The Best Opportunity to “Laam5Caau2”* (Lee Yee)
Since the start of the Anti-ELAB movement, numerous young people, journalists, ordinary citizens have shed blood, sweat and tears on the streets; many dead bodies were discovered but “not in suspicious circumstances”; Hong Kong Police blatantly batter people, not to mention tortures in the dark room, sexual and other violent assaults. How Hongkongers fight against all this, is like David and Goliath. They put their lives at stake with a determination that screams “if we burn, you burn with us”, awaking global attention. Their demand from the international societies is for them to sanction China and Hong Kong.
Because National Security Law (NSL) was not put into the meeting agenda of the previous National People’s Congress (NPC), rumor has it that China wants to back out of the plan. A wave of comments from the Hong Kong netizens flooded the Internet saying “don’t you dare to chicken out now”, and “if you cop out now you are a wimp”. This is the continuation of the so-called “Scorched-Earth mentality” [“Laam5Caau2”]. “Laam5Caau2” is neither masochism, nor asking for trouble; it is the determination to fight till the end with the risk of death, in the hope to reborn or resurrect. Without such determination, there will be no lifeline for Hong Kong.*
As the draft NSL came out, former Chief Justice of Hong Kong, Honorable Andrew Li Kwok-nang, who had previously wished to compromise in exchange for the law being enforced in Hong Kong, published an article yesterday. He pointed out, with the Chief Executive being able to appoint judges to hear NSL-related cases, Beijing being allowed to “administer jurisdiction” in a small number of cases and those having been arrested could be extradited to the mainland, he is deeply concerned that it would completely destroyed the independence of the justice system under the Basic Law.
To his comments, Carrie Lam responded that “appointing judges” only means to appoint one among the current judges; in terms of extradition, there are similarities between Common Law and the law in Mainland China, such as “the presumption of innocence.”
We won’t forget what just happened recently. Judge Kwok Wai-kin, who was dealing with a case of assault near Lennon Wall where the meat cleaver-wielding defendant attacked three people, said the defendant had a “noble sentiment”. Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma immediately made the decision that Kwok should not handle any similar political cases in the future. We can be certain that, if Carrie Lam is to appoint a judge to deal with NSL cases, she will definitely appoint judges like Kwok.
Talking about “presumption of innocence”, an article from the China Youth Daily newspaper in January 2017 stated, the percentage of cases with “not guilty” judgment in Hong Kong courts are as high as 45%, while in China, the percentage of such judgment in 2015 was 0.084% – that is in every 10,000 defendant, only 8 of them were proven innocent. If excluding the civil cases and only counting the criminal cases, the percentage would have been close to nil, which means, as long as the person has been charged by the law enforcement, he will only be found guilty by the court.
Just from these 2 points, one wonders: when NSL is to be enforced in Hong Kong, are Hongkongers still being protected by the law?
The intention of China rushing to launch NSL before LegCo nomination is too obvious – it is hard to imagine Hong Kong Special “Atrocious” Region government NOT using the “not supporting NSL” to disqualify candidates. In the existing nomination form for LegCo Election, “I declare that I will uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” is stated in the declaration. If it stops here, then a signed form would have been sufficient and a confirmation letter would not be needed.
If a confirmation letter is to be added, then the candidates might have to declare they support NSL, or more tactfully, support the National Laws in Annex III of the Basic Law. However, NSL (Hong Kong) is not a law that is being enforced countrywide, which does not meet the definition of Annex III, and therefore according to the Basic Law, it cannot be supported.
A confirmation with this detail is not one that any of the pro-democratic party members will sign, or it would deem them enemies of Hongkongers. There are no excuses as: First set my foot in LegCo so that I am in the game to fight; LegCo MUST have a voice from the opposition; let’s swallow this humiliation, it’s better than let the pro-establishment getting its way; if there is no opposition, the government will be even more presumptuous...all these reasons will only send the wrong message to the international society: that even the pro-democratic party has accepted NSL. Then, international sanctions are bound to slow down and all the blood shed by the freedom fighters since day one will be in vain.
What Hong Kong faces now is a matter of life and death. Nearly all the Western countries have voiced against NSL, with USA even emphasised that, the Hong Kong LegCo Election in September could lead to sanctions. In terms of “earth-scorching”, or “Laam5Caau2”, this is the ideal moment to reap. How can we let this pass us by? Any Hongkonger who has what it takes should apply to be a candidate regardless. The aim is to create an enormous scale of disqualifications of candidates. Who cares whether you would be elected, or drop out after being admitted. This is a chance to scream to the world whether the majority public opinion is for or against NSL.
Forget the primaries. Even if you win it, you would still have to face NSL in the election. So why not apply, then be disqualified because of opposing NSL. If you still haven’t been disqualified by then, it’s still not too late to reconsider hosting primaries.
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