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| Private beaches like this one, next to us, are open Public beaches are closed |
Covid-wise, today government announced social curbs likely to stay at least until Chinese New Year. Some of these restrictions make sense, maybe. Some don’t: like playgrounds, tennis courts, football fields, public beaches, all closed, while the virus is an indoor-caught disease. So says the science, we are supposed to be following. It is not an outdoor virus. Gyms are still closed, which is angst for many. Restaurants have to be take away only after six pm, but ones I’ve spoken to recently say they’re doing okay. Others point to inconsistency.
Politics-wise: the question is all about China and its increased interference in Hong Kong. Which is certainly happening. To no surprise to many of us. And I’ve posted a lot about it. That said, it’s not like the fear-mongers say. It’s not tanks in the streets; it’s not Beijing’s boot on our necks. Podcasters in the west — ones I admire — often speak straight-out nonsense about Hong Kong. They paint grim pictures I don’t recognise.
We still have our Seven Freedoms. Thanks to the National Security Law (NSL), you can for “Indeoemdemce for Hong Kong” or for the downfall of the communist party. I’ve always thought calling for indeoemdemce was futile and dangerous, and so it’s proved to be. Like it or not, Hong Kong is a part of China and that’s that. It’s accepted by every member of the United Nations. The communist party, especially Xi Jinping, I have no time for. And I’ve said so for years — just click in the labels below for proof. Bit calling for its downfall is a freedom I can do without, even if many may not. And so decry our lack of democracy.
And again: China has serious human rights issues: treatment of Uygurs, censorship, jailing critics, and the rest of the dreary litany that flies with being a Leninist dictatorship. Bit we here have, still, our Seven Freedoms, namely:
- Freedom of Conscience
- Freedom of Assembly
- Freedom of Movement
- Freedom of Press
- Freedom of Expression
- Freedom of Religion
- Freedom of Capital
And freedom is something. It’s a lot, actually.
ADDED: TBF, none above has improved, most are sideways at best. Freedom of Assembly is impacted by Covid measures, used, unsurprisingly, to stop incipient demos that might turn violent. Other countries have done the same — France using Covid restrictions to dampen gilet jaunes demos. Freedom of the Press remains but is chilled, no doubt, especially the combative Chinese language press. SCMP, Asia’s best English language paper, remains robust, but one wonders why its ultimate owner, Jack Ma, has not been seen in public for two months…
