Hong Kong’s English-language opinion page. Free and independent, quality and diversity. We are Hong Kong-based.
Formerly known as Express Hong Kong, ex.hk, Voice of Hong Kong is a free, independent English website. We position as Hong Kong’s Opinion Page. “One Hong Kong, many voices” is our motto. Our mission is to provide readers thought-provoking and insightful views and quality commentary on issues in the city, Taiwan, mainland China and other global issues of interest that they need to know – and why. O
ur founder editor is Chris Yeung, a veteran journalist who had worked with the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Economic Journal. He is also one of the founders and chief writer of CitizenNews.
On the face of it, the now-shelved waste levy scheme and the ongoing study on the subdivided flats problem have nothing in common for obvious reasons. No, they have indeed.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/08/28/what-do-waste-levy-and-subdivided-flats-have-in-common/
Comment is free. How free it is now to make a point in Hong Kong?
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/08/22/ming-pao-and-hk-media-face-crisis/
Joining a get-to-know-the motherland tour for HK teenagers in her new capacity as an assistant manager at the Jockey Club, Vivian Kong has confirmed a thesis on the Occupy Central is hers before the group departed for Hangzhou on Sunday. In response to a reporter's question she said: "(The thesis) That's a master degree thesis. I have (a thesis) instructor... So I have... Oh yes, thesis. Thank you!"
Her boss, former senior government official Raymond Tam, said: “A thesis with the purpose of graduating for a master’s degree will remain as a thesis, no more and no less than that."
Isn't her first training in political-speak?
Has Vivian Kong united or divided HK? Posted By: VOHK August 14, 2024 By Chris Yeung Making a dramatic comeback to clinch a gold medal in the Paris 2024 Olympics, fencer Vivian Kong won applause from her fellow Hong Kong citizens in the city and in different parts of the world. Her fighting spirit,....
"A re-read of the Fortune magazine article and a run-through of the images and narration of the “slow, quiet death of Hong Kong” video with both straddling almost three decades adds more gloom and doom to the city.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/08/01/the-death-of-hong-kong-warning-2-0/
The Wall Street Journal, a self-proclaimed fighter for press freedom, has been a routine target of attack by the communist organs for its reporting on Hong Kong and China. They have put themselves in a defenseless position by sacking a Hong Kong-based journalist, Selina Cheng, for her leading role in the Hong Kong Journalists Association, citing "restructuring".
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/07/25/wsj-makes-bad-news-by-firing-cheng-for-hkja-role/
Two more giant pandas from southwestern Sichuan are scheduled to begin their mission before October 1 to try to win the hearts of Hongkongers, not just loving pandas, but, more importantly, love China.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/07/19/pandas-inflated-with-political-hopes/
2024 is an election year around the globe. Taiwan, India, UK, France, Japan. More to come. Not for Hong Kong. Democratic election is, arguably, becoming more distant and elusive.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/07/12/hk-people-just-audience-in-election-year/
If the Hong Kong media is a mirror of the society, the city is so good to be true. Is it a case of the Government doing a great propaganda job or the media a disappointing job?
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/07/03/foreign-media-shrinks-as-hk-seems-a-non-story/
Putting on hold indefinitely a waste charging scheme has emerged as one of the biggest achievements of the John Lee team in the past 12 months.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/06/29/two-years-on-what-is-the-beef/
After taking a close watch on Hong Kong since 2021, British judge Anthony Sumption gave his verdict on the prospect of the city's rule of law; he quit the job of non-permanent judge at the HKSAR's Court of Final Appeal. His departure was given a strong rebuttal by the Hong Kong Government.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/06/12/departure-of-uk-judge-dims-top-court/
A subversion case with no winners, only sadness
Chris Yeung
What if the trial of a subversion case involving an unofficial Legislative Council “primary” in 2020 was conducted with a jury, instead of being handled by three Hong Kong designated national security judges? Will the verdict be different?
It is now a mere academic question with no practical significance. The fact is the three judges concluded at the end of a 118-day trial on Thursday last week (30/5) the involvement by opposition figures in an unofficial election to preselect legislative council election hopefuls constituted a “grand strategy of subversion” in breach of the Hong Kong national security law.
Trial by jury has been used in courts under a common law system. But the national security law imposed in 2020 states that a jury can be excluded if there is a need to protect state secrets or the safety of jurors and their families, as well as if “foreign forces” are involved.
Citing “foreign forces” and the safety of jurors as reasons, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam signed an order in 2022 for a no-jury trial.
Again, the argument for excluding a jury put forward by Lam will never be proved to be right or wrong.
Of the 47 people who were charged with subversion, 31 had earlier pleaded guilty. Of the 16 defendants who pleaded not guilty, 14 were convicted. Only two were acquitted. The Department of Justice has filed an appeal against the ruling of the pair.
Last week’s ruling has come as no surprise, judging from the verdict given by the three judges. The judges have largely accepted the prosecution’s argument concerning two important points in contention.
They are whether a conspiracy existed among the participants to subvert state power and whether an indiscriminate vote against the government’s budget constituted “unlawful means” as mentioned in Article 22 of the security law.
In the 318-page judgment, the court concluded that “unlawful means” were not necessarily confined to criminal acts or acts involving the use of force, as argued by the defendants.“The phrase ‘other unlawful means’ referred not just to criminal acts but included means other than ‘by force or threat of force’,” the judges wrote.
It is anybody’s guess on whether a jury would have come to the same conclusion based on the same evidence given in court during the marathon trial.
For the sake of analysis, a list of interesting questions can be asked.
Did the 610,000-odd people who cast a vote in the two-day election “primary” in July 2020 have a slight doubt at that time that they might have taken part in a “conspiracy” to subvert state power? The answer is an obvious no.
Were they certain those who would contest and subsequently be elected in the 2020 Legco election, which was never held, would “indiscriminately veto” the Government’s Budget? The answer is a big question mark.
There is no denying a massive volume of secret exchanges, closed door meetings among the participants had come to light during the trial. They have helped unearthing the truth behind the “primary” election.
Arguably, there is no strong, compelling evidence that can significantly substantiate the “conspiracy” that the judges have alluded to in their verdict.
Ordinary people remain unconvinced why a so-called “indiscriminate veto” of the Budget would necessarily paralyse the Government, force the resignation of the chief executive and spark a constitutional crisis, thus undermining the city’s political system.
To many, the verdict is legally questionable, emotionally unacceptable.
Fairly speaking, there is no scientific poll on the “primary” case that can shed some light on the people’s ruling on the defendants, i.e, guilty or not guilty. In a society with rule of law and an independent judiciary, the trial must be conducted in court, not by the masses. That said, any government cannot possibly stop people from drawing their own conclusion on a trial on which many people have held strong views.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang said after the ruling was given the “primary” case “is a sad story” with “no winners.”
It cannot be more true. The verdict has added more sadness to the story and caused more damage to relations between the people and Government, the people and the judiciary and society at large.
ends
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/06/06/a-subversion-case-with-no-winners-only-sadness/
An office manager of Hong Kong's Economic and Trade Office in London is facing an espionage trial. One of the co-defendants died before the trial. That is the last story that the Hong Kong government wants to tell the world.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/05/30/an-unwanted-hong-kong-spy-story/
A bill seeking to revamp the Social Workers Registration Board is set to be passed into law as a control-obsessed mentality prevails at the corridors of power.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/05/23/no-mercy-on-social-workers-body-shake-up/
Once crossed swords with Singapore, Wall Street Journal chose the city-state as its Asia headquarters, dropping Hong Kong. The tale of two cities never ends!
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/05/10/wsj-finds-singapore-not-hk-its-asia-home/
Hailed as a 'beautiful sight' of Hong Kong, the sea of candle lights at Victoria Park on every fourth of June has become a sight in memory.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/05/01/the-june-4-vigil-sight-turns-ugly/
The Government came under criticism for wasting money on matters ranging from funding an office for Carrie Lam, yesterday's chief executive, to running a 'all-patriots' district council election. Any images of The Big Waster, a government mascot for food-saving campaign, that may emerge are mere coincident - and misfortune.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/04/25/government-wisdom-on-spending-in-doubt/
Chaos erupted as soon as a trial test of a waste-charging scheme kicked off in Hong Kong, saying volumes of state of governance under the John Lee administration.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/04/18/waste-levy-chaos-make-perfect-mess/
Call him 'Captain America 2.0', Ma Chun-man was a maverick protester during the 2019 social movement, who was sentenced to jail for a violation of the national security law. His hopes for an early release because of good conduct during his imprisonment were dashed after a change of prison rules in the new Article 23 legislation.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/04/11/captain-america-the-first-blood-of-article-23/
The enactment of another national security law marks the end of the Article 23 saga - and the beginning of a new era of uncertainty.
Championing the notion of "results-oriented" governance principle, Chief Executive John Lee is nearer to the a job left undone for 26 years done in probably less than a month - from the gazettal of the Article 23 bill to its passage into law.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/03/13/article-23-on-fast-lane-for-better-or-worse/
China's top official in Hong Kong, Xia Baolong, left Hong Kong after a week-long visit with plenty of sweet words about the outlook of the city - but few substance that justified his optimism.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/03/05/xias-words-face-the-reality-test/
Top Beijing official Xia Baolong spent seven days in HK refuting the "HK-is-over" doom and gloom talk about the city.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/02/29/xia-gives-hope-as-roach-says-hk-is-over/
Hong Kong journalists hit by bad news as the legislative work of Basic Law Article 23 restarts.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/02/14/hk-journalists-hit-by-bad-news/
The Hong Kong Government has flexed their muscles to "refute" and rebuke what it deemed as untrue in its plan to make a law on Article 23 even before it tells the public and the world what it intends to do.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/01/31/government-to-play-hardball-in-article-23-battle/
Jointly directed by the Leisure Cultural Services Department and the Arts Development Council, the show to punish a drama body for having invited the 'wrong' guests at an award ceremony last year is bad and ugly.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/01/24/belated-ugly-show-of-hk-drama-awards-ceremony/
What's in store for 2024? The signs emerging from the early days are not promising.
https://www.vohk.hk/2024/01/10/an-inauspicious-start-of-2024/
2023: a new beginning? the beginning of an end? or the end of the beginning?
https://www.vohk.hk/2023/12/30/2023-a-new-beginning-or-an-end/
It was not until the 1990s that the concept of freedom from fear had caused disquiet in some quarters of the Hong Kong society following the publication of a book by Myanmar’s democracy crusader Aung San Suu Kyi under the same title. 26 years after the handover, the concept of freedom from fear has become increasingly relevant.
https://www.vohk.hk/2023/12/20/wanted-freedom-from-fear/
The people have spoken out. Many voters had voted by not casting a vote in the December 10 Hong Kong District Council elections.
https://www.vohk.hk/2023/12/13/voters-protest-by-not-casting-a-vote/
The all-out campaign by the HK Government to boost turnout of the 2023 District Council election is a dangerous act, as it has proved to be.
https://www.vohk.hk/2023/12/06/the-dangerous-game-of-dec-10-turnout-boosting/
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