Category: Hong Kong

Four people who claimed to be students have been arrested for breaching the national security law for Hong Kong and suspected of secession by advocating for “Hong Kong independence,” the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) announced on Wednesday night.

Hong Kong media reported that this is the first action taken by the new national security department under the police force since it was officially established in early July.

The four, three men and one woman aged between 16 and 21, were arrested at around 3:30 pm on Wednesday, Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah of the national security department under the HKPF announced at a press conference at 11 pm.

It involved a group setting up an organization on a social platform advocating for “Hong Kong independence.” The platform of the organization claimed to establish a “Hong Kong Republic.” There was also a manifesto inciting others to join the group, Li said.

If the crime is deemed as serious, they could be sentenced to 10 years in prison, and police can take DNA samples from the arrested individuals, Li said.

Li said he believed that the organization had been set up recently and that the message left on the social platform was only discovered after July 1 this year, and that inciting, aiding and abetting such an incident constituted sedition.

The police force did not disclose the names of the arrested people and the organization, but Studentlocalism, a secessionist group, announced on its Facebook page on Wednesday night that Tony Chung Hon-lam, one of the former conveners of the organization, was “arrested for inciting secession,” local media reported.

On Sunday, the organization published an article on its Facebook page titled “Counterbalancing Chinese nationalism and constructing Hong Kong nationalism,” with the hashtags including “independence is the only way for Hong Kong” and “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Time.”

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said on July 2 that the slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Time,” has the implications of secessionism, alienating HKSAR from China, changing HKSAR’s legal status or subverting the State power under the current circumstances.

Studentslocalism also announced it shut down its headquarters in Hong Kong on June 30, the same day the national security law for Hong Kong took effect, and said all the group’s affairs would be handled by overseas members instead.

They set up a division in the US on June 30, according to the group’s Twitter.

A Global Times reporter found that the group continued advocating “Hong Kong independence” on an overseas social media platform after June 30. In a post on Twitter on July 2 they said “disintegrate China.”

According to Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan studies at Nankai University in Tianjin, whether the suspects are to be convicted under the national security law for Hong Kong depends on whether some of their speeches or activities after June 30 damage the interests protected under the national security law.

According to Article 20 of the national security law for Hong Kong, a person who organizes, plans, commits or participates in any of the acts that separates the HKSAR from China, whether or not by force or threat of force, with a view to committing secession or undermining national unification shall be guilty of an offence, the principal offender shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years.

A person who actively participates in the offence shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years; and other participants shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention or restriction. If crime is deemed as serious, police can take DNA samples from the arrested individuals

港大校委会今日(28日)开会，以大比数决定革除因违法“占中”案被判囚的港大法律学院副教授戴耀廷的教职。戴耀廷于个人fb亦证实被革职。

违法“占中”首犯戴耀廷多年来处心积虑破坏香港，他在2013年提出所谓“占领中环”，身为法律学者却知法犯法，鼓吹所谓“违法达义”。戴耀廷2014年大搞违法“占中”，散播“公民抗命”、“违法达义”等歪理荼毒年轻人，令年轻人的守法意识变得薄弱，催化往后无数失控的暴力场面。直至去年4月，戴耀廷终为“占中”案找数，被判串谋作出公众妨扰罪、煽惑他人作出公众妨扰罪罪成，判囚16个月。

戴耀廷之后更变本加厉，鼓吹“港独”，并炮制“雷动计划”及“风云计划”等操控2016年立法会选举和2019年区议会选举。今年他更抛出“35+”和所谓“真揽炒十步”，企图让反对派取得立法会过半数议席瘫痪政府。早前戴耀廷更懒理疫情风险，策动反对派搞所谓“初选”，在播“独”的同时，更增加了新冠病毒在社区传播的风险。戴耀廷的一系列政治操弄，已涉嫌违反香港国安法。连日来，多个市民团体和港大校友及学生家长纷纷在网上发起联署，要求港大革除戴耀廷这个“毒瘤”。

此外，早前因违法“占中”案被判囚8个月的社福界立法会议员邵家臻，昨日(27日)正式被浸会大学解雇，为自己的违法行为付出了应有的代价。

Where the hell are the rioters?

On 9 July 2020, the Legislative Council passed the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 (the Bill) enhancing the maternity leave benefits of female employees who are employed under a continuous contract of employment. 

The key changes under the Bill are as follows:

1. An increase in the statutory maternity leave entitlement from the existing 10 weeks to 14 weeks.
   
   
2. The daily rate of maternity leave pay for the extended period of maternity leave (ie the additional four weeks) shall be at the rate of four-fifths of the employee’s daily average wages. The maternity leave pay for these four weeks of maternity leave is capped at HK$80,000 per employee.  
   
   The Government has committed to reimburse employers payment in respect of the extended period of maternity leave; details of the arrangement are not available yet. 
   
   
3. The period of pregnancy mentioned in the definition of “miscarriage” will be shortened from 28 weeks to 24 weeks. A female employee who suffers a miscarriage at or after 24 weeks of pregnancy will be entitled to maternity leave (if other conditions are met).
   
   
4. A certificate of attendance will be accepted as proof of entitlement to sickness allowance for a day on which a female employee attends a medical examination in relation to her pregnancy. 

The amendments under the Bill are not in force yet. It is expected that the new measure will come into operation by the end of this year.