Mark Pinkstone/Former Chief Information Officer of HK government
How naive and ignorant can members of the European Parliament be. At least five members got up and spoke about the injustices in Hong Kong to a virtually empty house. No one was interested. Repeated lies are wearing thin, and the more intelligent members treat their utterances with contempt.
Late last month, the Diplomatic Service of the European Union presented a speech by the High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell to the parliament on the cases of Jimmy Lai and the 45 activists recently convicted under the application of the national security law.
For some unknown reason Borrell himself could not attend the session in person, so his speech was delivered by the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders. It was pathetic and showed just how misinformed they are.
For example, Borrell said:” Most independent media outlets [in Hong Kong] were forced to close.” What rubbish. Of the 90+ daily publications in Hong Kong, one newspaper closed, and a couple of on-line news outlets closed. That’s all! And not by the government but by the voluntary action of the owners. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Government has not closed any media organisation and actually encourages press freedom, as long as it is within the confines of the law.
Jimmy Lai, he said, was being prosecuted for his support for freedom of expression and democracy in Hong Kong. Again rubbish! Freedom of expression is enshrined in Hong Kong’s Basic Law, a mini constitution. Lai has been charged with colluding with foreign forces and sedition which are criminal offences in Hong Kong and everywhere else, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia. And at the time was Lai arrested for his alleged illegal activities, Hong Kong had a fully democratic legislature – 50 per cent elected by geographic constituencies and 50 percent elected by their peers in functional constituencies. Also, the Basic Law provides for the entire legislature to be elected by universal suffrage. It’s just a matter of time; the right time when foreign forces and governments stop interfering in Hong Kong’s domestic affairs and fair elections can be ensured.
Borrell and other politicians claim the “Hong Kong 47” were arrested for holding peaceful primary elections. Yes, the “elections” were peaceful, but were illegal. In this case the elections were designed specifically to overthrow the government by compelling “successful candidates” to sign an agreement to veto all government bills, thereby crippling the effective running of Hong Kong. In other words, a coup.
Borrell, of course, answers directly to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, a staunch supporter of the US’s anti-Hong Kong/China drive with misinformation to curb development of the region’s success.
The other four presenters spoke with the same forked tongue from the same script drafted obviously by the same person who had a grudge against Hong Kong and, like Hong Kong Watch and others, want a doomsday scenario for Hong Kong.
The problem with politicians is that they are misinformed by choice, and to accept the word of activists without fact checking would hide the truth. Truth defeats the objective of politicians currying favour with activists who provide them with the public exposure to ensure their popularity with their electorate.
With such narrow-minded people running the European Union, no wonder Brexit came into existence leading to Britain withdrawing from the Union.
Mark Pinkstone
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **