Japanese Government Responds to Hong Kong Student’s Arrest for Online Comments

[Voice of Hope April 27, 2023](comprehensive report by our reporter Zheng Xin)

Japanese government responds to foreign security case

Earlier, a Hong Kong student was arrested after returning to Hong Kong for posting online comments in Japan, and the incident continued to attract attention from the outside world. The Japanese government has made an official response to this for the first time.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno said on the 26th that the Hong Kong police arrested a Hong Kong female student on suspicion of “inciting secession” when she returned to Hong Kong for the online remarks she made while studying in Japan, which violated international standards. The universal values ​​of freedom, basic human rights, and the rule of law in society have conveyed this position directly to the Chinese government.

Hiroichi Matsuno added: Since the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong in June 2020, the arrests of pro-democracy activists and changes in Hong Kong’s electoral system have continued to undermine people’s trust in “one country, two systems” and aggravated people’s serious concerns. Japan will require the Hong Kong authorities to protect the freedom of speech and the press in accordance with the Hong Kong Basic Law.

In early March, the National Security Department arrested a 23-year-old woman in Sau Mau Ping, accusing her of posting remarks that “incite Hong Kong independence” on social platforms.

Yaba Akio, director of the Taipei branch of Japan’s “Sankei Shimbun”, posted on Facebook a few days ago that the woman is a college student who has been studying in Japan since 2019. “About two years ago, some pictures and texts supporting Hong Kong student protest marches were shared on Facebook, including slogans such as “Hong Kong independence, the only way out”. The police believe that these contents violated the National Security Law.”

Earlier, Tomoko Ako, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Comprehensive Cultural Studies, also wrote an article revealing that the arrested woman was a Hong Kong student studying in Japan and was arrested when she returned to Hong Kong to change her ID card.

Tomoko Ako stated in the article that she learned the details of the incident from a friend of the arrested girl, who said that the girl posted the post in Japan but was arrested in Hong Kong.

This is the first case of extraterritorial application of the Hong Kong National Security Law since it came into force in June 2020. The outside world described the National Security Law as actually empowering the Chinese government to censor global speech.

In addition, a 48-year-old Hong Kong housewife was charged with “committing one or more acts with inflammatory intent” for publishing “inflammatory” statements on multiple social platforms from June last year to March this year. “, was sentenced to 4 months in prison at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on the 27th.

The facts of the case allege that the defendant posted, provided and continued to provide statements, photos, pictures or videos on Twitter and Facebook from June 6, 2022 to March 28, 2023.

The messages involved in the case included “there are no thugs, only tyranny”, “I hope 30,000 black policemen will lay their corpses as sacrifices to the souls of their brothers and sisters”, “I used to fight against the violent suppression of those in power”, and “The CCP only cares about stealing money”, “There is no new China without the Communist Party” and other content.

The defense pleaded that the defendant suffered from depression and was not a well-known person, so the influence was limited. In addition, the number of posts was small, and the social atmosphere at the time of the incident was generally peaceful. It is hoped that the court will give the defendant a lighter sentence in view of the guilty plea.

The judge took half a year in prison as the starting point for sentencing, and considering the defendant’s guilty plea, he finally sentenced him to 4 months in prison.

Huang Naiyuan, the former chairman of the Trade Union Union, and Du Zhenhao, the former secretary, originally applied for the May Day parade in their own names, but Huang Naiyuan was suspected of being taken away by the police yesterday. After losing contact for a while, he broke down emotionally and announced the cancellation of the parade. Du Zhenhao said in a radio interview on the 27th that he believed that Huang Naiyuan’s decision to cancel the application was involuntary, and the reason behind it was “the public knows what is going on.”

Du Zhenhao was interviewed by Commercial TV on the morning of the 27th, and mentioned that after Huang Naiyuan regained his freedom, the two have not met and only communicated by phone. Du Zhenhao revealed that he received a call from Huang at about 11:30 yesterday morning. The other party’s voice was suppressed and “a little shaking”. He believed that the other party had some unpleasant experiences before, and the decision he made was involuntary.

Du Zhenhao speculates that the reason for Huang Naiyuan’s emotional breakdown is because he was “forced to make a decision that he didn’t want to make, he struggled for a long time, and then he felt that this decision disappointed many people, so he was very sad.”

Regarding the failure of the parade, Du Zhenhao said frankly that when the two applied for the parade, they expected that it might not be successful, but the reaction of the government and the police in the past few days was “unexpected”.

Security Secretary Deng Bingqiang, who is visiting Beijing, responded to the incident yesterday, saying that if he is unable to ensure the safety of the event, it is a “very responsible approach” to withdraw it, and the reason for the cancellation of the parade application “you have to ask the organizer.” Du Zhenhao retorted that there is no risk in the parade, and he believes that the police are capable of handling a parade with hundreds of people. He also pointed out that he believed that the general public knew why the parade was cancelled.

Du Zhenhao also said that the current government’s attitude in handling parade applications is strict, and it is expected that there will be no more applications in the short to medium term. It’s still a very abnormal society.”

Zhenjiu Lidu, which once created the largest fundraising scale, plummeted on the first day of listing

Zhenjiu Lidu (a liquor producer Zhenjiu Lidu Group Co., Ltd.) fell sharply on its first day of listing in Hong Kong, shocking the Hong Kong IPO market, which has been trying to get out of the long-term downturn.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Zhenjiu Lidu, which raised funds equivalent to US$676.4 million in its IPO, was listed on the 27th. Its shares opened well below the IPO price and remained down for the rest of the day. The stock closed down 18 percent at 8.88 Hong Kong dollars, or $1.13.

The IPO of Zhenjiu Lidu was oversubscribed several times, making it the largest fund-raising IPO since the US$854 million IPO of Sunshine Insurance Group Co Ltd in December last year, the report said.

Zhenjiu Lidu takes the sauce-flavored baijiu as its main growth engine. Last year it posted a profit equivalent to $148.7 million on revenue of $845.4 million.

Zhenjiu Lidu said that it plans to use about half of the net proceeds raised from this listing for the development of production facilities in the next five years, and 20% will be used for brand building and marketing. Potential regulatory action by Beijing on the baijiu industry is one risk it faces.

Hong Kong firefighter arrested for indecent assault in Tokyo

According to Japanese media sources, a Chinese visitor to Japan was suspected of sexually assaulting a Japanese woman in Tokyo on April 23 and was arrested yesterday (April 26).

According to the “Asahi Shimbun” report, a 30-year-old Chinese man who worked as a firefighter and his wife left the hotel alone with excuses during their trip to Tokyo, Japan, asked for directions to talk to the victim, and asked him to take him to a nearby ramen shop. Drag the other party into the toilet of a building to commit a crime. The man was arrested by the local police when he was about to check out and return to Hong Kong yesterday (26th).

In response to media inquiries, the Fire Services Department confirmed that an employee of the department was involved in a case in Japan. However, no details were disclosed, only saying that it attaches great importance to employee discipline and integrity, and will seriously follow up on illegal cases.

In addition, there was a rumor in the online discussion forum this morning that the firefighter involved in the case had a similar background to the fiance Douglas of gambling king Sanfang He Chaoyun. In addition, the two also traveled to Tokyo, Japan recently, which sparked heated discussions.

Editor in charge: Lin Li