John Lee Tipped for Top Job

Lee announces his resignation in a bid to run for CE

The election for Hong Kong's next chief executive has one candidate so far, and he may be the only one Beijing endorses. Former Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu has emerged as the front runner and no other are contesting the top job -- yet.

Earlier today he formally resigned from his position citing his ambitions -- if given Beijing's blessing -- to run in the May 8 election.

"If my resignation is approved by the Central People's Government, I shall plan to prepare to stand for the upcoming Chief Executive Election," he said, adding he would inform the public of his next move if Beijing accepted his decision to quit.

Protests erupted over the extradition bill in 2019

His press conference was only five minutes, making his announcement in Cantonese and English and left without taking any questions from reporters.

The choice of Lee signals Beijing's priority of security over social welfare, the economy or development. 

He has always been involved in law enforcement, beginning his career in the Hong Kong Police force, starting as a probationary officer in 1977, and moving up the ranks.

In 2012, then chief executive Leung Chun-ying made Lee deputy commissioner, joining government circles, and then was promoted again five years later to chief of the Security Bureau. 

Last June he replaced Matthew Cheung Kin-chung as Chief Secretary.

Lee and Lam announcing the bill was "dead"

It should be pointed out that in 2019 it was Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Lee who proposed the extradition bill, which led to millions of people protesting in the streets, and later implementing the national security law.

He also instigated the arrests last year of 47 politicians, activists and academics for holding a primary in 2020 to see which candidates would be best suited to run in the Legislative Council election. 

He claimed their plans would paralyse Hong Kong's government and pull the city into a "bottomless abyss".

So while Beijing will be satisfied with the choice of Lee, Hongkongers are beginning to worry about the consequences of having someone who has no expertise in how to kickstart the city's economy out of the doldrums or care about the underprivileged, or even housing issues.

Many people in this photo are behind bars

Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has hinted he won't be running, while no word yet on former chief executive Leung or former secretary for security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. Ip may always be the bridesmaid and never the bride...

If Lee does become the next chief executive, things may get more stricter and more authoritarian...

Picture of the Day: The Old Bank of China

The old Bank of China building surrounded by water barricades

 

This is the old Bank of China building, that stands next to the HSBC headquarters in Central, and a stone's throw away from the modern Bank of China building, designed by the late I.M. Pei.

The bank established its Hong Kong branch in 1917, and incidentally in the 1940s, Pei's father was the general manager.

Fast forward to a few years ago just before the centenary anniversary of the Bank of China, Pei's son, Sandy Pei was commissioned to refurbish the old bank. 

It is now the bank of the Hong Kong government which makes it vulnerable to protests, but with the coronavirus pandemic going on, it seems excessive to have these water barricades surrounding the elegant stone building.

They just make the building look uninviting and intimidating with a security guard to boot.

Nervous Trip to Macau

Chefs awarded three stars have their pictures taken in the Grand Hyatt Macau

Today was pretty nerve-wracking for me -- I had to go to Macau to cover the Michelin Guide announcement on who got stars and how many in Hong Kong and Macau. However, with President Xi Jinping coming over tomorrow to mark the 20th anniversary of Macau's handover to China, security measures have stepped up significantly these few days.

And on top of that last Friday a man was detained while trying to go to Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. It turns out he was arrested on charges of phone smuggling in 2012... and they caught him now?

On the way to Macau with Lamma Island in the distance

There were also reports of people being turned away from the border to Macau too for not carrying their passport with a China visa in it. Chinese security insist these measures are temporary, but why should we be carrying our China visa with us if we're going to Macau?

Whatever happened to "one country, two systems"?

I took the 10.30am ferry to allow for enough time to get prepared for the 2pm announcement and already at Shun Tak ferry terminal. As soon as we passed immigration, we were subjected to a security check. Several booths were set up for our bags to be manually checked, while each passenger got wanded over.

Then we were allowed to go to our ferry.

Macau and China flags decorate the city for Xi Jinping's visit

On the other side, as soon as we walked into the Cotai ferry terminal we had to wait in line, first to have our bags screened by an X-ray machine while we went through a metal detector, and then my handbag was manually searched again. If people had luggage, they had to be checked over in the customs declaration area before they left the terminal.

It turns out I was lucky to be allowed in without an incident.

At least three reporters were barred from entering Macau today to cover Xi's visit. One from the SCMP who took the ferry was detained for three hours, and then asked to fill out a form including not only his personal details, but that of his parents, marital status and the purpose of his visit, even though he had received accreditation for the visit before he came to Macau.

This reporter had also been detained last week while on assignment, questioned in the same room, but let go after two hours.

A lot of people were on hand for the Michelin announcement

On today's occasion, they sent him back to Hong Kong with a written statement that there were "strong signs" he was trying to engage in activities that would "jeopardize the public safety and public order" in Macau.

Separately two reporters from Now TV who took the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge were also detained and were not given an explanation why they were not allowed to enter Macau.

Why were these reporters not allowed into Macau? They are only doing their jobs, to cover Xi's trip to the city.

Meanwhile for me, leaving Macau was no problem and I even managed to catch an earlier ferry, and get to Sang Kee in Sheung Wan for the last bowl of fish congee before it closed at 8.30pm.

What a day.

A Disappearance on the Bridge

A Hongkonger disappeared Friday while at a checkpoint on the bridge

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Macau on Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover of the the city from Portugal back to China. And as with all state visits, security has been stepped up. Way up.

Friday marks the 20th anniversary of Macau's handover

So much so that a middle-aged Hong Kong man has been reported to have disappeared when he was traveling by coach on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge when he was stopped at a security check point manned by mainland officials on Friday afternoon.

The checkpoint is on an artificial island on the bridge, which is the world's longest sea crossing.

The man's son received a text message from him saying he had been arrested at a new checkpoint set up by the Zhuhai Public Security Bureau. His family lost contact with him after he sent this message.

His son went to Macau to look for his father, but was told by local police there was no record of him entering the city. As a result the son returned to Hong Kong and reported his father's disappearance to the police.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Macau this week

The Hong Kong Immigration Department has confirmed it had been contacted by the family and is offering support.

"The Immigration Department is following up the case through the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong," a spokeswoman said. "We're also offering advice and assistance in line with the family's wishes."

The Zhuhai public security bureau revealed the temporary new security arrangements earlier this month to "maintain the order of the bridge and create a good social environment" for the 20th anniversary celebrations.

"From December 10-22, 2019, the public security bureau will set up a security checkpoint at the eastern artificial island to undertake security checks on people and vehicles from Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai via the bridge," the notice said.

The Immigration Department is following the case closely

Needless to say this yet another reason for Hongkongers to not take the bridge.

We hope this man will be returned to his family soon... another disappearance is another reason why people are protesting against China's encroachment onto Hong Kong freedoms...

Fact of the Day: Hongkongers are Overworked

Hongkongers are some of the most overworked people in the world

A study released today has found one in five employees work an average of 11 hours a day, with security guards working the most.

The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions analyzed the latest labour data from the Census and Statistics Department and found 20 percent of the city's 3 million employees worked an average of 55 hours per week last year, or an average of 11 hours a day for a five-day work week.

Half of food and drink employees work 56 hours a week

"Hong Kong employees have been working super long hours for years," says Mung Siu-tat, chief executive of the confederation. "This is because the government has never taken any concrete measures to ease this problem, which has been harming workers' family well-being, health and even lives."

People who work in security, food and drink, land transport, construction and retail industries have the longest working hours.

Almost half of security guards work 56 hours a week, a quarter of them work a staggering 72 hours. Also almost half of food and drink employees work 56 hours a week, along with one-quarter of land transport workers, 16 percent of construction workers and 16 percent of retail employees.

On top of that their salaries hardly compensate for the hours worked -- entry- and mid-level employees saw an average growth in their salaries of just 0.7 percent between 2008 to 2018 -- after taking into account inflation rates, while gross domestic product per capita rose annually by 2 percent.

"This shows that even though employees work so hard, they cannot get reasonable returns," Mung says.

Many security guards work 12 hours shifts, six days a week

While the government set up a Standard Working Hours Committee in 2013, it was only two years ago that the committee recommended the government require employers to establish agreements with entry-level employees about working hours and overtime compensation arrangements.

But the government has so far only promised to introduce working hours guidelines in 11 industries, with no plans announced yet to legislate standard working hours.

This shows the government doesn't care about the city's 3 million workers, the ones who keep Hong Kong's capitalistic characteristics functioning, whether it be feeding people, selling customers products, or making sure a property is safe from intruders.

Instead it's all about helping companies squeeze out as much labour as they can from their staff to ensure a profitable bottom line. If they're burned out, just hire the next person.

In 2016 financial services firm UBS released a study of working hours among 71 world cities and found Hong Kong workers had the longest.

Is this something we really want to brag about?

Security, Everywhere

Beyond these gates is Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the CPC

It was nice to be back in Beijing, a city I had lived in for three years.

However the growing anxiety over safety is growing more paranoid. Before the Olympics 10 years ago, it was mandated that everyone had to have their bags scanned in machines before entering the subway system.

We assumed it would just be for the Olympics, but no, the practice continued. At the time the roped off area was large enough so that some people with bags could slip through, but this later tightened up and everyone had to have their bags checked.

Intense security checks just before entering Tiananmen Square

During rush hour, those not carrying anything could go into a faster line. Kind of discriminates against women...

Then this year security was stepped up even more with metal detectors at every subway entrance -- and if that's not enough, some even have staff with metal detector paddles just in case the metal detectors weren't enough.

Many of the people manning these security check points are young people, which makes me think this is a make-work project for kids who couldn't find a job or aren't university graduates.

Twice this week my friend had to open up his bag to be checked because the person manning the screening machine saw a bottle in his bag. He had to demonstrate it was cologne and not some kind of Molotov cocktail in a black flask.

The young people are just doing their job, but it is a hassle. Not even New York or Paris have these kinds of security checks.

The square wasn't packed, but there was lots of surveillance

Security was extreme near Tiananmen Square when we visited on Tuesday. Our plan was to walk east from Xidan along Chang'An Avenue, make a pit stop at Tiananmen Square and then head to Wangfujing.

Before we were even close to Tiananmen Square, we encountered one of many check points. Everyone was corralled into a single file metal maze so that there was no getting out of the line. Citizens had to have their ID cards scanned into a machine, while foreigners like us had our passports checked.

After that check point we passed by a brightly coloured building with the Communist Party of China round logo at the top and the Chinese sign below "Xinhuamen (新华门)" or "New China Gate" which is actually the entrance to Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the CPC and where Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party works. Too bad we weren't allowed in.

The biggest check point just before Tiananmen Square had its own stand, complete with digital messages on a ticker tape screen, saying people had to go through checks for safety reasons, complete with screening our bags.

Food trucks like these sell snacks, drinks and souvenirs

Finally we made it into Tiananmen Square, where parts of it were covered with floral designs for Mid-Autumn and/or National Day. These decorations give a lively atmosphere, but gone were the residents who flew kites in the large open space. We only saw one person attempting to fly a kite.

Swept off the street were the migrant workers selling Chinese flags and snacks like water and popsicles. They were replaced with mini food trucks on the square selling the flags, Pocky sticks, cookies and a variety of drinks.

For some reason Mao Zedong's mausoleum wasn't open -- it was barricaded off and looked dark inside. Maybe he was getting a touch-up.

Who knows how many undercover policemen were in the square, but definitely lots of cameras at every lamp post...
 

Silk Road: Unsettling Security Measures

People walking by a security truck in the hospital compound days before Oct 1

 Being in Kashgar is unsettling.

The first thing you notice are the sirens that are constantly going off. That's because there are police vans with riot screens driving up and down the main streets at around 20km an hour. As we drove by one, I could see the driver so bored that he was looking at his phone placed on the steering wheel while he was driving -- he was that slow.

And then everywhere you go, from hotels to restaurants and even grocery stores and pharmacies have metal detectors you have to walk through, and some have X-ray machines for your bags, or they wand you before you can go in.

Even at the hospital we had to first show our passports, and most of the time they just waved us through. But then there was one time where the staff at the gate were difficult and told us to go to the next door police station.

We went over and explained to the young officer that we just wanted to go to the hospital to see my dad and showed him our passports. He couldn't read English and barked, "What is your name?"

My mom asked, "Do you mean my husband's name or my name?"

Police checking under the hood of a car for explosives

Your name! Don't play games with me? he barked again.

I was so taken aback I couldn't help stopping myself from saying, "Are you serious?"

Luckily he didn't take me too seriously, and we each gave him our Chinese names (which are not on our passports) and radioed to the hospital gate our names. We were then let through.

Oh yes and we had to put our bags through X-ray machines again -- in every hospital building we went into. Those who drove into the hospital compound had their cars checked -- even under the hood by men in bullet-proof vests and helmets. Security is a serious business.

The Chinese government has spent over 30 billion yuan in security last year, a jump of almost 20 percent from 2016. That's from the creation of these neighbourhood police stations and extra police hires as well as equipment.

The other curious thing is that in restaurants, diners aren't given knives, though in our hotel we were, but they were very dull. One time my dad wanted to eat a peeled apple and we asked the Uyghur teenager who was helping us to bring a knife from home.

Security checks in our hotel lobby

He apologized that he could not carry one at all. We were very surprised and expressed our incredulity. He politely said with a smile, "It's different."

We did find a plastic knife and smuggled it in, but it was challenging to peel the apple with it and I gave up after completing half of it. We stuck to grapes after that.

Uyghurs who have either a lot of interaction with foreigners or have a passport and traveled abroad are under a lot of scrutiny.

They can either be disappeared for days or weeks, or they are sent to "school", a room full of men and women from teens to people in their 60s, and they are forced to listen to lectures, learn Chinese, learn more about Chinese law, or propaganda for about two hours everyday.

It is mandatory -- they cannot skip "school" even though they have to work at that time or were planning to be out of town. If not, the consequences could be harsh.

This repression against Uyghurs is tough. Mosques are not allowed to broadcast prayers, while men cannot have very long beards, and women cannot be completely covered.

And as National Day approached, there were more police on the streets, probably part-time police officers who carried riot weapon gear like shields and batons and forks that were more of a deterrent than were actually used. The hospital was even under lock down from 11pm until morning. Is that really necessary?

There were also more check-points on the roads; taxi drivers sometimes preferred to pick up Han Chinese customers because that meant they could easily pass the check-points than be scrutinized by the police.

And by the way, the Uyghur taxi drivers would sometimes take an extra passenger if they were going the same direction as the first customer. Why not if they can make a bit more extra money? We only had one Han Chinese drive the whole time we were there.

Meanwhile, the Uyghurs we met tried to carry on with life the best they could. Women dressed up to go to the hospital, as if they were going out for dinner to a nice restaurant, while some older men wore traditional woven caps.

The Uyghurs we talked to were trying to deal with the situation with as much grace as they could under pressure. To me this was amazing, considering they know there is no way out -- it is near impossible to get a passport nowadays, let alone immigrate.

Many people outside of Kashgar have no idea what is going on here because it's so remote. However, people need to know the situation here. If Hong Kong continues to irritate Beijing, the powers that be could easily punish Hong Kong and turn it into a police state like Kashgar.

It is already happening in many major cities in China, with facial recognition software, security cameras everywhere and bags having to be scanned in every subway station. We can push back, but for how long and how much?

Silk Road: Late Night at Kashgar Hospital

The view outside my dad's hospital window of a colourful tower

It was around midnight when we arrived at Xinjiang Kashgar First People's Hospital. We had to have our passports checked at the gate and then our bags screened by X-ray machines.

Turns out we would have to do this every time we went to the hospital, which was twice a day.

Then we went to the emergency room where my dad was lying on a stretcher and he wasn't very comfortable. We took his jacket and tried to make a pillow out of it. Inside the bare room were other patients. To the left was a young man in black curled up in the fetal position with lots of bandages covering his head.

Outside the room a young mother was wheeling her young daughter on a stretcher. The girl, about six or seven years old, was naked from the waist down and her right leg was severely bruised. It didn't look too good.

An ATM machine with cameras above

We were trying to keep my dad entertained while my mom, our doctor friend and the tour guide went to the doctor's office. The doctor was Uyghur and so the guide acted as a translator, explaining each step of the surgery, the surgeon even drew a diagram showing how he would drill holes in my dad's head to drain the blood from the clot.

Then we had to get dad's paperwork done to have him admitted but more importantly to pay the hospital 10,000 yuan (US$1,506) in cash right away. My mom went to the Bank of China ATM and thank goodness was able to withdraw cash. She could only do it in increments of 3,000 yuan which mean withdrawing at least four times.

We wheeled my dad across the hospital compound into another building -- again we went through security checks before he was put into the elevator to the seventh floor -- the neurology ward.

The nurse asked us if we had paid yet and we replied we were in the process of doing that, but she still wouldn't wheel him into the room until she'd seen the receipt. It was that bureaucratic.

Finally the payment was sorted and dad was wheeled down the hall then to the left.

The Han Chinese nurse flicked on the flourescent lights of a semi-private room (no private rooms exist in the hospital unless you're a VIP on the top floor of the hospital). In the bed closest to the door was a young Uyghur man with bandages around his head, while in the other bed was a woman, his wife.

The nurse shooed the woman out of the bed and forced the bleary-eyed Uyghur woman to help put fresh bedding on the bed my dad would be lying on. Then he was transferred from the stretcher to the bed.

At the foot of the bed was a bare bones metal frame cot with bamboo slats with a thin mattress and lump pillow. We were told that since we were foreigners they would let us use the cot free of charge -- usually others would have to pay to rent it on a daily basis.

My dad was given pyjamas but they didn't fit -- we would later find out we had paid a 100 yuan deposit on them.

Another Uyghur doctor who spoke some Mandarin asked us more questions, the answers he entered in the computer, like how many children does my dad have, what medications is he taking, when was his last surgery.

We were told by hospital staff that one family member would have to be there for the night, and my aunt, my mom's younger sister, immediately volunteered. She insisted, saying surgery would be the next day and that we needed to rest. We also gave her the authority to sign all the papers the next morning for the surgery to go ahead.

But it would be a sleepless night for her having to tend to my dad's needs, while we went back to the hotel before 4am. Our tour guide was amazing, there the whole time, translating and advising us on how hospitals work here.

I didn't get much sleep -- at one point I woke up crying and scared, trying to process what was happening and wondering if things would be OK.

Silk Road: Something's Wrong

One of the side streets near Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, days before October 1

 There were already signs that my dad wasn't doing well. He was walking slower and slower, and his brisk steps were down to a shuffle. Many of our tour members were getting concerned. "Is your dad OK?" they asked.

At first we thought it was exhaustion -- we were on a 17-day tour and we were waking up at 6am to getting out the door by 7.30 to drive three to four hours to the next destination. He was napping on the bus at every opportunity, but he didn't want to miss out on any sightseeing opportunities either.

Kashgar is the furthest west city in China and Xinjiang

The first sign of trouble was at Urumqi airport, day 12 of the tour. I was the last one of the group to get my boarding pass because I had mistakenly checked in a battery charger in my luggage. Of course my dad chastised me for this, but he wasn't his usual fiery temper which was unusual.

Then the two of us went through security, me first, him behind. As I was packing up my stuff, I heard a cry for help and turned around to see my dad being caught by a young security officer who was trying to get him onto a bench and then help him put on his shoes. The young man asked me if I knew him and I said he's my dad.

The officer politely explained he had to go back to work and I thanked him for helping out. I asked dad what was going on, and he said he thought he sat down, but missed the bench.

I thought it was strange, but helped him get all his things together and we walked slowly to the gate. Mentally he was fine, but physically there was something wrong.

After we arrived in Kashgar and got off the tour bus to go to the restaurant for dinner, dad had trouble getting off the bus and luckily the tour guide caught him and steadied him.

Later that evening back in the hotel, my mom asked a doctor friend who was on the tour with us to see if my dad was having a stroke.

The doctor friend observed my dad carefully and he was a compliant patient; perhaps he also knew something was wrong. The doctor ruled out a stroke because my dad didn't have slurred speech and was still mentally fine, but that something was wrong with his motor skills.

He suggested we see how he was in the morning and then perhaps go to the hospital to get a CT scan of dad's brain.

Silk Road: Urumqi Diwopu International Airport

Urumqi Diwopu International Airport with very strict security measures

Going to the airport in Urumqi -- or any airport in Xinjiang -- is an experience.

We were forewarned not to have any battery charging equipment in our luggage, all electronic equipment in our carry-on, no liquids exceeding 100ml and no sharp objects at all.

When we were checking in, our luggage was screened at the same time so that if there was a problem, we were pulled aside to open the suitcase for inspection. In my case I completely forgot about a mobile phone charger I had in my luggage.

Only after this was sorted by putting it in my hand carry bag was I finally given my boarding pass.

Anyone want a lavender squirrel?

Then we went through rigorous security checks. One tour member was found to have a pocket knife in their bag -- they forgot to pack it in their luggage. It was confiscated.

And we were definitely patted down -- practically everywhere. We even had to take off our shoes and lift our feet off to be wanded in case there might be explosive powder or something on them.

But admittedly after going through this rigorous process I did feel rest assured that our flight would be safe, otherwise these security officers would surely get into trouble...

The airport looks new, but the design is so counter intuitive. Gates are down a flight of stairs -- why not make them all the same level? And all the shops sell the same things at the same prices... it got boring very quickly. How many more dried dates can I buy? And purple squirrels with a lavender smell?

Or how about a book on Jack Ma?

Or you could go to the bookstore (all in Chinese) and get a book on how Jack Ma Yun of Alibaba became a billionaire. Just in case you wanted to know.

You could tell which restaurant was the best just by seeing how many people were there; if there was a line-up that was the one to go to. The others were either too expensive or didn't taste good.

Our flight from Urumqi to Kashgar was about an hour and a half, and when we arrived, we had to walk down the stairs to a shuttle bus that drove us to the terminal. When we got there, there was only one baggage claim. Guess that was ours.

Picture of the Day: Beijing Subway Map

So many subway lines make Beijing more accessible to more commuters

When I arrived in Beijing in 2007, there were maybe three subway lines -- Line 1, Line 2 and Line 13.

By the time I left three years later, there were perhaps seven lines.

Now there are some 15 lines.

This is the most updated map that's found in the city's subway stations.

When you go in, you still have to put your bag through an X-ray machine and they make sure everyone does this. However, those not carrying bags can bypass checks completely in some stations, so if someone did have a bomb or weapon on their person, they would not be discovered...

But I digress...

I met a friend for lunch whose office is near Beijing West Railway Station on the new Line 7. She asked me to meet her at Wanzi station, the stop before the railway station.

So from Dongsishitiao, I went south on Line 2 until I reached Chongwenmen, then transferred to Line 5 down one stop to Ciqikou, then transferred again to Line 7 going west.

Transferring from one line to another can entail a pretty big trek that could be over five minutes long, going down a long tunnel then up some stairs and then down to the platform.

Examining the subway map further, you can see many of the lines are actually a few stops just so that a commuter can transfer to another line. Imagine having to transfer from one end of town to the other -- the maze of passageways to go through everyday must entail a lot of exercise to say the least!

After lunch with my friend I went back down to Wanzi station and was surprised to find that not only did my bag go through the X-ray machine, but I was also being checked over with an electronic paddle!

Guess this is the next step in subway security...

Challenging HK's Constitution

Edward Leung is calling for a judicial review regarding self-determination

The upcoming Legislative Council elections are already interesting, with many young people running for seats, and now there's a slight twist that will be keenly watched on all sides.

Edward Leung Tin-kei, who won 66,000 votes or 15 percent in a by-election in February, has lodged an appeal for a judicial review at the High Court. He wants the judiciary to decide whether people who call for self-determination or Hong Kong's independence, are constitutionally protected under freedom of speech.

This comes after the Registration and Electoral Office refused to circulate his politically sensitive election leaflets, as well as threats from Beijing and Hong Kong officials for possibly being criminally liable for promoting independence from China.

Is the Hong Kong National Party a threat to national security?

The leaflet had words such as "self-independence", "autonomy" and "resistance by force".

"Self-determination ought to be protected under freedom of expression," Leung said. "We have the right to discuss it -- whether the government likes it or not."

The electoral office did not comment on Leung's legal action.

In his documents submitted to the court, the localist activist claimed his freedom of expression of violated by the electoral office's decision not to disseminate his leaflets, and that it was contrary to the Bill of Rights.

Because of the electoral office's decision, it had advised the Post Office not to provide free postage, even though election candidates are entitled to such a service.

 Yuen is looking into the Hong Kong National Party case

Meanwhile the Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, is looking into whether the recently established Hong Kong National Party had broken any laws by setting up a party that advocated the city's independence.

Yuen is probably under pressure from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, as it claimed the party, established in March, posed a threat to national security.

Both cases are very interesting, and we are waiting with baited breath to see what the courts say. Those verdicts will definitely affect how residents feel about their city, if they feel more alienated than ever, or that rule of law is still functioning as it should.

Growing Chorus Around Luggage Saga

Can we get to the bottom of the luggage saga to find out what really happened?

Momentum is growing, with more voices calling for the truth to be revealed around Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's daughter's luggage being brought to her in a restricted area of the airport.

The Hong Kong Cabin Crew Federation is calling all pilots, flight attendants and the public to take part in a protest march on Sunday in the arrivals area from 3pm to 6pm.

The group is "extremely disappointed and angry" that Civil Aviation Director-General Norman Lo Shung-man has so far refused to fully explain the matter.

There are plans for protests in the arrivals hall on Sunday

This comes a day after the union and Jeremy Tam Man-ho of Civic Party, filed a complaint and more than 30,000 signatures to three international aviation regulatory bodies to demand a full investigation.

Meanwhile Transport and Housing Secretary Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said airport security was not breached at all. While he acknowledged public concern over the incident, he said the government would take up any necessary action, based on the results of a report from the Civil Aviation Department.

Cheung insisted that everyone and their items must be checked by security before going into restricted areas.

No one disagrees with this but are wondering in which circumstances would passengers be able to get aviation staff to collect their luggage for them, instead of having it with them when going through security.

This is the real crux of the matter.

How did Leung Chung-yan (right) forget her bag?

Leung's daughter, Chung-yan, should have gone back through security herself to pick up the bag like anyone else. Her father can plead innocence, that he didn't know about the incident until she told him about it when he called her to say good bye, but rules are rules.

And the stipulations are, one must be with their personal items at all times. She is not a five-year-old child who has never flown on an airplane before. How can she forget her own bag?

While Leung's people are trying hard to spin the story to deflect it from him as much as possible, the optics are working against him.

He may be trying to hard to show he is not taking advantage of his position, but it looks like his other family members are...

Chilling Disappearances in Hong Kong

Five people associated with Causeway Books have "disappeared"

Hong Kong people are alarmed about news on how five people associated with an anti-Communist bookstore in Causeway Bay have been mysteriously disappeared from Hong Kong and their families cannot get in contact with them.

The fifth and latest one is Lee Bo, 65, a majority shareholder in Causeway Books disappeared on Wednesday, though his wife has heard from him in a strange phone call.

Local police told Lee's wife they had no record of him leaving the city, and a Chinese media report said that she found his return home permit at home.

However, Lee called his wife the night he disappeared, telling her he was in Shenzhen.

"He said he will not be coming back anytime soon. He said he was assisting an investigation. I asked him if it was about the previous cases, he said yes. It was about the missing [associates]."

The bookseller specialized in books critical of the CPC

She said he later called her again and asked her not to make a scene. "I guess it was the Shenzhen police."

Another thing she found odd was that her husband spoke to her in Putonghua instead of Cantonese, and the caller ID was a Shenzhen number, which made her conclude that Shenzhen police had taken her husband from Hong Kong across the border.

When Lee said "Shenzhen", Mrs Lee said he struggled to finish the sentence and she had a feeling that he was told not to say anything else. She also heard a voice in the background saying, "there will be no problems if you cooperate".

Lee called her again yesterday, and when Mrs Lee said, "Let me talk to them", the phone was immediately hung up.

The four other people who have disappeared are: Gui Minhai, owner of Mighty Current, the publishing house that owns the bookstore, who went missing while on holiday in Thailand; bookstore manager Lam Wing-kei; general manager of the publishing house Lui Bo; and business manager Cheung Jiping.

The situation is chilling and illustrates how "one country, two systems" is not working properly. Under Basic Law, mainland officers have no right to exercise the law in Hong Kong, nor make arrests.

These Shenzhen officers would claim they didn't make any arrests, but detained someone for questioning.

And how does the Hong Kong government react? Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the police were already looking into the case, and the Security Bureau would not comment on "speculative reports".

Hardly supportive.

This is not a good sign for Hong Kong's future -- it is not even 2047 yet and people are being "disappeared" from the city. Also shocking was the case of two Chinese dissidents who had fled to Thailand and had papers that would give them asylum in Canada, and yet were forcibly repatriated back to the mainland.

China's tentacles are reaching far beyond its borders and is only interested in its own affairs without regard for the laws of other countries and cities. In the case of Hong Kong, it seems to have its own definition of what the city's relationship is with the motherland, regardless of the Basic Law.

Dissenters are forewarned -- Freedom of speech and the press are under threat because Hong Kong's mainlandization is happening faster than we expected...

Tianjin Blast Sparks Many Questions

What was left on one area of the warehouse after battling the blaze in Tianjin

One wonders whose heads will roll following the massive explosions in a Tianjin warehouse that has killed at least 50 people and injured more than 500.

There are media reports an official environmental evaluation report on dangerous goods warehouses operated by Tianjin Ruihai Logistics, concluded that a fire or blast would not have a considerable impact on the neighbouring area.

The 42,000 square metre warehouse was a temporary holding area for dangerous goods before being imported or exported.

One of the explosions that rocked Tianjin Wednesday night

The report named some chemicals, like sodium cyanide acetylene, potassium nitrate, Toulene 2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) and condensed natural gas were transported stored at the warehouse, while it said many precautions were taken.

"Multiple surveillance cameras, a control centre for fire alarm and video surveillance are installed in the warehouse. A firefighting squad and traffic police square are stationed at the south of the warehouses," the report said.

It concluded "firefighters can arrive at the scene in time in case of fire or explosion and take fire extinguishing measures to contain release of toxic materials".

However, it seems the firefighters had no idea what they were battling in the blaze -- about 1,000 were deployed, but at least 12 died, 36 missing, and the rest had to pull out because they were unsure of what dangerous goods were inside and how much was stored.

Apparently 8,000 troops trained in anti-chemical warfare and 1,500 police also joined in the effort, but there were no other details on how they helped contain the fire and deal with the after effects.

Firefighters pulled out, unsure of what they were dealing with

The report seems to have been written in an ideal situation without having conducted any kind of practice emergency drills, or any kind of briefing or inspection by police and fire inspectors of the warehouse; it seems like a document that was published to tick off the right boxes to have it cleared at the government level.

There was also apparently a public consultation held in May 2013, allaying concerns, if residents had any, that all precautions were taken.

Workers at the warehouse who survived or escaped the blast told the media that they did not have proper training to handle dangerous goods.

Meanwhile there are at least three residential areas comprising 5,000 households that are located within 5km from the warehouse. A luxury development only 2km away was being built and so there were no casualties there, but construction workers now have to rebuild the project again, as all the windows were blown out and some surfaces scorched.

Some residents interviewed didn't know about the public consultation, or weren't aware of what dangerous goods were being stored there.

Rows of vehicles in the warehouse burned out from the blast

While Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on firefighters to contain the blaze and for rescuers and hospital staff to save as many people as possible, how seriously will the government take this incident and really investigate what happened? Will they really find out how residential areas could be built so close to a dangerous spot or vice versa, that a warehouse storing dangerous goods would be allowed to be built so close to a residential area?

Was this warehouse licensed to store and transport dangerous goods? And who endorsed the so-called environmental evaluation report?

There are too many questions that need to be answered. While this tragedy will bring the country together in grief, anger will be simmering below the surface, demanding answers and compensation.

Surely this tragedy will lead to a setback to Xi's legacy plan of amalgamating Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei together into a supercity called "Jing-Jin-Ji"...

False Alarm

The protests are going on in this picture... but can you see them creating havoc?

We wonder if Beijing is getting the correct information on the ground about what's really happening in Hong Kong after we read there are two mainland academics who are advising the central government on Hong Kong affairs.

Huang Ping, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, and Chen Xinxin, a legal affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences claim that the ongoing protests are a threat to "Hong Kong security" which is related to national security.

The pair wrote an article published in the latest issue of Hong Kong and Macao Journal, saying the protests have paralyzed the city for six weeks, upset social order and undermined rule of law.

"It also has some elements of a 'colour revolution' and has already threatened 'Hong Kong security'," the two academics wrote. "Hong Kong security is a crucial determinant of national security of China, which is Hong Kong's sovereign country."

Have Huang and Chen actually been to the protest sites from the beginning and watched them evolve? Have they seen that the protesters have been mindful of the public space they are occupying, and that there was no damage to storefront windows, police vehicles or provoked attacks on police officers?

These two are just part of the ongoing chorus who say the Umbrella Movement is illegal and that the protesters should leave the sites and go back to their lives.

The academics are completely missing the entire point of the protest and why people resorted to civil disobedience. Perhaps that's why they are living in an ivory tower...

Johnny Lau Yui-siu is a political commentator who covered the drafting process of the Basic Law in the 1980s as a journalist. He says "Hong Kong security" was not the focus among drafters at the time.

"The two academics simply invented a new term to serve the political needs of targeting Occupy Central," he said. He added there was no need to panic about "Hong Kong security". "I understand that Beijing won't send the People's Liberation Army to the streets of Hong Kong unless there is serious looting and disturbances," he said.

The shrill voices of Huang and Chen need to chill -- or do they hope that by publishing this fear-mongering paper they can win some brownie points with Beijing?

Hardly impressive from this end.

Hardly Tempting

The crystal clear waters of Karakul Lake in Xinjiang is a tourist spot

After a spate of deadly violence including last week's suicide bombings in an open-air street market in Urumqi that killed 39 and injured 94, the regional government is trying to convince tourists to come back to Xinjiang.

Would 500 yuan ($80) tempt you to go?

That's the amount the regional authorities are willing to give each domestic tourist who visits the restive region. According to China Radio International the number of tourists has plunged by 40 percent compared to last year.

"Many tourists went skiing and skating in Xinjiang during the winter. But since the deadly knife attack in Kunming in March, many have postponed their tour to Xinjiang," said Inam Nesirdi, the region's tourism chief.

Another draw is the Taklamakan Desert but will tourists come?

The government is moving quickly to secure the area, with 55 people convicted of terrorism, separatism and murder and were earlier paraded in a sports stadium. Three of them were sentenced to death. Meanwhile, police arrested five members of a group allegedly planning a bomb attack in the region.

Last Sunday, Beijing announced a one-year anti-terrorism campaign with Xinjiang singled out as the "main battlefield".

It will be interesting to see if this campaign really is effective in rooting out what the government claims are terrorists and if the region will be safer. Will it only take one year?

But in the meantime as much as I would love to visit Xinjiang, as I have been told about the gorgeous Karakul Lake and the Taklamakan Desert, the fantastic rustic food and warm people, being awarded 500 yuan for my bravery isn't quite enough to entice me to venture in such a volatile area unfortunately...

Exposing Vulnerability

Pictures from Weibo of the aftermath of the knife attack in Guangzhou

The knife attack at Guangzhou Railway Station yesterday that wounded at least six people is the third assault in two months in China.

It calls into question the amount of money spent on domestic security, which is believed to be much more than 209 billion yuan, far exceeding the military budget.

If so much money is being spent on security, why are these attacks happening?

For example in Guandong, police have been patrolling with guns since 1994, and since May 1 there have been more than 4,000 gun-toting police officers and 10,000 auxilary police officers patrolling Guangzhou streets.

There are also SWAT teams and plainclothes police patrolling popular destinations, and 397,000 security cameras installed in the busy southern Chinese city since May1.

One of the six injured being carried away

It is a good illustration of how China has the hardware but not the software.

Even with all the equipment and manpower, the country isn't secure because it has poor intelligence gathering and local government capabilities to deal with these kinds of crises.

The just released 2013 China National Security Studies annual report features articles by scholars from various institutions who warn of "grave" challenges.

"Terror attacks in China have become more active than in previous years in both the number and seriousness of the attacks. The anti-terrorism condition facing China is grave," the report said.

So far this year there was an apparent suicide bomb and knife attack in Urumqi that left two assailants and a bystander dead a week ago, and a knife attack in Kunming train station in March that killed 29 and injured dozens. And now the incident in Guangzhou.

The report claims the main issue is Uyghur separatists from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement are to blame, expanding its attack targets from Xinjiang to other areas.

But are all these violent incidents really attributed to Uyghurs?

The Chinese government is not being transparent about this and all state media must carry Xinhua stories on any sensitive incidents so we may not be entirely sure of their conclusions.

But in any case, the lack of intelligence proves that having hardware is not enough to stop impending attacks. You need to know what is going on on the ground.

The more the government represses people like the Uyghurs, the more isolated they become, and the more secretive they are. As not many Chinese know the Uyghur language and culture, how can they even begin to understand this ethnic minority and their motives, let alone get some inkling of attacks being planned?

The string of attacks clearly shows heavy-handed repression does not bring security, but vulnerability.

Is this what China really wants to expose?