In the “Hong Kong version of the Meilidao Incident” with the 47 pro-democracy activists, the legal forerunners set up heavy artillery outside the court and immediately sought bail reviews or appeals. They exhausted their legal weapons to seal the doors of the court, preventing anyone from leaving on bail to reunite with their families. The rule of law, of which Hong Kong was once so proud, has fallen to pieces. Many people may have wondered, “what can you achieve with such ruthlessness?” Is it necessary to resort to such ugly use of legal weapons? For the sake of eliminating everyone with trumped-up charges, all of you highly educated legal professional fighters, how can you live with yourself?

This reminded me of the story of Tibet.

Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser wrote about Tibet’s tragic fall and made some observations. The Chinese government has taken the anti-corruption campaign as an opportunity to clean up dissidents. As a result, all provincial and municipal officials were in a state of flux, while Tibet was the only place that was spared with little to no news of major corruption. Could it be that there is no trace of contamination and no corruption in the Buddha’s land of Tibet? Of course, this is a silly idea, but all those old horses, who know the way and are winners at the game of life, have long since understood the great principle of muddling through. By raising the banner of anti-Tibetan independence and supporting the central government, they have a pretext that the big picture is more important and all corruption and misconduct should be put aside for the time being.

Woeser traced back the story of the Cultural Revolution in Tibet and found that many of the activists who participated in the struggle sessions at that time were still alive and thriving decades later, despite all the evil things they did. Some of them, including both Han Chinese and Tibetans, are still sitting in high positions and enjoying their state salaries. The traumatic blood and tears of the Cultural Revolution half a century ago have been completely cleansed. In Tibet, the topic of the Cultural Revolution is more tightly covered than in other provinces and cities, and cannot be discussed or looked back on. Once again, all the dirty and scandalous things were swept under the carpet with a cry of “national unity.”

A group of people quickly learned that there is a way of life called “anti-Tibetan independence” for a bowl of rice. As long as you show your loyalty, courage and perseverance in “anti-Tibetan independence,” as well as your patriotism and love for the Party and for China, you will not need to worry about getting fed or clothed.

In her book “Voices from Tibet,” Woeser also wrote that the greatest talent of the many “ministers in Tibet” appointed from Beijing, or “cadres in aid of Tibet” sent from various provinces, and even ethnic Tibetan officials was to spare no effort in attacking the Dalai Lama, the thorn in their eyes. Anyway, there is no need to take the matter of “serving the people” too seriously, political correctness is most important. As long as the anti-Tibetan independence is fought with great enthusiasm, the more secure your iron rice bowl will be and the higher your position will be.

In Hong Kong, a group of people who live off “anti-Hong Kong independence” and thrive on “national security legislation” have quickly emerged into prominence.

The HK$8 billion (US$1 billion) is only the initial funding for the National Security Forces, whose establishment is said to grow to several thousand people. In order to prove the importance of their existence, they will have to endlessly search for enemies of the state and uncover breaches of national security on all fronts so that this bowl of rice can continue to be enjoyed. The same is true for the education sector, the media and the civil service. Those who have principles, stand for their ideas and take practical actions are being eliminated in a backward elimination process and replaced by those who know which way the wind blows and have their national security rice bowls feasted on anti-Hong Kong independence. In the dining hall of the rule of law, a group of eloquent legal elites and seemingly impartial judges with flowery smiles on the bench began to disregard their decency and joined in the snatching of food.

I believe that justice is in the heart, not in your large intestines.

(Allan Au Ka-lun, veteran journalist)

Click here for Chinese version

We invite you to join the conversation by submitting columns to our opinion section: [email protected]

Apple Daily reserves the right to refuse, abridge, alter or edit guest opinion columns for accuracy, length, clarity, and style, and the right to withdraw and withhold columns based on the discretion of our editorial page editors.

The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play