Thread: The View, from China

Originally Posted by misskit

VIDEOVideo: See Chinese police show of force in response to assaults on women - CNN Video

Brilliant idea, have a parade.

Nury Vittachi, Fridayeveryday.com
@NuryVittachi

Don't tell Boris! HK has overtaken UK in GDP per capita! Here's the YouTube link for my new video giving 12 more stats about HK that you're unlikely to read in the mainstream media


<font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp">

He looks like a bloke who's enjoying having a police baton rammed up his jacksy.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

^^ Sabang, that 'factual source' of yours has been debunked many times on this thread.

He's that 'friday every day' nutter

You don't actually think sabang checks any of the shit he posts, do you?

Originally Posted by sabang

HK has -

- The highest longevity on the planet
- More GDP per head than the UK
- Launches more IPO's than London, NY or any other place
- The Worlds busiest cargo airport
- Ranks 4th on the UN Human development index (UK 14th)
- Added a million new residents since the Handover.
- Over doubled it's GDP since the Handover
- (and so on- fascinating short video)

Methinketh reports of HK's untimely demise are incredibly premature. A bit of penis envy from a declining West perhaps? Winners are grinners.

Meanwhile...

As China tightens grip, Hong Kong’s luster as ‘world city’ dims

Tens of thousands of residents are exiting the former British colony as Beijing reshapes life in the city.

As China tightens grip, Hong Kong’s luster as ‘world city’ dims | Business and Economy | Al Jazeera

Hong Kong handover: What will the next 25 years hold?

In 1997 Hong Kong was handed back to China, triggering the start of a grand political experiment. Many were anxious about how the capitalist, free-wheeling former British colony would fare under Communist Chinese rule. So Beijing promised Hong Kong's civil liberties and freedom - unavailable in the mainland - would be preserved for at least 50 years under a novel arrangement called "one country, two systems".


Now, after a tumultuous 25 years, that experiment has reached its halfway point.


What lies ahead over the next 25 years?



Changing politics


A major question is how much political autonomy and freedom Hong Kong will retain. Before the handover, many had hoped that China would eventually become more liberal and, in time, allow full democracy for Hong Kong as well. This is a promise enshrined in the city's Basic Law, a mini constitution arising from an agreement between Britain and China. It stipulates progressive election reform so that the chief executive and all members of the legislature will eventually be elected through universal suffrage.

But some critics think that Beijing has shattered this promise in recent years with a restrictive national security law and electoral reforms which allow only "patriots" to run for Hong Kong's leadership. The 2020 law followed massive pro-democracy protests in 2019, which included violent clashes between demonstrators and police. Now, observers say, there is slim hope for a more democratic political system and they fear that the character of the city has fundamentally changed, with Beijing in full control. "Most Hong Kong people think that 'one country, two systems' has already disappeared," says Ted Hui, a former pro-democracy lawmaker who has fled the city.


Authorities say the national security law affects a minority, but Mr Hui says it stifles Hong Kong's once-vibrant civil society.

In its wake, dozens of groups, including political parties and unions, have disbanded. The annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the 1 July handover anniversary march have been effectively banned by authorities. Several pro-democracy media outlets, including Apple Daily and Stand News, have closed down in the past year.


Hong Kong, once a beacon of press freedom in Asia, was ranked 148th in the world for press freedom this year, tumbling down nearly 70 places since the previous year.

And "the city of demonstrations" - which has a long history of peaceful protest - has fallen silent since the national security law took effect.

"It's fair to say that no large-scale, on-the-ground protests will occur in Hong Kong in the foreseeable future," said Jeffrey Ngo, a policy and research fellow of US-based Hong Kong Democracy Council. "Beginning in 2020, you have people in Hong Kong who are either in jail and therefore can't do anything, or some who try to stay out of jail so they self-censor for good reason."

Chinese officials have claimed the recent changes were necessary "improvements" to "one country, two systems", which they hailed as a "widely acknowledged success" that could even continue past 2047.

Dominic Lee, a pro-Beijing lawmaker, also argues that Hong Kong people still enjoy civil liberties. "People can express their opinion on different issues, as long as it has nothing to do with national security," he said. "There will be more hearings and the court will decide what concerns national security." He also says Beijing passed the national security law and changed the electoral system as Hong Kong was "growing politicised" and it reached a "critical point" in 2019 when the city's legislature was paralysed by the pro-democracy camp. "If you ask me, both the national security law and the electoral rule changes are the pro-democracy camp's own making," he said, adding that moderate voices had been "marginalised".

Lee believes many distinctive features of Hong Kong remain - and will likely stay the same beyond 2047. "I can't speak for the central government, but I think its main objective is to maintain Hong Kong's prosperity."


International or Chinese financial centre?

Another question is whether Hong Kong can maintain its status as a leading international financial hub.

In 1997, the "pearl of the Orient" was a wealthy city whose GDP was equivalent to almost one-fifth of China's. Now it's only about 2%, and Hong Kong is facing intense competition from many other Chinese cities, especially Shanghai. "Twenty-five years ago when China was much less developed than it is now, Hong Kong stood out as a very developed, internationally connected city," says Louis Kuijs, chief Asia Pacific economist of S&P Global Ratings.
"Many cities have caught up with Hong Kong economically."

Mr Kuijs says the city is still "the pre-eminent gateway in and out of China" as it has an internationally recognised legal system and financial markets that are "very open to the rest of the world". But recent tensions with Beijing and the strict zero Covid strategy have had many asking if the city is losing its appeal with international companies.

The number of regional headquarters of international firms in Hong Kong dropped by nearly 10% from 2018 to 2021. But the number of mainland Chinese companies setting up shop in the city has gone up by nearly 28%. "The face of Hong Kong is evolving and it's probably becoming a little bit less international… and a bit more mainland-oriented," Mr Kuijs says.


Hongkonger or Chinese?

But one of the most pressing questions is what it means to be a Hongkonger. The diaspora is quickly growing with an increasing number of locals leaving the city in recent years. Hong Kong officials don't track emigration. But many of those who left permanently are likely to have moved to the UK, which received more than 123,000 applications for the BNO visa since its introduction in January 2021 until the end of March this year. About 70% of Hong Kong's population - 5.4 million - can apply for the visa, which allows holders the right to live and work in the UK.

Political uncertainty has set off immigration waves in the city in the past - such as when the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in 1984, or after the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989.

But Mr Ngo believes it's different this time.

For those who left earlier, "the political threat was conceivable, but there was still a possibility that things could turn out not to be so bad". "Right now, the possibility is gone. This time, people are leaving Hong Kong with the expectation that they probably will not return." Mr Ngo says the diaspora will likely hold on to their identity as Hongkongers, and the activists among them, are probably going to continue their struggle for democracy in Hong Kong and "building resistance from abroad".

But Mr Lee believes that the younger generation growing up in Hong Kong will become more patriotic. "My kid would tell me about the flag-raising ceremony and sometimes would sing the [Chinese] national anthem spontaneously." "For this generation, they may not have the same feelings as those young people who took to the streets in 2019."

Some, like Mr Ngo, worry this comes at the cost of Hong Kong's unique identity.

"My biggest worry is that Hong Kong and China will no longer be meaningfully distinct from each other by 2047," he says.


Hong Kong handover: What will the next 25 years hold? - BBC News

^ ^ So they keep telling you- and thus obviously want you to believe. Shame about the facts e'hh? Shame about those failed 'pro-democracy' protests too, e'hh? Oh, about them.....



Hong Kong protests ‘driven by the West’

'Revolution industry' professionals admitted working with activists




PEACEFUL PROTESTS WHICH TURNED violent in Hong Kong last year were stirred up and financed by hidden geopolitical groups to destabilize China.

• Professional “revolution consultants” from the United States and Europe showed radical protesters how to maximize civil disruption while keeping the media on side.
• American agents paid millions for the development and daily maintenance of hi-tech tools to enable protesters to evade detection.
• A secret high-level committee of Hong Kong senior activists worked with Western agents to coordinate and amplify the so-called “leaderless” protests.
• But the alliance was unstable, sometimes got things farcically wrong, and eventually spun out of control, with radicals planning a deadly campaign involving terrorist-grade explosives, including chlorine bombs.

The untold story behind the 2019 civil unrest in Hong Kong comes from my new book, The Other Side of the Story: A Secret War in Hong Kong.
It tells how my network and I, mostly people who have been critical of China for decades, gradually realised that American agents were using us and other Hong Kong people for their own ends.

SECRET CONNECTIONS

The uprising in Hong Kong in 2019 was widely reported as a leaderless, spontaneous uprising against a proposed law to deport dissidents to mainland China. But it was really a manipulated campaign that cruelly exploited Hong Kong people’s natural fears. What happened was deeply unfair to both honest, peaceful protesters, and to people who favoured a positive relationship with mainland China.

Hong Kong’s political opposition has been financed by the CIA in an underhand way for decades. Then, from January 2013, Hong Kong activists received practical training in street-protest strategy and media control through meetings and exchanges with members of the professional “revolution industry”.

Read All About It..... Hong Kong protests ‘driven by the West’ - by Nury Vittachi


Ever notice that the recipient of a failed "Color Revolution" always becomes a bad place in western MSM?
But of course a successful "Color Revolution" only happens in great places- like Ukraine.

Sounds like sore loser syndrome to me.

^ Book sales promo. Gotta make a living somehow.

What it actually sounds like is there are organizations who try help societies keep authoritarian rule at bay.

Why you think that is bad is a mystery to me.

Because HK is an outstanding success story that continues to thrive and prosper long after Colonial rule ended. I was there at the time. It is not a bad place, at all- it is a great place. It was never a democracy, either. And Nury Vittachi was not always branded as 'pro-China'. Au contraire.






Meanwhile, in a parallel reality, we are being told Ukraine is a great, Freedom loving Democracy- and it's national leader is a hero. Pythonesque absurdity.

^ Nury would have had to change to pro Chinese to keep living and publishing in Hong Kong, wouldn’t he. If he didn’t he would find himself arrested or expelled. Doh!


“Hong Kong, once a beacon of press freedom in Asia, was ranked 148th in the world for press freedom this year, tumbling down nearly 70 places since the previous year.“

In China, property developers are accepting payment for property in watermelons and peaches

In China, the property market slump has discouraged many buyers. Now, struggling developers have started taking payments for homes in form of watermelons, peaches and other agricultural produce, news agency AFP reported on Sunday citing the country's state media. The news agency added that the developers are doing so in an attempt to lure buyers.


Official data shows that home sales in China measured by floor area have slid for 11 consecutive months and were down 31.5 per cent in May compared to the same month last year.


The housing market in China has been hit by a slowing economy and debt crisis caused by a government ban on builders taking deposits before construction begins on a project.


State-run China News Weekly reported that one developer in the eastern city of Nanjing said it would accept truckloads of watermelons worth up to 100,000 yuan as a down payment from local farmers.

Homebuilder Central China Management said on social media in late May: "On the occasion of the new garlic season, the company has made a resolute decision to benefit garlic farmers in Qi county. We are helping farmers with love, and making it easier for them to buy homes."


AFP report mentioned that in the nearby small town of Wuxi, another developer was taking peaches as payment, the magazine said.


Homebuyers in Qi county, a major garlic-producing region in central China's Henan province, can exchange their produce at three times the market price to settle part of their down payment.


Last week, a report by South China Morning Post revealed that farmers in Yuncheng in central China's Shanxi province have harvested thousands of ripe watermelons during the June 2022 harvest season.


Some farmers only plant the produce once a decade in each farm field, just to ensure the quality of the fruit.


Some fruit sellers even travel from Beijing to make their purchases in Shanxi – a distance of some 800km.


The province's Xiaxian county is one of the largest watermelon-producing areas in the country.


In China, property developers are accepting payment for property in watermelons and peaches - World News

Originally Posted by sabang

I was there at the time.

So you keep fukking telling everyone. Guess what, you are not the only one. And having lived in HK once does not make you an expert on HK in 2022.

Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law



HKFP rounds up press freedom incidents since the onset of the Beijing-imposed security law in June 2020.

June 2022


Hong Kong investigative news wire Factwire announced it was disbanding with immediate effect.


Hong Kong effectively barred several independent newspapers, international media outlets and news wires from attending the inauguration of incoming leader John Lee, as well as from covering other July 1 events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Handover.


The largest press group in Hong Kong expressed “utmost regret” after journalists from at least seven local and international media organisations were denied access to cover events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese rule.


Photographer Steven Knipp withdrew a photo donated to Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club, saying the club had failed to stand up for press freedom.


Chief Executive Carrie Lam said during her final press briefing that the platform had allowed her to address public concerns and media enquiries in a timely manner.


Fewer Hongkongers expressed trust in public broadcaster RTHK, a study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found.


The court set the date for the sedition trial against defunct independent outlet Stand News, which will begin on October 31 and is scheduled to last for 20 days.


Hong Kong Journalists Association held its annual general meeting in which members approved changes to the group’s constitution to make dissolution easier.


Hong Kong’s last British governor Chris Patten accused Beijing of ‘vengefully’ targeting city’s freedoms.


May 2022


Reporters Without Borders said Hong Kong authorities wielded a draconian new security law to silence critical news outlets and jail journalists in its latest report as the city plummeted down an international press freedom chart.


Hong Kong’s sole leadership candidate John Lee compared press freedom to identity cards, and said that “Hong Kong already has press freedom.”

AND ON AND ON HERE Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong's press freedom under the national security law - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP

Tick tock, HKFP. Tick tock.

Originally Posted by sabang

Read All About It..... Hong Kong protests ‘driven by the West’ - by Nury Vittachi

The 'friday every day' nutter again, Nury Vittachi – Fridayeveryday ...

The the 'Facts' behind his claim ...

SOURCES OF THE DATA
The main sources of the information in the new book were Hong Kong parents, especially mothers.
I received up to a thousand messages a day from local adults,

'Hong Kong parents' as the factual source ... humm. Maybe Hong Kong parents not happy with their children's choices.

Receives 'thousand messages a day from local adults', yet his groundbreaking story, designed to appeal to the nationalist flavor of Hong Kong Parents has received, thousands ... umm, hundreds of retweets ... nope, has received just nine

Statistically, tiny Hong Kong at 25 is top of the world – Fridayeveryday

The times they are are a-changin Sab. Still a great bar though.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong

This one good as well. Been there several times as a guest.

FCCThai | The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand

Originally Posted by misskit

^ Book sales promo. Gotta make a living somehow.

What it actually sounds like is there are organizations who try help societies keep authoritarian rule at bay.

Why you think that is bad is a mystery to me.

It's no mystery, he cheerleads for dictators.

[PH]- Except that it isn't . . . but do keep up the good work pretending that it is

HK has -

- The highest longevity on the planet
- More GDP per head than the UK
- Launches more IPO's than London, NY or any other place
- The Worlds busiest cargo airport
- Ranks 4th on the UN Human development index (UK 14th)
- Added a million new residents since the Handover.
- Over doubled it's GDP since the Handover
- (and so on- fascinating short video)

Methinketh reports of HK's untimely demise are incredibly premature.

Guess facts aren't your strong point PH.


^ If I had $100 for every time I have heard that this century, I would buy a spacecraft from Elon. Wishin' don't make it so.

Originally Posted by sabang

FULL- Book Review: 'The Other Side of the Story: A Secret War in Hong Kong' - Peace & Planet News

Book Review ...

... it was totally incoherent but it seems to be a piecemeal approach in trying to convince you that the western media was so one-sided against China. It fails miserably on that account.

Just the section on the Extradition Bill which completely whitewashes the whole controversy. Vittachi suggests no one he spoke to read the law and complains all the western press including the SCMP had it all wrong. That the judiciary had control over the extradition process. He even tells us that we should believe his version and the HK government version. At this point I put the book down.

The whole mess is caused by the government. The judiciary does not have any control over the extradition process, and by this it means it only acts to ensure all the boxes are checked. It's the Chief Executive who makes the decision on extradition and the courts see if the CE has taken the necessary procedural steps. Courts do not review the cases by any means.

Originally Posted by sabang

^ If I had $100 for every time I have heard that this century, I would buy a spacecraft from Elon.

my dear hyperbole merchant - bullsh1t

fat xi is fcuked - the cnut is deluded and suffers from the common problem of hubris

all the city admins lie to central control while they try to suck the last remaining drops from the corpse

and the vultures circle deluding themselves that there will be blood left for them

the average chin gets very excited when they feel they are being fcuked over and the wrath of these karens will be pretty wild as the blinkers come off