bc magazine

Lam Pours Fuel on the Fire

The Hong Kong government’s bypassing of Legco to unilaterally introduce a ‘mask law’ is an insult to all HongKongers and a violation of our rights under both the Basic Law and Hong Kong law.

Carrie Lam has ignored millions of HongKongers marching peacefully, she has ignored the input of the people invited to attend the community discussions that she instigated.

Instead of listening to the people she claimed to represent when elected, and looking to attempt to defuse the volatile situation she created with the Extradition Law, Lam has instead trampled over the rights and freedoms of all HongKongers.

There was no violence or masks at the original protests against the extradition law.

The violence was instigated and initiated by the HK Police who actively and deliberately choose to use excessive force to disperse peaceful protestors and who allowed triads to attack the public.

Masks arrived because of the police’s excessive, indiscriminate and illegal use of tear gas and pepper spray.

The ‘mask law’ does not affect those Lam labels as ‘violent’ protestors, the penalties for ‘unlawful assembly’ far exceed those of the ‘mask law’.

The newly instigated law looks to intimidate and shutdown the peaceful protestors who are freely expressing their opinions as enshrined in the Basic Law and allowed under HK Law.

It also appears to be worded to suppress and interfere with the Freedom of the Press and the media’s ability to cover the protests and the excessive violence of the HK Police against protestors and members of the public. It is after all hard to film and report when you have a faceful of tear gas and/or pepper spray.

The protestors violence directly stems from the police’s own actions.

The damage to the MTR stems from it’s own injunction turning passengers into criminals and from picking sides rather than remaining neutral and simply moving people around.

The only way ‘healing’ and peace can come is from the government and the new ‘mask law’ shows Lam has no interest in resolving the violent situation she created. Beijing only understands force, subjugation and repression of freedoms.

Lam will go down in history as woman who destroyed Hong Kong, we can only hope that the blood on her hands gives her nightmares for the eternity.

Declaration by CHRF on 5th Anniversary of Umbrella Movement

Five years ago, on this very same day, the 28th of September, CY Leung’s Government shot 87 tear gas bombs to Hong Kong people in the Harcourt Road, Admiralty, marking the start of 79 days of the Umbrella Movement. Polls show that 1.2 million Hong Kong people had participated in the Umbrella Movement.

The aim of Umbrella Movement was to fight for a genuine universal suffrage, including the right to nominate, right to elect and right to be elected.

Unfortunately, 5 years have passed, and we still don’t have the real universal suffrage.

Some people described that the Umbrella Movement ended in failure. But is it true that the movement that we all supported and participated in, had achieved nothing?

We’ve asked a lot of people, how would they describe the last five years. A lot of them said: “powerless” and “hopeless”.

Especially after the “Fishball Movement”, many people thought that “peaceful” protests no longer work, and “brave” protests could not succeed.

LEADERS of BOTH Umbrella AND Fishball movement were jailed. Hong Kong seemed to be facing a dead end.

We spent 5 years soaked in these hopelessness and powerlessness. Without mass protests, the HKSAR Government disqualified lawmakers, passed evil laws, and had done all the unimaginable things to destroy our system.

No one would have thought that, in 2019, another evil bill, the Extradition Bill, that was so blatantly and daringly attempted to be pushed through by Carrie Lam and pro-Beijing lawmakers, would start this huge “Anti-Extradition Bill Movement”.

Since June this year, 1 million, then 2 million, then again 1.7 million people took to the street in just three-month period. Surely, it is because of the arrogance and inability of Carrie Lam’s Government. But more importantly, it is because of YOU, who had participated in the Umbrella Movement, who had stayed with us in those 79 days, decided TO BE BACK to the streets again.

Together with the new generation of young protesters who were inspired to join this year, we created marvellous scenes of almost ONE-THIRD of our whole population came out to “fight against the tyranny and for democracy”. Five years after the Umbrella Movement, Hong Kong people once again made ourselves proud, and amazed the world.

We EVOLVED from the hopelessness and powerlessness, and stand up again STRONGER. Our new generation of protesters are wiser, smarter, with more energy and strategies, bravely resisting the persecution of Beijing and HK Governments.

We LEARNT from both Umbrella Movement and Fishball Movement, and EVOLVED to a new form of protest that is more united, more flexible, and finally SUCCESSFUL MADE Carrie LAM to withdraw the Extradition Bill.

However, “Five Demands, not one less”. As our five demands are not all heard and responded, WE CANNOT CLAIM THIS MOVEMENT SUCCESSFUL. But we are closer.

“NOT SPLITTING, STAY UNITED” is not only a slogan, but wisdom that evolved from our valuable past.

Social movement is created by stories after stories written by us. What we are facing NOW is only one chapter, 2 million is only a record waiting to be broken. The next chapter WILL ONLY BE BETTER AND BRIGHTER.

Let’s continue to fight for REAL UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. Fight for ALL 5 DEMANDS.

香港人加油，Hongkongers, soldier on!

Civil Human Rights Front
28 September 2019

HongKongers are NOT objects!

Was this the first time the HK Police inadvertently spoke the truth?

That Carrie Lam and her Beijing buddies just see HongKongers as objects to be beaten, kicked and jailed if they stand in the path of Xi and his sycophants using Hong Kong to get evermore personally wealthy.

Xi, we understand you hate Hong Kong. All your citizens flock here to buy safe foods, get proper treatment in hospitals and to put their money in banks where you can’t just steal it from them on a whim.

And then the real truth hits them, that China is a massive prison with the CCP as jailers and thugs controlling and manipulating lives through violence.

You thought to break us with your batons, instead, you united us, made us stronger, resilient. By nature, HongKongers are not violent (and bc doesn’t support or condone violence), so you might win a battle or two, but this is now a ‘war’ you can never ‘win’!

Why because you can never win our hearts and minds, Xi you have shown HongKongers and the world what life in China today is like… Do as we say or get dragged off and beaten.

HongKongers are NOT objects!
We are free to think and act, argue and love.
Glory to Hong Hong!

Hong Kong Protests: Wanchai – 15 September, 2019

Sunday’s protest march against the China Extradition Bill started slowly but became another massive peaceful demonstration by HongKongers of all ages against Carrie Lam and her government’s policies.

Later in the day, some protestors vented their frustration agaisnt their MTR choosing Beijing over it’s Hong Kong passengers and the MTR’s allowing the HK police to beat and assault members of the public on MTR trains for no reason.

For more images click here or on any photo below

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-15-September-2019/i-828hxB3

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-15-September-2019/i-VKQL8sT

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-15-September-2019/i-KnmswM5

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Hong-Kong-Protests-Wanchai-15-September-2019/i-rJjVTQT

Beautiful! Courageous! Free Speech at its Finest!

Students sing “Do You Hear the People Sing” over the Chinese National Anthem in school.

Love Hong Kong!!!

The youtube account hosting the video has been closed down, the video is mirrored here.

https://mirrorbot.ga/mirrors/cz76lg/

‘I Thought I Was About to Die’: Eyewitnesses Describe Brutal Beatings by Police

A crumpled tissue dampened with tears lies near Ng Chi Fai as he tells how a routine journey home on the Hong Kong subway landed him in a scene of terrifying chaos.

Business was slow for the chef Saturday night at the restaurant where he boils, steams and fries the Cantonese dishes his customers love. The 53-year-old, a cook since the age of 18, was fretting about getting home, scrolling through the news on his cellphone as protests broke out across the city. Demonstrators were defying a police ban, angered by the arrests of a group of pro-democracy activists.

So he decided to leave early, changed out of his chef’s shirt and hurried to the nearby Lai Chi Kok transit railway station.

A wave of irritation overcame him as he changed trains at Prince Edward station, where he found a platform crammed with an unusually large crowd for late Saturday night: mainly families with small children, older people, and young women dressed in fancy clothes for a night out. He squeezed onto a train with other passengers, including some protesters.

Read the full article here: Los Angeles Times

Text: Los Angeles Times, Robyn Dixon, Ryan Ho Kilpatrick
Photo: Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times

Hong Kong Bar Association Statement on Police Violence

The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) released a statement on Police action in relation to the protests against the extradition law.

1. The fundamental duties of the Police Force are to protect the life, safety and well-being of residents, to safeguard public order, and to bring offenders before the courts for them to be dealt with in accordance with due process. It is an important part of our system which defends and upholds the Rule of Law.

2. There is, however, evidence that some elements in the Police Force have fallen below their usual high standards of conduct. In the past few months there has been a great deal of television and video footage showing police officers using excessive force to disperse protesters and in making arrests. Excessive crowd dispersal techniques have included the indiscriminate use of tear gas (including inside an MTR station) and the shooting of crowd control projectiles at shoulder height level or above at close range. Beatings upon arrests are apparent and have been widespread.

“riot police launching indiscriminate attacks without any apparent lawful excuse and using pepper spray on passengers inside a train compartment or hitting them with batons, especially since the officers in question left the train carriage afterwards without making any arrests.”

3. Video footage from the Prince Edward MTR station last Saturday night show riot police launching indiscriminate attacks without any apparent lawful excuse and using pepper spray on passengers inside a train compartment or hitting them with batons, especially since the officers in question left the train carriage afterwards without making any arrests.

4. Members of HKBA who have assisted arrested persons have experienced obstruction at police stations where arrested persons were denied timely access to legal assistance and representation. Arrested persons have also complained of abuses suffered during detention, many of whom required hospitalization or other non-trivial medical treatments.

5. There have been other violations of the Police General Orders such as the failure of police officers to display any form of identification which fosters a sense of impunity and lack of accountability. The various explanations that have been proffered to justify this – such as there being “no room” on the uniform of the Special Tactical Squad to display proper identification – are unconvincing to say the least.

6. It is paramount that whatever difficult or provocative circumstances that the Police Force may have to face, they must respect the constraints that are placed on them by the Police General Orders, and the law generally, which ensure professionalism, especially with respect to the use of force that is no more than proportionate in the circumstances.

7. The HKBA condemns any abuse of power by the Police Force. As disciplined professionals equipped with public authority and lethal and non-lethal weaponry, any unwarranted or excessive use of force against members of the public, be they protesters or ordinary passers-by or residents in housing estates, cannot be condoned. The incidents described above have greatly reduced public confidence in the Police Force. An independent inquiry will offer the truth that the public and the police deserve and may restore public confidence in our Police Force.

Hong Kong Bar Association 3rd September 2019

Police Officer Goes Kung Fu Panda on Media

Just when you think you’ve seen it all… a Hong Kong Policeman goes Kung Fu Panda on the media in Prince Edward last night (2 Sept).

In the same incident police used tear gas and pepper spray to attack journalists late last night with at least one sent to the hospital.