Jimmy Lai is in West Kowloon Court today. The now defunct Daily Apple founder, aged 76, is charged with “colluding with foreign forces”. He is a British and Hong Kong citizen.
This is a concern to all readers because it is about China’s imposition of Beijing rules on Hong Kong in breach of treaty obligations.
Many will know that when Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997 China struck a treaty with Britain to allow Hong Kong to operate with a very high degree of independence for at least 50 years.
This was well summarised as ‘One country, two systems’. The only other treaty signatory was the U.K. and so a breach of the treaty is a breach of trust with the U.K. as well as Hong Kong. Protests in Hong Kong in 2019 led to the biggest pro-democracy vote ever seen in local elections in November 2019. A record turnout, too, in what was effectively a referendum.
Stung by this, and helped by Covid restrictions barely three months later, Beijing clamped down on Hong Kong. This was by using the ‘National Security Law’, a set of rules so wide ranging as to allow Hong Kongers to be ‘transferred’ to the mainland for trial, removing rights to representation and preventing ‘non-patriotic’ candidates from standing in elections. The effects were crushing – protests were throttled, arrests made (including that of 90 year-old retired Roman Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Zen for subversion), 7% of Hong Kong’s population moved overseas (that’s equivalent to five million people leaving the U.K.) All this took place during Covid, butCcovid was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The heavy load already there was the National Security Law.
Fast forward to last weekend and the latest local elections. The number of councillors to be elected reduced from 452 to 88, the rest to be ‘selected’. And candidates had to be pre-approved as ‘patriots’. This leads to another record turnout. A record low turnout of 27% compared to 71% in 2019.
Fast forward again to this morning and West Kowloon court. 1,000 police are on duty. Why? Fear of large scale protests? Hardly. It is a show of strength.
Jimmy Lai arrives from prison, where he has been awaiting trial since 2020. A well known entrepreneur who made money from the Giordano retail fashion chain, he was disliked by Beijing because of his ownership and editorship of the Cantonese language Daily Apple. Something of a rag of a newspaper to be honest, it was nonetheless (like many rags!) the most popular in Hong Kong in any language. Editorially firmly pro-democracy, this proved Lai’s downfall.
The National Security Law was introduced in June 2020. Covid meant it avoided the attention it may have got otherwise. By December 2020 Lai had been arrested on various accounting irregularities and by June 2021 the Daily Apple was gone after police raids and the arrest of senior employees. The last print run was a record. Hongkongers have interesting ways of showing dissent.
Lai’s three years in prison anticipating trial has been spent by legal challenges on his behalf. He is allowed U.K. legal representation under the treaty but this has been refused. The trial judges have been selected by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive (i.e., First Minister), John Lee. When the Daily Apple was criticising the police for their role in the 2019 protests the Security Minister was – John Lee. There is no jury because the Justice Minister had ‘concerns’.
Additional charges have also been laid against Lai. The serious charge of “collusion with foreign powers” carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
Lai arrived in a prison van. It passed an anti-riot vehicle positioned close to the queue for the public to view the trial. Places are very limited, to about 70. Maybe 100 were queueing. They didn’t all get in.
There is significant press interest in a case expected to last some 11 weeks, and noticeable were consular representatives from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, the EU as well as the U.K.
David Cameron met Lai’s son last week to show support. Embarrassingly, one of the charges against Lai is brought under old British Colonial law. This was pointed out forcefully by Beijing.
Your correspondent’s prediction of the outcome of the trial? Lai will be found guilty of most – but not all – charges. And the court will show leniency out of respect for Lai’s age. This will supposedly show that evidence matters and that Beijing is not predatory. Oh, and I wasn’t allowed to take photos because I wasn’t wearing press accreditation.
Kwai Lou is the pseudonym of a writer based in Hong Kong.
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China has been a target of the US and it’s poodles for many years.
There is no doubt that Western agitators stir up trouble to “inconvenience” China.
China is a sophisticated country that, unlike the US, plays by the rules.
If the judicial system of China believes there has been collusion with Western countries hell bent on destabilizing China then the law of the land should prevail regardless of any so-called “treaty” with a fading “power” like the UK.
Thanks for telling us what we already know.
Totalitarian countries sign treaties when expedient but do not consider the terms binding.
That is why there can be no negotiated end to the war with Ukraine, nor any confidence in the intentions of the CCP.
The CCP is indeed a fading power.
The sun set on Britain a hundred years ago.
Very few people “already know” that the US and it’s vassals are behind the so-called “democracy movement” in Hong Kong.
You are embarrassing yourself.
More reading required.
‘The Department submits this report and the enclosed certification on conditions in Hong Kong from April 2022 through January 2023 (“covered period”).
Summary
The Department of State assesses that during the covered period, the central government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) took new actions directly threatening U.S. interests in Hong Kong and that are inconsistent with the Basic Law and the PRC’s obligation pursuant to the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 (“Sino-British Joint Declaration”) to allow Hong Kong to enjoy a high degree of autonomy.’
The US Department of State would say that wouldn’t they.
Hong Kong protest leaders are funded by the US. Joshua Wong has been photographed with those other arch “regime change” terrorists the US/UK funded White Helmets. This is an obvious covert US attack on China and their government has every right to thwart a foreign backed coup attempt.
Hong Kong Riots Sponsored By Washington.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/12/06/hong-kong-riots-sponsored-by-washington/
“Protests in China Organized by US-backed “journalists” Using Telegram Groups
Telegram groups set up by Chinese-based associates of Radio Free Asia, Epoch Times, the NYT, CNN, and others are organizing “protests” which are essentially PR stunts meant to trigger much wider unrest.
This comes at a time just as the US-backed Democratic Progress Party lost in elections in Taiwan.”
Brian Berletic’s Newatlas Channel
https://t.me/brianlovethailand/1107
“Western agitators running Telegram groups to organize mobs;
Goal is to escalate and create content to demonize and smear China, allow US to pressure EU, others to decouple from China;
Such US-sponsored activity has been used to destabilize and destroy nations around the globe over several decades.”
Angelo Giuliano is a Swiss citizen, journalist and activist who has spent the past 25 years in Hong Kong. His take on demonstrations in China.
I have no idea what point you are trying to make.
‘US President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill that supports pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.’ BBC 28 Nov 2019
It is one thing supporting pro-democracy protestors ideologically but it’s something different when you fund them.
You have not so far provided any evidence of this funding.
Are you telling one of your little ‘stories’ again?
“the U.S. government is pumping up some of the organizers with loads of cash via the NED.”
https://www.mintpressnews.com/hong-kong-protests/259202/
‘While there are many reputable alternative news sites, some function as an unrecognized force for Assad. They never publish the international human rights organizations’ reports about the regime’s crimes. Instead, they post interviews with Assad, polls that claim most Syrians support him, articles on rebel or ISIL abuses, and stories that blame the U.S. for Syria’s uprising. Sample pro-Assad headlines: ‘Why Syrians Support Bashar al Assad,’ ‘81% of Syrians Believe U.S. is to Blame for Isis,’ ‘Letter from a ProAssad Syrian Resident of California.’ Who are these sites? Mint Press, Info Wars, the AntiMedia, Shadowproof, Media Roots, Counter Current News, SouthFront and Zero Hedge are among the alternative ‘news’ organizations that provide no information on how they are funded or the names of a board.’
You are a Moron.
The mask falls away.
Intemperate language invariably indicates the wrong end of the argument.
No.
You’re a moron because you don’t know how or you are incapable of giving hyperlinks to your quotes and outlandish claims.
You’re a moron because you quote “establishment” fact checkers as if they are Gospel. You’re supposed to be a “sceptic”.
You’re a moron because you quote from NGO Monitor who even the “establishment” Wikipedia say are the following….
“NGO Monitor is a right-wing non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem that reports on international NGO activity from a pro-Israel perspective. NGO Monitor has been criticized by academic figures, diplomats, and journalists for allowing its research and conclusions to be driven by politics.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGO_Monitor
(See what I did there? I gave a hyperlink).
You’re a moron, intellectually inferior to me and not worthy of my valuable time.
Even your name is an anagram of Moron.
You linked to Wikipedia.
Thank you very much for the entertainment.
Sunak was photographed with Schwab, and Clinton was photographed with Epstein. Joshua Wong was given an award! He was a mere student. Your definition would make Greta a violent criminal too!
She is with her climate change nonsense.
That’s right. But there are a lot of secret agents dotted all over the UK….we also know there is a Chinese police station in our own country!
Thanks for being clear in expressing your support for a communist, totalitarian regime that puts human life at naught. But that won’t matter to you, as long as you’re living in the West. Of course, you’d be the first against the wall if the CCP ever took over. But you’d only understand that at about 3am, with a knock on the door. And then you’d have to “play” by their “rules”.
Says the man who supports the Israeli slaughter of thousands of women and children.
What evidence do you have for those casualty figures and the cause of them?
Is it the same source that claimed Israel bombed the Al Ahli hospital?
“Geneva – Israel has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, including about 10,000 children, during its 70-day genocide against civilians in the Gaza Strip that was launched on 7 October, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor estimated in a statement issued on Friday 15th December”.
https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6035/Nearly-25,000-Palestinians-killed-during-70-day-Israeli-genocide-in-Gaza
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor is a youth-led independent, nonprofit organization that advocates for the human rights of all persons across Europe and the MENA region, particularly those who live under occupation, in the throes of war or political unrest and/ or have been displaced due to persecution or armed conflict.
‘EMHRF has provided grants to a number of highly biased and politicized NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict’
NGO Monitor
I don’t think he lives in the west. He’s typing away in a lab in Wuhan.
You either work for the CCP or you are ignorant. Imagine the editor of this paper or the Telegraph being charged with colluding with a foreign power? There is no such thing. What is collusion? And who’s China to interfere in HK’s affairs? This is the end of HK, and we accept that, but it doesn’t mean we can accept ignoramus to carry on spreading falsehood and defending a totalitarian regime.
Laughable.
I have great admiration of Jimmy Lai, a man of strength and principle.
The CCP treat treaties like toilet paper and they know Western leaders are fools of the highest order.
And for that I blame the UK government – from Thatcher to BJ to Sunak. Useless and helpless. Don’t know which is worse. Hk is over.