Aren’t we all quite lucky? When we were younger, we read about how people in imperial China were thrown into prison because of what they said or wrote and also the Yan’an Rectification Movement in the 1940s. Now we are seeing a repeat of all that. Hong Kong today is being governed by China’s state-run media outlets, which blow their trumpet on a daily basis, sending the little sycophants within the Hong Kong government responding to everything they say in a panic. Will another Cultural Revolution be far off?

When a leftist storm rages, it always sweeps across the literary and art circles first. The way the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) allocates funds, a piece of artwork at M+, and a cinema showing a certain film have all come under savage criticism recently. State-run media outlets have accused the ACD of funding theater groups that have members who supported the anti-extradition movement. People who are anti-government should not take the government’s money, according to the media organizations, which also called out the “black hands”. The truth, however, is that there is no such thing as “the government’s money”. Money from the public coffers comes from taxpayers. Artistic value should be the benchmark for deciding which groups get ACD funds, and that has nothing to do with political allegiance. Hong Kong does not need Cultural Revolution-style model dramas.

As for artist Ai Weiwei’s artwork in the M+ collection that shows a raised middle finger, the target of the finger is the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing. But bear in mind in that series of work by Ai, the targets of his middle finger also include the US White House and the Louvre in Paris. It is a series pointing the finger, literally and figuratively, at the symbols of power. Yet it has sent the touchy “loyal rubbish” with an inferiority-superiority complex flying into a rage. The value of this sort of contemporary art, to what extent it can inspire self-reflections and whether the phenomenon of speculating on art pieces is healthy or not are issues that can be debated. But there is no need to run a front-page news item to bash the said artwork and politicize everything. In a free, diverse society, nothing should be a taboo and it should encourage free exchange of different ideas. That has always been an important part of the bedrock of Hong Kong’s success. As for the cinema that intended to show the documentary “Inside the Red Brick Wall”, those criticizing the plan should watch the film first before lashing out at it. It is a movie that confronts the viewer with the reality. If you think young people will be radicalized after watching it, you have another think coming.

The state-run media has also criticized the so-called “reactionary academics”. Universities are obsessed with their own international rankings, and the University Grants Committee encourages local universities to hire scholars from abroad and emphasizes the importance of universities being “international”. So the University of Science and Technology has taken heed of the committee’s advice by recruiting an internationally renowned cultural scholar. In a forum, the scholar said Hong Kong “belongs to the world” rather than China. Then pro-Beijing media outlets railed against her. In terms of the history of immigration and cultural communication in Southern China, her comment belongs to the realm of Hong Kong research. The scholar admitted to have joined the activities of the local protest group “Protect the Children” and predicted that many things would soon be deemed illegal in Hong Kong. As it turned out, the pro-Beijing media have dug out her past as evidence of her wrongdoing. That does not mean she is guilty of anything though. She has actually proved herself to be someone with foresight.

The authorities are looking at purging the education sector. It is contemplating installing surveillance cameras in school classrooms. As we can see, setting up a hotline encouraging people to report each other is not enough. School teachers’ words and deeds also need to be monitored as the authorities have to actively find faults with teachers. Meanwhile at RTHK, it is as if the newly appointed editor-in-chief has put on a communist armband as he carries out his news censorship work. What is the strategy to be a good editor-in-chief? It is to have no strategy. If he doesn’t like something, he can exercise naked censorship without any sound reason.

People who say they only want peace and stability should not think what is happening has nothing to do with them. When the authorities crack down on protesters, you stay silent because you are only after harmony and stability. When they criticize intellectuals and artists, you remain silent because you are not an artist. When they go against medical workers and journalists, you still say nothing because you are no “black doctor” or “black journalist”. When they clamp down on teachers, scholars and civil servants, you are still quiet. Eventually, they go after you, and no one will defend you.

Do you think there’s still a long way before all these happen? The central government only has to lay down a decree to solve Hong Kong’s housing problem and big consortiums will have to be worried. A new Yan’an Rectification Movement may target big landlords, and small, patriotic landlords belonging to the Heung Yee Kuk should watch out too. They must not think they are protected just because they wave the Chinese national flag. At the new Election Committee, they may not be able to safeguard the free lunch they used to enjoy at the existing committee. Of late, veteran members of the pro-establishment camp are being critical of the chief executive. In response to a mainland Chinese scholar’s claim that Beijing needed no “loyal rubbish”, a pro-Beijing local politician hit back by calling the scholar the same name. That is precisely a prelude to ferocious inner-party power struggles. Meantime, the Bauhinia Party is all confident and the bureaucratic force of the Liaison Office is fast expanding. Carrie Lam is also trying to show herself to be a force to be reckoned with, joining the fray and claiming that over the past 20 years some people in important positions had failed to “improve the system” and “turned a blind eye” to problems. Whom was she pointing her sword at? It might be some sort of commander she was referring to.

In the past when I read about the history of the Cultural Revolution, I always found it a hard nut to crack. The relations between different characters were all highly convoluted - there were the rebels and counter-rebels, and the new Red Guards and old Red Guards. There were fights against rightists, landlords, officials and the military. Then the canon was turned the other way round and more fights were on. People were judged by their family backgrounds, their ties with the Chinese Communist Party and their political astuteness. Some rebels put up a struggle and then seized power. Then their power got seized and they were ousted. The struggles were endless. As mainland writer Yang Jisheng succinctly remarks in his book “The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution”, “their struggles had nothing to do with revolutionary ideals or ideology; it was all about self-interest”. Everything is clear if you look at things this way.

To be sure, history does not repeat itself in a simple way. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong positioned himself as an idol and a man with supreme authority. Today, China counters the Western values and portrays itself as a country victimized by the West a century ago. It promotes a xenophobic sentiment as well as “national security, sovereignty and development interest”, which override all moral values and serve as the only criterion for testing truths. The system characterized by big criticism campaigns, purge, red terror, national education designed to dumb down the whole population, and a high concentration of power has never changed. It is just that there is now more money and also technology. There is a bigger variety of ways to win people’s hearts and castrate the enemies. If you are willing to kneel, you can live a hedonistic, decadent and extravagant life for a while like some eunuchs.

We need to read history, for history repeats itself. That is what is happening now indeed.

(Allan Au Ka-lun, veteran journalist)

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