Is it lawful and reasonable to deploy over a thousand police officers to conduct a major search and arrest on the charge of intending to paralyze the government? Anyone need only look at the provisions of Articles 52 and 72 of the Basic Law concerning the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council to know that the Basic Law has its own procedures for paralyzing the government, and that the Chief Executive has a way to deal with it. As for “intent,” that is, motive, Robert’s Rules of Order, the prevailing canon published in 1837, states, “No questioning of motive is allowed.” In January 2016, the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr. Geoffrey Ma, opened the legal year by saying, “The Court is dealing only with the legal issues involved. The motives of the parties to the litigation, political or otherwise, are really irrelevant and do not contribute to the correct outcome of the judgment.”
Law enforcement and justice in a modern society governed by the rule of law also depends on whether the person accused has the capacity to commit the crime. For example, there was the Dennis case in the United States 70 years ago, in which the state of New York charged 11 members of the Communist Party of the United States with advocating action to overthrow the U.S. government by force when the time was right. The propaganda was well documented. But William Douglas, one of the justices, argued that the Communist Party of the United States was so limited in power, so insignificant in the police and military, that it was not in danger, and that their propaganda was therefore only within the scope of free speech.
Of course, that is a civilized society under the rule of law. Those words of Ma Daoli were also said 5 years ago. Looking at the recent cases handled, it seems to be different.
What is the impact on Hong Kong’s one country, two systems? Just look at the two days when all the civilized countries such as the West and Japan have dramatically reported on the big raid in Hong Kong and dignitaries from various countries have expressed their opinions, and you will know what the impact will be on Hong Kong as the white glove of China and as an international financial center.
Of course, authoritarian politics, because of its greed for power, will not take into account the consequences and will not shed a tear until it sees the coffin. This time Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Liberal Democratic Group in the European Parliament and former Belgian Prime Minister, said that the Hong Kong raids have shown once again that international agreements will not make China more open and democratic and that the European Parliament will not adopt the China-EU investment agreement if human rights in Hong Kong, Uighurs and Tibet are not protected.
China is complacent that the CEIBS has broken through the U.S. “encirclement” strategy, and it would be a bummer if the duck in its mouth flew away. As a result, there are rumors that the 55 people arrested will not be prosecuted for the time being.
The people of Hong Kong should not be reassured by this, if not prosecuted is only “temporary”, if the European Parliament shelves the China-Europe agreement is only “temporary” in response to public opinion. Pompeo said in September last year that Hong Kong has become a city ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. “Benedict Rogers, founder of Hong Kong Monitor, said the democratic countries’ statements of condemnation were no longer helpful and that it was time to take action, including implementing the Magnitsky Sanctions Act, implementing the international lifeboat program, suspending all extradition agreements with China, and canceling investment agreements with China. He did not ask China again to restore the rights granted to Hong Kong people under the Basic Law, because they have passed with the wind.
In many books on life, the most common advice is to think positively about everything, to be optimistic and positive in the face of adversity, and to think on the bright side, and you will get through it. So before 1997 there was the return of democracy, in 2003 there was a march to return the political power to the people, all the years to fight for true universal suffrage, Liang Tianqi was DQ, but still think that there is a danger of one country, two systems can be defended, a large number of DQ occurred but also hope that there is 35 +, canceled the Legislative Council elections still believe that there is room for resistance to stay in Parliament …… from the era of democratic return, all the pursuit of my heart are I think it is impossible to achieve, because authoritarian politics is not tolerant of democracy. Taiwan was able to succeed while Hong Kong could not because the regime the Taiwanese faced in their quest for democracy was backed by a Western democratic power, and the nature of the Kuomintang regime was very different from that of the Chinese Communist Party. But since the 1997 negotiations, I have supported all of Hong Kong’s democratic pursuits because that is the human right to which it is entitled. It is better to have done it and failed in the pursuit of freedom than not to have done it and regretted it.
However, stop believing in words like optimism, positive energy, and having hope. Positive thinking cannot make a cancer patient heal as a result. Facing reality head-on, dropping illusions, and having strong faith is what gives you the chance to feel your way out.
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