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Just voted in the local primary for pro-democracy candidates for the September LegCo elections, along with many other neighbours similarly undeterred by government warnings that participating might violate the new state Security Law, and last night’s police raid of pollster PORI.
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So this whole time blue ribbons and tankies have been spinning spurious conspiracy theories about the US training millions of Hong Kong protesters, turns out they were actually training the Hong Kong police.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ twitter.com/wilfredchan/st…
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HKU Council, mostly appointed by the Chief Executive and not representative of the University, have decided to fire Occupy organiser and law prof Benny Tai. Yet another sad day for HKU and academic freedom in Hong Kong.
消息：港大校委會決定即時解僱戴耀廷 news.mingpao.com/ins/%e6%b8%af%…
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Tonight officers under the newly-established nat'l security branch of the HK police are rounding up teenagers for “inciting others to separatism,” which many attribute to a single FB post on Sunday: facebook.com/10339838766766…
This is why the NSL is also called the “insecurity law." twitter.com/studentlocalis…
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SSP Li insisted they didn’t make the 4 arrests based on organisation（組織）but actions（行動）yet this is somewhat misleading since he also said whether or not anyone was actually incited is immaterial.
The takeaway is that it's not just actions but speech that is now criminal.
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HK01 reporting that the government will announce today that it is postponing the Legislative Council elections scheduled for September 6 for one year, due to COVID-19.
消息：政府今公布立法會選舉押後一年 另有重大消息一併公布 hk01.com/article/504700…
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This, presumably, is what HK01 was alluding to by “even bigger news” that would accompany postponement of the LegCo election: a mass disqualification of pro-democracy candidates that seems aimed at barring all primary winners from standing for office.
news.mingpao.com/ins/%e6%b8%af%…
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Following last night’s arrest of teenagers for a Facebook post, this well be remembered as the week that all pretensions of autonomy, freedom of speech, and democracy in Hong Kong went out the window.
It’s been said before, but never has it been clearer for all to see.
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Then-President Lee Teng-hui on the eve of Hong Kong's in November 1996: “50 years without change won’t be so simple. Our country already plans to enact laws to take in HK people who support democracy when the necessary time arrives, and I believe parliament will pass this bill."
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China says they decision to delay Hong Kong’s election by one year is “in conformity with mainstream public opinion”—despite the fact that a survey by the Public Opinion Research Institute found that 55% of Hong Kong people oppose the postponement: hk01.com/article/505310…
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These designs for a new Taiwan passport cover, up for public vote by the New Power Party, are really impressive.
The results aren’t binding but follow the passing of a resolution to emphasise Taiwan over China in the passport design and national airline.
taiwanpassport.tw/vote/internati…
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Xinhua on Beirut: protesters clash with police, break into offices to demand political reform
Xinhua on Hong Kong: foreign-controlled violent rioters with no aims worth mentioning viciously attack police officers and ransack LegCo, pushing the city to the brink of brutal anarchy
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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…
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.@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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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/…
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What is the rationale for handcuffing @chowtingagnes and @JimmyLaiApple?
Pic via InMediaHK
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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.”
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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…
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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…
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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…
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.@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."
Managing Editor @cnmediaproject 中國傳媒研究計劃主編