Hong Kong Lawyers in Mass Silent Protest Over China's White Paper

 
Nearly 2,000 members of Hong Kong's legal profession, wearing black, marched silently on Friday to the territory's highest court in protest over a recent white paper by China asserting Beijing's power and declaring that Hong Kong judges should be "patriotic."

The white paper, issued on June 10 amid growing political tension surrounding the democratic process in the upcoming 2017 chief executive race, categorizes judges in Hong Kong as administrators who need to be "patriotic," as well as asserting Beijing's "comprehensive jurisdiction" over the former British colony.

The paper has been roundly criticized by the influential Hong Kong Bar Association, while a retired judge and two leading law deans came out in support of Friday's marchers.

Some 1,800 lawyers, legal scholars, and law students wearing black gathered outside the High Court in Admiralty at around 5.00 p.m. and marched to the Court of Final Appeal.

A University of Hong Kong law student surnamed Chan, who took part in the march, said he was marching in solidarity with the territory's widely trusted judicial system.

"I am afraid that Hong Kong's judicial independence is coming under political pressure, and I fear it will waver," Chan said.

"That's why I have come out in support of it," he said.

A few dozen pro-Beijing protesters also gathered at the start of the march, shouting "we support the white paper!"

Judicial independence threatened

Hong Kong Civic Party Chairman Audrey Eu, herself a lawyer by profession, said Beijing's white paper had sparked widespread fears that the ruling Chinese Communist Party would start micromanaging Hong Kong, despite having promised the territory "a high degree of autonomy" ahead of its1997 handover from Britain.
"There were some areas of this white paper that weren't in line with the Basic Law or the principle of 'one country, two systems,'" Eu said, referring to Hong Kong's miniconstitution.

"There is a big conflict with Hong Kong's judicial independence," Eu said.

"Judges have always enjoyed judicial independence here in Hong Kong, and they are not a part of the executive," she said. "Judges must swear an oath to uphold the Basic Law, not any government."

She said the turnout of lawyers in public protest was the largest seen since the handover.

"This has been a huge response," Eu said.

Beijing-based rights lawyer Teng Biao also took part in the march.

"Judicial independence is so important for the rule of law, and it should be defended at all times and in all places," Teng said.

"Hong Kong people have always cared about the human rights situation in mainland China ... so I feel a personal duty to march alongside Hong Kong people at this crucial juncture, to defend the rule of law," he said.

Media, computer attacks

Tensions are running high in Hong Kong following a series of attacks in Chinese state media on an unofficial referendum on the democratic process and a massive cyberattack on the poll's website.

More than 740,000 people have cast ballots since the mostly online PopVote poll opened last Friday, while organizers of the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement have vowed to blockade Hong Kong's business district if universal suffrage and public nomination of candidates are denied to the city's voters.

The poll has been repeatedly slammed as "illegal" by China's state-controlled media, and Beijing's hard-line response may have boosted the numbers taking part, political commentators say.

Hong Kong Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen said the white paper "carries no intention to impose requirements other than those in the Basic Law on judges," local media reported.

However, Professor Johannes Chan, dean of law at the University of Hong Kong, said Beijing seems to have changed its previous approach.

"I do think that the white paper represents a change in approach towards Hong Kong and that the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary is threatened," Chan told the South China Morning Post before joining the march.

Junta action a ‘violation’

 

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday had sharp words for neighbouring Thailand, criticising the junta-led country for abusing the rights of Cambodian workers in what he called the largest-ever repatriation effort seen by the Kingdom.Speaking at an event in the capital attended by the Thai ambassador, the premier said it was “a violation” to return more than 250,000 migrant workers this month without prior notification, and appealed to the junta to release 13 Cambodians arrested for allegedly using fake visas.“I would like to ask [coup leader] General Prayuth Chan-ocha to drop all charges against them,” he said, adding that the detained workers are innocent of any wrongdoing, but are themselves victims of a scam after they paid for legal visas only to receive fake documents instead. 

“The workers cannot read Thai, so they didn’t know if the visa was fake or not,” he added, ahead of a meeting today between high-ranking officials from the two governments on the Thai side of the border.The prime minister had, until yesterday, stayed quiet regarding the sudden, mass exodus of Cambodian workers from Thailand. He revealed, however, that he has been communicating with General Prayuth through letters, and was informed earlier this month that Thailand was enforcing migrant-worker policies to curb human trafficking, though there was “no intention to use force or to expel the migrants”.The premier also tried to lend a positive note to the situation, calling it an opportunity to turn “illegal status” into more secure “legal work overseas”.

Last week, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training announced that it would provide workers and students with $4 passports, and also recently banned recruitment agencies from charging workers any commission fee. The new, yet-to-be-implemented, legalisation process will cost $49 and involve a two-and-a-half-month waiting period as all documents are procured. 

“It’s a good measure in theory, but it’s not going to work,” said political analyst Kem Ley. “It doesn’t take into account indirect costs or opportunity costs, like to travel [to one of two passport offices in the country] and housing costs while the workers wait, during which they will be losing income by not working.”Hun Sen said yesterday that he hopes to resolve such issues by opening a passport office in every province, though did not elaborate on how or when that could be accomplished.

The opposition denigrated the government’s efforts however, faulting the head of state for talking loudly but not talking more concrete steps to assist the workers, especially the 13 who could face trial in Thailand.“By just announcing his position, he’s not actually doing anything,” opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said yesterday. “As the leader of the country, the prime minister is responsible for getting [the jailed workers] home.” 

Chhay added that there are “many diplomatic channels available”, recalling that when Thailand has taken issue with Cambodia in the past, they closed the border.Hun Sen showed no interest in retaliating however, and both countries have maintained they are cooperating over the bilateral issue. Senior officials from both governments are set to meet today for a press conference on the Thai side of the Poipet-Aranyaprathet border, and the prime minister said he expects an envoy from Thailand to visit Phnom Penh on July 1.Addressing the workers yesterday, Hun Sen told them that they do not have to go abroad for jobs.“Although wages here are lower than what you earn in Thailand, if you compare to fees you spend to get illegally to Thailand, it is not so much less,” he said, adding that “working in our country is safer”. 

On Wednesday, the National Employment Agency put out a statement advertising 16,146 vacant jobs largely in the garment sector, aiming to prove the government could in fact employ the recently returned migrant workers.“There are probably enough jobs if you include all the availability in the agriculture and construction sectors,” said Hong Choeun, director general of the agency.

Choeun also refuted yesterday the workers’ claims that they make too little in Cambodia to afford to live.“Not all unskilled Cambodian workers go to Thailand, so they must earn enough,” he said. “Thailand was like a gold rush of people, because they heard they could make more money, but now the gold rush is over.”

Compromise of sorts on dam

 

In an unexpected decision yesterday, Lower Mekong countries opened a two-day meeting in Bangkok by jointly agreeing a controversial hydropower dam must undergo regional consultation but could continue construction.Laos’s delegation to the Mekong River Commission – the intergovernmental body responsible for facilitating cooperation along the river – announced that it would yield to neighbouring countries’ demands and submit its Don Sahong Hydropower Project to further evaluation by member countries. 

The Lao government representatives made it clear, however, that they were not willing to halt construction on the $300 million project located less than 2 kilometres north of Cambodia.

“This is a problem, because it means that the most influence the other countries can hope to have is to provide input on how it is built and what sort of mitigation measures are used,” said Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director at International Rivers. “But under international law, affected countries have the right to request more studies and have a say in the project before it moves forward.”Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam have all requested that the Don Sahong’s Malaysian developers Mega First Corporation Berhad postpone assembly until transboundary impact assessments could be conducted to determine what kind of effects the dam may have on the 60 million residents relying on the Mekong, as well as several volatile migratory fish species. But the developers have so far not complied.

“There are options to sustainably manage the water resource that will allow [the countries] to meet power demands while conserving the ecological integrity of the Mekong,” said Marc Goichot, hydropower specialist at World Wildlife Foundation. “We do not need to take inconsiderable risks with Lower Mekong mainstream dams.”The Don Sahong is the second of nine hydropower dams that Laos plans to use to boost its economy, which is currently the smallest of the ASEAN states.

Earlier this week, the Thai courts accepted a lawsuit against the first of Laos’s dams, the 1,285-megawatt Xayaburi dam, based in part on the lack of scientific study proving that it would not harm downstream villagers.

US interests in East and East China seas at stake

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel.

In his papers presented at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on US-China relations on June 26, Daniel Russel noted that the United States has important interests at stake in the South China and East China seas.
The US diplomat stressed that in the Asia-Pacific region, Beijing’s neighbors are understandably alarmed by China’s increasingly coercive efforts to assert and enforce its claims in the South China and East China Seas. A pattern of unilateral Chinese actions in sensitive and disputed areas is raising tensions and damaging China’s international standing. China as a strong and rising power should hold itself to a high standard of behavior; to willfully disregard diplomatic and other peaceful ways of dealing with disagreements and disputes in favor of economic or physical coercion is destabilizing and dangerous.
Daniel Russel called on countries, including China to manage or settle claims through peaceful, diplomatic means, citing that the Philippines and Indonesia have just done so in connection with their exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundary. Disputes can also be addressed through third-party dispute resolution processes. Where parties’ rights under treaties may be affected, some treaties provide for third-party dispute settlement, as is the case of the Law of the Sea Convention, an avenue pursued by the Philippines in an arbitration with China currently being considered by an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under that treaty.
The United States and the international community oppose the use or the threat of force to try to advance a claim, and view such actions as having no effect in strengthening the legitimacy of China’s claims.
These issues should be decided on the basis of the merits of China’s and other claimants’ legal claims and adherence to international law and norms, not the strength of their militaries and law enforcement ships or the size of their economies.
He added that US Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Myanmar in August and will have intensive discussions on a number of confidence building measures, crisis prevention solutions, setting up a hotline and dealing with unexpected incidents.
At the hearing, Professor of Politics and International Affairs from Princeton University Aaron L.Friedberg said that in the past five years China has used stronger, more strident language and more assertive, and at times, forceful actions to assert its claims to control the waters and air space off its eastern seaboard.
Professor of Politics and International Affairs from Princeton University Aaron L.Friedberg .
“Chinese spokesmen have sought to deny that any shift has taken place, or to explain those changes that have occurred as mere reactions to the behavior of others. With the passage of time such claims have become increasingly difficult to sustain. Examples of China’s growing assertiveness continue to multiply.
The most recent include Beijing’s unilateral declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone that covers Japanese‐controlled islands in the East China Sea in November of last year, the deliberate near‐collision of a PLAN vessel with the US Navy cruiser Cowpens in December and, in the past two months, the deployment of oil rigs and a small armada of naval and maritime patrol vessels into waters claimed by Vietnam.” Friedberg said.
According to Mr Friedberg, over the last two decades China has sought opportunities to enhance their country’s influence and strengthen its position, while simultaneously attempting to erode and constrict those of the United States. Beijing’s recent behavior suggests an adjustment in tactics and timelines rather than a fundamental shift in strategy. China is pushing harder to achieve its long‐standing goals.
In addition to advancing its claims to control most of the water and resources off its coasts, it is using calibrated threats in an attempt to intimidate its neighbors, demonstrate the inadequacy of US security guarantees, and, if possible, to drive wedges between the United States and some of its regional friends and allies. China’s increased assertiveness reflects a mix of arrogance and insecurity. Following the onset of the global financial crisis, many Chinese analysts and policy makers concluded that the United States had entered into a period of unexpectedly rapid decline in its relative power and influence.
With their country’s fortunes seemingly on the rise, some argued that the time had come for China, if not to abandon “hiding and biding,” then at least to adopt a more forward‐leaning posture in its dealings with the rest of the world. Chinese planners appear to have concluded that, at least for the next several years, the US will continue to be strategically preoccupied and fiscally constrained. If it plays its cards right during this period, China can “create facts” and consolidate its position.
“China’s recent actions are deliberately dangerous. Its leaders are manipulating risk or they are knowingly creating hazardous situations in the hope that others will back down. Even if it is not intended to do so, such behavior could easily lead to confrontation and escalation. In the long run, China’s assertiveness could also turn out to be counterproductive and even self‐defeating. If its Asian nations respond by increasing their own capabilities and working more closely with one another and with the United States they may be able to block Beijing’s initiatives and balance its power. But such an outcome is not automatic or inevitable.
In the absence of an effective American response, China may yet be able to successfully pursue a divide and conquer strategy: intimidating some of its neighbors into acquiescence while isolating and demoralizing others. Indeed, this appears to be precisely what Beijing is now trying to do: reaching out to Washington and proclaiming its desire to form a “new type great power relationship” with the United States, while at the same time ratcheting up pressure on key targets, especially US allies Japan and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam”, said Professor Friedberg.

VN rejects China’s new “cow tongue” map

Spokesperson of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Le Hai Binh

The Chinese map seriously violates international law, affirmed the Spokesperson.
Xinhua News Agency publicized the illicit map on June 25, saying that the islands in the East Viet Nam Sea are shown clearer in the new map than in China’s traditional maps.
The Philippines also slammed China's publishing of the new vertical map which shows contested isles and reefs as part of its territory.Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose called China's latest move asserting its contentious maritime claims as seen in the map as an "ambitious expansionism." The map uses the "nine-dash line" defining 80 percent of the waterway within its sovereignty.
With the illegal boundary line, China puts nearly all of the East Viet Nam Sea, including Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, under its sovereignty.

Beside the illicit oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone, China is also escalating tension in the East Viet Nam Sea by moving a similar oil rig named Nanhai 9 to 17 degrees 14,1 minutes north latitude and 109 degrees 31 minutes east longitude.China also informed that its geophysical survey vessel Yang Shi You 719 is operating in the East Sea since June 23-August 28, 2014.
Both China’s new drilling platform and geophysical survey vessel are now operating in the overlapped areas outside of the mouth of the Tonkin Gulf that has not been delimited between Viet Nam and China, Mr. Binh said, adding that Viet Nam will closely follow the situation.
Mr. Binh re-affirmed Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos and demanded China immediately stop all the illegal actions, respect international law, strictly implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and not repeat the same actions in the future.The international community has voiced grave concern over what China is doing in the East Viet Nam Sea. Recently, Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong called for resolution of territorial disputes through international law instead of using might.

However, China, a member of the United Nations Security Council, is taking more perverse and ambitious actions in order to assert its groundless sovereignty.It seems that China is pressing Viet Nam and the Philippines to defer to China’s ridiculous demand but State President Truong Tan Sang declared that NO ONE, NO COUNTRY can force Viet Nam to make concessions on territorial sovereignty.State President Sang recalled the words that King Le Thanh Tong once said to his royal court, which were recorded in Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu (The Complete Annals of Dai Viet): “How can we abandon even a single inch of our mountain, our river? You must firmly stand your ground, not letting them gradually encroach. If they do not listen, we can send our envoys to the north to clarify justice. If you dare to concede even a single inch of the land of our ancestors to the enemy, it will be a crime deserving of death.”