bc magazine

Joint Statement from the UK, Australia, Canada, and United States on Hong Kong

Joint statement by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo responding to China’s proposed new security law for Hong Kong.

Signatories to this statement reiterate our deep concern regarding Beijing’s decision to impose a national security law in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has flourished as a bastion of freedom. The international community has a significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability. Direct imposition of national security legislation on Hong Kong by the Beijing authorities, rather than through Hong Kong’s own institutions as provided for under Article 23 of the Basic Law, would curtail the Hong Kong people’s liberties, and in doing so, dramatically erode Hong Kong’s autonomy and the system that made it so prosperous.

China’s decision to impose the new national security law on Hong Kong lies in direct conflict with its international obligations under the principles of the legally-binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration. The proposed law would undermine the One Country, Two Systems framework. It also raises the prospect of prosecution in Hong Kong for political crimes, and undermines existing commitments to protect the rights of Hong Kong people – including those set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

We are also extremely concerned that this action will exacerbate the existing deep divisions in Hong Kong society; the law does nothing to build mutual understanding and foster reconciliation within Hong Kong.

Rebuilding trust across Hong Kong society by allowing the people of Hong Kong to enjoy the rights and freedoms they were promised can be the only way back from the tensions and unrest that the territory has seen over the last year.

The world’s focus on a global pandemic requires enhanced trust in governments and international cooperation. Beijing’s unprecedented move risks having the opposite effect.

As Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity are jeopardised by the new imposition, we call on the Government of China to work with the Hong Kong SAR Government and the people of Hong Kong to find a mutually acceptable accommodation that will honour China’s international obligations under the UN-filed Sino-British Joint Declaration.

This statement was published on the UK Government website on 28 May, 2020.

Hong Kong Protests – Wanchai – 24 May, 2020

After Beijing’s announcement of the unilateral imposition of a ‘National Security’ law on Hong Kong the first post Wuhan virus protest demonstration occurred, after the police rejected an application for a march, on 24 May, 2020.

Thousands of people walked peacefully from Causeway Bay towards Wanchai to register their protest against Beijing’s actions. The streets resonating to the strains of what has become Hong Kong’s unofficial national anthem Glory to Hong Kong – including a plaintive mouth-organ version.

And as with the marches and demonstrations in 2019, attendees were peaceful – until hundreds of police dressed in riot gear and armed to the teeth with all their new ‘toys’ arrived to create tensions where none existed before.

Looking to annoy and irritate for no reason:
Blocking shoppers from using the escalator to access the bridge from Pacific Place to the Admiralty MTR and forcing people to climb the stairs outside.

30 or so police charging up onto the pedestrian bridge at Wanchai MTR threatening people going to the station, blocking the entrance for five minutes – until the about twenty people trying to use the bridge had descended the stairs to walk to use another entrance/cross the road before they ran off…

Launching rounds of tear gas down Hennessy Road, when the road was empty…

Intimidating reporters through stop and search, spraying them with pepper spray.

Apparently a couple of ‘protester’s broke the windows of a store in Causeway Bay – but there are so many plainclothes police deployed now, who have (sadly) been seen caught and charged with initiating violence and criminal damage, that it’s impossible to describe them as anything other than persons dressed in black until further information, is known.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2020/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-24-May-2020/i-DmRRvXw

What was caught on video (credit @WilliamYang120) was a policeman in riot uniform walking into a convenience store and stealing a bottle of water. Why hasn’t he been arrested and charged? If it was a member of the public, they would have been. After the video emerged on twitter, police (media liaison officers?) went to the shop to pay for the water.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2020/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-24-May-2020/i-rdCT8RF

Under Beijing’s new law, likely you would not be able to read this article. The press would not be allowed to take photos and videos of the many acts of violence the police have perpetrated on HongKongers over the last year.

If the police have nothing to hide why do they actively try to stop the media from recording arrests and enforcement actions?

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2020/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-24-May-2020/i-jSF7Kkh

More images here

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2020/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-24-May-2020/i-krVQsm4/A

Lunar New Year Fireworks Cancelled

Home Affairs Secretary Lau Kong-wah announced that the fireworks display in Victoria Harbour, traditionally held on the second day of the Lunar New Year has been cancelled for security reasons.

It appears that the government is unable to exert enough control on the HK Police to ensure public safety. And that more video of police beating and arresting random people will further erode the tourism industry.

A mainland visitor, when asked if she was afraid of coming to Hong Kong, answered: “I’m afraid of being attacked or arrested for no reason”.

Police Use Warrant For Their Own Premises, to Search Protestors Phones

Judicial review application by photographer Lee Wing Ho reveals police abuse of warrants to illegally search phones.

//there was something not quite right about the warrants. First, Lee wasn’t served with them. Second, the warrants authorized the police to search the 22nd floor of police headquarters. Why would the police seek a warrant to search their own premises?

….

Lawyers representing Lee therefore inferred that the police “having arrested and confiscated a large number of smartphones and electronic devices from a number of suspects on different occasions and having brought them to the 22/f of Police Headquarters” sought two warrants “to access all of them without conditions or limitations.”//

Read the full article by Mary Hui here: hong-kong-police-use-vague-warrants-to-crack-into-phones

當荒謬成為日常 / When Absurdity Becomes Everyday

當荒謬成為日常

手腳被綁，膠袋套頭被指為自殺。
街上出現腰部斷為兩截的屍體。
墜樓身亡，卻沒有任何巨響和鮮血。
海上出現雙手被綁口封膠紙的浮屍。
⋯⋯ 他們不是一堆無可疑的數字。

當荒謬成為日常，請拒絕麻木，
麻木只會令歪理變常理。
.
若從天而降一具具的屍體，你會怎樣？
.
(靈感來自Rene Magritte的作品Golconda)

image @pon.seed

Hands and feet were tied and plastic bags were alleged to have committed suicide.
Two corpses with broken waists appeared on the street.
He fell and died without any loud noises or blood.
A floating body with seams sealed in both hands appeared at sea.
…They are not a bunch of unquestionable numbers.

When absurdity becomes everyday, please refuse to be numb, Numbness can only make a fallacy common sense. What would happen to a dead body from heaven?

(Inspired by Rene Magritte’s Golconda, translation google translate)

Five Demands, Not One Less! January Protest Schedule

bc magazine does not support or condone violent protest!

This schedule is provided for reference and guidance only, as things change on a daily/hourly basis.

Stay Safe!

Image: unknown

Danzmocrazy – 5 Demands Not One Less

A group of Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) alumni have crafted a video that uses dance to tell the story of the protests so far…

The dancers come from different industries and are among the anonymous millions who have worked to ensure Hong Kong has continued to be one of the world’s greatest cities – despite the incompetent and corrupt leaders foisted upon the SAR by Beijing.

As one dancer puts it “Not only we all have stayed in Hong Kong, we also have [a] strong will in making our city great again”.

‘In 2019, we are all awakened from our usual lives. Our city, our identity, our culture & values, our freedom are being nibbled by the regime. Time has chosen us and it is time for Hong Kong people to stand and safeguard our city. We wish to use our passion in dancing and in our city to reunite everyone and to invite the world to stand with Hong Kong, fight for Hong Kong against absolute power and authority.”

Credits:
Production: Greatest Salute & Epic Cut
Choreography: Brilliant & Powerful
Music (rearrangement & cover): Perfect & Impactful Voices
Venue: Comfy & Private
Artwork: Abaddon
Helpers: Pedestrian A ,B & C &…
Props & Costumes: Everywhere

www.twitter.com/danzmocrazy
www.facebook.com/danzmocrazy

In Hong Kong Crackdown, Police Repeatedly Broke Their Own Rules — and Faced No Consequences

Leaked law-enforcement manuals contain guidelines often ignored in confrontations with protesters.

As violence escalated in Hong Kong over recent months, senior officials repeatedly ruled out a full inquiry into increasingly aggressive police tactics toward pro-democracy demonstrators.

Independent scrutiny would be an “injustice” and a “tool for inciting hatred” against the force, commissioner Chris Tang said recently, echoing the refusal of Carrie Lam, the city’s Beijing-appointed leader, to meet one of protesters’ key demands. A police spokesman emphasized that the force is adhering to “strict” guidelines in policing the protests, “benchmarked against international standards.”

A review of more than 100 pages of police guidelines and training manuals obtained by The Washington Post details these protocols surrounding use of force. The guidelines, however, were often ignored by police, who have misused chemical agents and used excessive force against protesters not resisting, according to experts in policing who examined dozens of incidents in consultation with Post journalists and in comparison with the police protocols.

Read the full article here, including a response from the HK Police

In Hong Kong Crackdown, Police Repeatedly Broke Their Own Rules — and Faced No Consequences