Schedium

As the 'South China Morning Post' reported today, the Hong Kong police will enforce laws governing public order "more strictly" and prevent gatherings of more than 3 people if they are deemed suspicious by police officers. "If officers deem a gathering likely to cause any breach of the peace or threat to public safety, we would not allow the participants to proceed," a source was quoted as saying. "We would demand that they produce identification and disperse, and follow them around if they did not leave. Anyone who refuses to comply can be arrested for obstructing police." The relevant laws prohibiting public gatherings are not a result of Hong Kong's 'mainlandisation', but date back to the British colonial era. In 1967 pro-Communist riots broke out in Hong Kong, and the British colonial government enacted the Public Order Ordinance , which controlled public meetings, processions, and assemblies (see: Wong Yiu-chung / Brian

As Xi Jinping tightens control over the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), further restricts freedom of speech and revives Marxist and Maoist ideology, the judicial system, too, is undergoing a conservative counter-reformation aimed at strengthening the role of the Party and excluding possible reforms inspired by the judicial system of liberal countries.  According to China News , on February 25 the Party leadership group of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China released a statement stressing that the country must preserve "the judicial system of socialism with Chinese characteristics " (中国特色社会主义司法制度). At the same time, it strongly rejected what it described as "Western judicial independence and the separation of powers" (西方“司法独立”、“三权鼎立”). The Supreme People's Court said that the judicial system must "resolutely resist the influence of wrong Western thought and wrong Western viewpoints."

In the afternoon of July 7 two tourist coaches took around 200 supporters of the USA Taiwan Government  (UTG, Chinese: 美國台灣政府 )  to the seat of the Taiwan Provincial Government  located in Zhongxing Xincun (中興新村) in Nantou County. The leader of the UTG, Cai Mingfa (蔡明法), and his followers entered the building through the toilet and occupied it . They raised a banner of the UTG in the office of the Governor of Taiwan Province, Lin Zhengze (林政則) , who was in Yilan that day.  Cai Mingfa declared: " We should not allow the government-in-exile of the Republic of China (流亡的中華民國政府) to use illegal and violent methods against the Taiwanese people. We urge the Taiwanese people to regain possession of their own rights. " The UTG was founded on April 25, 2013 , in Washington DC by Cai Mingfa , a 58-year-old native of Guanmiao District (關廟區) , Tainan City. He lived in the USA for 11 years and has an American passport.  The UTG believes that the legal status of Taiwan after

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the foundation of the People's Republic of China in front of a jubilant crowd in Tiananmen Square. The images of that historic moment have become famous all over the world. But few know who were the people standing behind Mao as he was holding his speech.  Most of them were, like Mao, Communist revolutionaries and high-ranking politicians, such as  Zhu De (朱德) , Liu Shaoqi ( 刘少奇 /   劉少奇) , and Zhou Enlai ( 周恩来 /  周恩來) .  However, one also finds names of people who were not members of the Communist Party: Song Qingling ( 宋庆龄 /  宋慶齡) , the wife of Sun Yat-sen , the man who had founded the Republic of China which the Communists had long fought to overthrow; Zhang Lan ( 张澜 /  張瀾) , the founder of the China Democratic League ; and Li Jishen (李濟深), the chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Guomindang (RCCG). In fact, the PRC was founded - at least in theory - as a multi-party state under the leadership of the Chine

How free are media in Hong Kong? This is a question I couldn't help asking myself these days. In a previous post I wrote about Alpais Lam Wai-Sze , a primary school teacher who swore at police officers because they allegedly did not prevent a Communist association from harassing members of Falun Gong, a religious group that is illegal in mainland China. The media response to this event in Hong Kong was very critical. Not critical of the police, but of the teacher and of Falun Gong. I would go as far as to say that the teacher has been the victim of a slander campaign. How deep Hong Kong media's self-censorship is, has become clear to me by reading the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The SCMP, which was once considered one of the best English language newspapers in Asia, constantly features pro-establishment, pro-Beijing, and anti-democracy articles. One example of this I could see yesterday, on Monday 19.   On page A2 appeared the usual column by Alex Lo. I have

How would you react if you received a visit from the police only because you posted a joke on your blog? I bet you wouldn't be very happy. Most especially if you lived in a country where you might be sentenced to five years in prison.  Well, this is exactly what was going to happen to Wu Hongfei (吴虹飞, pinyin: Wú Hóngfēi), the vocalist and leader of the Chinese rock band Happy Avenue (幸福大街; pinyin: Xìngfú Dàjiē). Last month she was arrested because of a post that appeared on her Sina Weibo micro-blog.  On July 21st, Wu Hongfei threatened to blow some government buildings in Beijing . This threat came only a few hours after a man had detonated a home-made bomb at Beijing International Airport .  Although Wu deleted the post soon afterwards, it had already circulated and it prompted the authorities to arrest her. She didn't imagine that her post would cause her to be detained for a total of eleven days and face criminal charges for "posing a threat to public ord

Territorial disputes are a major source of friction between the People's Republic of China and its neighbours in the South China Sea.  Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent statement that China should become a maritime power was echoed by state media such as the Global Times and China Daily. This suggests that the PRC might pursue a more decisive, aggressive foreign policy in the near future.  However, this is not a new development. In the past, too, the PRC didn't shrink from using force when it was necessary, for example when it occupied Mischief Reef or engaged in maritime clashes with the Vietnamese navy.  In view of these facts, Westerners ask themselves what they should do. Is China really a threat? Or is it a peaceful power, as many Chinese claim? Should Western governments contain China, or should they disengage completely from East Asia, leaving the solution of territorial disputes to the parties involved alone?  Why American Involvement In East Asia I