Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #HK
Most recents (24)
1/Today, the HK legislature passed legal amendments that empowers the executive govt to bar foreign lawyers from handling cases concerning national security in #HK. This is another example of damaging #HK's integrity of the legal system. See my thread: asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Hong…
2/ The legislation works against the tradition of allowing foreign lawyers without full qualification in Hong Kong to handle cases under the discretion of the court, now this discretion has shifted from the court, which would make decisions on the basis of merit, to the executive… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
3/ The vague definition of 'cases concerning national security' in the bill implies that the government can arbitrarily use the new powers to allow or prohibit foreign lawyers from taking up local cases, whatever civil or criminal, on the over-broad ground of 'national security.
Preparing my first biz trip in 3 years – I am obviously rusty... I used to be good at that stuff, now it feels like I am flailing around... Things are however coming – slowly – together. I managed to get my samples from France BEFORE the departure date! Wasn't a given outcome...
The mere fact that I have to make checklists is disconcerting. But at least – hopefully! – I won't forget anything...
I've also updated my Cathay Mileage Tracker – it has had very little activity in the last 3 years, except for point transfers from my bank account, and gifts from #CX (thank you!).
With this first trip, I will have 50% of the points needed to renew my Marco Polo Gold status.
With this first trip, I will have 50% of the points needed to renew my Marco Polo Gold status.
1/BREAKING: #UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers sent a communication letter to the #PRC Government on #HK's #NSL, legal aid and law reforms affecting local & overseas #lawyers. Images are extracts. Full text: spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/… 
2/ This letter of communication covers issues of human rights protections, judicial independence, fair trial under the NSL, as well as police powers, legal aid reforms, new cap of judicial review, foreign counsel and the latest government proposed bill of the Legal Practitioners… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
3/ Impressive quotes can be found: 'Many of the provisions in the NSL seem to be at odds with your Excellency’s Government international legal obligations, in particular as set out in the ICCPR and customary law norms recognized in the UDHR.'
1/ Beijing's interpretation of #HK's #NSL (articles 14 and 47) fully empowers the Committee for Safeguarding National Security to override judicial decisions in the future, if local courts fail to obtain certificates from the Chief Executive in light of national security matters.
2/ Theoretically, the NSL interpretation today creates a de facto Prerogative State like what Germany had in the 1930s, when national security authorities enjoys privileges to adjudicate political trials whereas local courts operated in parallel to handle other disputes.
3/ The NSL interpretation solves whether overseas lawyers (without full qualification in HK) could defend NSL cases. This does not only lie in criminal cases but also civil matters. Now, the National Security Committee can trump all judicial decisions: info.gov.hk/gia/general/20…
A History of Hong Kong Wuxia Fiction《香港武俠小說史》by Chen Mo 陳墨, just released. Signed edition. Covers 70 authors by my count. Unfortunately, it's just book reviews, not a systematic history that explains development and political/social context.
#wuxia #武俠 #HK #香港
#wuxia #武俠 #HK #香港
It's good information, but I was hoping for a deeper look into the history of wuxia fiction in HK like we got w/ Lin Baochun's Taiwan book. This is just an expansion of Chen Mo's earlier book from Aug.: A Grand Pageant of Classic Hong Kong Wuxia Works《香港武俠名家名作大展》
And given the broad scope of the book, since it covers so many authors, the reviews are not in depth, little analysis. Basically plot summary+some highlights or major flaws. His earlier book has longer reviews on the whole, but covers fewer works and authors.
The Virus from the Wuhan Virology Institute solved two of China’s existential crises simultaneously. 1. The precipitous fall in their current account that was caused by sending Chinese students to the U.S. and Europe to be educated (440,000 students in the U.S. alone), 1/4
traveling abroad (spending dollars as the world doesn’t accept RMB), and limited investing abroad caused $450 billion to be drained from their reserve coffers annually. COVID and Zero COVID have temporarily ‘fixed’ the draining of the current account. 2. Protests in HK 2/4
were at their worst in December 2019. Beijing couldn’t execute a Tiananmen Square massacre on democratic HKers because there were too many cameras and too much connectivity in the former Asian hub. They couldn’t roll tanks in to squash dissent…the virus 🦠 sent everyone home 3/4
Arrests in #HongKong this morning under colonial-era sedition laws, & @HonSocGraysInn hosting former #HK Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma this evening who spoke on “fearless advocates” & claimed that 47 lawmakers/activists will get a fair trial under the National Security Law.
In the Q&A (before I was ceremoniously told to shut up) I asked Geoffrey whether he agreed that the 47 deserved a jury trial, the right to bail, & that the press should be able to cover the trial. he declined to comment.
Geoffrey also stated that judges on NSL cases are not selected or handpicked by the Chief Executive John Lee. 🤦♂️
Too little, too late: Today's #HK COVID briefing was devoid of any reference to what our competitors are doing. Arrivals will still be welcomed with a PCR test, treated like lepers for 3 days and have to turn up for PCR testing 3 more times on days 2/4/6. 1/5
Prof Lo claims that testing will stop new strains entering, but of course it won't - we'll just know that they've arrived, raising prospect of stricter controls if they're found. As strains will evolve forever, that's an argument for testing forever. 2/5
There is no change to ridiculous requirements like RAT-test before going to bars (but not restaurants), or dining in groups >8 "with a common purpose", a group-gathering limit of 4 (even if outdoors), mandatory masks outdoors (but not in restaurants) etc. 3/5
5 key takeaways from the UNHRCom’s first Concluding Observations on Hong Kong re ICCPR since the NSL was enacted. Link to the COs today: tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/… (1/x)
1/ the CO stresses that anyone or NGO engaging in the UN human rights bodies must not be criminalised or at risk of reprisals (para 50), whereas the HKG refused to warrant free participation of individuals and groups in UN mechanisms in the hearings.@UNHumanRights (2/x)
Civil society organisations, espy trade unions and human rights groups engaging in the UN mechanisms and global community must not be read as colluding with foreign forces. (3/x)
Boat horns sounding in tribute to what was once a landmark in the south of Hong Kong (sound on)
Tug boats pushing and pulling Jumbo out of the Aberdeen typhoon shelter
1/4: Three years ago on #June9th , 1.03 million marched on the streets as one of the last and desperate attempts to stop an Extradition Bill whose passage was virtually certain. No one could ever imagine how much #HK would change forever from that day forward.
2/4: This blossomed into a grand political movement with five demands: withdrawal of the Extradition Bill, ceasing the labelling of protestors as rioters, dropping charges against protesters, conducting independent inquiries into police behaviour, and genuine universal suffrage.
3/4: The Bill would be withdrawn. But Beijing was furious and created a worse legislation in 2020: the national security law. This has been abused to control the narrative to demonise protestors, intensify crackdown, keep police unaccountable and obliterate the electoral system.
天安门大屠杀 Today commentates the 33rd anniversary of the #Tiananmen Square Massacre in China. The CPC has made #HongKong a police state. This will be the first remembrance without a public commemoration in #HK . Remember this was about inflation and runaway food prices 🤫1/8
China’s military executed over 10,000 students protesting food scarcity and runaway prices. The government rolled their tanks over the dead students and then washed their remains down the sewer with fire hoses..#Emblematic of how Xi treats his detractors. #XinjiangPoliceFiles 2/8
As the Rules-based world marches ever closer to a kinetic conflict with China, we must all remember the bravery that Tank Man showed the world in defiance of China’s poor policies and autocratic government. 3/8
🛑 Rigid Currency Pegs Break 🛑 As an update to our seminal work on Hong Kong 🇭🇰 back in 2019, conditions today (both macroeconomic and political) will likely cause the 39-yr HKD peg to the USD to be stressed enough to cause a cathartic revaluation of the HKD. Participants 1/10
have little understanding of the fragility of such rigid relationships. Pundits from the HKMA and academia frequently report the HKD currency board is a ‘perfect’ and ‘sustainable’ relationship.This self-serving market affirmation has become somewhat of a financial apostolic 2/10
Creed that’s flawed at its foundation. Today’s HKMA ‘excess reserves’ that are reportedly liquid and ready to be used to defend the 7.85 peg amount to $42.9B. HK banking deposits are $728B in USD and $965B USD worth of HKD. If only 5.8% of USD deposits leave HK 3/10
On Sunday, an election committee of around 1500 people, mostly pro-#Beijing, will be choosing the next leader for #HongKong. The sole candidate in the race is viewed as a tough enforcer of #China's ambition to further roll back #HK's autonomy. My latest: dw.com/en/hong-kong-e…
Hong Kong's former chief secretary John Lee is the only candidate on the ballot and critics warn the whole process is under the complete control of the Chinese government in Beijing.
The chief executive is elected for a term of five years by the members of the election committee, a body that's made up mostly of pro-Beijing figures, and the new leader is expected to take office on July 1.
1/Strongly recommend everyone to read the transcript of @UKSupremeCourt Lord Reed's comment on his resignation from HK's Court of Final Appeal. Powerful and humble response to the legal compradors in #HK: committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/1…
2/some quotes: "The courts themselves were continuing to operate in accordance with rule of law values, although they were under pressure. It has to be said that one cannot completely divorce what was going on in the courts from what was going on outside the courts"
3/"One was the use of powers conferred by the (NSL) to close down businesses and seize property.The other was the arrest of people on charges of having violated either the national security law or laws passed during the period of British rule concerned with sedition,for example."
When reassuring yourselves about various levels of FX reserves, it’s imperative that we all remember what happened to Korea during the last Asian Currency Crisis. Korea was showing the largest pile of USD fx reserves in Asia. When the Thai baht broke the peg in 97’, 1/9
Investors were sanguine about Korea due to the reserve balance they were reporting. The problem was that the Korean central bank had ‘lent’ those reserves to their banks who had spent them defending the peg. The finance minister of Korea called US Treasury Secretary in a 2/9
panic and told him Korea had a desperate need for a USD loan from the US Treasury/FED. When rigid structures go south, all of the math, all of the belief,and then all of the reserves vaporize at such breathtaking speed. Those unprepared at the outset couldn’t get positioned 3/9
What an honour. A full page in #HongKong's #CCP Ta Kung Pao
First they deny me entry
Then they send me, my neighbours, mother & employers threats, lobby UK MPs to try to silence me, and send fake emails
Then they threaten me under #NationalSecurityLaw
Now it's Ta Kung Pao :)
First they deny me entry
Then they send me, my neighbours, mother & employers threats, lobby UK MPs to try to silence me, and send fake emails
Then they threaten me under #NationalSecurityLaw
Now it's Ta Kung Pao :)
To break it down, bit by bit, here's the first part :)
My response: if speaking out for the freedoms, democracy, human rights, rule of law & autonomy which #HongKong was promised under an international treaty and which #CCP has betrayed is a crime, then I plead very, very guilty
My response: if speaking out for the freedoms, democracy, human rights, rule of law & autonomy which #HongKong was promised under an international treaty and which #CCP has betrayed is a crime, then I plead very, very guilty
I did live in #HongKong for the first five years after the handover, from 1997-2002, where I worked as a journalist.
I love #HK and #HongKongers
If criticising #CCP and its quislings in HK is a crime, then I plead guilty - but guilty of telling the truth, not guilty of smearing
I love #HK and #HongKongers
If criticising #CCP and its quislings in HK is a crime, then I plead guilty - but guilty of telling the truth, not guilty of smearing
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says city is not considering total lockdown for now.
#HongKong #HK #lockdowns
#HongKong #HK #lockdowns
The #HK Govt's Compulsory Testing Notices create huge queues and overwhelm the testing capacity with people who mostly don't feel ill, rather than those who actually need a test. Utter madness, and perhaps a million person-hours of wasted time. 1/2 scmp.com/news/hong-kong…
This results in delayed diagnosis and likely further spread of infections by unconfirmed cases. Stop the Compulsory Testing and focus on those who need it! 2/2
Yeah, like this:
The #HK Government has already lost control of this outbreak and "Dynamic Zero-COVID" is history. They just don't know it or won't admit it yet. Here's why (thread):
1. There's a 2-3 day lag between testing & reporting, and a 2-3 day lag between infection & testing.
1. There's a 2-3 day lag between testing & reporting, and a 2-3 day lag between infection & testing.
2. That's a total of about 5 days between infection and reporting.
3. The doubling time in unlinked cases, a proxy for growth in the wild, is around 4 days, so 2^(5/4)=2.38x for the number of cases infected today and reported in 5 days' time.
3. The doubling time in unlinked cases, a proxy for growth in the wild, is around 4 days, so 2^(5/4)=2.38x for the number of cases infected today and reported in 5 days' time.
4. For every 2 reported cases, there's maybe 1 who doesn't come forward, vaxed with mild symptoms, given the disincentives (throwing all their contacts into the quarantine system). They may self-test using a RAT. So 2.38*1.5=3.57x.
In Asia's Isolated City, #HK recorded a record low 465 passenger arrivals at all ports on the last day of the year of the Ox, 31-Jan, including just 100 at the airport, the second-lowest on record after 95 on 26-Apr-2021, but...1/2
The all-ports record was beaten again yesterday, 1-Feb, when just 282 passengers arrived, comprising only 86 at Shenzhen Bay (a record low), 161 at the airport and 35 on the HKZM Bridge. webb-site.com/dbpub/hkpax.asp 2/2.
More people (102) tested positive on 31-Jan (reported 1-Feb) after local transmission than arrived at the airport (100). That's probably a record too. At some point soon, there is no longer any point in an inbound quarantine requirement.
“The shutdown of Apple Daily was definitely the last straw that led to the decision. As a veteran, I simply could not find a suitable position that I would fit without worrying about my integrity and personal safety," said Pak, a journalist from #HK. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
At least 1,562 Hong Kong civil society jobs have been lost so far to the government’s crackdown on dissent under a Beijing-imposed national security law, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
More than 60 organizations including media companies, trade unions, political bodies, and religious and human rights groups have disbanded in the past year, under intense pressure from national security police.
THREAD: Some reflections on @ReginaIplau very kind tribute to my work & that of @hk_watch, which is much appreciated
However:
1. I was denied entry to #HongKong by #CCP in Oct 2017. So if she wants to draw parallels between me & #ChristineLee, perhaps UK should expel Ms Lee? /
However:
1. I was denied entry to #HongKong by #CCP in Oct 2017. So if she wants to draw parallels between me & #ChristineLee, perhaps UK should expel Ms Lee? /
2. The parallel, however, is ridiculous. I do not live in #HongKong, I have not influenced anyone in #HK, I have not donated any money to anyone in HK. I have merely expressed opinions & conducted advocacy in support of the wishes of #HongKongers.
In contrast to Ms Lee/
In contrast to Ms Lee/
10 Things You Need to Know about the 2021 #LegislativeCouncil #Elections in #HongKong
1/ Candidates are Chosen by the Authorities: All candidates were approved by the state-led Candidate Eligibility Review Committee on the basis of reports by national security police…
1/ Candidates are Chosen by the Authorities: All candidates were approved by the state-led Candidate Eligibility Review Committee on the basis of reports by national security police…
2/ Dozens of former election candidates are captured in pre-trial detention: Let’s not forget that this election should have been held last year, after the citywide pro-democracy’s primary election with more than 610,000 citizens casting ballots…
(Cont’) The government then postponed the election, and arrested 55 of the participants in that primary election, which was perceived as a subversive act by Beijing. Among the arrestees, 47 of them are charged with subversion, and only 14 of the defendants were granted bail…
