People in Hong Kong carry placards with slogans including Occupy Central rioters cannot escape guilt on Tuesday to support jailing the movement's leading organizers. ROY LIU/CHINA DAILY Civil disobedience is not a viable justification for engaging in criminal activity, a judge in the West Kowloon district of Hong Kong said on Tuesday as he handed down verdicts for leading figures in the 2014Occupy Central movement. Nine participants, including three chief organizers, were all found guilty of causing a public nuisance in the 79-day sit-in, which brought the city's downtown area to a standstill at the time. Each of their charges is punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to Hong Kong's Crimes Ordinance and the Criminal Procedure Ordinance. The sentences will be announced at a later date. Civil disobedience is commonly defined as a form of nonviolent protest against government policy. In 2014, the massive protest, in which hundreds of thousands of people participated, began in opposition to the then official reform plan of the coming chief executive election. Three masterminds of the protest-University of Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, sociologist Chan Kin-man, and pastor Chu Yiu-ming-were all convicted of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance. Tai and Chan were also found guilty of incitement to commit public nuisance. In the written verdict, Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng said the trio conspired to cause a public nuisance through unreasonable and unlawful obstruction of public roads in a central business district in the special administrative region over a prolonged period. The judge said he had balanced citizens' rights of free speech, assembly, demonstration, and other relevant rights protected by the Basic Law, the SAR's constitutional document. It's not necessary to block a major road, and the obstruction interfered with rights enjoyed by people who didn't participate in the protest, he noted. Five other defendants, legislator Tanya Chan Suk-chong, legislator and social worker Shiu Ka-Chun, social activist Raphael Wong Ho-ming, and former student leaders Tommy Cheung Sau-yin and Eason Chung Yiu-wa, were found guilty of incitement to commit public nuisance and incitement to incite public nuisance. If sentenced to one month or more, Tanya Chan and Shiu may lose their seats in the Legislative Council if a motion to relieve them of their duties is passed by two-thirds of Leg-Co members present at the vote, under Article 79 of the Basic Law. Their rights to run for a LegCo election in the next five years will also be denied if the penalty is more than three months of imprisonment, according to LegCo. Legal experts said the ruling draws a red line for political expression and action in the future. Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a lawyer and member of the Executive Council-the top advisory body for the chief executive in Hong Kong, said the Occupy Central movement disturbed a considerable number of Hong Kong people's lives, and the convictions will impose restraints on future political expression and actions. Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said the city's stability is now a common expectation among most Hong Kong residents. debossed wristband1 inch wide silicone wristbandsdebossed silicone braceletsmake your own wristbandsbracelet en silicone nike
Workers analyze a section of the Great Wall at Donggou village in Beijing's Miyun district in August. [Photo/Xinhua] As the first ray of sunshine reaches Donggou village in Beijing's Miyun district, Yang Chenghai and his fellow villagers walk behind 14 mules, each laden with bricks, and make their way up a hill to a section of the Great Wall. Winding along mountain ridges across northern China, the Great Wall, one of the world's great wonders, was built between the 3rd century BC and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The existing sections mostly date from that dynasty, with the Ming wall more than 8,800 kilometers long. Preservation faces longterm challenges, as seen in the renovation of a 1 km section of the Great Wall north of Yang's village that began at the start of this year. Since the hillside paths are steep, animals are the only way to get bricks to the top. But a mule can only carry 12 wall bricks at a time, as each one weighs more than 10 kilograms. Yang, 54, supports himself with a thick tree branch, following the mules on a rocky, muddy path. To better preserve the wall's historical and cultural values, the bricks are made according to their original format, material and craftsmanship. After nearly an hour's walk, a section of the Great Wall comes into sight, along with workers laying bricks. Some parts are overgrown with weeds, and some have already collapsed. According to a survey, the remaining Great Wall sections in Beijing are 573 km long, of which 526 km are from the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Baoyong, head of the district's heritage management office, said Miyun is home to one-third of Beijing's Great Wall sections. Due to human destruction and natural weathering, some parts of the Great Wall are damaged or have collapsed, and they are in urgent need of renovation. The Great Wall, a symbol of China, is not just one wall, but many interconnected walls. Sections of earlier fortifications were joined together to form a united defense system against invasions from the north. It was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. In 2006, a regulation on Great Wall protection took effect. But repairs are difficult to complete, taking large amounts of manual labor and funding. The bricks used for restoration are usually transported by vehicles to the foot of a hill, with mules then taking them up to the Great Wall. Workers have to carry the bricks by hand when a mule fails to climb a steep slope. Sometimes, mooring ropes and slide rails are also needed. It is a very difficult and dangerous project, said Zhang Baoru, who is in charge of the renovation work near Donggou. We have around 50 workers now. Every day, they start their work at 5:30 am and do not stop until dark. It is hard to hire workers. According to the Beijing Cultural Heritage Administration, the city government has invested a total of 374 million yuan ($54 million) on the renovation and protection of the Great Wall over the past 10 years. The Great Wall is a valuable historical and cultural heritage, said Xiu Haiqing, the Party chief of Donggou village. Renovation is not easy, so more efforts should be made to better protect it. Yang grew up at the foot of the Great Wall. He and his mules have repeated the journey to transport bricks more than 10 times a day for months. It is very hard, but I know it is a good thing to do, he said, letting the mules graze for a while before they go down the hill to pick up more bricks. Xinhua
