關於 economic crime bill ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

【LIVE🔴多國元首峰會發表演說】

「哥本哈根民主高峰會」就「從香港戰場為民主奮鬥（Fighting for Democracy – From the Battlegrounds of Hong Kong）」發表演說，有幸成為峰會首位發言嘉賓。

部份出席峰會政界領袖：

美國國務卿蓬佩奧
US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo

台灣總統蔡英文
President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Dr. Tsai Ing-wen

歐盟委員會副主席堯羅娃
European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova

北大西洋公約組織副秘書長傑瓦納
NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana

前美國國務卿凱瑞
68th US Secretary of State (2013-2017) John Kerry

前美國國務卿歐布萊特
64th US Secretary of State (1997-2001) Madeleine Albright

前澳洲總理滕博爾
29th Australian Prime Minister (2015-2018) Malcolm Turnbull

—————————

2020 Copenhagen Democracy Summit
Fighting for Democracy – From the Battlegrounds of Hong Kong
Joshua Wong
18 June 2020

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak, Ryan. I say this knowing I might not have the chance to do so again in the future, and this is not an exaggeration. Many of you still recall the scene when millions of Hong Kongers took to the street last year. We opposed the extradition arrangements that would’ve essentially allowed legalized kidnapping: Hong Kongers found guilty of breaking Chinese law could be sent to stand trial in a Chinese court. The authorities eventually withdrew the bill under tremendous pressure, but they also responded our demand to full democracy with oppressive policing forces. The number of arrested protested since last summer is already more than the number of prisoners in Hong Kong right now. More than thousands were arrested and charged with rioting. Many more injured or even went missing.

New Crackdown

This prolonged struggle with the Chinese Communist Party for years now. The Umbrella Movement broke out in 2014 demanding that Beijing lived up to its promises of democracy. But rather than doing so in honour of the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, Xi Jinping’s crackdown on our autonomy has only intensified over time.

What Xi Jinping learnt from Hong Kong’s democratic movement last year is to become more draconic and oppressive. It would be best to have me sent across the border to stand trial directly than to engage in dynamic diplomatic talks and negotiation. Therefore, precisely one year afterwards, when I am attending this summit, Beijing's legislature, the NPCSC, at the same time holds meetings, finalizing a sweeping national security law that targets democratic activists like myself.

Under the pretext of ‘national security’, this law purports to target acts of “collusion with foreign forces’’. Beijing did not define what is ‘’collusion’’, but it will wield massive discretionary power to punish activists and electoral candidates on the one hand, and cut off Hong Kong from the international society and their crucial support, on the other. Take this occasion as an example, I’m convinced that every word comes from my mouth today could well become proof of crime at the Chinese courtroom in the near future. Worse still, not only can democratic activists and legislators who have participated in international advocacy efforts be barred from running elections or even imprisoned, INGOs and other organizations, including their personnel and assets, can also be subject to legal persecution.

So the developments in Hong Kong have changed quite swiftly. Large-scale protests defying the communist government may no longer be an option. It could be my last testimony when I am still free, yet prosecuted and put behind bars under the sweeping security law. Our long march to democracy will be forced into a prolonged period of fierce crackdown, perhaps similar to what Poland experienced in the Communist era, with secret police agency stationed in the city.

The Wounds of Hong Kong are Proof of Defying Beijing’s Oppression

These scenarios may create a stark contrast with the impression we usually have to a cosmopolitan Hong Kong famous for its international financial centre. The economic freedom, free flow of capital and freedom to information we used to enjoy in Hong Kong, will fade away after the law imposed. It is also the Sword of Damocles over all investors and ex-pats living and working on this island. When geopolitical tension intensifies, ex-pats can fall victim to the ill-defined law and China's hostage diplomacy. In the past, two Canadian nationals were detained for nearly two years as retaliation to Huawei's executive Meng Wanzhou's arrest, let alone Swedish NGO worker Peter Dahlin, Australian writer Yang Hengjun and Taiwanese NGO activist Lee Ming-che. Foreign journalists, human rights workers and academics were barred from Hong Kong. When China makes national security its priority, no one is safe.

Citizen journalists, booksellers, NGO workers, religious groups, online bloggers, booksellers, writers, human rights defenders or even critics of government policies are put behind bars. Amnesty International also raised concerns about its spill-out effects on economic activities and online speech. Once the law reaches out its claw to this beacon of liberty on China's soul, this vibrant civil society is on the brink of collapse.

Certainly, I would devote whatever efforts I can to defy this new round of oppression. But Beijing’s continued moves to crush democracy in Xinjiang and in Hong Kong also explain the Goliath we are facing is not as fierce as it looks like. In the past two decades, Beijing’s aggressive expansion in Europe, Asia and Africa has given a warning signal to democratic states all over the world. The world is awakening from the Chinese Nightmare. If we are determined to safeguard democratic aspirations, we must act to defy China's dictatoral grip.

Towards Democracy: Pain, Tears and Compassion.

In Hong Kong, we had experienced many depressing moments last year when state-mobilized mobs attacked passengers in the metro station, when police forcefully entered the university campus to arrest and to torture protestors, when witnessing countless students younger than me were put behind bars. What drives us to continue our struggle? My answer is compassion.

As my dear friend, Brian Leung said, ‘’Hong Kong Belongs to Everyone Who Shares Its Pain’’. In the previous year, we burst into tears mourning the death of protestors, we shared boxes of surgical masks to one another to defend ourselves from the Coronavirus. I also pray for protesters who are forced to leave our home because of their sacrifice in the movement. I pray for brothers who are struggled in jail now and I pray for those who will become political refugees soon. They are the reasons I’m still fighting in this battle. As we grow in pain, in tears and in compassion, I believe we shall succeed one day.

Thank you.

【LIVE🔴多國元首峰會發表演說】

「哥本哈根民主高峰會」就「從香港戰場為民主奮鬥（Fighting for Democracy – From the Battlegrounds of Hong Kong）」發表演說，有幸成為峰會首位發言嘉賓。

部份出席峰會政界領袖：

美國國務卿蓬佩奧
US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo

台灣總統蔡英文
President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Dr. Tsai Ing-wen

歐盟委員會副主席堯羅娃
European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova

北大西洋公約組織副秘書長傑瓦納
NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana

前美國國務卿凱瑞
68th US Secretary of State (2013-2017) John Kerry

前美國國務卿歐布萊特
64th US Secretary of State (1997-2001) Madeleine Albright

前澳洲總理滕博爾
29th Australian Prime Minister (2015-2018) Malcolm Turnbull

—————————

2020 Copenhagen Democracy Summit
Fighting for Democracy – From the Battlegrounds of Hong Kong
Joshua Wong
18 June 2020

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak, Ryan. I say this knowing I might not have the chance to do so again in the future, and this is not an exaggeration. Many of you still recall the scene when millions of Hong Kongers took to the street last year. We opposed the extradition arrangements that would’ve essentially allowed legalized kidnapping: Hong Kongers found guilty of breaking Chinese law could be sent to stand trial in a Chinese court. The authorities eventually withdrew the bill under tremendous pressure, but they also responded our demand to full democracy with oppressive policing forces. The number of arrested protested since last summer is already more than the number of prisoners in Hong Kong right now. More than thousands were arrested and charged with rioting. Many more injured or even went missing.

New Crackdown

This prolonged struggle with the Chinese Communist Party for years now. The Umbrella Movement broke out in 2014 demanding that Beijing lived up to its promises of democracy. But rather than doing so in honour of the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, Xi Jinping’s crackdown on our autonomy has only intensified over time.

What Xi Jinping learnt from Hong Kong’s democratic movement last year is to become more draconic and oppressive. It would be best to have me sent across the border to stand trial directly than to engage in dynamic diplomatic talks and negotiation. Therefore, precisely one year afterwards, when I am attending this summit, Beijing's legislature, the NPCSC, at the same time holds meetings, finalizing a sweeping national security law that targets democratic activists like myself.

Under the pretext of ‘national security’, this law purports to target acts of “collusion with foreign forces’’. Beijing did not define what is ‘’collusion’’, but it will wield massive discretionary power to punish activists and electoral candidates on the one hand, and cut off Hong Kong from the international society and their crucial support, on the other. Take this occasion as an example, I’m convinced that every word comes from my mouth today could well become proof of crime at the Chinese courtroom in the near future. Worse still, not only can democratic activists and legislators who have participated in international advocacy efforts be barred from running elections or even imprisoned, INGOs and other organizations, including their personnel and assets, can also be subject to legal persecution.

So the developments in Hong Kong have changed quite swiftly. Large-scale protests defying the communist government may no longer be an option. It could be my last testimony when I am still free, yet prosecuted and put behind bars under the sweeping security law. Our long march to democracy will be forced into a prolonged period of fierce crackdown, perhaps similar to what Poland experienced in the Communist era, with secret police agency stationed in the city.

The Wounds of Hong Kong are Proof of Defying Beijing’s Oppression

These scenarios may create a stark contrast with the impression we usually have to a cosmopolitan Hong Kong famous for its international financial centre. The economic freedom, free flow of capital and freedom to information we used to enjoy in Hong Kong, will fade away after the law imposed. It is also the Sword of Damocles over all investors and ex-pats living and working on this island. When geopolitical tension intensifies, ex-pats can fall victim to the ill-defined law and China's hostage diplomacy. In the past, two Canadian nationals were detained for nearly two years as retaliation to Huawei's executive Meng Wanzhou's arrest, let alone Swedish NGO worker Peter Dahlin, Australian writer Yang Hengjun and Taiwanese NGO activist Lee Ming-che. Foreign journalists, human rights workers and academics were barred from Hong Kong. When China makes national security its priority, no one is safe.

Citizen journalists, booksellers, NGO workers, religious groups, online bloggers, booksellers, writers, human rights defenders or even critics of government policies are put behind bars. Amnesty International also raised concerns about its spill-out effects on economic activities and online speech. Once the law reaches out its claw to this beacon of liberty on China's soul, this vibrant civil society is on the brink of collapse.

Certainly, I would devote whatever efforts I can to defy this new round of oppression. But Beijing’s continued moves to crush democracy in Xinjiang and in Hong Kong also explain the Goliath we are facing is not as fierce as it looks like. In the past two decades, Beijing’s aggressive expansion in Europe, Asia and Africa has given a warning signal to democratic states all over the world. The world is awakening from the Chinese Nightmare. If we are determined to safeguard democratic aspirations, we must act to defy China's dictatoral grip.

Towards Democracy: Pain, Tears and Compassion.

In Hong Kong, we had experienced many depressing moments last year when state-mobilized mobs attacked passengers in the metro station, when police forcefully entered the university campus to arrest and to torture protestors, when witnessing countless students younger than me were put behind bars. What drives us to continue our struggle? My answer is compassion.

As my dear friend, Brian Leung said, ‘’Hong Kong Belongs to Everyone Who Shares Its Pain’’. In the previous year, we burst into tears mourning the death of protestors, we shared boxes of surgical masks to one another to defend ourselves from the Coronavirus. I also pray for protesters who are forced to leave our home because of their sacrifice in the movement. I pray for brothers who are struggled in jail now and I pray for those who will become political refugees soon. They are the reasons I’m still fighting in this battle. As we grow in pain, in tears and in compassion, I believe we shall succeed one day.

Thank you.

//A Cantopop star publicly supported Hong Kong protesters. So Beijing disappeared his music.

By AUGUST BROWN

The 2 million pro-democracy protesters who have flooded the streets of Hong Kong over the last few months have been tear-gassed, beaten by police and arrested arbitrarily. But many of the territory’s most famous cultural figures have yet to speak up for them. Several prominent musicians, actors and celebrities have even sided with the cops and the government in Beijing.

The protesters are demanding rights to fair elections and judicial reform in the semiautonomous territory. Yet action film star Jackie Chan, Hong Kong-born K-pop star Jackson Wang of the group GOT7 and Cantopop singers Alan Tam and Kenny Bee have supported the police crackdown, calling themselves “flag protectors.” Other Hong Kong cultural figures have stayed silent, fearing for their careers.

The few artists who have spoken out have seen their economic and performing prospects in mainland China annihilated overnight. Their songs have vanished from streaming services, their concert tours canceled. But a few musicians have recently traveled to America to support the protesters against long odds and reprisals from China.

“Pop musicians want to be quiet about controversy, and on this one they’re particularly quiet,” said Anthony Wong Yiu-ming, 57, the singer and cofounder of the pioneering Hong Kong pop group Tat Ming Pair.

Wong is a popular, progressive Cantopop artist — a Hong Kong Bryan Ferry or David Bowie, with lyrics sung in the territory’s distinct dialect. But he, along with such singer-actors as Denise Ho and Deanie Ip, have made democratic reforms the new cause of their careers, even at the expense of their musical futures in China. Wong’s on tour in the U.S. and will perform a solo show in L.A. on Tuesday.

“It’s rebelling against the establishment, and [most artists] just don’t want to,” Wong said. “Of course, I’m very disappointed, but I never expected different from some people. Freedom of speech and civil liberties in Hong Kong are not controversial. It’s basic human rights. But most artists and actors and singers, they don’t stand with Hong Kongers.”

Hong Kong protesters
Hundreds of people form a human chain at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong on Sept. 13.(Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times)
The protests are an echo — and escalation — of the Occupy Central movement five years ago that turned into a broad pro-democracy effort known as the Umbrella Movement. Those protests, led by teenage activist Joshua Wong (no relation), rebelled against a new policy of Beijing pre-screening candidates for political office in Hong Kong to ensure party loyalty.

Protesters were unsuccessful in stopping those policies, but the movement galvanized a generation of activists.

These latest demonstrations were in response to a proposed policy of extraditing suspected criminals from Hong Kong to mainland China, which activists feared would undermine their territory’s legal independence and put its residents at risk. The protests now encompass a range of reforms — the withdrawal of the extradition bill, secured voting rights, police reform, amnesty for protesters and a public apology for how Beijing and police have portrayed the demonstrations.

Wong, already respected as an activist for LGBT causes in Hong Kong, is one of vanishingly few musicians to have put their futures on the line to push for those goals.

Wong’s group Tat Ming Pair was one of the most progressive Cantonese acts of the ’80s and ’90s (imagine a politically radical Chinese Depeche Mode). When Wong spoke out in favor of the Umbrella Movement at the time, he gained credibility as an activist but paid the price as an artist: His touring and recording career evaporated on the mainland.

The Chinese government often pressures popular services like Tencent (the country’s leading music-streaming service, with 800 million monthly users) to remove artists who criticize the government. Artists can find longstanding relationships with live promoters on ice and lucrative endorsement deals drying up.

“This government will do things to take revenge on you,” Wong said. “If you’re not obedient, you’ll be punished. Since the Umbrella Movement, I’ve been put on a blacklist in China. I anticipated that would happen, but what I did not expect was even local opportunities decreased as well. Most companies have some ties with mainland China, and they didn’t want to make their China partners unhappy, so they might as well stop working with us.”

Censorship is both overt and subtly preemptive, said Victoria Tin-bor Hui, a professor and Hong Kong native who teaches Chinese politics and history at the University of Notre Dame.

“Every time artists or stars say anything even remotely sympathetic to protesters or critical of the government, they get in trouble,” Hui said. “You can literally have your career ruined. Denise Ho, after she joined the Umbrella Movement, everything she had listed online or on shelves was taken off. Companies [including the cosmetics firm Lancôme] told her they would have nothing more to do with her, and she started doing everything on her own.”

So Wong and other artists like Ho have been pushing back where they can.

Wong’s recent single, “Is It a Crime,” questions Beijing crackdowns on all memorials of the Tiananmen Square massacre, especially in Hong Kong, where there was a robust culture of activism and memorials around that tragedy. The single, which feels akin to Pink Floyd’s expansive, ominous electronic rock, has been blacklisted on mainland streaming services and stores.

Wong plans to speak out to commemorate the anniversary of the Umbrella Movement on this tour as well.

“The government is very afraid of art and culture,” Wong said. “If people sing about liberty and freedom of speech, the government is afraid. When I sing about the anniversary of Tiananmen, is it a crime to remember what happened? To express views? I think the Chinese government wants to suppress this side of art and freedom.”

The fallout from his support of the protests has forced him to work with new, more underground promoters and venues. The change may have some silver linings, as bookers are placing his heavy synth-rock in more rebellious club settings than the Chinese casinos he’d often play stateside. (In L.A., he’s playing 1720, a downtown venue that more often hosts underground punk bands.)

“We lost the second biggest market in the world, but because of what we are fighting for, in a way, we gained some new fans. We met new promoters who are interested in promoting us in newer markets. It’s opened new options for people who don’t want to follow” the government’s hard-line approach, Wong said.

Hui agreed that while loyalty from pro-democracy protesters can’t make up for the lost income of the China market, artists should know that Hong Kongers will remember whose side they were on during this moment and turn out or push back accordingly.

“You make less money, but Hong Kong pro-democracy people say, ‘These are our own singers, we have to save them,’” Hui said. “They support their own artists and democracy as part of larger effort to blacklist companies that sell out Hong Kong.”

Ho testified before Congress last week to support Hong Kong’s protesters. “This is not a plea for so-called foreign interference. This is a plea for democracy,” Ho said in her speech. A new bill to ban U.S. exports of crowd-control technology to Hong Kong police has bipartisan support.

No Hong Kong artists are under any illusions that the fight to maintain democracy will be easy. Even the most outspoken protesters know the long odds against a Chinese government with infinite patience for stifling dissent. That’s why support from cultural figures and musicians can be even more meaningful now, Hui said.

“Artists, if they say anything, that cheers people on,” Hui said. “Psychologists say Hong Kong suffers from territory-wide depression. Even minor symbolic gestures from artists really lift people’s morale.”

Pro-democracy artists, like protesters, are more anxious than ever. They’ve never been more invested in these uprisings, but they also fear the worst from the mainland Chinese government. “If you asked me six months ago, I was not very hopeful,” Wong said. “But after what’s happened, even though the oppression is bigger, we are stronger and more determined than before.”

Anthony Wong Yiu-ming

Where: 1720, 1720 E. 16th St.
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Tickets: $55-$150
Info: 1720.la //