The Hong Kong “police government” has gladly retrieved archaic colonial laws and inherited legal weapons of the imperialist era to govern the rabble. Under the leadership of an elite group of distinguished Chinese, Hong Kong has returned to the jungle of draconian laws established by the former colonial power half a century ago.

The arrest of Tam Tak Chi, leading figure of People Power, for uttering seditious words under the Crimes Ordinance is a historic act of the SAR government in a brave new world. Incapable of public debate and unable to gain public support, the government has torn apart its mask and ended up in resorting to speech crimes as the means to rule. This exemplifies that the SAR government is fundamentally a colonial government.

Details of the case are: Tam has chanted the slogans of “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times”, “Corrupt cops, may your whole family die” , “721 cops no show, 831 cops kill” and “Five demands, not one less” at street booths. These are considered words of incitement, meaning that they will “incite hatred and contempt against the government”, “incite dissatisfaction or rebelliousness among Hong Kong people”, “incite or reinforce contempt, disgust and hostility among people of different classes” and “incite hatred and contempt against Hong Kong courts”…

Who is inciting hatred or contempt? An episode of the demonstration last Sunday has spread across the globe. A totally unarmed 12-year-old girl who was out buying art supplies was intercepted by the police. The girl was so frightened that she ducked aside and tried to run away. Full geared policemen knocked her to the ground and knelt on her. In a statement released later, the police said that she was acting “suspicious” and “minimum necessary force” was used to apprehend her. Without any reasonable ground for arrest, the police just dragged a passer-by who tried to help the girl and her brother into the scene, and prosecuted the trio for breaching the prohibition on group gathering. Carrie Lam remarked that any members of the public could file a complaint if they are not pleased with the police; she has no concern at all for the psychological impact of police bully on the little girl. Meanwhile, a bus driver dared to honk the bus horn when the Police was on site. He was arrested for possessing an offensive weapon after a spanner was found in his bag. In fact, bus drivers may carry a spanner to adjust the rear-view mirror. Day after day, the police conjures offences out of nothing.

It is obvious that the police are inadequately trained, low in resilience, and emotionally unstable. Hong Kong people have always been tolerant. We understand that there will be a black sheep in every flock and we will not tar all policemen with the same brush. Nevertheless the Hong Kong “police government” now systematically covers up and justifies the shortcomings of the police, gives green lights to police brutality, swears that black is white, refuses to admit mistakes and accepts responsibility, and let go checks and balances. All these incite hatred and the Hong Kong “police government” is indeed digging its own grave.

In 2003 when the government tried to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, the Secretary of Justice Elsie Leung remarked that there is always a knife above our heads. She probably meant that the oppressive colonial laws have always been around. Then why did the government want to enact a new law? It was because the knife has become rusty. The oppressive legal provisions of the colonial era are far-fetched and vague. Anyone with a little concept of the rule of law will know that they cannot stand the test of international human rights law.

Today, the Hong Kong “police government” is emboldened and does not hesitate to reveal its colonial nature. It is trying to revitalize rusty weapons and promote literary inquisition. If “Corrupt cops, may your whole family die” chanted by Tam Tak Chi is incitement, how about the police calling protesters “cockroaches” or Junius Ho yelling “Kill without mercy”? The “police government” must not employ double standards. The party media have repeatedly criticized pro-democracy judges; they are in fact systematically inciting hatred against Hong Kong’s legal system.

Speech crimes can be very arbitrary. Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Oliver Wendell Holmes has a famous saying: Every idea is an incitement. The more interesting an idea, the more “inciting” it is, leading to progress and change in a society. Holmes said that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.

The Carrie Lam administration is a puppet government. We cannot expect that they will be confident enough to let different opinions freely compete with each other. They will only mess around with old weapons of colonial rule to kill the dissidents. I have a few words for the eternal sinners: please have some self-respect. To flatter, to obey, to betray yourself, your profession and Hong Kong…. that’s your choice and your way to survive and to ascend. But please do it nicely. You claim to lead Hong Kong people into a new era, but you invoke the weapon of the most disdainful colonial era, as you call it, to rule Hong Kong. It is so contradicting and hypocritical, inciting hatred, contempt, disgust, hostility, and rebelliousness.

Your sheer existence is incitement.

(Allan Au Ka-lun, veteran journalist)

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