Army, who strangely built a pistol-shaped house in his hometown of Puyang, Henan province. He filled it with so many valuable items that it took four full loaded trucks to take them away when corruption investigators busted him last year.

The items included maotai or Chinese liquor produced exclusively for the military filled two trucks alone. Then there were also gold figurines, including one of Mao Zedong.

Gu also pocketed over 100 million yuan for selling a Shanghai military property worth 2.4 billion yuan.

So he just sold land owned by the PLA (really public property) and kept a cut to himself? Didn't anyone notice?

It all caught up with him last year when he was charged with bribery, embezzlement, misuse of state funds and abuse of power. His fate is not known.

Another official with ill-gotten gains is former National Energy Administration head Liu Tienan.

He and his family had access to 12 foreign passports, and Liu had five properties in Beijing, Qingdao (Shandong province), Taiyuan (Shanxi province), and also possessed five luxury watches and five artworks by renowned painters Qi Baishi and Fu Baoshi.

Liu was jailed for life last year by a Hebei court for taking bribes of more than 35 million yuan and abusing his power.

Then there was former energy official Wei Pengyuan, who stashed so much cash that graft inspectors broke four bill counting machines when trying to find out exactly how much money he had.

"Wei owned more than 10 properties worth over 100 million yuan... more than 230 million yuan in cash was found in his home," stated a  transcript of his case.

Last year 680 corrupt officials were caught by the Ministry of Public Security, and with Operation Fox Hunt 2015 launched yesterday, the government intends to catch even more suspects.

Reading about these three corrupt officials makes one wonder how easily they had access to whatever money and valuables they could get their hands on, and it was never enough. Or did they think it was a game to steal as much as they could before they got caught? Or did they do it because everyone else was doing it and felt they were missing out if they didn't do it too?

Someone should do research on these corrupt officials to find out the the psychology behind them, because no matter how many officials get caught, there are still many more behind them...

China has World's Worst Delays

Shanghai's Pudong Airport one of the world's worst in terms of delays

After my trip to Xiamen that resulted in delays going there and back, I'm not surprised to find China's airports and airlines were the worst in the world for being on time last year, according to FlightStats.

The US-based data provider on air travel found of the world's 61 largest airports, the seven worst performers for on-time departures were all mainland airports, with Hangzhou's Xiaoshan, Shanghai's Hongqiao and Pudong facilities taking the bottom three spots. Only 37.74 percent of flights left on time from Xiaoshan, 37.17 percent from Hongqiao, and 37.26 percent from Pudong.

These three airports were followed by Shenzhen Baoan, Guangzhou Baiyun, Chongqing Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport.

Japan's Haneda Airport had the best on-time rate of 89.76 percent of the largest airports in the world, while Itami airport was the best performing of 374 world airports of all sizes with an on-time percentage of 94.56.

Zou Jianjun of the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China said management of China's facilities had not kept up with demand and the network was concentrated in a few areas.

"Flight lines are too centralized in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and it's a big challenge for their managers," he said. "Even if a small mistake happens at any of these major airports, it's quite possible that flights in other cities will be affected."

How about the fact that China's military controls the country's air space and only allows a fraction of it for commercial air travel? And with the boom in air travel, there are bound to be frictions between commercial and military interests, and the government has not resolved the situation.

This has resulted in not air rage, but ground rage, where passengers vent their frustration of delays on ground crew staff, and in a few instances things have gotten violent. Last February, a near riot broke out after more than 2,000 passengers were left stranded at Xinzheng International Airport at Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Is this how the Central government would like to see the commercial aviation industry develop? Some 390 million people traveled by airplanes last year, which is double the 2009 figure. Something's gotta give.

Nevertheless, Hong Kong International Airport dropped in the rankings too, down from 22nd spot to 80th last year.

No mainland or Hong Kong airlines made the top 10 list of having on-time arrivals last year. KLM took top spot at 88.66 percent.

Another crazy statistic from FlightStats is that if all the extra time passengers and crew spent waiting on the tarmac for flights to take off in the mainland in 2014 were added together, the total would amount to about 232 years. Even notified flight delays would add up to about 183 years.

That's a lot of wasted time! Imagine that lost productivity could have boosted China's GDP even more...

Hong Kong is Beijing's "Core Interest"

Beijing reminds Washington not to meddle in Hong Kong affairs...

Hong Kong is now getting even more attention from Beijing because it is deemed one of China's "core interests".

Many believe this is Beijing's way of warning Washington not to meddle in what the mainland believes is its own internal affairs.

The reference was made in a military-to-military meeting in the Chinese capital on Tuesday between PLA deputy chief of general staff Sun Jianguo and US undersecretary of defense for intelligence Michael Vickers, the PLA Daily reported.

"The US should earnestly respect China's core interests and key concerns," Sun was quoted as saying.

His words are a veiled reference to the belief that the US plays a role in Hong Kong politics, in particular last year's protests.

"Sun is telling the US to calm down and not to have any illusions about using Hong Kong to stir things up," explained retired PLA major general Xu Guangyu.

Peking University international relations professor Jia Qingguo added, "Any attempts to demand independence is an act to split the nation. Beijing will not allow it, and is asking the US not to be involved."

But where is the evidence to prove this? How did the US participate in, and in particular influence the Umbrella Movement?

No one has come forward with any kind of credible proof, and yet this theory continues to be believed.

However, all China is doing, according to Albert Ho Chun-yan, former chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, is making Hong Kong more alienated from the mainland and feeling closer to Britain and America in terms of core values. "This will only create more trouble," he warned.

China's insecure needs to spell out its territory makes many Hong Kong people feel even more uneasy about the mainland and its plans for the city.

And stressing that Hong Kong is a "core interest" heightens fears that there will be greater "mainlandization" of the city, something that will be resisted at all costs.

Children as Pawns

Young children in PLA uniform attended Sunday's inauguration of the cadets

The push back against Occupy has already begun with the formation of the Hong Kong Army Cadets Association. Apparently it is aimed to make youngsters "aware of their responsibilities and obligations are Chinese citizens", but there's a lot of confusion surrounding it.

On Sunday the group was formally inaugurated in Ngong Shuen Chau naval base, a restricted area on Stonecutters Island, with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's wife Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee dressed in uniform as the group's "commander-in-chief".

Only select media were allowed to attend, including Wen Wei Po and China Central Television, were allowed to attend.

Many senior government officials were there, including Leung, central government liaison office director Zhang Xiaoming, Security Secretary Lai Tung-kwok, Education Secretary Eddie Ng Hak-kim, and Youth Commission chairman Bunny Chan Chung-bun.

Controversy surrounds the cadets and their function in HK

Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa is said to be the group's honorary president and his wife Betty Tung Chiu Hung-ping is said to be an honorary adviser.

Apparently some 200 members of the association marched in the event, but now it has been revealed that many were duped into attending, drafted to make the numbers of recruits look better.

One of the "recruits" named Jackie, claimed he saw an ad for the event posted on Facebook for alumni of a military summer camp organized by the Education Bureau, the PLA and a non-profit group called Concerted Efforts Resource Centre.

Those who took part in the ceremony would get a free PLA uniform. He agreed to go along and was told by staff from Concerted Efforts that he was not being recruited to the cadets.

However, he and others were introduced as "members from different columns" of the association.

Another Form One student said all 120 of his classmates attended the event on the understanding that they were spectators.

Some people, including Wong Yeung-tat, leader of pro-democracy group Civic Passion, are concerned the cadet group would use military training to indoctrinate young people with Communist Party values.

"It will make it easier to accept the sets of values being taught to them," he said.

So Wong has announced Civic Passion will form a group of 14 to 18 year olds who will counter the cadet group, which is open for those six years and above. What these teens will do is unclear, but surely a direct polar opposite of the cadets.

When children are young, some take part in groups like Beavers, Scouts and Girl Scouts. They learn survival skills like camping to first aid, teamwork as well as compassion for others.

What are these young people learning in cadets? Are they being taught what exactly "rule of law" means? Are they expected to cite the Basic Law by heart? Perhaps they have to practice marching, singing the national anthem and conducting the flag raising ceremony?

And why are the secrecy surrounding the inauguration and not allowing other media outlets to attend? What is there to hide?

But more importantly, do these children realize they look like they are being used as pawns in the war of rhetoric that is further dividing the city...

Sending the Wrong Message

Beijing's white paper gave an unintended negative impression to Hong Kong

The 787,427 votes from the referendum were analyzed last night. About 42.1 percent chose the proposal from the Alliance for True Democracy, followed by Scholarism at 38.4 percent and then 10.4 percent for People Power.

And of the second question, 88 percent agreed that the Legislative Council should veto any reform proposal put forward by the government if it failed to meet international standards.

"Today should go down in the history of Hong Kong's constitutional development as the referendum was the largest scale of expression of public opinion in the city's history," said Benny Tai Yiu-ting, co-organizer of Occupy Central.

He said he would submit the results to Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

And we can imagine Beijing will be wondering what to do next.

A mainland source who was involved in drafting the white paper showed Beijing still needed to learn how to better communicate with Hong Kong.

"Judging from the reaction in the past few weeks, it has fallen short of the central government's expectations," the sources said.

"A substantial number of people are worried that Beijing intends to tighten its grip on Hong Kong and even take back some power from Hong Kong. Actually this is wrong.

"But there is a need for the central government to improve its communications with Hong Kongers in future. There is room for improvement in how we present messages.

"How can we explain our stances in a manner and style Hong Kongers deem more acceptable?"

Uh, how about never?

There are great number of Hong Kong people who fled Communist China. It was only two generations ago. Those in their sixties and older definitely remember how they fled to the city or via Macau.

They saw first hand the Communist Revolution, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. They came to Hong Kong to escape from persecution, the chaos and madness.

Some lost family members, property and assets to the Communists.

Memories like that are hard to wipe out.

Hong Kong was their safe haven. But with the approach of 1997 they were worried about seeing PLA tanks and soldiers marching down the streets.

However that didn't happen and so their fears were eased -- until now.

Why would they trust anything that comes out of the Communist Party's mouth?

So if the Chinese government can somehow undo over 60 years of nightmares, then perhaps it has a chance of winning Hong Kong people's trust.

But it can't so trying to rectify its PR image is a steep uphill battle.

All we can say is, good luck!

PLA Scrutinizes... Itself

The PLA protects Hong Kong, but can it be accountable to itself?

It's interesting to read that the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army are setting up offices at the local government level to better monitor soldiers for illegal activities and address grievances.

The move comes following the crackdown on officials' lavish spending and now it has also spread to the PLA in a bid to clean up the military, improve morale and root out graft without affecting public confidence in soldiers.

"All departments should attach importance to the work of protecting military rights, especially those that have a major influence on state security and social stability," said a document jointly issued by the Communist Party's Central Political and Law Commission and the PLA's General Political Department.

The notice added government authorities should also crack down on military-related crimes, such as stealing and selling PLA secrets, theft or destruction of equipment or facilities.

A closer scrutiny into the PLA came late last month after former deputy logistics chief Gu Junshan was charged with embezzlement, bribery, misuse of state funds and abuse of power. His former boss, Xu Caihou, who was previously CMC vice-chairman was also detained.

The document says all provinces and municipalities should establish leading groups and standing offices at the county, city and provincial levels. Heads of the local political and law commissions will lead the groups, while key judicial and government organizations will take part.

What about Hong Kong? In the former Prince of Wales barracks which has now finally been transformed into a PLA garrison with a giant red star emblazoned on the top, houses a number of PLA soldiers. Will an office also be set up to scrutinize them as well?

One hardly thinks the grassroots soldiers need to be disciplined for corruption, but those higher up the ranks with access to all this money and assets are the ones more prone to misdeeds.

It will be interesting to see if these offices catch more PLA soldiers and higher-ranking officers doing dirty deeds. After all, these bureaus will be setup by the PLA and CPC themselves...

Charting New Territory

A panoramic view of the skyscrapers in Central from Pier 9

After work tonight, YTSL and a colleague and I had dinner at Watermark, a western restaurant right at the Star Ferry Pier in Central. We quite enjoyed the seafood platter -- choc full of lobster, crab, sea whelk, clams, mussels, scallops and prawns, but were disappointed there were no oysters available this evening!

In any event, our friend left us after dinner and YTSL and I walked along the waterfront promenade. It was a pretty nice walk, barring the public washroom area which really had a pungent smell! Walk as fast as possible away from that area!

Looking eastwards to Wan Chai

We passed by the 350 metre long military dock and the area in front that the Hong Kong government has apparently given to the People's Liberation Army... many residents opposed the move, but the Town Planning Board did not listen to the objections...

And then we walked past Admiralty and the government offices and made our way towards Wan Chai. There are mini balconies and alcoves where young lovers like to cuddle up on the benches. It's a great view of the harbour and the alcoves allow for a little bit of privacy...

Our first stop in Wan Chai was Fenwick Pier. It's still an outpost for American navy personnel and we wandered around a bit, but were disappointed to find the shops were closed by the time we got there at 10.30pm. We'd heard that you can buy American magazines at US prices. Next time! The Italian restaurant Giando is there and we hear it's good, but the location isn't that convenient.

I went home after that while YTSL continued on to Golden Bauhinia Square at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre when it started raining!

We wonder what Pier 10 will be used for?

We should soon be able to walk all the way to North Point. The weather is cool now which makes the stroll nice, but how will it be like in the summer?