Chinazism

Photograph of Hong Kong policewoman sitting on 14-year-old who was resisting arrest goes viral

• Schoolgirl was among group of students who police say blocked road and vandalised bus in To Kwa Wan.
• Picture sparks hundreds of critical comments online as senior officer says officer used ‘minimum force’.

By Clifford Lo

An online photo of a masked policewoman in plain clothes sitting on a 14-year-old schoolgirl has gone viral. 

A photograph of a masked policewoman in plain clothes sitting on a 14-year-old schoolgirl after the teenager was pinned to the ground and subdued at a busy road junction in Hong Kong on Wednesday has gone viral, sparking criticism online.
The girl, who was in school uniform, was one of four secondary students who were arrested at the junction of Ma Tau Wai Road and Tam Kung Road, in To Kwa Wan, at about 7.15am.
Police said the girl had resisted arrest, and a man had tried to help her to escape.
According to police, the schoolgirl and three schoolboys aged 15 were among a group who set up barricades with traffic cones and sprayed paint on a passing bus, before a team of masked detectives in plain clothes swooped in to stop them.
Officers seized a can of spray paint, a retractable baton, face masks and gloves from the suspects, who are students at nearby two secondary schools.
Hung Hom divisional commander Superintendent Alan Chung said the four suspects had set up roadblocks and vandalised the bus on the way to school.

Chung said detectives also arrested a 47-year-old man, who was said to have pushed a masked policewoman and tried to assault her in an attempt to help the schoolgirl escape.
A photograph of the incident drew hundreds of critical comments on the internet.
Questioning why it was necessary to sit on top of the girl, one user called it an “inhuman act”, while another said police had become more violent.
When asked whether police had used excessive force, Chung said: “The schoolgirl put up a struggle in the incident, and the 47-year-old suspect tried to attack our female colleague in an attempt to help the female student to escape.
“The female student was quickly handcuffed and then no one continued to sit on her. So this is the minimum use of force.”
Following the arrests, some of the officers were seen holding batons to guard the suspects at the scene while waiting for the arrival of police vehicles.
As some passers-by took photographs of police, one officer was alleged to have said: “Stop taking photographs. Filming what? You don’t take photos while cockroaches set up road barriers.” Cockroaches is a common slur used by some officers against anti-government protesters.

Police arrested the four students on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, disorderly behaviour in a public place, and criminal damage. 

The 47-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and obstructing police.
A police source said all three boys were from Tang King Po School on Tin Kwong Road and the female pupil from a nearby girls’ school.
Tang King Po School confirmed some of its pupils had been arrested.
The boys’ school said parents, the headmaster and teachers had gone to a police station to find out the details of the case, and that legal assistance would be offered.
“As the incident is being investigated, it is inappropriate to give further comment,” the school said in a statement.
The five suspects were being held overnight for questioning and none had been charged.

Hong Kong Doctors Work in Secret to Help Protestors

VOA
In this October 7, 2019, photo, an organizer of an underground network of volunteer Hong Kong medics that are treating injured protesters shows an X-ray image on her mobile phone that revealed a fracture above the left wrist of a protester in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s summer of protests is now stretching into the fall.

Clashes between demonstrators and police have often become violent.

But medical workers have quietly joined to form the Hidden Clinic and other groups to help injured protesters.
The groups secretly treat young demonstrators who fear arrest if they go to government hospitals.
One person recently contacted the Hidden Clinic through the social media service Telegram. 

The person wanted to find help for a friend who appeared to have a broken arm, the group told The Associated Press, or AP.
The person explained their injured friend’s concerns about arrest, saying, “Many of his friends have been detained when seeing doctors.”
The Hidden Clinic claims to have treated 300 to 400 protesters with many injuries. 

They include broken bones, open wounds and contact with tear gas so intense that they were coughing up blood. 

The group also says the severity of the injuries has increased.
A medical worker who specializes in traditional Chinese medicine and is not connected with the Hidden Clinic said she has treated 60 to 80 patients.
The woman asked that her identity be kept secret because she fears punishment during one of her trips to mainland China. 

She uses traditional treatments involving needles and pressure points, called acupuncture, to ease patients’ pain. 

She does not ask for payment.
These secretive medical services suggest that the official number of 1,235 injured protesters treated in public hospitals since June 9 may not be complete.
Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said the official number includes injuries to more than 300 police officers. 

It comes from the Hospital Authority which only counts patients who visited 18 public Accident and Emergency departments in the territory of 7.5 million people. 

It does not include those treated privately.
The protests against a proposed change to Hong Kong’s criminal law started in June. 

The measure would have permitted Communist Party-controlled courts to move criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China for trial. Hong Kong has been a partly self-governing center for international trade and finance since 1997, after Britain handed over control.
Hong Kong’s leadership has withdrawn the disputed measure. 

But the demonstrations have developed into a movement against Lam’s government. 

The government has counted over 400 demonstrations so far. 

This has tested promises from the Communist leaders in Beijing not to get involved in the internal affairs of Hong Kong.
Police use teargas to disperse protestors as a taxi rides past in Hong Kong, Sunday, October 6, 2019.

‘A lot of hidden injuries’
The full reach of the secret efforts to treat protesters is not clear. 

That is because both the injured and the medical workers distrust the government and want to protect themselves. 

But the AP has spoken with several medical workers and protesters who have been treated outside the government health system. 

They suggest the medical support is far-reaching.
One trainee doctor would not give her full name and asked to be identified only as Wong. 

She worried that she might damage her career. 

She said her supervisor at a major public hospital does not know about her involvement with the Hidden Clinic.
After her work day, Wong spends her nights dealing with injured protesters. 

She gives them quick examinations through text messages and photographs and offers advice. 

She then reaches out to the Hidden Clinic’s doctors, setting up more complete examinations and treatment. 

She even helps with costs.
When the protests began, Wong said that she helped establish the Hidden Clinic at the end of July because she said she recognized that the injuries are getting more severe.
“Data published by the government aren’t really accurate anymore, and there are a lot of hidden injuries,” Wong added.
For some injuries, the Hidden Clinic offers temporary treatment that lets protesters wait a few days before going to a health center. 

In this way, they can lie more believably when they deny they were hurt in violence.
“You can just say that, oh, you got injured while playing football or something,” Wong said.
The AP asked the Hospital Authority about protesters’ fears of public hospitals. 

Officials said in a statement that the Authority considers patient confidentiality very important. 

It has also told law enforcement “to be mindful of the respect for patient data privacy in hospitals.”
However, the protesters do not believe the officials.
“Government hospitals have police,” said a 19-year-old student who came to an October 6 protest prepared for trouble. 

He wore a metal shield on his left arm, a hardened head covering, protection for his arms and legs, and a breathing device to protect against tear gas.
At an earlier clash, a rubber bullet struck him under his arm. 

So he said he used Telegram to find free treatment from a private clinic that found he had no broken bones. 

He identified himself only as John.
Doctors operating in secret say they feel as though they have to help.
“These kids are striving for a whole era’s freedom,” said the traditional medicine worker. 

“For those of us who don’t dare go out, the very least we can do is treat their wounds.”

The Language of Revolution

Hong Kong's Protestors Have Their Own Special Slang. Here's a Glossary of Some Common Terms
BY HILLARY LEUNG / HONG KONG

“I was using magic last night when someone messaged to ask if I needed to be picked up from school.”

No, that’s not a line from Harry Potter. 

It’s the kind of thing a Hong Kong protestor might say after a clash with police.
Hong Kong’s protestors have their own argot. 

Cantonese, Hong Kong’s lingua franca, is complicated enough with its nine tones. 

But even a native speaker might not understand a conversation between protestors, who have created between them a unique vocabulary.
Although many would accuse them of making light of violent unrest, the use of slang “keeps people sane,” argues Wee Lian Hee, a language professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. 

“If [protestors] talk formally all the time, I suspect the movement would soon become tiresome,” he tells TIME.
The recent withdrawal of the controversial extradition bill, initially the trigger of the demonstrations, has done little to pacify public anger. 

Protestors continue to take to the streets, communicating in a jargon that reveals much about how they see each other, the authorities, and their actions.

手足 Sau Zuk (“Hands and Feet”)
Protestors refer to each other as “hands and feet.” 

The term conveys the idea of unity: when the hands and feet of a protestor are injured, other protestors feel his or her pain.

發夢 Faht Moong (“Dreaming”)
“I dreamed that I threw a petrol bomb last night,” a protestor might say — except he wasn’t actually dreaming. 

Many use the word to avoid directly stating that they were involved in unlawful activity.

Riot police stand off against demonstrators inside New Town Plaza shopping mall, operated by Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., during a protest in the Shatin district of Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, July 14, 2019.

行街 Hahng Gaai (“Shopping”)
Similar to “dreaming,” the term “shopping” (literally to stroll around, or walk the streets) is used euphemistically to mean one was out at a protest. 

With clashes between police and protestors often occurring in busy retail districts that are home to glitzy malls, the “shopping” metaphor is oddly apt.

Vandalized turnstiles stand inside Tung Chung station, operated by MTR Corp,. during a protest in Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019.

黨鐵 Daung Teet (“Communist Party Rail”)
Ever since it started shuttering train stations closest to protest sites, the city’s subway operator is siding with the police, who are seen as an arm of the Chinese Communist Party. 

Protesters have responded by vandalizing stations, destroying equipment such as ticket machines, and referring to the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) with this derogatory term, which rhymes with the actual name of the MTR in Cantonese.

鬼 Gwai (“Ghost”)
Undercover cops are referred to by protestors as “ghosts.” 

Young, black-clad and wearing face masks, these non-uniformed officers fit right in on the barricades before springing into action to make arrests. 

Two fired warning shots during violent clashes last week.

Protesters hold umbrellas to protect themselves from police attack in Hong Kong on Aug. 31, 2019.

落雨 Lok Yu (“Raining”)
When front line protestors shout “It’s raining!” it may actually be — Hong Kong’s summers are notoriously wet. 

But most of the time, it’s a shorthand way of saying “Everyone open your umbrellas,” often because police are about to use pepper spray.

接放學 Zeep Fong Hok (“School Pick-up”)
When clashes between police and protestors last well into the night, long after train services have stopped, chat groups on encrypted messaging app Telegram start buzzing with information about “school pick-up” services. 

Supporters of the protestors who have cars — or “school buses” — let protesters know where to meet them, how many people they can pick up, and which districts they’re able to drive to.

Demonstrators seen during a protest action in front of a government building in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Aug. 18, 2019.

豬嘴 Juu Jui (“Snout”)
Surgical and construction masks hide identity, but are useless when police fire salvos of tear gas. Proper gas masks — nicknamed for the snout-like shape of their filters — have become standard equipment.

出魔法 Chut Morh Faht (“Use Magic”)
To “use magic” means to start fires. 

It’s a term that has gained traction in recent weeks as protestors begin setting barricades and other objects ablaze.

淺藍/深藍 Cheen Laam or Sum Laam (“Light Blue” or “Deep Blue”)
Blue is the unofficial color of supporters of the Communist police and government (as opposed to yellow, which represents the pro-democracy camp). 

“My grandma is so deep blue,” a protester might say. 

“But my dad is only light blue.”