Since epidemic prohibitions on meetings of even more than four will still be in effect, Hong Kong authorities on Monday canceled a pro-democracy march scheduled on July 1, the centenary of the region’s transfer to China from Great Britain.
Simultaneously, authorities from the China-controlled island administration decided that over 100 large public activities can commemorate the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary.
Pro-Democracy Rallies Canceled While The Communist Celebrations are Held Despite COVID Risks
This pro-democracy community, which had just witnessed Hong Kong authorities reject the massive yearly Tiananmen memorial in a large park (and subsequently the closure of the main pro-democracy paper), was unsurprised by the disparity between the two announcements by the Chinese.
Last edition of Hong Kong's Apple Daily.
The pro-democracy newspaper printed a million copies of its final edition after authorities froze its assets using a sweeping new national security law, ending a 26-year run of taking on China's authoritarian leaders pic.twitter.com/DX3xATK8pr
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 24, 2021
Hong Kong authorities exploited the virus as a reason to postpone the July 1 protest in Victoria Park again for the second season in a row, as they did with the June 4 Tiananmen Square commemoration. Pleas by rally leaders to follow social distance guidelines did not sway the cops. Only a few of the infections are currently being investigated; Hong Kong has practically no coronavirus instances to report.
The first of July also happened to be the 100th birthday of the Chinese Communist Party’s formation, and all epidemic limitations have been lifted for the occasion.
China’s state-owned media, on Monday, claimed that Hong Kong will host almost one hundred programs to commemorate both the communism centenary and Hong Kong’s handover to Chinese sovereignty 24 years earlier; this makes it very clear that only activities critical of the transfer are deemed health concerns.
In the 26 years since its founding, Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper has been unrestrained in its criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
But now with its assets frozen by the Hong Kong government, it will cease operations this week. https://t.co/zoKq7pZf6t
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 23, 2021
The very first festival promoted by Global Times had been a picture art show focusing on Chinese mothers and everyone’s exceptional actions over the last generation; this triggered attendees of the forbidden July 1 pro-democracy protest to question how inclosed super spreader activities could be deemed healthy, while their open-air protest with massive social distancing was restricted and deemed dangerous.
The Communist Government Keeps Touting Gender Inclusivity Despite Obvious Exclusion
Hong Kong bids emotional farewell to pro-democracy paper Apple Daily in what is seen as a blow to press freedomhttps://t.co/reusvUT338 pic.twitter.com/degzgsh1rz
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 24, 2021
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s puppet governor, gushed at the picture exhibition that the Communist Government has done a good job achieving gender equality and protecting the rights of women.
She stated that they have seen a considerable improvement in female political representation throughout the years, with the majority of women delegates to the National People’s Congress and members of the Chinese People’s Political Advisory Conference increasing dramatically.
In reality, the People’s Congress, which serves as a ceremonial legislature with no actual legislation authority, is only approximately 25% female and 14.5 percent minority. Women of color are totally shut out of the legislation’s senior roles.
Females from the Uyghur Minority population reportedly experienced sexual assault in the Chinese confinement camps where they were herded, and they’ve been force-sterilized to restrict their population growth.
