The Pulse：Vatican & China and Putonghua in HK Baptist U
The People’s Republic of China is a self-declared atheist state. During the Cultural Revolution, religious figures and symbols were condemned, vandalised and destroyed. Organised religion has been viewed as a threat to state power. Recently, Christian churches have been destroyed and crosses taken down, and at the recent Party congress, religion was once again declared an enemy of Communism. Yet the Vatican and China seem to be coming to a rapprochement, but at what cost? On Friday, Cardinal Zen, the most senior and outspoken opponent of this rapprochement, spoke to a number of reporters.
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin who said: “Education is a weapon whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.” Is this relevant to the situation in Hong Kong? Well many people believe that since the Handover, the government has been on a mission to use the local education system to inculcate so-called patriotic and motherland-loving views. Language has become one of the battlegrounds. Last month, a group of around 30 Hong Kong students entered the Baptist University’s Language Centre and embarked on a standoff that lasted eight hours. They were protesting about the university’s requirement that students have to either pass a newly-introduced Putonghua exemption test or take a Putonghua course to graduate. 70% of those who sat the recent tests have failed. Students say the test went beyond “basic communication skills” and wasn’t what the school promised when discussion started two years ago. As a result of the protest, two students were suspended and charged with “behavioural misconduct”. The suspension was lifted after the students made “sincere personal apologies”, although disciplinary proceedings are going ahead.
On Tuesday night, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Hualien in Taiwan. The city is not only home to about 100,000 people but is also a popular tourist hub. As of our recording time, the official death toll stood at ten, with at least 67 people still missing. We’ll leave you with images of the rescue operation. See you next week.
16-5-2014 The Pulse
Factories owned by ethnic Chinese have become the targets of protest in one of the largest anti-China protests seen in Vietnam in a long time. Rioters, many on motorcycles, have circled factories and started mass attacks, destroying or setting fire to at least 15 foreign-owned establishments. The protest started at industrial parks in the southern province of Binh Duong on Tuesday. They disruption soon spread to Ha Tinh and Dong Nai provinces. The protests erupted in response to Beijing placing an oil rig in the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. The islands' sovereignty is contested by the People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
With us in the studio are Vietnam specialist Jonathan London of the City University of Hong Kong and legislator Felix Chung Kwok-pan, who represents the Textiles and Garment Functional Constituency.
In 2006, International Social Service -- Hong Kong (ISS-HK), a sole bidder, was awarded a government contract to provide welfare service provisions to refugees in the SAR. Last year, the refugee rights group Vision First exposed to the public what it described as the appalling living conditions of many refugees who have come here. The organisation claims that ISS-Hong Kong is failing failed to meet its contractual obligations with the Social Welfare Department. Many refugees are currently holding their own Occupy Central protest.
The Pulse：Extradition massive protests & discussion with Margaret Ng
There has been, as everyone must now know, an unprecedented level of criticism aimed at the government’s proposed extradition law amendments. Most unusually it is coming from local and international business organisations, foreign governments, plus legal experts, human rights organisations and people from all walks of life.
Last Sunday, Hong Kong witnessed its biggest ever street protest. And it’s not just Hong Kong that’s wary of the mainland’s judicial system. On Tuesday, a New Zealand court blocked a Korean-born murder suspect’s extradition to China, saying that his human rights could not be guaranteed in the Chinese legal system. China’s foreign ministry has been busy denouncing foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs. State newspapers blame external forces for stoking the fires of opposition. Commenting on the protests on Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam characterised protestors as unruly children who should not be allowed to have their way.
With us to talk about the issue is barrister and former legislator Margaret Ng.
The Pulse：Interview with Kurt Tong, U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau
For months, the United States and China have been at loggerheads over issues of trade and technology transfer, highlighted by the controversy over the telecoms company Huawei. Now it looks as though the two countries could be about to announce a trade deal but neither side will officially confirm this. A Chinese delegation will arrive in Washington on Wednesday to ramp up the negotiations. Meanwhile, recent political events in Hong Kong, give rise to concern over whether the United States will still treat Hong Kong as an entity distinct from China under as specified in the Hong Kong Policy Act. On March 21st, the U.S. Department of State released its report on developments in Hong Kong since May last year. One of its key statements is that, “Hong Kong maintains a sufficient – although diminished – degree of autonomy under “One Country, Two Systems”. But the mood is changing and to gauge how far this is so we went to talk to Kurt Tong, the U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the proposed Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. Again, the difference in turnout estimates by the organiser and the police was huge: 130,000 and 22,800 respectively. There is however common agreement that this was the largest demonstration since the end of the Umbrella Movement three years ago.
1/10/2010 The Pulse : China and Hong Kong Overfishing
There's an ongoing campaign to reduce the consumption of shark fin. Vivian Lam and Yvonne Sadovy, of the University of Hong Kong, have used historical information and interviews with modern fishermen to produce the first historical account of the region's shark catch, released just last week.Although there are 109 species of shark historically present in the South China Sea, surveys of today's markets found just 18 species. Of those animals that were found, 65% were below the size of sexual maturity. All those interviewed in the study highlighted a drastic decline in shark abundance and diversity, as well as of other fish species. They also said they had to travel further and fish harder to obtain the same amount of fish esh. Basking sharks and larger requiem sharks may even have been made locally extinct.
The Pulse：Interview with Henry Tang & teaching Chinese history in schools
The attempt to bring Hong Kong into line continues. Last week, as we reported, pupils from fifty schools received their dose of national education by being required to sit through a lecture on the HKSAR’s mini constitution delivered by the chairman of the Basic Law Committee Li Fei. On Thursday, it was the turn of government officials and senior civil servants, when Leng Rong, the director of the Communist Party Literature Research Centre, conducted a closed-door seminar on the 19th Party Congress. Earlier this week, I went to talk to Henry Tang, former Chief Secretary, Chief Executive candidate and Standing Committee Member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference about his views on the political climate, and his new role as Chairman of the West Kowloon Cultural District.
At the beginning of August, the Mainland’s Education Minister Chen Baosheng told Chief Executive Carrie Lam in Beijing that “President Xi Jinping expects Hong Kong to strengthen education on the Chinese constitution, the Basic Law and Chinese history and culture.” It’s a fair bet that she paid close attention to these words. But the teaching of history is something of a political minefield. There are already signs of this in the revised Chinese history course devised by Hong Kong’s Education Bureau. It is notable for its omission of a number of more recent events that are problematic in today’s political environment.
On Thursday, Bangladesh signed a deal with Myanmar to return hundreds and thousands of Rohingya Muslims back to Myanmar within two months. Since the crackdown in August, more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh. However, conditions of the return remain unclear. We’ll leave you with images of what’s been happening there and will see you next week. Goodbye.
13-6-2014 The Pulse
On Tuesday the Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued a white paper on the practice of the one country, two systems policy in Hong Kong. Was it a shot across the bows for upcoming events? With us in studio to discuss this are Benny Tai of Occupy Central, Joseph Cheng of the Alliance for True Democracy, and Ho Lok-sang of the Silent Majority for Hong Kong.
Many international news organisations reported this week that News that Hong Kong's government has objected to plans to allow same-sex couples to wed at the British consulate here. Gay rights activists are angry that even in countries nominally more conservative than Hong Kong, consulates are allowed to marry same sex couples, even in mainland China, and are asking why there should be a problem here.
This week, three protest group leaders were arrested after taking part in protests inside the Legislative Council complex. The arrests happened just a day before the Finance Committee's fifth meeting to discuss funding for preparatory works for the northeast new town development area. At the previous meeting on Friday 6th, protesters opposing the plan broke into the foyer and staged a sit- in on the ground floor.
The Pulse：Homelessness in Hong Kong: squatter homes got bulldozed in Kwu Tung, problems street sleep
The past few days have been unseasonably cold, rainy and unpleasant. That’s a small inconvenience to those of us with roofs over our heads, but spare a thought for Hong Kong’s homeless. We’re not known as a city brimming over with compassion for people in this situation, but that’s the main topic of our programme tonight.
In part two, we look at Hong Kong’s street sleepers who are not only finding that facilities for them are worse than they were ten years ago, but many of them are now being hounded from places where they used to find shelter. Meanwhile, villagers in Kwu Tung have been battling developers, but at least – so they thought - they had a roof over their heads. That was the case until some of their homes were demolished in a scene more reminiscent of land grabs in mainland China.
The first step in helping the homeless is recognising the extent of the problem. It might or perhaps might not come as a surprise to discover that the Hong Kong government and civil society organisations don’t even agree on the number of homeless people. In recent years places where they had been sleeping, such as under flyovers or on park benches, have been modified to make it impossible or uncomfortable to do so. Homelessness seems to be a problem that Hong Kong does not really want to confront, but just wishes it will go away …. to somewhere where the presence of such an “unseemly” bunch of individuals would not affect far more important things, such as property prices, or rents.
HK Pulse – Wine & Dine Festival Highlights
See highlights of the Hong Kong Pulse 3D light show held during the CCB (Asia) Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival. This exhilarating audiovisual show is held in conjunction with major Hong Kong happenings, such as the wine and dine festival, Hong Kong WinterFest and the Chinese New Year Celebrations, with content tailor-made for each event. Head to the the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Clock Tower at Tsim Sha Tsui to check it out. Details here:
The Pulse：Interview with lawyer & human rights advocate Sharon Hom & Doxxing
The almost five months of protests have deepened the political divide across Hong Kong. One solution the government seems to think will solve the current crisis is applying for interim court injunctions. Last Friday, the government filed one to stop people from doxxing police officers and their families. And on Thursday night, the court held an urgent meeting when the government filed another to stop people willfully publishing online or via messaging apps any material that promotes, encourages or incites the threat of violence. The government specifically named two popular platforms: LIHKG and Telegram. Joining me now to talk about these issues is Sharon Hom, Executive Director of Human Rights in China and Professor of Law Emerita of the City University of New York. She testified as a witness on 17th September at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in Washington DC, where a hearing was held to examine the impact of the ongoing protests on Hong Kong and the future of U.S.-Hong Kong relations.
The current anti-mask law does not apply to police officers. In the ongoing protests, officers not only wear full protective gear, many mask their faces and don’t display numbers or warrant cards that would identify who they are. The force acknowledges that the rift between the police and many members of the public is worsening, with officers and their family members having their personal details exposed by doxxing and being subjected to malicious attacks on the internet.
They say they want more protection. But journalists and protesters are facing identical online threats.
The Pulse Special：Proposed amendment of extradition laws: discussion with Philip Dykes, HK Bar Assoc
Chief Executive Carrie Lam has, several times, lamented that many Hong Kong people still do not understand the “new constitutional order” or do not accept the way it operates under One Country, Two Systems. Last month, China’s Chief Justice Zhou Qiang warned the country’s judges not to fall into the “trap” of Western ideologies such as constitutional democracy and separation of powers, and encouraged them to denounce the idea of an independent judiciary. A recent report by the World Justice Project ranks the fairness of the PRC’s judicial system 75th out of 113 countries. Hong Kong was in 16th place. But suggested amendments to Hong Kong’s extradition laws may have the effect of sending the SAR down in the rankings. With us to discussion that issue is Philip Dykes, Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association.
The Law Reform Commission says, in its recent consultation paper on archives law, that well-managed archives and records are central to good governance.
Anyone who has tried to get access to many of those records, particularly on politically contentious subjects, will have found that the Hong Kong government appears to take another view. Researchers, scholars, activists, journalists, not forgetting ordinary members of the public will know how difficult it can be to access information from Hong Kong government records. Government records and archives management is the responsibility of the Government Records Service. However, there is no archive law and no penalties for malpractice in disposing of government documents. Between 2013 to 2016, a total of more than 360 million records were approved for destruction. A consultation on a potential archives law is underway, ending on March 5th, but not everyone’s convinced the government wants a law with teeth.
The Pulse：Banning of HK National Party, discussion with Johnson Yeung of HK Civil Hub, interview wit
There were many major political battles between the British and Chinese governments before the Handover. The last governor Chris Patten wanted to implement a more fairly representative electoral system and new human rights-related laws to bring the territory in line with the United Nations’ human rights standards. That included making major amendments to the Societies Ordinance and the Public Order Ordinance in July 1992 and July 1995 to ensure civil liberties. However, many of the then government’s initiatives failed to survive the transition. They were reversed by the Provisional Legislative Council selected by the People’s Republic of China in 1997. That’s proved useful for the current government. On Monday, for the first time since the Handover, the Secretary for Security John Lee used the Societies Ordinance to issue an immediate ban on a local political group.
Friday marks the four-year anniversary of the street protests that initiated the Umbrella Movement. With me in the studio is Johnson Yeung, Executive Council member of the newly formed civil society group, Hong Kong Civil Hub to talk about civil movement in Hong Kong.
On the 20th August, the so-called Troika of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund released Greece from the terms under which it had lent the country bailout funds of €289 billion. Theoretically that meant the end of eight years of depression and externally imposed austerity. Greece’s prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said the country is “once again becoming a normal country, regaining its political and financial independence.” But there’s still a long way to go, and the Greek people are still paying the political and economic cost of the global financial crisis that began with the collapse of Lehman Brothers a decade ago. George Papandreou comes from a long political dynasty. His father and grandfathers both served as the country’s prime ministers. Shortly after the financial crisis, he took on the thorny task of being the country’s 182nd Prime Minister. To a country that already had a high unemployment rate, Papandreou introduced austerity measures that caused massive nationwide strikes and protests. In November 2011, he stepped down as prime minister. But he has been angling for a comeback, and set up a new party, Movement of Democratic Socialists. He was in Hong Kong two weeks ago, and I caught up with him.
Charles Kao, scientist, educator and electrical engineer died last Sunday at 84. Known as the “Father of fibre-optic communications”, in the 1960s he played a critical role developing the optical fibres on which the internet and much modern communication is built. In 2009, Kao was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in Physics. He was a much respected vice chancellor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for nine years from 1987. In 2002, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a diagnosis that led to him and his wife Gwen Kao setting up a foundation to raise public awareness about the disease.
NBA's relationship with China frayed over Hong Kong protests
NBA commissioner Adam Silver says China asked the league to fire Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, following Morey's tweet supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. The situation has escalated after comments from high-profile players and coaches, including LeBron James. New York Times reporter Sopan Deb joined CBSN to discuss the latest on the NBA's rift with China.
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Crossing an Ocean: The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge | The B1M
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Opening night of HK Pulse 3D Light Show
Hong Kong Pulse is a spectacular 3D light show with exciting audiovisual effects. This exhilarating experience, which takes place at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Clock Tower at Tsim Sha Tsui, coincides with the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, Hong Kong WinterFest and Chinese New Year celebrations. The content of the show changes according to the themes of these events.
The Pulse：HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge's artificial island controversy (with Albert Lai & Raymond Chan)
Taxpayers are paying something like HK$200 billion for Hong Kong’s contribution to two controversial infrastructure projects, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge and the Express Rail Link. Concerns have been raised about both projects and the degree to which Hong Kong has relinquished control over aspects of their construction and operation. On Tuesday last week, the last carriage of an Express Rail train was derailed during testing. Two days later, news media revealed aerial images of an artificial island that’s included in the bridge project. This appeared to show that part of it was drifting away. With me in the studio are Albert Lai of the Professional Commons & Raymond Chan, former Head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office.
Talking of things that are complicated brings us to the grilling given to Facebook founder and chairman Mark Zuckerberg by US legislators this week. Top of their agenda were questions over Facebook’s collaboration with Cambridge Analytica which harvested the data of an estimated 87 million Facebook users and used the results for political campaigns. Some people thought that Zuckerberg dodged tough questions others were struck by the level of ignorance among lawmakers about how the internet works. Zuckerberg was asked at one point whether he was willing to reveal which hotel he was staying at while in Washington DC. He was not. The point being that information of this kind can easily be obtained from unwary Facebook users. Meanwhile we’ll see you next week, possibly by means of Facebook - hum.
15/4/2011 The Pulse : Hong Kong People's Resentment of Mainlanders
The Budget, to no-one's great surprise has passed, along with the $6,000 handout to Hong Kong residents. That;'s caused a little controversy, as some don't feel recent arrivals from the mainland should be eligible. It's just one part of an ongoing resentment of mainlanders for straining local resources, felt by some in Hong Kong.
The Pulse：Interview with Carmen Cano, Head of the European Union Office to HK & Macau on Brexit & Oc
There’s been a flurry of activity between the European Union and China recently with a major summit seeking to reset relations and some marked divisions emerging in Europe as to how China’s emerging strength should be addressed. Meanwhile the EU has also been looking at events in Hong Kong and expressing misgivings over a direction of travel which includes the introduction of an extradition law that potentially threatens the security of overseas companies and their personnel doing business in the HKSAR. And then there’s the elephant in the room - Brexit casting its ever confusing shadow over the future of the EU. With us in the studio is the Head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macau, Carmen Cano.
At 1.45 am on the 27th of September 2014, Benny Tai announced that Occupy Central had begun, building on a two-day protest during which students had occupied the streets outside the government headquarters in Tamar. The sit-in ended up lasting 79 days and spread to other areas. It was an act of civil disobedience, involving hundreds of thousands of people demanding political reforms and the universal suffrage Hong Kong had been promised in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. Scholars, students, legislators and other members of the public have since been arrested and prosecuted for their involvement in the movement. Nearly five years later, on Tuesday this week, nine leaders of the movement were found guilty of a number of public nuisance charges. Hong Kong’s last governor Chris Patten says he found it “appallingly divisive to use anachronistic common law charges in a vengeful pursuit of political events”. The central government has supported the court’s ruling and the move “to punish, according to law, the main plotters of the illegal Occupy”.
The Pulse：National funding available for HK hi-tech industries: interview with Nicolas Yang, Sec. fo
Hello and welcome to The Pulse. The science and technology gap between the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China, is narrowing.
Recent studies show that China is catching up to the U.S. in developing artificial intelligence or AI, big data, intellectual property, computing, and in space and military technologies. Last year, China’s total spending on research and development is estimated to have hit 1.76 trillion yuan, around 2.1% of its gross domestic product. The aim is to make the country a major power in technological innovation, by 2050. And – apparently - Hong Kong’s hi-tech industries have a part to play. Joining me now is Nicolas Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology to talk more about it.
Journalists working in mainland China encounter all sorts of challenges. In the past week alone, reporters from two local media organisations were roughed up in Sichuan and Beijing. Chief Executive Carrie Lam says she feels sorry that such an incident happened to media workers but then qualified that by adding “each village has its own rules, whether it is reporters or government officials, we all need to abide by local laws”. Nice to know your leaders have your back. Goodbye.
9/12/2011 The Pulse : Mainland Meddling in HK Politics
In 1989, Jiang Zemin famously quoted a proverb, The well water does not interfere with the river water, to explain that Chinese government should not be interfering in Hong Kong politics and vice versa.
As evidence of vote rigging in the recent district council elections grows to ever more alarming proportions, Next Magazine has revealed something of a smoking gun, minutes from a meeting of the Hong Kong CPPCC Provincial Members association asking its members to influence the elections in any way they could.
So how's that separation of well water and river water going?
With us in the studio are Willy Lam, Chip Tsao, and Hugo Restall.