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Kevin Yam 任建峰 Profile picture
Kevin Yam 任建峰
@kevinkfyam
Melburnian. #HongKong lawyer and activist. WANTED by HK Quisling regime. Senior Fellow @GeorgetownCAL. Editor-at-Large @mekongreview. Views my own.
Jan 10 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Seeing this thread about Chinese military corruption reminds me of variations of essentially the same story about the PLA that I was told around mid-2010s separately by a number of private bankers who, shall we say, had certain types of Chinese clients. (1/11) The story goes something like this:

More so than other parts of the Party apparatus, PLA promotions have, in the decades before Xi came to power, been bought from PlA senior echelons. This involves ambitious and connected soldiers spending their more junior years … (2/11)
Dec 10, 2023 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Lots to unpack with this opinion piece titled “5 reasons #HongKong’s financial hub status is secure”.

Let’s start with the author, described as “Hong Kong based financial services executive”. That got me checking. 2 things stood out. (1/18)

scmp.com/comment/opinio… First, Mr Green is a board member of the HK Financial Services Development Council, which was set up by the government as a promotional body. It would be interesting to know how much input FSDC had into Mr Green’s piece. (2/18)
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Dec 5, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
So there were statements from #HongKong police and government respectively about Agnes Chow’s decision not to return to HK. Others have commented on the substance of what’s been said. I want to talk instead about their English standards and what that might mean for HK. (1/5)
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Image The #HongKong Police statement is Chinglish. “Condemn acts of openly jump bail”? “[O]therwise will be bearing”? Really?

The Government statement is at least English, but still reads more like a word for word translation from Chinese than something that flows in English. (2/5)
Nov 6, 2023 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
THREAD

Leaving aside whether “woke” is a useful descriptor for compare and contrast purposes, this opinion piece coincides with what I’ve been observing in recent weeks: as protests move leftwards, non-protesting progressives and conservatives move rightwards. (1/14) More broadly, the last few weeks show early signs of late 1960s in the West on steroids. While no analogy is perfect, some parallels are there.

Let’s start with the backdrop: the 1960s also involved a war fought between a nasty political … (2/14)
Nov 2, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Melbourne weather was good today, so I went out for a run and a walk to explore an unfamiliar part of town. Along the way, I saw an Asian person walking out of a house with two kids carrying musical scores. I thought nothing of it and walked past.

Suddenly, … (1/4) Image … a voice boomed out in Cantonese:

“Kevin Yam!”

It was that Asian person. They caught my eye, then said:

“I am a your supporter!”

They then started crying.

I went over to given them a hug, and told them that all will be fine, we must live well, and they should … (2/4)
Oct 28, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
It’s easy to think that decisions like these won’t affect “non-sensitive” areas of research. But it will have an impact across the board with the quality of #HongKong academia.

Suppose you’re a researcher in a what on its face is a “non-sensitive” area. You’re overseas … (1/9) … but considering whether to apply for or take up an academic vacancy in #HongKong, or you’re in HK and thinking about whether to head overseas for good. And then things like what happened to Rowena He and others make the news. And suppose you care about … (2/9)
Oct 18, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The idea of #HongKong losing traction as a private wealth management centre is not surprising - the “parking money in HK is no longer ‘safe’ enough from China’s reach” as cited in this article is certainly an important reason. But by no means the only reason. (1/7) When it comes to PWM, some hubs (eg Zurich, Singapore) are specifically tailored to be that. Others (eg New York, London) have big PWM industries that feed off having big capital markets, derivatives markets, fixed income markets and the like. #HongKong was the latter. (2/7)
Oct 2, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
There are things which are open to question about this article, but it’s not all wrong.

A. The portrayals of China are not “hawkish”, they are reflective of the Chinese government’s behaviour, and hence realist.

(1/13)

theguardian.com/australia-news… B. To the extent the portrayals are “negative”, it’s because it is based in fact on Chinese government’s behaviour. If a rose is still a rose by any other time, then turd is still turd by any other name.

(2/13)
Jun 15, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Just adding to this: while most judges won’t plagiarise as blatantly as Wilson Chan, he is by no means the only mediocre plodder type who chose to join the #HongKong judiciary as a stable income safe haven. And when the judiciary is stacked with mediocrities, … (1/5) … it has a downstream impact on the quality of litigators working in #HongKong too. I can say hand on heart that at the elite end of the profession, litigators in HK are as intellectually bright as any in the common law world. However, as the quality of the judiciary … (2/5)
Jun 12, 2023 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
I have been given a lowdown on the hearing today. It seems like the judge was asking some really basic questions and the #HongKong Department of Justice was not ready to answer even the basics. I have never encountered a party seeking an injunction to be so ill prepared … (1/7) … even by the standards of a first hearing. When you apply for an injunction (which is a remedy when you need something relatively urgently) you always prepare fairly comprehensive submissions and supporting affidavits even for a first hearing, so that you can be ready … (2/7)
Jan 19, 2023 • 8 tweets • 6 min read
Really grateful to @SenatorWong for meeting with @tedhuichifung and me to discuss #HongKong. A range of topics were discussed, ranging from specific measures to act in solidarity with HK people, to certain HK-related issues that touch on Australia’s national interest. (1/8) Image This is the first time that such a senior (and well respected) Australian government minister from either of the major parties had met @tedhuichifung since he landed in Australia (now that I am back in Australia I am honoured to be invited to join). (2/8)
Dec 30, 2022 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
The NPCSC interpretation goes well beyond just the relatively narrow (but already worrying) issue of whether foreign lawyers can represent parties in #HongKong NatSec cases. A THREAD. (1/8) A1. In any #HongKong NatSec litigation, the court must now get a certificate from the Chief Executive on whether any act or piece of evidence involves NatSec and what to do in relation to the same. And if the court does not ask CE, then NatSec Commission can intervene. (2/8)
Dec 30, 2022 • 10 tweets • 6 min read
THREAD

Many thanks to @GregTorode of @Reuters for interviewing me on this. Leaving #HongKong was a difficult decision. I was making good money as an international law firm partner, and I wasn’t yet in any immediate danger. However,… (1/10) reuters.com/investigates/s… … as more and more #HongKong friends were locked up, going into exile, or otherwise migrating, plus the knowledge that overseas experience suggest that authoritarians will eventually go after even minor, inactive dissidents like me, meant that … (2/10) reuters.com/investigates/s…
Dec 14, 2022 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
Thanks @MikeSmithAFR for interviewing me. I often get asked about rule of law/judicial independence in #HongKong nowadays when it comes to commercial disputes. The point I made in this article is one of the facets - more context on just this one point in this thread: (1/12) To start with, of course we are not yet in the territory of #HongKong judges being told how to rule in commercial cases. And we probably won’t yet see Mainland Chinese businesses being given undue favour in commercial disputes. All good right? NO. The battering that… (2/12)
Nov 16, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Personally I’m not sure about “capitulation” language either, but specifically addressing Adam’s question about what it should take from China for anyone (not just so-called “hawks”) living in the free world to stop seeing China as an adversary, I have a 14-point list: (1/8) A. Renounce all use of force against Taiwan and allow its people the right to self-determination.

B. Pull back from “nine-dash line” South China Sea claims and dismantle all installations on disputed islets.

(2/8)
Aug 20, 2022 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
The answer to this “crucial question” is obviously not “wrong”, but query whether it really is a “crucial question” or even a right question. A thread by reference to #HongKong experience: (1/12) It may be a asked, is #HongKong’s freedoms eroded even more quickly after the unyielding protests of 2019 which prompted Beijing to act (just as Pelosi’s visit prompted Beijing to act in relation to #Taiwan)? That answer is almost certainly yes. (2/12)
Nov 13, 2021 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
THREAD: Not a commentary on @mhar4’s piece but on the reactions to Keating’s speech within #auspol and one specific phenomenon that it reflects which I haven’t seen being discussed to date in relation to the Keating speech: (1/8) A. Let’s start with “progressives”. Out of idolatry towards their (and, for a long time, my) erstwhile hero and “owning the right”, they backed Keating despite a lot of what he espoused running counter to progressive universal values and being straight out misinformation. (2/8)
Jun 10, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
I agree completely that the organiser of the aborted #BlackLivesMatter protest in #HongKong does not deserve the degree of vitriol that she received. That said, this response does demonstrate a lack of local awareness and sensitivity. (1/6) To begin with, did it occur to the organiser that by being granted the sorts of right to protest that are now denied to local democracy protesters, they are being given precisely the sort of privilege that #BlackLivesMatter is rightly seeking to fight against? (2/6)
Aug 17, 2019 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
THREAD - A SUGGESTION FOR OVERSEAS PRO-#HONGKONG PROTESTERS WHEN THEY ARE BULLIED BY PRO-CCP MOBS

When confronted with such situation, try your best to stay calm and not argue with them. Instead, calmly and solemnly sing (not yell) the hymn #SingHallelujahToTheLord. Why? (1) Well, you may be aware that this hymn has been a big part of the #antiELAB movement in #HongKong. It conveys a message of peace and calm that serves as a stark contrast with the bombast of your opponents. (2)
Aug 14, 2019 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
For those of you who only started following my Twitter feed recently, I basically became a public figure in #HongKong as a result of an event 5 years ago today (see (7) below for why I was crying back then). (1) Image In short, we had a Law Society president endorsed a State Council White Paper which stated, amongst other things, that judges should also yield to the State’s socio-political “interest” when making rulings. He also said that the CCP was great. He spoke those words as LS Prez. (2)