Human Rights Watch called on the Hong Kong government to immediately quash a court’s groundless national security law convictions of prominent pro-democracy activists
“Hong Kong’s mass show trial lays bare Beijing’s utter contempt for fundamental freedoms and democratic political processes,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at HRW
"Fourteen pro-democracy activists were convicted in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case on Thursday by a court that said their plan to effect change through an unofficial primary election would have undermined the government’s authority and created a constitutional crisis."
Verdicts in Hong Kong’s biggest trial against democratic opposition come >3 yrs after police arrested 47 #democrats in raids at homes across the city. They were charged w/ #conspiracy to commit subversion under a #NationalSecurity law imposed by #China.
…The defendants are accused of a "vicious plot" to paralyse #government in the fmr British colony & to force the city's leader to resign through a pre-selection ballot in a July 2020 citywide election. The #democrats maintain it was an unofficial attempt to select the strongest candidates in a bid to win a historic majority in #HongKong's legislature.
Beijing in 2020 imposed the sweeping #NationalSecurity#law that led to a spate of #arrests of democratic campaigners as well as closures of #liberal#media outlets & #NGOs. Hong Kong's democratic opposition had sought for decades to pressure Beijing to allow full #democracy in the city.
“#HongKong police arrested six people on Tuesday (May 28) under the city's new security law for "posting messages with seditious intention" online on a Facebook page about commemorating Beijing's deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.”
#hongkong has a well-oiled machinery when it comes to weather events.
HK Observatory issues weather warnings: Amber rain, red rain, black rain, monsoon, typhoon T1, T3, T8, T10
Schools, employers, government and private services have well-documented standards for when they'll be open, be closed, offer limited service etc, depending on weather signal and timing.
The city thankfully made a decision relatively early on, before adding millions of people, to invest in separate systems for rain drainage and waste sewage. The drainage has margins for even the most extreme weather events.
@clacke Not a huge one, but it is one. In its insane search for maximum efficiency, capitalism loses the ability to handle events that stray away from the average. It’s the greedy version of “It’s going to be fine”
@hypolite I think it may be that red rain is treated as a corner case and not worth modeling for.
Amber rain happens pretty frequently, everything stays open, people are out and about. Black rains or typhoons don't happen every month, but when they do, most things close, and the rain is heavy enough that whatever you do, streets will be flooded. You're out at your own risk.
Red rain is that in-between state that happens once or twice a year, most things stay open, schools stay open if they already opened, but they close if it happens before the schoolday starts.
Hong Kong was ranked 135 out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2024 press freedom index
"Once a bastion of press freedom, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China has suffered an unprecedented series of setbacks since 2020, when Beijing adopted a National Security Law aimed at silencing independent voices"
Hong Kong cartoonist Zunzi was awarded the Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award 2024 to recognise the talent and courage of cartoonists working under difficult circumstances
"In May 2023, Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao dismissed Zunzi, its regular cartoonist since 1983. The decision came after months of criticism of Zunzi by officials since Beijing adopted in 2020 National Security Laws that have reshaped Hong Kong’s arts, culture, and the media."