Sentences Handed Down in HK 47 Trial

Sentences were handed down in the largest NSL case to date

It is a dark day in Hong Kong, as pro-democracy activists, former politicians and academics were convicted of subversion for their roles in the unofficial primary they held in July 2020. 

Sentences range from just over four years to 10 years for legal academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting, who was deemed the mastermind of the primary in a bid to force then Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to resign. Beijing saw it as a bid to take down the government.

The primary never happened as the elections were postponed claiming the pandemic as the reason, and 47 people were arrested in January 2021. In the end 45 of them were convicted, totally wiping out key figures in the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

But to the three appointed judges, it did not matter the primary was successful or not: "It was submitted by some of the defendants that the ultimate consequences of serious interfering in, disrupting or undermining the performance of duties and functions of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government depended very much on the Scheme being carried to the fruition and that would have never materialised. Hence in the present case they said even without disqualification or calling off the LegCo election, the scheme was bound to fail because the participants simply failed to secure sufficient seats," they wrote in the judgment.

"Whether the Scheme would ultimately succeed, it was not for this Court to speculate. What we were sure was that all the participants had put in every endeavour to make it a success."

In general, those who pleaded guilty were given lesser sentences of over four years, while those who claimed they were not guilty were handed heavier ones. For example, Joshua Wong Chi-fung got four years and eight months by pleading guilty, whereas Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam got seven years pleading not guilty.

But Tai entered a plea of guilty and got the heaviest sentence of 10 years, as the judges believed he instigated "the Scheme". 

As they have all been in custody without bail for over three years, some of them will be released on a year or so.

Many members of the public came to see the people in the dock. Former politician Claudia Mo Man-ching is 67 years old and was sentenced to four years and two months. Her husband, Philip Bowring is in ill health, which the court acknowledged, but would not reduce her sentence. Hopefully he can hang on until she is finally released.

There are also concerns about the health of "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung who is 68 years old and was sentenced to six years and nine months. The court did not describe him as having "a positive good character" as he has had a track record of protesting against the government over the years, hence the longer sentence.

The trial was meant to show those who dare to criticise the government can face a similar fate. 

"If you are being critical of the authorities both in Hong Kong and in China, then it's open season," said Steve Tsang, a Hong Kong-born political scientist and director of the SOAS China Institute in London.

"I think that this case will be seen by many in the international community as the final nail in the coffin for the rule of law in Hong Kong," said Thomas Kellogg, the executive director of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law.

Meanwhile Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said the sentences showed those who committed national security crimes must be severely punished.

When Joshua Wong was leaving the courtroom, he shouted, "I love Hong Kong, bye bye!"

It's not over yet -- tomorrow Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's trial continues...

Review: Arthur Erickson: Between the Lines

Erickson was considered one of the best architects in Canada

This afternoon watched a fantastic biographical film called Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines produced by Black Rhino Creative which is based in Vancouver. The film debuted a few weeks ago at a local architecture festival and was sold out for all three dates.

I was hoping to have a chance to see it and Viff is showing it now.

The Museum of Anthropology at UBC

Arthur Erickson was a well known Vancouver-born architect, and he designed a number of key buildings in the city, from Simon Fraser University, to the Museum of Anthropology, the Law Courts with Robson Square, and MacMillan Bloedel Building, renamed Arthur Erickson Place three years ago.

His designs were also in Toronto like Roy Thomson Hall, the Government of Canada pavilion at Expo '70 on Osaka, Japan, and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington State.

The film brings Erickson to life from a lot of television interviews together with his niece and nephews (two of whom are architects), and former colleagues and staff that give a more rounded picture of him.

It turns out Erickson was able to compartmentalise his life, as he hid that he was gay for a long time, and knew being gay was bad for business at the time; however he had a partner he loved very much who sadly died of Aids in the 1990s.

Campus of Simon Fraser University

When Erickson was young he was a talented artist, but in World War II he was in the army, where he learned Japanese in a bid to avoid combat. After the war he was keen on joining the diplomatic corps, but then a friend showed him a picture of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and Erickson was amazed and wanted to learn how to create buildings in nature.

Erickson studied architecture at the University of British Columbia and in McGill in Montreal where he became friends with the future Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. 

Afterwards Erickson taught at UBC and began designing houses. He later met Geoffrey Massey and the pair went on to win the commission to build the SFU campus which was innovative at the time. They looked to the Acropolis for inspiration, how higher learning was found on the top of a mountain. They also created quadrants so that students and academics of different disciplines would interact with each other. 

One of the complaints was that in winter it was so dreary on campus that a professor once complained to Erickson about it. He replied that since the building elicited emotion, then the architect had done his job.

Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto

He was already very understanding of Indigenous culture, and the Museum of Anthropology demonstrates this, with the museum and totem poles facing the sea and how natural light affects how visitors see things in the space. 

From there they got a number of commissions inside and outside of Canada, but Massey was getting annoyed with Erickson's frivolous spending habits to please his partner, Venezuelan Francisco Kripacz, who designed furniture, went bankrupt and then Erickson took him in as an interior designer. 

Kripacz added flair to Erickson's designs, which made them a good team, but he had extravagant taste and influenced the architect to spend a lot of money. One time a party in their Los Angeles office cost $50,000 -- just for flowers.

Financial problems caused Erickson and Massey to break up their practice, and later on Erickson broke up with Kripacz. Erickson had another boyfriend, but then a mysterious disease called Aids was killing gay men, and his boyfriend died, as well as Kripacz's.

The two reunited, but Kripacz was infected as well. This was also around the time that Erickson declared bankruptcy in 1992, unable to pay all his bills. It was devastating because it meant he was unable to keep his license as an architect and would have to literally start all over again taking courses -- Erickson of all people who had taught architecture!

He refused, so he gave up his license, but was pretty much broke. In the 1990s Erickson phoned around, asking doctors for any kind of experimental drug that would help his partner; Erickson found some uncashed traveler's cheques and went to give them to Kripacz, but discovered he had committed suicide.

Kripacz was Erickson's longtime partner

His niece and nephews said Erickson could not get over this, and towards the end of his life began developing dementia. He would sit in his office with a magazine and forget about appointments and things he had to do. In the end his relatives had to put him in a home, where he did not last long, and died in 2009 at the age of 84.

I learned a lot about Erickson's life and career, as well as his approach to the various projects he worked on. Vancouver is so lucky to have many of his buildings, pockets of his vision around the city. It also helped that governments were willing to invest in big infrastructure projects like the provincial law courts and Robson Square to create public spaces for people.

Arthur Erickson: Between the Lines was a lovely tribute to him and showed that even when facing adversity, he did it with style. Even when he was announcing his bankruptcy he never let on his disappointment or frustration; he just carried on, dressed in his sharp suits.

Bo Xilai's Son Turns up in Taiwan

A photo of Bo on his LinkedIn page

Wow a blast from the past.

Remember Bo Xilai and his quest for power, his police chief who fled to a US consulate begging for asylum, and an Englishman who was murdered?

Bo is behind bars for life after he was convicted in 2013 for abuse of power and corruption, and was removed from all party and public positions.

Gu, Bo and their son Guagua many years ago

His wife Gu Kailai is also in jail serving a life sentence for her involvement in the murder of the Englishman, Neil Heywood.

However, their younger son, Bo Kuangyi, or commonly known as Bo Guagua, is in Taiwan to visit his fiancee's family.

The younger Bo entered Taiwan with a British passport on November 13, as he will apparently marry the scion of the Hsu family; her grandfather was Hsu Wen-cheng, the founder of Lotung Poh-ai Hospital in Yilan and influential KMT member, who passed away in 2019.

The Hsu family is considered to have strong political and business connections in Yilan.

After Bo arrived, he had a health check at the Lotung Poh-ai Hospital on the morning of November 15 and met his fiancee's family. Apparently a visitor needs to have a health check if they want to apply to stay longer in Taiwan.

Lotung Poh-ai Hosptail in Yilan

The young couple met when they were studying in the United States (Bo graduated from Harvard in 2012) and kept a long-distance relationship for many years. He has not been back to China since, but has been working in Toronto, Canada.

Taiwanese media are speculating if Bo will be applying to live in Taiwan long-term, and what he's going to do after he gets married... 

Aquarium's Shark is Robotic

Would you pay to see a robotic whale shark in an aquarium?

At Xiaomeisha Sea World in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, visitors pay 240 yuan (US$32) admission to see real marine life, but instead were treated to a robotic whale shark.

Some were in awe of the innovative way to present wildlife, while others felt deceived paying so much to get in and see a fake shark.

"I cannot believe the whale shark is fake. It's outrageous to charge over 200 yuan for a ticket," said one online commenter.

Two aquarium staff with the robotic shark

While another on Xiaohongshu, the online guidebook wrote: "It's a wonderful alternative to showcase large marine creatures without imprisoning them in a tank. Rather than obscuring the whale shark's true identity from visitors, the aquarium should embrace this opportunity to educate the public on the importance of animal protection."

Although the robotic whale shark costs millions of yuan to produce, it can cost over 100 million yuan (US$14 million) to care for a real one.

It's also worth noting sharks can live between 80 to 130 years in the wild, but only about five years in aquariums, according to Li Jianping, dean of the Academy of Future Ocean at the Ocean University of China.

The aquarium can ensure optimal water quality and temperature control, but there just isn't enough space for the sharks to roam.

Some visitors suggested perhaps the aquarium should inform people in advance that there is a robotic shark on display so that they can decide if they want to pay the admission or not...

C$13K Cheese Heist Gone Bad

Someone must really love eating cheese to steal that much

In the United Kingdom, cheese is under lock and key in supermarkets these days.

Supermarkets in Vancouver may want to follow suit after a man fled without almost C$13,000 worth of cheese back in late September.

The RCMP were on patrol on September 29 at 4am when they found a cart that was full of cheese outside a Whole Foods in North Vancouver.

The police found it suspicious and began to investigate, but the suspect soon fled the scene without his massive stash of cheese.

However, even though the cheese was unopened, it could not be sold let alone consumed because it had left the fridge, according to constable Mansoor Sahak in a written statement.

The police have been patrolling high-crime areas and are asking for any information about this cheese heist.

Eating Paws is Not a Bear Necessity

Don't eat bear paws in Canada! It's illegal folks!

Some habits from the old country die hard, like eating bear paws and shins.

A 52-year-old man from Abbotsford, British Columbia pleaded guilty to charges under the Wildlife Act in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court today.

Originally Hong Tao Yang faced five counts, but agreed to plead guilty to two charges of trafficking in bear parts and one charge of trafficking in wildlife meat. The remaining two charges were stayed.

Yang was fined C$8,625, the statutory minimum for the three offences, and has 18 months to pay the fine.

In 2022 he bought bear paws from an undercover officer who warned him that buying bear parts was illegal. Yang paid C$100 for four bear paws and asked for bear shins in the next transaction, which was the following year.

After the third transaction in 2023, Yang was arrested.

In court the defence said Yang wanted the bear paws and shins because of Chinese beliefs in the medicinal and health benefits in consuming bear parts. He said Yang bought the bear parts for his family and that they "were cooked and consumed in traditional-style treatments".

Ever since the Zhou dynasty (1046-256BC), bear parts were considered highly prized ingredients that were eaten by emperors and nobles. Apparently bear paws were braised with ingredients like ginger, chicken, duck, chicken broth, rice wine and scallions. According to the recipe, the bear paws have a strong gamey smell, and the hair and bones need to be removed too. Hard to imagine how delicious that would taste...

As for Yang, he tried to ask the judge to reduce the amount of the fines, claiming he was suffering financial hardship.

However, the judge did not agree, as it was pointed out Yang has a net worth of over C$1 million, most of which is from a home he owns in Abbotsford...

Shrinking Space for Democratic Party to Celebrate

The Democratic Party's low-key banquet finally held

The Democratic Party, one of Hong Kong's remaining opposition parties, finally managed to hold a banquet to celebrate its 30th anniversary after several restaurants made last-minute cancellations over the past two years.

However this one was not without some drama, as halfway through the festivities around 8.30pm, some uniformed police officers arrived, saying they had received a complaint.

They later left without making any arrests.

Such is the situation the Democratic Party faces these days, not being able to hold a party without some kind of interruption.

In previous instances, host venues suddenly cancelled at the last minute, which former Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing says it's a pity there are so many challenges in holding a dinner with its members.

"There are many restaurants actually hoping to take our order, but were forced to drop it for various reasons," she said.

In previous years, the party held banquets on a much larger scale, but the obstacles its faces now demonstrate the shrinking political space the Democratic Party operates in.

For instance someone pretended to be a representative of the party and cancelled their booking, while another restaurant refused to serve them, claiming they had not paid a deposit, which Lau said the party was not asked for one.

Another restaurant even claimed the party could not be served because two of its chefs were "fighting".

How creative.

In previous years, hours before the banquet was supposed to be held, the restaurant claimed it was having issues with gas for the stove, while another year during the pandemic, a venue claimed it was closed for cleaning, but it was open the day before and the day after.

Nevertheless, former Democratic Party chairman Yeung Sum said it insisted on maintaining its presence in Hong Kong to defend various rights and freedoms. He also reiterated the party's support for the "one country, two systems" governing principle.

Wonder how next year's party will go down... if they can still hold it...