乡港系列

indy

专开一贴给乡港

indy

US ADVISOR: ANTI-CHINA PAPER IS ‘POLITICALLY USEFUL’
A top United States defense specialist wrote to billionaire anti-China campaigner Jimmy Lai in 2020 to tell him to create an English language version of Apple Daily to increase US support, a court heard.
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This would be “politically useful if not financially,” said former US government advisor Christian Whiton, in an email to Jimmy Lai in April 2020. Whiton is known for his calls for the world’s rich nations to hinder growth in developing China.
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Lai loved the idea. An English language Apple Daily, accessed through an app, would be a financial black hole, but would be great politically--just like the newspaper itself. Chinese newspaper Apple Daily was consistently losing HK$1 million a day, but was seen as “useful politically” for its attacks on China.
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Tabloid publisher Lai, a massive fan of the hard right in US politics, then wrote a text message to his colleague Mark Simon, a former US Naval Intelligence officer, the court was told.
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“Imagine if we can get Mike Pence to subscribe to Apple Daily app!” he wrote.
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Lai or his team also contacted Chris Patten, the former Hong Kong colonial governor who had become a ferocious UK-based anti-China campaigner. Patten told Lai he would create a video of himself calling for people to take out paid subscriptions to Apple Daily, the court heard.
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Jimmy Lai told Mark Simon to ask Mike Pompeo, former director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, to subscribe to the newspaper’s through its app, the court heard.
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To hire English language writers, Lai sought the help of Mark Clifford, the prosecution said. Clifford is the author of a book called “Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow the World: What China’s Crackdown Reveals About its Plan to End Freedom Everywhere.”
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Details of many of Jimmy Lai's activities are emerging at a trial now taking place in Hong Kong. Lai, 76, is on trial for sedition and collusion, which are illegal across the world. His associates have already pleaded guilty to related charges. Lai’s trial continues.
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(This is part one of a series of reports.)
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NEXT: Jimmy Lai and America's pro-Israel lobby.

indy

1) JIMMY LAI’S PHONE
Anti-China billionaire Jimmy Lai was in contact with notorious US hegemonist Paul Wolfowitz, a Hong Kong court heard.
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Investigators found emails between the Hong Kong anti-China campaigner and the author of the infamous Wolfowitz Doctrine, a secret 1992 blueprint for US global domination.
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Police discovered this from email records on the Trump-fanatic billionaire’s mobile phone.
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The tabloid publisher’s lawyers tried to prevent investigators from looking at his phone but judges ruled that this was normal practice in such cases around the world.
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(The connection had been suspected: Wolfowitz was reported to have visited Hong Kong during the round of anti-China protests which began in 2014, allegedly spending five hours with Jimmy Lai on a yacht moored off the coast of Sai Kung in Hong Kong’s rural New Territories.)
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The phone’s records, detailed in the present hearing, reveal that Jimmy Lai was also in touch with other “China hawks” in the U.S. This included Jack Keane, a retired US general who received a medal from Donald Trump in 2020, Raymond Burghardt, former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, and others.
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The Wolfowitz doctrine specified that America should give itself an unassailable role as world leader, override the United Nations, dominate Asia, and work to prevent “competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role”.
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Jimmy Lai’s trial in Hong Kong is laying bare his strong connections with anti-China forces in the US and the UK, but this is not being reported.
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2) AIM: TOPPLING THE GOVERNMENT, OR REGIME CHANGE
The group known as “Stand With Hong Kong”, widely believed to be a homegrown “grassroots” protest body, was actually set up by Jimmy Lai and his right-hand man, former US intelligence officer Mark Simon, the court in West Kowloon heard.
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Stand With Hong Kong interacted with Western powers, especially the US and the UK, calling for economic and other sanctions on their home community.  
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Lai’s group gave HK$9.8 million in “publication fees” to more than 20 western media outlets or communication agencies around the world between June 2019 and June 2020, the prosecution told the court.
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The aim was to create global negative press for Hong Kong. The ultimate aim was to build up enough pressure to bring about serious political instability in the normally peaceful city.
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The scheme was all part of Jimmy Lai’s operation “chi bao”, a Chinese term which means “implosion”. Chaos in Hong Kong under the “laam chau” (“we all burn together”) campaign would escalate to “administrative and economic turmoil in China”, the court was told. The hope was to eventually overthrow the government.
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Individuals working for Stand With Hong Kong have pleaded guilty to all charges.
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3) THE UK CONNECTION
The website of the UK’s ferociously anti-China political group, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, was run by Andy Li, who worked for Jimmy Lai’s Stand With Hong Kong organization, it was confirmed today.
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For years, the London political group has been notorious for its apoplectic warnings about “the communists” being on the verge of taking over the world. In UK journalism, the group was known as a “rent-a-quote” body, providing instant anti-China statements on any topic.
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Andy Li ran their website in the early days, admitted UK anti-China activist Luke De Pulford in the Times of London today.
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Li pleaded guilty to all charges facing him in a court case in Hong Kong in August, 2021, and is expected to appear as a state witness in the present trial of Jimmy Lai.
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Anti-China campaigner Jimmy Lai, 76, is on trial for sedition and collusion, which are illegal across the world. His associates have already pleaded guilty to related offences. Lai’s trial continues.

indy

INVESTIGATORS REVEAL JIMMY LAI MONEY TRAIL
Huge amounts of international money flowed into the bank accounts of Jimmy Lai—and large sums of cash went out to anti-China groups, a court heard yesterday.
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The tabloid publisher received HK$2.945 billion in his nine bank accounts in recent years, with deposits coming from the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere. The money is said to have derived “from overseas securities trading”.
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But the money didn’t sit there.
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Who got cash? Chunks of finance went out to multiple China-hostile political groups in Hong Kong, the US, and the UK, the prosecution said, providing a detailed report from financial investigators. Jimmy Lai’s lawyer Steven Kwan Man-wai did not dispute the information.
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Local recipients included the Hong Kong Democratic Party, the Civic Party, the Labour Party, the League of Social Democrats, the court was told.
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A wildly critical UK group called Hong Kong Watch, whose members include Benedict Rogers and former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten, received HK$202,000.
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Paul Wolfowitz, former US deputy secretary of defence, was sent HK$1.76 million in payments from 2013 onwards, the court heard. Money also went to a right-wing think tank called the American Enterprise Institute.
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Cash also went to a group called the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, organizers of an annual meeting to keep the “Tiananmen Square massacre” story, debunked by Julian Assange and others, alive.
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The biggest individual recipient named yesterday was Cardinal Joseph Zen, a retired Hong Kong churchman who has fallen out with his colleagues, including Pope Francis, over his relentless China-bashing. The churchman received HK$3.5 million in 2017, the prosecution said.
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The court heard earlier that large sums of money from Jimmy Lai’s funds (held by various entities) were paid to media companies, including the publishers of the Washington Post, the Nikkei Weekly, the UK Guardian, and media groups in India.
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Jimmy Lai, 76, is on trial for sedition and collusion, offences illegal worldwide. His colleagues and associates have pleaded guilty in related hearings. The trial continues.

indy

【謊言不能欺世，只能自證說謊者的卑鄙和無恥】
人民日報海外版  港澳平

自香港特區依法審理黎智英涉嫌危害國家安全罪及煽動刊物罪案件以來，美西方一些政客和媒體肆意編造一個又一個謊言，妄圖在該案審理上混淆視聽、誤導輿論。但如果他們以為這樣可以矇騙世人、影響該案公正審理，那是癡心妄想。謊言再多也掩蓋不了真相，只能自證說謊者的卑鄙和無恥！

——那些美西方政客和媒體試圖將黎智英裝扮成「正直的媒體人」「虔誠的基督徒」「爭取自由民主人權的鬥士」，可謂荒誕至極

黎智英所辦的《蘋果日報》靠販賣「色腥膻」起家、以製造假新聞出名，毫無媒體操守、干盡各種壞事。多年來，該報及其他黎智英所辦刊物被香港淫褻物品審裁處依法作出100多項判罰，香港社會斥之為「毒蘋果」。他哪是什麼「正直的媒體人」，根本就是業界敗類和恥辱！

黎智英利用旗下媒體肆意製造社會矛盾、挑撥社會對立，煽動仇恨、美化暴力，而且在企業經營中與他人串謀犯下「欺詐罪」被判刑，其所作所為完全與宗教崇尚的和平、博愛、誠實背道而馳。他哪是什麼「虔誠的基督徒」，根本就是道德敗壞的奸邪惡棍、卑鄙小人！

黎智英長期為反中亂港分子和「港獨」勢力提供資金支持，並直接策劃、組織、指揮一系列非法活動，特別是在「修例風波」期間鼓吹和參與「港獨」「黑暴」「攬炒」，甘當「洋主子」的爪牙，公然乞求外國制裁中國、制裁香港，甚至公開宣稱「為美國而戰」。在香港國安法實施後，他仍繼續指揮《蘋果日報》發表煽動文章，招徠外部干預。他哪是什麼「爭取自由民主人權的鬥士」，根本就是破壞特區憲制秩序和香港繁榮穩定、損害國家根本利益和香港市民福祉的罪魁禍首，是港版「顏色革命」的幕後黑手，是勾結外部勢力危害國家安全的漢奸國賊！

魔鬼就是魔鬼，什麼畫皮也掩蓋不了其醜惡猙獰面目。那些美西方政客和媒體不遺餘力給黎智英塗脂抹粉，為之「鳴冤喊屈」，是要表明自己同屬一丘之貉嗎？

——那些美西方政客和媒體不斷鼓譟所謂黎智英受到「不公平審判」，完全是裝聾賣傻、顛倒黑白

所謂黎智英被「未審先囚」不公平，真正的事實是：黎智英先後被控4項罪名，此前因「欺詐罪」獲刑5年9個月，現在羈押屬正常服刑狀態，哪來什麼「超長期審前羈押」？當下正審的黎智英涉嫌危害國家安全罪和煽動刊物罪案件之所以一再推遲審理，是由黎智英一方刻意拖延、不斷在法律程序上糾纏而導致，如今那些美西方政客和媒體竟又想以此倒打一耙，真以為自己可以翻手為雲覆手為雨？

所謂黎智英案由指定法官審理、不設陪審團不公平，真正的事實是：對涉及國家安全的案件由指定法官審理、不設陪審團是世界多數國家和地區的共同做法，在美西方國家亦比比皆是，並不影響案件的公正審理。那些美西方政客和媒體對此不知道嗎？

所謂黎智英不被准予保釋不公平，真正的事實是：鑑於涉及國家安全案件的特殊性，香港國安法與許多國家和地區維護國家安全的法律都規定，除非法官有充足理由相信犯罪嫌疑人、被告人不會繼續實施危害國家安全的行為，不得准予保釋。而且黎智英在一度被保釋期間仍頻繁聯繫外國政客和反中亂港分子，絲毫沒有停止危害國家安全的活動，對其不予保釋完全合法合理。那些美西方政客和媒體對此沒了解過前因後果嗎？

所謂黎智英不被允許自由選擇律師不公平，真正的事實是：黎智英未能聘請某位英國禦用大律師，是因為該律師在香港不具全面執業資格，香港特區國安委認為其參與案件可能構成國家安全風險。此種限制是多數國家和地區的通例。黎智英已聘請了一支由資深大律師、大律師及律師組成的龐大律師團隊，其中包括在香港具有全面執業資格的外籍律師。那些美西方政客和媒體對此難道視而不見嗎？

要說有誰試圖影響黎智英案的公正審理，恰恰是黎智英一方及那些美西方政客和媒體！一段時間以來，黎智英之子黎崇恩在海外四處替他老子「告洋狀」，乞求外國插手黎智英案。黎智英拼湊的所謂國際律師團隊還使出誣告等下三濫手段，捏造所謂證人遭受「酷刑」的謠言，妄圖濫用聯合國機制干擾證人作證、干預司法程序。他們是典型的賊喊捉賊！

——那些美西方政客和媒體強拉硬扯把黎智英案說成是對言論和新聞自由的打壓，老套伎倆實在太拙劣

幾天前，黎智英案審理的控方陳詞已完成。有關陳詞清楚表明，黎智英受審是因其涉嫌兩項勾結外國或者境外勢力危害國家安全罪，以及一項串謀刊印、發布、出售、要約出售、分發、展示或複製煽動刊物罪，與言論和新聞自由毫無關係。正如香港特區政府多次聲明指出的，特區執法部門是針對有關人員的行為，嚴格根據證據和依照法律採取執法行動，而非針對有關人員的職業身份和背景。如果按照那些美西方政客和媒體的邏輯，只要是對具有相關身份和背景的人員採取執法行動就是打壓言論和新聞自由，豈不是說該等身份和背景可以作為違法犯罪的擋箭牌、護身符？豈不是要給予該等人員違法犯罪的特權？這是何等荒謬！

事實上，任何不抱偏見的人們都能看到，香港的言論和新聞自由得到基本法的充分保障。只要不違法，媒體評論和批評政府施政的自由並無任何限制。香港傳媒業一直蓬勃發展，目前在香港特區政府新聞處新聞發布系統註冊的本地、內地和海外傳媒機構達200多家，近年來進入香港的境外新聞媒體和從業者也有增無減，這都是對香港言論和新聞自由良好狀況的有力說明。

還應當指出的是，言論和新聞自由從來不是絕對而是有其邊界的。這在相關國際公約的規定中和世界各國的法律實踐上都是清清楚楚、明明白白的。美國最高法院也曾明確表示，當「提倡使用暴力或違法行為」的言論「目的在於煽動或造成即將發生的非法行為」並「很可能造成這樣的行為」時，這些言論不受保護。那些美西方政客和媒體對此不會不知道吧？

若他們非要說打壓言論和新聞自由的事，那在香港是找不出的，只能到他們老家去找。「阿桑奇」「斯諾登」等事件且不提，根據「美國新聞自由追蹤系統」（US Press Freedom Tracker）統計，在2020年至2023年間，美國以逮捕、突擊、扣押設備、法庭傳票等方式打壓言論和新聞自由的事件就發生了逾1600起。那些美西方政客和媒體還是先洗掉自己滿身的污泥吧！

對那些美西方政客和媒體的撒謊成性、造謠上癮，世人早已將之看透，不會被其迷惑。對黎智英到底是什麼樣的人、黎智英案到底屬於什麼性質，香港社會更是心裏有數，沒有半點模糊。黎智英案必將依法得到公正的審理，黎智英必將依法受到正義的審判！那些美西方政客和媒體的撒謊造謠可以休矣！

indy

JIMMY LAI ASKED TRUMP TO SUBSCRIBE BUT WAS TURNED DOWN
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JIMMY LAI invited US President Donald Trump and his top US officials to subscribe to a special version of Apple Daily—but the Americans declined because they did not want to leave any transaction records on the newspaper’s website, a court heard.
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The approach was made by Lai’s right-hand man, former US intelligence agent Mark Simon. Also invited were former CIA director Mike Pompeo and vice president Mike Pence, Apple Daily staffer Cheung Kim-hung told the West Kowloon Court.
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But Simon later told Cheung that the attempt failed because the US officials did not want to leave financial records with the newspaper.
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Lai remained anxious for the US leader to intervene directly in his Chinese hometown, so made staff publish ads in his newspaper saying “Trump Saves Hong Kong”.
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FOREIGN POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
A series of revelations are emerging in the trial of anti-China campaigner Jimmy Lai about his relations with the US.
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The court had heard earlier that the publication of an English language special edition of the paper had been recommended by US anti-China hawk Christian Whiton. The former Washington DC official, who told US reporters he represented Jimmy Lai’s company Next Digital, said an English Apple Daily would be “politically useful”.
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By the time the new edition of Apple Daily was launched in May, 2020, Hong Kong people were complaining that the US had interfered in local politics by giving millions of dollars to anti-China activists in the city through various funds, some public, some secret.
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But Lai wanted US cross-border political interference presented as a positive thing. He wrote in the new English language paper: “Long live foreign powers!”
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BALANCED REPORTING IS BANNED
The tycoon shocked his staff by saying that journalism’s aim of providing accurate, balanced reporting, would not be the goal of the tabloid’s new outlet. “We are not trying to strike a balance,” he said. Instead, they should work to bolster anti-China sentiment.
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Publisher Cheung Kim-hung told the court that he thought the new west-targeted paper was “extreme” even by the standards of Apple Daily. The paper had turned radical after Lai had met former CIA director Mike Pompeo and other US officials in Washington DC in July of 2020, the court heard earlier.
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“When we choose writers, we don’t have to think about giving foreigners a balanced view of what happens here of every different [colour]. We only concentrate our Apple Daily view, a general view of the yellow side,” Lai told staff, referring to Hong Kong’s radical anti-China activists.
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Lai warned staff that they should not publish the journalism of popular Hong Kong-based finance writer Weijian Shan, because he sometimes said positive things about the mainland. Instead, Lai told Cheung to publish the views of a Canada-based anti-China writer.
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THE VIOLENT ARE GOOD
More than 90% of Hong Kong’s peaceful protesters had fled the street protests after they became dominated by a violent anti-China faction (codename “Valiant”) who destroyed huge numbers of shops, restaurants and transport hubs.
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But those were the individuals Apple Daily should support, even if they “stage a riot” or “come out to destroy shops”, Lai told staff.
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Lai said the newspaper must deliberately blur the division between the peaceful and violent protesters. “Division among ourselves may isolate the more radical ones,” said Cheung, explaining Lai’s philosophy at the time.
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MEDIA WITH ONE MESSAGE
Lai’s vision was for the media outlet to be a one-note operation, the court heard. When Apple Daily ran an article in August 2020 about the upcoming United States presidential election, Lai sent a message to his editor expressing his displeasure: “Do we need this kind of news that has nothing to do with China and all major English newspapers have published it?”
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The editor, a man named Fung Wai-kong, replied that proper news channels always published a variety of international news stories.
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But Lai said they must limit coverage. “We should focus on Chinese news and be known for it without dilution,” he said. The paper was aimed at US and UK but not Europe, for legal reasons.
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INFLUENCE INTERNATIONAL DISCOURSE
Cheung didn’t want to simply publish a stream of anti-China material in English. He told the court that he sought his boss’s permission to publish “soft news” and feature articles like real newspapers did, covering food, travel, culture and so on.
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“Mr Lai said ‘No’,” Cheung told the court. “Because the English version was designed to draw international attention and influence the international discourse using [stories] which were on the ‘yellow’ side,” he said.
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While western journalists describe Lai’s publication as “pro-democracy”, Hong Kong people and media tend to describe it as an “anti-China” newspaper, a crucial difference. This week’s hearings strongly indicate that Hong Kong people got it

indy

霍启刚

在百年未有之大變局中，要使「一國兩制」優勢得到保障，做好基本法第23條立法是當中必要一步。不過這並非單靠政府就能實現，而是需要全港市民齊心協力、各司其職。

在特區政府的帶領下，相信全港市民將會在基本法第23條立法上擁有共同信念，不會容許反中亂港勢力惡意破壞；香港應盡快履行憲制責任，完成基本法第二十三條立法，進一步築牢維護國安的法律屏障，杜絕外國勢力侵擾，往後專心發展經濟。

延伸閱讀：
【剛好有理】全國人大代表、立法會議員霍啟剛：《完善法律護國安 保障港人根本福祉》原文刊於2024年1月29日《文匯報》：https://www.wenweipo.com/a/20240 ... b0df1fefd5b0d7.html

indy

"GO BACK TO HONG KONG"
Tensions over a planned Canadian drug addiction facility boiled over into racial tension on Monday. Many people opposing the move were from a Chinese background—and were wrongly characterized as the source of Canada's drug problem.
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“You’re what’s wrong with Canada. Go back to where you came from,” a woman can be heard in a video of the dispute, “Go back to Hong Kong.”
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The scene was Richmond, a city in British Columbia, directly south of Vancouver, where people were meeting to discuss the opening of a supervised drug consumption site.
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NOT FROM HONG KONG OR MAINLAND CHINA
The irony, of course, is that Hong Kong was taken from China by western colonizers as "spoils of war", after a battle triggered by western insistence on being able to sell dangerous, addictive drugs in China.
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But the really astounding fact is this: fentanyl is not from China. That’s a myth, although lots of people believe it.
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The world’s biggest producer, distributor and consumer of fentanyl is the United States.
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Gangs make it in the US (and in Canada) using precursor chemicals from various places around the world, a few of which sometimes come from mainland China--against China's own rules.
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Hong Kong plays no part in the industry--except as a victim. In November last year, three kilos of fentanyl were smuggled from the US into Hong Kong, but the shipment was intercepted by Hong Kong authorities.
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Gangs in Canada are also exporting fentanyl, particularly to Australia and New Zealand.
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#cityofrichmond #drugs #FentanylDangersAreReal

indy

Today’s article in the Wall Street Journal: “Cheap Chinese Goods Are Becoming a Costly Problem. Exhibit A: Hong Kong” by Clarence Leong is a challenge to readers’ intelligence.

The article says that “Shoppers are hopping across the border after a prolonged decline in prices”.

In the same breath, Leong said “Consumer prices in China fell 0.8% in January compared with a year earlier, the country’s biggest deflation reading in more than a decade.”

Is 0.8% fall in consumer prices in a year enough to entice the tens of thousands of Hong Kong shoppers to Shenzhen?

The true answer lies in the good value that Shenzhen shops and restaurants offer. Prices have always been much lower in Shenzhen than in Hong Kong. At the same time, quality of both goods and services has been increasing fast. The re-opening of the boundary (sorry, not “border”) between Hong Kong and Shenzhen after 3 years of Covid travel restrictions allow Hong Kong spenders to realise the increased value Shenzhen offers.

As the boundary between Shenzhen and Hong Kong becomes even more porous in both hardware and policy terms, we shall see more such cross-boundary economic activities, in both directions. No one should feel the least bit surprised whether it’s deflation by 0.8% or inflation by 0.8%. The same applies to the relationship between Singapore and Johore at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula. The only difference is that unlike Singapore, Hong Kong doesn’t discourage people going north by imposing a three-quarter fuel tank policy on their drivers.  

#WallStreetJournal
#ClarenceLeong

indy

壹傳媒創辦人黎智英被控違反國安法一案，審訊踏入第44日。控方今日傳召第四名從犯證人、「12逃犯」之一李宇軒出庭作供。被還押的李宇軒早上由囚車押解到西九龍法院。他身穿深藍色外套及灰色恤衫，佩戴黑框眼鏡，在三名懲教人員陪同下出庭。

控方律政司副刑事檢控專員周天行負責對李宇軒進行主問，李宇軒確認自己在2020年8月10日因涉勾結外國勢力被捕，至2021年3月24日被正式起訴串謀勾結外國勢力、串謀協助罪犯及管有火器罪。

李宇軒同意自己在2021年7月7日在法院承認串謀勾結外國勢力罪，而其餘兩罪則獲存檔法庭、不予起訴；其所涉串謀勾結外國勢力罪指他在2020年7月1日至翌年2月15日串謀黎智英、Mark Simon、陳梓華及劉祖廸串謀勾結外國勢力。

李宇軒供稱，他於2019年6月透過社交軟件Telegram，認識同案被告陳梓華，當時陳梓華是以「T」自稱。他憶述當年六月下旬，20國集團在日本召開「G20峰會」，他與陳梓華在內的一群香港市民，在開會前夕，於Telegram上討論發起「全球登報計劃」。

他表示，當時香港曾發生幾次引人注目的示威場面，因此他發起眾籌，希望盡量在最多的國際報紙上刊登廣告，將香港的民主運動帶到國際舞台，以爭取國際關注及支持。當時透過眾籌計劃，一共籌得約700萬元，但由於轉帳需時，廣告要趕在G20會議召開前刊登，需要有人先墊支廣告費，他當時用盡自己的300萬積蓄仍不夠支付，陳梓華當時就私訊他，提出可以安排人幫手墊支。

李宇軒提到，他一開始不知道陳梓華「嗰邊」是甚麼人，但在收取匯款通知書時，發現有由黎智英與其外籍助手Mark Simon所持有和控制的加拿大公司LAIS Hotel Properties Limited及香港公司力高顧問有限公司「畀過錢」。

控方問起陳梓華首次接觸李宇軒的情況。李宇軒指不記得陳梓華當時在Telegram私聊時如何自我介紹，又指很可能陳梓華沒有自我介紹。李宇軒說，「大概意思係佢問我墊支幾多，之後佢就話諗計」，隨即或隔了一會，陳梓華表示「問過啲uncle或者其他人，嗰度可能可以動用到五球（即500萬元），有需要就揾佢」，由於是墊支，所以事後亦須還款。

控方追問陳梓華有否透露「uncle」是誰。李宇軒稱沒有，又指「uncle」不一定有血緣關係，「而係可能泛指一啲男人、或者其他人」。

indy

基本法第23 條立法正處於衝刺階段，已經「接近終點」，法案委員會亦已完成全部工作，並向立法會內會進行匯報。香港再出發大聯盟全力支持立法會恢復二讀辯論，全速完成審議工作。
今天發布記錄短片《黃霑給香港的信》，回顧本港「四大才子」之一、著名歌詞作家黃霑先生於2002 年12 月2 日向特區保安局提交的手寫意見書，表示贊成並支持香港特別行政區實施基本法第二十三條，強調任何國家都以保護國土、維護國民整體安全為第一要務，提醒香港人不要被外部勢力蒙蔽及利用，並指出更有外國人七咀八舌，議論紛紛，儼然港人福祉，全賴他們代議執言，此類行為，十分荒謬，身為港人，反感之至，呼籲盡快完成23 條立法。
時隔20 餘年，重讀這份意見書，字裡行間都是警醒。原汁原味回看，怎能不讚嘆「霑叔」當日的智慧！

indy

霍启刚

《基本法》第23條立法終於完成，今日是香港回歸以來具有重大歷史意義的一日。過去這段時間，立法會法案委員會為了全速推進第23條立法工作，連續七日加開22次合共超過40小時的高強度會議，逐條審議《條例草案》及修正案全部內容。

今日我們全體89位立法會議員亦連續開會10小時，以全票贊成通過《基本法》第23條法案。

十分榮幸能夠參與這個歷史光榮任務，「國安」才能「家安」，香港未來前景一片光明，之後全力拼經濟，為國家高質量發展作出更大貢獻。

indy

我被英國拒之門外，遭文明誤傷的感覺真痛
虞樂仲
3月初，從泰國回國之後，我便開始著手準備英國旅遊簽證。
網上填表的時候，對於自己的軟肋——獨身未婚，上無老下無小——我有點擔心，因為這往往是歐美旅遊簽證拒簽的重要理由。畢竟，我這種人，在國內沒有什麼牽掛，容易被認為，黑在人家國家不回來的可能性偏大。
儘管如此，我仍然願意相信，英國是一個開明的國家，不至於如此歧視單身人士。
在填寫“為什麼去英國旅遊”這一項，我用英文寫道：
As a social media writer and PHD holder in History, whenever I write or say something in favor of western countries, I am always refuted and satirized, just because I've never been there. That 's why I crave a trip to England and other western countries for more knowledge about their civilization, culture and society, so as to make my essays more persuasive, and my thoughts more deep and incisive.
中文意思大體是：作為一個社交媒體作家和歷史學博士，每當在文章或交流中誇西方國家，我不是被反駁，就是被嘲笑，原因僅僅是因為我沒去過那裡。這就是為什麼我一直渴望能夠到這些國家旅遊一趟的目的。我希望通過這次旅遊，更多地瞭解它們的文明、文化、社會，讓自己的文章更加有說服力，讓自己的思想更加深刻和犀利。
網上提交申請那一刻，我信心滿滿地以為，這個理由非常獨特，非常充分。
上週三，從貴陽自駕開車到重慶遞交材料。
材料遞交之後，我突然意識到，也許，這個理由雖然獨特，但是，英國簽證官可能無法理解，畢竟，他們極有可能看不懂我的公號文章，容易誤認為，這是我瞎編的理由，從而更加懷疑我的移民傾向。
第二天，回到貴陽家中，開始坐立不安地等待結果。
第三天，收到英國使館郵件說，我的申請不夠straightforward（直接明瞭），需要加強審查，希望我耐心等待。
我這封郵件，讓我的內心更加不安了。但是，我仍然願意相信，英國會接納我這個真心崇拜它的遊客前去旅遊的。
昨天中午，剛剛吃過午飯，我便收到第二封郵件。
懷著“六分可能通過，四分可能被拒”的心，我用顫抖的手，點開郵箱。
Refused（拒絕） 這個單詞，瞬間刺痛我的雙眼。
整個下午，我都心情沮喪，卻心有不甘。
晚上，一個畢業之後在貴陽中學教書的學生，開車帶我到郊區農村兜風。
昨天天氣真的很好，不冷也不熱。一路上，他開著車窗，我卻無心享受春天夜晚清鮮的涼風。儘管他直誇我，這個年紀了，身段還保持得非常好，我卻開心不起來。
彼此聊天的時候，我一直心神不定，感覺自己氣虛鬱悶。
回到家中，早早就上床，卻睡不著，覺得自己非常委屈。
我真的毫無移民英國的傾向和興趣，因為對那裡多雨潮濕的天氣，我真心不喜歡。但是，我一直都非常崇拜英國這個國家，因為它是人類現代文明的發源地，誕生了很多很多影響人類發展方向的思想家和科學家，非常值得親身去感受一下那裡的社會氛圍。
除了英國，我還打算把歐洲幾個主要國家（德國、法國、瑞士、芬蘭、丹麥......）都一口氣玩完，時間規劃是兩個月。
英國簽證被拒，意味著半年之內我無法申請德國簽證，我只能取消這趟歐洲之旅，儘管我已經和一位早年移民德國的讀者梁女士約好，到了德國之後，她開車帶我逛一逛，看看德國幽靜的森林和那些適合散步的林間小道。
我真的沒有想到，自己懷抱一顆真誠的心，卻誤遭文明誤傷，這種感覺真的很痛......
今天早上，一覺醒來，我想開了，並且決定過段時間再試一次。
我相信，英國是一個講道理的國家。這一次，我失敗了，一定是因為自己的陳述不到位，材料準備不詳實......

孟词宗

indy 发表于 2024-3-28 03:02
我被英國拒之門外，遭文明誤傷的感覺真痛
虞樂仲
3月初，從泰國回國之後，我便開始著手準備英國旅遊簽證。

英国人没说错，这个还真是不够 “straightforward（直接明瞭）”

直接写想去英国旅游不行吗？而且貌似英国的旅游签证在中国只要出钱就可以让旅行社代办的

写这么“高大上”的理由，约翰牛看了不是怀疑这位满嘴讽刺，就是怀疑这位精神有病

indy

indy

Messages on Gaza vs Hong Kong show stunning hypocrisy
By Richard Cullen, law professor
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VERY RECENTLY, leading British daily the Guardian ran remarkably informative side-by-side stories covering official United States perspectives on the Gaza genocide.
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Story one highlighted how the US State Department argued that: “Famine is already probably present in some areas of northern Gaza” and was a risk in the center and south of Gaza.
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Story two explained how the US had just approved a multibillion-dollar new weapons package for Israel, including almost 2,500 huge bombs, plus new, exceptionally lethal fighter jets.
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Let’s consider what is happening here.
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America officially agrees that Israel’s US-backed Gaza genocide is generating horrific famine conditions — on top of tens of thousands of bombing casualties (mainly women and children) — while Israel, according to NBC News, stifles the mass entry into Gaza of hundreds of food and medical aid trucks, waiting right outside with relief supplies.
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And the default American solution to American-recognized, increasing mass starvation is to send still more bombs and lethal weaponry to amplify Israel’s capacity to inflict further mass civilian homicide from the air.
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Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu displays brazen contempt for US President Joe Biden because the US is failing to do enough to facilitate Israel’s Gaza-cleansing genocide.
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LECTURING HONG KONG
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Never mind: In the middle of all this wilful, American-amplified carnage, Washington still finds time, after the recent passage of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in Hong Kong, to lecture Hong Kong on its duty to act in accordance with American-specified rules of behavior while incubating a fresh set of US sanctions to apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
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The crux of the problem is that before 2020, Hong Kong used to be a hotbed for Western spies, but now the HKSAR thinks it is entitled to retain modern national security laws just like other international financial centers — such impudence!
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RELATIVELY RESTRAINED

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken launched this fresh, twisted broadside by arguing, among other things, that the Ordinance “could be used to eliminate dissent inside Hong Kong and applied outside its borders as part of (China’s) ongoing campaign of transnational repression”.
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As others have explained very well, the Ordinance and the National Security Law for Hong Kong, the latter promulgated in June 2020, are relatively restrained in their drafting and application compared to the US’ exceptionally draconian and comprehensive national security regime, which was drastically and swiftly amplified after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
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COVERED IN BLOOD

To understand how unforgiving and far-reaching that organism is, look at the multi-year offshore, US hounding of Julian Assange (including an alleged CIA assassination plot).
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It is literally incredible: Washington, covered in Palestinian blood up to its armpits, picks up its global morality megaphone again and switches to lecture mode without a moment’s hesitation.
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And what does the world beyond the Global West perceive?
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WORLD FEELS SENSE OF DIGUST
Michael Brenner, professor emeritus of international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University, provided a series of acute answers in a recent, extended interview titled "This is the Way the West Ends".
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Here, he explains how disgust with the Global West has displaced skepticism:
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“The stunning feature of the Palestine affair is the readiness of immoral government elites — indeed the near entirety of the political class — to give their implicit blessing to the atrocities and war crimes Israel has committed over the past five months, which is having profound repercussions on the West’s standing and influence globally.
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“At one moment, they speak proudly about the superiority of Western values while condemning the practices of other countries; at another, they lean over backward to justify far greater humanitarian abuses, to provide the perpetrator with the arms to destroy, to kill, and to maim innocent civilians, and in the case of the United States, to extend diplomatic cover in the United Nations Security Council.
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“In the process, they are dissipating their standing in the eyes of the world outside the West, representing two-thirds of humanity. The latter’s historical dealings with the countries of the West, including the relatively recent past, left a residue of skepticism about American-led claims to being the world’s ethical-standard setters. That sentiment has given way to outright disgust in the face of this blatant display of hypocrisy. Moreover, it exposes the harsh truth that racist attitudes never had been fully extinguished — after a period of dormancy, its recrudescence is manifest.”
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IRRATIONAL OR WICKED

Pr

鳕鱼邪恶

孟词宗 发表于 2024-3-28 05:20
英国人没说错，这个还真是不够 “straightforward（直接明瞭）”

直接写想去英国旅游不行吗？而且貌 ...

典型的非蠢即坏～

料理鼠王

indy 发表于 2024-3-28 03:02
我被英國拒之門外，遭文明誤傷的感覺真痛
虞樂仲
3月初，從泰國回國之後，我便開始著手準備英國旅遊簽證。

对这种心向往之的不撒狗粮，领事馆确实不够明智呀！

indy

US OFFICIALS QUIETLY told anti-China activist Jimmy Lai Chee-ying to halt the spiralling violence of the 2019 Hong Kong protests but he struggled to do so, a court heard from a “go-between” this week.
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And then a large group of activists who had taken over a university surrendered to police, causing the newspaper publisher to declare: “That wiped out my best men.”
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Meanwhile, Lai’s right-hand man, former US intelligence officer Mark Simon, gave the go-between a company he said was of a covert nature and could be used to liaise with foreign organizations and collect funds.
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ASTONISHING REVELATIONS
Extraordinary revelations came this week from the ongoing trial of newspaperman Jimmy Lai, 76, confirming US involvement, and the role of the publisher and his former US intelligence officer partner Mark Simon in backing the violent protests that roiled normally peaceful Hong Kong five years ago.
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Testimony from a go-between named Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, 32, detailed the problems that arose during the period after a legal extradition amendment was withdrawn. Protesters continued to use it as an excuse for an increasingly violent insurgency, with terrorist-grade bomb factories discovered at several locations.
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G7 RECOMMENDATION
Background: In 2018, civil servants at Hong Kong’s Department of Justice continued their routine updating of the city’s British Common Law legislation. The city already had Asia’s highest-rated legal system, but to keep at the top, they followed a recommendation from a G7 financial law committee to upgrade the city’s extradition law.
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In the British era, arrested individuals from Mainland China had been simply put in vans, driven to the border, and dropped off “over the line”.
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The new extradition amendment gave people detained for specific serious crimes due legal protection. They could only be extradited after a lengthy process of hearings, typically taking 12 to 24 months.
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However, by the first half of 2019, an extreme campaign of disinformation had totally misrepresented the amendment. The amendment was falsely painted as a new law “from Beijing” that enabled people (and even tourists) to be “snatched” from the city and “disappeared” in mainland China for political misdemeanours.
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The misinformation led to hundreds of thousands of protesters (organizers claimed “millions”) hitting the streets in June calling for its withdrawal.
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The amendment was withdrawn the same month, but anti-China groups continued the protests, turning it into a violent insurgency that caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage, shutting down the airport and wrecking scores of metro stations.
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STOP THE VIOLENCE

In July of 2019, US officials told newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai to tone down the violence, the court heard.
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This was a problem for several reasons. First, he had repeatedly told his newspaper staff to report events in a way that deliberately removed the gap between Hong Kong’s peaceful protesters and the violent “localist” thugs that smashed up or burned restaurants owned by families from Mainland China. This was described by his staff in earlier court hearings.
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Second, he had been financially backing the “old school” pro-American political individuals and groups in Hong Kong for years – often exactly the same anti-China politicians receiving cash or support from various US groups. But did not personally know the new generation of young “localist” leaders. He would need a go-between.
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THE GO-BETWEEN

In July, the publisher arranged to meet Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, a paralegal aged 32, who he believed to be a high ranking activist who could spread the new message to a cluster of violent groups known as “the valiants”.
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The paralegal was invited to go to a designated restaurant and was asked to hand over his phone “for security reasons” before Jimmy Lai talked to him, the court was told.
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When he had done so, the publisher told him that things would have to change. The United States now wanted “no police or civilian fatalities”. Furthermore, they had said that the violence “should stop at some point”.
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Lai wanted this message taken to the violent groups, which were divided into multiple sub-groups with their own names, including JD Team, G20, Pink, Dragonslayer and others. (The code name for Jimmy Lai and Mark Simon was “Backer”.)
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Wayland Chan met with the publisher several times, he said, always having to give up his phone before conversations started. On one occasion, they met in a car parked near Hong Kong’s Supreme Court, the court heard.
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US OPERATIONS

Between face-to-face meetings, the younger activist received Whatsapp messages from Jimmy Lai about US progress in the anti-China effort, he told the court.
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Two American operations had been set up with Hong Kong in their names. One was a lobby group working to create the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act” and the other was a group called the “Hong Kong Democracy Council”.
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They were working to

indy

ANTI-CHINA PROTESTERS in Hong Kong were flown to Taiwan for military training before returning with plans to kill people with bombs and firearms, a court heard yesterday. They tested their equipment in rural Sai Kung, but planned to launch a terrorist-style attack in densely packed Wan Chai.
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Each bomb could be set off with a single phone call.
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The largest was packed with so many nails that it alone would have caused “severe casualties and property loss within a 400 meter radius” according to a ballistics report cited at the trial yesterday.
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The explosions would be accompanied by attacks from gunmen and people throwing petrol bombs.
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Police were the main targets, but it was inevitable that other people would be killed or injured. “The damage these bombs might have caused would have been indiscriminate,” prosecutor Juliana Chow Hoi-ling told the court yesterday.
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The attack, slated for the second week of December 2019, was foiled by police hours before it was put into action.  
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JURY TRIAL

A nine-person jury was commissioned to hear the case yesterday at the High Court in Hong Kong, and the prosecution began its opening statement.
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Senior members of the operation have already pleaded guilty to the plot, which has been detailed at earlier hearings. The present trial focuses on the culpability or otherwise of other individuals involved.
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Cheung Chun-fu, Cheung Ming-yu, Christian Lee Ka-tin, Lai Chun-pong, Justin Hui Cham-wing and Yim Man-him jointly face a change of conspiracy to commit bombing under United Nations Anti-Terrorism ordinances, and Lau Pui-ying faces a charge of “providing or collecting property to commit terrorist acts”.
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RECAP: EARLIER CASES
The plot was coordinated in August of 2019 on a Telegram group called Dragonteam, according to earlier hearings and related reports. The  budget of HK$4 million for the operation was attributed to “crowdfunding”.
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In September, members were flown out of Hong Kong for training, but how the international/ Taiwan element was organized has not been revealed, nor details of who gave them military-level training. It is known that they were paid for their employment.
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In the middle of November, members went to an isolated hill in Sai Kung to test the guns. Reports indicate that an AR-15 automatic assault rifle was obtained as well as other firearms.
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The plan featured the classic two-bomb technique favored by terrorists. A smaller bomb was set to go off first, buried in soil on the botanical divider in Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, causing victims to flee into the path of the larger bomb, 50 to 100 meters closer to Admiralty. Police were the main intended victims.
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An overhead sniper and other gunmen, were also set to attack police officers, while others would fire-bomb shops or restaurants in the area judged to be China-friendly.
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One of the local leaders of the plot, Wong Chun-keung, who pleaded guilty, is expected to testify in the present trial. Other members of the group, Ng Chi-hung and Eddie Pang Kwan-ho, also pleaded guilty earlier stage, and may also be called to the stand.
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CONTEXT
Despite being white-washed as "pro-democracy protests" by mainstream media, the 2019 anti-China insurgency was extremely violent.
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There were at least 14 cases in which protesters were found to have been handling explosives, including TATP (triacetone triperoxide), an explosive used in tragic large-scale terrorism cases in Sri Lanka and London.
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Almost all Hong Kong’s MTR transit stations were attacked, with a HK$1.6 billion (US$206 million) repair bill.
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Engineers said the length of metal public safety railings ripped up to be turned into improvised weapons or barricades was more than 60 kilometers.
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The repair bill for Polytechnic University alone came to HK$700 million.
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The total bill for setting the city back to rights was beyond calculation, with numerous shops burned, cars destroyed, businesses closed and offices trashed.
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But that’s just money. Far worse was the damage to society, which lost its crown as one of the most peaceful places on earth. People with mainland accents were beaten up on the streets, destroying our community’s biggest source of tourism income, and our society was left riven by mistrust--and desperately in need of legal recourses to stop this happening again.
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In a classic case of “blame the victim”, the west blamed Hong Kong for the problems, and hit us with numerous sanctions.