Fuerte discusión por trino de Marbelle sobre Francia Márquez: 'king kong', 'marrana' y hasta amenazas entre tuiteros

Una discusión de redes sociales que ha pasado a la interacción personal, y que complica aún más la polarización del país.

Marbelle terminó borrando el trino en el que señalaba a Francia Márquez como ‘king kong’ y a Gustavo Petro también lo descalificaba, la respuesta de cientos a la vallecaucana, fue de burlas a su figura, a su voz, a su carrera y a su vida personal.

Noticias Colombia.

Insultos, burlas y hasta amenazas van y vienen en Twitter teniendo como protagonista a la cantante Marbelle, ferrea defensora del expresidente Álvaro Uribe y detractora de Gustavo Petro, su frase: «Cacas y King kong» en referencia a Francia Márquez, en un trino que duró más de 20 horas publicado, desató toda una ‘guerra’ de insultos, ofensas y demás.

Se refería a Petro, y a su fórmula vicepresidencial.

Delito de discriminación: «Por discriminación y racismo se entiende cualquier acción realizada que arbitrariamente impida, obstruya o restrinja el pleno ejercicio de los derechos de las personas por razón de su raza (color de piel), nacionalidad, sexo u orientación sexual)».

• Constituye: prisión de 12 a 36 meses, multa de diez a 15 salarios mínimos legales vigentes (más de $13 millones).

La candidata caucana no ha hablado al respecto, pero el mismo candidato del Pacto Histórico, contestó en la red social: «¿Es libertad de expresión o xenofobia?».

¿Es libertad de expresión o xenofobia?

¿No logra nada más intelectualmente el uribismo? pic.twitter.com/aEk3br0RK7

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 28, 2022

Márquez no se ha pronunciado directamente sobre esos mensajes en tono de racismo y de burlas a su color de piel y figura, que se han disparado estos últimos días. A ella misma algunos también le reclaman, un «lenguaje más moderado» cuando hace sus críticas.

Marbelle si lo hizo en su cuenta de Twitter: «Los mamertos jamás entenderán que no es un tema de color…me aterra esa señora (…)».

Y si se pronunció el Observatorio de Discriminación Racial, que anunció que «iniciará acciones jurídicas por los comentarios discriminatorios publicados en redes sociales».

Piden que las autoridades tomen medidas.

Si investiguen pic.twitter.com/23Jfq2GVw1

— Mutti (@Ohrwurm14) March 29, 2022

Las respuestas contra Marbelle:

Recuerdo la jovencita corronchita ella, llegando a Radionet cuando acababa de lanzar una de esas canciones pueriles e indigestibles suyas, coqueteándole a Jaime Garzón. Él rehuía del asedio y me decía: “¿quién es esa gordita?”. Yo tampoco supe. Después me enteré: era Marbelle.

— Eccehomo Cetina (@Eccetina) March 29, 2022

Francia tan King Kong por su grandeza y Marbelle tan Burguer King por su apariencia.

— Nick Belt (@nicolascorreag) March 28, 2022

¿Quien dijo que ese bola de manteca es «Cantante»?

Se le ofrecia a los cabecillas de las farc en los cambuches, luego se caso con un corrupto se comió al hijastro y ahora le lame las huevas a Uribe.

— URANIS39 (@uranis39) March 29, 2022

Otros, han preferido ser más mesurados; llevar el debate al tema puntual del racismo, el bullying por el físico de una persona, y los insultos y hasta amenazas disfrazadas de ‘libertad de expresión’.

La misma Marbelle, sigue respondiendo a quienes la atacan, también con insultos, burlas. Y le han denunciado su cuenta aunque no se la han cerrado.

Para muchos, «no todo vale», y menos, si se trata de defender posiciones políticas.

Esto es lo que hay que buscar que se cumpla. Una condena ejemplificante y, al menos, dejarán de hacer públicas sus muestras de bajeza y deficiencia cognitiva. pic.twitter.com/Fgx7NUFLcr

— Eliot Alderson (@NihilistaDevoto) March 29, 2022

El trino de Marbelle habla muy mal de Marbelle.

El trino de Petro habla muy mal de Petro.

Pero Marbelle no está aspirando a un cargo público.

— Colmad Guaraní 🇵🇾🇵🇾🇵🇾🇵🇾 (@ColMadr) March 28, 2022

El trino de Gustavo Bolívar, que para unos intentaba defender a Francia pero terminó complicando la polémica, también fue borrado por el reelegido senador.

El trino que Bolívar tuvo que borrar este martes.

Una discusión de redes sociales que ha pasado a la interacción personal, y que complica aún más la polarización del país.

Se borra.

— Gustavo Bolívar (@GustavoBolivar) March 29, 2022

Es un problema el racismo, clasismo, bullying por la figura; el cuerpo y la apareciencia de una persona, pero en el marco de la discusión política a puertas de unas elecciones, señalan analistas, han logrado desviar la atención a la discusión sobre el futuro del país.

No hay debates tan acalarados que lleven a la gente a discutir sanamente, con datos, con investigaciones sobre las propuestas de los candidatos, por ejemplo.

El debate sobre los candidatos al Congreso también se centro en candidaturas presidenciales y opiniones partidistas, ahora, la discusión tampoco se centra en lo que vendrá en materia de gobernabilidad.

No puedo creer esto. En reacción a un comentario racista, infame y profundamente estúpido de Marbelle, usted incorpora el racismo, la estupidez y la infamia, y les hace eco. ¿De verdad es el final de la inteligencia, de toda consciencia?

— Carolina Sanín (@SaninPazC) March 29, 2022

Eso ha llevado a un debate en el dime y direte, en el que parece que no hay discusión ni racionamiento para decir: «Me equivoqué» ni ofrecer disculpas, que por lo menos ayuden a calmar ánimos.

Al contrario, se suman opiniones, se recuerdan declaraciones.

Y esto pic.twitter.com/8Pp8Q6j44t

— Sra. A (@adrescala) March 28, 2022

Twitter se ha convertido en el ‘ring’ y caballo de batalla de diferentes temas.

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Hong Kong Migration Continues Amid Pandemic, Politics

Bangkok — 

Thousands of weary residents are leaving Hong Kong every day as the city continues to battle its worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But an exodus of Hong Kong residents has been taking place for a couple of years, data suggests.

Experts say residents are leaving because of the city’s recent political unrest and ongoing restrictions due to the pandemic.

Recent data

According to immigration data, over 94,000 Hong Kong residents have departed the city via Hong Kong International Airport in 2022 alone, with 26,000 residents arriving. It is not clear whether the departures are permanent or temporary.

Hong Kong has required lengthy quarantines for residents and professionals entering the city making it an unattractive prospect for residents to travel overseas.

Vera Yuen, a business lecturer at the Hong Kong University (HKU), said the length of the departures would depend on two factors.

“Regarding this wave of exodus, there are two main reasons, the first related to the political developments in Hong Kong, and the second related to the tightening of travel restrictions and social distancing measures in response to COVID-19. The first is likely to be a permanent change, and the second is likely to be temporary.”

“If the current travel restrictions and quarantine measures remain for a sustained period, these temporary exoduses may become permanent,” she said.

COVID-19

Hong Kong is facing its worst coronavirus infection rate to date. With the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, the city has recorded more cases in 2022 than in the previous two years combined.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has ordered compulsory testing for all 7.4 million residents in March, while rumors of lockdowns have unsettled the population with residents scrambling for food and resources, leaving some supermarket shelves empty.

Julius, a former landscape project manager from Hong Kong, told VOA he is considering leaving the city.

“We used to have a large amount of civil societies, NGOs, or even elected legislative and district councillors to provide neighborhood aid. But after the introduction of [the] national security law, disqualification of councillors and dissolution [of] the civil society, this is one of the reasons that Hong Kong people are now hoarding food and daily supplies.”

“It’s hard for us to look for jobs. There’s no similar positions available and due to the epidemic, other industries are streamlining their manpower as well,” he added.

FILE – Residents line up to get tested for the coronavirus at a temporary testing center despite the rain in Hong Kong, Feb. 22, 2022.

Following the anti-government protests in 2019, Beijing enacted a national security law in Hong Kong. It strictly prohibits acts deemed as secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, carrying a maximum of life in prison. Street protests have stopped, while civil societies and independent media outlets have closed. At least 150 dissidents have been arrested, including dozens of democratic lawmakers.

Discontent with living in Hong Kong under the new conditions was shown in Hong Kong’s legislative council elections in December, with only 30.2% of the population casting votes.

Population decline 2020

According to data released by the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong recorded a population decline of 1.2% in 2020, approximately 89,200 people, the same year the security law took effect.

A Hong Kong government representative denied the population decline was due to the law.

But Yuen said the recent population decline is no surprise to the pro-democracy opposition, many of whom are in jail and are facing charges under the security law, following their roles in the protests two-and-half years ago.

“[It is] not surprising to the opposition. The surprise is that the change came so quickly.”

Yuen said the trend of people leaving Hong Kong would continue amid recent political trauma in the city. She referred to the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing in 1989, when China’s armed forces killed an unknown number of pro-democracy demonstrators following large-scale demonstrations.

The ‘Pillar of Shame’ statue, a memorial to those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, is removed from the University of Hong Kong, Dec. 23, 2021.

“Estimates suggested that after Tiananmen, around half-a-million Hong Kongers emigrated in the ensuing years.”

“It will [continue]. There is a lot to prepare for migration. Early adopters prompt late adopters to think of leaving. What Hong Kong society will become and how the government will govern will further affect the intention to leave or to stay.”

BNO, Cheng

Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 when the city was returned to China.

Following the implementation of the security law in 2020, Britain offered a lifeboat plan to millions of Hong Kong residents.

British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders from Hong Kong now can work and study in Britain for five years and can apply for citizenship afterward. A recent amendment by British lawmakers has extended the plan to Hong Kong residents 18 to 25 years old.

According to data from the British government as of December, 103,900 BNO applications had been received.

“The U.K. has been the most favored destination for Hong Kong people who plan to leave,” Joseph Cheng, a political analyst formerly of Hong Kong, told VOA.

“The deteriorating pandemic situation in Hong Kong has become a further push factor as small businesses fail and job losses increase.”

“Given the expectation that Beijing’s Hong Kong policy will be maintained, the momentum of the exodus will not decline for at least one or two years,” Cheng added.

Economy

But Yuen believes Hong Kong is still an attractive option for professional talent. In 2019, Hong Kong’s economy dropped into a two-year recession before rebounding last year with 6.4% growth.

“If the pandemic measure will be eased and business is still thriving in Hong Kong, top talents will come back.”

“For homegrown top talents, still the low tax and competitive wage in Hong Kong is quite attractive. If they choose to leave, they will likely make a big monetary sacrifice on top of separating from their families and friends. It’s never easy.”

Hong Kong DJ Convicted of Sedition in Watershed Trial

HONG KONG — 

A pro-democracy Hong Kong radio DJ was convicted of seditious speech on Wednesday under a British colonial-era law that authorities have embraced as China flattens dissent in the business hub.

Tam Tak-chi, 49, is among a growing number of activists charged with sedition, a previously little-used law that prosecutors have dusted off in the wake of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Tam’s trial was the first since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover in which a sedition defendant fought his case by pleading not guilty and went through a full trial.

Two previous recent prosecutions were wrapped up after guilty pleas.

As a result, Tam’s conviction is a legal watershed because it sets precedents for a host of upcoming sedition prosecutions as China remolds Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image.

Better known by his moniker “Fast Beat,” Tak hosted a popular online talk show that backed democracy and was highly critical of the government, often using colorful language.

He was a regular presence at protests and often set up street booths to deliver political speeches.

Prosecutors focused on the street booths, with Tam convicted on seven counts of “uttering seditious words” as well as other charges such as disorderly conduct and disobeying a police officer.

Authorities said Tam incited hatred against the authorities by chanting the popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” 171 times, cursing the police force some 120 times, and repeatedly shouting “Down with the Communist Party.”

“The attack on the Communist Party is only part of the seditious words uttered by the accused,” district judge Stanley Chan said in his verdict.

“Looking at what he (Tam) said, it’s far beyond criticizing and theorizing,” he added.

Sedition is separate from the sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020.

But the courts treat it with the same severity and there are plans to make sedition one of a number of new national security crimes later this year, meaning it will soon carry a much longer jail term.

Tam was arrested in September 2020 and denied bail, as happens in most national security cases.

His trial began in July 2021 but was delayed for a landmark High Court ruling in which judges declared the popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong” was secessionist and therefore illegal under the new security law.

That ruling legally crystallized the reality that certain views and slogans are now forbidden in Hong Kong under the security law.

In Hong Kong, sedition is broadly defined as any words that generate “hatred, contempt or disaffection” towards the government or “encourage disaffection” among residents.

It carries up to two years in jail for a first offense.

First penned by colonial ruler Britain in 1938, it was long criticized as an anti-free speech law, including by many of the pro-Beijing local newspapers now praising its use.

By the time of the 1997 handover, it had not been used for decades but remained on the books.

On the same day Tam was convicted, police charged two men aged 17 and 19 with “uttering seditious words” in a separate case concerning a campus protest in 2020.

In recent months, sedition charges have been brought against pro-democracy unionists who produced euphemistic children’s books about a village of sheep defending itself from wolves; journalists from now-shuttered pro-democracy news outlets; and a former pop star turned democracy activist.

In January, a man was jailed for eight months and a woman 13-and-a-half months after pleading guilty in two separate cases over seditious leaflets.

Thousands Could Die From COVID in Hong Kong, Study Shows

bangkok — 

Hong Kong’s fifth wave of coronavirus could see thousands of deaths, a new study said.

Slammed by the city’s fifth wave of COVID-19, Hong Kong is facing its worst health period since the pandemic began two years ago. It has forced the city’s government to implement strict measures, including compulsory tests for all Hong Kong residents.

February has seen thousands of new cases, mostly from the omicron variant. A new daily high of 10,010 infections was recorded Friday.

A study by the University of Hong Kong considered the potential outcomes from the current wave of coronavirus cases. One of the worst scenarios outlined that if the hospitals were to be overburdened, Hong Kong could see 7,000 COVID-19-related deaths by the end of June.

“The infection fatality risk may increase by 50% when the health care system becomes overburdened, in which case the cumulative number of deaths could further increase to 4,231 – 6,993,” the study said.

But it also said deaths could be half that number, about 3,200 by mid-May, if health measures remained.

‘Zero-COVID’ plan

Hong Kong had adopted a “zero-COVID” strategy, aligned with Beijing’s effort to control the pandemic across China. It had some success, with authorities quickly clamping down on rare outbreaks by contact tracing, social restrictions, mass testing and quarantine.

Fan Hung-ling, chairman of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, told the Chinese state’s Global Times that the strategy was “our country’s basic policy” and “won’t change.”

Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered the city’s authorities to get the fifth wave under control. Xi is due to visit Hong Kong July 1, marking the 25th anniversary of the city’s return to China from Britain.

A QR code is seen at a temporary testing center for COVID-19 in Hong Kong, Feb. 24, 2022. Hong Kong started requiring proof of vaccination on Thursday to enter public places.

Last week, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam unveiled new measures for the city, including a requirement that residents have proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter various premises.

On Wednesday, Lam also announced compulsory testing for all residents by March, with a goal of boosting the city’s vaccination rate to 90%.

Dr. David Owens, an honorary assistant clinical professor at Hong Kong University, had hoped for a different plan of action.

“I would have preferred we would have shifted all of our energies that would effectively [be focused on] things that would save lives,” Owens told VOA. “That would be mitigation, to roll out vaccinations to the elderly and vulnerable. I have also argued we should move to rapid testing so we can break the transmission chains quickly.”

Need for home isolation

Dr. Karen Grepin, associate professor at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, responded to the mass strategy campaign.

“It is likely it will happen at a time very close to the peak of the outbreak and thus it will likely identify literally hundreds of thousands of cases, including likely many who are no longer infectious. It is unlikely that we will be able to isolate even a fraction of these cases, so unless it is coupled with a comprehensive home isolation strategy, it will have little impact on transmission,” Grepin told VOA.

According to data from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, public hospitals are averaging an occupancy rate of 89%.

One health worker at Hong Kong’s United Christian Hospital, who chose to remain anonymous, admitted she was “afraid” of the pending testing program.

“Patients were crying,” she said. “A male patient said he had not eaten for 12 hours. And another patient said he wanted to commit suicide. And I started to cry. I cannot offer any more for them.

“I am so afraid of the universal testing program. We don’t have enough manpower for that. The government is so keen on a zero-COVID strategy. To me, it is a zero-medical staff strategy. The morale is worsened every day in the frontline.”

She described her job’s current conditions as like “working in a market.”

“It was so difficult to pass through the waiting hall,” she said. “We have to shout out to search the patients.”

A hospital van leaves the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island, in Hong Kong, Feb. 24, 2022. Hong Kong launched a vaccination requirement to enter shopping malls, restaurants and a host of other places on Thursday.

Patients in beds outdoors

Last week, Hong Kong’s Caritas Hospital saw dozens of patients lying in hospital beds outside in cold weather, waiting to be admitted. But occupancy is was at 102%, the Hospital Authority said.

A nurse working at the hospital, who also chose to remain anonymous, said elderly patients “have nowhere to turn.”

“Patients are not severely sick from my ward, but [have a] lack of self-care ability. The virus is widely breaking out in elderly care homes and homes for disabilities. They cannot do self-isolation, as they are from the same care center. The staff [are] probably infected. Therefore, the patients literally have nowhere to go even if they turn negative,” she told VOA.

Hong Kong residents have also spoken to VOA about pandemic fatigue, venting their frustrations at the government’s new health measures.

And some expatriates are also looking to leave the city altogether. A Facebook group aimed at helping expatriates leave Hong Kong has already gained over 3,000 members, only days after being created.

Singapore for some

British citizen Niall Trimble, a job recruitment director at Ethos BeathChapman, an executive recruitment firm in Hong Kong, has decided to move elsewhere in Asia.

“I would say the reason for leaving is the lack of flexibility compared to other places on the COVID situation,” he told VOA. “As a recruiter across technology and financial services I am already seeing a huge influx of candidates looking to move to Singapore and also clients looking to move operations to Singapore.”

Hong Kong’s economy fell into a two-year recession in 2019 and 2020. But last year the city saw growth of 6.4% as coronavirus cases remained low.

But Hong Kong has now recorded at least 84,000 cases, with 2022 alone seeing more infections than the last two years combined.

Hong Kong’s finance chief unveiled a budget of over $20 billion to cope with the outbreak, which will include an electronic spending voucher for each resident.

Hong Kong authorities are set to loosen the strategy on rapid testing and allow home isolation for positive cases, the South China Morning Post reported Friday.

Hong Kong Rolls Out COVID Vaccine Passport, Paves Way For Mainland Doctors

HONG KONG — 

Hong Kong rolled out vaccine passports on Thursday requiring people aged 12 and above to have at least one COVID-19 jab, and paved the way for mainland China manpower to help bring a worsening outbreak under control.

Residents will have to show their vaccine record to access venues including supermarkets, shopping malls and restaurants, a major inconvenience in a city where malls link train stations to residences and office buildings.

Separately, city leader Carrie Lam used emergency powers granted under British colonial-era laws to exempt mainland Chinese staff and projects from any licensing or other legal requirements to operate in Hong Kong.

City authorities have asked their mainland Chinese counterparts for help to build additional isolation, treatment and testing facilities, and boost the workforce as Hong Kong’s health system is increasingly overwhelmed.

“Hong Kong’s healthcare system, manpower, anti-epidemic facilities and resources … will soon be insufficient to handle the huge number of newly confirmed cases detected every day,” the government said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong reported a record 8,674 new COVID-19 infections as the global financial hub prepares for compulsory testing of its 7.4 million people – part of its “dynamic zero COVID” strategy similar to mainland China.

Allowing mainland doctors to practice in Hong Kong has been a controversial issue in the global financial hub, which for decades had some of the toughest licensing standards as a way to preserve excellence in its public health system.

The city last year passed a law allowing overseas-trained doctors to practice without taking a local licensing exam, in a move contested by many local doctors.

Hong Kong’s medical front lines have been weakened sharply by the latest outbreak, with some 1,200 medical staff infected as of Wednesday.

Authorities also tightened restrictions from Thursday in a city that already has some of the most stringent rules in the world. Residents will have to wear masks for all outdoor exercise and will not be allowed to remove them to eat or drink on public transport.

With bars, gyms and other businesses already closed and shopping malls deserted while many residents work from home, the government said on Tuesday schools would break early for summer and resume the new year in August.

Many in the city are growing fatigued with the situation, as most other major cities learn to live with the virus.

As the urgency grows, construction work has started on a facility on Lantau Island to build about 10,000 isolation units, while private hospitals will take in patients from public hospitals.

With the city’s testing, treatment and isolation capacity already stretched to the maximum, University of Hong Kong researchers predicted new infections could peak at 180,000 a day next month.

Hong Kong to Begin Mandatory Coronavirus Testing of All Citizens Beginning Next Month

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam says the semi-autonomous Chinese city will begin mandatory COVID-19 testing of its 7.5 million people next month.

Lam told reporters Wednesday that Hong Kong will boost its testing capacity to one million tests per day by next month, and that residents will be tested three times during March. She also said the city is aiming to boost its vaccination rate to 90% by next month.

The Asian financial hub is struggling to cope with a surge of new coronavirus cases driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. Since the start of 2022, Hong Kong has recorded more than 53,000 COVID-19 cases and 145 deaths. The surge has pushed the city’s health care system to the point of collapse, with thousands of patients being treated outside public hospitals in the rain and chilly weather. The city is rushing to build isolation facilities to house thousands of coronavirus patients, including the conversion of public housing estates and indoor sport centers.

An analysis conducted by researchers at the University of Hong Kong predicts the city’s infection rate could soar to 180,000 new cases a day by early next month, with the number of deaths rising to more than 3,200 by mid-May.

Despite the rising numbers of new coronavirus cases, Lam said Hong Kong will continue pursuing a “zero COVID” strategy, similar to that of mainland China, which aims to completely eliminate coronavirus outbreaks.

Lam also said Hong Kong will move the annual school holiday season held from July through August to March and April so school buildings can be converted into testing, isolation and vaccination centers. She also extended a fight ban on at least eight nations classified as high risk, including Britain and the United States, until April 20.

South Korea’s drug regulatory agency announced Wednesday that it has approved the use of Pfizer’s two-dose COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11, the first to be approved for that age group. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said the vaccine was found to be nearly 91% effective in preventing the virus in that age group.

South Korea is also dealing with an omicron-driven surge of new coronavirus cases, with the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency reporting 171,452 new COVID-19 infections Wednesday, setting a new one-day record.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.

Hong Kong Orders Mandatory COVID-19 Tests for All Residents

HONG KONG — 

Hong Kong will test its entire population of 7.5 million people for COVID-19 in March, the city’s leader said Tuesday, as it grapples with its worst outbreak driven by the omicron variant.

The population will be tested three times in March, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said.

She said testing capacity will be boosted to 1 million a day or more.

“Since we have a population of some 7 million people, testing will take about seven days,” she said.

Hong Kong has reported about 5,000 new daily infections since Feb. 15, with the cases threatening to overwhelm its healthcare system. Since the current surge began at the beginning of the year, the city has recorded nearly 54,000 cases and 145 deaths.

The order for citywide testing comes after mainland Chinese authorities dispatched epidemiologists, health workers and other medical resources last week to help contain the outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Hong Kong has largely aligned itself with mainland China’s “zero-COVID-19” policy, which aims to totally stamp out outbreaks, even as many other countries are shifting their approach to living with the virus.

Lockdowns of entire cities have been imposed in a number of areas of the mainland, but Lam said no such measure is currently being considered in Hong Kong because it is “not realistic.”

She also denied that the central Chinese government is giving instructions to Hong Kong on how to handle the epidemic.

“I reiterate that the central government never issued any instructions on our anti-epidemic work,” she said. “The central government will offer support as needed or upon our request, but of course we will always exchange our views.”

The “zero-COVID-19” strategy means that Hong Kong authorities often take measures such as locking down residential estates for mass testing when positive cases are detected, imposing strict quarantine requirements on travelers and ordering the shuttering of businesses.

The rapid surge of infections in the city has threatened to overwhelm its healthcare system.

Health officials said last week that hospitals were already at 90% of capacity and isolation facilities were full. People who test positive for the virus in Hong Kong must either be admitted to a hospital or a quarantine facility.

Lam acknowledged on Tuesday that the city’s isolation facilities are “severely inadequate” and that it is “working very hard with the full support of the central authorities” to build more.

Current social-distancing measures, such as a ban on dining at restaurants after 6 p.m. and the closure of businesses such as gyms and bars, will be extended until April 20.

“This is not good news to the sectors affected, but really at this stage of the pandemic we have no choice but to take these measures,” Lam said.

She said the city hopes to boost its vaccination rate to 90% by early March.

Other measures announced Tuesday include ending the school year early and moving the normal July-August summer holidays forward to March and April so that schools can be turned into facilities for testing, isolation and vaccination.

Flight bans from countries classified as high risk, including Australia, Canada, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain and the U.S., will be extended to April 20.

Hong Kong Working-Class District Reels as COVID Runs Rampant

HONG KONG — 

Lam Foon, 98, sits propped up and swaddled in soggy woolen blankets in a hospital bed just outside the entrance to Hong Kong’s Caritas Medical Centre, waiting for tests to confirm her preliminary positive result for COVID-19.

“I don’t feel so good,” she told Reuters through a surgical mask, next to a similarly wrapped patient wearing a mask and face shield.

Lam was one of dozens of patients lying in the parking lot of Caritas on Thursday, after there was no more room inside the hospital that serves 400,000 people in the working-class district of Cheung Sha Wan on the Kowloon peninsula.

Temperatures dipped to 15 degrees Celsius amid some rain.

Medical staff were unable to say how long Lam would have to wait. People who test preliminarily positive for COVID have to take further tests before treatment.

This and similar scenes across the global financial hub are signs of a public healthcare system under severe strain as COVID-19 cases surge, with more than 95% of all hospital beds full.

Once largely insulated from the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong is facing a citywide outbreak, with businesses buckling and some losing patience with the government’s “zero COVID” policies.

In the cluster of working-class districts in nearby Sham Shui Po, some residential blocks and public housing estates have been sealed off, crowds in malls and street markets have thinned, and once teeming diners known as dai pai dongs and stalls selling knickknacks are quieter after dark.

Trevor Chung, 29, a medic at Caritas, blamed the government in part for inadequate planning, a shortage of beds and other medical equipment, and chronic manpower shortages.

“The government underestimated the situation,” said Chung, clad in a full-face visor and blue hazmat suit. “I expect things to get a lot worse … There are many elderly people in this district, and many aren’t vaccinated.”

Hong Kong authorities on Thursday apologized for the dire situation at hospitals serving the city of 7.4 million.

The city’s zero-COVID policy has meant even asymptomatic people and those with mild conditions have been sent to hospitals or quarantine centers, although the government is now adjusting its strategy as the health care system is overwhelmed.

Lam under pressure

The outbreak has piled further pressure on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, whose five-year term is due to end in June.

While Lam says surrendering to the virus “is not an option” and Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the “overriding mission” for Hong Kong is to rein in the virus, some are skeptical.

“You can see I’m wearing two masks. I need to protect myself because the government won’t protect me,” said Lo Kai-wai, a 59-year-old logistics worker queuing at a mobile testing center that had already reached its daily quota of 3,000 people.

“I don’t want to see her (Lam) get a second term.”

Some business owners impacted by government-imposed restrictions also question the sustainability of current policies.

“The government needs to find a better balance to both control the virus, but also to allow people to better get on with their lives,” said Timothy Poon, 23, the manager of a café close to the hospital, whose business has dropped by up to 60% amid the outbreak.

“The zero-COVID policy is a mission impossible.”

Others, however, are more upbeat.

“If everyone is willing to get vaccinated, the situation will improve,” said Lung Mei-chu, 78, at a testing center in another district.

Hong Kong Rules Out Citywide Lockdown as Cases Continue to Surge

HONG KONG — 

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday ruled out a citywide lockdown to fight COVID-19, but a surge of infections meant she could not “preclude” the possibility of postponing next month’s chief executive election.

Lam, who has not confirmed whether she will seek another five-year term as head of the Chinese-ruled city, said her government’s response to the outbreak had not been satisfactory, with hospitals and medical staff overwhelmed.

Daily infections have surged by about 20 times over the past two weeks. Health authorities reported 1,619 infections on Tuesday, a new daily record with around 5,400 preliminary positive cases.

“There are no plans for a widespread city lockdown,” Lam told a news conference.

“We cannot surrender to the virus. This is not an option,” she said, doubling down on her ‘dynamic zero’ coronavirus strategy, similar to mainland China which seeks to curb outbreaks as soon as they occur.

People wearing face masks cross a street during the COVID-19 outbreak, in Hong Kong, China, Feb. 15, 2022.

Asked whether Hong Kong’s chief executive election, set for March 27, would go ahead, Lam said that the plans were unchanged, but given “the severity and speed of this latest wave” the situation would be continuously reviewed.

“So, I cannot preclude any possibilities at this moment,” she said.

A committee of 1,500 members, all vetted by authorities for their “patriotism” and loyalty to Beijing, participate in electing the next leader. The chief executive election has never been postponed since the city’s handover from Britain to China in 1997.

Two years ago, authorities cited the coronavirus to postpone legislative elections, in which some seats are assigned via public vote. Those elections were held in December 2021 under new “patriots only” rules imposed by Beijing.

Restrictions on social and public gatherings, imposed after the pandemic first struck, helped Hong Kong’s authorities stifle a pro-democracy movement whose mass protests had rocked the city in 2019, and a national security law imposed by Beijing in June 2020 effectively ended the unrest.

Max capacity

Health authorities said several hospitals were operating at over 100% capacity. At Caritas Medical Center, located on the city’s teeming Kowloon peninsula, dozens of patients lay in numbered beds outside the hospital. Makeshift tents had been set up alongside to treat the patients.

As infections multiplied, Lam said authorities were unable to keep pace with their testing and isolation mandate.

People wearing face masks wait for their swab samples to be collected at a makeshift testing site for COVID-19, in Hong Kong, China, Feb. 15, 2022.

China has said it would help the city boost its testing, treatment and quarantine capacity, and secure resources from rapid antigen kits and protective gear to fresh vegetables.

Lam said the central government would deliver over 100 million testing kits to the territory.

Despite the latest surge, deaths remain far less than in similar-sized cities since the pandemic erupted two years ago.

Hong Kong’s total caseload since the pandemic first erupted is around 26,000 infections, including a little over 200 deaths.

But, with the health care system already cracking, medical experts warn the city could see 28,000 daily infections by the end of March, and there were worries about the large numbers of elderly people who have hesitated to get vaccinated.

Anticipating the need for more isolation facilities, Lam said around 3,000 public housing units and around 10,000 hotel rooms would be converted.

Pandemic fatigue

For Hong Kong residents, the surge in cases comes amid rising pandemic fatigue. Strict restrictions have effectively sealed the city’s borders for around two years and turned the once global hub into one of the world’s most isolated major cities.

Venues from churches, pubs, schools and gyms remain shut, with public gatherings of more than two people banned. Dining in restaurants is not allowed after 6 p.m., while most people are working from home.

Hong Kong will introduce a vaccine pass starting February 24 where residents will have to show proof of vaccination before entering restaurants, supermarkets and shopping malls.

Hong Kong Allows Pet Stores to Resume Hamster Sales After COVID Cull

HONG KONG — 

Dozens of pet stores that sold hamsters in Hong Kong may resume business starting Sunday, Hong Kong’s government said, after being shuttered last week and culling thousands of hamsters over coronavirus fears.

Authorities enraged pet lovers with an order to cull more than 2,200 hamsters after tracing an outbreak to a worker in a shop where 11 hamsters tested positive. Imported hamsters from Holland into the Chinese territory had been cited as the source. All hamster imports remain banned.

The city’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said in a statement late Saturday that it collected 1,134 samples from animals other than hamsters including rabbits and chinchillas, which were all negative.

Five stores, including the Little Boss pet shop, where authorities traced the outbreak, remained closed until they pass “the virus test,” the government said.

“All the other concerned pet shops on the other hand have been thoroughly disinfected and cleaned and the environmental swabs collected from these shops have all passed the COVID-19 virus test,” it said.

The government said on Friday it would compensate pet shops trading in hamsters, offering a one-off payment of up to $3,850.

People who had in recent weeks bought hamsters, popular apartment pets in the congested city, were ordered to surrender them for testing and what the government described as “humane dispatch.”

Thousands of people offered to adopt unwanted hamsters amid a public outcry against the government and its pandemic advisers, which authorities called irrational.

A study published in The Lancet medical journal, which has not yet been peer reviewed, said Hong Kong researchers have found evidence that pet hamsters can spread COVID-19 and linked the animals to human infections in the city.

However, the economic and psychological tolls from Hong Kong’s hardline approach to curbing the virus are rapidly rising, residents say, with measures becoming more draconian than those first enforced in 2020.

Hong Kong University Covers Up Tiananmen Crackdown Memorial

HONG KONG — 

Hong Kong’s oldest university covered up one of the last public memorials to the deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown Saturday, as Beijing continues to muzzle dissent in the financial hub.

Hong Kong was the only place in China where mass remembrance of Tiananmen was tolerated, but authorities have driven such activities underground after imposing a sweeping national security law on the city.

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) last month removed a famous statue commemorating pro-democracy protesters killed by Chinese troops around Tiananmen Square.

At least two other local universities removed artworks in public areas marking the crackdown that same week.

On Saturday, a large slogan painted on an HKU campus bridge mourning the Tiananmen “martyrs” that had escaped the earlier censorship was blocked with metal sheets.

An AFP reporter saw construction workers covering the calligraphy, which read: “The heroic spirit of martyrs slaughtered in cold blood will live forever, the fire of democracy that overcomes evil will never be put out.”

Created by HKU students shortly after the crackdown, it had adorned the campus for more than three decades according to local media.

The calligraphy birthed a campus ritual with student leaders annually repainting the words in white to symbolize mourning.

HKU did not immediately respond to AFP’s questions on whether the words will be permanently erased.

But a spokesperson told reporters that the university “regularly conducts maintenance works at various locations and facilities, with the above site being one such project.”

Hong Kong’s universities, ranked among the best in Asia, had long been free of the political censorship that pervades mainland campuses.

But Beijing has begun remolding Hong Kong in its own image following huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019.

The national security law has effectively criminalized dissent including commemorating Tiananmen with authorities stressing the need for schools to foster “patriotism.”

An annual candlelight vigil to mark the June 4 crackdown has been banned for the past two years, with officials citing both security and pandemic fears.

Leaders of the now-disbanded group organizing the vigil have been charged with subversion, and authorities have shut down a Tiananmen museum formerly run by the group.

After dismantling the “Pillar of Shame” Tiananmen statue last month, HKU said the decision was “based on external legal advice and risk assessment for the best interest of the university.”

Legal Experts Question Hong Kong Chief Justice’s Independence Claims

BANGKOK — 

Criticism of Hong Kong’s judicial independence has no “value” according to the special administrative region’s chief justice, but law experts say many questions remain.

Since Beijing imposed a national security law on the region 18 months ago, Hong Kong has endured major changes to its political system and media environment.

Now, attention has turned to whether Hong Kong’s judiciary can remain freestanding as Beijing tightens its grip.

In December, Britain released a six-month report about Hong Kong that outlined the city’s eroding freedoms after the implementation of the security law. The report included the accusation that Hong Kong’s “judicial independence is increasingly finely balanced.” The Hong Kong government rejected the finding.

Concerns remain, though, as to whether Hong Kong will maintain its British-style justice system or eventually replace it with China’s opaque system.

Speaking at the opening of the legal year Monday, Hong Kong’s Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said the territory’s judicial independence is “fact,” RTHK reported.

“Criticisms of court decisions, which are made without first ascertaining the facts in a case or reading and understanding the reasons for the court’s decision, are as meaningless as they are hollow – so is any unsubstantiated doubt over the court’s independence. Judicial independence in Hong Kong exists as a fact. And we are here today to bear witness to this fact.”

But one lawyer formerly of Hong Kong, who chose to remain anonymous, told VOA that Cheung hasn’t taken into account criticism of the judiciary.

“The Chief Justice’s comments at the opening of the legal year are thoroughly underwhelming. (The) dismissal of critics of Hong Kong’s rule of law as being motivated by ‘surmises, political stances or geopolitical considerations’ also smacks of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) propaganda. I would expect a Hong Kong judge to stick to analytical reasoning, and weigh these criticisms for their merits, rather than attack the critics for ulterior motives,” the lawyer said.

The national security law prohibits acts deemed as secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, with punishments of up to life in prison. Critics of the security law – including pro-democracy opposition and Western governments – have said the legislation threatens Hong Kong’s unique autonomy, promised when Britain handed the territory back to China in 1997.

Out of at least 150 people who have been arrested under the security law, five have been convicted and three have been sentenced to jail.

Those sentenced include former waiter Leon Tong Ying-kit, 24, who received nine years in prison following his conviction for terrorism and secession in July. November saw pro-democracy protester Ma Chun-man sentenced to nearly six years in prison for inciting secession, and pro-independence youth activist Tony Chung sentenced for secession and money laundering.

For Hong Kong’s national security law cases, Chief Executive Carrie Lam has handpicked judges to oversee the proceedings, a move that has angered legal experts.

“What about the existence of the appointment system in the first place? Why should there be national security law judges? How does that serve the rule of law or ensure a fair trial?” asked the lawyer who was formerly in Hong Kong.

Eric Yan-ho Lai, a law analyst and fellow at Georgetown University, also questioned the way judges are selected to preside over national security cases and whether there are any checks on the chief executive’s power to choose them.

Cheung said Monday the impartiality of the courts was not affected because all designated judges are bound under judicial oath to pass justice without fear or favor, self-interest or deceit.

But Yan-ho Lai told VOA, “Andrew Cheung could not explain why the chief executive picking the national security law judges would not affect impartiality, especially when Cheung himself visited the chief executive for a meeting just before the Court of Final Appeal hearing on Jimmy Lai’s bail appeal.”

Media mogul Jimmy Lai is in jail facing a slew of criminal charges and facing the possibility of life in prison. Reports said Lam met with Cheung ahead of a bail hearing for Lai in February. Lam denied discussing court cases with Cheung, reiterating her commitment to judicial independence, the South China Morning Post reported.

Since the security law has been in force, Hong Kong authorities have arrested pro-democracy activists, journalists and former lawmakers with the crackdown paving the way for a political revamp in the city.

Last month, Hong Kong’s mini parliament, the Legislative Council, saw its first-ever “patriots only” elections in which all but one of the seats were won by pro-Beijing candidates.

Beijing restructured the legislature last year by reducing the number of directly elected seats voted on by the public. A vetting committee comprising Beijing loyalists also has been installed to determine whether political candidates are loyal to China. No member of the pro-democracy opposition ran in the elections.

Those arrested under the security law include dozens of pro-democracy political figures who remain in pre-trial detention after being charged under the law in February.

“Although Andrew Cheung shared his beliefs, he could not explain why fair trial can be upheld when dozens of national security law defendants are being remanded in pre-trial detention for almost a year. When Cheung’s words and deeds are not consistent, the public might be less convinced that the integrity of the court in Hong Kong can be upheld in the post-national security law era,” Yan-ho Lai added.

Additionally, Hong Kong’s media have taken a downward turn since pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily closed in June when several of its executives were charged under the security law and authorities froze the company’s financial assets.

And pro-democracy news outlet Stand News closed its doors on Dec. 29 as part of a sedition investigation. Independent news sites Citizen News and Mad Dog Daily also decided to fold, citing uncertainty in the region.

At least 50 civil society groups also have disbanded in Hong Kong since last year.

How China’s National Security Law for Hong Kong Could Extend to Taiwan and Beyond

SAN FRANCISCO — 

Analysts increasingly fear that Beijing’s national security law, initially aimed at quelling dissent in Hong Kong, may be used to target people of any nationality or ethnicity who offend Chinese leaders.

The law took effect in June 2020 after a year of sometimes violent Hong Kong pro-democracy protests against the government. The measure prohibits acts of “separatism, subversion, terrorism, and colluding with foreign forces.”

At least 117 people have been arrested and 60 charged in the former British colony and world financial center in the 13 months since the law took effect.

Violations carry a sentence of up to life in prison.

But experts say the law’s open-ended wording, along with the Chinese government’s wider ambitions, leaves open the possibility that it will be used against anyone with known anti-China or pro-Hong Kong independence sentiments who sets foot in a Chinese territory such as Hong Kong or the former Portuguese colony of Macao.

“As long as China can execute their jurisdiction within Chinese territory, Hong Kong and Macao, people who violate (the) national security law could be extradited to China for the trial, even if just transferring at Chinese airports,” said Chen Yi-fan, assistant professor of diplomacy and international relations at Tamkang University near Taipei.

Taiwanese scholar under fire

Wu Rwei-ren, a research fellow at Taipei-based Academia Sinica, last year became the first Taiwanese person to be accused of breaking the law. A Beijing government-backed media outlet, Takungpao, called out the 60-year-old scholar over an article advocating for Hong Kong independence.

University officials could not be reached for comment.

People in Taiwan will be particularly suspected as time goes on, analysts say.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory despite the island’s sometimes defiant self-rule of 80 years and has not ruled out using force to reunite it with the mainland.

Democratic Taiwan has an independent media scene and according to a National Chengchi University Election Study Center survey, more than half of Taiwan’s residents want to keep the status quo indefinitely or decide later on the question of unification with China.

Beijing regularly flies military planes into Taiwan’s airspace.

“Usually moves like these are meant to send a message,” said Sean Su, an independent political analyst in Taiwan. “It could be used as sort of a weapon in order to try to intimidate people in Taiwan, but I think the after effect, I think is going to be negative.”

Broad language

Wording of the law covers residents of Hong Kong as well as people who have never visited, according to New York-based advocacy group Amnesty International.

Amnesty said in July 2020 that anyone on Earth, “regardless of nationality or location, can technically be deemed to have violated this law and face arrest and prosecution if they are in a Chinese jurisdiction, even for transit.”

China says its Hong Kong policy is aimed at protecting the territory’s stability and legal system. “Anti-China forces who seek to destabilize Hong Kong must be resolutely excluded” from any positions of power in Hong Kong, said Xia Baolong, head of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, attends the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on March 4, 2021.

Hong Kong residents abroad

Hong Kong native Joey Siu, who works in Washington, assumed she would be arrested “immediately” if she showed at the airport in the former British colony. She hasn’t been back to Hong Kong since the law took effect. Siu works for the UK-based human rights group Hong Kong Watch, organizing protests and rallies while doing international advocacy work.

“Since the law was implemented in 2020, I have felt that I am no longer safe in Hong Kong, because I figured that I was being followed by people who I don’t know if they are security guards or they are Hong Kong police officers, so I felt like my personal safety is no longer guaranteed in Hong Kong and obviously my international advocacy effort is going to lead me to being charged under the name of colluding with foreign forces,” Siu told VOA.

At least four other Hong Kong activists are now staying in the United States and Europe for the same reason, she said.

Siu says writing about dissent will also lead to arrest, although the law lays down no “solid red line” about what’s criminal. The law may extend as well to people who support the political causes of disenchanted Tibetans and Uyghurs, two Chinese ethnic minority groups that have clashed with Beijing’s objectives, she said.

Protesters from Hong Kong in Taiwan and local supporters protest the recent arrests at a news outlet (Stand News) in Hong Kong outside the Bank of China in Taipei, Taiwan, Dec. 30, 2021.

Wider reach?

China has extradition treaties with 37 countries and uses them. The government in Beijing has requested the extradition of ethnic Uyghurs in Malaysia – a request that was denied – for example, according to the Washington-based Center for Advanced China Research.

An offender of the national security law who is based in a China-sympathetic country such as Cambodia would face high odds of extradition, said Stephen Nagy, senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo.

Individuals who use Mandarin or Cantonese to spread their ideas counter to the Communist Party “narrative” are more likely to be targeted, Nagy said.

“Retroactively charging an (overseas-based) Hong Kong (native), or a Taiwanese scholar, or actions they may have done is very worrisome because it’s an extension of domestic law, and it’s not recognizing the various identities that exist in the Chinese, greater China sphere,” he said.

For this reason, Nagy says, foreign governments are warning their citizens to avoid visiting China, including Hong Kong. The U.S. Department of State, for example, urges U.S. citizens to “reconsider” travel to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland because of “arbitrary enforcement of local laws.”

Hong Kong Independence Activist Released from Prison

WASHINGTON — 

Prominent Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung was released from jail Wednesday after serving a four year sentence for taking part in a 2016 protest.

The 30-year-old activist posted a message on his Facebook page that he was released from Shek Pik Prison before dawn and was home with his family.

“After four years, I want to cherish this precious time to reunite with my family and resume a normal life with them,” he wrote while also expressing his thanks to his supporters for their concern and love.

Leung first came to prominence in 2016 as the spokesman of Hong Kong Indigenous, a group that called for maintaining a distinct identity for Hong Kong and a total break from mainland China. He took part in the so-called Fishball Revolution protest against a police crackdown on unlicensed street food vendors in the city’s Mong Kok district that turned violent.

Leung was convicted in 2018 of assaulting a police officer and taking part in a riot in connection with the Mong Kok incident and sentenced to six years in prison. Local news outlets say the sentence was reduced by two years for good behavior.

He coined the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times” for his campaign for a seat in the city’s legislature in 2016 that was cut short when he was disqualified due to his pro-independence stance. The slogan has since been outlawed under the draconian national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 in response to the massive and violent protests the previous year.

Hundreds of pro-democracy activists have been convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms under the law, which outlaws succession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.

Hong Kong merma aún más las libertades con una ley adicional a la de Seguridad Nacional | Internacional

Hong Kong no tendrá una sola ley de Seguridad Nacional, tendrá dos. La dura medida ya existente desde que Pekín la impuso hace un año y medio, que ha obligado a cerrar a medios de comunicación críticos, que ha llevado a la detención de los activistas y políticos de oposición más destacados y a la que gobiernos occidentales y defensores de derechos humanos acusan de coartar el sistema local de libertades contará con una norma complementaria en la nueva legislatura. Este nuevo texto legal ampliará el número de comportamientos considerados delictivos.

Así lo ha anunciado este miércoles la jefa del gobierno autónomo Carrie Lam en la sesión inaugural de esa nueva legislatura en el Consejo Legislativo (Legco), el parlamento local. Un parlamento en el que, tras las elecciones legislativas de diciembre, en las que únicamente se permitió participar a candidatos “patriotas”, solo un diputado de un total de noventa se describe como independiente. Ninguno se alinea en el lado demócrata.

El ambiente era muy distinto del bullicio que había dominado el Legco en otros tiempos. No solo por las notables ausencias de una veintena de legisladores y de varios altos cargos, en cuarentena tras haber asistido a una polémica fiesta de cumpleaños de un alto funcionario chino que se convirtió en foco de contagio de covid. O por el emblema de la República Popular que ahora preside el hemiciclo por encima de la insignia hongkonesa. Sin la oposición demócrata -que dimitió en masa en noviembre de 2020- y que bebía de la tradición británica para protestar vivamente por las intervenciones del otro bando, la sesión se tramitó estrictamente según lo previsto en la agenda. Sin abucheos, sin interrupciones y sin nadie que en el turno de preguntas cuestionara a Lam mucho más allá de pedirle alguna precisión.

En la bancada que anteriormente ocupaban los diputados de la oposición, ahora se sentaban los nombrados por la Comisión Electoral progubernamental. La ministra jefa, visiblemente más relajada que en otras comparecencias pasadas, prometió acudir más al parlamento para sesiones de control. Y pasó revista a las que serán las prioridades legislativas del año.

Entre ellas estará el desarrollo de una ley local de Seguridad Nacional, que complementará a la impuesta desde Pekín en junio de 2020 y que tipificará unos cuarenta delitos. La tramitación de esa norma es algo que Lam ya venía anticipando desde el año pasado.

La Ley Básica de Hong Kong, la miniconstitución del enclave, prevé en su artículo 23 que el territorio autónomo cuente con su propia ley de Seguridad Nacional. Pero un primer intento de aprobarla, en el año 2000, precipitó las peores protestas masivas que había vivido la antigua colonia británica hasta las de 2019 contra Pekín. El gobierno autónomo de entonces optó por retirar la propuesta de ley para acallar esas manifestaciones, sin que hasta ahora se hubiera querido retomar la medida.

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“El proceso legislativo relativo al artículo 23 forma parte de las obligaciones constituciones, y no puede retrasarse más”, ha declarado Lam a los diputados, según recoge AFP.

La jefa del gobierno autónomo concluirá su primer mandato en junio y para entonces el ejecutivo habrá sometido a consulta pública los detalles de la nueva ley, precisó. Algunos legisladores aspiran a que la legislación quede aprobada para entonces, aunque Lam indicó que ese plazo es demasiado corto.

La Ley de Seguridad Nacional redactada por Pekín se impuso para zanjar de raíz las protestas de 2019 y para cubrir aquel vacío legal que ningún gobierno autónomo había querido tocar debido a su alto coste político. Castiga con penas que alcanzan la cadena perpetua la “subversión”, el “secesionismo”, el “terrorismo” y la “traición”, delitos definidos de manera muy vaga. Además, prohíbe que organizaciones extranjeras lleven a cabo actividades políticas en la antigua colonia británica, y las organizaciones locales no pueden mantener lazos con otras instituciones políticas extranjeras.

Desde su entrada en vigor, el sistema de libertades existente en Hong Kong, único en el territorio chino y considerado durante décadas un modelo dentro de Asia, se ha visto cada vez más limitado. Al menos cuatro medios de oposición han echado el cierre: el periódico Apple Daily, y los digitales Stand News –su directiva quedó detenida el 29 de abril por sospecha de “actividades sediciosas”-, Citizen News y Mad Dog Daily. Otros medios han sufrido un constante goteo de salidas en sus redacciones. Decenas de prominentes políticos de oposición y activistas, desde el joven antiguo líder estudiantil Joshua Wong al veterano dueño del Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, se encuentran detenidos a la espera de juicio, acusados de cargos relacionados con esa ley. La mayor parte de ellos, relacionados con declaraciones sobre la democracia. Otros han abandonado el activismo o se han exiliado.

La nueva legislación puede no ser la única. Lam ya había indicado el año pasado que su gobierno trabajaba en una medida para combatir las “noticias falsas”, que castigará la “desinformación, el odio y las mentiras”. En respuesta a una pregunta en la sesión parlamentaria, la ministra jefa indicó que su gobierno estudiará las polémicas normas que ya ha aprobado Singapur contra la desinformación y contra posibles injerencias extranjeras, como una de las referencias en el proceso para elaborar la nueva norma de seguridad nacional.

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La democracia se apaga en Hong Kong | Internacional

Un trabajador de ‘Stand News’ atendía a unos periodistas tras la redada en la sede del diario, a finales de diciembre en Hong Kong.MIGUEL CANDELA (EFE)

La libertad de expresión en la antigua colonia británica de Hong Kong está en sus horas más bajas 18 meses después de la aprobación de la Ley de Seguridad Nacional impuesta por Pekín. Solo en las últimas semanas, una estatua dedicada a las víctimas de la plaza de Tiananmén, cuya memoria es aún un tabú para China, fue retirada de madrugada de la Universidad sin previo aviso; un periódico fue cerrado y varios de sus directivos detenidos, y un portal de noticias siguió sus pasos al temer por la seguridad de sus trabajadores. Todo ello después de que el territorio autónomo celebrara en diciembre las primeras elecciones solo para patriotas tras una reforma que permitió apenas una decena de candidatos independientes y que hundió la participación a un 30,2% del censo de 4,5 millones de votantes. La democracia en Hong Kong se apaga ante la posición cada vez más dura de Pekín ante cualquier atisbo de divergencia.

“¿Qué queda de la libertad de prensa en Hong Kong? ¿Cuál es el significado de periodismo si los periodistas no pueden informar sobre lo que al Gobierno no le gusta?”, se preguntaba en un hilo de Twitter el activista hongkonés Nathan Law tras la redada a la sede del periódico Stand News a finales de diciembre.

“He vivido en Hong Kong más de una década y, desde la entrada en vigor de la Ley de Seguridad Nacional no ha habido ni una sola semana en la que no hayamos tenido una mala noticia. Poco a poco se han ido socavando la mayoría de las libertades y avances democráticos de los que gozaba la ciudad”, sostiene Jean-Pierre Cabestan, jefe del Departamento de Estudios Gubernamentales e Internacionales en la Universidad Bautista de Hong Kong.

La secuencia de hechos es elocuente: desde la promulgación de la ley de seguridad en la Asamblea Nacional en Pekín, el 30 de junio de 2020, más de un centenar de personas han sido detenidas por cargos previstos en la norma —que incluye cadena perpetua para quienes planeen actividades “terroristas”, “sediciosas” o “subversivas”— y una cincuentena de activistas prodemocracia están entre rejas; los que continúan en libertad han adoptado un perfil bajo y cientos han elegido el exilio, según denuncian varias organizaciones defensoras de los derechos humanos.

Activistas como Joshua Wong están encarcelados por su protagonismo en las manifestaciones de 2019 para reclamar reformas democráticas; otros, como Chow Hang-tung o Lee Cheuk-yan, por incitar a la participación en la tradicional vigilia anual por la masacre de Tiananmén —prohibida desde 2020 por las autoridades alegando la pandemia—, mientras que gran parte de los políticos prodemocracia cumplen condena o esperan juicio por la organización de unas elecciones primarias informales en el verano de 2020 que buscaban presentar una lista única ante los candidatos respaldados por Pekín.

“El punto de inflexión fue el arresto de los participantes en las elecciones informales de julio de 2020. Desde entonces, la tendencia ha sido forzar a la sociedad hongkonesa y a la comunidad política a ser más china”, afirma Cabestan. “La reforma del sistema electoral, la campaña contra las ONG y sindicatos, y ahora contra los medios de comunicación, son un reflejo directo de esa imposición”, añade.

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A pesar de que la libertad de expresión es uno de los derechos consagrados en la ley básica de Hong Kong —y que, según lo pactado con el Reino Unido antes del traspaso de la soberanía en 1997, China debe garantizar al menos hasta 2047—, la posición del enclave en el índice de libertad de prensa de Reporteros Sin Fronteras ha caído estrepitosamente en los últimos años: si en 2002 se situaba en el puesto 18, en 2021 se había desplomado hasta el 80.

El primero de los grandes medios independientes en desaparecer fue Apple Daily. Con los directivos, incluido su propietario, Jimmy Lai, en prisión acusados de “confabularse con fuerzas extranjeras” —otro cargo que puede acarrear cadena perpetua bajo la ley de seguridad—, y sus cuentas congeladas, el último diario de la oposición en papel se vio obligado a cerrar el pasado 24 de junio. El periódico fundado 26 años antes se había convertido en la publicación crítica con Pekín más popular de Hong Kong, con 2,6 millones de seguidores en Facebook y más de 3 millones entre YouTube, Instagram y Twitter (la población de la antigua colonia británica es de 7,4 millones de habitantes).

La historia se repitió seis meses después, el 29 de diciembre, cuando la policía encargada de salvaguardar la ley de seguridad detuvo a la cúpula directiva de Stand News y las autoridades congelaron 6,9 millones de euros de sus activos. Dos de sus redactores jefes continúan arrestados, acusados de “conspirar y distribuir material sedicioso”, delito contemplado bajo el Decreto de Crímenes de la era colonial. El lunes pasado, un tercer medio, Citizen News, anunciaba su clausura debido “al deterioro del entorno periodístico”.

“Stand News y Citizen News cubrían el trabajo de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil, desde luchar por los derechos de la comunidad LGTBI, hasta los derechos laborales. Ahora no queda casi ninguno que haga reportajes de investigación sobre temas sociales y que exija responsabilidad a las autoridades”, apunta Kai Ong, miembro de Amnistía Internacional que se identifica con un seudónimo. “El entorno de represión e incertidumbre constante generado por la ley ha hecho imposible saber qué actividades podrían considerarse delitos”, agrega. Amnistía Internacional anunció en octubre el cierre de su oficina regional, después de que entre enero y septiembre medio centenar de organizaciones y sindicatos comunicasen también su disolución. El miedo y la autocensura han calado. Una encuesta del mes pasado de la Asociación de Periodistas de Hong Kong reveló que más de la mitad de los profesionales del sector en el enclave se autocensura a la hora de cubrir ciertos temas que podrían incomodar a Pekín.

“Todos los medios en idioma chino están tomando precauciones, y la mayoría están controlados por el Partido Comunista. El único que continúa siendo más o menos autónomo es Ming Pao”, señala Cabestan. Tras lo ocurrido con otros medios en la última semana, Ming Pao ha añadido en su sección de Opinión una cláusula de exención de responsabilidad en la que comunica que las críticas, si las hubiera, tendrían el objetivo de señalar errores con el propósito de remediarlos, sin “intención de incitar al odio, al descontento o a la enemistad con el Gobierno u otros sectores de la población”.

Finn Lau, uno de los líderes de las protestas de 2019, actualmente en el exilio, advierte de que “con esta campaña contra la libertad de expresión, las autoridades de Pekín y Hong Kong han fallado al Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos de 1966 y a la Declaración Conjunta Sino-Británica de 1984″. Según el acuerdo firmado por la entonces primera ministra británica, Margaret Thatcher, y su homólogo chino, Zhao Ziyang, durante 50 años tras el retorno a la soberanía china, la autonomía del Gobierno del enclave debía ser absoluta, excepto en asuntos exteriores y de defensa, siguiendo los principios de “un país, dos sistemas” y el de “una sola China”. Lau, sin embargo, asevera que “desde la promulgación de la draconiana ley de seguridad, la política de ‘un país, dos sistemas’ ha muerto”.

Este activista cree que es cuestión de tiempo que los pocos medios independientes que quedan desaparezcan: “El reto al que nos enfrentamos ahora es el de conectar a los hongkoneses prodemocracia que siguen allí con los que estamos fuera”. A pesar de las trabas, Lau se enorgullece de que la oposición “está haciendo todo cuanto está en sus manos para expresar el descontento” y señala como ejemplo la caída de la participación hasta su nivel histórico más bajo en las últimas elecciones legislativas de Hong Kong, ganadas por los candidatos pro-Pekín tras una reforma electoral que aseguraba la lealtad al Gobierno central de todos los aspirantes involucrados en estos comicios.

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El cierre de un tercer medio independiente agrava el deterioro de la libertad de prensa en Hong Kong | Internacional

China continúa cerrando el cerco a cualquier fuente de información divergente en los medios de comunicación hongkoneses. El portal de noticias independiente Citizen News anunció el domingo por la noche que cesará su publicación el 4 de enero debido “al deterioro del entorno periodístico” en la excolonia británica y con el fin de “garantizar la seguridad de su personal”. Si bien es cierto que la clausura del medio no ha sido, en esta ocasión, resultado de un acto de represión directo, la decisión tiene poco de voluntaria. Citizen News ha decidido seguir los pasos de Apple Daily y Stand News, otros dos medios opositores de la región semiautónoma, que se vieron obligados a cerrar en 2021, después de que las autoridades encargadas de salvaguardar la Ley de Seguridad Nacional impuesta por Pekín arrestasen a algunos de sus directivos.

“Nunca hemos olvidado nuestra intención inicial, pero, por desgracia, los cambios drásticos en la sociedad y el empeoramiento del entorno mediático en los últimos dos años han provocado que no podamos continuar cumpliendo con nuestros ideales sin miedo. En medio de esta crisis debemos asegurarnos de que todos los tripulantes del barco se encuentran a salvo”, expresó Citizen News en un comunicado publicado en sus redes sociales.

“Informar sin miedo significa que no tememos ofender a la élite, que criticamos a las autoridades cuando sus políticas no son correctas, que no rehusamos contar la verdad sobre las grandes corporaciones por presión empresarial”, aseveró en una rueda de prensa, celebrada este lunes, Chris Yeung, redactor jefe de este portal de noticias y expresidente de la Asociación de Periodistas de Hong Kong. “Pero eso no significa que el precio sea sacrificar nuestra propia libertad”, añadió.

Citizen News, que se define en Facebook “sin afiliación a un partido político” y que “apuesta por un Hong Kong libre, abierto e inclusivo”, empezó a publicar contenido en enero de 2017 y cuenta con alrededor de 408.000 seguidores en esta red social. El medio, que recibió apoyo inicial a través de una campaña de crowdfunding, tiene 40 empleados en plantilla.

Daisy Li, editora jefe de Citizen News, expresó ante la prensa que ya no sabe qué son las noticias “seguras”. “Si no tengo la confianza suficiente para guiar y liderar a mis reporteros, debo ser consecuente”, agregó. El propio Yeung ha confirmado que “el punto de inflexión para tomar esta decisión precipitada fue lo ocurrido con Stand News”. El miércoles pasado, 200 policías participaron en una redada a la redacción de este digital y en el arresto de siete miembros de su cúpula directiva. Las autoridades también congelaron 6,9 millones de euros de los activos de Stand News, y dos de sus editores jefes continúan detenidos, acusados de “conspirar y distribuir material sedicioso”, después de que se les negara la libertad bajo fianza. Ese mismo día, este medio de comunicación, que se había convertido en el más popular entre los activistas y simpatizantes de la oposición, anunció su cierre.

Lo ocurrido con Stand News no fue más que un calco de la represión policial que sufrió en junio la ya también desaparecida revista Apple Daily, crítica con Pekín, y que se vio obligada a cerrar después de que su editor jefe y otros cuatro directivos fuesen arrestados por “confabular con fuerzas extranjeras”.

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“Tras el cierre de Apple Daily y Stand News, Citizen News es el tercer medio independiente hongkonés que cae víctima de la intimidación y la campaña de acoso de la Policía, liderada por la jefa ejecutiva de Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, y cuyo objetivo parece ser la supresión total de la libertad de prensa en el territorio”, apuntilla Cédric Alviani, director de la oficina para Asia Oriental de Reporteros Sin Fronteras. Según los datos compilados por esta organización no gubernamental con sede en París, la posición de Hong Kong en el índice de libertad de prensa ha caído estrepitosamente en los últimos años: si en 2002 se situaba en el puesto 18; en 2021 se desplomó hasta el 80.

El sindicato de prensa de la ciudad y el club de corresponsales extranjeros han expresado su profunda preocupación por la situación de la libertad de expresión en la ciudad desde el cierre de Apple Daily. Una encuesta, realizada el mes pasado por la Asociación de Periodistas de Hong Kong, reveló que casi la mitad de los profesionales del sector radicados en la región se estaba planteando o ya tenía planes de abandonar el enclave debido al empeoramiento de las condiciones de trabajo. También que más de la mitad de los periodistas se autocensuraba a la hora de cubrir ciertos temas que podrían ir en contra de Pekín.

Hong Kong regresó a la soberanía china en 1997 bajo la promesa de que se protegerían una amplia gama de derechos, como la libertad de prensa, la democracia y sus tribunales independientes, al menos, hasta 2047. Este nuevo cierre de un medio de comunicación que no promueve el discurso oficialista de la parte continental pone más sal sobre la llaga que se abrió tras las protestas prodemocracia de 2019. Entonces, y durante meses, las manifestaciones tomaron las calles de la ciudad. Pekín respondió un año más tarde con la aprobación de la draconiana Ley de Seguridad Nacional, que contempla penas de hasta cadena perpetua para crímenes como la secesión, la subversión, el terrorismo o la confabulación con fuerzas extranjeras.

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