Rebel News Podcast - Hong Kong highlights

00:00:00.000 Tonight, a true David and Goliath story.

00:00:17.380 We take you into the heart of the Hong Kong democracy protests staring down Beijing.

00:00:23.300 It's December 31st, and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.

00:00:26.640 Why should others go to jail when you're the biggest carbon consumer I know?

00:00:32.540 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.

00:00:36.600 The only thing I have to say to the government about why I'm publishing it is because it's my bloody right to do so. 0.96

00:00:47.400 China is a evil party. Hong Kong, no more to stand with China. 0.99

00:00:52.540 We need independence.

00:00:53.940 And what's your message to... Have you seen Donald Trump? Do you think he should step in?

00:01:00.900 Donald Trump, don't trust China. China is an asshole. 1.00

00:01:03.920 We want the British government to come back and rule us again. 1.00

00:01:06.860 We don't want the Chinese government to rule us anymore. 0.99

00:01:10.320 You want the British to come back? 1.00

00:01:12.000 Yes, of course. The Chinese government is terrible. 0.98

00:01:14.820 What's your message to people who call the old British government a colonial power that used to abuse the entire world?

00:01:25.020 No.

00:01:25.780 Simply we just want the British government to come back and rule us again.

00:01:29.800 Is that simple?

00:01:31.040 OK.

00:01:31.580 So you think the British did well? 0.93

00:01:33.520 The British government did very well.

00:01:35.660 Why have we got an American flag here today?

00:01:37.660 Because we appreciate the American spirit, we fight for freedom and democracy till death.

00:01:43.160 OK.

00:01:45.680 And so if you could send a message to Donald Trump, what would it be?

00:01:52.580 Mr. Trump, we are very humble and powerless people in Hong Kong.

00:01:58.360 And we know that when the Americans fight for their independence, they need to pay a lot, like for bread and life.

00:02:07.180 And we are prepared for that.

00:02:09.540 And in any moment, if you can help us, like the American people and President Trump, please help us.

00:02:17.000 And I would like to have this chance to thank President Trump that speaks things in Hong Kong for us.

00:02:23.800 Especially a few days ago, he spoke with a lot of powerful people in different countries about Hong Kong situation.

00:02:33.100 And we appreciate that and thank you for him to help us speak out the hate situation in Hong Kong.

00:02:41.100 And something we want to say to the American common people is that be careful of the Chinese business activity. 1.00

00:02:49.540 Because actually they will slowly corrupt your whole country.

00:02:53.180 The workers who are in the crew that joined the protest, China requests Cafe Pacific to give out a list of their crews that joined the protest.

00:03:06.260 And then the CEO refused.

00:03:08.160 So we think that he is forced to resign his position.

00:03:13.240 Two of them.

00:03:13.860 One of them is CEO.

00:03:15.360 I mean, Cafe Pacific is our company.

00:03:17.760 Why the hell the communists can remove the CEO from us?

00:03:22.940 We are very angry about this.

00:03:24.960 And a few days ago, a few days ago, something happened in the residential area in Hong Kong.

00:03:31.040 A city called, an area called Sha Tin.

00:03:33.920 In the residential area, the government started to build the facial recognition system.

00:03:39.420 Which is the first step of their social credit system.

00:03:42.200 They are trying to make Hong Kong like Xinjiang right now. 0.97

00:03:46.860 I mean, if we fail this time, Hong Kong will be the second Xinjiang. 0.97

00:03:50.720 And all of us, they already arrested 700 people.

00:03:54.840 They, I'm sure, they will end up in Xinjiang concentration camp. 0.73

00:03:59.060 In my mind, the communists, they are right now, they are actually like Nazi.

00:04:04.100 I mean, I mean, this is what I want to say to the American people and Trump and also to the rest of the world.

00:04:13.100 This is our duty to fight against something like, something like Nazi. 0.56

00:04:17.520 Yeah.

00:04:17.960 If we don't fight here now, we will lose forever.

00:04:21.460 It's no more Hong Kong.

00:04:23.420 No.

00:04:23.640 It's not, if we lose in this battle, Hong Kong is not even an international city.

00:04:29.460 It's just a state inside of China.

00:04:31.060 Why should Americans care?

00:04:34.100 Because, because Americans are very, how to say it, they care for the freedom and democracy.

00:04:44.700 And we are fighting for this now.

00:04:46.660 So, I think, I think they can choose not to care.

00:04:50.800 I mean, it's actually practically, it's really practically not their business.

00:04:55.660 In my heart, I know that.

00:04:57.280 But it's like we are raising conscience, consents.

00:05:02.300 It's like, if you, if you want to save us, if you want to safeguard this world, then support us.

00:05:07.980 We're in the central district of Hong Kong documenting a protest that was unfolding at noon.

00:05:12.920 A protest full of business people.

00:05:14.640 They were in high heels and business suits.

00:05:16.280 This wasn't the regular protests that you've seen typically in international media.

00:05:20.460 This is basically the Wall Street of Hong Kong.

00:05:23.180 And while they were protesting, in a show of strength, following an embarrassing defeat of the pro-Beijing loyalists last night,

00:05:31.560 Regina Ip, with her squadron of Hong Kong police force, pushed their way through an entire group, 0.99

00:05:37.400 an entire block full of peaceful protesters in maybe a show of strength, you could call it,

00:05:43.140 even though last night, her party met an embarrassing defeat.

00:05:48.040 How does it feel to betray the people of Hong Kong?

00:05:54.580 Are you excited for the sanctions?

00:05:59.180 How does it feel to betray the people of Hong Kong?

00:06:04.680 Now, as she left, she got into a taxi cab, a nondescript taxi cab.

00:06:08.840 It was very well orchestrated.

00:06:10.820 This was a pre-planned provocation of these peaceful protesters.

00:06:15.560 She got into this taxi cab and fled.

00:06:18.340 And the police got into their van.

00:06:21.620 And as they did, the crowd went nuts, booing the police officers, in fact.

00:06:26.060 And they eventually left.

00:06:27.660 And the crowd almost immediately dispersed to get back to work.

00:06:31.420 This is the Wall Street of Hong Kong, effectively.

00:06:33.680 And these are not the typical protesters that you see wearing black and graffitiing the streets.

00:06:42.500 These are people who sit at desks at work throughout the day.

00:06:46.000 And they came out to protest and celebrate, even, the victory that the democracy movement had last night.

00:06:52.420 And I think it seems like they were trying to get a reaction, trying to get people to break the law, to assault her even, so that she could act like a martyr, so she could show the world that these protesters are violent, vile people.

00:07:10.100 They weren't.

00:07:11.100 They just shouted at her and booed her and exercised the liberties that they're allowed to exercise for the meantime, until 2047, when those liberties expire.

00:07:23.480 We're standing here in the central district of Hong Kong, where their daily lunch protests, they call it, are happening.

00:07:29.800 Now, what happens here is at 12.15 in the afternoon, they send out a text on Telegram saying where exactly it will happen.

00:07:37.180 Yesterday, it happened on a street, sort of in their Wall Street area, their equivalent here in Hong Kong.

00:07:41.700 Today, it's just in a mall.

00:07:42.840 And you can hear them shouting right now, stand with Hong Kong, fight for freedom.

00:07:47.180 And there's also posters like what we saw at the rally outside of PolyU yesterday.

00:07:53.720 We heard from candidates who went into Poly University to mediate with the 20 remaining political activists.

00:08:02.620 They said that hopefully the university will be taking custody of the campus today.

00:08:07.420 We haven't heard an update on that yet.

00:08:09.040 We don't know if that's going to be happening for sure.

00:08:11.380 And we also don't know if the police will actually agree to that.

00:08:14.480 Now, Carrie Lam today came out with a few statements that were a bit surprising following her huge collapse in the polls on Sunday.

00:08:25.480 She said today that the results meant that Hong Kongers were, one, disappointed in their government, which, yeah, that's pretty true. 1.00

00:08:33.460 But the second statement was that Hong Kongers want to go back to normal.

00:08:38.060 Now, that didn't really make much sense to me.

00:08:40.300 And I'm going to ask these folks here today if they really believe that.

00:08:45.260 Do they want things to be going back to normal or do they want the government to give in to their five fairly reasonable demands?

00:08:52.520 Let's go ask and see what they have to say.

00:08:54.200 We cannot go back to our normal lives without fighting, without having the five demands.

00:09:07.700 That's what we think because we were being silenced for almost like 20 years after we returned to China.

00:09:13.640 Yeah, this is the time we should stand out, step up to say what we really want.

00:09:20.700 So we're not, there's no going back unless we, the government meets the five demands of us.

00:09:28.020 What does your sign mean?

00:09:29.720 And no one political party will forever be in power.

00:09:34.320 All people like peace, but we also want justice.

00:09:38.940 If justice is not done, how can people return to normal?

00:09:43.100 Yeah, we want, but they need to stop the violence from the police first. 0.71

00:09:49.180 I think it's more that things have been difficult recently, but this year has presented an opportunity for genuine reform and for things in Hong Kong to genuinely get better.

00:10:00.540 Monday to Friday, we come out to speak to Carrie Lam, please satisfy our five demands. 0.93

00:10:08.680 Unless she satisfies our demands, we will not rest.

00:10:13.320 I believe government should work for the people and they should be scared of people, not the people who are scared of the government.

00:10:20.940 She was elected by no one.

00:10:22.940 She represents the Communist Party.

00:10:24.800 The people of Hong Kong gave their verdict on her and her government on Sunday.

00:10:31.100 And if she chooses to ignore it, she must bear the consequences and they are not going to be nice.

00:10:37.720 We got back to the hotel room to edit this video after we met one of the chief people here in Hong Kong.

00:10:52.740 And as we did, we were sitting down and we had the Do Not Disturb sign on the door.

00:10:58.920 And all of a sudden we heard a quick knock and before I could get to the door, the door was actually opening.

00:11:07.060 And I stand in front of the door as the door is open and I see three men in suits.

00:11:12.340 One appeared to be a hotel staff member and two, it wasn't clear why they were there.

00:11:19.180 And then I said, well, what are you doing here?

00:11:21.220 And they said, oh, do you need the room clean?

00:11:29.540 Your cleaning crew is sort of mixed Cantonese-English.

00:11:34.100 And then I was like, no, we don't need that.

00:11:37.400 The Do Not Disturb sign is on the door.

00:11:38.680 What are you doing here?

00:11:39.280 And they said, oh, don't worry.

00:11:41.040 And in Cantonese, I think, said goodbye.

00:11:43.820 And I thought that was really curious.

00:11:45.300 I have never seen a situation where three men in suits are coming to clean rooms.

00:11:51.680 Maybe if they were checking to see if a room needed to be cleaned.

00:11:56.480 But I don't know why they would need three of them.

00:11:58.200 I don't know why they would be in suits and why they wouldn't send a maid there. 1.00

00:12:01.080 And I certainly don't know why they would enter a room while the Do Not Disturb sign was on the door.

00:12:08.020 We were gone from the hotel most of the day.

00:12:10.060 So maybe they thought we weren't in there and they were coming to check out the room.

00:12:15.300 I mean, we're quite clearly journalists.

00:12:18.480 When we came into the hotel to check in, we had to give them our passports, which I thought was weird on the get-go.

00:12:24.920 But I guess that standard practice here in Hong Kong helps Beijing keep track of political dissidents here coming into the country.

00:12:32.320 So I thought this was all curious.

00:12:34.120 We closed the door and we went back to editing the video.

00:12:36.740 And I was, you know, I was a little bit concerned.

00:12:39.040 And then as I was walking, we sort of looked around the room on a little bit more high alert than what we were before.

00:12:45.040 We thought, well, maybe they were coming to bug the room.

00:12:47.080 Maybe they were coming to pick up a bug that was in the room.

00:12:49.560 We didn't know what was going on.

00:12:50.860 But we looked on the floor and something I noticed was a little chip.

00:12:54.540 And it was a SIM card.

00:12:56.680 And I don't want to say too much about it because I'm sure – well, I still have the SIM card on me.

00:13:02.840 We're going to be bringing it back to Canada to analyze it.

00:13:05.540 But I have it on good authority that this is something from what looks like a burner phone or it's something that could – it could trace a phone if it was in a device.

00:13:17.220 Now, we checked all of our devices.

00:13:18.680 There was nothing strange about the devices that we saw.

00:13:21.740 But what I imagine this was was sort of a phishing attempt.

00:13:27.020 This is just a guess.

00:13:28.200 It seems like a phishing attempt where you drop a SIM card and hope that the people who find it will put it in their phone out of curiosity.

00:13:36.300 And when they do that, it could compromise the device.

00:13:39.060 Now, we have no idea.

00:13:40.140 We're going to bring it back to Canada and have our security guys analyze it.

00:13:43.340 Hopefully, they can figure something out, figure out why it was there.

00:13:45.720 But what's curious is that it's not mine.

00:13:48.420 It's not my cameraman's.

00:13:49.780 And it was certainly most definitely not on the floor when we took custody of the room.

00:13:56.640 We had the room for about three days before we found it.

00:13:59.180 So – and the Do Not Disturb sign was on the door the whole time.

00:14:02.820 We didn't want any maids coming in and going through our stuff or anything like that.

00:14:06.240 So there's no way this could have gotten here.

00:14:08.620 We just don't understand why that SIM card would be in our room.

00:14:13.500 It's just such a curious thing.

00:14:15.380 So we're going to look at it and see what we can find from it when we bring it back to Canada.

00:14:19.120 We're here in Hong Kong today on Election Day.

00:14:21.700 This is the day that Hong Kongers are coming to the polls to vote for their district councillors.

00:14:26.420 It's pretty much the lowest level of government here in this city.

00:14:29.600 But it's being taken by many as a referendum on the Free Hong Kong movement that we've seen grow over the past 36 weeks here in Hong Kong.

00:14:39.260 The polling lines have gone around the block a few times actually.

00:14:42.740 It's the longest polling lines I've ever seen.

00:14:45.420 We've actually just interviewed a few of the candidates here, both pro-democracy and pro-Beijing.

00:14:51.380 And as we were doing so, some police in full riot gear showed up.

00:14:55.160 They had shields in the whole riot gear get up.

00:14:57.400 Right now there's been no whispers of any sort of protests or demonstrations to be had.

00:15:02.560 The protesters, we have it on good authority, they actually want to remain very cautious just yesterday and today because they don't want to get arrested.

00:15:09.600 They could be detained to the point where they're not allowed to vote because poll stations could close and they would lose out on their opportunity.

00:15:16.380 The protesters are very eager to vote.

00:15:18.740 Like I said, the turnout here already, the polls have been open for just three hours and more than three times the usual amount of voters have showed up.

00:15:25.640 It's about 160,000 people have already voted by now, the point of filming three hours into the polling day.

00:15:32.240 We're going to throw to my interview here with Andrew Hsu.

00:15:34.600 He was the pro-democracy candidate who actually lost an ear.

00:15:38.680 A pro-Beijing hooligan actually came and bit it off while he was demonstrating with other Hong Kongers.

00:15:44.360 Here's what he had to say.

00:15:45.460 In the early November, I was attacked by an attacker when I tried to protect the citizens, avoid the attacker's attack.

00:16:00.660 If the time is, we have time machine and better at that moment, I would still come out to protect my Hong Kong citizens because actually it's a duty call as an elected representative in the constituency.

00:16:17.260 Do you support the five demands?

00:16:19.180 Of course.

00:16:19.800 As a Democrat, we understand that the Hong Kong government now is not responsive to Hong Kongers.

00:16:29.360 They carry them and her government just responsible to the CCP and the Beijing authority.

00:16:37.240 The new ambassador from Beijing to Canada just recently threatened the Canadian government that if they follow suit with the Americans with the similar bill that their Congress just passed, there will be severe repercussions.

00:16:51.480 What do you think about that?

00:16:52.420 That is the evil side of the CCP.

00:16:55.760 You can see that the Beijing government try to use their influence power all around the world and try to be gained from this influence.

00:17:12.500 No matter, try to cover all those negative messages or evidence in the foreign countries or try to threaten the government or those politicians to just keep silence for the Chinese government's bad behavior.

00:17:37.580 So, this is not a core values for our world.

00:17:46.180 As a global citizen, we truly believe that democracy and freedom of expression is a very core values for human beings.

00:18:00.260 And we cannot fear for this kind of threat and we must stay firm to support democracy and freedom.

00:18:14.340 And I do hope that no matter if it's from Canada and the liberals around the whole world can continue to support our democratic movement in Hong Kong and stand with Hong Kong.

00:18:28.160 Now, I want to compare that interview to a pro-Beijing candidate, his opponent, Andrew's opponent.

00:18:33.000 Here's what he had to say.

00:18:34.180 His response is two very similar questions.

00:18:36.520 Should Donald Trump sign the bill on his desk?

00:18:40.160 No, no.

00:18:40.960 This is a district election.

00:18:44.260 So, no big international issues.

00:18:47.940 My main focus today is this district, Tai Ku West constituency.

00:18:55.620 And all along, during the last few years, we only focus on the community level matters.

00:19:05.020 For example, the traffic.

00:19:06.620 For example, the hygiene matters.

00:19:09.680 And anything else, we are not going to say anything about it.

00:19:15.720 Do you support the five demands?

00:19:16.880 Anything, anything too big, any big issues is not proper in this small community.

00:19:23.520 All right.

00:19:24.080 So, all along, we emphasize peace, quietness, and better environment for the residents in this constituency.

00:19:35.460 So, anything extra than that, I'm not going to comment on it.

00:19:40.320 Do you like a resident?

00:19:40.640 All right.

00:19:41.000 Do you like a resident?

00:19:41.520 Thank you so much.

00:19:42.620 Now, you can tell the stark differences between those two interviewees.

00:19:46.180 One was happy to conduct the interview, and one was very tight-lipped.

00:19:50.440 He was on a very tight leash from Beijing, it seemed.

00:19:53.660 We also caught up with a third pro-democracy candidate.

00:19:56.240 Now, you can see that this is like a de facto referendum.

00:20:00.080 This is a very uncommon situation in Hong Kong, because ordinarily, normally, for district council election,

00:20:06.640 we have less turnout rate than the legislature election.

00:20:14.220 But now you can see that probably the turnout rate is the highest so far and would be record high.

00:20:20.140 So, it's like a de facto referendum, and it's allowed people to express their opinion directly.

00:20:27.600 And I think this is a very, I think this is the most important election.

00:20:33.160 And I hope that people will turn out and cast their vote and show their determination and support.

00:20:38.660 Hong Kong is like a showroom or show flat, and showing to the world that whether the Chinese government,

00:20:46.660 in fact, will honor their promises, and whether one country, two systems can work,

00:20:53.280 and whether the Chinese government respect rule of law and freedoms and human rights.

00:21:00.000 And obviously, you can see that just 20 years after the handover,

00:21:04.160 we can see that the erosion of one country, two systems.

00:21:07.240 So, it is, and so this is, if we have this Human Rights Act,

00:21:13.460 this would at least help Hong Kong people to have some kind of confidence

00:21:19.060 in maintaining our present system.

00:21:25.260 And at least those who want to destroy or want to affect adversely of our human rights

00:21:33.480 and the present system would have some kind of consequences in the future.

00:21:37.960 So, this is, I think, it's at least to make sure that Hong Kong people still have confidence.

00:21:44.540 And it is kind of, it's like a motivation for us to embrace our values.

00:21:51.360 And I have one last question.

00:21:52.680 Do you support the five demands, all five demands?

00:21:55.320 Absolutely, absolutely.

00:21:56.660 I, no one less.

00:21:59.620 Yeah, not one less, okay?

00:22:00.880 So, I support all these five demands and not one less.

00:22:06.420 Hi, can I ask you what the priority is for the police today?

00:22:10.120 To make sure the environment for all voters is as safe as possible

00:22:14.560 so that people can vote without any fear of intimidation from any side.

00:22:18.760 Are you expecting any irregularities from any interference?

00:22:23.240 Hopefully not.

00:22:24.100 We don't have any information that there's going to be any problems

00:22:27.540 and hopefully there won't be any problems.

00:22:29.520 You're here for the protest.

00:22:30.520 Can you tell us what is the protest movement?

00:22:32.620 What are they fighting for?

00:22:34.440 Well, initially, it was about an extradition bill

00:22:38.500 which would allow the government to send people from Hong Kong

00:22:42.940 to mainland China for trial.

00:22:45.380 And, of course, although we are not a democracy in Hong Kong,

00:22:48.680 but we have the rule of law, independence of the judiciary.

00:22:51.800 But in mainland China, it's complete lawlessness.

00:22:55.880 So, people are very frightened and could not understand 0.99

00:22:58.720 why the government of Carrie Lam would want to do a stupid thing like that, 0.98

00:23:02.740 particularly ever since 1997, 0.99

00:23:05.640 when Britain handed Hong Kong back to China.

00:23:09.420 They have been negotiating with the mainland for a deal

00:23:12.220 and could not get anywhere.

00:23:13.960 So, you know how difficult it is.

00:23:15.760 And suddenly, out of the blue, because of a Taiwan homicide case,

00:23:19.900 Carrie Lam came out to make the proposal. 0.96

00:23:22.260 So, the whole town just blew up.

00:23:24.520 And then, in the end, because so many people marched

00:23:27.240 and many foreign governments,

00:23:29.280 including the Canadian government and others, spoke out,

00:23:32.400 so she came out and said,

00:23:33.600 OK, OK, we stop the bill.

00:23:35.180 The bill is dead.

00:23:36.760 And people say, what do you mean?

00:23:38.600 Why don't you just use a proper language,

00:23:41.060 saying the bill has been completely withdrawn?

00:23:43.660 And she refused.

00:23:46.100 And then, in the meantime, there were many demonstrations.

00:23:49.040 Many were peaceful, attracting one to two million people.

00:23:53.100 But some, the young people, they had confrontation with the police.

00:23:57.340 And the police beat up a lot of people.

00:23:59.520 And so far, they have arrested over 700 people already.

00:24:02.980 So, the people say, well, there should be an independent inquiry,

00:24:06.400 looking into the whole saga.

00:24:08.260 Why did the government make such a blunder?

00:24:10.640 And why did the police behave in such a brutal way?

00:24:13.320 And, of course, some of the protesters also attacked the police.

00:24:17.580 So, we want a comprehensive inquiry.

00:24:20.060 And she refused.

00:24:21.260 So, that's why today, the Civil Human Rights Front,

00:24:25.200 which organised a big march for one million and two million,

00:24:28.460 they're organising another march.

00:24:30.420 But the police said, no, no march.

00:24:33.360 But you can have a rally in Victoria Park.

00:24:36.480 But the capacity of the park is only about 100,000.

00:24:39.640 And there may be, you know, a million or more people joining.

00:24:43.540 So, what do we do?

00:24:44.740 So, the organisers said, OK, no violence, no disorder.

00:24:49.460 So, you people, you go into Victoria Park.

00:24:51.800 Once it's full, then we'll get ushers to take you out of the park.

00:24:56.080 You go to the nearby station to take the train.

00:24:59.120 And if there are so many people, then the streets next to the park will be full.

00:25:04.240 Causeway Bay will be full.

00:25:05.640 Wan Chai will be full.

00:25:06.820 Central will be full.

00:25:08.260 Then the government would know that there are many people

00:25:10.680 who want to join this peaceful rally.

00:25:13.540 The organisers said, also, please come.

00:25:16.420 Don't wear any mask.

00:25:17.840 Don't wear any goggles.

00:25:19.320 Don't wear any gear.

00:25:20.700 We are peaceful.

00:25:21.400 But then some people say, no, we will come fully armed.

00:25:25.880 So, we don't know what will happen.

00:25:28.000 Well, we did see last night some of the escalating on the streets.

00:25:31.960 And a lot of the people wearing masks tell us that they wear it

00:25:34.440 because the police are very heavy-handed and use different tear gas, etc.

00:25:42.820 Do you understand?

00:25:43.780 I understand, but the organisers say this is a peaceful thing.

00:25:49.860 And maybe you think the organisers are naive.

00:25:52.660 They say that if you're peaceful, if the park is full, then you walk out.

00:25:57.640 And that is not an illegal assembly.

00:26:00.420 So, if you walk out, that is fine.

00:26:02.540 And the police will not attack you.

00:26:04.680 But some say, oh, no, you don't trust the police.

00:26:06.800 They may attack us.

00:26:08.240 If they want to protect themselves, that's fine.

00:26:10.900 But I hope people will not come fully covered up and all that, waiting for trouble.

00:26:18.580 And how do you see this all ending?

00:26:20.600 Do you feel we see China at the moment is building a military might on the border?

00:26:28.960 Are you worried of an invasion?

00:26:30.640 Are you worried that this is going to escalate?

00:26:33.440 First of all, my dear, it's not a border.

00:26:36.980 We are the same country.

00:26:38.840 So, it's a boundary.

00:26:39.760 I have to correct all these journalists time and time again.

00:26:44.160 Of course, they are amassing troops there.

00:26:47.800 And, in fact, they allow the foreign press to go in and film them, which is totally unheard of.

00:26:55.860 Why?

00:26:57.020 Well, they want, A, they want to show you so that you can show the picture, see, oh, the military might.

00:27:01.980 But then they also have people, the police here, gave an off-the-record briefing to the foreign press two or three days ago, saying, no need.

00:27:11.880 We are all ready.

00:27:13.720 We don't need any help from across the boundary.

00:27:16.920 We have had no training exercise with them.

00:27:19.520 We can't control the situation.

00:27:21.620 So, I think the police, they are very aware of the bad image they are getting internationally.

00:27:27.520 So, they want to tell the press, no, we're not going to invite them to come in.

00:27:31.900 But, on the other hand, there are some people over there who want to scare the Hong Kong people.

00:27:37.400 So, I think, by and large, the people don't expect them to march across the boundary.

00:27:43.400 In fact, the People's Liberation Army have been stationed in Hong Kong ever since 1997.

00:27:49.240 There's always 6,000 of them here.

00:27:52.120 But they are invisible.

00:27:53.980 So, now they are flexing their muscle.

00:27:56.320 I think they just want to tell people to calm down, don't fight with the police.

00:28:00.660 But the people say, I don't want to fight with the police.

00:28:03.080 We just want the government to accede to our demands, which are very reasonable.

00:28:08.320 Set up a commission of inquiry.

00:28:10.440 Withdraw the bloody bill.

00:28:12.120 We are not fighting for independence or self-determination.

00:28:15.520 Maybe the Canadians, those in Quebec, may support it.

00:28:19.320 But we are not fighting for those things.

00:28:21.520 We are fighting for very reasonable things.

00:28:24.040 And in the past 24, 48 hours, the Canadian Prime Minister has spoken out,

00:28:29.460 the British, the German, the Australian, the European Union.

00:28:34.300 And today, just an hour ago, the European Union issued another statement.

00:28:38.980 And then they issued a joint statement with the Canadian government.

00:28:42.360 So, you can see the international community is very alarmed.

00:28:45.860 And they're calling on all parties to exercise restraint and to find a political solution.

00:28:52.100 And not to use force and violence.

00:28:54.320 And how do you see it ending?

00:28:55.360 Well, I hope it will end like that.

00:28:58.160 Because at the end of the day, my dear, Hong Kong is important to China.

00:29:04.620 In spite of the fact they say, oh, China is so rich, we are just a tiny percentage of their GDP.

00:29:10.300 Be that as it may.

00:29:11.580 We've got the rule of law.

00:29:13.420 We've got international connections.

00:29:15.940 We are an important international financial center.

00:29:20.060 They come here to raise capital.

00:29:23.000 They use Hong Kong a lot.

00:29:24.300 So, I wouldn't think anyone in Beijing, in his right mind, would want to come in and smash Hong Kong to smithereens.

00:29:33.360 And I tell you, this is Hong Kong.

00:29:35.620 This is not Tiananmen Square.

00:29:37.860 You remember what happened 30 years ago.

00:29:40.600 They say, the Chinese say they're not going to repeat that.

00:29:43.960 And I certainly hope they won't.

00:29:45.700 And the whole world is watching.

00:29:46.880 Last time, they stopped the bill.

00:29:49.600 Not because a million people marched.

00:29:51.760 They stopped the bill because there were 67 statements issued by foreign governments.

00:29:56.520 Not 67 bombs.

00:29:58.000 67 statements.

00:29:59.780 So, I call on the international community, particularly the Canadian government, because I don't know whether you know, there are 300,000 Canadian citizens living and working in this city.

00:30:13.060 Many Canadian companies.

00:30:14.520 So, Canada has a real interest here to make sure that peace is restored, that the government can enter into negotiation with the opposition and settle this amicably.

00:30:26.960 Right now, we're in the middle of the demonstration outside of Pauley University.

00:30:31.740 Pauley University is the campus where 20 students are holed up following eight days of being blockaded inside of the campus.

00:30:40.060 They're running out of food.

00:30:41.440 Some say on Telegram that they've been contemplating suicide.

00:30:44.280 Now, this crowd is gathered here in the aftermath of the election that happened on Sunday, where there's an overwhelming Democratic win.

00:30:51.080 Now, that means that the pro-Beijing loyalist parties lost a ton of seats here in Hong Kong.

00:30:57.640 And in light of that, all of these Hong Kong students and graduates have come to the periphery of the Pauley University campus and are chanting five demands, not one less.

00:31:08.820 Liberate Hong Kong.

00:31:10.360 And now, if you look up there, we'll just point the camera up there.

00:31:14.960 I'm not sure if you'll be able to see them, but there's police officers pacing along this walkway that goes straight into the campus from over here from the street, from the main market area right next to the campus, into the campus.

00:31:30.920 There's police walking along there, and what we're seeing is the crowd is heckling them.

00:31:36.740 I've never seen anything like this.

00:31:38.800 Thousands of people shining their phone lights.

00:31:42.060 They're shining their phone lights at them, chanting at the police officers walking along that walkway.

00:31:49.920 This is surreal.

00:31:52.620 Now, we were just over there where that flag is.

00:31:57.380 And right where that flag is is the front line of this demonstration, where there's thousands of people here.

00:32:03.020 That's the front line, and there's about two dozen police officers dressed up in full riot gear, shotguns, tear gas, the whole works, bear spray.

00:32:12.060 And they're there guarding the entrance.

00:32:16.200 There's a thin line of plastic that the media are pressing up against, and the protesters are pushing the media forward.

00:32:23.680 And it's just getting closer and closer to the police officers.

00:32:26.560 The tension here, you could cut it through the air with a knife.

00:32:30.660 It's unbelievable what's going on here right now.

00:32:33.020 No, it makes me think of protesters in Canada and the United States.

00:32:38.340 I've been to many of these protests where Antifa is protesting in Portland and what have you.

00:32:43.540 And it just, when you juxtapose their issues with what's going on here, it's like you cannot even compare Antifa to the five demands of these people.

00:32:55.180 They're fighting for five things.

00:32:57.100 Universal suffrage, the withdrawal of the extradition bill completely.

00:33:01.040 They want the renaming of these demonstrations from riots to peaceful demonstrations.

00:33:10.640 They want a full inquiry into the police brutality that they've seen here.

00:33:15.880 There has been huge amounts here in Hong Kong of police brutality.

00:33:22.940 Police actually curb stomping some protesters.

00:33:28.100 A huge overuse of tear gas.

00:33:31.240 That's what they're fighting against here in Hong Kong.

00:33:33.660 They're fighting for their right to live in a peaceful and democratic country.

00:33:37.320 City, really.

00:33:38.180 And the police aren't having it.

00:33:41.280 Although, I will note that today the police seem to be acting more withdrawn.

00:33:47.060 They're acting almost like they don't want to antagonize this vast crowd of protesters.

00:33:53.400 So, credit where credit is due, they're actually being a little bit restrained.

00:33:58.460 We're going to keep going through this protest and keep up our coverage.

00:34:02.160 You can see what's going on.

00:34:04.020 Our live updates on Twitter, at TheRealKian.

00:34:07.460 But more importantly, please go to HongKongReports.com to see all of our coverage

00:34:12.980 and pitch in a few bucks to cover what we're doing here.

00:34:16.400 Our hotel rooms, our taxis, our metro passes, and our airline tickets.

00:34:20.280 It's very expensive to do this.

00:34:21.980 But we hope that you find this coverage here on the ground, in the middle of this crowd, useful.

00:34:28.100 What happened in there?

00:34:30.380 What happened in there?

00:34:31.800 What's happening there?

00:34:32.520 No, I think the university is going to make the announcement.

00:34:36.920 They will take over the process.

00:34:38.840 Did any students come out?

00:34:40.820 Not at this moment.

00:34:42.480 How are the students faring?

00:34:44.340 They're healthy.

00:34:46.180 And, well, they can communicate with us properly.

00:34:52.420 Are they concerned about charges should they come out?

00:34:55.720 Is that a serious concern for them?

00:34:57.440 Well, they are concerned about whether the police will withdraw tomorrow.

00:35:03.260 And then we hope that it's our wish that the police will withdraw tomorrow because, well, the authority of the university will go in tomorrow and then to take over the possession of the premises.

00:35:18.220 When will the university statement come out?

00:35:19.940 Do you know?

00:35:21.100 I think tomorrow morning.

00:35:22.460 I don't know.

00:35:23.060 I'm not quite sure.

00:35:23.920 But I think, well, they are going to do it.

00:35:27.120 You were in there with the students?

00:35:29.180 I was.

00:35:29.780 I was.

00:35:30.160 Yeah.

00:35:30.260 Okay.

00:35:30.900 And what was the mood in there?

00:35:32.860 Were they there?

00:35:34.340 Some reports were saying that they were hurting themselves and many were suicidal.

00:35:39.580 Is that, in fact, the case?

00:35:42.340 I'm not sure.

00:35:43.440 But actually, we were, six of us were inside.

00:35:47.180 And then we just met up two people.

00:35:49.100 Yeah.

00:35:49.600 We just met up two people.

00:35:50.840 And we don't know the number, the exact number or anything else.

00:35:54.880 Yeah.

00:35:55.040 And then what we are going to do at the moment, we have to, like, pushing, we want to push in the, we want to push the university, the, to take over the university, not later by tomorrow, and then so the police will retreat.

00:36:14.040 Yeah.

00:36:14.260 And then to settle the conflict.

00:36:16.920 Now, these are just hopes.

00:36:18.260 They don't know what's going to happen.

00:36:19.420 The police haven't responded to those demands from these five new councillors that have been elected.

00:36:25.040 We're going to have to wait till tomorrow morning to see how the university responds with this new request from these candidates.

00:36:31.780 And if the police will then fall in line with that expectation.

00:36:35.140 My guess is the police won't.

00:36:38.100 My guess is Beijing is going to want to throw the book at these students.

00:36:41.580 They're going to want to make sure that they are crushed after they have stood up to Beijing, to Carrie Lam, and to the Beijing loyal government here in Hong Kong.

00:36:53.040 That's just my guess.

00:36:54.620 We'll have to see what happens tomorrow.

00:36:56.280 We'll have to see what happens tomorrow.

00:37:05.040 !

00:37:09.420 Rebel News came to Hong Kong trying to uncover the other side of the story.

00:37:39.420 To share with the world the side of the story that Beijing doesn't want the world to hear.

00:37:45.320 We came to Hong Kong just a few days before a massive election was held.

00:37:50.840 And it really was a historic election for Hong Kong.

00:37:54.940 There was a massive sweep for the Democrat Party here. 0.80

00:37:58.040 The pro-democracy camp won an overwhelming victory.

00:38:01.360 Over 90% of the seats.

00:38:03.940 This is an amazing movement that we're seeing here today.

00:38:06.820 And it's being capped off here tonight in an evening of song.

00:38:11.020 They're singing Glory to Hong Kong and Can You Hear the People Sing.

00:38:16.220 Tonight is a time when they're thinking about the folks that are trapped in PolyU.

00:38:22.300 There's still 20 students in PolyU and their fate is yet unknown.

00:38:27.000 These folks here held a moment of silence amid their song.

00:38:30.460 And it really was an emotional night.

00:38:33.020 It was something like I've never seen before.

00:38:36.100 When Rebel News came here we weren't sure what we were going to find.

00:38:39.780 What we did find was millions of Hong Kongers passionate to hold on to the liberty that was left to them at the handover.

00:38:48.880 From the British Empire to what they have today with their basic law.

00:38:53.300 We found people willing to stand eye to eye with riot police to stand up for their fellow protesters who are now locked in PolyU.

00:39:02.660 We found people who will gather in an auditorium like this to sing and remember those that they've lost in these protests.

00:39:10.980 Don't forget many people have been arrested.

00:39:13.500 Thousands.

00:39:13.820 Many people have committed suicide allegedly at the hands of what looks like to be the police.

00:39:20.640 We faced off with Regina Ip. 0.79

00:39:22.620 She's the head of the New People's Party here in Hong Kong.

00:39:26.780 She's someone who has a direct hand in the police brutality that we've seen here.

00:39:31.420 We've seen people who have been curb stomped by the police.

00:39:34.180 People who have been bowled over with riot shields.

00:39:36.980 These people really have something to fight for.

00:39:39.780 And I know I speak on behalf of Rebel News when we say we stand with the people of Hong Kong.

00:39:46.000 No one is!

00:39:47.780 No one is!

00:39:49.780 No one is!

00:39:51.780 No one is!

00:39:52.780 No one is!

00:39:53.780 No one is!

00:39:54.780 Hong Kong!

00:39:55.780 Hong Kong!

00:39:56.780 I love it!

00:39:57.780 Hong Kong!

00:39:59.780 Hong Kong!

00:40:00.780 Hong Kong!

00:40:01.780 Hong Kong!

00:40:03.780 Hong Kong!

00:40:04.780 Hong Kong!

00:40:05.780 To the world at large I would like them to keep reporting on Hong Kong.

00:40:10.780 The world needs to know that our government is lying to the world.

00:40:16.780 That they make it sound like it's just a small number of people who are trying to defy the government.

00:40:22.780 Which it's not.

00:40:23.780 A majority of Hong Kong people are fighting against the government.

00:40:27.780 We want five demands to be met.

00:40:30.400 Thank you.

00:41:00.400 Thank you.

Rebel News Podcast - January 01, 2020

Hong Kong highlights

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