Memoirs of a Loser 187: Pan-Democratic versus Native

The local faction is rising among young people, and the number of conflicts with the patriotic democrats is too numerous to mention. Just two things to talk about here.

After 1989, the Hong Kong Stake will hold a candlelight party in Victoria Park every year on the night of June 4. Tens of thousands of citizens attended, raised their candles, and chanted to rehabilitate the June 4th Movement and build a democratic China. The 10,000-point candlelight photos taken from high places every year tell the world that there is a place where sovereignty belongs to China, and the "struggle of memory and forgetting" continues.

With the rise of local consciousness, the younger generation who were brought by their parents to the Victoria Park to attend the party and had a democratic awakening had different ideas from their predecessors. They do not see the prospect of democracy in China, nor do they see that under the sovereignty of a one-party dictatorship, Hong Kong is no longer democratic, and it is even difficult to delay its decline. They feel hypocritical and meaningless about the fixed slogan of the June 4th Movement and the same "rites as ceremonies" every year. The number of people attending the June 4th party has gradually declined.

In 2013, citizens' ratings of stakes continued to decline. The local faction launched a boycott of the Victoria Park party on the Internet. They did not support the mourning of June 4th, but opposed the slogan of "patriotism, love for the people, and the spirit of Hong Kong" proposed by the stake. They chose another place to hold a memorial service for June 4th.

There is no word "patriotism" in the June 4 theme of the stake in the past years. Why did it suddenly propose "patriotism" in 2013? It's hard not to think that this has something to do with the CCP's proposal in recent years that the condition for Hong Kong politicians is to "love the country and Hong Kong". In connection with the conflict between China and Hong Kong in recent years, politicians from the Greater China faction rarely participate in the protests from an independent standpoint in Hong Kong. At this time, when a theme of "patriotism" is proposed on June 4th, how Hong Kong's public sentiment will react is known without evaluation.

"Guo" was kidnapped by the party, and it is well known in Hong Kong. To oppose the state religion (national education), in fact, is to oppose the "party education". In the mainland, sober intellectuals have long seen the meaning of "patriotism". Therefore, when the stake sent emails and newspapers to Tiananmen mother Ding Zilin several times on the grounds that the local faction was boycotting the candlelight gathering, hoping that she would criticize the "fallacy" of the local faction, Ding Zilin replied: Although he opposed the boycott of the candlelight party , but she stood on the side of the local faction and said, "I don't think other people's (local faction) opinions are completely unreasonable." After the bloody crackdown in 1989, the concept of patriotism changed, and the regime turned patriotism into love for the party. She said, "I don't understand why the stake came up with this slogan. It's so stupid! ... The stake should reflect on it. ”

Not only did the stake not reflect on Ding’s opinion, but instead, Xu Hanguang, a member of the stake standing committee, replied to her an email with 16 points of opinion, of which Article 4 mentioned that the position on the “patriotic” slogan was “to the end” ( That is, support to the end), Article 5 criticizes D for not understanding the situation in Hong Kong, Article 3 says that the pan-democrats are inherently concerned about China's affairs and development, which is patriotism. Also refers to Ding suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Ding said, "This is simply an insult to my personality." "I will give some opinions and hope to improve. Even if it is wrong, it will not attract such abuse."

In the anger of Tiananmen Mothers, Xu Hanguang wrote to Ding Zilin to apologize. Stake Chairman Li Zhuoren announced that the original slogan would be changed to "Rehabilitate June 4th, never give up."

In this year and the following years, although the candlelight in Victoria Park on June 4 was still brilliant, there were also local political groups and university campuses that held other June 4 rallies to rival the stake. It can also be said to convey different meanings of June Fourth.

In 2016, I was invited to attend the June 4th Gala hosted by the Student Union of the University of Hong Kong. In my speech, I said that Hong Kong people have no say in the future of Hong Kong, so I actively fought for democracy in China during the 1989 pro-democracy movement, and I wanted to bring the protection of Hong Kong's freedom and rule of law. But after nearly 30 years, Chinese democracy has become increasingly hopeless. Hong Kong people, especially young people, feel that in order to save Hong Kong's sinking, they must first recognize that they are Hong Kong people. If Hong Kong wants to save itself, it must get rid of the gift of begging China. I said that I do not doubt the motives of the Victoria Park mourning activities over the years, but in fact it has been continuously strengthening our China awareness, and the result is that we give up our autonomy to fight for the destiny of Hong Kong. Under these circumstances, it is only natural for the younger generation to cut off from the Victoria Park memorial.

Another incident is that in 2013, the vice chairman of the Democratic Party, Cai Yaochang, as the director of a community organization association, assisted a new immigrant in filing a judicial review of his application for CSSA, which was ruled in favor by the Court of Final Appeal, causing social controversy.

The so-called "CSSA" means that Hong Kong provides a safety net for those who cannot support themselves financially, so that their income can reach a certain level to meet the basic needs of life. The Hong Kong government enacted an ordinance in 2004 to limit new immigrants to seven years of residency in Hong Kong before they are eligible to apply for CSSA. The final court ruled that this ordinance does not comply with the Basic Law. New immigrants arriving in Hong Kong can apply for CSSA immediately.

The final court ruled in favor of the new immigrants, based on Article 36 of the Basic Law: "Hong Kong residents have the right to enjoy social welfare in accordance with the law." This article does not specify that they must be "Hong Kong permanent residents" who have lived in Hong Kong for seven years.

Judging according to the word of the law is naturally legal. But this is obviously a loophole in the formulation of the Basic Law in the first place. Because it is impossible for any country or region to receive the same benefits as local permanent residents at the beginning of immigration. The new immigrant who applied for judicial review, named Kong Yunming, lost her case in the High Court earlier. The judge pointed out that Confucius owns a property in Guangzhou and her two sons are able to make a living. She is not a completely helpless widow. But Cai Yaochang still helped her appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.

Hong Kong people who respect the law will not challenge the ruling of the final court. But is this reasonable? Cai Yaochang, who helped new immigrants in judicial review, was scolded by social networking pages. During the 2014 New Year's Day parade, Cai Yaochang was besieged by a group of "anti-red" netizens, who denounced him as a "traitor of Hong Kong" and cursed him to "go to hell".

How many people in Hong Kong have property in Guangzhou and their son can earn a living? Why did Mrs Confucius still apply for CSSA in Hong Kong? However, human nature is inherently greedy, and after the "brutal struggle" of the Revolution and "everything looks at money" after the reform and opening up, many mainlanders are especially greedy to the extreme. Hong Kong has CSSA, why not? Why don't you live in public housing? Buy a one-way permit from the public security authority, or spend money to get a fake marriage, and you can still make money. After arriving in Hong Kong, concealing family members, property and pensions from the mainland, taking Hong Kong money, and occasionally returning to the mainland to enjoy it, this is the transformation from a "new Chinese" to a "new Hong Konger" who immigrated to Hong Kong, and it is also a collaboration with corrupt mainlanders. Fusion of China and Hong Kong".

However, the Patriotic Democratic Party has an organization developed over decades, has basic support for the people, and has a considerable number of seats in the Legislative Council. The local faction has nothing but the blood of young people and the zeal to search for the truth. Against them is the isolation and attack of the entire system.

(Originally published on August 22, 2022)

"Memoirs of a Loser" serial catalog (continuously updated)

177. Hong Kong people’s feelings have been overturned in five years

178. Mainlanders arouse the local consciousness of Hong Kong people

179. Documentary of the Occupation of Hong Kong

180. Situ Hua's Compromise in His Later Years

181. The origin of local consciousness

182. The battle between the chief executive and the wolf

183. The Jasper I Know

184. Can Hong Kong believe this person?

185. Anyone except Leung Chun-ying

186. Days and Nights of the Umbrella Movement

187. The opposition between pan-democratic and local