Cardinal Zen's Request for Hong Kong

Cardinal Zen on his recent unfruitful trip to the Vatican

Last week the 88-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun made the long flight from Hong Kong to Rome hoping to have a meeting with Pope Francis.

That never happened.

Instead Cardinal Zen could only hand a letter to Pope Francis' secretary to pass to the pope. In it Cardinal Zen advocated for the installation of a new bishop in Hong Kong that has seen political upheaval particularly in the past year.

Since Bishop Yeung Ming-cheung passed away in early 2019, Cardinal John Tong Hong has overseen the diocese -- replacing his successor. Cardinal Tong himself is 81 years old. While he is a conservative when it comes to LGBTQ rights, he seemed unfazed by the new national security law.

Cardinal John Tong is overseeing the dicocese

In late June before the new law was enacted, he said Article 32 in the Basic Law guarantees freedom of religion, freedom to preach and to conduct and participate in religious activities in public.

He also added that Article 141 of the Basic Law specifies the government does not interfere in the internal affairs of religious organizations and providing of services to the public.

Therefore, Cardinal Tong surmised "collusion with foreign forces" in the new national security law does not apply to the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong because its direct relationship with the Vatican should be regarded as an internal affair.

In any event, Cardinal Zen is a pro-democracy activist and is anxious for the Vatican to appoint someone "who is trusted by the people".

"As I did last year, I handed a letter to a secretary at Casa Santa Marta, hoping to see the Holy Father. I let him know how urgent it was, and how I was here only for a short time," Cardinal Zen said.

Father Choy has "the blessing of Beijing"

He was concerned that a bishop "who is trusted by the people" be installed as soon as possible,  as the faithful in both Hong Kong and China grow increasingly wary of what is being seen as political posturing by the Vatican.

"The Vatican seems to be guessing the mind of Beijing -- always seeking to anticipate what Beijing will do, always appeasing. It seems they are afraid to nominate Bishop Ha [Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing] as doing so may offend Beijing," said Cardinal Zen.

Bishop Ha is currently auxiliary bishop of the diocese and has publicly supported the protesters in Hong Kong, thus possibly perceived as antagonistic to Beijing.

"Bishop Ha has never done anything -- not like me -- to cause trouble," said Cardinal Zen.

However, Cardinal Zen says Father Peter Choy Wai-man has "the blessing of Beijing", and was reportedly identified by Cardinal Tong as the best successor; but Cardinal Zen says Father Choy is "unacceptable to many Catholic faithful", because he would support silencing voices for freedom and democracy.

The Vatican seems to be aware of Bishop Ha's political stance which would offend Beijing, while Father Choy would not be accepted by the faithful, so it is apparently now looking for a third option.

"It seems to be after one and a half years, the Holy Father must hear from his people in Hong Kong. I am afraid, after so long, that Cardinal Parolin and Cardinal Tong have procrastinated in order to try and go back to Beijing's favourite," Cardinal Zen said. "So I have come to Rome once more for my people, and for the Pope."

Bishop Ha's appointment could offend Beijing

But it seems the Vatican is keen on getting relations with Beijing back on track, which may explain why Pope Francis rebuffed Cardinal Zen, who is critical of how the Vatican is being so secretive about the negotiations with Beijing.

"If tomorrow, the Vatican chooses this bishop, blessed by Beijing -- if they appoint this bad bishop for Hong Kong, my job is finished. I will choose to disappear," Cardinal Zen said.

But he will not go down without a last act of defiance.

"My last act of protest will be to do just that, to now disappear with everyone knowing why. I put this in my last will and testament -- that my bones shall not be placed in the cathedral, I do not want to be buried with such men. I will be buried in a simple cemetery with what remains of the faithful people of God."

While Cardinal Zen says this was his last trip to Rome, as he said his legs can't handle the long flights anymore, he is still fiery in spirit. May God bless him for his love of Hong Kong.

CY Leung's War on Teachers

Leung Chun-ying wants to out teachers in last year's protests

 

Former chief executive Leung Chun-ying continues his war against teachers and the Education Bureau, demanding the bureau publicize the names of teachers convicted during last year's protests and their schools of employment.

Leung claimed the Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung was evading his duties in at least six Facebook posts in the past three days.

Teachers taking part in a protest last year

But in two rare rebuttals, the bureau denied it had avoided the issue, saying it had "seriously followed up" each of the misconduct complaints against teachers "even in the face of challenges".

However Leung felt the bureau was not taking a hard enough line on dealing with the problem.

"On such a major issue of right and wrong, is this a responsible response? It is a shame for an official to avoid responsibilities," Leung wrote in one of the posts targeting Yeung, who was his undersecretary for education between 2012 and 2017.

Between June 2019 and this year, the bureau completed initial investigations in 180 out of the 222 protest-related complaints involving teacher misconduct. There are 117 cases believed to have been involved in wrongdoing.

Of those 117, half have been followed up on, with 17 teachers issued reprimand letters and nine given warning letters, both of which could result in the loss of their teaching registration again if they commit another misconduct again.

Yeung says bureau follows procedures on teachers

Another 19 teachers were given advisory letters or verbal warnings.

However, Leung doesn't think this goes far enough.

"How is it unfair for schools [to have their names publicized]? If so, is it fair for parents when they are being kept in the dark?" he asked.

However, Yeung has kept his ground. 

"All decisions we made are based on facts, teachers' professional conduct and the impact on students," Yeung said. "We would follow all procedures, so that no one will be wrongly found guilty or let off the hook."

Finally a voice of reason in a bid to tame Leung's rabid determination to punish anyone related to the anti-government protests last year.

Seems like Leung is hell-bent on two things: trying to make Yeung's professional life miserable, and scoring more political points with Beijing. Leung is already vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and considered an elder statesman in Hong Kong. 

Most of us have moved on from the protests with other things to worry about other than which teachers participated or not. 

Was this student influenced by teachers?

But Leung doesn't seem to want to let go of the matter, doing anything he can to discredit Yeung. This fixation on the issue is only terribly unproductive and reveals how he is making a mountain out of a molehill...

Picture of the Day: Mid-Autumn Moon

Looking at the full moon from Tamar tonight in Admiralty

 

Yesterday many people were preoccupied with watching what was happening with the National Day protests in Causeway Bay that saw at least 86 people arrested by evening.

But did people get the chance to see the full moon?

With yesterday's chaos behind us, this evening people seemed relaxed and in a more festive mood. I walked home from Wan Chai and along the waterfront there were many people, out to see the moon.

A young family with very big rabbit lanterns!

At Tamar, people laid out blankets and had picnics. One man had a bottle of wine with cheese and fruit. All the groups were all socially distanced and relatively quiet. 

Along the waterfront many people from kids to adults carried lanterns as they walked around. 

The humidity and temperature has dropped considerably making it a nice walk. Hard to believe 10 months have already gone by and now we are into fall.

 

Muted Protests on National Day

Carrie Lam leads the toast to the 71st Chinese national day

 

Although Civil Human Rights Front was banned from holding a march today to protest the 12 people detained by the mainland, some brave people came out anyway in Causeway Bay to voice their dissent against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.

The police were prepared -- sending out 6,000 officers as a deterrent and were armed with the usual tools of tear gas, pepper spray and such, and even a water cannon was parked nearby. They chose their usual method of trying to shut things down before they escalated, though the protests happened over several hours and by 10pm this evening at least 86 people were arrested, 74 of which were for illegal assembly, the rest for not social distancing.

At least 86 people were arrested today

 Then how can they explain not arresting about two dozen people gathered together waving Chinese flags and fervently singing the national anthem earlier this morning? How come they are exempted?

The double standards are too obvious to ignore.

Meanwhile protesters in Causeway Bay shouted slogans like "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time", and would dissipate when the police approached them. One young man took out his recorder and played Glory to Hong Kong, though he was taken by police later for questioning.

One senior walked around with a wooden giraffe on a platform with wheels. He called it a "handsome horse" in front of riot police. There is a Chinese idiom of calling a deer a horse, which means criticizing those who fabricate the facts.

Causeway Bay was crawling with police officers

Even a Kim Jong-un impersonator, known as Howard X made an appearance with an inflatable missile. On it he taped a picture of President Xi Jinping with his head shaped like the coronavirus and a sign that read: "F*** the Communist Party".

All those people who were arrested will have to go through the justice system and by the time they are in front of the judge, there will not be enough evidence to prosecute them and the judge will probably dismiss the case. 

Why waste everyone's time and effort?

Rupert Dover (in white) was on honours list

Earlier in the day as part of the national day celebrations, the city's honour list since 1997 was revealed at a record-breaking 687 people; usually it's around 200, though in 2009, there was a record 444. 

Of those honoured, 94 were police officers, including former police chief Stephen Lo Wai-chung. Assistant commissioners Rupert Dover and David Jordan were recognized. Dover was one of six senior officers leading the police ground response on June 12 last year, and ordered the firing of tear gas as crowds of protesters against the extradition bill, pushed towards the Legislative Council complex.

Another commended officer was Chief Superintendent John Tse Chun-chung, who was grilled by reporters regularly for the force's handling of protesters. 

Pansy Ho last year speaking at the UN

Other notables include Bernard Chan Charnwut who is a member of the Executive Council; Pansy Ho Chiu-king, the late Stanley Ho's daughter and last year she spoke to the UN Human Rights Council about the government's handling of the protests; Charles Li Xiaojia who recently announced his resignation as head of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Maestro Jaap Van Zweden.

It is interesting to note there are 143 healthcare workers honoured for their work in battling the coronavirus pandemic, but none of them were the main faces in the media advising the government. I checked the list, and people like Dr David Hui Shu-cheong of Chinese University, University of Hong Kong's Dr Gabriel Leung and Dr Yuen Kwok-yung (previously awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star), or even Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection.

Those gaudy wristbands to wear during quarantine

However, Simon Wong Kwong-yeung was recognized for developing the clunky (and heavy) e-wristband for people to be monitored while doing home quarantine.

Go figure.