Anastasia Lin, seen here speaking in a debate at the Oxford Union in early Febraruy, is a beauty queen. She was born in China, in Hunan province, and came to Canada with her parents at age 13. The People's Republic of China doesn't allow dual citizenship, so when Ms Lin became a citizen, she lost the right to return to China, even for a visit, without a visa. When she was crowned Miss World Canada in 2015, she applied for a visa to compete for the world title in China, but the Communist authorities denied her application. Dontcha want to know why?
The 30-year-old Chinese-Canadian actress has been speaking for years about the Chinese Communists' worldwide propaganda and influence operations, and its countless human rights abuses, including the persecution of Chinese Christians, about which Walt has written numerous times, most recently "Chinese Commies won't allow 'Patriotic Catholic' churches to re-open" (28/4/20). Listen (she's speaking in English!) as she talks about what happens to "dissidents" who don't toe the Communist Party line.
Agent 78, who translated the text below for us, warned us not to post this. "They have spies everywhere," said 78. "If you ever want to go back to China, they won't let you!" Well, I wasn't planning on going back any time soon....
加拿大小姐林耶凡在牛津聯盟關於中共思維和新冠病毒的演講，表示中共一黨獨大 敵視西方價值觀
盜竊知識產權 劫持聯合國等國際機構
試圖滲透西方的政治經濟和教育
「中共病毒」正是對中共長期的沉默和縱容造成的
演講鏗鏘有力，振聾發聵
Showing posts with label Communist Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communist Party. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Umbrellas unfurled again in Hong Kong protest
In a fit of tone-deafness remarkable even for the Chinese Communists, the puppet government of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong chose the week of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre to introduce in the legislative council a new law that would enable the extradition of Hong Kong Chinese (including those resident overseas) to the mainland for trial on any criminal charge. That would include treason, spying, and any act against the state or the Communist Party.In response, Hong Kongers are turning out in the hundreds of thousands to protest the erosion of the "special status" in matters social, political and legal that Hong Kong was supposed to retain after the handover of the former British colony to Red China in 1997. Organizers say that over 1,000,000 people joined in the demonstrations today, blocking two main highways near government headquarters. Since the population of HKG is roughly 7,000,000, that's a pretty good turnout! Most of the protesters are students and young people. Students were boycotting classes to attend the rallies.
Despite official calls to disperse, demonstrators continued to march today. They overturned police barriers and stood their ground even when confronted with pepper spray and a threat by police to use force if they continued to oppose their orders. Some protesters left umbrellas on the police barricades, an homage to the "Occupy Democracy" movement that began in 2014. "Didn’t we say at the end of the Umbrella movement we would be back?" pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo told the meeja, referring to the name often used for the 2014 "Occupy" demonstrations. The massive, months-long campaign was prompted by constitutional reforms that allowed Beijing to approve candidates for Hong Kong elections.
Many in Hong Kong are also upset by the creeping authoritarianism in Hong Kong, after they were promised autonomy when the perfidious British handed it back to the even more perfidious Chinese in 1997. Before and since, China has promised Hong Kong self-rule under the slogan of "one country, two systems". The move to allow extradition to China is only the latest example of the falsehood of the Communist Chinese "guarantees", their poor human rights record and blatant disregard for the rule of law.
The puppet government is still backing the extradition bill, which is expected to pass its final reading on June 20th. However, the Legislative Council (LegCo) announced late today (local time) that the second reading will be "delayed", the excuse being that the protests have clogged u p the streets around the LegCo building to the point where not enoough legislators were able to get in to attend the session. Agent 78, who knows a thing or two about Hong Kong and how things work in the People's Republic, says this is clearly a face-saving measure, and doesn't mean that the "umbrella revolutionaries" have won. "You can fight the puppets, but you can't beat the puppet-master." Stay tuned.
Further reading:
"Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Revolution' - paying the price for democracy", WWW 29/9/14
"5 things you should know about the Umbrella Revolution", WWW 3/10/14
"Do not forget the martyrs of Tiananmen Square", WWW 4/6/19
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Winnie the Pooh film banned in China
Are you looking forward to taking the kiddos to see Christopher Robin, the new Disney film based on A.A. Milne's famous Winnie the Pooh books? Lots of Chinese were hoping to see it, but Agent 88 sends word that they're SOL, as the film has been banned in China.
No official reason has been given for the film's having been "denied release" (as a spokesthingy for The Mouse put it), Winnie the Pooh has become a symbol of resistance to the Communist Party that rules China after bloggers started to compare Chinese President Xi Jinping to the friendly but clumsy, slow-witted and tubby toy bear.
The new film tells the story of a now middle-aged Christopher Robin, whose mundane life takes a turn when he is unexpectedly reunited with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and other animals from his childhood. Coming soon to a cinema near you. (Not you, Chen!)
Further reading: Winnie the Pooh has been mentioned before on WWW, just once. See "Fired on the first day of work", 7/4/14, one of Walt's most-read posts!
No official reason has been given for the film's having been "denied release" (as a spokesthingy for The Mouse put it), Winnie the Pooh has become a symbol of resistance to the Communist Party that rules China after bloggers started to compare Chinese President Xi Jinping to the friendly but clumsy, slow-witted and tubby toy bear.
The new film tells the story of a now middle-aged Christopher Robin, whose mundane life takes a turn when he is unexpectedly reunited with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and other animals from his childhood. Coming soon to a cinema near you. (Not you, Chen!)
Further reading: Winnie the Pooh has been mentioned before on WWW, just once. See "Fired on the first day of work", 7/4/14, one of Walt's most-read posts!
Thursday, April 23, 2015
VIDEO: Strippers at funerals a matter of grave concern to Chinese
Interesting news out of China, a country ruled by a political party with no sense of humour -- none whatever. According to AFP, Communist Chinese authorities today bared the details of their latest battle against vice. Specifically, they intend to stamp out the hiring strippers to entertain at funerals.
In a statement posted on its website, China's Ministry of Culture pledged a "crackdown" [Don't go for any more cheap puns. Ed.] on the practice, which it said has become increasingly common in rural areas. "From time to time, 'stripteases' and other illegal performances have occurred in the countryside," the statement said, adding that authorities will "promptly investigate and punish" businesses and individuals involved in the risque shows.
China's official Xinhua news agency said such performances are typically organized in order to draw a larger crowd at last rites. One example cited by the Ministry of Culture was a funeral in north China's Hebei province. "Two strippers wearing revealing clothes danced on a stage at a public square in our village at night on February 15," an eyewitness told the state-run Global Times newspaper earlier this month.
"They first danced passionately and then took off their clothes piece by piece," the man said. "Behind them, an electronic screen was displaying a picture of the deceased with elegiac couplets on either side." And yes, we do have a picture, scraped off Weibo, the popular Chinese microblog site.
In another case later that month, a troupe in east China's Jiangsu province was detained for funeral performances that drew crowds of as many as 500 local residents. The troupe engaged in "erotic performances on the stage with sexual organs exposed and imitating sexual acts," police officer Tang Jinyang told xichu.net, a provincial news site.
According to China's Ministry of Culture, such shows "disrupt the order of the rural cultural market and corrupt the social atmosphere." Yeah, right... The hundreds of spectators who turn out must be shocked, shocked!
Walt's Chinese agents say the Party has an uphill battle to put an end to traditions which have been observed for centuries, if not millennia. Processions and entertainment have always been a part of Chinese celebrations, they say, no matter whether it's a wedding or a funeral.
The point is made in the video below, posted on the National Geographic website in 2012. This mini-documentary shows a funeral procession in Taiwan, which some say isn't part of China. But the participants look Chinese to me, and appear to be having a pretty good time too. What a way to go out!
In a statement posted on its website, China's Ministry of Culture pledged a "crackdown" [Don't go for any more cheap puns. Ed.] on the practice, which it said has become increasingly common in rural areas. "From time to time, 'stripteases' and other illegal performances have occurred in the countryside," the statement said, adding that authorities will "promptly investigate and punish" businesses and individuals involved in the risque shows.
China's official Xinhua news agency said such performances are typically organized in order to draw a larger crowd at last rites. One example cited by the Ministry of Culture was a funeral in north China's Hebei province. "Two strippers wearing revealing clothes danced on a stage at a public square in our village at night on February 15," an eyewitness told the state-run Global Times newspaper earlier this month.
"They first danced passionately and then took off their clothes piece by piece," the man said. "Behind them, an electronic screen was displaying a picture of the deceased with elegiac couplets on either side." And yes, we do have a picture, scraped off Weibo, the popular Chinese microblog site.
In another case later that month, a troupe in east China's Jiangsu province was detained for funeral performances that drew crowds of as many as 500 local residents. The troupe engaged in "erotic performances on the stage with sexual organs exposed and imitating sexual acts," police officer Tang Jinyang told xichu.net, a provincial news site.
According to China's Ministry of Culture, such shows "disrupt the order of the rural cultural market and corrupt the social atmosphere." Yeah, right... The hundreds of spectators who turn out must be shocked, shocked!
Walt's Chinese agents say the Party has an uphill battle to put an end to traditions which have been observed for centuries, if not millennia. Processions and entertainment have always been a part of Chinese celebrations, they say, no matter whether it's a wedding or a funeral.
The point is made in the video below, posted on the National Geographic website in 2012. This mini-documentary shows a funeral procession in Taiwan, which some say isn't part of China. But the participants look Chinese to me, and appear to be having a pretty good time too. What a way to go out!
Saturday, February 7, 2015
You know what you can do with it!
The Lunar New Year, celebrated by Chinese everywhere, is coming up (February 19th) and Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party had plans to raise some money by selling a special novelty item. It looks like this.
Yep, it's toilet paper, or as it's known in Chinese, lu wad. [Are you sure about this? Ed.] The image printed on these special varieties, designed exclusively for use in Hong Kong, is that of the HKG CEO, the oft-ridiculed C.Y. Leung. Mr. Leung is unpopular with ["despised by", surely! Ed.] much of the Hong Kong public, and products mocking him have sold well in recent years.
But not this year! Agent 78 regrets to report that Chinese Communist authorities, not known for their sense of humour, have seized 7,600 toilet rolls and 20,000 packets of tissue from a factory in mainland China on Friday. The confiscated tissues depicted the pro-Beijing leader with a variety of expressions. Some printed the word "lying" on his forehead, while others showed him with fangs - a reference to how his opponents have described him as a wolf.
Lo Kin-hei, a vice-chairman of the Democratic Party said the toilet rolls sold out at Hong Kong's annual New Year fair last year, and called the seizure a violation of the right to freedom of expression supposedly guaranteed in Hong Kong's basic law, adopted at the handover by the British in 1997.
Walt expects that Mr. Lo will soon be reminded that he lives in China now, and that if he persists in that kind of talk he will become Lo Hong-hai.
Yep, it's toilet paper, or as it's known in Chinese, lu wad. [Are you sure about this? Ed.] The image printed on these special varieties, designed exclusively for use in Hong Kong, is that of the HKG CEO, the oft-ridiculed C.Y. Leung. Mr. Leung is unpopular with ["despised by", surely! Ed.] much of the Hong Kong public, and products mocking him have sold well in recent years.
But not this year! Agent 78 regrets to report that Chinese Communist authorities, not known for their sense of humour, have seized 7,600 toilet rolls and 20,000 packets of tissue from a factory in mainland China on Friday. The confiscated tissues depicted the pro-Beijing leader with a variety of expressions. Some printed the word "lying" on his forehead, while others showed him with fangs - a reference to how his opponents have described him as a wolf.
Lo Kin-hei, a vice-chairman of the Democratic Party said the toilet rolls sold out at Hong Kong's annual New Year fair last year, and called the seizure a violation of the right to freedom of expression supposedly guaranteed in Hong Kong's basic law, adopted at the handover by the British in 1997.
Walt expects that Mr. Lo will soon be reminded that he lives in China now, and that if he persists in that kind of talk he will become Lo Hong-hai.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
"Out of Mao's Shadow" -- true stories of oppression in Communist China
The late Right Honourable Pierre-Eliot Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada from 20 April 1968, to 4 June 1979, and again from 3 March 1980 to 29 June 1984. During his reign -- I use the word deliberately -- he changed Canada from the Great White North to the Great(ish) Not-so-white North, just as he promised.
His son, Justin, aka Trudeau Lite, is now leader of the Liberal Party, and poised, some think, to become prime minister if Steve Harper gets his just desserts next October. Trudeau II caused a bit of a stir amongst Canuck chattering classes when he expressed admiration for the way the Chinese government gets things done.
He had been asked a question about which nation’s administration he most admired and why, and gave this response. "There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime. I mean there is a flexibility that I know Stephen Harper must dream about, of having a dictatorship that he can do everything he wanted, that I find quite interesting."
That's kind of like saying that Hitler built some nice highways, Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Stalin deserves credit for running a pretty tight ship. It's true that the Communist rulers of the self-styled People's Republic of China (PRC) know how to get things done. Did they not dam up the mighty Yangtze and build a high-speed railway that will take you from Beijing into the heart of occupied Tibet? And how about the 2008 Olympics? Great accomplishments, to be sure. But at what cost?
The fact is that Communist China is one of the most authoritarian police states in the world. The price for its economic and material achievements is paid by the Chinese people in physical suffering -- imprisonment, torture and execution -- and deprivation of the human rights and freedoms.
In the early 90s, Beijing lost out to Sydney in its bid to host the Olympics, because of Western criticism of China's abysmal human rights record. When it applied again, in 2001, the pitch was that its record had improved, and if it was awarded the Olympics, it would do better. And so Beijing was awarded the Games. People wanted to believe -- then as now -- that increasing prosperity and engagement with the international community would soften China's authoritarian political system.
And did it? The answer, according to Philip P. Pan, is NO! Mr. Pan was the Washington Post's Beijing bureau chief from 2000 through 2007, and witnessed firsthand the persecution and prosecution of Chinese citizens who had the courage to assert the rights supposedly guaranteed to them under the PRC's constitution. He also investigated accounts of the fate of others who had earlier -- before 2000 but after the death of Chairman Mao -- fought and died for a freer society.
In Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China (Simon & Schuster, 2008), Mr. Pan presents detailed profiles of 11 Chinese who fought for a freer society. The result is a not-so-pretty picture of what life is like for large numbers of ordinary Chinese in the post-Mao era of economic and political "development".
Mr. Pan's book is history, written in the best and most engaging way, in tales from the lives of real people. The author takes us inside the dramatic battle for China's soul and into the lives of ordinary men and women struggling to come to terms with their nation's past and take control of its future. Among the 11 people we meet are...
* An elderly surgeon who exposed the Communist cover-up of the SARS epidemic, then, years later, had the courage to write about his experience during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. For his pains, Jiang Yanyong, "The Honest Doctor" (that's the title of Chapter 8) was detained, interrogated, subjected to house arrest, and forbidden ever again to visit his children in the USA.
* A filmmaker, Hu Jie, who spent years making an unauthorized documentary on the execution of a young woman, Lin Zhao, during the Cultural Revolution. Ms Lin was at first an avid, slogan-shouting, little-red-book-waving Communist. But her eyes were opened by the mindless violence, mass starvation and other horrors unleashed by Chairman Mao. Her denunciation of the Communist Party and its "system" landed her in prisons and mental hospitals, where she wrote hundreds of pages of thoughts and pleas in her own blood. Hu Jie's film "Searching for Lin Zhao's Soul" (Chapter 2, followed by "Blood and Love", Chapter 3) was an underground success, but led inevitably to the knock of state security agents on his door.
* A blind man, Chen Guangcheng, who wasn't satisfied to be a masseur or musician -- about the only work open to blind people in China then and now -- so learned the law by self-study. Although not a lawyer, Mr. Chen devoted himself to bringing court challenges on behalf of the poor and oppressed, especially peasants who were being taxed to the point of starvation, and suffering the loss of millions of babies aborted or killed at birth because of China's evil One Child Policy. We read in "Blind Justice" (Chapter 11) how Mr. Chen was abducted, beaten and imprisoned, but lived to tell his story.
Do any of the stories have a happy ending? Yes and no. Like some films where titles at the end tell you what became of the characters, Out of Mao's Shadow has an epilogue in which we learn what became of Dr. Jiang, Mr. Hu, Mr. Chen and the others. Except for Lin Zhao, they all survived. They are still alive.
But did they win their battles? For the most part, they fought the Communists to a draw or, at best, a narrow win. But the larger war for basic human rights and freedoms continues. 11 Davids -- or 11,000 or 110,000, as in Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution -- are not yet enough to be more than a mere annoyance to the Goliath that is the Communist Party of China.
Out of Mao's Shadow challenges the conventional wisdom that free markets automatically lead to free societies. Justin Trudeau should read it. So should Pope Francis, Hussein Obama and all the other naive leaders of the West who think that "engaging" and "dialoguing" with the Communists will make them change. And yes, you should read it too!
His son, Justin, aka Trudeau Lite, is now leader of the Liberal Party, and poised, some think, to become prime minister if Steve Harper gets his just desserts next October. Trudeau II caused a bit of a stir amongst Canuck chattering classes when he expressed admiration for the way the Chinese government gets things done.
He had been asked a question about which nation’s administration he most admired and why, and gave this response. "There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime. I mean there is a flexibility that I know Stephen Harper must dream about, of having a dictatorship that he can do everything he wanted, that I find quite interesting."
That's kind of like saying that Hitler built some nice highways, Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Stalin deserves credit for running a pretty tight ship. It's true that the Communist rulers of the self-styled People's Republic of China (PRC) know how to get things done. Did they not dam up the mighty Yangtze and build a high-speed railway that will take you from Beijing into the heart of occupied Tibet? And how about the 2008 Olympics? Great accomplishments, to be sure. But at what cost?
The fact is that Communist China is one of the most authoritarian police states in the world. The price for its economic and material achievements is paid by the Chinese people in physical suffering -- imprisonment, torture and execution -- and deprivation of the human rights and freedoms.
In the early 90s, Beijing lost out to Sydney in its bid to host the Olympics, because of Western criticism of China's abysmal human rights record. When it applied again, in 2001, the pitch was that its record had improved, and if it was awarded the Olympics, it would do better. And so Beijing was awarded the Games. People wanted to believe -- then as now -- that increasing prosperity and engagement with the international community would soften China's authoritarian political system.
And did it? The answer, according to Philip P. Pan, is NO! Mr. Pan was the Washington Post's Beijing bureau chief from 2000 through 2007, and witnessed firsthand the persecution and prosecution of Chinese citizens who had the courage to assert the rights supposedly guaranteed to them under the PRC's constitution. He also investigated accounts of the fate of others who had earlier -- before 2000 but after the death of Chairman Mao -- fought and died for a freer society.
Mr. Pan's book is history, written in the best and most engaging way, in tales from the lives of real people. The author takes us inside the dramatic battle for China's soul and into the lives of ordinary men and women struggling to come to terms with their nation's past and take control of its future. Among the 11 people we meet are...
* An elderly surgeon who exposed the Communist cover-up of the SARS epidemic, then, years later, had the courage to write about his experience during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. For his pains, Jiang Yanyong, "The Honest Doctor" (that's the title of Chapter 8) was detained, interrogated, subjected to house arrest, and forbidden ever again to visit his children in the USA.
* A filmmaker, Hu Jie, who spent years making an unauthorized documentary on the execution of a young woman, Lin Zhao, during the Cultural Revolution. Ms Lin was at first an avid, slogan-shouting, little-red-book-waving Communist. But her eyes were opened by the mindless violence, mass starvation and other horrors unleashed by Chairman Mao. Her denunciation of the Communist Party and its "system" landed her in prisons and mental hospitals, where she wrote hundreds of pages of thoughts and pleas in her own blood. Hu Jie's film "Searching for Lin Zhao's Soul" (Chapter 2, followed by "Blood and Love", Chapter 3) was an underground success, but led inevitably to the knock of state security agents on his door.
* A blind man, Chen Guangcheng, who wasn't satisfied to be a masseur or musician -- about the only work open to blind people in China then and now -- so learned the law by self-study. Although not a lawyer, Mr. Chen devoted himself to bringing court challenges on behalf of the poor and oppressed, especially peasants who were being taxed to the point of starvation, and suffering the loss of millions of babies aborted or killed at birth because of China's evil One Child Policy. We read in "Blind Justice" (Chapter 11) how Mr. Chen was abducted, beaten and imprisoned, but lived to tell his story.
Do any of the stories have a happy ending? Yes and no. Like some films where titles at the end tell you what became of the characters, Out of Mao's Shadow has an epilogue in which we learn what became of Dr. Jiang, Mr. Hu, Mr. Chen and the others. Except for Lin Zhao, they all survived. They are still alive.
But did they win their battles? For the most part, they fought the Communists to a draw or, at best, a narrow win. But the larger war for basic human rights and freedoms continues. 11 Davids -- or 11,000 or 110,000, as in Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution -- are not yet enough to be more than a mere annoyance to the Goliath that is the Communist Party of China.
Out of Mao's Shadow challenges the conventional wisdom that free markets automatically lead to free societies. Justin Trudeau should read it. So should Pope Francis, Hussein Obama and all the other naive leaders of the West who think that "engaging" and "dialoguing" with the Communists will make them change. And yes, you should read it too!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Why Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution" matters
Walt Whiteman's World is "unavailable" in the People's Republic of China, unless a would-be reader can find a way through or around the Great Firewall of China. Freedom of information, freedom of speech, freedom of association, even freedom of thought, are not allowed to the 1.4 billion people under the thumb of the Communist emperor.
I say "emperor" because, 65 years (and a day) ago, the Communists established an autocratic regime as bad or worse than anything China knew in the 1000s of years of imperial rule. The people of China are subject to totalitarian control that demands they bend their individual inclinations and welfare to that of the all-powerful state. And that's why Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution" matters, not just to the Hongkongese, not just to the Chinese, but to the whole world.
Back in the bad old days, when Hong Kong was a British colony, its people enjoyed the freedoms we take for granted. And, under the deal made between Britain and the Communists for the handover of HKG to China in 1997, they were to continue to do for another 50 years. Hong Kong's existing social system was supposedly guaranteed, along with the rule of law, until 2047.
Even better, the "one country, two systems" deal provides that the Hong Kong "Special Administrative Region" would become a full democracy. Under the British, there was an elected Legislative Council, which was to continue (and has), but the people were not entitled to vote directly for the "Chief Executive Officer" who would replace the British governor.
In the new fundamental law which governs the Hong Kong SAR, the Communists promised to institute a system of "one person one vote". When the present CEO, Leung Chun-ying -- "C.Y. Leung" to the Western press -- was "elected" in 2012 (by a committee of 1200 "representatives of the people"), Beijing said that "next time" (in 2017) there would be a direct election in which everyone could vote.
Too bad that the people of Hong Kong took that to mean that they could nominate and vote for whoever they pleased -- even (gasp) a non-Communist. (Mr. Leung is not officially a Communist, but it is thought that he keeps his party card in his other wallet -- the one he takes on his regular visits to the imperial capital.) As it turned out, what was really meant was that voters could choose among up to three candidates vetted and approved by Beijing.
Not much of a choice, then. Martin Lee, one of the founders of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, told a rally, "What's the difference between a rotten orange, a rotten apple and a rotten banana? We want genuine universal suffrage, not 'democracy with Chinese characteristics'."
That's a part of what the protests are about, but only a part. The greater battle is for the heart of Hong Kong -- its institutions and legal system -- as bequeathed to them by the British, whose ideas about the governed having a voice in how they're governed date back 799 years.
Let us support those who are risking arrest, injury or worse fighting for democracy in Hong Kong. As we do so, let us bring to the front of our minds the freedoms we take for granted, particularly the freedom to vote for (or against) whoever we like.
The next two months will see elections taking place in most American states and Canadian provinces, for offices ranging from senator down to dog-catcher. The people of China would love to have the freedom of the ballot. Some are prepared to die for it. If you have it and don't use it, don't be surprised if one day you lose it.
I say "emperor" because, 65 years (and a day) ago, the Communists established an autocratic regime as bad or worse than anything China knew in the 1000s of years of imperial rule. The people of China are subject to totalitarian control that demands they bend their individual inclinations and welfare to that of the all-powerful state. And that's why Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution" matters, not just to the Hongkongese, not just to the Chinese, but to the whole world.
Back in the bad old days, when Hong Kong was a British colony, its people enjoyed the freedoms we take for granted. And, under the deal made between Britain and the Communists for the handover of HKG to China in 1997, they were to continue to do for another 50 years. Hong Kong's existing social system was supposedly guaranteed, along with the rule of law, until 2047.
Even better, the "one country, two systems" deal provides that the Hong Kong "Special Administrative Region" would become a full democracy. Under the British, there was an elected Legislative Council, which was to continue (and has), but the people were not entitled to vote directly for the "Chief Executive Officer" who would replace the British governor.
In the new fundamental law which governs the Hong Kong SAR, the Communists promised to institute a system of "one person one vote". When the present CEO, Leung Chun-ying -- "C.Y. Leung" to the Western press -- was "elected" in 2012 (by a committee of 1200 "representatives of the people"), Beijing said that "next time" (in 2017) there would be a direct election in which everyone could vote.
Too bad that the people of Hong Kong took that to mean that they could nominate and vote for whoever they pleased -- even (gasp) a non-Communist. (Mr. Leung is not officially a Communist, but it is thought that he keeps his party card in his other wallet -- the one he takes on his regular visits to the imperial capital.) As it turned out, what was really meant was that voters could choose among up to three candidates vetted and approved by Beijing.
Not much of a choice, then. Martin Lee, one of the founders of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, told a rally, "What's the difference between a rotten orange, a rotten apple and a rotten banana? We want genuine universal suffrage, not 'democracy with Chinese characteristics'."
That's a part of what the protests are about, but only a part. The greater battle is for the heart of Hong Kong -- its institutions and legal system -- as bequeathed to them by the British, whose ideas about the governed having a voice in how they're governed date back 799 years.
Let us support those who are risking arrest, injury or worse fighting for democracy in Hong Kong. As we do so, let us bring to the front of our minds the freedoms we take for granted, particularly the freedom to vote for (or against) whoever we like.
The next two months will see elections taking place in most American states and Canadian provinces, for offices ranging from senator down to dog-catcher. The people of China would love to have the freedom of the ballot. Some are prepared to die for it. If you have it and don't use it, don't be surprised if one day you lose it.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution" -- paying the price for democracy
This past June, Joseph Cardinal Zen, the retired Archbishop of Hong Kong, reiterated his support for a democracy initiative in that "Special Administrative Region" of China. See "China -- not a good place to be a democrat or a Catholic". He predicted that the people of Hong Kong would "hit back if they are repressed and forced to be enslaved."
As surely as the red sun rises in the East, the Communist government of China announced in August that it would allow universal suffrage in Hong Kong when the next "Chief Executive Officer" of the SAR is elected in 2017. Just one catch though. All candidates for the office will have to be vetted and approved by the Communist Party of China. As they say in Harbin (where they actually do play hockey), the puck will be nailed to the stick.
The people of Hong Kong are not stupid. Although they never had universal suffrage in the days when HKG was a British colony, its people know how democracy should work, and what the Reds are "giving" them ain't it! So they've taken to the streets in their 1000s, in what started out as a peaceful protest. The "Occupy Central" demonstration turned into a near riot, as police assaulted the protesters with batons, pepper spray and teargas. As the picture shows, the protesters came prepared, raising umbrellas to deflect the noxious chemicals.
Leung Chun-ying, the po-faced incumbent CEO, surveyed the scene [That's a Chinese inside joke. Ed.] and declared the demonstrations illegal. The protesters were rioters, he said, and their demands for civic nomination of candidates for the position "lie outside the boundaries of the Basic Law" (Hong Kong’s mini-constitution).
Flanked by senior police officials as he spoke, Mr. Leung promised that protesters would be dealt with appropriately. The equipment carried by the special riot police on Sunday night suggests the authorities have access to much worse stuff than pepper spray and teargas, should they wish to use it.
Those brave enough to demonstrate for democracy and freedom -- most of them seem to be students -- may well fear for their safety, or even their lives. Remember what happened at Tiananmen Square in 1989! It's one thing to face up to cops on foot, wielding batons, but quite another to stand in front of a tank.
The big question today is how much longer the cat-and-mouse game between riot police and demonstrators can go on. As of the early hours of this morning (HKG time), police were still holding up warning signs, announcing that tear gas canisters would be fired, so giving protesters time to disperse and then regroup. That kind of "playing by the Marquess of Queensbury Rules" shouldn't be expected if Beijing sends in the so-called People's Liberation Army. PLA troops will likely to be brought from northern China, unable to speak Cantonese and less sympathetic than local police.
Mr. Leung is under intense pressure from Beijing to end the demonstrations before October 1st, when the Communist party celebrates the 65th anniversary of its seizure of power in power. Says William Lam (an old China hand) "If he can’t clear the streets and restore order he will be scolded by Beijing."
The last thing China's president, Xi Jinping, wants is to have one of the country’s most important cities in open revolt. The censors of the Great Firewall of China are working flat out to stop the spread of news about what is going on in Hong Kong. Key words have been banished from popular microblogging sites such as Weibo. [WWW is permanently blocked in China. Ed.]
The only thing worse than an openly defiant Hong Kong would be if protesters in other Chinese cities came out in sympathy. Unfortunately for Mr. Leung, he can't even begin to negotiate with the protesters, because he has nothing whatever to bring to the table. His masters in Beijing -- Mr. Leung does not admit publicly to being a Party member -- will not budge on their pronouncement about universal suffrage, which establishes a screening mechanism to ensure that only pro-Communist candidates need apply.
The Umbrella Revolution has already made a mockery of the concept of "one country, two systems", proclaimed when the British handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997. The people of Hong Kong aren't kidding themselves. The reality is one big country, one little "special administrative region" and only one system.
Further reading on WWW: "Church refuses to see tyranny of Chinese communism: Cardinal Zen"
As surely as the red sun rises in the East, the Communist government of China announced in August that it would allow universal suffrage in Hong Kong when the next "Chief Executive Officer" of the SAR is elected in 2017. Just one catch though. All candidates for the office will have to be vetted and approved by the Communist Party of China. As they say in Harbin (where they actually do play hockey), the puck will be nailed to the stick.
The people of Hong Kong are not stupid. Although they never had universal suffrage in the days when HKG was a British colony, its people know how democracy should work, and what the Reds are "giving" them ain't it! So they've taken to the streets in their 1000s, in what started out as a peaceful protest. The "Occupy Central" demonstration turned into a near riot, as police assaulted the protesters with batons, pepper spray and teargas. As the picture shows, the protesters came prepared, raising umbrellas to deflect the noxious chemicals.
Leung Chun-ying, the po-faced incumbent CEO, surveyed the scene [That's a Chinese inside joke. Ed.] and declared the demonstrations illegal. The protesters were rioters, he said, and their demands for civic nomination of candidates for the position "lie outside the boundaries of the Basic Law" (Hong Kong’s mini-constitution).
Flanked by senior police officials as he spoke, Mr. Leung promised that protesters would be dealt with appropriately. The equipment carried by the special riot police on Sunday night suggests the authorities have access to much worse stuff than pepper spray and teargas, should they wish to use it.
Those brave enough to demonstrate for democracy and freedom -- most of them seem to be students -- may well fear for their safety, or even their lives. Remember what happened at Tiananmen Square in 1989! It's one thing to face up to cops on foot, wielding batons, but quite another to stand in front of a tank.
The big question today is how much longer the cat-and-mouse game between riot police and demonstrators can go on. As of the early hours of this morning (HKG time), police were still holding up warning signs, announcing that tear gas canisters would be fired, so giving protesters time to disperse and then regroup. That kind of "playing by the Marquess of Queensbury Rules" shouldn't be expected if Beijing sends in the so-called People's Liberation Army. PLA troops will likely to be brought from northern China, unable to speak Cantonese and less sympathetic than local police.
Mr. Leung is under intense pressure from Beijing to end the demonstrations before October 1st, when the Communist party celebrates the 65th anniversary of its seizure of power in power. Says William Lam (an old China hand) "If he can’t clear the streets and restore order he will be scolded by Beijing."
The last thing China's president, Xi Jinping, wants is to have one of the country’s most important cities in open revolt. The censors of the Great Firewall of China are working flat out to stop the spread of news about what is going on in Hong Kong. Key words have been banished from popular microblogging sites such as Weibo. [WWW is permanently blocked in China. Ed.]
The only thing worse than an openly defiant Hong Kong would be if protesters in other Chinese cities came out in sympathy. Unfortunately for Mr. Leung, he can't even begin to negotiate with the protesters, because he has nothing whatever to bring to the table. His masters in Beijing -- Mr. Leung does not admit publicly to being a Party member -- will not budge on their pronouncement about universal suffrage, which establishes a screening mechanism to ensure that only pro-Communist candidates need apply.
The Umbrella Revolution has already made a mockery of the concept of "one country, two systems", proclaimed when the British handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997. The people of Hong Kong aren't kidding themselves. The reality is one big country, one little "special administrative region" and only one system.
Further reading on WWW: "Church refuses to see tyranny of Chinese communism: Cardinal Zen"
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