![[Hong Kong News]Beijing’s “high-standard” reception of Deng Bingqiang’s background is revealed; the red line is everywhere, and the district council electoral system may go back 40 years | Deng Bingqiang | Disciplined Forces | Wang Xiaohong | Chen Wenqing | |](https://img.soundofhope.org/2021-12/001-1639115099884.jpg "[Hong Kong News]Beijing’s “high-standard” reception of Deng Bingqiang’s background is revealed; the red line is everywhere, and the district council electoral system may go back 40 years | Deng Bingqiang | Disciplined Forces | Wang Xiaohong | Chen Wenqing | |")
Deng Bingqiang’s Background Revealed by “High Standard” Reception in Beijing
Deng Bingqiang set off on Thursday (24th) and led the heads of 6 disciplined forces to visit Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen for 4 days. This is the first time a high-level disciplined force delegation has visited the mainland after Deng Bingqiang became the head of the Hong Kong Security Bureau.
The first stop of this visit is Beijing. On Wednesday night, the party will transfer to Guangzhou. The next day, it will go to the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau and the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau. On the same night, it will return to Hong Kong by land.
After Deng Bingqiang and his party arrived in Beijing, on the 24th and 25th, they were met by Wang Xiaohong, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, State Councilor, and Minister of Public Security, and Chen Wenqing, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Committee.
The CCP’s official media reported that both Wang Xiaohong and Chen Wenqing affirmed the contribution of the Hong Kong disciplined forces to national security and Hong Kong’s social stability, and hoped that under the “one country, two systems” policy, the disciplined forces would continue to support the Hong Kong government’s governance and serve Hong Kong’s economic and social development.
The Hong Kong media “Sing Tao Daily” analyzed that Chen and Wang are not only the leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, but also the deputy heads of the Hong Kong and Macau team. The standards are quite high, which shows that Beijing believes that although Hong Kong is calm on the surface, it is actually “undercurrents surging, and swords and guns should not be put into storage.” .
The analysis also pointed out that when high-level delegations from the disciplined forces visit Beijing, they are all received by members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs. Ding Xuexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo and Executive Vice Premier of the State Council, is the leader of the new Central Hong Kong and Macao Leading Group. Therefore, it is not ruled out that Ding Xuexiang will also meet with Deng Bingqiang and his party.
Deng Bingqiang, 58, joined the police force in 1987 and was promoted to the head of the Security Bureau in June 2021. Before that, he served as the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Police Force. He is the second Chief of Security from the Police Force since 1997.
Earlier, the media disclosed that after Deng Bingqiang joined the police force, he was arranged to receive training at the China Pudong Cadre Academy, the People’s Public Security University of China, and the National School of Administration of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After returning to Hong Kong, he began to serve as the commander of various districts. During this period, it was revealed that Deng had a close relationship with “gangsters” with a background of gangsters in the countryside, and he was questioned many times about covering up and condoning the gangsters in the New Territories.
During the “anti-extradition” movement, Deng Bingqiang, then a senior official of the police force, used a large number of police forces to suppress the protesters. He was criticized by the outside world for excessive use of force and abusive arrests. Among them, on July 21, 2019, gang members attacked a large number of citizens in Yuen Long. Deng Bingqiang was accused of asking the police to deliberately inaction that night, acquiescing to the atrocities of the township gangsters, and creating confrontation between the police and the public.
After the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” was implemented, Deng Bingqiang led the police force to set up the National Security Department, and successively arrested 47 pro-democracy primary candidates and Li Zhiying, the founder of Next Media, and other high-level officials. As of the end of March this year, a total of 250 people have been arrested, and the cases of 71 of them have been concluded and all of them convicted.
In addition, Deng Bingqiang has been widely criticized by public opinion for his repeated intimidating speeches against Hong Kong people’s freedom of press and speech and freedom of demonstrations in recent years.
In August 2020, the United States sanctioned Hong Kong and mainland officials due to the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law”. The first batch of 11 people on the sanction list included Police Commissioner Deng Bingqiang.
The outside world believes that Deng Bingqiang and other tough oppressors under the “National Security Law” during the anti-extradition campaign have been reused by the CCP as high-level positions. This has sent a dangerous signal to Hong Kong civil society and marked the beginning of the era of “police ruling Hong Kong”.
The electoral system of district councils may go back 40 years
Chief Executive Lee Ka-chao met with reporters before the executive meeting on the 25th. He said that after reviewing, he believed that the district councils were worth retaining. “, and must not “interfere” with governance.
Li Jiachao took the initiative to mention the district council before the executive meeting today, saying that the district administrative review has come to an end, and this review should be “de-politicized”.
Lee Ka-chao revealed that the selection method of the new district councils has been changed from popular election to “multiple methods”, and certain elements of selection will be retained, “allowing people who love the country, love Hong Kong and aspire to serve the region to participate in the district councils through multiple channels”, the number of seats will be similar to the current number.
Li Jiachao also said that the SAR government will not allow the District Council to become a platform for “Hong Kong independence”, will not allow them to violate the “Basic Law”, and will not allow it to interfere with the government’s governance. Being paralyzed etc.
When asked by reporters whether he would introduce election committees and other systems for screening, Lee Ka-chao did not respond positively, only saying that the details were being drafted, and the actual operation would be announced in the future.
The chairman of the Democratic Party, Law Kin-hee, responded that at this stage the Democratic Party has not yet determined whether it will participate in the district council elections. If the electoral system is changed, the decision will depend on how much space is available for participation and whether there is still room to serve the public. He criticized that if the District Council resumes appointment or indirect election of seats, it is obviously a retrogression, reducing the space for citizens to express their opinions, and the situation is not ideal.
Sociologist Chung Jianhua told Free Asia that after the defeat of the pro-establishment faction in the district council elections in 2019, Beijing is determined to overturn all election arrangements in Hong Kong. parliament. I believe that the Hong Kong government’s decision to retain the district councils is just to show the outside world the “show window of democracy” in Hong Kong.
Zhong Jianhua also pointed out that he is not surprised by the constant rumors that the Hong Kong government will reduce the number of directly-elected district council seats, or return to the appointment and indirect election system. Worse than the first District Council election in 1982.
Exports fell for 11 straight months in March
Following the 8.8% year-on-year decline recorded in February, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Government announced on the 25th that the overall export value of goods in March was 367.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.5%, which was worse than the market’s expected growth of 0.1%.
The value of imported goods in March was HK$407.8 billion, down 0.6% year-on-year. The visible trade deficit in March was HK$40.6 billion, equivalent to 10% of the value of merchandise imports.
Year-on-year, total exports to Asia decreased by 6.1%. In this region, the overall value of exports to some major destinations recorded declines, especially the Philippines (-12.7%), mainland China (-9.8%), Singapore (-4.3%) and Malaysia (-3.3%). On the other hand, exports to Thailand rose 17.0%, South Korea rose 14.8%, and China Taiwan rose 6.4%.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong government said that the value of merchandise exports fell further year-on-year in March, but the rate of decline slowed down. Exports to the mainland continued to fall, while exports to other major Asian markets were mixed. Exports to the US and EU resumed growth. Looking ahead, the slowdown in the growth of advanced economies will continue to put pressure on Hong Kong’s export performance, but the faster economic recovery in the Mainland can ease some of the pressure.
British parliamentary report focuses on media freedom in Hong Kong
According to a new report released by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong in the British Parliament, the main reason for the rapid deterioration of media freedom in Hong Kong is the introduction of the Hong Kong version of the “National Security Law” and the targeting of Jimmy Lai in accordance with the law. And its Apple Daily hit.
According to the Voice of America report, the British parliamentary cross-party Hong Kong group published a report on the situation of Hong Kong media person Li Zhiying and Hong Kong media freedom on Monday (24th).
“The National Security Law has been used to stifle free media and target specific journalists, shattering freedom of speech and media pluralism in Hong Kong,” the report said. While some independent media outlets still operate in Hong Kong, most have been purged and those Those who are still working cannot freely report on topics related to politics and democracy for fear of reprisals.”
The report also believes that the Li Zhiying case shows that the Hong Kong authorities have weaponized the “National Security Law” to discredit Li Zhiying and independent media. Media pluralism in Hong Kong has been eroded, with nearly all independent media outlets shut down and their leaders arrested and charged with politically motivated charges.
Separately, the report calls on the government to make the case of Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and political prisoner, a political priority and to impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for the arrest and arbitrary detention of Jimmy Lai and the closure of Apple Daily, including Hong Kong’s chief executive Li Jiachao and others.
Alicia Kearns, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British House of Commons, described on Twitter that Jimmy Lai’s latest sentence is a political witch trial by the CCP regime to suppress dissent; and as a British citizen, Lai deserves strong support from the British government .
In January of this year, Iain Duncan Smith, a member of Congress who is critical of China, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of State for Asian Affairs at the British Foreign Office, and other MPs met with Jimmy Lai’s son. Li Chongen and Li Zhiying’s lawyers expressed concern about the Li Zhiying case, which aroused an angry response from the Hong Kong SAR government.
Speaking in the British Parliament, Sunak insisted that Britain has the right to intervene in Hong Kong affairs because the rights of Hong Kong citizens are guaranteed for 50 years under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which came into force in 1985.