Protest in Hong Kong

[Thanas]

This video is not available in your location. That being said, 318 policemen in the city of Berlin got hauled before disciplinary boards alone, so you can stuff the "Germany is worse because nothing is prosecuted" angle.

[fgalkin]

Try this, maybe?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Gandalf]

To follow up on Thanas' post about the HK protests and their effect on the rest of China:

(Reuters) - China has detained a prominent scholar who helped blind dissident Chen Guangcheng flee to the United States two years ago and has banned books by eight writers in an escalating crackdown on dissent.

Guo Yushan, a founder of the Transition Institute, a think-tank that researches business regulations, reform and civil society, was detained on Thursday, his wife, Pan Haixia, said.

More than 10 police officers took him away along with his laptop, wireless router, mobile phone and iPad, she said.

Guo was instrumental in helping Chen escape house arrest in his village in 2012. Chen traveled to Beijing where he sought refuge at the U.S. embassy, sparking a diplomatic row between China and the United States. Authorities shut down Guo's institute last year.

In a telephone interview, Pan said Guo's detention could be related to the detention of Shi Lin.

Activists describe Shi as an art editor at Peking University and say she was detained after she tried to put up posters on campus expressing support for pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. In a picture on her Twitter account, she can be seen wearing a face mask with a yellow ribbon on it. The ribbon is a symbol of the protests.

Guo was detained on a charge of "causing a disturbance", according to Pan and his lawyer, Li Jin. Police did not give Pan a reason for Guo's detention. Li said she had applied to meet him but had not heard whether she could.

"We just want to know the truth," Pan said. "We hope the police will investigate this thoroughly and release him quickly."

Police could not be reached for comment.

If charged and convicted, Guo could face up to five years in prison.

'SUSPICIOUS'

The government has convicted and detained several scholars in what activists say is a sustained campaign against dissent. A court in the western region of Xinjiang sentenced economics professor Ilham Tohti to life on separatism charges last month.

Legal scholar Xu Zhiyong was sentenced in January to four years in prison after he campaigned for government officials to disclose their wealth.

Rights groups say dozens of activists supporting the demonstrations in Hong Kong have been detained or intimidated by police.

Maya Wang of New York-based Human Rights Watch said the detentions signaled increasing intolerance of dissent.

"Even very moderate intellectuals who have kept a low profile ... are now being targeted for detentions," Wang said.

Separately, the State Administration for Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said on Friday it was banning books by at least eight renowned writers and intellectuals.

The publishing regulator circulated a notice to say that books by the writers, including prominent liberal economist Mao Yushi, were "not to published", according to the notice, obtained by Reuters.

"A national government organ is daring to risk universal condemnation, in open opposition to the constitution," Mao wrote on his microblog. "What is our government actually trying to do? It makes one suspicious."

The other writers whose books were banned include Zhang Qianfan, a constitutional law expert at Peking University and a critic of the Communist Party's grip on the judiciary. Zhang did not answer calls to his mobile phone.

Books by history scholar Yu Yingshi, Taiwan writer Giddens Ko, Hong Kong television personality Leung Man-tao and columnist Xu Zhiyuan were also banned, according to the regulator. It did not say why and did not respond to a faxed query by Reuters.

It also called for authorities to "strictly" control publication of religious books, especially on Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

The Global Times, a nationalist tabloid owned by the party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, said the ban was justified because some on the list had supported "Hong Kong's Occupy Central movement or 'Taiwan independence'," or they opposed China's political system.

"If one has positioned himself at odds to the country's mainstream political path, he shouldn't expect his influence to keep on rising without disruption," the newspaper said.

[Thanas]

Try this, maybe?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Lol, this video can't be taken seriously. Almost all of the things are from the sixties and seventies (you can tell by the gear used) and again, it has no bearing on the issue because
a) Still a massive tu quoque
b) It is not like there is nothing done about it.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

WAsn't there a pretty brutal suppression of protesters in the UK during some WTO conference that was so bad that it led to public outcry just a few years ago?

Never mind some of the protests in France have been pretty bad at some point.

[PainRack]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30204699

Two leading student activists are among scores of people arrested in Hong Kong in a crackdown on the two-month long pro-democracy street protests.

Authorities began demolishing one of the largest camps, in the Mong Kok commercial district, on Tuesday.

The operation began peacefully but scuffles broke out overnight and in the morning, during which Joshua Wong and Lester Shum were held for contempt.

Police say streets around Nathan Road are clear for the first time in weeks.

Some activists have said they will regroup elsewhere, vowing to continue their demands for a free choice of leader for Hong Kong's chief executive elections in 2017.

Other protest camps remain in the government district and the Causeway Bay shopping area.

line
Analysis: John Sudworth, BBC News, Shanghai

There have been attempts to clear Hong Kong's streets before, notably of course, right at the beginning of the protests. Video footage of the protesters defending themselves with umbrellas from the pepper spray became the defining image and only served to give the movement massive momentum.

Now though, the authorities are taking a more careful approach. Recent clearance efforts, including those over the past two days in the Mong Kok district, have been to enforce the court injunctions, won by businesses including the city's taxi drivers, angered over the effect on their businesses.

They also come at a time when the protesters are weary after two solid months of sit-ins, their numbers dwindling, and not long after the world spotlight has left China following the Apec Summit. Scenes of Hong Kong chaos might not have played well with the world leaders meeting in Beijing.

But with Mong Kok cleared, two other sites remain, including the main protest site in the heart of the financial district. Further court injunctions or not, that remains a much tougher proposition.

line
The authorities have moved in on Mong Kok after local businesses secured court injunctions against the disruption to their businesses.

I'm sure some of you have seen the Daily Show segment on this. So, how do you think the Chinese are handling this so far, especially when one compares it to the current situation in Furguesson or Occupy Wall street?


One should also note that the current protests were supposedly inspired by Occupy Wall Street via a roundabout way through Taiwan.......

[K. A. Pital]

Considering this is part of a relatively recent and relevant thread, would you mind if I combine the threads together?

[PainRack]

Considering this is part of a relatively recent and relevant thread, would you mind if I combine the threads together?

Oops. Go ahead

[K. A. Pital]

Done.

[Thanas]

Meanwhile, the crackdown on journalists continue - the one who worked for Deutsche Welle is now facing trial for betrayal of state secrets. Link.

[mr friendly guy]

Well I was wrong. Beijing just let the HK authorities do the job instead of mobilising counter protesters.

Are the protesters still attempting to occupy the British embassy for the UK's "betrayal"? Kind of lost track.

[Ralin]

Never was any reason for Beijing to do much of anything other than ignore the whole thing until it loses steam.

[Thanas]

Well, as expected the police has now cleared up the protest. Repressions to follow.

[Ralin]

Well, as expected the police has now cleared up the protest. Repressions to follow.

Not really how things typically happen in Hong Kong. I doubt many people will suffer any major legal consequences or continued police harassment in their daily lives, and I'd be surprised if school and employment retaliation was much more common. I expect the main consequences will be lingering political awareness and networking on the protesters side and improved plans for nipping the next iteration in the bud on the establishment side.

[Thanas]

Well, as expected the police has now cleared up the protest. Repressions to follow.

Not really how things typically happen in Hong Kong. I doubt many people will suffer any major legal consequences or continued police harassment in their daily lives, and I'd be surprised if school and employment retaliation was much more common. I expect the main consequences will be lingering political awareness and networking on the protesters side and improved plans for nipping the next iteration in the bud on the establishment side.

Well, the journalists they arrested are still being held with a showtrial happening...

[Ralin]

You mean on the mainland? Totally different. Connected and Beijing has the dominant position as this whole thing shows, but the Party isn't going to just send out their goons to round people up.

That might well change in the future, but it's going to take a sea change before you can start throwing around words like 'repressions.' And if Beijing was ready to end Hong Kong autonomy they would have done it while the protests were in full swing.

[Thanas]

You mean on the mainland? Totally different. Connected and Beijing has the dominant position as this whole thing shows, but the Party isn't going to just send out their goons to round people up.

That might well change in the future, but it's going to take a sea change before you can start throwing around words like 'repressions.' And if Beijing was ready to end Hong Kong autonomy they would have done it while the protests were in full swing.

No, I am perfectly willing to throw around words like repressions if journalists get incarcerated. It doesn't matter if they are from the mainland or not. They are state reactions connected with the same crisis.

[salm]

Lol, this video can't be taken seriously. Almost all of the things are from the sixties and seventies (you can tell by the gear used) and again, it has no bearing on the issue because
a) Still a massive tu quoque
b) It is not like there is nothing done about it.

That is not true. Most if not all of this is recorded recently. There are some clips in Berlin (Kottbusser Tor), probably mayday and there are some Stuttgart 21 clips that I notice.
In a lot of clips the police wear black uniforms which have only been introdcued in recent years. Before that the uniforms were green. This doesn´t mean that the green uniform videos are old as the green ones are still in use until they are phased out in some police forces. For example the kick to the head of the person lying on the ground at 1:10 is just a couple of years old. I remember when that caused an outrage.

And I think there isn´t done enough about it. They could at least issue visible identification numbers on riot cops so they can´t hide behind anonymous helmets and gear when they fuck up. Like almost every normal country in the world issues to their riot police.

[Thanas]

That is not true. Most if not all of this is recorded recently. There are some clips in Berlin (Kottbusser Tor), probably mayday and there are some Stuttgart 21 clips that I notice.
In a lot of clips the police wear black uniforms which have only been introdcued in recent years. Before that the uniforms were green. This doesn´t mean that the green uniform videos are old as the green ones are still in use until they are phased out in some police forces. For example the kick to the head of the person lying on the ground at 1:10 is just a couple of years old. I remember when that caused an outrage.

And I think there isn´t done enough about it. They could at least issue visible identification numbers on riot cops so they can´t hide behind anonymous helmets and gear when they fuck up. Like almost every normal country in the world issues to their riot police.

Segments of 055 and 1:04 are definitely older than just a few years. One is the Demo against Frankfurt Airport which happened in the early 90s I believe. And Mayday is not really much of something to criticize the police on, that demo is just a giant open fight every year.

[Ralin]

No, I am perfectly willing to throw around words like repressions if journalists get incarcerated. It doesn't matter if they are from the mainland or not. They are state reactions connected with the same crisis.

Different states. Hong Kong and the rest of China are separate countries for most practical purposes.

[salm]

Segments of 055 and 1:04 are definitely older than just a few years. One is the Demo against Frankfurt Airport which happened in the early 90s I believe. And Mayday is not really much of something to criticize the police on, that demo is just a giant open fight every year.

So? There is still nothing in there I could identify being from the 60s or 70s and even if mayday is just one big open fight (which it actually isn´t anymore, partially due to pretty decent de-escalation methods used by the police) you can and should criticize individual police men for excessive force and the police in general for covering it up, for example by not using identification tags. It is esspecially important to do that in your own country and I see no benefit to ignoring or defending such misbehavior even if the police force acts half ways decently in general.

[Thanas]

So? There is still nothing in there I could identify being from the 60s or 70s and even if mayday is just one big open fight (which it actually isn´t anymore, partially due to pretty decent de-escalation methods used by the police) you can and should criticize individual police men for excessive force and the police in general for covering it up, for example by not using identification tags. It is esspecially important to do that in your own country and I see no benefit to ignoring or defending such misbehavior even if the police force acts half ways decently in general.

I don't disagree with any of that besides that 60s and 70s is a bit too large of an area. Considering the turnover 90s is pretty far away.

Different states. Hong Kong and the rest of China are separate countries for most practical purposes.

You mean, besides the issues that matter like sovereignty and who gets to call the shots?

[salm]

I don't disagree with any of that besides that 60s and 70s is a bit too large of an area. Considering the turnover 90s is pretty far away.

Sorry, could you reformulate this. I don´t understand it.

[Thanas]

I don't disagree with any of that besides that 60s and 70s is a bit too large of an area. Considering the turnover 90s is pretty far away.

Sorry, could you reformulate this. I don´t understand it.

Yeah, I missed several words there. Sorry. My point is that if you say that a video is too old I would think 90s to be large enough of a distance to today.

[Ralin]

You mean, besides the issues that matter like sovereignty and who gets to call the shots?

Separate legal systems, separate passports, separate currency and language, separate international agreements, etc. If Beijing was straight up calling the shots these protests would have ended a long time ago.