The national security law has put Hong Kong in a state of austerity, where the rule of law and freedom have fallen, the special status has been canceled by the United States, the economic status is lost, the immigration wave and an outpouring of people and talent have been revived, schools have become brainwashing machines, and police are the enemy of the people. Everyone is scared, with zero trusts towards the SAR government (the public’s reaction to the Universal Community Testing Program was pure indifference), and hatred towards the central government. To truly protect national security, we ought to bring to justice the culprit of all of this chaos – Carrie Lam.

However, it is too early to dream. The CCP’s laws are used to consolidate the authority of the one-party dictatorship, and not to protect individual freedom and security. Carrie Lam is simply carrying out the CCP’s orders to strip people of rights, and prohibit freedom. The CCP cannot favor Carrie Lam, this executioner, enough, how would they let her be brought to justice? Yes, what Carrie Lam has done made Hongkongers hate the central and SAR governments, but the suppression of authoritarian rule is supposed to bring about hatred by the people, so why would the CCP mind? The more people hate, the greater the suppression, not a big deal. The national security law can convict speech of “inducing hatred” as an excuse for suppression. There is really no need to take the wording of the content of the national security law seriously. Whether “enforcement” occurs is purely a political decision.

The national security law has destroyed the rule of law, and Hong Kong is no different from fallen. Some say no, the national security law is only used to handle a small group of troublemakers who create political provocations. People’s livelihood and commercial activities will continue to be protected by common law, therefore the rights and freedom of the majority of the people will not be affected; Hong Kong not only will not fall, but will prosper and stabilize. Is that right? Now Carrie Lam says that Hong Kong has never had the separation of powers, only the division of powers, complementary and cooperating. Having smashed the basic principles of the separation of powers and checks and balances of the common law, where and how is the law protecting people’s livelihood and commercial activities? Are those who state that the national security law will make Hong Kong prosperous and stable truly naïve or are they liars who side with the bullies to feed on the weak? Not sure, but we know that Hongkongers are the victims.

Kevin Yeung said that Hong Kong never had the separation of powers, therefore there is the need to delete relevant contents in the textbooks of liberal studies, for they are false. Carrie Lam backed him further by stating that the three powers “perform their individual duties, cooperate with checks and balances”, which, needless to say, is to pave the way for the CCP to eviscerate the rule of law and implement autocracy. If it is “check and balance”, where comes “cooperate”? Obviously they were simply lame arguments, and the creation of new phrases with perverted logic. Yes, the “separation of powers” is rarely mentioned in legal vocabulary because that coexists with common law, and there is no need for repetition. Just like there is oxygen in the air, we say breathe, but rare to breathe oxygen, then does it mean that there is no oxygen in the air? Carrie Lam is dreaming to rule Hong Kong by linguistic tricks, but it does not mean that Hongkongers are all easily deceivable silly fools, that it only reveals that she has fallen into a hopeless degradation of an immoral inferno. Under her rule, how can Hong Kong not fall?

Once the legislature deviates from the common law’s general rule of just conduct, the law will become an invincible tool of lawless governance. If, according to Teresa Cheng, that the legislature and the administrative systems “complement each other and cooperate with each other”, there will be no check and balance on power, and the government will do as it pleases. This is exactly how dictatorship strips people of their rights and freedom. Xi Jinping stated that socialism with Chinese characteristics “must cleverly use the rule of law”, and will never follow the footsteps of Western “constitutionalism”, “three powers”, and “judicial independence”.

With the national security law, gone is one country, two systems, and Hong Kong has naturally embarked on the “legal path” with Chinese characteristics. Xi Jinping has never taken seriously the Basic Law’s ability to restrict the power of the central government. His requirement for Hong Kong is to “cleverly use the rule of law”, that is, the division of powers, complementary and cooperating, to build an infrastructure for dictatorship. Carrie Lam, the one student who was the top of her class every year, did it. How is Xi Dada not glad? Carrie Lam is such a great student of Xi Dada, she is once again number one for completely destroying Hong Kong’s rule of law. How is she not feeling giddy? What is Hong Kong, but Carrie Lam’s stepping stone to make the emperor smile?

This unprecedented disaster in Hong Kong happens to coincide with the imminent disaster of the CCP. Born an optimist, I think Hong Kong can turn it around. The CCP is faced with crises both internally and externally, and its ruling authority is weak. On Sep. 3, Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a symposium to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, after which, twice in one week, he emphasized “never to agree to the decoupling of China and the United States”, “never to promise to separate the CCP and the Chinese people”. From these, it is seen that as the Sino-U.S. relations turn tense, and as the crisis of trade decoupling looms, Xi Jinping has been frequently screaming “never promise”. U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo talked about the CCP and the Chinese people separately, what a shock to the CCP, who hurriedly yelled, “The Chinese people are the ‘bronze wall and iron façades’ of the CCP. None of you dare to shatter it.” What an ass in a lion’s skin. It is clear that the CCP has no confidence in its own ruling authority, such a weak rationale for its governance, and the heavy sense of crisis of conditioned reflex.

The CCP’s heavy sense of crisis is understandable. The trade decoupling of China and the United States will not only be able trade, but that diplomacy, science, technology, culture, knowledge, and even information will be sanctioned, resulting in the loss of motivation for economic development. When the economy fails, there will be no way to improve people’s livelihood to sustain the ruling authority, thereby alienating the people from the regime, weakening the recognition of the CCP regime, and eclipsing the legitimacy of its leaders. Externally, the CCP leaders will be dwarfed, which will cause the legitimacy for their rule back home to be questioned, and thereby risking the CCP’s dominance to rule. Xi Jinping and his authority of one has singlehandedly trapped the CCP in this dilemma, it is simply unimaginable for his leadership position.

In the face of this unprecedented danger, the Sino-U.S. relations are very tense, with the cold war situation already formed, and some are even worried that this would turn into a hot war. The prospects are uncertain, and investors are deterred. Coupled with the epidemic’s blow to the economy, enterprises collapsed and the unemployment rate soared. The crisis of the eruption of social unrest is imminent. Even if the decoupling of foreign trade does not happen immediately, after the painful experience of the Wuhan virus, the Western camp has been awakened, enlightened, and clearly seeing the true face of the CCP, and disgusted by its brutal wolf-warrior stance. It is definitely rethinking about trade with China to reduce its dependence on Chinese production. China’s economy is only getting worse.

Everyone has witnessed how the CCP has gradually curtailed its wolf-warrior rhetoric and put on a friendly stance in an attempt to repair the Sino-U.S. relations. Wang Yi’s trip to Europe was an attempt to win ties, such that even if the Sino-U.S. relations deteriorated, the European Union could be its backing. However, that was proven to be too difficult when Wang Yi did not put away his wolf-warrior mask in time, and kept his strongman arrogance and attitude when he pointed fingers, lectured, reprimanded, and even threatened the European Union officials, how extremely revolting. Not only did the Italian Prime Minister refuse to meet with him, but the German Foreign Minister expressed serious dissatisfaction toward him. When the mayor of Prague in the Czech Republic penned a letter to Wang Yi, foul language like “fuck” and “shit” was used. How obvious is the E.U.'s stance towards the CCP? Wang Yi had originally planned to win over the hearts of the European Union, but it was as if the CCP was not in a situation unfavorable enough, that he has made enemies all around. Xi Dada’s team is truly rotten to the core and spiraling out of control. Under the rule of Xi Jinping, is China far from spiraling completely out of control?

(Jimmy Lai is the founder of Next Digital, which publishes the Apple Daily and Next Magazine in Hong Kong and Taiwan.)

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港蘋國際-

Dictatorship. Enemies. Madness | Jimmy Lai

With the escalating hostility between China and the U.S. and Taiwan Strait being in a potential war situation, Kuomintang (KMT), after the closing of its controversial National Congress, suddenly announced that Wang Jin-Pyng, the former President of the Legislative Yuan, will be leading a team to take part in the Straits Forum, organized by the CCP, at the end of September, which has caused an uproar.

It is well known that Straits Forum, entering its 12th year, is the biggest platform of the CCP united front towards Taiwanese grassroots, especially in 2017 when Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the time, suggested “one generation and one stratum” (the young generation and the grassroots) to replace “three middles and the youth” (residents of central and southern Taiwan, middle- and low-income families and small- and medium-sized enterprises) as the main target of united front towards Taiwan. Straits Forum, under the banner of “communication with grassroots,” claims to have attracted over 10,000 of participants every year, it would seem this is the laboratory for the CCP to test how well the united front is doing towards Taiwanese grassroots.

We won’t talk about the nature of Straits Forum, but what we are curious about is, why do KMT and Wang Jin-Pyng insist on going to this event even though the pandemic has not yet calmed down? And what are the government, that is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the CCP officials, the Forum organizer, thinking? This Straits Forum is actually a game linked with all red, blue and green which involves their own calculations.

Firstly, with KMT, which has to be separated between the party central led by Johnny Chiang and the Straits Forum team leader Wang Jin-Pyng. In Chiang’s perspective, after him making a discourse about cross-strait policy at the KMT National Congress suggesting “1992 consensus with Republic of China’s Constitution as the core,” if KMT is still able to attend the Straits Forum and meet Wang Yang, the Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee for dialogues, that would imply Beijing “does not object” Chiang’s discourse.

This would make Chiang feeling good about himself, thinking, on one hand, he can compete with the traditional blue camp discourse led by Ma Ying-jeou, on the other hand, he could prove to the Taiwan society, especially the blue camp supporters) that, KMT ruled by Chiang can still converse and communicate with Beijing, which can distinguish the markets of KMT’s cross-strait policy and that of the DPP.

But KMT seems to have completely ignored the fact that, at this stage of international and cross-strait situations, whether one can interact with Beijing or not is no longer important; what important is how to be capable of saying no to Beijing, bravely and with dignity. Therefore, while KMT thinks it is trying to “make peace with China,” it has been labeled red as “pro-China,” which is not surprising at all.

In Wang Jin-Pyng’s perspective, his wanting to use cross-straits affairs to rise again is already an open secret. By leading a team to take part in Straits Forum, ambitiously he could cross both blue and green parties, that’s why he said he is “willing to report to President Tsai Ing-wen before and after the visit,” as if he has been authorized by her and that he is the “cross-strait mediator,” he might even use this as his chips to compete for the prestigious position of the Chairman of Straits Exchange Foundation; passively he could still fight to have the right to speak within KMT on the cross-strait matters and let the battle between Ma and Wang go onto extra time, or even extend his political influence within KMT through working with Chiang.

But Wang’s plan of being the “cross-strait mediator” has gone down the drain after the President Office refuted “no need to report” and CCTV of Beijing set the tone “KMT is coming for peace.” The “mediator” has become the most embarrassed “victim” instead.

In the DPP government’s perspective, Taiwan as one of the stakeholders of China-U.S. hostility, the restrained, disciplined and non-provocative policy characteristics of President Tsai has once again been completely revealed while making a decision on Wang’s participation of the Straits Forum: on one hand, she has to show her stance of protecting the sovereignty and anti-China united front, therefore before Straits Forum was even confirmed to take place, the Mainland Affairs Council has already announced three orders and five declarations this year: ban Straits Forum to organize any related activities in Taiwan; ban any staff from central offices to take part, and ban participating in the Republic of China extinguishing “democratic consultation” and promote “one country two systems Taiwan proposal.” This shows the government has been extremely careful due to China-U.S. hostility and the weird atmosphere cross-strait.

But on the other hand, Tsai has tried to give a “silent goodwill” signal across the Strait, therefore very rarely, the President Office has actively “confirmed” Tsai has seen Wang last month, which allows Beijing to understand Wang’s participation of the Straits Forum.

Lastly, let’s see it from Beijing’s perspective. This year’s Straits Forum actually is much more of propaganda than a united front. Firstly, it is to promote the CCP’s success in fighting the pandemic: not only can it host a grand event “COVID-19 pandemic hero awards ceremony” at the Great Hall of the People, it can also continue to host the cross-strait’s Straits Forum, and has KMT joining the event and helping with the propaganda to prove “fighting the pandemic” has been recognized and supported by “all walks of life in Taiwan.”

Secondly, it is to promote the success of the CCP’s Taiwan policy and that KMT is “standing on the right side,” therefore it will “rise up and return” during the tense China-U.S. hostility, and let others believe there are actually still many people in Taiwan supporting the “peace with China and anti-U.S.” route; thirdly, it is to promote its success on “grassroots communication” towards Taiwan, especially it has invited Wang, believed to be popular and with strong power in the grassroots, which is a stronger proof that Straits Forum has already “successfully moved” the Taiwanese grassroots.

Despite all of that, Beijing knows very well Wang is just a promotion placard of Straits Forum. How can it let Wang call the shots and do what he wants? That’s why when Wang was trying to create the “cross-strait mediator” image, Beijing virtually slapped Wang and KMT across the face through CCTV and to tell him “who is the boss who set the rules of the game.”

This year’s Straits Forum has not even officially started, sparks are already flying among the red, blue and green side. Who will have the upper hand on this game? We will find that out next week.

(Arthur Wang Zhin-sheng, secretary-general of Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association.)

Click <a href="https://tw.appledaily.com/forum/20200911/EHEDW6XY3ZHS7FS3UJNOB37P4I/" target=_blank>here </a>for Chinese version

Straits Forum: the three objectives from Beijing | Wang Zhin-sheng

Announcing the formation of a “Global Initiative on Data Security,” the Chinese Communist Party this week proved that it has not heard of the word “hypocrisy.” Either that, or the CCP has a rather excellent sense of sarcasm.

China has about as much credibility on data security as a Black Mamba’s neurotoxic venom has healthy compatibility with the human nervous system. Addressing the world on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi offered a more optimistic narrative. “By working together,” Wang said, “we can jointly advance global digital governance and build a community with a shared future in the digital world.” That quote speaks to one of the craziest speeches ever delivered by a politician, anywhere, at any time.

One gem of a claim: “the Chinese government has acted in strict compliance with data security principles.”

This is not very serious stuff. Because China hasn’t simply ignored “data security principles,” it has shredded them. The cyber units based out of the Ministry of State Security and People’s Liberation Army are staffed by thousands of spies whose sole job is to get around data security. Targeting the intellectual property and personal information of citizens across the world, these spies try to steal anything of value that can be stolen. 

Wang and company deny this truth. Instead, they claim that America is the source of data insecurity. As the foreign minister put it, “Bent on unilateral acts, a certain country keeps making groundless accusations against others in the name of ‘clean’ network and used security as a pretext to prey on enterprises of other countries who have a competitive edge. Such blatant acts of bullying must be opposed and rejected.”

Here we see the CCP assertion that America is preventing 5G market access by Chinese firms not because those firms pose security threats, but rather because the United States seeks an imbalanced competitive environment. 

The truth is that the U.S. is restricting these firms because they are not, ultimately, commercial firms. Instead, they are adjuncts of the Chinese intelligence apparatus. 

Back to the hypocrisy adventure, when Wang demands that technology firms “not install backdoors in their products and services to illegally obtain user data,” he is describing exactly what Chinese firms like Huawei have done. Consider that Huawei’s software is specifically designed with numerous backdoors to allow CCP spies into the private communications of those who use Huawei systems. As a British intelligence report documented in 2019, Huawei’s software has so many backdoors it’s impossible to verify the company is anything other than a threat actor, or a company with pathetically inadequate security safeguards.

But China isn’t only upset with being called out for its ICT espionage, it’s upset over the restrictions that the Trump administration has introduced in relation to technology sharing. 

After all, without access to America technology software, Chinese technology firms quickly become very sub-par imitations of foreign competitors. The best example of this dynamic is the collapsing value of Huawei cell phones alongside new American restrictions on Google and Apple software being used in those phones. Wang says this is all very upsetting. According to the foreign minister, “Protectionist practices undermine the right of global consumers to equally access digital services and will eventually hold back the country’s own development.”

Here we see a window to Xi Jinping’s belief that any technology created abroad should be diverted to China’s primary benefit. “Intellectual” and “property” are two words that Xi does not recognize.

But perhaps the most ridiculous of all of Wang’s comments is his assertion that Beijing works to “oppose using information and communication technology activities to impair other States' critical infrastructure or steal important data.”

I say this is ridiculous, because China invests vast sums of money and human effort to do just what Wang is now claiming it opposes. 

Take Beijing’s successful hacking of the U.S. government’s Office of Personnel Management from 2014 to 2015. That cyber attack gave CCP spies access to the personal data of more than 22 million Americans who have applied for jobs with the U.S. government. China’s targeting of the data was motivated by its generational ambition to recruit vast legions of spies in the United States. The OPM data is valuable in that regard because it includes very personal financial and relationship information. But Beijing’s hack proved a number of things, most notably being that it has absolutely no regard for the basic privacy of others, that Wang is now claiming to stand for personal data privacy is a triumph of absurdity. 

As I say, China’s Global Initiative on Data Security is a very thinly-veiled joke. It deserves nothing but disdain, and a touch of laughter.

(Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner foreign policy writer)

The Communist Party’s delusional game on data security | Tom Rogan

Twelve Hong Kong young protesters on a speedy boat were seized by Chinese police on August 23 in the seas outside Hong Kong during their attempt to flee to Taiwan. They were subsequently detained in Shenzhen Yantian Detention Center under unknown conditions and for an unknown duration. Family members of some of them appointed independent Chinese lawyers for them, but all such lawyers, at least six, were declined visits to the detainees for outrageous reasons, e.g. no notarized document as a lawyer. Instead, as usual in China, at least some detainees allegedly have had lawyers appointed, likely designated by the Chinese authorities, without knowledge of and to the surprise of their family members. National security officials even told at least one independent lawyer to drop the case, alleging that such matters were sensitive and would destroy his career. Another independent lawyer was asked to report back to his hometown’s judicial bureau in Sichuan and was warned to silently handle this case without media exposure. When asked by reporters as to the possibility of requesting the Chinese authorities to send such detainees back to Hong Kong for trial, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam unequivocally refused to do so, alleging that Chinese authorities would have their own jurisdiction over such a matter. 

In my view, overall, this matter should be in the top priority list demanding international concern. It is even more important than the existing LegCo stay/leave controversy and/or the call for a genuinely democratic Legco election. The reason is simple: All Lives Matter! There are human lives that need to be saved from any prolonged detention, inhumane treatment, torture, unfair trial and sentencing. According to Hong Kong Cable News of September 11, among those twelve detainees, two have depression symptoms and one has asthma. The situation could be worsening and alarming. Family members of six detainees stood up courageously and held a press conference on September 12 in Hong Kong. At least two family members were declined to visit the relevant detainees even after they had presented valid notarized documents. In other words, the CCP regime does not bother to follow any minimum human rights or actually humanitarian standards. Any alleged blocking reason is just an excuse. This entire orchestrated crackdown is not any form of law enforcement, but terrorist-alike abduction and detention. All six family members raised four demands during the press conference: reject government-designated lawyers and allow family-appointed lawyers to visit detainees; provide adequate medication to detainees in need; allow detainees to make phone calls with family members; demand HKSAR government to ensure human rights of Hong Kong people are safeguarded and to bring all detainees back to Hong Kong. 

Although these demands are righteous, I do not expect the CCP regime will on its own make any concession on moral grounds. The CCP officials are kidnappers, not law-abiding enforcement officials. They have no independent thinking but would strictly follow orders from the CCP regime. They always serve the core interests of those high-level officials in the Politburo and their families, not justice. China will consider these twelve detainees as bargaining chips in its new “hostage diplomacy” game with the U.S. There were reports saying that the Chinese authorities would consider the detainees not only as unlawfully traversing the border between Hong Kong and China, but also as organizing to traverse the border. If so, this would lift criminal penalties from one-year imprisonment up to life imprisonment. There is actually no need for us to go into why, as the CCP regime always follows the “might is right” doctrine. In view of the unambiguously accelerating U.S.-China tensions before and after the U.S. presidential election, I anticipate that the CCP regime would continue to make threatening gestures at the free world and inhumane crackdowns on Hong Kong people. 

The only way which can mitigate such harm is not to hilariously beg, kneel or pray for CCP’s grace, but to make sure that Hong Kong people would not lose focus on this matter, and also to openly and solemnly alarm the free world to keep tabs on this and to place it at the top of the priority list in their own foreign policies. All lives matter. Hong Kong’s experience tells the world what Red China really is. All free countries, including the U.S., Five Eyes, Japan, Taiwan and EU countries, should tell China that it has crossed the line and entered into an adversarial relationship with the entire humanity (imitating what China Foreign Minister Wang Yi screamed on Czech), and China should pay if there is any unlawfully prolonged, improper or inhuman treatment and/or deprivation of human rights of any of the twelve detainees. The world is watching. The detainees are shivering and persisting. China is laughing, but that will not be long. 

As Winston Churchill said, one ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it; if you do that, you will double the danger; but if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Young protesters in Hong Kong have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. Their courage is rightly esteemed the first of their human qualities, because it is this quality which guarantees all others. Special thanks to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who on September 10 unequivocally raised concerns over this “Kidnapped Ocean’s Twelve” incident against China: no status report of detainees; no announcement of charges on them; no trust in Carrie Lam; calling for abiding by lawful procedural safeguards. Now it is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Last but not least, there is yet another geopolitical perspective in connection with this incident. Nowadays there are increasing military tensions between China and Taiwan. The seizure site of the Ocean’s Twelve and its surroundings have been swamped with CCP Liberation Army and police vessels. From the perspective of Hong Kong protesters, the sea route of fleeing from Hong Kong to elsewhere has been completely blocked.  Spotlights are now on every inch from the northern part of the South China Sea to the Taiwan Strait. This has posed an unprecedented challenge to those activists who cannot, and/or who do not expect they can, lawfully leave Hong Kong. Patience and peace of mind are exceptionally important these days.  Let prayers be with them.

Save the Kidnapped Ocean’s Twelve｜Sang Pu

No one can deny, the current Hong Kong government has lost its ability to govern. Carrie Lam has turned Hong Kong into a ruin; she is incapable of resigning nor to find a successor. Her vampire-like administration has to lead Hong Kong in the next few years to face a global situation that is on the verge of World War III. I don’t expect us to be able to avoid the catastrophe but hope that after the worst, the good will come.

In the past 20 years, the CCP has profited from joining the World Trade Organization (WTO); its economic development has advanced like a big country but its society is still like a third world one. Its government officials are all keen to send their family members abroad; in terms of politics and trade, stealing, tricking, robbing, lying...the CCP has done it all. The launching of the Thousand Talents Plan in the U.S. is basically thieving. It is not news that it invited high-tech companies to open factories in China to steal their technology; One Belt One Road initiative on paper is helping other countries' development but is actually another way of colonization; it uses Extradition Bill and national security law as an excuse to take full control of Hong Kong. Actually none of these is new, but everyone had goodwill and assumed the CCP would learn and finally get back onto the right track. But time flew by and it is only getting worse. Eventually, people’s opinions started to change and the China Hawks slowly took shape. Trump only plays the role of the child in the Emperor’s New Clothes who called out the truth that everyone knows but no one wants to admit. The domino has been built for years and all Trump did was give it a little push. Whether he will be re-elected or not, there is already no way back from this situation.

Two, three years ago, I have already said the government must strongly emphasize “Hong Kong Is Not China,” and now it is too late. The Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) invested by Google and Facebook, has already decided the cable would not be connected to Hong Kong; in the future you might see our IT peers traveling to the Philippines to be foreign workers and renting the houses of your former domestic helpers. But we deserve this tragic end, as since the rise of the Four Asian Dragons 40 years ago, Hong Kong is the only “dragon” that has not developed any high-tech industry. Both South Korea and Taiwan have their own international brands, and many foreign technology companies operate or even set up their Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore; Hong Kong is always only the “business support” for Shenzhen; Tung Chee-hwa’s “Digital Cyberport” doesn’t look very “digital,” many international big enterprises which had planned to build their data center in Hong Kong have all backed out because of political reasons.

As the world has witnessed some time ago, hundreds-strong police manpower was used to raid and search the Apple Daily office. How would anyone want to put their server in Hong Kong? The moment the segmentation between Hong Kong and China is gone is the moment Hong Kong loses its place as an international city. However, government officials are still time and time again tying Hong Kong with China together, as if they have not done enough damages already. The advantage of Hong Kong has always been being part of international society and different from China. The biggest mistake the government has made in these 20 years is that they do not understand it is the ambiguity of who rules Hong Kong that makes it beautiful, and has, instead, lifted the veil to show how ugly Hong Kong has become.

Looking at the figures of 2019, U.S. total trade deficit was nearly US$600 billion, over half of which was with China. It was actually expected as the world’s factory, but the U.S. knew it deep down, the deficit came from the U.S. only being able to import but not export, because the banks, media, publications and internet of the 1.4 billion people are all private playgrounds of the CCP; the other industries such as cars, pharmaceutical, farm products are so strict and hard to break into. One can only tolerate for so long and after having waited for 20 years and the market with 1.4 billion people is still nowhere to be seen, the U.S. has run out of patience and the CCP no longer has the time and ability to open the market. As a result, the U.S. and China must, as Trump said, decoupling. Many pro-China U.S. officials are gone by now and Trump’s role is only to speed up the process. I can foresee that the U.S. will rebuild the whole industrial chain as if China does not exist. Although Trump has invited the factories to return to the U.S., they are more likely to be relocated to India. It doesn’t matter, as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have their branches there for years already. With the U.S. having started the trend, other European countries will also go with the flow and follow the decoupling strategy.

Hong Kong is a tiny place so should not even think about saving the CCP. Besides China and Hong Kong do not need each other to survive, so Hong Kong has more reason to condemn the bad boy behaviors of the CCP to the international society, and at the same time plan how to save itself. There are many Hong Kong talents within the technology industry that complement those in the neighboring areas. I believe it is also the same within other industries. But how come we have never looked for another place outside China as Plan B? The late Cao Renchao, Hong Kong’s “stock god” famously said, “seize the opportunity while you have the wisdom.” Now that the U.S.-China decoupling is bound to happen, to pick the right side would be Hong Kong’s way of survival. Reluctantly siding with the CCP would only put Hong Kong into the grave. Being a puppet of China has earned Hong Kong a lot of money in the past, such as “no.8” Hong Kong Telecom, which used to be a blue-chip stock with stable interests; but the role of China as the world’s factory has started changing, if we don’t make our stance clear, decouple with the CCP and develop a Plan B business model, we will end up by taking a bloody lesson “no.8” and going down like it.

It is less than two months until the U.S. presidential election. If Trump gets re-elected, then he would be completing the decoupling policy; if not, I don’t think a crazy man like him would care what the next government would do. They would probably not start a war, but might quickly build a diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. Is Hong Kong ready to face the uproar?

(Tam Sai Wah, member of Frontline Tech Workers.)

Click <a href="https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20200912/7C5XQZNRRJETPGINH4HRQ2JQ5Y/" target=_blank>here </a>for Chinese version

Hong Kong needs Plan B | Tam Sai-wah

A 12-year-old girl and her elder brother went downstairs to purchase some stationery, and happened to be besieged by the police. In a moment of desperation, she ran, and was tackled to the ground by the police. A foot stepped onto her, and a body sat on her. The four to five heavily-armed dirty cops in the proximity quickly swarmed up and subdued her like a dangerous enemy. This scene once again gave Hong Kong a place in the international limelight.

A totally powerless girl who would have been immobile, impossible to run, if a policewoman had caught her in the arm. Was this group of dirty cop worry about her escaping, or they know that she is completely powerless, therefore all flocked to vent their animality?

If a thug was treating a girl passing by in this manner, the police can definitely arrest them and charge them for indecency and inflicting bodily harm on others. However, just because these big guys are in police uniforms, now they can openly and “lawfully” abuse. The high-level police management even had the audacity to say that they “subdued her with the minimum required force,” and Carrie Lam said heartlessly that “filing a complaint is possible should there be opinions.” If this was the minimum force, what would be a higher level?

I have a question for Chris Tang: If he was at the scene, fully equipped, would he have adopted the same “minimum force”? If so, what reasons would he give? If not, what reasons would he give?

Under broad daylight and in front of all the media lenses, this group of dirty cops was this presumptuous. What we cannot see with our eyes, whether already has happened or will happen, is something surely unimaginable for us. This ordeal with the 12-year-old demonstrated to the world that Hong Kong’s rule of law has fallen to such a great extent.

A mentally sound person should at least have the tiniest of compassion, especially for women towards underaged girls, let alone hurt them under any pretext. The involved cops clearly displayed psychopathic symptoms, and should definitely receive treatment and psychotherapy to correct the mental illness of uncontrolled emotions and the sick need to abuse young girls to satisfy themselves. If Carrie Lam and Chris Tang are still considered normal, they should hold themselves accountable for allowing these cops under themselves to openly abuse the young girl on the street.

The victim did not have the four words “I am yellow ribbon” carved on her forehead, which means that the police violence was carried out indiscriminately. If there was a “blue ribbon” child at the scene that day, they, too, would not escape from this misfortune. Hong Kong’s rule of law has collapsed, and all seven million people are the victims. The blue ribbons are so supportive of Carrie Lam, they really should worry about their children’s future.

Shame on Hong Kong, shame on the SAR government, and shame on the People’s Republic of China under the CCP’s regime.

(Ngan Shun Kau is a veteran publisher and writer.  His publications and works are award-winning.)

Click <a href="https://hk.appledaily.com/columnist/20200913/6AK66QGRSFD5DPCD5GVPYB5G3E/" target=_blank>here </a>for Chinese version

Beasts in Uniform | Ngan Shun Kau

When you only have a hammer in your hand, you will think that everything is a nail. When you hail national pride every day, if you hear an incomprehensible language and see distorted words on walls, you want to smash them down with the hammer.

Recently, Inner Mongolia schools reduced teaching in the Mongolian language and replaced some classes with standard Mandarin as the medium of instruction. This was met with strong opposition from the Mongols and eventually led to a rare protest to boycott classes. The Disney movie “Mulan” was recently released in theaters and the Chinese nationals were shocked to learn that the woman warrior, who disguised herself as a man to fight in place of her father, belonged to the Xianbei ethnic. The Northern Wei Dynasty was founded by the Xianbei people who occupied the Central Plains and ruled northern China. Japanese historian Masaaki Sugiyama believes that the political turbulence during the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in fact took place much longer than we think. Let’s consider the period during the North-South confrontation in the era ruled by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, there were five dynasties and ten countries. Given the Northern Song Dynasty was weak and not considered unified, then the fission during this period spanned 530 years before the northern and southern territories were “unified.” Kublai Khan was the first non-Han, a Mongol emperor, who conquered and united all of China.

In the course of Chinese history, there must have been a lot of question marks in the students' minds. The empire was obviously ruled by the Mongols, why did it become the Yuan Dynasty of China? After the fall of Xiangyang, the Mongols conquest of the Song Dynasty was completed and China was defeated, but the Chinese territory in some books was drawn all the way to West Asia? 

In the history of Mongolia written by Masaaki Sugiyama, he tells people not to dwell on the orthodox historical concept of “dynasty rotation” in ancient China. From a macro perspective, the country whose territory extended from the East China Sea to West Asia was called the “Mongol Empire.” The Mongolian empire established by Kublai Khan had three pillars, one of which is the strong economic power in the south of the Yangtze River in China. The Muslim business travel in Central Asia and Persia opened up the overland Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road. The Mongolian military power in the grassland of Central Asia put in motion the communication infrastructure, promoting cultural exchange and integration. Masaaki Sugiyama described that Kublai Khan transformed the Mongolian empire built by Genghis Khan, merging grassland military power, Chinese economic power and Muslim commercial power. Chinese civilization is one of the three pillars.

Also do not forget that Marco Polo wrote about the prosperous China much desired by Europeans. This was the same China ruled by the Mongols. Marco Polo was probably writing about Khanbaliq or Dadu which was the winter capital of the Yuan dynasty. Dadu was the main center of the Mongolian Empire, the future capital of subsequent dynasties, in what is now Beijing, also the capital of China today. Chinese people take pride in Zheng He’s voyages to western oceans in the Ming Dynasty. He inherited the Maritime Silk Road used by the Mongols and Persian merchants. Zheng He himself was a Muslim and his ancestors originated from Central Asia. 

The blue and white porcelain, which was sold all over the world and regarded as a gem by Europeans, also flourished under the rule of the Mongols. Originally, Chinese porcelains were not decorated with patterns. The geometric stripe patterns were favored by the Persians and Arabs. The blue pigment, generally cobalt oxide, used to decorate blue and white potteries was not available in China, instead came from Persia. The cobalt dark blue and white are the styles of the Mongolians. It was the Mongols who established the global logistics network, industrialized blue and white porcelains and turned the ceramics into high-end products for global marketing.

Some critics believe that the evidence is not conclusive enough to support the history of Mongolia written by Masaaki Sugiyama. It is doubtful whether Kublai Khan had strategized such a grand scheming. Nevertheless, the reconstructing of the deeds of the Mongols based on this macro-Asian view is no doubt a fresh perspective. 

Knowing that nothing originates from ancient times to the present and knowing that history books are written by victors, we will have more respect and humility for ethnic minorities, as well as more fondness and admiration for history. 

Click <a href="https://hk.appledaily.com/columnist/20200912/JHN5ZVNNWFCSBLR427HYXBORO4/" target=_blank>here </a>for Chinese version

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