Visions of AsiaSeeing things differently.
The journal / Visions of Asia
The enactment of a national security law directly by China has placed Hong Kong in the eye of the tiger. Namely, Beijing has now direct control over freedom of expression and activities in what was once an autonomous city. As a direct consequence of this takeover by China, the July 1st protests (which generally was […]
After a long lull for cause of coronavirus fears, last week-end the Hong Kong protests resumed, albeit in a very subdued form. Triggered by a coup de force in the Legco on Friday, protesters responded somewhat timidly to the call to action. While protesters played rather the role of the small nuisance in Mongkok, the […]
The Wuhan Coronavirus epidemic in Hong Kong has quickly pushed the organized and indifferent hongkongese society to its brinks. As the extreme contagiousness of the disease caused fear of an extension to Hong Kong, people started panicking. Within a few days, not a single person took the MTR or walked on the street without a […]
In the last couple of months before December, riot police in malls became so frequent, that you would be forgiven for thinking about them with the term “Mall Cops”. But when the new mall cops peppered the Festival Walk mall, with a generous dose of pepper spray and pepper balls, they set in motion a […]
It was a couple of weeks ago that we found ourselves in one of the most intense fights of the time between protesters and police in Hong Kong (where even Wanchai looked tame). For six to seven hours, I was literally in the war zone, between relentless assaults by protesters equipped with molotov cocktails and […]
The protests on 28 September 2019 promised to be a tough confrontation between police and protesters. Both parties knew it would be a “general rehearsal” for what would take place on October 1st, 2019, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China. And we were not disappointed, […]
Things have been a bit busy for me, as I posted an article for insider on the protests. But since my last post, things have only worsened in Hong Kong. On Friday, 4 October, the HK government decided to invoke the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, a law dating back to the colonial era to ban all […]
Shatin has been a flashpoint several times already, especially after police carried out a brutal clearance in July. Once again, a protest in the New Town Plaza mall of Shatin became a ritual celebration, something which made me think of a “Rite of Autumn”. The feeling was truly that of revenge and liberation from Chinese […]
Friday 13 September, on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the peaceful and cheerful celebrations on several mountains of Hong Kong gave a glimmer of hope and peace. Within the same week-end, however, we moved from mid-autumn lanterns to days of fire in Hong Kong. In the case you would understandably lose track of the […]
Mid-Autumn festival is linked to the harvest and thus an important traditional occurrence in Hong Kong and also in China. In full Black Bauhinia Revolution, it made sense that the protesters would try to celebrate mid-Autumn festival in a special manner. Lights on the mountains The previous “Hong Kong Way”, had a great success, principally […]