#Censorship #Freespeech
#University in HK to Tighten Control of the Opinion Expression: Posts on #DemocracyWall Requires Real Name and Restricts Content

In the universities in Hong Kong, the "Democracy Wall", a free posting notice board on campus, has been a symbol of free speech.

After the forceful enactment of National Security Law (#NSL) in Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK) has pressured the Students Union for several times about the setting up of the pro-democracy #LennonWall.

Recently, the Student Union committee members received an email from the Staff-Student Central Management Committee about an online meeting to be held on Dec 8, 2020, which will discuss "new rules" for the Democracy Wall. The new rules proposed by the university include real-name posting and content which cannot "go against the facts".

The students union acting president Au Cheuk-hei said that the university intended to tighten the freedom of speech inside the campus.

Source: Apple Daily #Dec4

#FailedState
HK Government suspected of un-shelving another 16 books involving topics of #CivilDisobedience and #Protests in #PublicLibrary

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (#LCSD) of the Hong Kong Government is suspected of un-shelving 16 books from public libraries.

These include:

- The writings of pro-democracy activist and former law professor Benny Tai;

- Reverend Chu Yiu-ming's “Civil Disobedience and the Occupation of Central: Reflections on the Faith of Christians in Hong Kong” (公民抗命與佔領中環：香港基督徒的信仰省思);

- “To All of Those Who Have Worn Black Before” (給穿過黑衣的人) by Scholarism;

- Former legislator Raymond Wong Yuk-man’s book “I Wouldn’t Have Argued If I Did’t Have To” (予豈好辯哉).

In addition, the two issues of “#Breakazine!” about the Anti-Extradition Law (#AntiELAB) Protest, are also removed.

These 16 books were all published before the #NationalSecurityLaw came into effect, yet they are no longer available on the public library website.

So far, the government has removed at least 34 books in total.

Source: Apply Daily #May29

https://bit.ly/2R20IRR

#NSL #Censorship #BannedBooks #Regime #DissentLiterature

#Court #RulebyLaw
Catch-22: Authority Rejects Reference Books Sent to Activist Lawyer Detained for Subversion, Due to Content about Subversion

Tonyee #ChowHangTung, the former vice-chairperson of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (#HKASPDMC), is in detention on charges of inciting subversion of state power. A lawyer by trade, she intends to represent herself in her upcoming trial, and is preparing her own defense while in custody.

In an article on her Patreon published on October 23, she mentioned that her relatives and friends recently tried to send books about the late activist Szeto Wah and the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989, but the Hong Kong Correctional Services (#HKCS) rejected them.

(Editor's note: Szeto Wah was the founder of the Hong Kong Alliance (#HKA) and was one of the most influential activists in Hong Kong who worked for decades to establish, preserve and protect Hong Kong people's democratic institutions, freedom and human rights.)

One of the books, she quoted an HKCS staff, "mentions behaviours of subverting state power". The decision could not be appealed, the staff added.

Chow questions whether the HKCS had assumed the role of the judge, making a fair trial impossible. The books are reference materials for her to prepare for her own defense in the trial, she said.

"If I can't have access to information about the Alliance and the June 4th incident, I would have no chance to find evidence to refute these accusations."

The Correctional Services have set up a perfect catch-22, she said of the arrangement. "This would guarantee the prosecution a win."

Source: Stand News #Oct23
https://thestandnews.page.link/Xwr8mUcpXtD6Q2MGA

#TonyeeChow #NSL #PrisonerRights #HongKongAlliance #HKASPDMC #June4th #TiananmenMassacre #SzetoWah

#HKProtest #University
Defiant University Students Carry Out Pop-Up Protests on Graduation Day, Calls Attention to Persecuted Students

November 4 marked the annual graduation ceremony of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK). Although no large-scale protests were seen this year under the iron grip of the National Security Law, traces of defiance still sprang up around the campus.

Large Banners Protest Admin Interference in Student Governance

As early as 6:30am, a large vertical banner with the words “Restore Student Autonomy「還我學生自治」” was spotted, as was another smaller one that said “Consultation Must Precede Staff-Student Collaboration 員生共治，必先共議」” . By 8am, both banners had been removed by school staff.

On the #WallofDemocracy, a large notice board created for students to voice opinion, multiple posters were seen with the call “OSA and subsidiary faculty committee, join the provisional Administration”, protesting the school's new requirement for student organizations to be registered with the school administration.

During the graduation ceremony, defiant graduates from Nursing showed protest handbills that wrote “Dare to be different; Be Faithful to your belief 「棱角分明，毋負期許」”. Some social work graduates wore white ribbons on their graduation robes, and carried handbills with slogans such as “Grieve our Student Union”.

Ex-Police Security Chief Disrupts Students Handing Out White Ribbons, But Chastised by Parents

At around 12:30, 5 CUHK students held up a banner that wrote “Grieve my CUHK” on the University Mall, and set up a counter to hand out white ribbons.

Although the group of students did not obstruct the proceeding of graduation ceremony, they were quickly encircled by more than 10 campus security and were ordered to leave. The students demanded the security guards for reasons that they were not allowed to hand out white ribbons, as they were not obstructing the ceremony.

Lee Wing-kwong, head of Campus Security and a former Police Superintendent, ordered his staff to remove the students’ protest materials immediately. He was, however, stopped by members of Student Affairs Office, who asked him to “calm down”.

Some parents on the site stepped in to show their support to the protesting students. Quoting the classic Confucian text "Great Learning", they criticized the campus guards for abusing their powers: "Don't you officials remember the Way of the Great Learning?"

"We've Graduated, But They Couldn't"

Scattered protest activities continued around campus into the evening. Nine graduates, wearing their graduation robes, held up signs with names of fellow students who had been arrested and jailed for their involvement in the 2019 anti-ELAB movement.

Their names are Cheung Chun-ho, Tang Hei-man, Ko Tsz-bun, Lau Chun-yuk, Fu Ngai-Ching, Chen Lik-sik, Hui Yi-shui, Li Chun-ho.

The last sign read poignantly: "We've graduated, but they couldn't."

#NationalSecurityLaw #NSL #NeverForget #Academia #WallofDemocracy #CUSU

Sources: Citizen News, Chinese University Student Press; #Nov4
https://bit.ly/3nVrgRf

#WhiteTerror #Censorship
Newspaper in Hong Kong States in Editorial: "No Intention to Incite Hatred"

In late December 2021, six former and current senior staff members of Stand News were arrested for "conspiracy to publish a seditious material". The authorities said that it contravened sections 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance.

The former chief-editor Chung Pui-Kuen and the former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam Shiu-Tung were both detained and denied bail. Stand News immediately announced to cease operation.

On January 6, 2022, #MingPao, a Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong, stated in its editorial that the newspaper has no intention to "incite hatred, dissatisfaction, and hostility" and they are only "pointing out the wrongdoings and suggesting a legal improvement to the society".

Following #StandNews, #CitizenNews and other 5 media have been recently closed down.

The chief-writer in Citizen News Chris Yeung Kin-Hing worried about the unpredictable redline. He was not comfortable to be a journalist as any article, report and interview can be classified as incitement.

Chief Executive #CarrieLam, however, claimed that the number of media registered on the information service department has increased in the past year, when she was asked whether press freedom has declined.

"The shut down of the media is their personal choice that we should not directly connect it with #FreedomofPress. The government and the police force only act in accordance with the law."

The editorial posted by Ming Pao reads:

"Criticism in the journal was to point out the mistakes or weaknesses of the related systems, policies or regulations and aim to correct or to eliminate them with legal improvement. There are no hatred, dissatisfaction, or hostility incitement to the government or other social groups."

Source: InMedia #Jan6
https://bit.ly/3JLmArq

#CarrieLam #YeungKinHing #ChungPuiKuen #LamShiuTung #NSL #CrimesOrdinance #PressFreedom #MediaLandscape

#Brainwashing #Education
Universities in Hong Kong to Implement Courses on Modern China and National Security

Under the #NationalSecurityLaw (#NSL), educationsl institutions in Hong Kong were requested to implement national security education.

Universities like the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU), the Hong Kong Baptist University (#HKBU), the Hong Kong Education University (#EdUHK) and the Hong Kong Lingnan University (#HKLU) have followed the government order.

Recently, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK) has reportedly amended their core curriculum for the next academic year.

CUHK will open online courses on "Understanding China Today", and "National Security" starting from the next academic year. Each of them takes account to 1 credit.

CUHK confirms InMedia's enquiry and claimed that the new courses aimed to "strengthen students' knowledge [...] to understand national security". The courses were authorised by the University's academic council; however, no curriculum details have been revealed.

According to the documents InMedia received, the course titled "Understanding China Today" touched upon the modernization of China and technological development, in addition to Chinese culture and history. In addition to national security education, other online courses cover positive psychology and modern language. Each of the course takes account to 1 credit.

The University called it "Service Learning" and requires students to take at least one of thrse 1-credit courses.

CUHK replies to InMedia that the university would launcb national security education in accordance with Article 10 of the NSL. The university also said that they have already rolled out a number of policies and activities to "increase students' national belonging". Orientation activities include theme talks about national security and media literacy; courses contain a talk regarding "international circumstances and China's diplomacy"; graduates career workshops consist of #BasicLaw.

Source: Inmedia #Jan18
https://bit.ly/3nwAVhB

#Propaganda #Regime #University

A year ago, 55 democrats from the LegCo primary election were accused of violating the #NSL. In this year, Hong Kong has changed a lot...

#LegCo #PrimaryElection #Democrats47 #GoHKgraphics

#Censorship #Education
Authorities Remove Teaching Materials on Human Rights and Protesting in Hong Kong

The Education Bureau (#EDB) in Hong Kong has been promoting values education in recent years, and it is rating the "National identity" and "law-abiding" as one of the most important values.

It is also found that some learning and teaching resources under the "Human Rights Education" category have been chopped with the latest website update, including group projects to collect press clippings for demonstrations, studying "why protesters have their demands", etc.

As the 33rd anniversary of the June Fourth Incident approaches, the timing of this update becomes sensitive, though the Education Bureau said yesterday that the recent update "has nothing to do with the June Fourth Incident, so there's no need to make unnecessary speculations".

In the Education Bureau's original framework, students are expected to "respect human rights". These wordings were removed in the pilot version of the "Values Education Curriculum Framework" launched last year.

In addition, the recommendation to students to "cherish freedom and respect the freedom of others" through the #RTHK programme "City Forum" was also removed.

A primary school principal, who did not wish to be named, said she felt helpless about the change in the teaching resources. She said that despite the clear new content, some of the removed items should be available for teaching, but becoming a grey area after the #NationalSecurityLaw came into effect. She worried that teaching such materials might touch on sensitive topics and lead to "consequences".

"For example, teachers should have taught the June 4 incident on June 4, but now they feel that they could no longer teach it under the National Security Law. There's a lot of pressure on the schools and the teachers, that we don't know if anyone would complain about what we teach to the authority," she said.

Source: Mingpao #Jun04

#NSL #Education #June4

https://bit.ly/3yiZ0yo

The US Government advises their citizen "DO NOT TRAVEL" to Hong Kong due to a high risk of arbitrarily enforcing local laws.

#NSL #BasicLaw #China #US #GoHKgraphics

UK-Based HongKonger's Groups Criticised pro-Beijing Organisations Cleansing the National Security Law with Human-sea Tactics

The 73rd Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Conference will be held within 2 weeks. UK-based HongKongers organisations found that many pro-Beijing organisations submit reports to this conference, strongly promoting the National Security Law (#NSL). They intended to rationalise the fact of Beijing’s corrosion to the rights in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Scots, a UK-based HongKongers’ organisation, indicated that Beijing utilised Human-sea tactic after being criticised in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights last year to promote the suppression of Hong Kong people in the United Nations. As the submitted content from various groups of people is similar, it is suspected to interfere with the trial of Hong Kong Human Rights in the United Nations, demonstrating “head count takes over the truth with limited evidence”.

#UnitedNation #UN #NationalSecurityLaw #HumanRights #HongKongScots

Source: The Chaser News #Feb01

https://www.patreon.com/posts/78007112

Lester Shum's Hopeful Message from behind the bar： Resiliance in the Face of loss

Lester Shum Ngo-fai is one of the pro-democracy politicians, lawyers, scholars, journalists, NGO workers and activists being arrested by the National Security Police in Hong Kong over their involvement in a planned Legislative Council primary election in January 2021. The incident came to be known as the arrest of “Hong Kong 47”, which symbolises the death of the city’s civil society.

On June 12, Shum found himself spending yet another birthday behind prison walls. A heartfelt message was shared on his personal social media account, managed by his devoted wife, seeking birthday blessings and support.

The Facebook post acknowledges that this marks Shum's third consecutive birthday spent in confinement, reminding us of the sacrifices he has made for his beliefs.

With a bittersweet smile, he has often joked about how time flies, going from a vibrant 27-year-old to now carrying the weight of turning 30. He seeks solace and support from the community, hoping to gather well-wishes that will uplift his spirit during this difficult time.

Shum yearns for a future where he can once again stand alongside his fellow "friends" in the struggle, reunite with his family, and celebrate together. He dreams of the simple joys of cutting a birthday cake, decorating a Christmas tree, personally presenting flowers to loved ones on Valentine's Day, and sharing a heartfelt meal with his parents on Mother's and Father's Day. Though these wishes may seem distant in their current circumstances, their hope for realization remains strong.

As we enter June 2023, Shum sends his sincerest wishes for peace to all. "Though we may lack material possessions, our hearts are filled with abundance," as Shum wrote in his post.

Source: Lester Shum Facebook; #Jun12

#LesterShum #NationalSecurityLaw #NSL #Birthday

https://www.facebook.com/100083258981625/posts/pfbid02P8GynPToThwnghaHfKkBnwY7dKi7Ka9bjBwgmyXt4HvXmQi9DnDkoPrn4tkUZFQ4l/?mibextid=cr9u03

In March 2023, the Hong Kong National Security Police detained a female student, accusing her of making multiple provocative posts and sharing photos on her social media accounts, including promoting Hong Kong independence.

The 23-year-old student was said to study in Japan. She went back to Hong Kong in March to renew her Hong Kong identity card.

She was charged with one count of incitement and appeared in court for the first time at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court on 16 June.

The defense raised concerns about the jurisdiction of the court to handle the case. They argued that a significant portion of the posts were made outside of Hong Kong and that the prosecution had exceeded the time limit for prosecution. The prosecution responded by stating that the legal disputes were currently awaiting resolution at the appellate court and suggested that the case be adjourned until the appeals process concludes.

Chief Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen, who is designated under the National Security Law, granted bail with certain conditions. These conditions included a restriction on leaving Hong Kong, the requirement to delete all social media applications, and the surrendering of related accounts to the police for inspection.

The case was adjourned until August 2nd for further proceedings.

The defendant remained composed throughout the hearing, while her family members shed tears upon hearing the decision. As she left the court, she was accompanied by Deputy Secretary for Transport and Housing, Yau Shing-mu.

Source: The Witness; #Jun16

#HongKong #Japan #NSL #NationalSecurityPolice #Student

https://bit.ly/3JipRzw