【After Winning Majority in LegCo: Beijing's Crackdown May Trigger International Intervention】

***感謝Hong Kong Columns - Translated，將我早前撰寫『議會過半想像：以「#國際攬炒」反制「臨立會2.0」』長文（https://www.facebook.com/joshuawongchifung/photos/a.313299448762570/2887650867994069/）翻譯成英文，鼓勵國際社會關注立會選舉一旦過半的沙盤推演，在最惡劣形勢下的制衡策略。***

中文精簡版本：https://www.facebook.com/joshuawongchifung/photos/a.564294826996363/2888641404561682/

Hongkongers have experienced our revolution for over half a year. They no longer take a consequentialist view to the effectiveness of their movement as they did years ago, or waste time second-guessing the intentions and background of fellow activists. Following the defensive battles at CUHK and PolyU, November’s District Council election saw a great victory of unity. More marvellous is the union between peaceful and “valiant” protesters.

In the process of resisting tyranny, the people have realised that one cannot prioritize one strategy over another. This is also how the common goal of “35+” came into being—the hope that we will win over half of the seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo) this September, such that the political spectrum that represents the majority of Hongkongers is able to gain control of legislative decisions. The political clout of Hongkongers will increase if 35 or more seats are successfully secured on our side. It is certainly one vital step to achieve the five demands within the system.

The possibility of realizing legislative majority

Technically it is not unrealistic to win a majority even under the current undemocratic system. Back in the 2016 LegCo election, we already won 30 seats. In addition to the District Council (First) functional constituency seat that is already in the pocket of the pan-democrats, as long as the candidates in Kowloon East and New Territories West do not start infighting again, we could safely secure 33 seats based on the number of pan-dem votes in 2016.

The other 3 seats required to achieve a majority depend on democrats’ breakthrough among the functional constituencies by dispersing the resources of the Liaison Office. They also count on whether the turnout this September could exceed 71.2% — that of last year’s District Council elections. Some of the factors that could affect the turnout include: will the epidemic persist into the summer? Will there be potential violent repression of protests in the 2 weeks preceding the election? Will Hong Kong-US relations be affected by the downturn of the global economy?

Therefore, the ambition of “35+” is to be prioritised by the resistance as both a means and an end. I have already expressed my support for an intra-party primary at the coordination meeting. In the meantime, it is pleasing to see the ongoing debates reaching a consensus of maximising the seats among geographical constituencies in the upcoming election.

Whilst enthusiastic coordination, we should also assess the post-election landscape and gauge Beijing’s reactions: if we do not reach 35 seats, Hong Kong will be subject to tighter control and more severe repression by China; but if the democratic parties successfully form a majority in LegCo, CCP’s fears of a “constitutional crisis” would become imminent. Hence, the key questions are how the Pan-Democrats should deal with the volatile political situation in Hong Kong and how they are going to meet Beijing’s charge head-on.

Watching out for Beijing’s dismissal of LegCo after reaching majority

To take back control of LegCo such that it faithfully reflects the majority’s principles and needs is the definition of a healthy democracy. Recently, however, DAB’s Tam Yiu-chung has warned that the plan of the Pan-Dems to “usurp power” in the LegCo would only lead to Beijing’s forceful disqualification of certain members or the interpretation of the Basic Law. This proves that winning a majority in LegCo is not only a popular conception but also a realistic challenge that would get on the nerves of Beijing. Could Beijing accept a President James To in LegCo? These unknown variables must be addressed upon achieving a majority.

While there is no telltale sign as to Beijing’s exact strategy, we are already familiar with the way CCP manipulated the Basic Law in the past 4 years. Having experienced three waves of disqualifications in LegCo, twice kicked out of LegCo with my team, and thrice locked up in jail, I have no false hopes of an easy compromise from Beijing: they would not let Pan-Dems control LegCo for half a year and wait (as is the proper procedure) until after having negatived the Budget to dissolve the legislature, and thereby giving them an easy victory in the re-elections. The greater the Pan-Dems threaten Beijing’s rule in Hong Kong, the more likely that it will trigger Beijing’s repression.

Since the disqualification and arrest of lawmakers have already become “normalised”, one can even imagine the police stepping into the LegCo building to force Pan-Dems into voting. Neither is it beyond our imagination to expect the CCP to kick out all 70 lawmakers in a fit of rage and replace them with a provisional LegCo “2.0” [HKCT note: The first was from 25 Jan 1997 to 30 Jun 1998]. To depend on a majority that could lead to a chapter of a “new testament” for One Country, Two Systems is perhaps what many elites long for, but they are overly optimistic:for a ticket to the promised land will not be available at the Chief Executive election campaign a year and a half later.

Admittedly, the Pan-Dems cannot unilaterally initiate “Laam-chaau” [HKCT note: mostly translated into “scorched-earth” mentality or “mutual destruction”; some even translated into “If I burn, you burn with us”]. The most they can do is to force a standstill of the government, and not for long the LegCo will have been eliminated from the equation to make the wheels turn again. It all leaves the plan of “Negativing the motion → Dissolving LegCo → Re-election after re-election → the stepping down of Carrie Lam” merely as overly positive speculation, probably resulting from their overestimate of CCP's capacity for rational calculation. The Pan-Dems must guard their frontlines and recognise what the biggest threat from Hong Kong to China could be. In this case, should LegCo sessions be disrupted or suspended, the Pan-Dems would have to be well prepared to surmount the expected obstacles and prevent the disqualification crisis 4 years ago—a Catch-22 indeed.

Productive tension from global intervention: Using Laam-chaau against the CCP

What aggravates the CCP the most is the potential threat to Hong Kong’s unique status as the one and only “separate customs territory”. Any miscalculation will compromise its role as the Chinese economy’s “white gloves”. Imagine if CCP were to disqualify all 70 elected lawmakers and convene a meeting north of the Shenzhen River to pass a resolution to Hong Kong’s affairs (much like the Provisional Legislative Council “1.0" in 1997), how great will the shock be in a world with an effective Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act? However hard it is to predict the future one thing is certain: With the US presidential election just around the corner, blows to the separation of powers would not be tolerated, and the West would necessarily effect countermeasures against the Hong Kong government.

Beijing has been relying upon Hong Kong to navigate the international community for decades. While clamping down on the political freedom of the cosmopolitan city, Beijing desires to maintain the financial centre’s economic freedom. Hence, we started lobbying for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act four years ago, and today we are determined to promote “Laam-chaau” on an international scale.

The will of the voters must be reflected in an election. If a “35+” legislature were to be dismissed and replaced, such flagrant violation of democracy would assuredly cause a greater backlash than the infamous extradition bill. Knowing what the reality ahead of us could be, we have to combine our election and international strategies to oppose the placement of a 35+ LegCo with an “Emergency Legislative Council 2.0”, to advance an international “Laam-chaau” to Hong Kong’s status as “separate customs territory”. Only then will we stand a chance to resist the regime and to realise the five demands.

Adjusting our mindset: Overcoming the “constitutional crisis” to reach a resolution

Upon the realization of the “35+” LegCo, it is expected that the CCP will launch a devastating counterattack. The Pan-Dems should not expect LegCo to run normally; neither can the lawmakers realise their governing blueprints they have for Hong Kong. Rather, candidates will be able to compete against one another with visions of a liberated Hong Kong through popular vote. Bringing this point up has nothing to do with undermining the common goal of reaching a majority in LegCo, but rather channels the battle of LegCo to positive use upon the rule of law’s death and a “constitutional crisis” ahead. Knowing that Hongkongers have nothing to fall back on, all Pan-Dems should not miss the only way to the realization of “35+”.

Thus, be they partisans, nonpartisans, incumbent politicians, amateur politicians, or the civil society as a whole – if we stay in the political discourse of 2016 and continue to perpetuate old stereotypes, that is to deal with the divisions on the pan-democratic camp by favouring the most “local” faction; to consider only resource allocation and self-aggrandizement as the purpose of a LegCo campaign; to ignore how potential lawmakers are fitted to what specific roles; to turn a blind eye to the journey of resistance since last summer (extending indefinitely into the future)—They would lead as astray and cost us lose a precious opportunity for change by winning a 35+ majority.

The extent to which the pan-democrats can stay united in light of the political atmosphere since last summer is another problem that our side must to address. Before the watershed moment of 12th June 2019, many democratic delegates were trapped in the mentality of needing to “preserve people’s livelihood”, “be content of what we have accomplished”, and other strategies that favours stability. As the government refuses to heed to the five demands, whether the democrats, especially those in the functional constituencies, have the political will to go all-in is the real difficult question that confronts us in the upcoming LegCo election.

All in all, if “35+” cannot be realised, it is unsurprising to see LegCo being more heavily suppressed in the next 4 years; even if "35+" is achieved, it is questionable whether the pan-democrats are able to weather multiple attacks, verbal or physical, from the regime (judging from its power in the last four years) and utilise the international Laam-chaau strategy against the displacement of LegCo. Adhering to the motto of “we fight on, each in his own way”, I can only hope that Hongkongers in elections, street confrontations and international front can reconcile with each other, so that we may collectively compel the government to yield to our demands in the next six months. It is only by reaching a resolution before a real constitutional crisis that we can combat the institutional violence of the regime and not be devoured by it.

https://hkcolumn.blogspot.com/2020/04/joshua-wong-after-winning-majority-in.html?fbclid=IwAR216gf53pG_j9JOpDfr2GItvjLfrFSekKTPzoEs3-s9KBqvPEwz865P8vw

由高教公民團隊製作、厚達212頁嘅《靴下無聲：香港警察侵犯人權報告》出街喇。本報告由多名政治學、歷史學、法律學者合作撰寫，旨在推動國際調查警暴，一於同佢開年👊👊👊
Progressive Scholars Group released the “Silencing Millions: Unchecked Violations of Internationally Recognized Human Rights by the Hong Kong Police Force”. Written by a team of political, historical and legal scholars, this 212-page report advocates for international inquiry for police brutality. Let’s give the police a “Happy New Year” 👊👊👊

【#警暴報告PoliceBrutalityReport】高教公民發表《靴下無聲：香港警察侵犯人權報告》，報告旨在記錄2019年6月至12月期間，香港警察如何違反國際人權準則。
Progressive Scholars Group released the “Silencing Millions: Unchecked Violations of Internationally Recognized Human Rights by the Hong Kong Police Force”. The report aims at documenting the violations of internationally recognized human rights by Hong Kong Police from June to December 2019.

📘英文報告全文English full report：https://docdro.id/0EA2Bhy
📗中文行政摘要Chinese summary：https://docdro.id/whd3Oxb
📒結論中文譯本Conclusion Chinese translation：https://docdro.id/RbumrSc

報告重點包括：
Main points of the report include:
• 本報告詳盡分類、討論和解釋香港警察如何在2019年示威中涉嫌違反國際法的執法準則、人權標準和各種國際規範。香港警察暴力之嚴重程度和規模，在已發達社會中極為罕見。
This report categorizes, discusses, and explains the possible breaches of international law of law enforcement (LOLE), international human rights laws (IHRL), and various international standards and rules by members of the Hong Kong Police Force during the 2019 Protests. Most important, the scale and intensity of the abuses committed by the Hong Kong Police Force have been unprecedented in developed societies.
• 由於香港政府和中國政府持續拒絕對警暴問題進行獨立調查，加上本地的監察制衡機制已被認為缺乏能力進行和意願調查，國際調查將是唯一出路。
Due to the HKSAR government and the PRC government’s refusals to launch any independent inquiry to police brutality, as well as the inability of the local check and balance mechanism to launch any meaningful investigation, international inquiry will be the only way-out.
• 本報告建議國際機構盡快展開調查，包括聯合國安理會、聯合國人權理事會、國際刑事法院、聯合國人權事務高級專員辦事處等等，這些機構都具備啟動獨立調查之權力。此外，自由世界國家應參考美國之《香港人權與民主法案》和《全球馬格尼茨基人權問責法》，調查和制裁違反人權之香港警官；英國亦應根據該國《2001年國際刑事法院法案》之權力，調查香港警隊中的英國藉警官。
This report recommended that the case should be investigated by competent international bodies such as the United Nations Security Council, Human Rights Council (UNHRC), or the International Criminal Court (ICC), or the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), as they are all empowered to launch independent inquires. In particular, Free World countries should follow the example of the United States to pass legislations similar to the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act” and the “Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act” so as to impose sanctions on those police officers who have violated human rights; the United Kingdom should also make use of its “International Criminal Court Act 2001” to initiate an investigation on the Hong Kong Police Force personnel who were British nationals.

國際調查，唯一出路！
International inquiry, the only way-out!

#香港警察 #警暴 #國際調查 #唯一出路 #同佢開年 #高教公民 #學術自主 #公民自強
#PoliceBrutality #InternationalInquiry #hongkongprotest #hkpolice #popo #policestate #fightforfreedom #standwithhongkong #ProgressiveScholars

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🔎 認識「高教公民」：https://goo.gl/9xdVQ4
🙋 成為「附屬成員」：https://goo.gl/B70zam
🙌 成為「正式成員」：hkprogressivescholars@gmail.com

感謝同事終於完成。請傳給相熟不同界別的全球學者，影響他們各自的政府。這是最新雙語版本。

【這是本頁admin聯同來自香港、香港各大院校學界友好草擬的，為配合運動性質，不希望成為大台，只希望大家傳開，如友好詢問發起人，可按以上回答。由於目標眾多，暫未安排登報，但會邀請參與聯署的各國學者各自傳到他們的媒體、政府部門和NGO，手足會按名單逐一聯繫，謝謝。】

【Sign Now】 Petition by Global Academics Against Police Brutality in Hong Kong 【立即簽署】全球學者反對香港警察暴行的請願書

Link to sign: https://forms.gle/VPbirzKZBjbbJuKA6

We the undersigned, as deeply concerned members of the global academic community,

1. Condemn the use of disproportionate force and retaliatory brutality by the Hong Kong Police against students in university campuses in Hong Kong. In particular, we are outraged by the unauthorised entry, extensive deployment of tear gas and violent intimidation in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, Polytechnic University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong on 11th and 12th November, 2019.

2. Condemn the use of unjustified violence against protesters across Hong Kong in all other contexts. Including, most recently, the firing of live rounds at point-blank range against protesters in Sai Wan Ho, and the repeated attempts by a motorcycle officer to run-over protesters in Kwai Fong on 11th November 2019, both of which are in clear violation of the Police General Orders Force Procedures Manual.

3. Condemn the continued use of neo-Fascist language by the Hong Kong Police, particularly the consistent reference to protesters and supporters of democracy as ‘cockroaches’, that contribute to furthering vitriolic hatred between all factions in the Hong Kong community.

4. Urge leaders of Hong Kong universities to release clear statements rejecting the entry of police into university campuses, supporting the freedom of assembly of students and staff, and reaffirming the sacrosanct responsibility of all universities to protect academic freedom and provide a safe space for all students to express their views.

5. Demand the Hong Kong Police to cease all acts of police brutality immediately, suspend officers who have committed disproportionate acts of violence with immediate effect, and initiate legal charges where necessary against officers who have violated the law.

6. Demand the Hong Kong government to set up an independent inquiry into the use of force in the protests since June 2019, chaired by an impartial judge. In particular, we believe the inquiry should have the power to summon witnesses, collect a coherent and representative body of evidence, and independently validate police accounts, above and beyond the restricted scope and power of the Independent Police Complaints Council.

We stand in solidarity with the Hong Kong people. We believe the defence of academic freedom, the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and the responsibility to protect the safety of our students are universal causes common to all.

作為全球學術界的成員，我們深切關注香港事態發展，並簽名作以下聲明/請願：

1. 譴責香港警察對香港大學校園內的學生使用不相稱的武力和報復性殘暴行為。我們尤其對2019年11月11日至12日內警方在未經授權之下進入香港中文大學、香港理工大學和香港大學，並於以上大學及香港城市大學校園發射大量催淚煙和暴力恐嚇等部署感到極度憤怒。

2. 譴責在其他情況下香港警察對香港示威者使用不合理的暴力行為，包括最近有警員在西灣河向示威者近距離以實彈射擊、以及於2019年11月11日在葵芳一交警駕駛電單車企圖高速撞向示威者。這兩項事件都明顯違反警察通例之《程序手冊》。

3. 譴責香港警察持續使用新法西斯語言，特別是將示威者和民主支持者普遍統稱為「蟑螂」，在某些情況下還就學生示威者死亡高呼「開香檳慶祝」，加劇香港社會各派之間的極端仇恨。

4. 敦促香港各大學的領袖發表明確聲明，拒絕警察進入大學校園，支持學生和教職工的集會自由，並重申所有大學的神聖職責，即保護學術自由並為所有學生提供安全的空間發表意見。

5. 要求香港警方立即停止所有警察暴行，立即將實施暴力行為的人員停職，並在必要時對違反法律的人員提起法律訴訟。

6. 要求香港政府就自2019年6月起於多次抗議活動中使用之武力問題成立獨立調查委員會展開獨立調查，該調查委員會必須由一名公正的法官主持。我們特別認為，該獨立調查委員會必須有權召集證人、收集連貫且具有代表性的證據，並獨立驗證警察的記錄，比現時獨立監察警方處理投訴委員會（監警會）的權力限制及範圍更廣。

我們堅定地與香港人站在一起，並作出聲援。我們認為捍衛學術自由、言論自由、新聞自由、集會和結社自由，以及保護學生安全是所有人的普世價值。

紐西蘭是極限運動員的天堂，是五位傳奇嚮導的家鄉，他們也是推廣全球專案型旅遊的先鋒。

由Jezza Williams所領導的五位先鋒決心為全球專案型旅遊奮鬥。專一影音工作室更在大自然前線貼身紀錄這段讓人瞠目結舌的旅程。這些頂尖的運動員不只將自己推至極限，更是留下極限印象!

製作公司: 專一影音工作室
製片: 張榆舜
導演: 藍諾
攝影: 黃書秦, 邱繼亮
剪輯: 黃書秦, 張榆舜, 邱繼亮, 藍諾
協助單位: Makingtrax, Wanaka Paragliding, Packrafting Queenstown, Mt Cook Glacier Guiding, Inflite, Hook Wanaka

相關資訊: www.makingtrax.co.nz
專一影音工作室: www.toofocused.productions

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Too Focused Productions: www.toofocused.productions