“Wetting the bed right before dawn” has become the adage in vogue on the Chinese Internet. This is a commentary of Chinese philosopher Feng Youlan’s wife towards her husband on forgoing his virtue in his old age. The reason why it was stirred up again was thanks to renowned historical geographer Ge Jianxiong, whose remarks that “history is to maintain the legitimacy of contemporary politics and regime” triggered the debate among scholars on whether one should “conduct academic research while kneeling”. Throughout the history of mankind, there is no lack of scholars and reputable people who wet the bed right before dawn, and of course, there are also a lot who uphold their conscience. Hong Kong is no exception.

Public opinion mocks scholar for sucking up to the authorities

Ge Jianxiong is the former Director of the Institute of Historical Geography of Fudan University in Shanghai, Director of the Fudan University Library, and also a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He is known as “Howitzer Ge” for being one who does not mince words. In a recent clip being circulated, he emphasized in a seminar at the beginning of the year that “the history of any country, party, and group is to strengthen its own political legitimacy and not to be questioned, or even denied.” Xi Jinping has repeatedly lambasted historical nihilism, for “history is to maintain the political legitimacy of the CCP”. Ge even added that “our history is to safeguard the political legitimacy of the CCP.” These remarks have been hyped up as the CCP approaches its centenary, and many have mocked him for sucking up to the authorities, including ironic reference of “wetting the bed right before dawn”.

Feng Youlan, who was ridiculed by his wife, was in fact highly regarded in the philosophy department in Chinese academia. In China’s academic world of philosophy, it is said that there have been one and a half philosophers in China in the past century, one is Feng Youlan, the other half is Hu Shi. Towards the end of the Cultural Revolution, Feng Youlan joined the writing team of the Gang of Four and published the 25-poem “Songs of History” (《詠史》) in “Guang Ming Daily” (《光明日報》), among which the two lines “Zetian dared to be the empress, the only heroine in Chinese history” were said to be licking the boots of Jiang Qing. As history goes, the Gang of Four collapsed soon after. The illustrative description of Feng epitomized the embarrassment in which Feng found himself, and was widely circulated at the time.

Compared to Feng Youlan and Ge Jianxiong’s forfeiture of their virtues, Wang Zhongmin, a highly regarded “national treasure” master of Dunhuang studies and ancient philology, had upheld his integrity till death without succumbing to lies, and therefore was naturally revered. Wang Zhongmin was a dean at Peking University’s library science department. During the Cultural Revolution, he was locked in a bullpen, where he expressed his dissatisfaction on rough toilet paper, for which he was beaten up by the opposition faction. In April 1975, he refused to endorse the “Compendium of Historical Review” used as a struggle tool by Peking University and Tsinghua University, and insisted that it was a forgery. As a result, he was put through struggle sessions. No, he did not wake up to a wet bed, but instead, he was willing to die for his beliefs. He died hanging himself in the corridor of the Summer Palace.

To endure the interrogation of conscience, and not be a mockery in history

In the face of power, be it among intellectuals or dignitaries in society, there will inevitably be a split, and many choices to be made. This situation did not occur in China during the Cultural Revolution alone. During the Nazi regime in Germany, the famous philosophers Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger chose vastly different paths as well. The former never yielded nor cooperated, and always carried in his pocket cyanide-capsules, and was known as the “conscience in dark times”; the latter led 960 professors to swear support and allegiance to Hitler and the Nazi regime, and was regarded as “an episode of soul-selling that has humiliated the glorious history of German academia.”

In comparing the difference between Jaspers and Heidegger, netizen “9 PM” (Jiu Dian) pointed out that: “the reason why Germany has fallen into the abyss gradually was not because nobody discovered the evil of the Nazis, but because everyone opted for an ignoble existence in the presence of the Nazi’s evil. Then, one step at a time, they’ve evolved into a point of ‘inhumanity.’”

Jaspers is dead on the target when he said, “But each one of us is guilty insofar as he remained inactive.”

Whether it was the Cultural Revolution in China, or Nazi Germany, there were dark times in the history of human civilization. Yet, dawn is bound to come after darkness, and humans will return to civilization. Therefore, whether one is an intellectual, a media professional, a politician, or a tycoon, to find yourself in such a time, one must endure the interrogation of wisdom and conscience. Please do not wet the bed right before dawn and be the laughing stock of history.

This article is translated from Chinese by Apple Daily.

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港蘋國際-

Editorial: Don’t wet the bed right before dawn | Apple Daily Hong Kong

The Normandy region has established many memorials and cemeteries of the World War II (WWII) battles. Many people visit this part of the world to remind themselves of the horror of WWII and war in general. They would visit the Normandy cemeteries where soldiers who died on D-Day were put to rest. When I visited the region, a French Catholic priest told me about a memorial often neglected with very few visitors, which was the La Cambe German War Cemetery where more than 21,000 soldiers were buried. One thing I learned is that while many memorials in the Normandy region honor the heroes from WWII, there is also an effort to respect the dignity of fallen soldiers from the Axis Powers. People tend to vilify their enemies and ignore them, but in this case, here, they commemorate them. Another memorial that is often overlooked by visitors of the Normandy region is the Mémorial des reporters de Bayeux, which is dedicated to journalists who were killed or assassinated, often by their own governments. Reporters Without Borders reported the following sad but true statistics for the first six months of 2021: 12 journalists and four media assistants killed; 322 journalists, 102 citizen journalists and 13 media assistants imprisoned.

I have known many courageous and selfless journalists in my life. Some were war correspondents who covered conflicts from Sri Lanka to Kashmir to Afghanistan. Some were political correspondents who covered political changes in Indonesia and Thailand during the 1990s. Some spent years in prison in countries like South Korea during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. As a matter of fact, some reporters were implicated in criminal cases in South Korea as recently as in 2017 for trying to document and publish the truth about the Kwangju (or Gwangju) Massacre in May 1980 and attacks on political dissidents in the 1980s. In essence, journalists take tremendous risks to research and prepare a report, putting their lives on the line during wartime and threatening their freedom at times of peace. Many great journalists have a unique DNA: they are willing to take risks in order to expose the truth, regardless of how sensitive it may be. Around the world, there are some who have been imprisoned and some who have even been killed as a result of this.

Hong Kong was possibly the only place in Asia where journalists were once able to report freely and fearlessly. For this reason, many international media organizations had established regional offices in Hong Kong, cultivating generations of quality, independent, professional and brave journalists in the city. Among them is Emily Lau Wai-hing who, back in December 1984, asked Margaret Thatcher a prophetic question about the future of Hong Kong. Until recent years, the city continued to enjoy a high degree of media freedom, which included the respect and acceptance of the publication of strong dissenting views. In fact, that was not considered something special as the culture of Hong Kong had always been one to openly debate, challenge and exchange strong views regarding socio-political issues. Nevertheless, after the enactment of the National Security Law, many journalists have learned to exercise caution, and in some ways, many have also begun to exercise self-censorship. Fear is in the air and journalists no longer feel the freedom they had enjoyed for so many decades.

The Apple Daily headquarters has been raided more than once by the police with the most recent one on June 14 of this year. It was too surreal to witness as this was unprecedented in Hong Kong. Hundreds of police officers were deployed for the operation and the effect was quite intimidating. Arrests were made, and assets were confiscated, including reporters’ hard disks. On the following day, Apple Daily printed 500,000 copies of its paper, over five-fold of its normal daily print run. Some people hit the streets to purchase the newspaper at as early as 5am or 6am, and some people reportedly bought 50 copies or more. That was the public reaction to the raid. In fact, many European media outlets reported this phenomenon quite prominently, which they viewed to be very unique. People around the world also saw the purchasing of multiple copies of the paper to show solidarity as a highly creative and productive, yet peaceful and perfectly legal way for the public to express their view, supporting the newspaper’s commitment to freedom of expression and freedom of the media. The international community will also watch closely how those arrested will be charged and tried. There is a high global expectation on the city’s legal system, particularly the judiciary system, that there will be a speedy and fair trial to all those who have been arrested. The actions of law enforcement and the legal institutions will themselves confirm that Hong Kong will continue to be a place governed by the rule of law.

Speaking of the rule of law, on 2014′s World Press Freedom Day, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published the “Rule of Law to Ensure Safety of Journalists and Combating Impunity.” The statement first reiterates the United Nations’ (UN) definition of the rule of law: “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards.” A key challenge to many countries around the world is to ensure that their national security legislations are in compliance with international human rights norms and standards. On the other hand, UN human rights mechanisms have been developing those norms and standards to provide guidance for countries when drafting domestic legislation, including national security laws. It is for the countries to demonstrate whether they are to follow universal guidelines or not. On January 7, 2021, in response to the arrests of 53 political activists, academics, politicians and lawyers in Hong Kong, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) expressed concerns that, “the offence of subversion under the National Security Law is indeed being used to detain individuals for exercising legitimate rights to participate in political and public life.” OHCHR and independent UN human rights experts have cautioned that “offences such as subversion under the National Security Law, passed in June 2020, are vague and overly broad, facilitating abusive or arbitrary implementation.” In other words, many legal experts would argue that, in general, when a law is clear and precise, there is less likelihood that it would be wrongfully applied.

In UNESCO’s 2014 statement, it emphasizes that “the rule of law is fundamental to the stability and smooth functioning of society,” reaffirming that “only when the rule of law is respected can citizens have confidence in democratic process...” In that context, the statement refers to the significant function of the news media “as the sector of society most able to promote vigilance towards the rule of law, especially through fostering investigative journalism, promoting the openness of court, legislative and administrative proceedings, access to officials and to public documents.” UNESCO further states that, “the government has a key role here in protecting the independence and pluralism of the news media…” and security must especially be guaranteed to journalists, media workers, and social media producers. UNESCO urges the government to protect journalists from attacks for their use of freedom of expression. This means, governments need to plan a protective role for journalists.

In present-day Hong Kong, dissent is seen as something sensitive. However, in the past, dissent was seen as a norm and a hallmark of Hong Kong for decades. A strong government should embrace dissenting views and use them to their advantage to improve economically, socially and legally. With increasing self-censorship, uncertainty and fear, freedom of the media seems to have become something of the past! Hong Kong authorities need to recognize that the prosperity and success of the city are in part due to progressive and free media that used to report fearlessly. It was precisely because of such freedom that the world loved Hong Kong. Let the world continue to love and embrace this city.

(Yan Kei, Advocate for criminal justice reforms)

The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.

Media Freedom and the Rule of Law｜Yan Kei

I’ve been here for some time, but still haven’t formally announced my arrival other than disclosing to some close friends, colleagues and relatives. The longer I stay here, I more ashamed I feel about discussing this publicly. After all, fleeing from potential persecutions and leaving “co-walkers” behind is not something honourable to brag about. Being too high-profile after touching base myself may also have negative impacts on others who are planning to leave. I don’t want to cause them any harm by triggering unintended and unnecessary attention to them.

A friend of mine, in a similar situation as I, chose to announce though, for he felt awkward about withholding information from friends or even telling white lies all the time. After his social media post, he received loads of replies, many of which congratulations on his narrow escape, but many others were confessions about their relocation plans being implemented in secret, or that the senders had been here for a while too! There are so many Hongkongers who are silently planning to leave or have left their hometown for different reasons, but the one thing in common is that they no longer think Hong Kong is the right place to live.

Letting your son or daughter grow up in the Hong Kong at this moment is just wrong, and offspring’s well-being is undoubtedly one of the top priorities for decision-making. Imagine you have been telling your 10-year old princess for many years to be a righteous person by not telling lies, maintaining a sense of right and wrong, being caring, empathetic and not selfish, remaining open-minded, and not being a backstabber. You want her to be happy, and have the freedom to develop what she likes and to live without fear. However, with redlines and informers everywhere under the NSL, she cannot show her sympathy towards her beloved teacher who got suspended for distributing 10 copies of Apple Daily; she cannot openly discuss the June-Fourth Massacre and debate on the topic of self-determination with her classmates; she has to study the new Citizenship and Social Development subject and gets indoctrinated with twisted patriotism and the CCP’s version of history; she’d better not choose to be a journalist in the future because she may be arrested for having done a “subversive” interview or just searched the public transportation record in an investigative report; she will have to worry all the time about her outspoken boyfriend who may get “disappeared” one day, or struggle with how to reconcile and get along with her good looking husband who cares about her very much but is extremely “blue” [editor’s note: pro-government] in his life views; she may even have to betray her friends, teachers, colleagues or even you to trade tranquility with persecution on her family. In order to stay “safe” (both for herself and the “country”), she cannot be honest with herself, be what she is, express her views freely and actualize her true potential. She has to keep forgetting about her sense of morality and cannot trust anybody. She has to remain an island and reduce herself to an absolute economic animal, living constantly in fear. I think no parents on earth would like their beloved sons and daughter to walk this path.

Freedom from fear is the most profound and intense feeling that I had the moment I stepped out of my outbound flight. In the months before my departure, I would sometimes helplessly wake up before 6 a.m., wait and see if people would come banging on my door, and feel another day of freedom earned if the doorway remained silent till 7 a.m. I had nightmares of course, not un-occasionally, about being captured in the most vulgar manner. I can’t say I hadn’t psychologically prepared for the worst, but who knows where or what the worst is nowadays? Dictatorship doesn’t only want to contain and silence you, but to insult you, strip you of your dignity and have you denounce your past publicly as a showcase. In the name of the “People”, “perfecting” the rules of the game (so that it can sure-win every time) and sustaining its version of “One Country Two Systems” (as a result of absolute zero voice of opposition), dictatorship will do whatever necessary nakedly and shamelessly, with taking your life from you undoubtedly is one of its options (take Alexei Navalny as a reference). I felt I could finally leave all these fears behind after I exited the plane. I can now be a normal human being. The sweetness, purity and warmth in the air that I breathed in at that moment still lingers today.

What stayed with me though, are guilt and the feeling of indebtedness. I still see young Hongkongers being arrested, held in remand, tried and sentenced every day for having made attempts to make Hong Kong a better and just place. I still see journalists struggling so hard to stick to their positions of speaking out the truth, despite knowing that ill fate will come sooner or later. I still see countless ordinary people doing whatever they can to support the fallen “sau juks” (note: meaning brothers and sisters, protestors, teammates), be they “specialists” in being court trial audience, in seeing off the unsuccessful bail applicants or the convicted (by running after prison vans while yelling encouraging words), or in constantly writing letters to those in remand or prison in order to keep them connected with the outside world. I still see owners of “yellow shops” offering discounts and benefits to the staffers of Apple Daily, whose bank accounts were frozen by the police and cannot be used to pay the staff’s salaries. I still see people queuing up to buy Apple Daily in the morning after the newsroom was ransacked for the second time in a year. All these Hongkongers jointly but unintentionally keep emitting the beautiful flare of mankind. I can be where I am all because of them. Every ounce of freedom and happiness that I enjoy now is founded on their blood, sweat and tears. But how can I repay them? I haven’t done enough for them when I was in Hong Kong, let alone from afar now?

I don’t have immediate answers, though writing this piece to keep telling the stories of Hongkongers may be a starting point. What I know very clearly, however, is that I now have a safer and more unique position to do more, and I should make the best use of this position.

昔日蘋果