Paris - Revolution Fomented in the French Capital

Our tour ended at The Pantheon, where martyrs are buried

We did a walking tour of Paris' Latin Quarter, which is located on the Left Bank, near Sorbonne, the university area. The tour focused on the French Revolution which lasted 10 years, 1789 to 1799. 

For most of us who studied the French Revolution in high school, we only know about July 14, 1789 with the storming of the Bastille and the execution of Marie Antoinette, but those events were only small parts of the revolution.

A quiet neighbourhood where activists met

It turns out most of the discussion around creating democracy and liberty, the rights of man, were mostly held in the Latin Quarter where activists met.

Our guide explained that the aristocracy and the clergy were basically the ruling elite, while everyone else, including professionals and intellectuals as well as the peasants did not own land and so they didn't have much political power.

At the same time King Louis XVI spent a lot of money fighting in the Anglo-French War (1778-1783), creating a lot of debt and forcing fiscal reforms which included the abolition of feudalism, separation of the church and state, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.

Danton was known for his rousing speeches

The educated class who were not part of the ruling elite discussed the above issues in secret societies, and our guide took us to these specific areas, from a quiet neighbourhood that now houses a flower shop and Manuel Canovas, a French fabric brand, and a small alleyway where the likes of French activist turned statesman Maximilian Robespierre and Benjamin Franklin (US ambassador to France) hung out.

Another activist was Georges Danton, a French lawyer and politician who was one of the leaders of the French Revolution for overthrowing the monarchy. However, he was later arrested by paranoid revolutionary activists and was tried on charges of conspiracy and venality. He was then executed by guillotine in 1794. We saw his statue on the street, looking as if he was giving one of his many rousing speeches.

Le Refectoire des Cordeliers

We also visited an area where the Faculty of Health at the University of Paris is located, where there was a church-like building where revolutionaries like Danton, Jean-Paul Marat, and Camille Desmoulins met up called Le Refectoire des Cordeliers.

Our final stop was the Pantheon, a building that pays tribute to Greek architecture and later became a mausoleum for martyrs, and well known personalities. People like Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Marat, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (a philosopher whose work influenced the French Revolution), and Emile Zola.

The two-hour tour revealed how little we knew about the French Revolution, that it actually lasted a decade, and there was so much discussion about how they wanted the French republic to function, in that everyone had rights to life and liberty, and freedom of the press and speech.

Franklin and Robespierre met here

The French seem to hold these values very closely even today, which shows their understanding of where they have come from, and how critical it is to fight for democracy, that it is not to be taken for granted.

Will Swift Perform in Shanghai?

Swift's team has had preliminary talks with Shanghai

The big question for 2025 is -- will Taylor Swift perform in China?

There are reports the Shanghai authorities are in talks with the superstar in a bid to kickstart the country's economy.

Deputy director of Shanghai's culture and tourism bureau Zhang Qi said local officials hosted her team for preliminary talks.

Swift has a massive fan base in China

"As for whether it will ultimately happen, it depends on the market and the attractiveness of our city. However, we are optimistic and think that there may be hope for this year," he said.

Swift is considered to be "walking GDP" because of her massive economic impact wherever she performs, and if she does come, there will be calls to relax restrictions on international performers.

Typically for international artists, there are numerous restrictions and stipulations, such as the song list must be approved before showtime, and the audience members must stay in their seats.

But the big question is, will she come? Swift just completed her show-stopping Eras Tour that made over US$2 billion... why do another show just for Shanghai? It seems like Chinese officials have missed the boat?

It will be interesting to see what comes out of this. Swift is a sharp businesswoman. Even though she has millions of fans in China, she also needs to justify going to a country that has a patriarchal society that represses women, isn't supportive of LGBTQ+ rights, cracks down on freedom of speech, and doesn't want its young people to be caught up in celebrities. 

Would going there endorse authoritarianism or draw Swifties' attention to try to knock down these issues with hugs and friendship bracelets?

One can only hope!

Two Canadian Activists React to Bounties

Tay (bottom centre), Ho (bottom right) wanted by Hong Kong

Days after the Hong Kong authorities placed a HK$1 million (C$185,000) bounty on his head along with five others for their arrest, Victor Ho Leung-mau is undeterred and won't be traveling to the city anytime soon.

Ho is accused of planning to launch a "referendum" to elect those in the Hong Kong diaspora to form a virtual "Hong Kong Parliament". 

He plans to do this by having people vote in March 2025 using a secure app in a bid to circumvent any "Chinese interference".

Of the Hong Kong authorities' announcement on Christmas Eve, Ho is defiant.

Written in Chinese on his Facebook page, the former Sing Tao chief editor wrote that he was proud of the arrest warrant and joked it was "the best Christmas present."

"A Canadian citizen like me... has the protection of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and exercised his right to the freedom of speech."

When Ho announced the plan to elect people to the "virtual" Hong Kong parliament in 2022, the Hong Kong Security Bureau said it would investigate Ho and others for subversion.

"But actually it's the Hong Kong communist authorities meddling in Canada's internal affairs, repeatedly issuing wanted notices for this Canadian citizen. Are they trying for another cross-border arrest? Does Beijing want Canada to become their client/subordinate state?"

Meanwhile Joseph Tay, the former TVB actor who is planning to be a candidate for the federal Conservatives when an election is called, is also on the wanted list.

In reaction to the announcement he wrote on social media:

"On Christmas Eve, an alarming and unbelievable piece of news arrived. Why choose this moment to release such a message? Clearly it was intended to rob us of peace. My wife and I immediately turned to prayer, entrusting these accusations entirely to the Lord. Plans we had made with family and friends for the holiday were instantly disrupted."

There are concerns someone may snitch on the two activists, but Hong Kong does not have extraterritorial powers in Canada. In any event Ho and Tay need to be careful with their movements... kidnapping is not beyond China...

Two Former Editors Convicted of Sedition in HK

Chung (left) and Lam (right) were convicted of sedition

Two former editors of the now-defunct online news portal Stand News were convicted of conspiracy to publish seditious articles following the implementation of the national security law in 2020.

Judge Kwok Wai-kin, handpicked by the chief executive, ruled that former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, 54, and ex-acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, 36, had either knowingly approved the illegal articles, or been reckless about the consequences of their actions.

Kwok ruled 11 of the 17 articles presented to the court were seditious, including an interview with journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam, and a commentary by fugitive former lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung, had advocated anti-government ideologies and disparaged police and prosecutors.

Chung was released on bail following conviction

The district court judge wrote that Stand News had become a "danger to national security".

Their newspaper's editorial line supported "Hong Kong local autonomy", he added. "It even became a tool to smear and vilify the Central Authorities [in Beijing] and the [Hong Kong] SAR Government," he said in a written judgement.

Chung and Lam had both pleaded not guilty; the former attended the verdict, while Lam was not there due to health issues. Kwok did not immediately hand down a sentence, but the pair could face a two-year prison sentence and fined HK$5,000 (US$640). They will be sentenced next month and are currently out on bail.

This case was seen as a litmus test for Hong Kong's press freedoms and the verdict has sent a chill in the local media sector.

During mitigation on Thursday, Lam's lawyer, Audrey Eu read out a letter on his behalf, in which he regretted not telling the police one thing after his arrest:

Lam was arrested in December 2021

"Journalists do not have to be loyal to anyone, support anyone or be enemies of anyone," he wrote. "And if we really have someone to be loyal to, it will be the public and only the public because we believe in freedom of the press and freedom of speech."

However Kwok did not see it that way and convicted the pair using colonial sedition laws.

While the Committee to Protect Journalists called the ruling "another nail in the coffin for Hong Kong's press freedom", the Hong Kong government hailed the verdict, saying: "Any individual organisation that incites hatred and engages in acts and activities endangering national security can never escape sanctions of the law, and such malicious acts will surely be duly punished."

A government spokesman added that journalists were free to air criticism based on facts, but said that "Stand News completely disregarded objective facts and contravened the special duties and responsibilities emphasised by international human rights conventions which journalists must observe."

Freedom for 5 + 1

Five speech therapists were released after 19 months in jail

Five speech therapists who were convicted of writing three children's books that alluded to the 2019 protests, were released Monday morning Hong Kong time.

While Lorie Lai Man-ling, Melody Yeung Yat-yee, Sidney Ng Hau-yi, Samuel Chan Yuen-sum, and Marco Fong Tsz-ho were sentenced to 19 months in jail for sedition, they had been remanded in custody so long that they were released soon after the conviction on September 7.

The five had written children's books about sheep and wolves, which the prosecution said allegedly spread separatism and stirred hatred and opposition to the the government. In court the prosecution alleged the sheep were Hongkongers, the wolves were the government.

Their crime? Writing books about sheep & wolves

The books did reference the 2019 protests, as well as the 12 Hongkongers who fled by speedboat to Taiwan, but were intercepted by the Chinese Coast Guard.

District Judge Kwok Wai-kin ruled the books were about the 2019 protests and other events in Hong Kong which amounted to "brainwashing" young readers with anti-China sentiment.

"They will be told that in fact, they are the sheep, and the wolves who are trying to harm them are the PRC Government and the Hong Kong Government," wrote Kwok, who was one of a panel of national security judges chosen by the chief executive. 

"The publishers of the books clearly refuse to recognise that [China] has resumed exercising sovereignty over [Hong Kong]," Kwok wrote in his decision, referring to the handover in 1997.

Rights groups said conviction eroded free speech

At the sentencing, Yeung said in court that her "only regret was that she had not published more picture books before her arrest".

Rights groups claimed charging the five under the colonial sedition law showed further erosion of free speech in the city.

"Hong Kong people used to read about the absurd prosecution of people in mainland China for writing political allegories, but this is now happening in Hong Kong," said Maya Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch in a statement. 

"Hong Kong authorities should reverse this dramatic decline in freedoms and quash the convictions of the five children's book authors."

In any event they are released, to the relief of many.

Chan flanked by Cyd Ho (left) and Emily Lau

Another piece of good news was the release of Figo Chan Ho-wun of the now disbanded Civil Human Rights Front after 17 months in jail for unauthorised protests.

He was greeted by Cyd Ho Sau-lan and Emily Lai Wai-hing upon his release.

Let Freedom Ring!

Non-HK News Briefs

Rushdie was violently attacked on stage today before a talk

Quick news briefs on things that did not happen in Hong Kong today:

It was horrific to hear the news that as writer Salman Rushdie was about to begin a lecture in front of over 2,500 people in Chautauqua, New York, he was brutally and violently attacked. 

He was rushed to hospital, on a ventilator

He was airlifted to hospital and hours later he had surgery and was on a ventilator. His agent says Rushdie may lose an eye and cannot speak. Security detained the attacker but no news yet on the motive.

The attack was an attack on freedom of expression and speech. It must have been such a shock being in the audience and watching the shocking incident happen within seconds. 

Some witnesses expressed their bewilderment that this was happening where they lived, a place where no one locks their doors.

And then there was the latest developments on former US president Donald Trump and the FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago in Florida to retrieve documents taken from the White House. 

Trump kept confidential papers from White House

Attorney General Merrick Garland called Trump's bluff and had the warrant unsealed to reveal the list of items that are allegedly found on Trump's Florida property.

It's a really long list of documents, classified and some considered extremely sensitive. 

There is word that the FBI will fingerprint each page to see whose fingerprints are on them...

Meanwhile, the wagons are circling in on Trump -- his company, Trump Organization and his CFO Allen Weisselberg will be in court to face tax fraud charges in October. 

To end on a lighter note, the buzz in Ontario was watching Premier Doug Ford swallow a bee in front of cameras and an audience.

Ford realising he had swallowed a bee

It happened in Dundalk, On, when he was taking questions from reporters when a bee buzzed around him and then flew right into his mouth.

"Holy Christ, I just swallowed a bee," he said, coughing violently.

After taking a sip of water from a bottle, Ford said, "This is going to be played over and over again."

He sure knows the news cycle these days.

But the premier did not seem fine after the bee went down his throat.

"Sorry guys. The little bugger got away in there," he said.

When someone asked if Ford was all right to continue, he replied: "I'm OK, it's buzzing in there."

Now reporters are going to contact apiculturalists what it's like to swallow a bee and if it's OK for your body to have one buzzing in there...