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‘No one is allowed to overtop the law’, except me|Au Ka-lun

蘋果日報 2021/03/05 10:08


Another celebrated saying from a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was televised: “No one is allowed to overtop the law.” Spitted out by a wolf warrior, the saying sounds as reasonable as a car mechanic playing football and inadvertently dropping a spanner and a hammer in the football field(part of a well-known dialogue in one of Stephen Chow’s famous movies named Shaolin Soccer), and also as justifiable as the “unswerving patriots” and their families holding an overseas passport while pledging love for the motherland. Even composing a sci-fi novel about “lam chau” (mutual assured destruction) can be reckoned subversion of state power. All this pertains to New Age creative reasoning. What is before our eyes is the novel thinking and ethic: swearing black is white. If you haven’t appreciated it from experience, please turn over a new leaf and try to learn about it harder.
In response to the unanimous condemnation by foreign forces of the prosecution for subverting state power against the 47 activists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “No one is allowed to overtop the law.” How did a group of people who were to run in an election and wanted to strive for most seats in the legislature commit a crime? How did a group of people who requested the Chief Executive to respond to public opinion pursuant to the Basic Law overtop the law?

Legal weapon addressing prevailing circumstances

Let’s admire what is in front of us, emancipate our thought and march to the new world with bravery. The New Age law, renamed legal weapon early on, falls into the category of ammunition that is monopolized by state power. So, don’t imagine your love is reciprocated, as no one armed with a rifle will talk with you about kindheartedness and righteousness. In New Age, self-contradiction is an axiomatic truth; swearing black is white is the rule; making a comprehensive judgment based on limited information is essential. Who is right? Who is wrong? Let’s judge by law.
With the weapon in hand, fighting the enemy is the only objective. The executive and judicial departments requested the 47 people to report to police stations earlier than scheduled. In court, flustered and in a flurry, the prosecuting side declared they didn’t have enough time to glean enough evidence; applications for bail are so long-drawn-out that they have broken the court’s record; coming up for trial very late at night after having been detained overnight, the defendants were fatigued by journeys between the court and the reception center; waiting and starving in the defendant dock for 12 hours, some passed out from hunger and were sent to hospital. The only sensible exposition of why they were hastily indicted and denied bail while evidence was not ready yet is the legal principle of presumption of innocence has to be put away and replaced by the legal weapon to awe class enemy such as doctors, lawyers, academics, young idealists – taking them into custody before trial. The reason for doing all this now is that this is an opportune moment to put on a good curtain-raiser before the honorable National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference put on a marvellous show.
The lackey having the weapon targeted at the enemy is an elegant secretary who loves putting on chi-pao. Her iteration that “judges are not subject to interference” is outdated. Xia Baolong, Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, singled out by name in public Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Joshua Wong Chi-fung and accused them of being “the worst among those opposing China and stirring up trouble in Hong Kong”, stating clearly that they should be penalized “by law” for their “illicit behavior”. It takes no modesty and amiability to kill an enemy, and no time can be spared for striking an attitude towards judicial independence and judges not subject to interference, which is literally superfluous. We need to be self-confident enough to eradicate the crap passed down from the British colony.
“Patriots ruling Hong Kong” has been dug out of the armory recently, and risen up in one bound to become the “initial resolution”, “core essential” and “basic principle” of “one country, two systems”. Busybodies asked why there is not a single word about it in the Basic Law, provided it is so important, and why Hong Kongers holding an overseas passport are allowed by the Basic Law to take up senior posts in the government.
Having forgotten what Deng Xiaoping said in those years, the ones who are still discussing what patriotism means are so ill-informed of the trend of events. The number of accessories to the legal weapon is flexible; the redline for “patriots” is adjustable, as making everything address prevailing circumstances is the zeitgeist. One day, “2+2=5” will be the holy grail in Hong Kong’s constitutional order, to which if you don’t bow down, you will be accused of challenging the fundamental system of the state.
Therefore, after the patriotic camp having suffered a crushing defeat in the District Council election, and been repelled by voters, the easiest way out is to make amendments to the system. Having lost a soccer game and learned from the pain, one will definitely plot to disqualify players and even nullify rival’s good shots that score by amending the game rules. So, there is nothing wrong with rescinding the District Council Functional Constituency in the Election Committee, redefining the geographical constituencies for the LegCo election, setting up a committee for examining candidates’ qualification, closely following the electoral arrangement under the theocracy in Iran, pressing on by hook or crook, slapping oneself across one’s own face, being self-contradictory, and reneging on promises. If munitions are antiquated, replace it with ones of mass destruction. By the same token, if a law is undesirable, replace it with a helpful one. Everything is just matter-of-fact.
Ladies and gentlemen, as the Kingdom of Heaven is nearing, you have to understand better that pressing on by hook or crook is a virtue, that being self-contradictory is eternal truth, and that so-called promises are just rhetoric to be broken. I won’t breach the law, because I’m the law. If I want to break the law, I will make a new law to overtop the existing law. “No one is allowed to overtop the law “, except me.
(Allan Au Ka-lun, veteran journalist)
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