101
Outside Prince Edward station, it’s hard to tell who outnumbers whom: the citizens queuing up to commemorate the anniversary of the 8.31 incident or the riot police surrounding them. For now, the heavy police presence means all of MK is awash with black clothes and white flowers.
102
Five police vehicles and four units patrolling the Cenotaph after Hong Kong people threaten to
*checks notes*
lay flowers to commemorate the war dead on Liberation Day (the now-defunct holiday that until 1997 marked the return of British rule and the end of Japanese occupation.
103
Like a lot of Hongkongers, my family escaped here from China in the hold of a “snake boat” that chugged across the Pearl River estuary to what was then a beacon of hope.
That people are now doing essentially the same to escape this place is unimaginable—or at least it should be.
104
Still can’t believe I’m writing these words about Hong Kong. twitter.com/rhokilpatrick/…
105
HK01 reports that three maritime escape routes connecting HK and Taiwan, plied by protesters since July, have been effectively “plugged up” since China’s coastguard strengthened its presence in the waters around HK in order to intercept fleeing dissidents. hk01.com/article/516387…
106
Thundering reception for Lam Cheuk-ting and Ted Hui as they step out of the West Kowloon courts, bailed on $15,000 and $5,000 respectively and having surrendered their passports.
107
Hong Kong Story’s Andy Li among 12 people arrested by the Chinese Coast Guard on a vessel offshore from Guangdong sailing to Taiwan.
12人潛逃台灣失敗 包括因《國安法》被捕李宇軒 中國海警正扣柙 hk01.com/article/516136…
108
Deeply dispiriting news for all friends and followers of @aaronMCN, as well as every Hongkonger who treasures our rapidly diminishing press freedom.
"In response to media enquiries, the Immigration Department (ImmD) does not comment on individual cases” incoming. twitter.com/hkfp/status/12…
109
What gaslighting an entire city looks like. twitter.com/maryhui/status…
110
The slew of changes being made to HK's textbooks should be shocking, but is grimly predictable considering the following:
1) Political purges in the education sector washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…
2) The Liaison Office’s stranglehold on the publishing industry bloomberg.com/news/features/… twitter.com/HKGlobalConnec…
111
A very HK solution:
Instead of giving $100m to the needy, give it to the supermarket duopoly comprised of Jardine’s Wellcome and Li Ka-shing’s ParknShop chains—both of which have bumped up prices and turned a profit during the pandemic—and trust them to distribute food vouchers. twitter.com/rthk_enews/sta…
112
Video circulating among dive instructors of a rare whale shark sighting in Hong Kong yesterday.
Not revealing where because we want the critter left in peace—unlike in the Philippines or Taiwan, whale sharks are not protected in our waters, and can be legally caught and killed.
113
lol I’m literally a Chinese citizen born in Hong Kong, which due to our ethnically discriminatory nationality policy is restricted to Hongkongers of Chinese ancestry. Sorry the fact one of my parents isn’t Han violates your one-drop rule.
114
.@Cambridge_Uni didn’t break up with Carrie Lam because she broke up with them first.
Lam has announced that she “took the initiative” to rescind her honorary fellowship after receiving a letter saying she’d “deviated from the principles of academic freedom and free expression."
115
It’s a very open secret that journalists at state-affiliated media like WWP/TKP are weaponised to harass pro-democracy figures. I worked for one whose home for staked out for months—the point is almost moot.
Curiously, it’s one instance police are happy to defend the free press. twitter.com/austinramzy/st…
116
The “Made in HK” vaudeville may seem like much ado about nothing, but it gets to the heart of the city’s existential crisis: Beijing says 1 Country, 2 Systems now means we can keep economic, but not political autonomy. Washington says it’s all or nothing.
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…
117
Government officials have refused to directly answer whether journalists would be liable to persecution for covering newly outlawed opinions and “wanted” individuals—but the chilling effect of such strategic ambiguity is already being felt with media organisations self-censoring. twitter.com/hkchrislau/sta…
118
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on today’s mass buying of @appledaily_hk newspapers and shares: “This is probably selective re-reporting by the relevant media. As far as I know... China’s countermeasures have been welcomed by the people of Hong Kong.”
119
What is the rationale for handcuffing @chowtingagnes and @JimmyLaiApple?
Pic via InMediaHK
120
This is rapidly becoming a pattern: every time HK police arrest someone for subversion, secession or foreign collusion, the central government liaison office—which once avoided overt signs of directing HK affairs—loudly eggs them on. The mask is truly off. hd.stheadline.com/news/realtime/…
121
As @iingwen meets with US health secretary @SecAzar China sends 10 jets into Taiwan’s air defence zone.
A diplomatic visit versus actual military action infringing int’l boundaries: Which is the party “raising tensions” across the strait? tw.appledaily.com/politics/20200…
122
Amid all the bad news for press freedom in HK today, this shouldn’t be overlooked.
Where as the previous incident of police barring certain media from reporting involved newer and less renowned orgs, both @StandNewsHK and InMediaHK are long-established, well known and respected. twitter.com/XinqiSu/status…
123
Over 100 police officers currently raiding the newsroom of pro-democracy newspaper @appledaily_hk following arrest of @JimmyLaiApple and other senior staff. Apple Daily is only the major newspaper in the city to buck Beijing’s authority and openly support the democracy movement. twitter.com/hkcnews_com/st…
124
.@JimmyLaiApple and others at Next Media arrested under NSL for foreign collusion (hk.appledaily.com/international/…) while a new “NatSec Division” has been established to review foreign journalists’ visa applications (thestandnews.com/politics/%E5%A…).
Dark days indeed for local and int’l media.
125
Periodic reminder that there are well over half a million non-Han and mixed Hongkongers, and although many of us trace our roots back to the colony’s early days when ethnic Han comprised less than half of the permanent population, pedigree is meaningless.
statistics.gov.hk/pub/B112010020… twitter.com/dancohen3000/s…
Managing Editor @cnmediaproject 中國傳媒研究計劃主編