In cosplay, irrespective of gender, height, or body shape, anyone can embody the character they desire. Sometimes, they do not even need to be a specific character, simply dressing up for fun and posing with others for memorable photos.

The inclusive world of cosplay was on display at Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong 2023, an annual four-day event for fans of anime, comics and games (ACG) held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from July 28 until August 1.

“This is my third year participating in the ACG fair, cosplaying as various characters. I used to be shy and struggle with social anxiety, but it brings me great joy when someone approaches me and asks for photos,” Forest, 24, told HKFP.

Like many young people, Forest has been passionate about ACG culture since her teenage years. She explained that she had learned to have courage through anime, saying: “Throughout different stages of life, I’ve encountered numerous challenges, and often, I just wanted to escape. Anime and comics have taught me the significance of confronting those difficulties.”

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Hong Kong police have expressed “strong concerns” over a satirical cartoon published in Ming Pao that contained what they called “misleading content,” according to local media reports.

The illustration in question, which was published in Tuesday’s edition of the newspaper, depicted officers outside a school in full riot gear. “What have the students done today, headteacher Chan?” the police ask a bespectacled woman, who lists their offences – swearing, losing an eraser, having laser pointers in their bags and talking back to and allegedly intimidating teachers.

In a letter to Lau Chung Yeung, the paper’s executive chief editor, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Public Relations) Joe Chan wrote that he feared the cartoon’s content could lead to misunderstanding among readers that the police would actually deploy staff to handle such matters, local media reported.

In addition, Chan said readers might draw parallels between the cartoon and reports on an earlier page about an incident at Tsuen Wan’s St. Francis Xavier’s School, in which 14 students were suspended from class for three days after being accused of missing a morning flag-raising ceremony.

That article mentioned that police had been called to the school after a sign at its front gate was damaged rather than over anything to do with the suspension, the assistant commissioner wrote. However, he added it was possible that the illustration might mislead readers into thinking the school had reported the students accused of “disrespecting” the flag-raising ceremony to the police.

The cartoon was likely to place pressure or stress on school’s headmaster, teachers and students, Chan said.

“The false descriptions in [the illustration] might make the public misunderstand police work. They not only damage the Force’s image, but also harm the cooperation between the police and the public, as well as our effectiveness on cracking down crimes,” Chan said.

The police urged Ming Pao to “together bear professional responsibility” with them and “base everything on facts” while handling school-related news with a “pragmatic attitude.”

The cartoon in question was authored by Wong Kee-kwan, who works under the pen name Zunzi. Wong has been a political cartoonist for 40 years and contributed to pro-Beijing publications New Evening Post and Takungpao in his early career before his comics became a daily staple in Ming Pao, as well as in the defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily for decades.

Zunzi’s latest comic strip on Wednesday was based on comments made by the chief executive after the bill about implementing Hong Kong’s own national security law was removed from the legislature’s 2022 schedule.

A number of political cartoonists have left Hong Kong in recent months, with many citing concerns about artistic freedom in the city. Hong Kong Worker, vawongsir and Ah To, whose work was also published in Ming Pao, all announced their departures earlier this year.

HKFP has reached to the police and Ming Pao for comment.

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Hongkongers have been sharing memes and metaphors, as well as conspiracy theories, in reaction to the untimely demise of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.

On Tuesday, the Marine Department requested a report into what happened to the iconic seaborne eatery, which sank in the South China Sea on Sunday when passing the disputed Paracel Islands – also known as the Xisha Islands.

Photoshop master SurrealHK was among two artists who appeared to predict Jumbo’s destiny.

He shared an image of Jumbo entering its watery grave on June 14. Self-exiled political cartoonist Ah To posted a picture of the restaurant beneath the waves on June 1.

On Tuesday, SurrealHK posted an updated image of the ill-fated Jumbo flotilla in its heavenly afterlife.

On Twitter, Transit Jam posted an image of Jumbo parked at the Chinese military base in the disputed archipelago.

One Twitter user said “Jumbo does a Titanic,” whilst another quipped: “Swear to God, if this thing shows up in the Spratlys with a helipad and a territorial sea claim I am going to lose it.”

Some suggested Jumbo’s fate was a metaphor for Hong Kong’s future, whilst others shared conspiracy theories that the incident was an ill-intentioned insurance claim.

Cartoonist All Things Bright and Beautiful shared an image of the sunken vessel with the quote: “[I] can imagine how happy the fish will be.”

Marine Department requests report

On Tuesday, the Marine Department said it had demanded a report on the incident after it cleared the vessel to be towed to Cambodia, RTHK reported.

The department added that Jumbo’s owners had hired surveyors to ensure it was sea-worthy, though they had failed to inform the authorities of the accident before news of it was publicised.

“Despite the efforts of the towing company responsible for the trip to rescue the vessel, unfortunately it capsized on Sunday,” a statement from the restaurant’s owner, Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises, said on Monday night.

The company added that, since the water depth exceeded 1,000 metres, it would be too difficult to carry out salvage work. No crew were injured.

The restaurant’s owners had suffered accumulated deficits of more than HK$100 million since 2013 whilst plans to revitalise it in Hong Kong fell through.

When approached by HKFP, the Hong Kong Observatory confirmed that weather conditions had been poor in the region where Jumbo sank over the weekend.

“According to our Marine Forecast over the seas near Paracel Islands on 18 and 19 June, there were moderate to fresh southerly winds, occasionally strong. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Sea wave up to 3 [metres],” it said on Tuesday.

Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises did not respond to HKFP’s enquiries on Tuesday.

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Stand-up comedian Jordan Leung is serious about being funny.

The up-and-coming artist, who returned to Hong Kong from the US in 2020, has been learning Cantonese slang and catchphrases to tune in with the local audience. He enjoys pointing out local nuances and keeps a notebook in his pocket to help him develop ideas and structure them for a performance.

While stand-up comedy in Hong Kong is synonymous with Dayo Wong, whose sold-out stadium shows often revolved around political and social issues, Leung hopes locals can embrace and support other forms of the art.

Standing next to a mic stand and a bar stool on a small stage, 28-year-old Leung made little eye contact as he told jokes in front of a crowd of two dozen or so people on a Saturday night.

Unlike more animated performers, the Hong Kong American stood out with his monotone storytelling. From suggesting why the tale of Santa Claus would not work in Hong Kong due to the lack of chimneys, to relating how his singer-songwriter girlfriend got mad because she was not among the top artists in his Spotify year-end roundup, the audience guffawed and clapped at Leung’s seemingly effortless humour.

The comedian told HKFP it used to take him a full day to prepare for a show, but he can now come up with jokes just five minutes before going on stage.

Leung’s bid to make a name for himself in Hong Kong’s comedy scene began in March 2020, when he decided to move back from the US which was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He only planned on staying for a few months, but his ambitious plan to tour Asia was stalled as Hong Kong and neighbouring countries and regions struggled to curb the spread of the virus.

Leung, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, had relocated to Palo Alto near San Francisco at the age of 15. It took him some time to learn Cantonese slang and catchphrases to connect with the local culture again. It was also challenging to adapt to the Hong Kong crowds, who were relatively new to watching stand-up comedy in a coffee house or a bar.

“In Hong Kong, there is an English audience and a Cantonese audience. Some are not used to the format and some are a bit more uptight… they also compare [the performance] to Dayo Wong’s style, which are two different things,” he said.

He contrasted his Hong Kong appearances with his experience of testing jokes in open mic events in New York, where he spent five years studying and honing the art of comedy.

Comedy God

As one of the pioneers of stand-up comedy in the city, Dayo Wong was nicknamed “Tze-wah God” – based on his Chinese name – for his blunt and catchy punchlines that many thought hit the nail on the head about different social issues. Wong also did not hold back from commenting on politics, such Hong Kong’s relationship with Beijing.

In 2018, he announced his retirement from stand-up. Fans snapped up tickets for 26 sessions of the farewell show at lightning speed.

While Leung said he has a lot of respect for the local stand-up comedy icon, he does not find Wong’s performance style relatable. His favourite stand-up stars are mostly based in the US, including Chinese-American actress Ali Wong who “showed what is possible for Asians in comedy.”

“I think early on I had some hesitations on telling certain jokes, because I thought my parents wouldn’t like [it] if I said this. But Ali Wong gave me the confidence to do it.”

Another comedian Leung admires is the former Canadian actor and writer Norm Macdonald, who died in September. The Hongkonger described him as a comedic genius who shared a similar “dry and deadpan style” to his own on stage.

“[He] gave me more confidence in doing comedy my way – since a lot of early advice I got was people telling me I needed more energy on stage.”

To establish his presence Leung seized every opportunity to perform, including at an elderly home. The performance was “one of the worst,” however, because his jokes about dating apps fell flat with the elders. Some even fell asleep.

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But these shows were crucial in helping Leung increase his exposure and prominence in the community. Eventually he was able to pull off two headline shows, one of them bilingual, and tickets were sold out within two days.

“[The shows] were sold out so fast that I thought there was a bug,” he said.

Passion for comedy

Contrary to people’s impression of stand-up comedians as high-spirited extroverts, Leung has since childhood been quite shy and slow to warm up in front of strangers.

He loved to watch comedy shows on television and his favourite was the Super Trio series, a game show with Hong Kong celebrities as contestants. He would also try to wake up as early as 6 a.m. to watch American sitcoms The Simpsons and Seinfeld.

“I thought [the Super Trio series] was the best TV there was,” Leung recalled.

Following his move to the US, the Hongkonger began to embrace his unique sense of humour. Leung said he was unable to make any new friends in the first year because most of his schoolmates were very academically-driven. But he found a way to make his presence known.

“I did something stupid and shaved my eyebrows off for a bit. Afterwards, everyone at school knew me and I made more friends later.”

Getting serious about being funny had always been one of Leung’s life goals. When he set his mind on enrolling in a class in New York while studying statistics in graduate school, his mother had her doubts. She wanted him to “do something more practical” and not to get any ideas about making a career out of comedy.

“There were a lot of things that I started and ended up quitting within a year or two. After the two, three year mark, I realised [comedy] was something I haven’t given up on: that’s why I really knew I wanted to do it.”

While Leung had hoped he could make a living from comedy, he struggled to turn his gigs into a full-time job in Hong Kong. He said local comedians typically earn around a couple of hundred dollars per show, while private gigs such as corporate shows range from HK$5,000 to HK$10,000.

Leung said there were more shows in the US, which allows less famous comedians to support themselves financially, and he had “more time to think about the art.” The comedy industry in Hong Kong, on the other hand, “has a strong commercial aspect” and comedians often build up their brand by acting as “key opinion leaders” on social media.

“In Hong Kong, you could do every single comedy show and that probably might barely cover your rent,” said Leung, who currently works in the social media sector and decided it was better for him to “do shows for fun” at weekends.

Hong Kong memes

Under the alias 69ranch, Leung frequently creates and shares memes on Instagram about the city’s social phenomena and pop culture. One of his most viewed videos – with close to 4,900 likes – was Leung poking fun at how an American-born Chinese entrepreneur in Hong Kong starts a business, including sourcing products from Chinese shopping platform Taobao and having his mother as one of the investors.

The comedian admitted that he often shies away from politics, saying it is a “new part about Hong Kong” that he is still trying to navigate. But he still produced memes about some controversial policies, including the LeaveHomeSafe Covid-19 tracing app which sparked concerns over personal data privacy.

“I try not to impart a natural opinion or stance,” Leung said. “I think [the memes are] important as a documentation of at the time how people felt about certain things. I don’t take it too personally.”

While most of his posts received more than 2,000 likes, Leung was forced to archive one about wild pigs, which made headlines for weeks last month after the government handed down a catch-and-kill order for boars in urban areas.

Leung joked about people who slammed the culling but found eating char siu – a Cantonese style of barbecued pork – acceptable. He faced a major backlash, with some calling him a moron with no talent who should not do comedy.

Looking back on the controversy, Leung agreed the joke was “a bit insensitive” and friends advised him it was too soon to make jokes. But he said he wanted to make a point about how some people may “move on very fast and eat pork the next day.”

“So in that sense, it had to be posted ‘soon’,” he said.

Although Leung has avoided commenting on politics, he has made quite a number of posts about pro-establishment lawmaker Regina Ip. Asked why he seems intrigued by the legislator who previously led the city’s Security Bureau, Leung said Ip was one of the few politicians who could “offer some comic relief.”

“A lot of people don’t like [Chief Executive] Carrie Lam… Regina Ip is kind of cute and wholesome in a way,” Leung said, giggling. “Many politicians are so hated… the stuff [Ip] posts is very unintentionally funny.”

Burnout

Many thought the success of Leung’s headline shows in April and August meant he would perform stand-up more regularly. The comedian, however, decided to take a break for a few months until November.

“I needed to take a step back and learn to love [comedy] again,” he said. “I had my weekends back… it was nice just to be with my friends and family, and that’s the source for inspiration because I’m living life as a normal person again.”

Upon returning to the local stand-up scene, Leung said he has spotted many new faces – both local Chinese and foreigners – which would help the community grow.

Asked about future plans, Leung said he may hold bigger shows in the coming year, while he awaits the opportunity to test his humour in the rest of Asia, if the pandemic situation allows.

“I think eventually I do want to go back to the US, especially New York, because that is where I started. I want to see how I measure up if I go back.”

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Britain’s spy chief on Thursday thanked China’s state news agency for “free publicity” after it posted a spoof of James Bond that mocked the Western intelligence community’s growing focus on threats posed by Beijing.

The rare response by MI6 head Richard Moore comes as China and Britain clash over Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur minority and creeping authoritarianism in the former British colony of Hong Kong.

Moore — codenamed “C” within the agency — previously said adapting to China’s rise was the spy service’s “single greatest priority” and warned of Chinese “debt traps, data exposure and vulnerability to political coercion.”

Debt traps refer to China extracting concessions such as the use of ports from countries that sign up to its soft-power infrastructure initiative when they default on loan repayments.

In a tongue-in-cheek Twitter post on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua said it had uncovered “leaked video” of a “secret meeting” between British and American spies after Moore bumped Beijing higher on MI6’s agenda.

The attached clip — titled “No Time to Die Laughing” — featured a pair of Chinese actors playing fictional British spies called “James Pond” and “Black Window.”

In his Thursday response, Moore tweeted: “Thank you for your interest (and the unexpected free publicity!)”

He posted a link to a speech he gave in November in which he said China sought to “exploit the open nature” of British society and “distort public discourse and political decision making across the globe.”

In four and a half minutes of what Xinhua called “rib-tickling moments” filled with canned laughter, the elegantly dressed duo enter a castle and start discussing a dossier on Chinese espionage tactics, only to realise the papers actually refer to the United States.

Pond — codenamed “Agent 0.07” — then blasts the “fictional Chinese debt trap and data trap” as a “pathetic” excuse to get more funding for British intelligence.

In a call with an apparent CIA operative, Pond learns the US has tapped his mobile phone. 

He is warned not to buy a model made by sanctioned Chinese company Huawei due to a supposed “backdoor”, before being gifted a new phone by the CIA.

“To be America’s enemy is dangerous,” says the champagne-swilling Pond. “But to be America’s friend is fatal.”

Britain caused outrage in China last year after blocking the involvement of telecoms giant Huawei from involvement in its 5G broadband roll-out, after the US raised spying concerns.

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Australian singer Kimberley Chen has been reading a book her producer gave her: Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. “I think it’s a great book for everybody,” she said.

It’s also a fitting title for this stage of the 27-year-old’s career, as she shrugs off China’s censors and rides a surge in popularity worldwide following her new collaboration with Malaysian artist Namewee on the satirical love song “Fragile.” The runaway hit pokes fun at easily-provoked Chinese sensibilities.

Since its release in mid-October, the song’s music video has been viewed over 27 million times on YouTube and has topped music charts in both Hong Kong and Taiwan, where Chen is based.

“The attention has been a lot. It’s been a bit overwhelming… but it’s a good overwhelming,” the singer told HKFP.

“Fragile” is loaded with references interpreted as digs at China’s legions of easily-angered netizens, as well as jibes at leader Xi Jinping.

Its music video, shot on a cotton-candy pink set mimicking the “Little Pinks” — a reference to China’s nationalist keyboard warriors– features a dancing panda harvesting chives, and waving flags displaying the acronym “NMSL,” commonly used by Chinese internet trolls to insult another user’s mother.

The song’s music video is subtitled in simplified Mandarin, the character system used in mainland China.

One line reads: “Swallowed the apple, then you had to cut the pineapple too.” This is seen as commentary on the forced closure of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily after a national security crackdown this summer and China’s earlier ban on Taiwanese pineapple imports.

Many experience the song’s double entendres as cathartic comedic relief against the backdrop of an increasingly belligerent Beijing, which has engineered a national security crackdown in Hong Kong, raised tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and responded to international criticism of its human rights record and questions over the origins of the Covid-19 virus with coercive diplomacy.

“As a mainlander living in the United States, this song really sings the thought and feelings of overseas Chinese, who feel that the mainland has become more and more terrifying in the past two years,” one YouTube comment reads.

Within three days of its release, Chen’s profile on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform, was suspended and her back catalogue was wiped from China’s internet.

In response to the ban, Chen posted a video of herself on Instagram singing altered lyrics to the chorus of “Fragile.”

“Sorry I hurt you, Weibo suspended? No worries… I still have IG, I still have FB,” she sang, referring to Instagram and Facebook. Both platforms are banned in mainland China.

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Chen told HKFP the video was a way to reclaim the narrative with humour and levity.

“At the time, I thought: ‘What better way than to relay my message through music?'” she said. “So I took charge of how I wanted people to see my message. And what I was trying to say was, ‘Although this happened, I’m OK.'”

Namewee, who has also been blocked in China, has said on his Facebook page that the hit’s runaway success was not because of the song itself, but because “a lot of people have had an awakening.”

‘Respect my decisions’

Chen, who had no part in writing the song, is coy about its intended meaning, saying she did not expect its lyrics and references to be analysed as much as they have been.

“I guess this song goes out to all the sensitive people out there,” she said with a grin.

“When people are making a big deal, or being negative, they say ‘Oh you’re being fragile heart… It’s just a way to say ‘check yourself’… That’s the power of music. It gets through to everyone in different ways and people can think of it in different ways.”

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For the singer, it’s less about standing up to China than standing up for her own values.

“Standing up for what you believe in, no matter what that might be, as long as you do that without attacking people or hurting them physically and mentally, that’s everyone’s right,” she said.

“Everyone has their own voice and their own opinion. When you’re oppressed or censored, it’s never a great feeling because you are the way you’re born. However you’re born, it’s just the way you’re made and you can’t change that, so that’s something that should never be shamed.”

As a Mandarin-language singer, Chen now faces the reality of never again being able to perform for fans in China. It’s a consequence she’s at peace with.

“I will always want to sing wherever I’m welcomed… And if my presence makes people uncomfortable, then I don’t want to force people either. And I never want to force myself onto any situation. So if that’s the decision that people have made, then I respect that too, just like I hope they respect my decisions.”

When asked whether she would consider future concerts in Hong Kong after the release of “Fragile,” she said she would be open to the opportunity, but it may have to be online.

“I would be very happy to see my Hong Kong fans… whether it be online or in person. If the opportunity comes… we’ll definitely do what’s within the law, what is safe.”

‘Don’t be afraid to be yourself’

Chen, who moved from Melbourne to Taipei in 2009 to pursue a career in music, attributed this strong sense of belief to her upbringing in Australia, where she was encouraged to speak up and voice her own opinions.

“As a kid, I was raised in an environment that encouraged us to stand up for what we believe in. And simply raising your hand and asking questions and not being afraid of expressing your opinions. Even if you’re wrong, even if you make mistakes, that’s the whole point of growing up and learning from your mistakes, that’s so important.”

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“Now that I’m older, I have acquired the ability to know when I’ve done the wrong thing, when to apologise, and know my boundaries too. I guess that’s why [this song] comes very close to heart.”

Her decision to collaborate with Namewee also stemmed from an itch to grow as an artist and explore new ways of creating music, saying she felt “stunted” being confined to singing her older, safer songs while in mainland China. Her first hit in 2009 was a love ballad, “Aini” or “Love you.”

“As an artist, when you grow, you want to try different genres, you want to try different styles, you don’t want to limit yourself to singing those safe, ballad love songs,” she said. “So I guess my new material, even before “Fragile” – was already banned. My new material had things like ‘be yourself’… and that was already too much for their system.”

‘Right side of history’

As the song’s popularity keeps growing and views and listens rise into the tens of millions, Chen also hopes that posterity will also judge her well.

“I’m so proud to be on the right side of history, thank you everyone for giving me strength. I will keep going and not give up!” she wrote in an Instagram post.

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“In school, I was a history major. History is a really big thing for me because history is about storytelling,” Chen told HKFP. “And every story, maybe not in the moment, many years after the incident has happened, there’s always been the right side of things. And I really hope that I’m able to stand on the right side of things, I hope that I’m doing the right thing.”

Chen hopes her future work will also bring similar attention to other issues, like climate change.

“It’s just one of the premises of living – to do the right thing, and to hope for the best.”

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When Taiwanese maths teacher Chang Hsu started a YouTube channel to teach calculus in March last year, he needed a strategy to attract students. So he began uploading his educational videos to the kind of websites which college kids tend to watch: Pornhub and Onlyfans.

“Because too many calculus instructional videos have been uploaded to general platforms, in order to make more people notice us we uploaded the videos to adult websites,” Chang, 34, told HKFP. “We did not originally intend to teach on adult websites, it was just a marketing strategy.”

The strategy has worked. Chang, who has uploaded 226 videos onto the adult film sites since May 2020, has garnered around 24,000 subscribers on his YouTube page.

His videos on Pornhub, which range from three minutes to almost an hour, have been viewed a total of 1.9 million times.

“This method is definitely an effective way to attract public attention… it has also definitely attracted students, because most of my students are college students,” he said. “Most college students go to these adult websites, so a large percentage of them will see me, they will have an impression of me.”

Chang told HKFP that, although his videos aren’t the most popular on Pornhub — his account is ranked 685th — they nonetheless make an impression. “I believe that many people may forget the adult actresses they have seen, but they should always remember the maths teacher from Taiwan who teaches calculus on an adult website.”

“I can probably be considered the biggest ethnically Chinese calculus teacher on Pornhub.”

‘Very amusing’

Reaction to Chang’s unexpected videos has been mixed.

“People all over the world think I’m just joking. Most of them think this kind of behaviour is very amusing. I rarely see comments criticising me,” he said.

His students, meanwhile, are mostly blasé about his initiative. “I have never seen any comments that are from my students, or even parents. Because my students are all grown-ups, they won’t really feel any animosity to my uploading videos to adult websites, because it is also likely to be part of their daily lives,” Chang said.

He has, however, drawn some scorn from other cram school teachers. “I’m usually criticised by other cram school teachers. They may dislike me because their students switched to my courses because of my marketing strategy and quality teaching content. But they are still a minority, so it doesn’t bother me that much.”

‘Every means to survive’

While Chang’s unconventional approach has brought him success, his entrepreneurial efforts to expand his teaching business are not just a gimmick, they are a lifeline.

Chang told HKFP his new teaching channel was an effort to claw his way back from large debts and deep depression.

In January last year, the cram school he founded was shuttered without his knowledge by a former employee he had entrusted with running it. The employee then opened a new school in the same building.

“His behaviour caused me to instantly lose all sources of income. I was already burdened with a lot of debts, so [the former employee’s] behaviour actually caused very serious harm to me. I even wanted to commit suicide for a while,” he said.

In an effort to recoup his losses, Chang, who has taught calculus for over a decade, revamped his old cram school into a studio to film educational videos. With the help of other teachers, he began building the brand “ChangHsuMathsTeacher.”

The first days of operations were a flurry of attempts to gain maximum exposure, he said, as he was on the brink of bankruptcy. His team shot 100 videos within the first month. Other projects included two continuous 10-hour videos to solve 100 calculus problems.

He has also shot a 32-hour video teaching high school calculus.

Almost two years on, Chang’s online teaching platform has over 1,000 students.

“More and more international media are reporting about us, but most of them focus on our current success or interesting marketing strategies. But I think the more important thing is that we were actually trying to save ourselves from failure, so we tried every means to survive. Uploading the video to the adult website is just one of the various methods we tried.”

He told HKFP he hoped his story will inspire others not to give up hope.

“I hope that through this hidden part of my story, I can give more people the strength to let them know that maybe if they stick to a certain path, they will see the dawn of hope.”

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As Chinese state media ramps up its support for leader Xi Jinping ahead of a pivotal plenary of Communist Party figures next week, Twitter users have satirised the gushing praise.

Around 400 party members on the Central Committee will gather in Beijing for a closed-door meeting from Monday until Thursday ahead of next year’s 20th party congress.

Xi’s ambition to rule for life and achieve a status similar to his predecessor Mao Zedong is likely to be cemented at the 2022 meeting.

“This is a man of determination and action, a man of profound thoughts and feelings, a man who inherited a legacy but dares to innovate, a man who has forward-looking vision and is committed to working tirelessly,” a tweet from state-run news wire Xinhua said.

Another post quoting Xi as saying: “I want to love the people like I love my parents.”

The posts attracted ridicule from China watchers, journalists and academics on Twitter. “Find yourself a partner who loves you the way Xinhua loves the way Xi Jinping loves the people the way he loves his parents,” tweeted journalist Laurel Chor.

Others pointed to other men “of determination and action,” such as Robocop, Winnie the Pooh, Jeff Bezos, Doraemon, Donald Trump, and the dog which features in the “I am fine” room-of-flames meme.

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“You Only Live Once” (YOLO) has become the Hong Kong Police Force’s latest attempt to get youngsters not to take drugs.

As part of their Anti-Drugs Month campaign, the force sent a virtual reality promotional truck around the city so Hongkongers can “experience the harmful hallucinations of drug abuse.”

“If you want to find out what ketamine, cannabis, ice or cocaine smells like… you should come and visit the truck!” the police’s website read.

However, netizens were quick to point out the irony in the police message, as according to the Cambridge Dictionary, YOLO “means you should do things that are enjoyable or exciting, even if they are silly or slightly dangerous.”

The phrase, popular among youngers on social media, is a call to live life to the fullest and seize the day.

“Are they indirectly encouraging [people to] take drugs?” A netizen commented on LIHKG, a popular online forum in Hong Kong.

“Can they not screw up for once?” Another comment read.

Ronaldo meme

The police also used famous footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as part of their campaign, and said that the footballer “was also really angry when he saw drugs,” and would like to remind people to reject illegal substances.

The post came after Ronaldo told journalists to drink water and placing two bottles of Coca-Cola out of sight in a press conference for Portugal’s Euro 2020 opening game.

On Monday, police said they had seized over HK$50 million worth of cannabis, ketamine, cocaine, heroin and ice and made 184 arrests in an effort to tackle illegal drugs ahead of summer.

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Some time back in around 2015, five researchers from, respectively, Harvard, the London School of Economics, the University of New South Wales (disclosure: my alma mater), the University of Chicago and Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich got together. They were interested in the dynamics of political protest movements and directed their attention to Hong Kong.

They had – or declared themselves to have – no relevant or material financial interests – i.e., they were not climate researchers being paid by ExxonMobil, tobacco researchers being paid by Philip Morris or insurgents being paid by the CIA (or its fronts).

They applied for and were awarded a grant from the European Research Council under its Horizon 2020 programme. This grant, number 716837, was for the research programme Demand for Democracy, with a total funding of €1,494,647 (HK$14 million) during its continuance from 2017-2022.

Parts 1 and 2 of the programme focused on the student population. Part 3 extends the programme to study the population of Hong Kong as a whole, and Part 4 to include residents of the People’s Republic of China. Given those numbers, it seems likely that the amount allocated to Parts 1 and 2 was relatively small.

As is the norm in social science research, some smoke and mirrors was necessary. Students were told that volunteers were needed to count crowd sizes, at both the July 1, 2017 protest march and, a week later, at the MTR. The response rates were not significantly different. The students duly collected took the photos as instructed and were paid. They were also asked, through presumably devious means, if they would have attended the march anyway; about 40 had not planned to but did.

Mindful of the students’ safety, the researchers assessed that, given that every single July 1 March from 2003 to 2016 had been entirely peaceful, the risk was no larger “than those ordinarily encountered in daily life of the population.” The march was legal; people were exercising their right under Article 4 of the Basic Law to assemble freely and received a Letter Of No Objection from the police. Indeed, the government said in a statement that it respected the right to peaceful assembly.

The following year, in the 2018 march – also legal and LONO’ed – the researchers followed up. They did not pay, encourage or discourage anyone to attend, but instead looked at those in their sample to see who had attended both marches. The researchers’ conclusion was, in plain language, that money may induce a person to attend a rally once, but that his or her peers are a far greater influence on whether the person will go back a second time.

The results of the first two parts are in the snappily entitled paper, Persistent Political Engagement: Social Interactions and the Dynamics of Protest Movements, published in the just-released June edition of the American Economic Review: Insights.

An editorial in Sing Pao newspaper declared that the smoking gun had been found. Subsequent pieces in various pro-Beijing papers said the research paper proved without doubt that foreign forces had paid students to protest (the students were paid to count crowd sizes, not to protest) at the 2019 (not 2017) march. The 2019 march did turn violent, albeit only at the fringes and unlike the 2017 march.

Now, it’s worth pointing out that the research took place after the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy movement, which was perhaps a factor in Hong Kong being chosen for it. It is also worth pointing out that the researchers are clever people at some of the world’s top universities. As such, it is not merely credible but likely that in 2015 they anticipated that, in 2018, someone would murder his girlfriend in Taiwan, that Hong Kong’s CENO would be morally outraged, rush through an unpopular bill and thereby spark an uprising that would ultimately land us where we are.

Quite.

The thing about conspiracy theories is that any inconvenient fact is brushed aside with the stock response: “Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they?” The five researchers’ declarations of financial motivation are whitewash for the naive: at best, the researchers were manipulated by malevolent forces, at worst, far from being innocent academics, they are part of a cabal scheming to achieve the overthrow of China’s government.

Nor is the European Research Council the arms-length funder of research it purports to be, but a front for the EU’s well-known spy apparatus. To suppose that the EU has no such apparatus is, again, naive – of course they would want you to think that. The fact that the paper was published now, two years after the research, is nothing to do with “so-called” peer-review, but was to ensure that it was vetted to disguise the fact that the EU was interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs.

As to the protest, let’s set aside the researchers’ claims that only a few hundred students (849, to be precise) were involved in the research, that no more than 40 extra, or 0.1 per cent, attended the march (most were going to go, anyway), and that only half of them were paid. Had the research not taken place, the theorists crow, almost none of the 50,000-odd marchers would have turned up. They turned up, not because they were protesting, but in anticipation that they would be paid (to count each other). And paid by the European Research Council, no less. Money laundering, cut and dried!

As to the payment, the researchers’ claim in the following is nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing: “Directly paying for turnout could potentially generate a set of compliers [those students who are in the study] very different from the typical protest participants we hope to study. To generate a strong first stage [the 2017 rally] without paying directly for turnout, we pay for behaviour conditional on turnout: providing information that would help estimate crowd sizes at the protest.”

The fact that, the following weekend, another group was paid to estimate crowd sizes in MTR stations was, of course, just more camouflage. (For the pecuniary-minded, the payment was HK$350.)

For years, the Hong Kong government has been attempting to blame foreign interference for its political unrest. In November 2019, a certain other journalist got very excited about the US’s National Endowment for Democracy, which turned out to be a squib so damp it was soaking. This latest bout of hysteria portrays an even more ludicrously distorted version of reality.

It is plausible that individuals who live overseas have sought to get people out on to Hong Kong’s streets. It is plausible that some of those individuals paid into crowd-funding platforms in the full knowledge that their money would be used to break the law, and sometimes even for violence. It is even plausible that some of those people seek to overthrow the Communist Party of China.

But that is not the narrative that is being bandied around. The narrative being bandied around is that foreign governments are motivating, directing and funding the protests; that some protesters are merely naive but that others – that “tiny minority” – are agents of those foreign governments; that the entire dissatisfaction and, later, insurgency, was not home-grown but implanted.

That’s a big claim to make. I am not saying it is utterly implausible, but five boffins in ivory towers does not, for me, cut it. Mind you, at the current exchange rates, the grant money works out as about 43,000 payments of HK$350 – the size of the 2017 and 2018 marches. Q.E.D., I suppose.

Correction 6.15: A previous version of this article mistakenly stated that a government statement was taken down from its website. The correct link has been included.

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An online art project has been launched to let people create “poems” using the novelty car licence plates which are ubiquitous in Hong Kong. Visitors to the site “HKVANIT1ES” can choose from a collection of 2,500 plates to piece together quirky, unexpected sentences.

“Poems” on social media with the hashtag “#HKVANIT1ES” are shared on the site for others to enjoy. “CAT. U WISH. I WILL. LOVE UU. MIAO MIAO. PK88,” one reads.

Hong Kong-based Italian artist Michele Salati, who created the site, told HKFP the project was a new way for Hongkongers to express themselves. “The HKVANIT1ES project invites [people] to engage in this exploration and discovery of the city in a light and playful way,” he said in an email.

“Each plate is like a line of poetry racing through the bustling streets of the city. It is poetry in motion,” he continued. “This gave me the idea to collect images of thousands of vanity plates so they can be mixed and matched into poems.”

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A post shared by HongKongVanities (@hkvanit1es)

The site’s collection of vanity plates was collated from other social media accounts dedicated to personalised car plates on Facebook and Instagram. They range from the humourous (“SLOWDOWN”), to the philosophical (“NOT2BE”), to the unexpected (“ARGH”). Plates are listed alphabetically for easy navigation.

The artist said the diversity of car plates was a reflection of the different types of Hongkongers. “When I first discovered the vanity plates, it just made sense that a city with this extraordinary visual density would use vanity plates to make personal statements circulate through the city.”

“Vanity plates are the ultimate non-essential car accessory used by owners to highlight their status, wealth, humour, desires, beliefs or superstitions – and in Hong Kong, they can be seen everywhere,” he said.

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A post shared by HongKongVanities (@hkvanit1es)

The project has also caught the attention of local hip-hop artist Dough-Boy, who created a rap based on the HKVANIT1ES database.

Besides injecting tongue-in-cheek humour onto Hong Kong’s roads, personalised car plates are widely considered to be status symbols. Last month, a car plate that read “W” sold for HK$26 million at an auction held by the Transport Department.

The department introduced a personalised car plates registration scheme in 2006, allowing for the creation of plates of up to eight characters, using a combination of letters and numbers or just letters or numbers alone. Proceeds go to a government charity fund.

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The Economist‘s cover story this week labelling Taiwan as “the most dangerous place on Earth” has received pushback from Taiwanese Twitter users, who criticised the article as being alarmist.

The article raised concerns over a potential conflict between the US and mainland China over the self-ruled island, calling on both superpowers to avoid war.

Some Taiwanese Twitter users expressed concern that the article reduced their home into a pawn for international affairs: “Most dangerous place on Earth is [in] the minds of Western elites who thinks Taiwan as nothing more than a problem to be ‘solved,'” Chieh-Ting Yeh, Vice Chairman of the Global Taiwan Institute.

Others made light of The Economist’s warning. One user tweeted pictures of popular Taiwanese food: “I totally agree with the Economist. Taiwan is the most dangerous place in the world if you’re trying to lose weight.”

The publication’s China affairs editor Gady Epstein tweeted that the headline was “dramatic” but said the article provided “a sober, informative analysis of a complex topic, from multiple angles.”

The piece comes amid growing fears Beijing will invade Taiwan as soon as it achieves the military ability to do so. In March, the US Chief of the Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Phil Davidson said he feared Beijing would attack the island within six years.

In response, three China experts wrote an op-ed for NPR warning against playing up the risk of war over Taiwan. “Hyping the threat that China poses to Taiwan does Beijing’s work for it. Taiwan’s people need reasons for confidence in their own future, not just reminders of their vulnerabilities,” the article read.

Beijing views democratic, self-governed Taiwan as one of its provinces and sees any diplomatic recognition by foreign powers of the Taiwanese administration as an attack on its sovereignty under its “One China” principle.

The US, meanwhile, acknowledges there is “One China” but continues to maintain unofficial diplomatic ties with Taipei.

The Chinese Communist regime has repeatedly voiced its intention to claim the island — by force, if necessary. Chinese military planes make regular incursions into Taiwanese airspace. A Reuters report last December found Beijing has started to launch “gray-zone warfare” in a attempt to exhaust the Taiwanese army.

China’s Ministry of Defence said on Friday that activity by US military ships and surveillance planes directed at China has increased under President Joe Biden’s administration, according to the Associated Press.

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About one fifth of the sexual harassment complaints received by the Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunities Commission last year resulted in successful conciliation between the parties, government data has shown. However, it is difficult to fully interpret the figures because in many cases details of the agreement or settlement are not known.

In a written response to a question from pro-establishment lawmaker Elizabeth Quat at the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau gave statistics on sexual harassment complaints the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) received in the past two years, and the numbers for their outcomes.

Of 144 sexual harassment complaints the EOC received in 2020, 30 ended with successful conciliation by the EOC, while four cases were unsuccessful.

In 79 of the cases investigations were discontinued and 31 of are ongoing.

The EOC typically fields complaints on discrimination of all kinds, including gender, ethnicity or disability, and enforces them based on the city’s discrimination laws. Once it receives a complaint, the EOC will conduct an investigation.

The body’s complaints system is geared towards settling disputes between parties through conciliation, according to the EOC’s complaints handling procedures: “Conciliation looks for common ground to help resolve the matter to the satisfaction of both parties so that both can move beyond the dispute.”

Once parties reach a settlement through successful conciliation, they could sign a legally binding agreement, which may come in the form of an apology, changes of policies and practices, re-instatement or a monetary settlement.

But if the agency deems the complaint lacks substance or no unlawful act was involved, the investigation will be discontinued.

If an attempt of conciliation is not successful, however, complainants can apply to the EOC for legal assistance and pursue alternative civil legal proceedings.

Correction 12.4. 21: A previous version of this article stated that the EOC fields complaints on discrimination based on sexual orientation. It does not.

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By Mart van de Ven

Three weeks of percolating in a hotel room is now the price of admission or re-admission to the city. So how can you keep yourself from going steaming mad? We’ve compiled tips and resources you’ll need to survive – nay! dare we say, thrive – during a mandatory sojourn in splendid isolation.

Before coming to Hong Kong

With a bit of planning and care, you’ll remember why, once upon a time, people stayed in hotels voluntarily.

1. Join a support group

No, really, even if you genuinely don’t have a problem! The HK Quarantine support group is a fabulous chronicle of all the wisdom and woes of the thousands of travellers who have gone before you. Use search to find reviews, tips, and posts relevant to you.

2. Book your stay

A gift is only as good as the box it comes in. Heed those words when shopping for a box in which to receive the gift of quarantine! The restricted list of 36 hotels was published in an unsightly PDF. Thanks to Grégoire Tavernier however, it’s now also available as a crowd-sourced and crowd-pleasing spreadsheet. The sheet lists all the potential rooms by type, rate, size, and more. Use filters to narrow down the selection to your budget and preference. Then head over to the support group for reviews of those options with pictures.

Also:

• Confirm the cancellation terms – some hotels are dancing around the terms, so it’s best to get clarity about conditions for modifying/cancelling your booking and at what cost. Get it in writing before booking.
• Book early, despite uncertainty – although the “average” occupancy rate was reported to be as low as 40 per cent, for more moderately priced options it was 90 per cent. Book early if you want one of the better deals.
• Get a booking confirmation directly from your hotel. At least one traveller was barred from boarding as their booking site confirmation had literally translated the hotel’s Chinese name into English and thus it couldn’t be cross-referenced with the restricted list. Oy vey!

3. Keep yourself informed

The rules of the game keep changing, so:

• Read up on the latest rules, requirements and procedures on the government’s official site Specifically, consult the inbound travel section.
• Check the Covid-related policies of your airline and departing airport. There might be additional documentary requirements before you can fly.
• Some overseas ground staff might be misinformed, and bar you from your flight even though you’ve got everything right. In those cases, be prepared to show them the proof from the government’s official site, or have them call the Hong Kong immigration hotline +852 1868 to clarify your case.

Upon starting your quarantine

Unless you’re a claustrophile – in which case, congratulations on winning the psychological lottery – you’re going to want to squeeze every bit of space out of your space.

4. Maximize usable space

Default hotel room layouts are inefficient, so rearrange the room to e.g. have more space to exercise (in front of the TV) or set up your desk.

5. Discover hidden storage spaces

See if there are any removable prettification panels – ditch them! – and free up some more space!

6. Use the hallway for storage…

… to make your room feel less like a temporary stay, and more like what it truly is, your sparkly new home!

7. Trap items under the bed

It’s best to move anything you won’t be using to places you won’t be going. Also store bed linen and towels under the bed – wrap them in plastic to keep them clean – and wham! you’ve just freed up some more space! Potentially, hotel staff will also remove excess items if you ask them to.

As creatures we also need our comforts. So if possible, prepare a package with everything for your quarantine before you leave Hong Kong, and have it delivered to your hotel on the day of your arrival. Bring everything you know you will need, but also:

8. Bring your home office

Laptops trade comfort for portability, and let’s face it, you’re not going anywhere. So, bring in your desk chair along with an external monitor so you can keep your chin up!

9. Extend your desk

Hotel desks tend to be devised with guests of a short stature in mind. So rather than getting jolted with pixel bliss from close-screen proximity, extend the depth of your desk with your suitcase (plus some prettification panels you pillaged earlier). This way you’ll be at a comfortable distance from your screen, and retain your eyesight for when you’re released back into the wild.

10. Deliver the yums

The meal plans that are included are a bit lacklustre, so check out your delivery options via Deliveroo, Foodpanda, or Uber Eats. Wellcome, Park ‘n Shop’, Market Place and other supers also deliver.

11. Gear up on the cheap

Buying new exercise equipment or entertainment devices for just three weeks might seem wasteful. So instead, buy them second hand and resell upon your release. You’ll just end up paying a small “rental” fee if you buy wisely. For example, a Nintendo Switch with Ringfit Adventure on Carousell is excellent for exercise and has great resale value. You can ask the seller to deliver it to your hotel via a courier service.

And finally, for your own sanity’s sake – bring on the fairy lights and throw yourself a party!

Mart van de Ven is a principal at the Droste data science consultancy and co-founder of Open Data Hong Kong. He is a linguist who fell to the dark side of numbers, the purveyor of super deluxe tours of Kowloon, and marks his relationship status with spreadsheets as “complicated”.

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LATEST ON COVID-19 IN HONG KONG

HKFP GUIDES

By John Glenis

Following a ban on yellow masks during a court hearing, certain people were quick to criticise the move. However, it may just be a fantastic opportunity to build on it, and take the argument a step further. The government is here to safeguard national security and as such, protect us from anything yellow.

It would be reasonable then to assume that bananas pose a direct threat to Chinese sovereignty, especially the ones that have been shamelessly yellow since time immemorial and continue to do so without remorse. Our patriotic government should step in and make arrangements so that ripe yellow bananas never reach unsuspecting consumers: bananas should be sold only when green. Naturally, the same goes for all yellow fruit and vegetables: mangoes, sweet corn, yellow bell peppers and so on.

The government should provide clear guidelines as to what food is patriotic and what separatist. Apples, of a bright red colour, should be deemed nationally appropriate. Nevertheless, people had better avoid eating apples daily as this might be considered indirect support for radical journalism. Tomatoes, berries (esp. blueberries) and all fruit and vegetables of a colour that is red or reddish or at the very least not radical should be deemed wholesome and politically edible.

But the argument goes well beyond mere food. Words can be radicalised or promote national terrorism as well. An obvious one would be “yellow” – that has got to go. Then, there are others not so obvious. For example, anyone by the name of Wong poses a national threat, as their name is directly associated with radical yellow. That family name has got to go too.

And what about foreign interference, which is often beyond our patriotic reach? It is honestly inconceivable that an entity of such explosive nature as the Sun has been allowed to cast its yellow rays into peaceful Hong Kong, day after day, without permission from the proper authorities. Understandably, this is one yellow object rather difficult to tame, but once again I am optimistic our ever resourceful government will find a way. To begin with, I humbly suggest installing glass block windows in all our courtrooms, and if the measure proves successful in all government buildings.

It is frightening how much our society has been associated with yellow items and concepts, and I understand the task to completely erase everything yellow may seem a daunting one. But I have trust in our government, as it has been working round the clock to keep us safe and give us a rest.

For my part, I try my best to steer clear of anything yellow. And if sunbathing ever becomes an act of sedition, I’ll be the first to give it up. Allow me to start small though: the above photo of my carefully chosen bunch of bananas serves as proof of my own patriotism and loyalty.

John Glenis has been working in Hong Kong as a lecturer for the last ten years. His academic studies focus on linguistics, translation and lexicography. Over the years, he has particularly concentrated on the application of psychology and psycholinguistics in language acquisition and memory enhancement.

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YouTuber Mike Chen has urged fellow comic Nigel Ng to do “his own research” on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the comedian behind the “Uncle Roger” persona apologised to Chinese fans and deleted a video collaboration over Chen’s critical stance on Beijing.

Chen told HKFP that Ng had not notified him before issuing the apology on Weibo and taking down the video. He added that he had not agreed to removing the clip, which remains available elsewhere on Facebook.

Ng issued an apology on China’s twitter-like Weibo on Tuesday for creating a “bad social impact” with the video after multiple users reported it. He also said that he was not aware of Chen’s “incorrect remarks” about China prior to their collaboration.

“I think the comments he’s referring to is my post on the 21st anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square, something the CCP tries hard to cover up and erase,” Chen said. “For the record, I stand by all the comments I’ve made about the CCP.”

Chen also appealed to Malaysian-born Ng to “see for himself” if Chen’s remarks were “really ‘incorrect’.”

“I do hope that Nigel does his own research on the CCP, and sees for himself if my remarks on China are really ‘incorrect.’ Living in the UK grants him that basic freedom, something not afforded to the millions under CCP rule.”

Last year, Ng shot to fame and gained over three million YouTube subscribers as his orange polo shirt-wearing Asian “uncle” caricature went viral reviewing cookery videos.

‘Disappointed in you’

Netizens had also reacted strongly to Ng’s apology, with many criticising him for apparent self-censorship.

Why so weak Uncle Roger?

Everyone please use the #UnsubscribeUncleRoger hashtag to boost your signal! 📣 pic.twitter.com/6Uj3Ct2sY0

— James Lee Proudfoot (@PhilosophyNook) January 12, 2021

“Never expect much from Uncle Roger but still a bit disappointed to see how low he can go for the Chinese market,” said a Twitter user, urging others to unsubscribe from Ng’s YouTube channel.

“How’s the taste of Chinese Money?” Another user said.

“Unsubscribe quickly, Uncle Roger has to concentrate on entering China,” said a netizen on LIHKG, a local forum in Hong Kong.

Others have remarked on the possible reason behind Ng’s quick response and apology.

“Maybe there’s some collaboration with a Chinese brand or platform in the works that Ng is afraid of compromising,” wrote journalist James Griffiths on Twitter, who penned a book on censorship in China. “On his Weibo apology, most of the comments are people confused about what he’s even talking about, which would seem to suggest that this was pushed by a Chinese partner, not social media backlash.”

Chen, who has faced criticism from pro-China netizens for being a Falun Gong practitioner, said he held “no animosity” against Ng, and “it’s not an easy thing to stand up to the CCP and I get that.”

“[B]ecause of their money and influence, not many dare to speak up against them. I know I have a small platform but I will always do what I can to give a voice to those who do not but are desperately in need of one,” he said

Chen also cited multiple examples such as the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, the Chinese government’s treatment of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, as well as Beijing’s alleged cover-up of the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and crackdown in Hong Kong.

“I do want to emphasize, I LOVE China. China is a place of rich beautiful history, kind hearted people and a place I wish I could go back to every single day. The Chinese Communist Party is not equal to China itself and certainly does not represent the good Chinese people,” he added.

HKFP has reached out to Ng for comment.

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The comedian behind “Uncle Roger” has apologised to Chinese fans and deleted a video featuring a fellow YouTube star who has voiced criticism of Beijing.

Update: YouTuber urges ‘Uncle Roger’ comic to research Communist Party

Nigel Ng, the UK-based Malaysian comedian behind the comedic persona posted a collaboration with Mike Chen of the “Strictly Dumpling” channel on Monday critiquing a dumpling recipe video.

But Ng had removed the clip by Tuesday and posted an apology to China’s Twitter-like Weibo, saying the video had created a “bad social impact” after multiple users reported it.

“My staff and I would like to express our sincerest apologies to everyone. Considering the seriousness of this issue and negative impact of the video itself, we discussed internally and decided to take it down… I wasn’t aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China. This is my negligence…” he wrote.

Ng added that he loved Chinese culture as he appealed for a “chance to improve.”

Tiananmen criticism

Chen has often criticised Beijing on Twitter, voicing concern over the treatment of Uighur minorities as well as opposition to the controversial Hong Kong national security law.

In a tweet from 2019, he said that “since the communist party took over, it has caused the deaths of at least 40 million people (probably much more) during the great famine.”

Last June, he expressed sympathy for those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre: “Today, on the 31st anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire on protesters in and around Tiananmen Square. The people of HK are facing a similar standoff over freedom, democracy and basic human rights.”

Ng shot to fame and gained over three million subscribers as his orange polo shirt-wearing Asian “uncle” caricature went viral last year.

‘Pandering’

Ng’s move attracted criticism on Twitter. One user wrote that the comedian was “disgracefully sacrificing his basic morality to pander to his China fans.”

However, another tweeted that she was bewildered over how “all these mainland Chinese voices keep storming platforms ostensibly banned in mainland China demanding that creators on them do or say specific pro-China things.”

Copies of the deleted clip – which did not contain any political references – remained live on Facebook and in YouTube “reaction” videos as of Tuesday evening.

HKFP has reached out to Ng and Chen for comment.

Additional reporting: Candice Chau.

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I am still worrying about the implications of a story the other week, which recorded that a shop selling face masks had closed because of fears that its wares might contravene the new national security law.

One of the controversial items was a yellow mask (a subversive colour?) bearing the initials FDNOL.

It appeared from the attached picture that these letters were so small as to be barely visible to the naked eye. But some national security enthusiast had noticed them, and deduced that they were supposed to stand for one of last year’s popular slogans: Five Demands Not One Less.

I do not recall that the five demands actually included anything hostile to national security. One of them, the withdrawal of the extradition bill, had already been conceded. The withdrawal of the word “riot” in official descriptions of one event was a purely verbal request, and the idea of an inquiry into policing was quite popular even in pro-government circles.

Lots of countries have occasional amnesties without imperilling their security and democracy is, after all, described as a desirable destination in the Basic Law. So the slogan seems to suffer from guilt by association with the people who like it, rather than any intrinsic legal problem.

Anyway I shall leave that question to more learned pens. What bothers me is the ambiguity involved in criminalising a set of initials. These are always ambiguous. There was a good example the other week: someone who ended a sympathetic email to a bereaved friend LOL, thinking it meant Lots of Love, only to discover that the recipient decoded it as Laughing Out Loud.

After all FDNOL could stand for a variety of things besides five demands etc. Fidel’s Definitely Not Our Leader, perhaps. Or Fearful Ducks Nest On Lampposts. How about Fairies Dance Near Our Lodgings?

I quite see that you might jump to a conclusion on this matter if you saw the fatal letters waved at a protest demonstration. But in tiny letters on a face mask? The national security law is frighteningly ambiguous, but is there not a venerable legal principle (encased, as such principles tend to be, in a bit of Latin), which goes “De minimis non curat lex”, usually translated as “The law does not concern itself with trifles”?

The other sensitive slogan presents even more problems. This is “Free Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” whose Chinese version has already sprouted a variety of interesting disguises.

The English initials present an opportunity for serious ambiguity. In the first place the “Free” character in Chinese is sometimes translated as “Liberate”. Hong Kong in some publications is one word. So for this part of the slogan we could have FHK, LHK, FH or LH.

The revolution part has other possibilities. Anyone for a patriotic tee-shirt urging us to ROOT for Hong Kong?

The trouble with getting excited about subversive abbreviations is that some people will regard it as a challenge. New formulations will appear. For DAB haters we could have FTDAB. Fans of our glorious leader might like OLIASC. For the footloose: IM OK BNO.

Whether these would be acceptable as number plates is an interesting question. As it happens I was a member of the number plate vetting committee for many years (an underpaid but entertaining job) and I cannot recall any plausible pretext for refusing BE WATER. The Transport Department has banned it anyway.

Well of course the times are a-changing, and this is happening quite fast. The ink was barely dry on my piece about the need to consider when to leave when it emerged that people migrating to the UK under the BNO scheme would not be able to take their MPF money with them. Or as a number plate might put it BNO NO $$$.

The news that various people’s bank accounts have been frozen also had a chilling effect (sorry).

It would be nice if our leaders discouraged amateur witch-hunters from looking too zealously for possible national security violations. Initials have a meaning only to people who are already politically activated one way or the other. We were told when the national security law first appeared that of course nobody would be prosecuted merely for waving a banner or shouting a slogan. 

Well, that turned out to be a good joke. But we are not ROFL-ing.

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This is a tale of two cities over two dates. Fred Frankfurter lives in New York, where he works as a stock chooser, or securities analyst as they call it in the industry.

Being an outspoken person with strong views, he is often invited to appear on the sort of television programme in which punters are encouraged and advised about their efforts to invest, or gamble as they call it in the casino business, in the stock market.

On one of these occasions he is asked to comment on prospects for investment in Asia. He says, among other things, that Taiwan looks a promising bet and will continue to be one as long as it remains independent of China.

This would normally be lost in the cacophony of multi-channel mass media but as luck would have it, the snippet is picked up by an enthusiastic supporter of the current Taiwan government, translated into Chinese, and turned into a tweet.

This is retweeted by other fans of Taiwan, which of course brings it to the attention of people who are not fans of Taiwan, who also retweet it, with derogatory comments attached. A small Twitter storm ensues.

This attracts the attention of a few of the real newspapers (sorry, I’m a pre-digital). So Mr Frankfurter, who is blissfully ignorant of these goings-on, has 15 minutes of fame in Taipei — where he is praised as a perceptive reader of the international tea leaves — and in Beijing — where he is lambasted as part of the American plot to dismember China.

Our hero is then invited to address a business conference in Hong Kong. At this point, he becomes aware of his modestly controversial status in the China-watching world, and consults his company’s legal advisor, Hiram Hamburger, about the possible hazards of visiting Hong Kong. The year now becomes critical.

If this story was happening in 2019 Mr Hamburger’s advice would be clear and simple. The Hong Kong legal system is like the American one. You cannot be prosecuted for expressing a political opinion. Also you cannot be prosecuted for anything you said or did in New York. Any Hong Kong magistrate will throw the charge out in the first hearing because the courts do not have jurisdiction over things that happen in New York.

“Go ahead,” Mr Hamburger will say. “Nothing bad can happen.”

Now let us suppose the story is happening now, in 2020 under the national security law. Mr Frankfurter’s invitation is to come as soon as virus travel restrictions are lifted.

This time, Mr Hamburger’s reply goes something like this. “We have heard a lot about recent legal changes in Hong Kong and I have not yet had time to study all of them. But look, here is a letter in The Economist from Matthew Cheung, who describes himself as the Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Government.

“Mr Cheung says that the new national security law is not sweeping. It focuses on four clearly defined activities, and there is nothing to fear. He says that Hong Kong’s fundamental freedoms remain intact under the Basic Law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. So, it seems nothing has changed. You go ahead. What could go wrong?”

Well quite a lot, actually. Mr Frankfurter steps off the plane and is promptly arrested by the section of the Hong Kong police force which seems to spend most of its time chasing subversive kids.

He is charged with secession. As with all national security cases, the presumption is that bail will be refused. “Just a minute,” he tells the magistrate, “surely I cannot be prosecuted for things said in New York.” The magistrate gently points out that the new national security legislation applies everywhere and to everyone, whether Hong Kong residents, Chinese citizens, or neither.

At this point, the US government complains that one of its citizens is being prosecuted for something which was not an offence in the jurisdiction within which it took place. A diplomatic tussle begins.

Anxious to save the Hong Kong government from being involved in this rumble, the mainland authorities decide that it would be more expedient if Mr Frankfurter’s offence was dealt with in a mainland court. He is handed over to mainland security agents in Hong Kong, who take him across the border.

Here, he is introduced to an extremely uncomfortable chair and invited to sign a confession. He is tried and convicted. The conviction rate in mainland criminal trials is well over 99 per cent. Mr Frankfurter serves his term in a Chinese jail and is deported as an undesirable.

Returning to New York he has a poignant meeting with his colleague, Mr Hamburger.

Hard words are exchanged. Hamburger says he relied on the best information available at the time. Frankfurter says that many of the people he met in his Hong Kong prison thought it was hilarious that he had apparently decided to risk the trip on the basis of assurances from the Hong Kong government that nothing had changed.

Their boss, Ben Burrito, says they have both been foolish and gullible. You cannot rely on statements by officials. You cannot rely on what you read in the news publications. Statements by officials for news publications are good for only one thing. In fact, it’s not even that good for it. Real toilet paper is softer.

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America’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo assails China nearly daily, but he says his dog isn’t part of his campaign.

Pompeo raised eyebrows among students of social media tea leaves when he posted a picture of his dog looking ready to tear into a toy Winnie the Pooh.

“Mercer and all of her favorite toys!” the canine-loving secretary of state tweeted from his personal account.

Chinese social media users have frequently used the jolly bear as a meme for President Xi Jinping, although the country’s thorough censors have little sense of humor about it.

Asked in an interview Wednesday whether this was “Winnie the Pooh-gate,” Pompeo appeared oblivious.

“No, I imagine there were a series of stuffed animals, and they were equally distributed for Mercer’s benefit,” Pompeo told Iowa conservative radio host Simon Conway.

When told that the BBC had run a story musing about a deeper meaning, Pompeo laughed and said, “I hadn’t seen that.”

AA Milne’s loveable but slow-witted bear with a weakness for honey picked up as a meme after pictures of Xi alongside slender former US president Barack Obama, who drew comparisons to Winnie’s friend Tigger, were published.

China has since sought to scrub the meme from the internet accessible inside the country, and Beijing in 2018 rejected the release of the Disney film “Christopher Robin,” which stars Winnie.

Pompeo has championed a hard line against China, criticizing the communist leadership for denying free expression, clamping down in Hong Kong and failing to stop the coronavirus pandemic.

I can’t really explain this entirely new and transcendent feeling. 

Here it is, 23 years after the 1997 handover from British to Chinese rule and just days after the promulgation of Hong Kong’s new national security law. Suddenly I see the light. 

This must be what it’s like for those evangelical Christians when the heavens open (or their iPhones buzz) and God speaks directly to them: YOU MUST RECOGNISE AND RENOUNCE THE SINS OF THE PAST. EMBRACE ME AND FOLLOW THE NARROW PATH TO SALVATION.

And so I will. And so we all will. 

Let me now profess: The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) is my personal saviour… And let me affirm to my nearly 7.5 million Hong Kong brethren: The Chinese Communist Party is good! …Choral response, please: All the time!

Music and lyrics chosen for this epiphany: March of the Volunteers, of course… Beautiful! 

And now, as this uplifting canticle seeps deep into your soul, upending your previously mistaken values and moral code, it’s time to renounce three false gods of old:

1) Democracy. For 23 years, you may have believed that this was the best path forward for Hong Kong, and you may even have suffered under the delusion that such a system was promised to Hong Kong in the city’s mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law. Forswear these diabolical thoughts as well as the spurious prophets who promulgated (there’s that word again!) such base fictions up, down and across our great city. 

Szeto Wah, founding chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China—rest in peace, but I renounce you! Martin Lee Chu-ming, 82-year-old founding father of the Democratic Party, I renounce you! As for the youthful Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Agnes Chow Ting—RIP Demosisto, but I must also renounce you and all others, young and old, like you! 

Democracy now bad, authoritarianism now good.

All praise to the CCP! Thank you for saving me, Hong Kong and  “one country, two systems”! 

2) Freedom of speech, assembly and the press. For 23 years, you may have thought that you could march and rally and say nasty things about the Chinese leadership and their representatives in the city. (Said representatives, by the way, should never again be referred to as puppets, lackeys, slaves or any other such undeserved pejoratives.) 

You may have used the “I” word; you may have called on foreign governments and NGOs to pressure Beijing into granting your wild-eyed demands; you may have carried a symbolic candle to Victoria Park on each and every June 4 for the past 23 years; and—in your frustration and anger when you felt scorned and ignored by the Hong Kong officials you expected to stand up for your hopes and dreams for your city—you may have stormed the Legislative Council chamber, set fire to a rubbish bin or inflicted damage on an MTR station.

And, if you are a journalist, you probably felt free to report and opine on all of the above without fear or favour. 

Stop now! No more! Otherwise, you could be found guilty of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security—and spend the rest of your life in prison, possibly a mainland prison! 

And don’t think you can hide. Mainland agents, soon to be formally stationed in the city but no doubt already present, will find you. They are very good at that. Ask the five Hong Kong booksellers who disappeared in 2015. And that was well before Hong Kong had received the blessing of this freshly minted national security law, which has been so gently placed in Annex III of the Basic Law. 

All praise to the CCP! And long live “one country, two systems”!

3) Independent judiciary. For 23 years, you may have retained confidence in Hong Kong judges to remain independent and immune from the sort of blatant political influence that is commonplace on the mainland. 

Rule of law, it was once called. But, let’s face it, you just can’t trust the rule of law to satisfy the Chinese leadership.

Thus, whenever Beijing doesn’t like what the law is allowing in Hong Kong, the ever-reliable NPCSC leaps into action to issue one of its reassuring “interpretations.” 

Remember, for example, in 2016, when six duly elected (but, of course, altogether disreputable) lawmakers—including Law, Yau Wai-ching and “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung—turned their Legco oath-taking ceremony into an anti-China protest. 

Well, that was embarrassing, and so the NPCSC was quick to issue a “clarification” of Article 104 of the Basic Law, the article related to oath-taking, which subsequently resulted in the ouster of Law, Yau, Leung and the three other offenders from the legislature. 

So easy, problem solved—no need to get possibly perfidious local judges involved. And, thankfully, the same will be true in court cases involving the national security law. 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor—famous for her clear-headed impartiality—will be selecting the judges who try these cases. Except, of course, for the “complicated” ones; only mainland judges can be trusted to get those right. 

All praise to mainland judges, to the CCP and to “one country two systems”! 

In closing, I feel obliged to offer a sincere and solemn apology for any and all of my past writings that could be construed as criticism of the central government and/or its loyal and able representatives in Hong Kong.  

Recently arrived mainland agents in the city should note that there are no such criticisms in this piece—and that’s the way it’s going to be from now on. 

I have seen the light. 

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by Su Xinqi

Hong Kong satirists, cartoonists and journalists say self-censorship has already begun blunting critical voices as fears crescendo over China’s plan to impose a sweeping anti-subversion law on the restless city.

For a man whose career has revolved around making people laugh, Ng Chi-sum had little to smile about on Friday night.

Huddled around a television in a darkened studio, the comedian and a handful of colleagues watched the final episode of their satirical news show “Headliner” go live.

The programme came to a close after a rebuke from regulators over a recent episode lampooning the police that prompted public broadcaster RTHK to end its 31-year run, pending a review of all future satirical line-up.

Ng said he and the team had ultimately become victims of China’s stated determination to restore order and instill patriotism in the semi-autonomous city.

“In this huge storm, ‘Headliner’ is just a small stone that has been washed away,” he said after the final show aired, still dressed as a Qing dynasty empress, a character he frequently used to ridicule Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam.

“But there are larger waves coming and the rest of the news industry must get prepared.”

‘Jokes are dangerous’

A day after Headliner’s last show went out, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency published the first detailed report on what Hong Kong’s new national security legislation will look like. 

The law, which will bypass the city’s legislature, will criminalise subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.

China will set up a “national security agency” within Hong Kong to “supervise” the prosecution of offenders, ending the tradition of local police and prosecutors having full jurisdiction over the city.

Beijing says the law will leave political freedoms intact and restore order after last year’s huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.

But critics fear an end to Hong Kong’s liberties given how similar national security laws are routinely used to crush dissent on the Chinese mainland.

“Now it feels like we are facing a major cleansing,” Wong Kei-kwan, one of the city’s most prominent cartoonists, told AFP.

Ridicule of the powerful is ingrained in Hong Kong’s culture, aided by Cantonese, a language often riotously colourful in its insults.

But that is something Wong, who uses the nom de plume “Zunzi”, believes Beijing is determined to stamp out.

“Jokes can be very dangerous,” he said. “The powerful try to justify and deify themselves, to make the masses believe there is no one else but them to follow. Jokes can quickly pierce through all this and nail the lies. They can drag the powerful down from their thrones.”

The sudden downfall of “Headliner”, he feels, was a canary in the coal mine moment for Hong Kong. 

“It felt as if they stepped on a landmine and got blown up,” he said of the production team.

‘Enemies of the people’

Insiders at RTHK say journalists are already feeling pressure to change how they cover politics.

Last month the government formed a taskforce to review the broadcaster’s management and editorial output after pro-Beijing figures accused it of being too sympathetic to pro-democracy protests.

Gladys Chiu, head of the RTHK Programme Staff Union, said senior management recently issued detailed new advice on how to cover the protests, including not zooming in too closely on flags from other countries or banners promoting independence for Hong Kong.

Reporters were also advised “not to repeat the slogans chanted by protesters”, she told AFP.

In a statement, RTHK confirmed a meeting on the issue took place and said the broadcaster “should not be used as a platform to advocate Hong Kong independence”.

Expressing anti-government views has become increasingly risky in some workplaces. 

Teenagers at a secondary school recently protested after their teacher was fired for letting a student play a protest song in a music exam.

And a clothing store said it was ordered by a mall operator to remove a statue of a protester.

City leader Lam has described those critical of the security law as “enemies of the people” and warned civil servants they must not speak out against it.

Ng said it was increasingly difficult to find comedy in his satire and almost welcomed losing his job.

“What has happened in Hong Kong pains me, and it pains me even more when I have to turn it into jokes,” he sighed. 

“The end of the show is almost a relief for me. Because Hong Kong will only get worse.”

When the Japanese Government announced a historic package of 220 billion yen (HK$17 billion) as an incentive for firms to shift production back to Japan in early April, the US followed by promising similar help to American companies who wanted to move out of China and back home.

Shortly after, a most unlikely coalition called the “Milk Tea Alliance” was formed. It was also an attempt to combat China’s immense influence, but rather than being a macro-politics decision made at the top, it was a self-initiated and spontaneous bottom-up effort.

For the first time, netizens from Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other Asian countries, joined forces to hit back at China’s huge online army in an internet war.

It all started with a retweet, as all good drama does these days. A Thai TV series called “2gether” had been gaining an enormous number of fans internationally, especially in China. In March, the CCP mouthpiece Global Times even welcomed the popularity of the show in China as a sign of improved “cultural communication between China and Thailand.”

But an online storm began when the 2gether star, Vachirawit “Bright” Chivaaree, reposted a Twitter picture listing Hong Kong as a “country”. Predictably, he was bombarded by Chinese netizens with attacks, threats, and vows to boycott his show, just as happened to many other celebrities who offended Chinese fans by implying that Hong Kong or Taiwan were not part of China.

Just like the others, Bright quickly apologised, claiming that he retweeted the photo without having read the caption properly. But this was not enough to appease Chinese netizens, who dug up a social media post by his girlfriend Weeraya “Nnevvy” Sukaram from as far back as 2017, revealing she might have once insinuated that Taiwan was its own nation.

Thus an internet war was launched with the hashtag #nnevvy. But the outcome was a surprising landslide victory by the humorous Thai netizens, who wowed the whole world with their hilarious comebacks.

When Chinese netizens attacked Thailand for being “backwards” and “poor”, Thai netizens replied: “Our country is poor, but your country is pooh!” This referred to Winnie the Pooh, who is banned in China because of memes comparing the cartoon character to Xi Jinping.

While the Chinese tried to cause offence by criticising the Thai government for corruption, gleeful Thai netizens only responded with agreement: “Say it louder!”

To the now-classic Chinese insult “NMSL” (Your Mum is Dead), Thai youngsters laughed that they had at least 20 mothers, taking the opportunity to poke fun at their own king’s rumoured collection of mistresses.

And when told their view on Taiwan and Hong Kong stemmed from their lack of knowledge of Chinese history, Thai netizens simply retorted: “You mean Tiananmen Square?”  in reference to censorship of the 1989 massacre.

Soon, netizens from Hong Kong and Taiwan started using the hashtag #nnevvy to aid their Thai supporters. The #MilkTeaAlliance was proclaimed, earning its name from the three nation’s famous iced milk teas, a beverage which is not a tradition in China.

This quickly led to another online movement #StopMekongDam – Thais took the opportunity to solicit help from their new allies to raise awareness about of the destruction done to the Mekong River by 11 enormous dams in China. 

A recent study showed that the large amounts of water were being held back by the Chinese on the upper reaches of the Mekong River, contributing to droughts and agricultural disasters in Thailand as well as countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Netizens from each of the Southeast Asian nations started to join the new online alliance.

The word spread like wildfire, petitions were started and signed even by Asians who did not reside in the affected countries, and the use of the hashtag #StopMekongDam exploded on every social media platform overnight.

Meanwhile, Filipinos used the hashtag #nnevvy to attack the Chinese Government’s on-going attempts to stake claim to disputed ocean territories near the Philippines.

Though this political battle has been conducted entirely online, its significance cannot be overlooked. For Thais, it is the first transnational geopolitical internet war they have engaged in, as pointed out by Thai political scientist Prajak Kongkirati.

Netizens from this small Asian nation not only surprised the formidable Chinese social media warriors with their impressive sense of humour, they also showed the world that Thais are free-thinking individuals who have no fear of criticising those in power, unlike their Chinese counterparts, who seem to be blindly committed to backing their government at all cost.

The forming of this new “Pan-Asia Alliance” – as coined by Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong – also indicated an ongoing frustration in the region regarding China’s influence and actions that affected less powerful countries on the ground level. The Milk Tea Alliance was an attempt to keep China’s unmatchable power in check, and it demonstrated the need for smaller nations to unite and cooperate. This unexpected internet war reflected a long-felt need to counter the unbalanced power dynamics in Asia.

The peculiar newfound solidarity between Asian netizens even caused enough impact for the Chinese Embassy in Thailand to issue a lengthy response in Thai, Chinese and English.

Besides unsurprisingly reiterating the “One China Principle”, it also labelled the “recent online noise” as merely “the scheme by some particular people” to sabotage friendship between Chinese and Thais, stressing that it does not represent “the mainstream public opinion of the Thai people.”

How ironic that the Chinese Government still claimed to know what Thais believed, when this very conflict between netizens of the two nations had clearly shed light on China’s shocking level of disconnect with the world.

What Chinese netizens thought would be insulting to Thais “were in fact just popular talking points among progressive young Thais nowadays,” said James Buchanan, a Thai politics researcher at the City University of Hong Kong. The Embassy’s notion of “China and Thailand as one family” was of course quickly rejected by Thai netizens.

The real cultural gap between China and other Asian countries like Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan has nothing to do with iced beverages, but arises from the deep-rooted conviction that loving one’s country does not require blind loyalty to its current government.

This is a belief obviously not shared by Chinese netizens who make the effort to climb over the firewall to join the conversation, just to defend the very government which set up the firewall to limit their freedom.  

While angry Chinese netizens boasted of their country’s wealth and influence, those from the Milk Tea Alliance instead showed off their free-thinking skills and their awareness of world politics.

This online war has sadly reflected the way seven decades of one-party dictatorship have succeeded in suffocating in China’s new generation the ability to think critically and individually.

If the Chinese are genuinely interested in building friendships with their fellow Asians, they need to understand that getting bombarded with aggressive nationalistic comments like “China #1!!!” is just not our cup of tea.

Netizens on Reddit have showcased their skills in a “Photoshop battle” based on an image of a police officer pointing his Glock pistol at the press and protesters during Saturday’s standoff in Mong Kok.

The original photo was captured by a photojournalist from Studio Incendo.

The battle required users to remix the snap in a creative manner. The image with the most “upvotes” wins the contest. Themes range from cyberpunk to role-playing shooter games.

Chinese-Australian satirist Badiucao shares his cartoons on the extradition law debacle with HKFP, in light of the July 1 storming of the legislature, the ubiquitous “Lennon Walls” in Hong Kong, and the Yuen Long triad attacks. Enjoy his first collection of extradition law cartoons, and read more about the recently unmasked “dissident artist.”

Chinese satirist Badiucao shares his cartoons with HKFP following the extradition law debacle. Read more about the recently unmasked “dissident artist” and click here for part two.

Kong Tsung-gan‘s new collection of essays – narrative, journalistic, documentary, analytical, polemical, and philosophical – trace the fast-paced, often bewildering developments in Hong Kong since the 2014 Umbrella Movement. As Long As There Is Resistance, There Is Hope is available exclusively through HKFP with a min. HK$200 donation. Thanks to the kindness of the author, 100 per cent of your payment will go to HKFP’s critical 2019 #PressForFreedom Funding Drive.

David Price offers some humorous prophecies for Hong Kong’s year ahead.

January

• The opening of a road tunnel to ease downtown traffic – the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link – is further delayed as its name is deemed to be too short. A task force its set up to lengthen it.
• The Transport Department announces an extension of the MTR out to Sai Kung. The project cost is put at HK$13.63 billion with an expected completion date in mid-2024.
• Southern District Councillor Paul Zimmerman is appointed to Exco.

February

• Paul Zimmerman is fired from Exco. He is replaced by entrepreneur Allan Zeman. A government spokesman issues a lengthy statement that, in summary, says ‘we meant him all along’.
• The ICAC is disbanded on account of its name being too short.
• Chinese New Year is one of the coldest on record. To de-ice aircraft wings, police water cannons are deployed at Hong Kong’s airport, their tanks primed with boiling water. An extra $45 departure tax is charged. Riots ensue.

March

• The number of licenses for ‘dwelling vessels’ in Hong Kong is increased from four to seven.
• A local national anthem law is put before the legislature. Members burst into spontaneous but respectful applause before debating the bill’s finer points. The requirement to shed tears as the ‘March of the Volunteers’ is played is replaced by the phrase ‘at least look misty-eyed’.

April

• Forty thousand people are arrested after the national anthem is played on the Sunday of the Rugby Sevens.
• The Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link Belt and Road Extension Hub Highway at last opens. There’s traffic gridlock in Central as assorted luminaries and construction tycoons are chauffeured in to cut ribbons. The next day, responding to the now smooth traffic flow, the Western Harbour Tunnel doubles its toll.

May

• Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces her retirement, with immediate effect. In a moving speech before the cameras, Ms Lam cites ‘exhaustion’ before declaring Exco Member Starry Lee as her successor. Answering a question from the press suggesting that surely there are election procedures to go through first, Ms Lam replies in the negative, saying: “It’s in the Basic Law.” This surprises some people, but not legal experts in Beijing.

June

• The first private car owner to assemble all the required permits to cross the Hong Kong-Zuhai-Macau Bridge makes his tentative way over. The vehicle is met by marching bands in the huge car park in Macau. Supplements appear in local newspapers celebrating the event. It is noticed that the length of the bridge is exactly the same as the distance of a marathon run.

July

• A marathon run over the bridge is organised for October with a winner’s prize of US$2 million. The whole of Hong Kong gets into training.
• ‘Outbound Travel Alerts’ issued by the Security Bureau advise of an explosion occurring in Mindanao, a confirmed case of whooping cough in Seoul and elections in Italy. Travel agents suggest alternative destinations.

August

• Any leave for ticketing and immigration staff at the Kowloon West Railway Station is cancelled. Fights break out as Hong Kong residents clamour for tickets to holiday in Dongguang.
• A banner is hung upside down on Lion Rock in simplified characters. No one knows why or what it means.

September

• The United States includes Hong Kong in its ‘tariff wars’. In response, the government threatens to delink the local currency from the US dollar and deport every member of the US Chamber of Commerce. President Trump backs down, the Hang Seng Index climbs to 31,000 and a mansion on the Peak – with ‘four-and-a-half bathrooms’ – sells for $612 million to a bitcoin miner in Java.

October

• The US$2 million ‘Bridge Marathon’ is called off as the Signal 3 is raised on the approach of a typhoon. Instead, the 19,000 competitors run around the streets of Tung Chung. Local residents complain.
• Chief Executive Starry Lee gives her first policy address. To the surprise of all, it only lasts five minutes, as she relinquishes the platform to the Director of the Liaison Office of the People’s Republic in the Hong Kong Special Administration Region. Huge cheers break out in Legco at the length and clear enunciation of this title. The Director talks for three hours about the need to quell/eradicate free speech (nuances of meaning were only clarified later).
• Hong Kong Island trams are converted to diesel engine propulsion.

November

• North Korea wins its bid to host the World Cup in 2034.
• The MTRC comes before Legco to explain why the Sai Kung extension will now cost HK$35 billion and not be completed until 2030.
• A tiger shark is spotted off Repulse Bay beach. A task force is set up to advise on how to catch it.

December

• Work begins on a huge technology hub that will be built on reclaimed land co-joining Lai Yeu Mun and the Kowloon peninsula. Work is suspended as green lobbyists and local shipping magnates point out that this would block the eastern approaches to the Harbour. A government spokesman issues a lengthy statement that, in summary, says ‘well, shipping can always go around the other way’.
• Starry Lee makes the cover of Time Magazine as ‘Woman of the Year’. This hurts the feelings of the people of Hong Kong.

What’s pink and fluffy? The toy pigs enlisted to help with a Hong Kong government’s training initiative designed to offset the spread of African swine flu.

An epidemic of Asfarviridae – commonly known as African swine fever – has swept through provinces in Mainland China. Hong Kong’s Food and Health Bureau are closely monitoring the situation.

Reporting for duty on Tuesday was Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan, and fellow colleagues at the  Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department’s Ta Kwu Ling Operation Centre.

She reported the session in a Facebook post, describing how they were practicing methods the department might use to prevent the epidemic from reaching Hong Kong.

Also on call was a fleet of pink, fluffy toy pigs for the team to cull as a practice exercise.

Facebook users have responded to the images with a range of emotions.

“How can they be so cute?” one Facebook user said in a comment. “Can we adopt them?” said another.

While some users complained that it was a waste of money to practice with toy animals, one user said that it was better the department had used toy pigs as opposed to living ones.

“Wouldn’t it be more controversial to use real pigs?” said netizen David Li. “The toy pigs can be re-used in future exercises.”

“Toy chickens have been used in exercises for avian flu for a long time. How is this a waste of public funds…?

In the Facebook post, Sophia Chan also said that the government has been improving the standard of hygiene at import locations, transportations and slaughterhouses. Local farms have also gradually stopped feeding animals food made from other animals, she said.

“However, if Hong Kong sees an African swine fever epidemic, the government will take decisive action to try to minimise its effect on the local pig industry,” she said.

“We will continue to closely monitor the latest development of the epidemic, in order to make fast and effective responses.”

The finer points of journalistic ethics are rarely discussed in Hong Kong media, so it was nice to see one surface the other week.

The spark was provided by a piece by Steve Vines in the Hong Kong Free Press, stating that he had, after some trivial dispute to which we were not introduced, decided not to write any more for the South China Morning Post.

He went on to say that he should have made this decision in February, when the Post published an interview with Gui Minhai, the Hong Kong bookseller who was abducted by Chinese agents from Thailand, and has been in prison ever since.

The interview was conducted in what we may politely call a custodial setting. Mr Vines thought this was simply a print version of those coerced televised confessions which have become a feature of the People’s Secret Police at work in recent years; he spent the rest of his column denouncing the practice and arguing that media organisations should refuse invitations to participate in it.

The following day brought a response in the South China Morning Post, written by Alex Lo.

Mr Lo was ill-served by his editors. The headline “Some people mistake egoism for bravery” captured the venomous tone of Mr Lo’s opinion of Mr Vines quite well, but there was nothing in either article about bravery.

Mr Vines did not claim to be brave – he is a big cheese in the food business so giving up Post work is neither a financial sacrifice nor a professional risk for him – and Mr Lo did not accuse him of cowardice. The headline was, as we put it in sub-editing circles, crap.

A second deck of headline “Long-time columnist Stephen Vines has decided to stop writing for the Post, but not before discomforting those of us he left behind,” contained the sort of error which convinces former Post sub-editors like me that the paper has gone downhill.

(Note to subs: “Discomfort” is the noun. The verb you wanted is “discomfiting”.)

A couple of generalisations to warm up, then Mr Lo spends four paragraphs attacking Mr Vines, before the bookseller interview comes into view. Mr Lo’s take on this is “It could have been handled better and I hope everyone has learned a lesson”, which looks suspiciously like a way of translating “I didn’t agree with it but I want to keep my job.”

Mr Lo then says that Mr Vines’s timing leaves a puzzle. If the interview was objectionable, why not say so at the time? This is a valid point. Should Mr Vines perhaps have entitled his piece “What I thought about the Gui interview but didn’t say at the time”?

On the other hand Mr Lo’s work also leaves us with a question. If you are writing an article denouncing egotism, would it perhaps be a good idea not to use the word “I“ five times in 11 paragraphs, one of which starts “In my 20 years at the Post”?

Well, the interesting point in all this for me is not the Gui Interview, which presents no ethical dilemma at all – it shouldn’t have been done – but the question whether a columnist should hold him- or herself responsible in any way for what appears in the rest of the newspaper.

This is a point which is neglected in most media ethics writing, which tends to look at the problems of individual stories as they present themselves to individual editors, or less often to individual reporters.

The only exception I could find when I was teaching this stuff was a gentleman called John Merrill, who seemed to be engaged in a single-handed attempt to persuade the journalism profession, or at least journalism teachers, to take up existentialism as a philosophical key to ethical questions.

Mr Merrill wanted journalists to be aware of and responsive to the doings of their media organisation, as well as their role in those doings. Indeed this view has a great deal to commend it. Media production is usually a team game (blogs and columns excepted), and if there is guilt, it should be shared.

However, it is not a widely shared view among journalists, most of whom are willing to work for anyone who is willing to pay them, provided they are not asked to transgress ethical limits, which are drawn quite broadly.

Freelance reporters will regard their responsibility as being limited to the story they are working on. Editors generally regard themselves as neutral technicians, administering a process which makes material publishable without changing it. Window or Whippet News: the skills are the same.

Whether this is applicable to opinion writing does not, for most of us, come up. If you stick to news the facts should be the facts.

Editorial writers, who are accustomed to writing down opinions expressed by someone else – the editor, proprietor, or perhaps a committee – have sometimes taken a pride in their versatility.

One man wrote, according to legend, for two New York newspapers with diametrically opposed political views. Sometimes he would write a piece for one denouncing as unmitigated bilge the opinion he had expressed in the other the previous day.

But that is not really relevant here. The question is what are the rules for the columnist who is allowed, and expected, to express his own opinion, and what he should do if the rest of the newspaper does not agree with him?

Personally, I have always looked at this in a backwards sort of way. News media should be encouraged to provide platforms for the widest possible range of views. An outlet which only puts out stuff it agrees with is failing its readers.

But a wide range of opinions is only possible if a wide range of opinion writers are willing to see their work on the same page as things they thoroughly disagree with. The more odd or unpredictable your views the more you need to find an editor who believes that diversity is a virtue.

When Alan Castro was editor of The Standard this belief was implemented with enthusiasm. Although Mr. Castro was an early pioneer of the “Beijing is beautiful” school of thought he made a conscious effort to include pro-Taiwan columnists, and happily tolerated loose cannons like me.

I still remember his horrified reaction to a piece I wrote urging the decriminalisation of homosexuality, which at that time was still illegal in Hong Kong. But he printed it.

Unfortunately, this view of media obligations was not universal in those days, and is almost extinct in Hong Kong now.

This is not a personal complaint. As a columnist or reviewer you find that opportunities come and go. Different page editors want to implement their own ideas, which may or may not include you. Individual pieces may hit a nerve somewhere and you read to your surprise in your usual slot that “Tim Hamlett is on holiday”. Best not to ask what went wrong. You never know whether the reason given is the real one.

I try to remember that your departure is the last thing people are going to recall about you. Better to go quietly into that good night than to go whingeing. A thought which Mr Frederick Fung might usefully have considered a few months ago.

Anyway, I no longer need the money. But it does seem that Hong Kong media are becoming increasingly separated by ideology. And if you try to create a space where a variety of views are expressed you find that the holders of those views are not prepared to participate.

Pro-government people will not write for independent publications, and independent people will not write for pro-government ones, which indeed do not want their output. The historic practice of Ta Kung and Wen Wei, which only print stuff which they – and the Liaison Office – agree with, is spreading.

People in one camp will raise eyebrows if they just agree to be interviewed by publications in the other. Where is the marketplace of ideas where different opinions can contend, can be compared and contrasted? RTHK is still trying, bless ‘em, but it’s a government department.

So I am sorry Mr Vines is absenting himself from the pages of the Post, though not very sorry, because I stopped reading it years ago. Mr Lo says “none of us has noticed”, without saying who “us” is in this context. Did he go round the office asking or is it him and his dog?

I fear a lot of other people will not have noticed either, because they no longer expect to see a wide range of views in the Post. This is not a criticism of the Post, which is in this respect much like most of the other Hong Kong media.

They really should do something about the headlines, though.

Comedian John Oliver has taken aim at Chinese President Xi Jinping in the latest instalment of his late night HBO show Last Week Tonight.

“Under Xi Jinping, China is becoming more authoritarian just as it has major plans for expansion onto the world stage,” Oliver said in the show broadcast on Sunday night.
He cited China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project, its controversial social credit system, the wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, Xi’s cult of personality, and the Communist Party’s removal of presidential term limits.

“Trump is leaving a vacuum on the world stage, and China is more than happy to fill it by telling the world its story and leaving out some very important details,” he said.

Oliver added that it was time for state media’s “cuddly propaganda” videos to better reflect a more rounded picture of China’s development, as he presented a parody of a 2017 children’s song about the Belt and Road project.