Beijing's Alternate Universe for Hong Kong

With the new national security law coming in, the sun is setting on Hong Kong

Today was another day where many things happened and we're still trying to absorb it all.

First, Macanese casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun passed away in Hong Kong. He was 98 years old. His daughter Pansy Ho Chiu-king confirmed the news in a press statement to reporters flanked by numerous members of the family.

Stanley Ho's family gathers to announce the patriarch's death

He has had a colourful life to say the least, having been born rich, only for the family to lose it all, and Ho started all over again in Macau and built the then Portuguese colony into the Monte Carlo of the east, and in the new millennium it eclipsed Las Vegas in casino earnings.

Not only did Ho make himself wealthy, but his family too (17 children with four "wives"), some of them becoming billionaires themselves. But now that he's gone, the family members may be fighting over the spoils...

And this is happening as Beijing continues to dismantle Hong Kong's political and legal institutions.

The proposed security law -- of which there are no details -- has apparently been amended today to not only prevent, stop and punish "acts" but "activities" as well that are deemed to be a threat to national security.

Ho built a gambling empire in Macau starting in 1962

It will be voted on on Thursday then forwarded to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislative body, to craft the bill. So it is voted on before it is hammered out... sounds like the cart before the horse, and expanding the definition to be as encompassing as possible.

Michael Tien Puk-sun, a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC opposed the amendment, one of the few who did. He questioned what this would mean for people who participated in protests that suddenly became violent.

Another deputy wondered if people gathering for the annual June 4 candlelight vigil would run afoul of the law, adding this law would provoke fear in the city.

Meanwhile Philip Dykes, head of the Hong Kong Bar Association questioned why Article 23 was written into the Basic Law if national security legislation could be imposed by Beijing under Article 18 instead.

Philip Dykes wonders why Article 23 was written in Basic Law

Article 23 stipulates Hong Kong must enact its own laws to outlaw treason, secession, sedition, subversion, theft of state secrets, and foreign political interference.

"If you are seeking to enact laws under Article 18 relating to subversion and secession... etc etc, and Article 23 covers exactly the same territory, what's the purpose of Article 23? Why was it put there in the first place? It will be a complete overlap and that can't have been the intention of the drafters," Dykes said.

"It's a matter of Chinese constitutional law. I want it explained to me how this bypass can be made. Because Article 23 was completely redundant."

Will Dykes ever get his answer?

Not only is this questionable, but also foreign judges will not be able to rule on cases regarding national security. Hong Kong has had foreign judges since the handover in July 1997 to help maintain its credibility as an international financial hub.

The Court of Final Appeal has 23 judges, 15 of whom are foreign, from Canada, Australia and the UK.

The Court of Final Appeal has 23 judges, 15 are foreign

Macau has already had this arrangement of no foreign judges hearing national security-related cases since 2018; only judges who are of Chinese nationality can hear these cases.

Earlier today Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-gnor held a press conference in which she tried to establish an alternate universe by saying the new national security law would not affect daily life in Hong Kong.

She pointed out other western countries had enacted similar laws without scaring investors away, and that only a small group of people would be affected by this law.

"Law enforcement agencies... must not affect the basic rights and freedoms that residents enjoy under [local] law," Lam said.

She said it was "untrue" the NPC Standing Committee had no legal authority to craft such a law for Hong Kong, that it was undermining the principle of "one country, two systems", and that the law would destroy the city's status as a global financial hub.

Lam says the NPC is not doing going against the Basic Law

Can we just say that stocks didn't plunge as low as they did yesterday, but they were still struggling to get back to where they were five days ago.

She added: "We are a very free society. For the time being, people to have this freedom to say whatever they want to say. But ultimately, what is to be provided in this piece of legislation is for all of us to see in order to be assured that Hong Kong's freedoms will be preserved."

Note the phrase: "for the time being"... very ominous.

Even Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah added to the propaganda chorus, writing on her blog the new national security law did not trample on "one country, two systems" or the Basic Law.

Their explanations are hardly reassuring to the skeptical public except for those who just want protesters thrown in jail.

Security is tight around the Legislative Council today

There were calls by protesters tonight to gather at the Legislative Council before lawmakers vote on the contentious National Anthem bill. Anyone who misuses or insults March of the Volunteers faces up to three years in prison and fines as high as HK$50,000 (US$6,450).

Riot police were stationed around the legislature complete with giant water barricades, but nothing happened so far.

Students are calling for a general strike tomorrow instead of returning to class after a four-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Things are all happening so fast there is hardly enough time to voice opinions let alone absorb what is going on.

Lam and her administration have lost so much credibility in the last year it's impossible to trust them at all. They have completely sold out Hong Kong and dragged us along into the mainlandization of the city whether we like it or not...

A Cinema in Central Coming Soon

A cinema is planned to replace the space previously occupied by HMV

There are plans for a cinema to be located in a prime Central location, at the bottom of Lan Kwai Fong.

Emperor Group, the entertainment conglomerate owned by Albert Yeung Sau-shing, will lease a two-storey space in the Entertainment Building for HK$1.2 million per month.

It will take over the space previously rented by HMV on the third and fourth floors, occupying more than 16,000 square feet.

There will be a cinema as well as fine dining restaurants, according to real estate agents. It will also be a venue for investment banks or insurers to hold premiere parties.

The interior of HMV when it was in Entertainment Building

"A cinema generally cannot support such high rents through selling tickets," says Michael Chik, managing director of agency Sheraton Values.

Another intriguing fact is that the building is owned by a venture with Angela Leong, the fourth wife of casino tycoon Stanley Ho, as a major shareholder.

It's interesting this space, that was previously retail, is going to be turned into an entertainment one. Landlords also seem desperate to rent out space too, and so they are open-minded about new ideas. Perhaps they can only fit one screen in there, so there is only a limited amount of money the cinema can make.

Nevertheless just the idea of being able to watch a movie in such a convenient location is too interesting to pass up.

Rockefeller's Beautiful Mansion

The front facade of Kykuit, with a classic Italian style of architecture

We marked the 240th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence yesterday by taking the train to Tarrytown to visit the Rockefeller mansion called Kykuit.

You can't go to the home on your own -- you must join and tour and it's quite strict, emphasizing that you can't take children under five years of age; the guides and staff get nervous when they see babies. Oh and don't bring big bags too -- a knapsack could be considered too big to bring on the grounds.

Our guide was mainland Chinese with the name tag DD Huang, a woman in a red sleeveless dress with tightly curled long hair. Unfortunately for us, her English was not fluent and so many of us on our tour had trouble understanding what she said. Her proficiency in the language also made her warnings sound particularly stern and unapologetic which to some seemed rude or condescending at times.

The back of the home with an extensive garden around it

Nevertheless, this is what we understood from the tour:

John D Rockefeller was the eldest son of six children, but his childhood was difficult. His father was a con man and kept a mistress, having two daughters with her.

Rockefeller was taught by his mother to work hard and he was academically good in school. At 16 he went to business school learning bookkeeping and this skill and talent would serve him well later on in life.

He and his brother William made their money in oil refining, co-founding Standard Oil together and buying up the competition to practically become a monopoly.

William had built a house in the Hudson Valley and suggested John D take a look. He was entranced by the view looking over the Hudson River and bought the land in 1893.

In 1906, John D Rockefeller together with his son Junior, planned and oversaw the construction of Kykuit, which in Dutch means "look out" or "overlook". They moved in two years later.

A swan gracing a pond that leads up to the tea room

Today visiting the house it is a mix of East and West, as John D Rockfeller Sr decorated it, followed by his son Junior and grandson Nelson, who became a senator.

There are a lot of Chinese antiques in the home, as Junior made some trips to China and bought many things, from the pair of stone lions that greet visitors at the front door, to Tang and Qing Dynasty ceramics, even carpets and upholstery have Chinese themes.

In the living room there is a headless Bodhisattva statue, a graceful body, that must have been a serene looking person.

We saw many rooms in the house, except the bedrooms, but the drawing room, the office, dining room, and music room -- that used to have a pipe organ installed in there and was subsequently replaced with a large colourful painting by Joan Miro.

There's also a lot of modern art in the home, particularly in the large garden that includes a swimming pool. There are many sculptures placed around the greenery that contrast with the classical Italian style of the home. Unfortunately we didn't take the garden tour that includes seeing all these pieces.

Modern art pieces contrast with the traditional-looking home

However, we did go into the basement where we saw several tapestries designed by Picasso specifically for Nelson Rockefeller, who had bought a number of his paintings. But because Picasso was a Communist, it wasn't politically correct for them to meet directly.

Nevertheless, Picasso agreed to allow his paintings to be modified into tapestries as long as they were not the same size or colours as the originals. Apparently some 18 of them were completed by a French weaver before Picasso passed away.

There's a mini museum in the home, filled with works by not only the Spanish artist, but also Georges Braque, Toulouse-Lautrec, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder.

We also saw the changing room complete with a shower that was a precursor to today's modern jets, with a series of pipes that would have spewed water at the body in the middle, as well as the stables complete with a number of carriages and garage with a fleet of antique cars, as well as the home's own gas pump.

It's a pity we weren't allowed to photograph anything inside the house, but outside... another of these strict rules we had to follow.

A view of the Hudson River that Rockefeller fell in love with

But we preferred the view outside as well as the lush greenery. There was also a nine-hole golf course there too -- we spied some Rockefeller descendants whizzing around in golf carts -- their own private space. It turns out several of the Rockefeller families live on some parts of the estate today.

Rockefeller is also well known for his philanthropy, donating to medical research, higher education and the church.

It's hard to imagine someone today could amass as much wealth as the Rockefellers, though people like Li Ka-shing, Cheng Yu-tung, and Stanley Ho Hung-sun come close.

However the trio don't even come close when it comes to being a visionary in philanthropy and creating foundations, and donating land to benefit Hong Kong much, save for universities giving them naming rights to new buildings. Yawn.

We may never see anyone with the same moral stature as John D Rockefeller Senior. While he may be accused of conniving business practices, he did a lot of good not only for New York but for the various communities in the city and around the world in acts of charity that continue today.

Reversal of Fortune?

Steve Wynn unveils four Qing Dynasty vases with then CE Edmund Ho

In July 2011, casino magnate Steve Wynn purchased four rare porcelain baluster vases from the Qing Dynasty at Christie's auction in London for $12.8 million, several times more than the pre-sale estimate.

He has said that he is committed to returning Chinese treasures back to China, and this quartet of vases was donated to the Macau Special Administrative Region, where they are in a permanent collection of the Cultural Affairs Bureau's Macao Museum.

Looking back, the PR stunt seems to have been Wynn's attempt at cultivating guanxi with the mainland in the hopes it would lead to even better business in the future.

Stanley Ho with the horse's head he bought at auction in 2007

That's what Stanley Ho did too when he repatriated two animal heads that were looted from the Summer Palace in the 1800s. Ho purchased the boar's head in 2003 from a New York collector and donated it to China, and again the horse's head in 2007 from a private collection in Taiwan.

But having spent millions of dollars, what has come of it?

Instead of hoping for the investment -- oops repatriation of treasures -- to pay off, things have gone south in a really bad way.

Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to wage his battle against corruption and has not only settled his sights on gambling tables in Macau -- but worldwide.

"Some foreign countries see our nation as an enormous market, as we have investigated a series of cases," said Hua Jingfeng, a deputy bureau chief at the Ministry of Public Security. "A fair number of neighbouring countries have casinos, as they have set up offices in China to attract and drum up interest from Chinese citizens to go abroad and gamble. This will also be an area that we will crack down on."

Can we hear the pin drop in Macau, Manila, Singapore and Las Vegas?

Not only is the Chinese government cracking down on gamblers, but also the casinos trying to promote themselves. The authorities will make it harder for these "resorts" to advertise from billboards to print and even text messages.

Construction continues at Wynn Palace, phase two at Cotai

There will also be further restrictions on visa requirements, and the flow of money will be tracked by officials through UnionPay, the only domestic credit card in China.

Gambling revenues in Macau have dropped for the first time since foreign operators were allowed into the former Portuguese colony in 2002. In December alone gaming revenues plunged 30 percent.

The anti-corruption crackdown has scared the high rollers, who depended on junkets to not only get them to Macau, but also supply a steady stream of credit. Some 16 percent of junket operators shut down last year, some carrying debts.

Did Wynn know this was coming? If there were any signs, he didn't see them at all.

"China remains a big question mark. We have more questions than answers," he admitted during a conference call earlier this month. "Thousands of our Macau employees are anticipating promotion and a better life because of Wynn Palace... We have learned in the last 12 years to behave in China, and that is to listen carefully to what the leadership says and to conform with the program as we are their guest," Wynn said. "We wait for an announcement from the government with baited breath... What we are seeing in China is an entrenchment."

Wynn could only say that he hoped "our ambitions to grow in Macau will continue to develop".

Does that sound like cautious optimism or completely blindsided?

So much for the vases and the animal heads. Millions of dollars do not buy security.

While the big gamblers are barely trickling in these days, casino operators in Macau are now wondering if their $23 billion investment in their second phases to expand gambling tables and entertainment options will pay off now...