IN BED W/ LARRY AU

I really thought I couldn’t get any more depressed nowdays, but I have. I’ve hit a new low in this chronic stupor of mine’s: for it is a sad day for liberty and freedom in Hong Kong.

The NYT reports that seven (the actual figure is higher) pro-Tibetan activists have just been deported in preparation for the torch relay on Friday (today, actually, since I’m writing this at like one in the morning).

The deported activists included three pro-Tibet protesters who were kicked out of the territory as they arrived at the airport Tuesday. A fourth activist — an organizer for an independent Chinese writers’ group that calls for freedom of expression in China — also was turned away on Tuesday. Three Danish activists were deported over the weekend.

Hong Kong officials have said repeatedly they won’t discuss individual cases.

One of the deported pro-Tibet activists, Kate Woznow, said Tuesday that immigration officials questioned her about her trip but gave no reason for turning her away.

”I really thought that Hong Kong authorities were different from Beijing,” she told The Associated Press in a phone call from her plane before it was set to takeoff for New York.

Disturbing.

It is bad enough that mere tourists (because they’ll be doing some sightseeing and shopping during their stay) and peaceful protestors are being booted out for no legitimate reason. But the fact that Immigration doesn’t comment on “individual cases” means that Tsang won’t even have to comment on it.

It is worth mentioning, at the risk of running on a tangent, that not only is the freedom of movement a fundamental human right, this freedom is also codified into the Basic Law (Article 31) and other related laws–which means that the government’s actions may be contested in court. Being quite the ignoramus when it comes to legal proceedings and the law, I have no authority to make the judgement as to whether the government’s actions are illegal. Although I am more inclined to say that they are.

From the day that HK was made the “equine capital”, it was apparent that Beijing would take a major role in helping the HKG prepare for the equestrian events. The recent debacle with the torch runner selection and Tsang Hin-chi only showed that Beijing is acting more than just a mentor in the preparation process, but the main architect and designer of it–as it clearly was involved in the selection of the relay runners. Local politicians and government officials, clamoring to suck up to Beijing and show off their patriotism in hopes of career advancements, obediently follow the wills of their political masters.

The deportation of these activists is yet another example of the HKG’s subservience to Beijing.

Obviously this sets a dangerous precedence for HK. Now that our leaders are accustomed to obeying what Beijing dictates them to do, our “high autonomy” will suffer yet another hard blow.

But perhaps what is the most disturbing about this whole Olympics thing is that it has swung HK dangerously to the pro-Beijing side. The incessant invocation of uber-hypersensitive-nationalism by pro-Beijing politicians may have contributed to that. The media (some of them at least), which seemed to counteract this propaganda at first, has in recent months succumbed to this pervasive sense of over-zealous patriotism. Now editorials and news clip read like Ministry of Information press releases. Even pro-Dem politicians have had to watch what they say, for fear of sparking up a “love country” (愛國）debate that they would loose. Reversing this trend would be tantamount to walking on water.

This public acceptance of Beijing’s bull will no doubt hinder any future seemingly anti-Beijing (in other words: anti-CCP) efforts.

While there is no doubt that the restriction of free speech and this nationalist trend will damage HK’s somewhat free society, in the words of Lee Cheuk-yan: “It really hurts the image of Hong Kong as an international city when we start restricting freedom of access.” When we put it like that, the pro-Business/pro-Beijing folks seem like a bunch of crooks and liars.