Day: January 13, 2022

Hong Kong political artist Kacey Wong is planning a new exhibition on the the democratic island of Taiwan, where he has described himself as “exiled” during a citywide crackdown on political opposition and public dissent under a draconian national security law imposed by Beijing.

“I will be launching an art exhibition in March in [the city of] Tainan,” Wong said via his Twitter account on Jan. 8.

Wong, whose political performance art has included works referencing the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and pro-democracy movement, Chinese censorship, and the national anthem law banning any disrespect to the Chinese national anthem in Hong Kong, says his next work will combine elements of traditional culture and current fears over the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s growing military threats against Taiwan.

“[I will be] creating a dragon missile launching system, combining local beliefs and military tension into one, to vanguard freedom and democracy of Taiwan with art!” Wong tweeted.

Wong confirmed he had left Hong Kong for Taiwan in August, joining a growing wave of migrants seeking a democratic society in which they can express themselves freely without political constraint.

He said his departure was prompted by the arrests of 47 opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists for “subversion” under the national security law for taking part in a democratic primary in the summer of 2020.

Wong has also been denounced by the CCP-run Ta Kung Pao newspaper. Denunciations in state media are increasingly a precursor to arrest under the national security law or illiberal, colonial-era laws relating to sedition and public assembly.

A graduate in architecture and sculpture from schools in New York, London and Australia, Wong is a former assistant professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic’s School of Design.

His work became popular during the 2019 protest movement, which started as a series of mass popular protests against plans to allow the extradition of alleged criminal suspects to face trial in mainland China, and broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections and greater official accountability.

At the start of the protest movement, he pushed around a “mobile prison” installation on the streets labelled with a sign “HK→CN.”

He also took to the streets on June 3, 2019, the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, playing the Chinese national anthem, the March of the Volunteers, as a sad lament on the accordion.

Earlier work has included tying himself up in red string to protest the disappearances of Causeway Bay booksellers Lee Bo and Lam Wing-kei, who emigrated to Taiwan in 2019, warning that the mainland Chinese authorities would soon pursue dissidents in Hong Kong despite promising to guarantee the city’s freedoms, a prediction that has proved accurate since the national security law took effect.

Wong’s last piece of performance art in Hong Kong was on July 1, 2020, amid street protests on the first day that the national security law took effect.

He walked the streets dressed like a tourist from mainland China toting shopping bags labeled with a selection of crimes under the national security law.

“It was pretty awful because the police had blocked off every street and were throwing pepper bombs randomly, so the smell was everywhere,” Wong told RFA in an interview in September 2021.

“That was the last political performance art I did as part of an actual demonstration.”

Continues to speak out

Wong has continued to speak out on Hong Kong politics.

He recently quipped on Twitter that the most powerful party in the city’s new Legislative Council (LegCo), chosen under new rules ensuring that only “patriots” pre-approved by a government-backed committee could run in last month’s elections, was the “Birthday Party,” referring to a mass gathering of pro-CCP political figures and lawmakers at a scandalous party that resulted in a cluster of COVID-19 cases, compulsory mass quarantine and the wrath of Beijing.

“For me, everything that happened in Hong Kong is actually a kind of war, a war of culture, censorship and white terror spreading across every social class,” Wong told RFA. “Hong Kong people have said before that the red lines in life keep moving, but they’re more of a red sea.”

“The truth is that there are no lines,” Wong said. “The lines are drawn when they say you broke the law, and then they are moved to a different point after that.”

“Teachers don’t know how to teach any more because their students might make a complaint about them,” he said. “A lot of people are changing their names and deleting photos on Facebook.”

“People just talk quietly among their friends now, while before people in Hong Kong could sit down for dimsum and talk and laugh about anything and everything,” Wong said.

Wong appreciates his new environment.

“The skies here are much bigger, because everyone in Hong Kong lives in high-rise buildings, 30-stories, 60-stories high, so you can only see a small amount of sky from the street.”

“My intention in leaving wasn’t to leave Hong Kong behind, but to switch to a different battlefield,” Wong said. “That’s how I see it.”

He still feels a strong sense of exile, too.

“I didn’t leave Hong Kong. Hong Kong left me,” Wong said. “If I want Hong Kong to survive, it has to be hidden away inside me.”

“But I’ll live as a Hongkonger wherever I am.”

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Authorities in Cambodia are ordering an opposition party to remove a sign from a public road, sparking accusations of political bias in favor of the Cambodian People’s Party whose leader Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia for more than 35 years.

The move by officials in central Cambodia’s Tboung Khmum province reflects CPP concern over the growth of the Candlelight Party, which has been working since November to prepare for local elections scheduled for June 5, party activist Sou Yean told RFA on Wednesday.

Sou Yean said he has refused orders from authorities in Tboung Khmum’s Dambaer district to take down his party’s sign. “All political parties have equal rights,” said the activist, a former member of the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party who was recently released from prison.

Provincial deputy governor Keng Bunna denied accusations of political bias in ordering the sign’s removal, saying its placement at the side of a public road had led to complaints from villagers living nearby.

“Even though the sign was put up in a public space, it might interfere with traffic,” Keng Bunna said. Candlelight Party members should consult with authorities in the future over where their signs can be placed, he said.

“They need to coordinate this with the authorities so we can make sure their signs don’t affect the flow of traffic. We don’t restrict the activities of any political parties,” he added.

Sou Yean said however that his party had informed local authorities about the installation of its sign according to legal requirements, and that the sign’s placement did not interfere with traffic flows. The Candlelight Party will continue its activities in spite of authorities’ pressure and intimidations, he said.

Kang Savang, a monitor with the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) said that opposition parties in Cambodia have frequently been blocked in their attempts to put up signs advertising their party’s presence and activities.

“It isn’t right for the authorities to refuse permission. Instead, they should work to find compromises so they don’t engage in political discrimination,” he said.

The Candlelight Party was formerly known as the Sam Rainsy Party, whose leader merged the group with other opposition forces to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 in a move that allowed Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party to win all 125 seats in Parliament in a July 2018 election. The ban came two months after the arrest of Kem Sokha, president of the CNRP, who faces trial on treason charges this month.

Hun Sen’s crackdown on the opposition and civil society drew U.S. sanctions and the suspension of trade privileges with the European Union.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Chinese and Vietnamese companies are turning Cambodia’s Ta Kream Mountain into gravel, ruining its natural beauty, causing health problems for nearby villagers, permanently changing the way they live, the villagers told RFA.

Environmental activists and villagers told RFA that the mountain, in the northwestern province of Battambang’s Banna district, is being systematically converted to gravel for a construction boom in the capital Phnom Penh and within the province.

Banna district was once home to 31 historic mountains that housed ancient temples and popular tourist attractions. A few of the mountains were destroyed by development in 2013.

Now Ta Kream and several other nearby mountains are at risk of falling to the same fate.

Residents of Ta Kream village said they have petitioned local authorities to stop the companies from destroying their mountain to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid health complications resulting from the operation, as several of them have developed respiratory problems as the gravel factories emit large amounts of dust. 

“I am so sad because we could be having wild vegetables and mushrooms but now the forest-covered mountains have become deserts,” a villager, who declined to be named for security reasons told RFA’s Khmer Service.

He said the mountains used to be places for people to make a living, and the gravel operations are destroying wildlife habitats, as well as the identity of the villagers. 

In December, a group of villagers protested and blocked a road to prevent the companies from accessing the mountain.

They also urged authorities to stop the gravel operations, but the local authorities refused to take action, charging some of the protesters with incitement, he said.

The inaction by authorities will speed up the destruction of the mountain, he said.

Other villagers told RFA that the four gravel companies, Heng Chat Construction, Nim Meng Group, and the Tang Thailong and Thy Long companies are likely operating without licenses, because the local authorities tried to hide information and ignored their health concerns. 

Gravel companies have been exploiting Cambodia’s mountains for two decades with little transparency, Phoung Keo Raksmey, an environmentalist, told RFA.

“The government should have been responsible back then,” she said, adding that it is the government’s duty to protect historic mountains.

“I have observed that the central and local government have supported these kinds of businesses. I hope they will wake up and protect our natural resources,” she said.

RFA was unable to reach Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Peaktra for comment.

The government should take tougher measures to protect natural resources, and resolve the villagers’ concerns, Heng Kimhong, head of the research and advocacy program of the Cambodian Youth Network, told RFA.

“How much revenue from the mountain’s exploitation goes to the government and the local community?” he said.

“There should be transparency before these people’s lives are impacted,” he said, adding that the people are saddened when the mountains they are attached to are being destroyed.

Soeum Bunrith, a spokesman for the province, told RFA that the gravel companies were all licensed and had performed environmental impact studies.

The companies have also constructed many local buildings and a highway to Phnom Penh, the spokesman said.

He however acknowledged that the companies have negatively impacted the environment and the livelihood of the people and promised that the authorities would not ignore these issues.

“We have studied the villagers’ complaints and educated the investors,” he said.

“Any development will impact local communities, so the companies must find ways to protect the environment and the people’s livelihood if they want to sustain their businesses,” said Soeum Bunrith.

But the government may be to blame.

Cambodia’s natural resources are being destroyed due to government negligence and corruption, Soeung Seng Karuna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), told RFA.

“I urge the authorities to reconsider this case because the issues impact villagers. Authorities should protect natural resources and our forests,” he said.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.