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. custom bracelets canadawristbands with a messagecustomized rubber braceletsbeing human wristbands buy onlineanimal shaped bracelets rubber
Military expects exam will improve skills, increase combat readinessMore than 200 major generals of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force simultaneously took part in a recent examination held across the nation, marking the Ground Force's first large-scale test of its high-ranking commanders.The examination was arranged by the Ground Force headquarters and was held earlier this month in seven locations - Beijing, Fuzhou, Nanning, Lanzhou, Jinan, Urumqi and Lhasa. The largest test site was at the Ground Force Academy of Armored Forces in Beijing with 52 examinees, according to a statement from the Ground Force.Experts from PLA National Defense University and inspectors from the Ground Force's disciplinary committee supervised the examination.Participants were mostly made up of major generals and some senior colonels - commanding officers from departments under the Ground Force headquarters, academies, schools, regional branches and training and test bases.The examination was designed to check and hone the generals' capabilities in organizing training and commanding their troops. The results will be taken into consideration when it comes to promotion or commendation, the statement said. It added that the Ground Force wanted to use this examination to strengthen the notion that commanding officers must take the lead in combat readiness training.Lu Chuangang, assistant to the Ground Force's chief of staff, said the examination's content included theory, strategy and command skills. Participants were given different tasks in different areas, and were told to analyze their respective situations, determine goals, make plans for troop deployment and develop combat schedules, according to Zhou Bingyi, director of the operations bureau of the Ground Force's staff department.Zhou said participants had already taken part in tests on firearm usage and physical strength hosted by their own units before the examination."The capabilities of these commanding officers determine whether their troops will be well trained," Zhou said. "We hope such examinations will help improve the competence of commanders and consequently boost the combat capabilities and preparedness of their units."Xie Zenggang, commander of the 83rd Group Army who took the examination, was quoted by China National Radio as saying that it had broadened his horizons and enabled him to gain a higher strategic perspective that can be used in planning future operations."It also reminded me of the necessity that as a commander, I not only need to take into consideration joint operations by various services in the PLA but also to think about joint campaigns with foreign militaries," he said.In June, the Ground Force organized a test for commanders of its 13 group armies - its largest combat units. Since the start of this year, the Ground Force has conducted a wide range of examinations for almost all of its members to verify their professional knowledge and skills.
