In my latest for @thewirechina:
For years, Sixth Tone succeeded in carving out a precarious, but unique space in China’s media ecosystem. But conversations with 15 former and current employees reveal how the publication has been neutered over the past year. Founded in 2016, Sixth Tone had long fought a battle on two fronts: foreign readers greeted it with skepticism due to its state affiliation, while nationalists in the country attacked its content for liberal leanings.

For years, Program Think #編程隨想, an anonymous blogger pushed back against CCP's rule one post at a time. Some compared him to the mysterious vigilante in V for Vendetta. Others called him “the tank man of the digital age,” a lone figure facing down China’s security apparatus. He achieved legendary status among Chinese bloggers for his persistence. Most remarkably, unlike most critics, he wrote from within China, where he took care to hide his digital footprint and eluded authorities for over a decade.

I spoke to four young Chinese residents, who joined various protests in #Shanghai, Zhuhai and Chengdu over the weekend. Few are under the illusion the protests would lead to meaningful changes, but here's their experience and what they have to say: vice.com/en/article/qjk… One said most just want to resume a normal life, but she yearns for much more: freedom of speech, an end to the crackdown on Xinjiang, release of activists, feminists, lawyers who have been arrested in recent years. “But just having a normal life feels like a distant hope.”

The Chinese city of Xiamen is conducting COVID tests on fresh fish. After photos and videos of health workers swabbing fish sparked ridicule online, the local outlet that covered its enforcement blurred the report on its ePaper. It now looks like this online, LOL.

In a public letter published tdy, 37 leading scholars of China’s policies in Xinjiang said they're “deeply disturbed” by @mbachelet's statement, which “ignored and even contradicted” academic findings provided to her office. See our story and full letter:
vice.com/en/article/pkg… “High Commissioner Bachelet’s words echo the Chinese state’s claim that their atrocities in Xinjiang are all are part of a ‘counter-terrorism’ effort, a claim that our research and the Chinese state’s own documents show to be false,” they wrote.

Heavy police presence in Causeway Bay on #June4, the anniversary of #TiananmenSquareMassacre. A man near Victoria Park has been surrounded by police officers for 25 mins. They have meticulously gone through everything in his bag, including every card pocket of his wallet. Chan in his sixties was told by police that he could be deemed as part of unauthorised assembly because of a plastic candlelight, which he has used for years. In return, he advised them to quit their jobs.

#JuneFourth: an elderly man was surrounded by over two dozen police officers outside Victoria Park just for holding banners that said conscience. Last year, hundreds showed up at the Victoria Park, defying a ban to commemorate the #TiananmenSquareMassacre. This year, police sealed off the park, blocked cross harbour tunnels and reportedly deploy up to 7,000 officers across the city, to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.

The police raid at @appledaily_hk, the only pro-democratic paper in #HongKong, on Monday was shocking. But across the town, a major shake-up occurred at the newsroom of broadcast station iCable, which is equally alarming. latimes.com/world-nation/s… There had been rumours that the former news director Fung Tak-hung would soon be let go. The surprise came at his replacement: not one, but three new appointed media executives, all of whom have far less experience in running a newsroom. E.g. Oscar Lee, the new director of news

Summary of what happened to #HongKong press:
- Jimmy Lai, founder of only remaining pro-democratic newspaper @appledaily_hk, arrested under national security law, newsroom searched
- News directors of iCable and NowTV, two credible broadcast stations, replaced - Immigration department set up new unit to review visa applications of foreign journalists
- International media outlets have trouble getting visas for correspondents in HK
- Independent outlets denied access to reporting sites/interviews with police

There’s no more than the usual traffic at Yuen Long Station, but MTR has implemented “crowd management measures” and closed off five exits, on the anniversary of 721, where a mob wielding sticks attacked passengers and press members indiscriminately. And if you go down the escalator, you will find an army of riot police officers on the ground at the bus station.

Last year, two officers were filmed leaving the scene of the attack, while reinforcement arrived 38 minutes later.

The #HongKong government's #coronavirus slogan has gone from "fight virus together" to "Together, We Fight the Virus!" Chief Executive Carrie Lam is expected to meet the press at 8pm. Lam to announce more stringent social distancing measures amid a new wave of #coronavirus in #HongKong. There were 253 cases in the past 8 days, including 182 local cases and 71 imported cases. 128 involved clusters at restaurants, taxi drivers and elderly centre, said Lam.

#HongKong govt declares last night that the slogan “Liberate HK, the Revolution of Our Times” connotes independence and violates national security law. In response, protesters prove that you may outlaw certain words but you cannot ban ideas or thoughts. There are also these shapes. Perhaps up next, the #HongKong government will have to ban imagination.

Small, scattered installations and signs in commemoration of the #TiananmenSquareMassacre and a growing crowd outside the Victoria Park, where #HongKong govt has banned the annual vigil on the grounds of public health. Only before seven, but some have pushed down the gates and urging others to enter the field.

Some exits at Mong Kok MTR are closed, while #police stand guard at remaining ones, both in the station and on the ground. #Police now make frequent use of orange tape to keep the press away. But what’s rather perplexing is their use of tape to block every crossing and forcing people to jaywalk.

Teargas fired along Hennessy Road in Causeway Bay, half an hour into an unapproved march. Earlier, the small squad of riot police were overwhelmed by the huge crowd that have showed up. Scattered objects thrown while they were retreating. Reinforcements have arrived since.

Gabriel Leung, dean of HKU's medical school on #CoronavirusOutbreak: basic reproductive number - secondary cases generated by an index infected case - is 2.13. According to best estimate, case count doubles every six days, in the absence of any public health intervention. Inferred number of cases is around 25k, while inferred number of infections, i.e. including those who are in incubation stage, is near 44k.

Unorthodox Chinese. Alright, time for a proper rebuttal.
#HongKong govt leaders have often insisted that teaching Chinese in Mandarin in schools can improve students' Chinese - which is not true and not supported by any evidence. For one, Cantonese has a much longer history...

https://twitter.com/XinqiSu/status/1211256073962655745

than mandarin (220AD vs Yuan Dynasty in 14th century China). The phonology of Cantonese is more similar to that of Middle Chinese, spoken in ancient China. E.g. Tang/Song poems sound better and rhyme when read in Cantonese, but not Mandarin, which has lost the entering tone.

Ain’t sure where head of the procession is, but Hennessy Road and all the side streets are alrdy filled with experienced marchers waiting to cut the queue. Likely another massive turnout for today’s CHRF march, one of the biggest we’ve seen in a while as many woleifei’re back. You know things are about to start...when luxury shops are pulling down their shutters.

Mainland netizens have created a series of propaganda, demonising #HongKongProtesters and vocal supporters of the movement and even journalist. Purely in terms of efforts, it's an upgrade from the works we've seen in the past... Whoever did this has also followed the news closely and thus able to identify different roles within protesters and inside jokes such as "freedom high". They even made up poems to accompany each character.

The march from Tsim Sha Tsui to Coliseum begins. Theme of this protest is 毋忘初心, despite pro-democracy candidates winning majority of district council seats, #HongKong people continue to take to the streets in huge number as their demands remain unmet. A stark contrast in atmosphere outside the newly reopened Museum of Art, where people are dancing to music at an outdoor concert (which, surprisingly, isn’t cancelled...?)

There are scattered posts on Weibo, following the results of #HKDCElection and pan-dem’s landslide victory. Here are some comments:
- the public opinion is shown through their votes, not through certain tv stations.
- since it’s one country two systems, we have to accept.. the public opinion of Hong Kong people and let their society decide their own path. If it works, perhaps we should follow.
- the brain of those writing the script at state media must be splitting
- this happens when ppl can vote and is why HK can’t implement universal suffrage