Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Aug 23

A huge thanks to Law Council of Australia, the country’s peak national legal body, for speaking out against my Hong Kong disbarment within a day of it being made public.

My disbarment is not just about me. It is a reflection of where the Hong Kong legal system is at right now.

3 13

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Aug 22

Here is my response to being struck off from the roll of Hong Kong Solicitors, which was made public today in the Hong Kong Government Gazette.

(Link to Gazette entry: www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/eng...)

1 8 16

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Aug 7

I am grateful to Foreign Minister Penny Wong for this. Not all transnational repression are this brazen - they can be quite subtle or even take on airs of due process. I hope the Australian Government will act against all forms of transnational repression.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Penny Wong complained to China about intimidation of exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners

Exclusive: Foreign affairs minister used July meeting on Asean sidelines to elevate criticism of targeting of Adelaide-based Ted Hui and Melbourne-based Kevin Yam

www.theguardian.com

1 10

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Aug 7

Great to see @badiucao.bsky.social, Cheng Lei, Kylie Moore-Gilbert and many other friends at Badi’s exhibition at Goldstone Gallery in Melbourne last night!

1 6

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 25

The HK Government extended the terms of 3 HK Court of Final Appeal non-Permanent Judges by another 3 years. One of them is former Australian High Court Justice William Gummow. His extension at a time when Hong Kong’s crackdown on dissent continues to intensify is highly disappointing.

2 4

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 13

Tried doing a half marathon race for the first time at the ripe old age of nearly 49! Am pretty slow, but the main thing is to get to the finish line. The road is long, and I’m always that so many of you are running and fighting alongside me.

5

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 2

…in pacifying Hong Kong, it needs to loosen its grip over Hong Kong, just as it did back in the 1990s in China itself. But I am not holding my breath for that to happen. (7/7)

2

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 2

…working levels, China is ensuring the very mismatch between propaganda and reality which leads to propaganda being ineffective and, worse still, being a source of resentment in itself.

As such, if China wants its propaganda to be effective… (6/7)

1 2

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 2

…the realisation of this mismatch between propaganda and reality merely made those subject to years of propaganda even more angry and discontent.

Which brings us back to this report. By continuing its endless crackdown and persecution even down to the most granular everyday living and… (5/7)

1 4

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 2

…years of propaganda efforts in places like Tibet and Xinjiang failed. Propaganda about ethnic equality and harmony was not matched by the reality in which Tibetans and Uyghurs were denied equality in everyday life, economic opportunities and fair treatment by the State. If anything, … (4/7)

1 5

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 2

…all the happy talk propaganda about China were mostly matched in reality, with most 1989 dissenters being eventually forgiven, economic opportunities being plentiful and individuals’ lives mostly being more free.

By contrast, … (3/7)

1 3

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 2

…some of their Mainland Chinese counterparts.

My answer: much depends on whether the reality that HK people face would at least in part match the propaganda.

For example, post-Tiananmen Square Massacre propaganda in China during the 1990s largely worked. This was because… (2/7)

1 1

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 2

This piece reminds me of one thing that I often get asked, which is whether China’s current attempts to force-feed “patriotic” propaganda in Hong Kong through education, media and the like would turn HK people into pro-CCP Chinese nationalists, like at least… (1/7)

apnews.com/article/hong...

Hong Kong's security net extends beyond arrests as small businesses pressured

It’s been years since Hong Kong’s mass arrests of activists devastated its pro-democracy activism. But a crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese city is still expanding, hitting restaurant...

apnews.com

1 5 6

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 1

… are now being extended into business, education, culture, and “soft resistance” (whatever the hell that means).

May all Hongkongers live on as best we can, as we await the day when we shall be free. (3/3)

1 2 9

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 1

But I count myself lucky. Many have suffered much worse, ranging from business disruption, work harassment, time in prison, you name it. And for a piece of law that claims only to affect a tiny minority of people, it has turned Hong Kong upside down, and its tentacles … (2/3)

1 1 7

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jul 1

Today marks the 5th anniversary of Hong Kong’s National Security Law.

This day 5 years ago, things were going very well for me - I just got promoted from salaried partner to equity partner at an international law firm. 5 years on, I am now a PhD student with a HKNSL bounty over my head. (1/3)

1 6 17

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 30

… called for the end of one party rule in China. Expect the Hong Kong Law Society to take further, even more heavy handed action against Ho after he is inevitably convicted of subversion. (4/4)

1 5

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 30

… languishing in jail both for this conviction as well as being held in prison pending trial for the more serious charge of subverting state power in his role as leader of a group that commemorated the Tiananmen Square Massacre and… (3/4)

1 1 5

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 30

… unbecoming of a solicitor, thereby compromising his integrity, his own reputation, and the reputation of the legal profession” after being convicted of inciting an unauthorised protest in 2019.

Ho is currently a Hong Kong political prisoner, … (2/4)

1 1 5

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 30

Hong Kong solicitor and democracy movement veteran Albert Ho has had his right to practice as a solicitor suspended for 3 months and ordered to pay HK$180000 in the costs of the Hong Kong Law Society in prosecuting him. He was found to have “engaged in conduct … (1/4)

1 6 7

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 25

I have nothing against Jimmy O. Yang talking up Hong Kong (hey, lots of HK shops and eateries are doing it tough), nor his outdated nostalgia about the city he once called home. But I do object to him taking blood money from a repressive regime that caused HK’s doldrums.

Hong Kong Free Press HKFP @hongkongfp.com · Jun 25

HK-born American stand-up comedian Jimmy O. Yang has become the latest "marquee" celebrity to partner with the city's tourism body to "tell good stories of HK." In full: buff.ly/Rm9SYb0

Jimmy O. Yang partnered with tourism body to 'tell good stories of HK'

HK-born American stand-up comedian Jimmy O. Yang has become the latest "marquee" celebrity to partner with the city's tourism body to "tell good stories of HK."

buff.ly

2 4 5

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 10

Downloading and playing an online game (and paying to play the game and for certain of its settings and features) is now considered national security crimes in Hong Kong.

It’s the best advertisement that the makers of the game can have.

3

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 6

On this day 13 years ago, Tiananmen activist Li Wangyang was killed by PRC days after he gave a defiant interview to Hong Kong media.

On this day, jailed HK democracy activist Joshua Wong has more trumped up NatSec charges piled on him.

RIP Li Wangyang.

Free Joshua Wong.

2 5

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 5

The last time Hong Kong had a water safety scandal, it was Democrat Helena Wong who called the authorities to account and forced them to fix things quickly after they initially tried to fob things off just like now. Helena is now in prison on trumped-up NatSec charges.

www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

Hongkongers demand answers after banned substance found in estate’s water supply

Government is expected to release details of its test results later on Thursday, insider reveals.

www.scmp.com

3 7 12

Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam.bsky.social · Jun 4

History will not be forgotten, even if tyrants spent 36 years trying to wipe out all memory and hope.

Let us also remember the likes of Hong Kong political prisoner Chow Hang Tung, who is on a 36-hour hunger strike as an act of remembrance.

Lest We Forget.

#TiananmenMassacre

1 3 9