關於 country house signs ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

Bring a Good Report

“They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.” Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”” (Numbers‬ ‭13:27-33‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

The twelve men Moses sent out to spy the land were princes of each respective tribe of Israel.

Ten spies brought back an evil report of the land, whereas only Joshua and Caleb gave a good report.

These princes who were leaders of the tribes can represent spiritual leaders like pastors who are entrusted with God’s flocks.

Pastors should not be preaching fear as if the enemy is so much stronger than us.

“Be careful, or the devil will get you. The devil is very crafty and the whole world is under his sway.”

When a pastor keeps talking about the devil, is he really preaching the Gospel which produces faith, or preaching the bad news of the devil which produces fear?

Spiritual leaders ought not to mislead their congregations this way.

While the ten spies saw large and fortified cities built by giants as a scary obstacle, Joshua and Caleb were excited, seeing those cities as their soon-to-be possessions to house the children of Israel.

The ten spies were focusing on how large and imposing the giants were, but Joshua and Caleb were only conscious of how mighty Yahweh is, and they believed that He would give them the victory.

“Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey. Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.” But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. Yahweh’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel. Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?” (Numbers‬ ‭14:6-11‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

Joshua and Caleb were free from fear because they believed that Yahweh was on their side.

When there is an imposing challenge in your path that has the potential for huge gains, see the Lord generously giving the victory to you. If it is truly an exceedingly good land, and the Lord brought you to that point, He will also supply you with the grace to overcome all difficulties.

While the ten princes saw themselves as grasshoppers in the giants’ sight, Joshua and Caleb saw the giants as bread to be easily devoured! Two drastically different beliefs because the ten princes did not have faith in Yahweh, whereas Joshua and Caleb believed in Him.

In the end, the glory of the Lord appeared and He rebuked the people for their bad opinion of Him and the unbelief in their hearts.

Even though He had worked mighty signs and wonders in Egypt, the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, the children of Israel were so hard-hearted that they forgot all the amazing things that the Lord had done for them.

If you have been entrusted with leadership over God’s people, make sure you are preaching the Gospel (good news) to them, painting a vision of a good God who loves His people and who is mighty to save in any situation. Christians don’t need any more negativity or fear—they already get that from the world in their daily lives.

When you encounter a new challenge, focus on the bigness of your God, not on the strength of your enemies. No matter what shape, size, or form they come in, God is still more powerful than all of them combined, and He will give you the victory when you trust in Him.

A new faith declaration: “The size or power of my enemy is irrelevant because my God is so much greater than any enemy. My God is with me and I am victorious through Him who loves me!”

Keep studying God’s word and growing in your understanding of His ways. Our Patreon community is currently on a Bible study series called “My Faith Declarations” which looks at the Spirit-inspired utterances of the authors of the Psalms. They wrote about the trials and tribulations they experienced, so the book of Psalms is very relatable.

By turning their faith declarations into our own, we can learn how to overcome similar circumstances in life through faith in the Lord! Become a “God Every Morning” tier or above patron on Patreon to receive this reward, daily devotionals by email, and also all my eBooks. Thanks for being a blessing to this ministry: http://Patreon.com/miltongohblog

【哈瓦那·古巴】English after Mandarin

義大利藝術評論家Philippe Daverio說「真正藝術包括不同方位的解讀」，需要具有「模擬兩可性或是不可捉摸性」。我覺得哈瓦那就是這樣一個獨特的城市。作為一個真正的藝術城市，哈瓦那真實體現了那種不可捉摸的面向。
Philippe Daverio, an Italian art critic, says real art includes interpretations from different perspectives and should be ambiguous or unpredictable. I think Havana, as a true city of art, genuinely reflects that unpredictability.

對於古巴的第一印象來自於社會主義風格的哈瓦那機場。外觀有棱有角，活像是隨時會翻身戰鬥的變形金剛。這點又跟注重建築與環境與人文呼應的新未來主義建築不謀而合，就像Zaha Hadid在廣州建造的那兩隻蟾蜍劇院一樣。這麽多的想像與那種所謂的藝術的模擬兩可性恰恰重合。
My first impression of Cuba came from the Havana airport with that strong socialistic flavor. The angular exterior of the terminal looks exactly like one of those Transformer robots who might spring to life and battle at any second. This coincides with the concept of neo-futurism buildings which stresses the link between buildings and their surroundings. A great example is the angular toad-like Guangzhou Opera House. All that imagination accords with the so-called ambiguity of art.

內部紅色的證照查驗關讓人感覺熱情卻又搭配共產主義的不協調。飛機上座位旁邊的古巴先生嘴裡不時哼著歌曲，機場接駁車和接機計程車上也有動感音樂。我感到困惑。
Inside the terminal is the red immigration cubicles with that yellow tint, which gives a sense of incongruity combining passion with seemingly cold communism. That reminds me of the Cuban guy next to me on the plane who was humming songs all the time. Music can also be found on the boarding gate shuttle as well as the taxi I rode to downtown Havana. I was perplexed.

我問接機的司機英文哪學來的。他說學校裡的外來語文教育中有英文的選項，但不是很受重視。司機又說歐巴馬時代古巴開始轉型經濟準備起飛。可惜目前川普打壓古巴，連房地產都低迷。從路上年輕一代的新潮穿著，我感覺到古巴已不再是舊時代的古巴了。對於古巴一切都還在摸索中。
I asked the cab driver where he learned his English. He replied that English was one of the foreign language options in school, but English was not considered important. He then started to talked about how Obama helped boost Cuba’s economy with the loosened US-Cuban tension. It was unfortunate since Trump swore in and everything had been beaten down including the travel and real estate industries. I could still spot the change from young people’s fashionable outfits. It felt like Cuba was not the old Cuba that I learned from the travel guide. Everything about Cuba was yet to be explored.

哈瓦那絕不是說英文天堂。從找住宿開始，我那卑微的西班牙文就被迫徹徹底底地運轉起來。還好事先下載了估狗翻譯裡的西文選項，加上我確實請過家教老師學習基礎西文發音，這樣勉強能與當地人溝通一下。我也懷疑憑我這樣三腳貓的西文能有什麼本事去解讀這樣一個謎一般的國度？
By all means, Havana is no heaven for English speakers. From the moment I decided to find a casa/guest house on my own, my puny Spanish vocabulary was forced to work hard. (Yeah, I only know about a couple of hundred words. Shame on me!) The good thing is that I downloaded Spanish on my Google Translate in advance. Plus I hired a private tutor to learn Spanish phonics. I somehow managed to communicate with the locals. Sometimes, I doubted how I was going to open up this mysterious nation with my lousy Spanish.

入住後第一件事情就是憑著以往旅行經驗慣例出門找超市。哪知那樣的作法在這特立獨行的國度完全不適用。在哈瓦那舊城區(Habana Vieja)的民宅區裡沒有所謂的招牌。這意味著一個社區中大多數人彼此相互認識，才能知道誰家在哪裡提供什麼樣的服務。可憐如我，為了找瓶裝水，在附近用破爛的西文「Donde esta el agua」問路。經過三個人指了不同的方向後，終於找到一位熱心的先生直接帶我去一個不起眼的窗口買水。饒是這樣我也花了將近30分鐘才順利取得珍貴的飲用水資源。
The first thing I did after I checked into a casa was to follow my routine as a traveler and find a supermarket. Who would have known that this idea completely did not work here. In some residential areas of Old Havana, shop signs simply do not exist. This probably means most people in the community know each other, and thus are aware of where to go to find services they need without shop signs. That translated into my predicament as I tried to find some bottled water in the neighborhood. I literally asked for directions with my broken Spanish, Donde esta el agua? Following three kind passersby’s help in three different directions, I found a nice guy who took me to an inconspicuous window where I finally obtained two very precious bottles of water, which took me 30 minutes for this entire water-getting process.

在找水的途中我看到了麵包店只批量生產吐司和小圓麵包、窄門裡只賣菸和酒的店家、有簡單桌椅的餐廳，以及一目了然的理髮店。這一切都沒有資本主義的招牌來包裝社區的基本運作。也因為對於這裡的無知，我將注意力集中在斑駁街道與頹傾樓房之間發出的聲響上。鍋裡油炸的聲音、收音機裡的音樂、雞啼、車子裡的動感貝斯、路人跟我說hola、先生親吻太太臉頰打波的聲響、吉娃娃的嗷叫，以及路人在街頭講公共電話的聲音—我走在街道的中央聆聽哈瓦那的脈動。當然我所在的這條街絕對不會是觀光客川流不息的Obispo步行街。總之，這裡的許多事物顛覆了我對一個城市的認知。
En route to finding water, I saw a bakery producing only toast and rolls in batch, a shop selling only cigarettes and liquors, a restaurant with simple tables and chairs, and a barbershop that you can see it all at a glance. Everything here ran basically without the packaging of capitalistic shop signs. Because of my ignorance of Cuba, I started to shift my attention to the sounds made between the mottled streets and faded buildings. Deep frying noises from a pan, music from the radio, a rooster’s crowing, pounding bass from a car stereo, hola from a passerby, smackers from a husband to his wife, a chihuahua’s barking, and someone talking on a public phone—I was walking in the middle of a small street listening to the heart beats of Old Havana. Where I was standing is surely not the tourist-flooded Obispo pedestrian zone. Regardless, my perception about what a city ought to be was totally overthrown by the things I experienced initially.

對於古巴的第一印象是新奇且難以用一般邏輯去理解的。我覺得接下來的旅程我應該放下對於一個國家既定的預期。也許這樣才能領會只屬於古巴的不可捉摸的藝術。
My first impression about Cuba was novel yet hard to understand with the common sense. I felt I needed to let go of my expectations for the country. Perhaps, that way I could grasp a touch of the unpredictable art that only belongs to Cuba.

下一篇：
https://www.facebook.com/844309985672851/posts/3207657306004762?sfns=mo

#Cuba #Havana #travel #photo #古巴 #哈瓦那 #旅行 #照片

《免於恐懼的自由祈禱會》
呂秉權先生的分享

#絕望中的希望 《免於恐懼的自由》祈禱會
呂秉權 兄弟分享--- #沸點即場筆錄

片段 ▶️ https://www.facebook.com/109180535767655/posts/2493494547336230?s=548400948&v=e&sfns=mo

主教、神父、各位兄弟姊妹，大家好！很感恩可以在這裏跟大家分享，大家還是平平安安。我想起一位從大陸偷偷地來香港返教會，「宗教自由行」的姊妹，她說，想不到竟然可以在街頭報佳音，如果在大陸做這事的話，一早就被拒捕了！原來，我們可以站在街上祈禱、唱聖詩，是這麼美好的事情！

今次逃犯條例的修訂，令政府有一個很大的讓步，我可以說，這是一個奇蹟、是一個神蹟！

為我們這群，一直研究中國大陸政治的朋友來說，看著所有原先的蛛絲馬跡，中央對港的方針，是沒有讓步這計劃的！我跟大家說，原本這樣的逃犯條例，是怎樣的一回事：北京和林鄭月娥，他們以為這條例必定順利通過！為什麼？

首先，立法會絕對有足夠的票數去支持、商界也在中央的操控下一一「跪低」，即使你不情願，你不願意收回你的司法覆核也好，你最好也要跪低。

第二，在民意而言，北京已經評估過香港狀況，就算最多反對聲音、最壞程度，北京原先的評估，反對者就是佔中的規模；而佔中的規模，特區政府和警方已綽綽有餘，足以瓦解這行動於無形。兼且，這幾年來，香港的警隊， 已經不再是同樣的警隊了！香港的警隊已經進化了很多。

在後勤，我們亦知道解放軍已預備好。上一次佔領行動的時候，解放軍駐港部隊的深圳後勤部隊已經演練了；他們以四人枱一個人的規模，預備進行必要的介入，但最終沒有用到，但是他們是有部署的。如果有1萬人的集會，四個人抬1人，換句話說，就是說有4萬兵力在後勤準備。今次，不要以為我們看不見明顯的徵兆；解放軍駐港部隊已經不經不覺地做了不少工作。大家可記得？山竹襲港時，市面和郊野公園有大片破壞，解放軍駐港部隊幾百人，居然越過了駐軍法，沒有通知特區政府的情況下，可以出兵幾百人，穿着制服，他們以清理郊區的名義，動員幾百人，沒有駐軍令、沒有適當程序，他們就派了幾百個解放軍來了。這一點，我自己認為是十分危險的訊號。

第三，除了因為林鄭信心爆棚外，還有中央的因素在內。如果我們只看表面的話，會以為（修例）只是林鄭個人決定。其實，逃犯條例的修訂，中央跟香港談了很多年了，他們問香港要人，要了很多年了！今次在這修訂逃犯條例的大背景下，中央政府希望「法律武器化」香港；簡單來說，就是用任何香港的程序和法律去實行國家安全，這至高無上的保障。中央想通過這條移交逃犯條例，其實是一條「萬能Key」，文匯大公的權威解讀，國內中港智囊研究多年中港移交條例，除了一般所說：大陸犯罪的人匿藏在香港、除了香港人在國內犯罪回到香港外...... 更重要的計劃，就是威脅「國家安全」的罪犯。

在文匯大公報，5月23日引用權威人士解讀：當遇到威脅國家安全的罪犯時，一般是由香港，按照香港法律程序去處理的。那換句話說，是有不一般的情況了？當不一般的情況出現了，是不是就是可以超越香港程序去處理？而在國內研究這問題的智囊，很清楚跟我們說，在中國法律上，是沒有「政治犯」的！我們從前說反革命罪犯、或現在煽動顛覆國家政權罪犯，他們並非「政治犯」，而只是三個字：刑事犯！當我們面對刑事犯的時候，是否不引渡呢？是不是用政治犯為保護罩，我們就不引渡危害國家安全的罪犯呢？國內的智囊說，國內的邏輯是相反的！正是這些人破壞國家安全，香港更不能夠成為國家安全的漏洞，更加要去移交（罪犯），這是最恐怖的。

為什麼我們覺得恐怖呢？因為我們怎樣去定義一個人危害國家安全呢？那標準是相當之闊！在內地，只要你所謂「得罪共產黨」，你做一些黨不喜歡你做的事；你批評中央、你去支援內地的宗教，也許你報導一些新聞，內地不喜歡的......很容易你就會被檢控。

以往很多人被「砌生豬肉」（誣告），用藏毒罪、用偷竊罪、用間諜罪...... 被指控，是很恐怖的情況！我們中國大陸所行的體制，是人民民主專政，簡單來說就是「專政」兩個字！

專政是什麼呢？專政就是說，當面對政府所認為的「敵人」時，就可以不需要依照法律辦事、可以越過法律。如果大家還記得，在內地發生過不少專政事件，劉霞為什麼會完全沒有在法律程序下，被剝奪人身自由、被軟禁這麼久？銅鑼灣書店的相關人士，為什麼可以在香港跟泰國等地被綁架；被綁了之後，自願被剝奪所有法律權利，不見家人，在電視機面前認罪......為什麼呢？因為當時中國政府正在實行專政。

國家主席劉少奇，用憲法的名義叫大家不可以這樣去迫死人， 到最後......他們將一個被鬥到遍體鱗傷，急需醫院治療的一個國家主席，丟在河南的一個密室，失救至死。專政還可以令十大元帥賀龍，他患有糖尿病和各種疾病；死的時候被人專政，把高質量的葡萄糖液，打進他的身體，葡萄糖液與糖尿病結合...... 令他的腎臟衰竭、身體衰竭而死。

當一個國家說自己依法治國，但隨時可以行專政的時候，香港的法律開了一扇門，與這種專政的做法接連、以國家安全名義...... 這是多麼恐怖的事呢？而這個程序去修例，就是原來的劇本！

原來的劇本亦包括，中央在年頭的時候，審視全國的形勢，去防止各種的失控，各種不穩定因素，各種的風險。國家開了全國最高省部級的領導幹部大會，有習近平在中央黨校開講，很出名的什麼灰犀牛、黑天鵝、六個穩定，就是從這會議中出來的。當時中共領導人，是很害怕一件事： 所謂的中國「逢九必亂」，逢年份有9，他們就容易有大亂，中共見證着：
1949年，國共的更替；59年，大饑荒；69年，中蘇珍寶島之戰，國家主席劉少奇被鬥死；79年，中越戰爭；89年，六四事件；99年，法輪功圍中南海；2009年，新疆七五騷亂。

2019年頭的時候，中共已經開了全國大會去防止有任何混亂的情況。他們做了很多措施，亦都分享了很多經驗怎去處理問題。當時在中央的劇本中，香港的局勢可以說：穩如泰山！沒有可能在逢九必亂的其中一亂，是沒有可能的。他們所擔心的是經濟、與及萬一出現的失業問題，中美貿易之戰，絕對不是香港的事情。

近年，中央領隊領導人對香港的研判，他們認為香港局勢是非常的大好！為什麼這樣說呢？因為全面管治權已逐步落實，立法會受到建制的加持，由於這些社運、甚至旺角騷亂的人，相繼被重判；各種不同政見的人被DQ，整個社會的公民意識越來越低；北京與林鄭政府是極有信心的，這條例，不可能不通過！習近平早年說怎樣處理群眾運動時，清楚地說到：他剛剛上台，要扭轉胡、溫時代的那種妥協作風。習近平說：不可以：小鬧小解決、大鬧大解決、不鬧不解決！他不能讓這情況持續下去！習近平任內對港的多番措施，沒有一件證明他是妥協的；除了梁振英的不連任，而當時，是因為他在建制及商界中拿不到票 。有數票的人說，取得601票已是十分困難了，不是群眾的力量造成。而今次面對6月9日103萬人大遊行，大家可以看到，林鄭與北京政府當時的不妥協，遊行完後，無論人數有多少，依然故我，條例繼續。

當我們常常會問：天主你在哪裏？天主，為什麼香港可以被人摧殘至此？不知怎樣來了一個逆轉 ！當我們很多時質疑青年是「廢青」，在612星期三，出現了一個大家都不想看見、但卻成了一個逆轉的場面！一班青年人，他們有些是寫了遺書的，決定自己去擋子彈的情況下，他們去衝擊立法會、衝擊警方防線！當然從法律來說，他們的做法是犯法的；但是從一個公義的角度，他們認為這事情不應該這樣繼續下去，所以，他們做了抗爭。而這種抗爭，竟令到已經升級變形的香港警隊，殺紅了眼，連內部評估，也認為當警方被衝擊後，出去對群眾的清場用槍、去射頭部、用各種武器去攻擊一些無辜的人；警隊的一些內部評估，也認為是過火了。是這情況令到整件事逆轉！整個國際的壓力，令到北京政府難以承受。

那原先他們的計劃是怎樣呢？在內地的電視，和平集會的鏡頭全部被刪去，被描繪成示威者衝擊警察、暴徒般襲擊，今次他們想說成香港暴徒襲擊政府，以拿取道德高地。殊不知，警方濫用武器、過度執法、逆轉了整個畫面！原本習近平的計劃：叫做「楓橋經驗」，那就是遇到群眾事件時，就地解決，矛盾不上交！煎你的皮、但內裡燒不焦；鬥你的表面，但內部不會出事......

但很可惜，今次特區政府不單止沒有「矛盾不上交」，不但上交中央、還上了國際層面；令中共面對非常大的壓力，因而出現了一個逆轉。

我認為，這是天主的眷顧、天主的神跡！

到最後，我想用一個眼神去完結我這個分享：我記得，在612過後，我跟朋友去了一所聖堂，在聖堂門口見到一對警察，虎視眈眈，還是非常強硬的態度，他們想去捉拿聖堂內的青年。我在聖堂內看見一位青年，穿著黑背心，眼神很惶恐。我問他，可要幫他買件衣服，讓他離開？他說：「不用了」，他在聖堂得到了保護，找到了他的家，真正的父親、母親。當我行出教堂外，警察的目光，好像張牙舞爪，想要抓一個孩子......

希望上主繼續眷顧我們，賜我們平安；希望傷者能得平安...... 主佑香港！

2019年6月19日晚上

▶️ 祈禱會直播 https://www.facebook.com/1764198537146061/posts/2394608974105011?s=548400948&sfns=mo

▶️再談逃犯條例修定研討會 https://www.facebook.com/hkjpcom/videos/2180158835373248?s=667412853

“Hope in despair”
sharing of Mr Lui Ping Kuen at the “freedom from fear” prayer meeting

Bishop, father, brothers and sisters:

I am so grateful to share with you all here and I am grateful that we are all safe. I think of a sister who sneaked in Hong Kong to attend church services, “Religious Individual Visit”. She was surprised that there was street caroling in Hong Kong because one will be arrested if one does this in the Mainland. It is so wonderful that we can pray and sing hymns on the street!

I can claim that it is a miracle that the government retreats on the extradition bill!

For people like us who have studied Chinese Politics for a long time, we found that the Central Government had no plan to retreat in their policy towards Hong Kong from the clues we observed. I told you what the extradition bill was about originally: Beijing and Carrie Lam thought that the bill must be passed smoothly! Why?

First of all, there were definitely enough votes in the Legislative Council to pass the bill, and the business sector also submitted under the control of the Central Government, whether you were willing or not, whether you wanted to withdraw the judicial review application or not, you’d better submit to it.

Secondly, the Central Government has assessed the views of people in Hong Kong and they thought that the worst case scenario would be similar to that of the scale of Umbrella Movement only. They believed that the HKSAR Government and the Police could handle that scale of protest easily. Moreover, Hong Kong Police Force is not the same as the one a few years ago and has improved a lot. We also knew that the People's Liberation Army was well prepared to support. The logistic unit of People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison in Shenzhen has drilled during the previous occupying movement. They prepared to intervene, on a scale of 4 soldiers to remove 1 protester, when necessary. Although it was not carried out eventually, they were prepared. If there is a rally of 10 thousands people, 4 soldiers removing 1 protester, that means there are 40 thousands soldiers preparing to support. We can see significant signs that People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison has done a lot when we are not aware of it. Do you still member, there was extensive damage in urban and rural areas during the strike of severe typhoon Mangkhut? A few hundred soldiers from the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison wearing their uniform, bypassing the Garrison Law and without informing the HKSAR Government, were mobilised in the name of clearing the rural areas. Ignoring the Garrison Law and proper procedure, they sent a few hundred soldiers. I think this is a very dangerous sign.

Thirdly, besides the overconfidence of Carrie Lam, the Central Government is also a key factor. On the surface, we would think this (amendment of the bill) is solely Carrie Lam’s own decision. In fact, the amendment of extradition bill has been discussed between the Central Government and the HKSAR Government for many years. They have been asking Hong Kong for people they wanted for many years! The Central Government wants to make law their weapon in Hong Kong, to put it simply, the Central Government wants to exercise national security by using any procedures and laws in Hong Kong, this is the ultimate protection. The Central Government wants to pass this extradition bill, which works for nearly anything. From the authoritative interpretation by the Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, the think tank in Mainland which has been studying extradition law between Mainland and Hong Kong for many years, that it is because, besides the situations that the criminals from the Mainland hide in Hong Kong or Hong Kong people committed offences in the Mainland and hide in Hong Kong, more importantly the criminals that threaten “national security”.

On 23 May, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao quoted interpretation from authority that it is normally handled by Hong Kong according to Hong Kong legal procedures when there are criminals that threaten national security. In other words, there are abnormal situations? Will it bypass the Hong Kong legal procedures to handle the case when abnormal situation occurs? Member of think tank in the Mainland who studies this issue told us clearly that, there is no “political offenders” under Chinese law. No matter the “counter-revolutionary” offenders in the past or the current “inciting subversion of state power” offenders, they are not “political offenders” but criminal offenders! Are we not to extradite a criminal offender? Are we not to extradite offenders threatening national security by using “political offender” as a protection shield? Member of think tank in the Mainland said, the logic in Mainland is the opposite! As these people cause damage to national security, Hong Kong should not be the loophole of national security and more justified to extradite (offenders). This is the most dangerous part.

Why do we think that this is dangerous? It is because it is very easy for one to be defined as threatening national security. In the Mainland, if you do anything that the Communist Party doesn’t want you to do and upset the Communist Party, such as criticising the Central Government, supporting the religions in Mainland, reporting some news they don’t like. You are easy to be prosecuted.

In the past, there were a lot of people being prosecuted with false accusations including possession of drugs, theft, espionage. It is very horrible! The system in Mainland China is called “People’s democratic dictatorship”, to put it simply, dictatorship! What is dictatorship? It means that the Government do not need to follow the law and can bypass the law when dealing with their “enemies”. There were many incidents occurred under dictatorship in the Mainland if you still remember. Why were Liu Xia put under house arrest, deprived of personal freedom, for such a long time without following any legal procedures? Why were the people related to Causeway Bay Books kidnapped in places like Hong Kong and Thailand, then voluntarily deprived all legal rights, not to meet their families, and pleaded guilty on television? Why? It is because the Chinese Government is practising dictatorship at that time.

President Liu Shaoqi asked people not to persecute and caused the death of others in the name of constitution, at the end… They left a president who was seriously hurt by the crowd and was required to be sent to hospital for treatment urgently, in a room in Henan secretly and died as he was not saved in time. Dictatorship also made one of the then 10 Marshals of the Communist Party, He Lung, who suffered from diabetes and other illnesses, dead after an injection of a large dose of glucose. The glucose and diabetes caused his death by kidney failure and multiple organ failure.

When a country claims that it exercises rule by law, but it can also exercise dictatorship at anytime, if the Hong Kong legal system will be connected to this dictatorship, in the name of national security… how horrible is this? And this is the original script, which the law would be amended according to this procedure! The original script also included that, the Central Government has assessed the situation of the whole country to prevent any out-of-control situation, to prevent any uncertainties and risks in the beginning of this year. A countrywide meeting for officials of provincial level was held and Xi Jinping gave a speech at the Central Party School. Those famous saying included “grey rhinocero”, “black swan”, “six certainties” are originated from this meeting. The leaders of Communist Party were scared of one thing: the so-called “chaos in the years ending in 9” as the Communist Party witnessed chaos happened in those years ending in 9: 1949 - the Kuomintang was replaced by the Communist; 1959 - the Great Famine; 1969 - Sino-Russian Zhenbao dao War and President Liu Shaoqi was dead; 1979 - Sino-Vietnamese War; 1989 - Tiananmen Square Protests; 1999 - Falun Gong practitioners surrounded the Zhongnanhai (Central Government compound in Beijing); 2009 - 5th July Incident in Xinjiang.

In the beginning of 2019, countrywide meeting was held by the Communist Party to prevent any chaotic situation. They have done a lot and shared experience on handling problems. On the script of the Central Government at that time, the situation in Hong Kong was extremely stable. This was impossible for Hong Kong to become one of the chaos in the “chaos in the years ending in 9”. This was impossible. They were worried about the economics and the possible unemployment problem, US-China Trade War, definitely not Hong Kong issue.

The leaders of Central Government assessed that the circumstance in Hong Kong was very favourable in recent years. Why did they think so? It is because overall jurisdiction is gradually exercising in Hong Kong, the Legislative Council is supported by the pro-establishment camp; the social activists or even people involved in MongKok Riot were serving severe sentences; people of different political views were disqualified, civil awareness of the community became lower and lower; Beijing and Carrie Lam’s team were very confident in passing the bill. Talking about how to handle social movement, Xi Jinping stated that he would change the compromising style of Hu(Jintao)-Wen(Jiabao) Era when he came to power. Xi Jinping said no to “small conflict solves on a small scale, large conflict solves on a large scale, no conflict then nothing will be solved”! He could not allow this situation to continue. None of the policies towards Hong Kong showed any compromise during Xi Jinping’s rule, except no second term of office for CY Leung. It was because he could not get enough votes from the pro-establishment camp and the business sector at that time. One who counted the number of votes (before the election to estimate the number) said that it was difficult enough to get 601 votes. It was not a result of the power of the people. There were 1 million and 30 thousands people joining the demonstration on 9th June, we could see that Carrie Lam and Beijing Government did not compromise. No matter how many people joined the demonstration, they continued the procedures to pass the bill after the demonstration.

When we keep asking: “Where are you God?” “God, why are Hong Kong people tortured like this?” Here comes a reverse! When we question the youngsters as “useless”, on Wednesday 12th June, a situation that we all didn’t want to see occurred, but it made a reverse! A group of youngsters, some of them have written their testaments and decided to block the bullets, charged against Legislative Council and the Police cordon lines! Of course, their acts were illegal from the legal point of view; however, from the point of justice, they didn’t think that this issue should continue in this way. Therefore, they protested. This kind of protest unexpectedly triggered the uncontrolled attack by the upgraded and distorted Hong Kong Police. Even the internal assessment of the Police Force considered that the Police who used guns, shot in the head and used different weapons to attack innocent people, to clear the scene after being clashed, went too far. This is what made the issue reversed! The international pressure made it unbearable for Beijing Government.

Then what was their original plan? On the Mainland television, shots of peaceful assembly were all deleted and would be described as the protesters crashing the Police and attacking like mob. They wanted to claim that Hong Kong mob attacked the Government to gain moral high ground. However, excessive use of force by the Police reversed the whole situation. The original plan of Xi Jinping was called "Fengqiao Experience” which solves the social events on site and not to escalate it; attacks the surface but not to affect the core part. Unfortunately, the HKSAR Government could not solve the problem on site and escalated to the Central Government, and even reached an international level. It created a very big pressure for the Communist Party and made a reverse.

I think this is mercy from God, a miracle from God!

Lastly, I would like to conclude my sharing by the expression shown in one’s eyes. I remember I went to a church with friends after the 12th June incident and saw a pair of policeman at the entrance of the church, looking aggressive and wanted to catch the youngsters in the church. I saw a youngster in church, wearing a black vest, looked terrified in his eyes. I asked him whether I should help him to get clothes so that he could leave. He answered no. He found protection and home in the church, found his real father and mother. When I left the church, from the look of the policemen, it seemed to me that they wanted to catch a child…

May God continues to bless us with peace and may the wounded be given peace. God bless Hong Kong!

Evening of the 19th of June

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