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Reflections on recent events, plus the occasional fact
free rant unfiltered by rational argument.
 

"If you want to read a blog to get a sense of what is going on in Hong Kong these days or a blog that would tell you what life was like living in colonial Hong Kong, this blog, WALTER'S BLOG, fits the bill."  Hong Kong Blog Review

15/5/2020 1 Comment

The Worm has turned.

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"His best mitigation is his guilty plea." Judge Amanda Woodcock.
After months of a relentless battering in the press and on social media, the besieged Hong Kong Police Force has something to celebrate. Meanwhile, I expect that bottoms are twitching amongst the 1,600 folks arrested and charged for public order offences.

Today, the district court handed down a four-year prison sentence for rioting. The defendant, a 22-year-old male, was part of the disturbance outside our parliament on 12th June 2019.

This judgement is significant for several reasons. First, the defendant pleaded guilty and displayed considerable remorse. That contrition should have earned him a significant discount on sentencing. The charge of rioting carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence, although the starting point for first offenders is around five to six years. 


In passing sentence, the judge said "Such violence cannot be tolerated in a civilised and diversified society. His best mitigation is his guilty plea." Without a doubt, the message is clear; taking part in a riot isn't a smart idea. 

Meanwhile, those awaiting trial will now be scrambling to revisit their pleas. If a guilty plea earns a defendant four years, then conviction after trial must invite a higher sentence. That's a sobering thought.

Second, the call to drop the riot characterisation — one of the five demands of the protest movement — is now affirmed as hopeless. Simply put, the court has judged the event a riot and sentenced this man to jail.

This demand was always a non-starter because it amounts to suspending the rule of law in the interests of a specific group. If one group could secure such a privilege, then you set a terrible precedent. Who's to say that someone else couldn't come along to demand the 'get out of jail free card'. 

Meanwhile, after a delay caused by a failed judicial review, the Independent Police Complaints Commission published its thematic study into police actions during 2019. 

The IPCC went looking for cancer and found eczema. In its findings, the Police Force comes cleared of the outrageous allegations made by the militants. The IPCC review affirms that Police only used force in response to escalating violence. ​

Furthermore, the IPCC concludes the use of force was in accord with international standards. Any rational person could see that for themselves. Only those with an agenda have sought to distort what happened. 

Also addressed by the IPCC are various critical incidents. These include the events at Yuen Long on 21 July 2019 and Prince Edward Station on 31 August 2019.




The IPCC has a far better understanding of the sequence of these events than the media or the militant's PR machine. Their edited videos and deliberate distortions don't cut the mustard. 

For the Prince Edward incident, the IPCC details the build-up, including the attacks on innocent passengers by protesters. Much of the media coverage ignored that sequence of events and only portrayed police action. Seen in context, the Police acted appropriately. 

Moreover, the detail provided by the IPCC exposes the lies of deaths and Police obstructing medical teams. Likewise, the IPCC concludes there is no evidence to substantiate claims the Police colluded with triads in Yuen Long. 

Serious allegations, such as a female being shot in the eye outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station on 11 August 2019 and other females being allegedly sexually assaulted at San Uk Ling Holding Centre and police stations, are not covered. 

Why? Well, because the purported victims did not come forward to complain to IPCC. One of these alleged victims is now wanted for making a false report to Police. 


In fairness, the IPCC doesn't exonerate the Police. Noting that improvements are needed; it makes several recommendations. 

Of course, this report will not appease the opposition. They view everything through a distorted prism of prejudice, thus facts are irrelevant to them. Already, in a childish hissy fit, Pan Dem legislator Lam Cheuk-ting ripped up a copy of the report. 

​That gesture sums up the Pan Dems. Instead of dealing with the issues by debate, they'd rather destroy the evidence. They live in a world that is best described as 'post-real' — where facts have no standing; only selfish opinions matter.


Some of these irrational types will only be content with the disbandment of the Police so they can run wild on the streets. That's never going to happen, and it's starting to unravel for the protest movement. So what's the scorecard looking like (thanks Digger) 

  • Extradition bill - withdrawn! 
  • Stop calling it a riot - courts have ruled it was a riot! 
  • Amnesty for rioters - hard to defend this claim when one of your own pleads guilty to riot. 
  • Universal suffrage - It is blatantly clear this is nothing but a sectarian independence movement with little to do with democracy 
  • Independent investigation - the IPCC report is out and puts the blame squarely on the rioters. Sorry. 

    ​
"Five demands, not one left!".
1 Comment
Latakia
16/5/2020 09:17:25 am

Coverage of the IPCC report is interesting. The SCMP, once heralded as the English-language "paper of record" avoided many of the inconvenient details in the report including the detailed origins of the 721 and 831 incidents which make the radicals and their pro-democrat enablers and inciters look terrible.

One example completely ignored in coverage are the very detailed Telegram messages calling for the "Liberation of Yuen Long" and inciting supporters to bombard the 999 console.

721 was a set up to create mayhem and exploit police disorganization and Yuen Long villagers lack of impulse control to create the fake "collusion" story providing an excellent fake news story complete with shocking images of white clad "triads" chasing "innocent" protesters and beating them mercilously.

The HK Government's complete lack of perspective and propensity to apologize their way out of every situation regardless of their degree of culpability all provided a perfect ruse to motivate more radicals into ever more violent actions.

Regardless of the conclusions of this report it does create a public record of how these incidents were orchestrated. Now that the lies have been exposed and the people behind them are facing consequences both legal and electoral it will be interesting to see how those schemers continue their campaign of hatred and violence.

The issue with pro-democrats over the last 25 years is that they've never had any concrete plans or ideas.

The Electoral Reform Bill which the pro-establishment bizarrely walked out of voting on and which the pro-democrats defeated was not perfect. But over time could have served as a platform for greater transparency and participation.

The initial Extradition Bill protests could have served as a way to set up a broader discussion on law reform initiatives. But for the pro-democrats this only lead to the perilous "all or nothing", zero-sum mentality of "Not One Less" .

That mentality may be inspirational to rally support in the short term. But this dogmatic approach with no room for compromise only creates a vacuum when it fails. Now what?

Dennis Kwok had the moral high-ground but spent 6 months being difficult for the sake of it. Their revolutionary slogans created false hope which resulted in a 22 year old lifeguard pleading guilty to rioting and losing 4 years of his life. His "sacrifice" for the cause will be forgotten. Getting a passport to travel will be difficult because while these Western countries all tout love of freedom and democracy they don't want random lawbreakers on their soil---too unpredictable and volatile. The Edward Leungs and Joshua Wongs are easier to control but this lifeguard? They'll publicly support his "Cause" and express sympathy for his fate but privately be relieved those convicted won't be able to darken their shores because at its core violence is never a welcome tactic or solution regardless of its motivations.

Revolution as an ideal is a great export...as an import not so much. A read of the IPCC report reveals some very dark tactics aimed at manipulating the young rank and file who then become disposable when they outlast their usefulness.

Great last line by the way...

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    Walter De Havilland was one of the last of the colonial coppers. He served 35 years in the Royal Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Police Force. He's long retired. 

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