Letters | Why Julian Assange suffered for so many years in the free world

Readers discuss Western treatment of a non-Chinese dissident like the WikiLeaks founder, cross-border travel permits for non-Chinese residents of Hong Kong, and how to turn the US election into a win-win for the city

WikiLeaks

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 3 Jul 2024

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By publishing classified US documents, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange did humanity a favour. Through the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, he exposed evidence of possible war crimes such as the killing and torture of civilians and detainees perpetrated or condoned by the US and Nato forces.

However, then United States president Barack Obama described Assange’s leaks as “deplorable” while US senator Mitch McConnell called him a “hi-tech terrorist”. Former US House speaker Newt Gingrich declared that he should be “treated as an enemy combatant”. US federal employees were banned from accessing WikiLeaks on government computers.

Assange was arrested by the British police in 2010 in response to a warrant issued by Swedish prosecutors who suspected him of committing sexual crimes. He sought refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom to avoid extradition to Sweden. The case was eventually dropped after he was dragged out of the embassy in 2019, but he was in jail for five more years while fighting extradition to the US on an Espionage Act indictment.

The mainstream media have hardly shown any zest for promoting him as a champion of press freedom. In 2011, a Guardian column noted that “the US journalistic community is backing away from Assange”. A 2010 opinion piece in The Washington Post called for his prosecution.

Assange is a Western dissident. He does not enjoy the Western sympathy that might be afforded to a Chinese dissident. His cause may be noble but the forces that determine his fate are powerful and merciless. For example, Chelsea Manning was held in solitary confinement on suspicion of being the WikiLeaks source, and the UN special rapporteur on torture accused the US government of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment towards the soldier.

In 2009, the Norwegian Noble Committee awarded Obama the peace prize as he presided over wars. The committee later expressed regret for the decision, but it has missed an opportunity to affirm its principles by failing to give Assange the prize.

Wei Ling Chua, Queensland, Australia

Cross-border travel permits a boon to non-Chinese permanent residents

We are truly delighted to read that Beijing is to offer five-year travel permits to non-Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents from as early as July 10, which will allow them to stay on the mainland for up to 90 days per visit.

As socially motivated organisations who are committed to the community, we have been curating immersive experiences and visits to the mainland for Hong Kong’s non-ethnic Chinese children and youth on a yearly basis, with the objective of helping this group of Hongkongers blend in with the Greater Bay Area that both Beijing and the Hong Kong government have been enthusiastically promoting. The beneficiaries found these trips to be most educational and enlightening, enabling them to better learn about China, which Hong Kong is part of, and appreciate Chinese culture.

But the singularly uphill task was applying for the visas, the logistics of which required an immense amount of time and effort from our volunteers, even with help from the Foreign Ministry’s Hong Kong office.

Beijing’s latest announcement is a pleasant surprise and a benevolent gesture that will make Hongkongers of non-Chinese ethnicity feel more welcome, accepted and seen by the country. It is also a great morale booster for our organisations, conveying to us that our well-intentioned voices are being heard.

Our next undertaking is to encourage and nurture non-Chinese permanent residents, whether South Asian or otherwise, to read, write and speak Cantonese and Mandarin, similar to what the Hong Kong government encourages the population to do. This will reinforce Hong Kong’s identity and status as a truly global city.

Thank you, Beijing.

Joseph Chan, chairman, Silk Road Economic Development Research Centre, and Manoj Dhar, co-founder and CEO, Integrated Brilliant Education

Turn the US election into a win-win for Hong Kong

As controversial as political betting can be, I believe it should be allowed in Hong Kong. If the Hong Kong Jockey Club could take bets on elections, it might increase interest in politics, and give people a new way to get involved.

The coming election in the United States has garnered global attention, and I am personally enthusiastic about it. If I could place a legal wager on it, I wouldn’t hesitate to bet on Donald Trump.

Furthermore, political gambling could bring economic benefits. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, through its charitable trust, is well-known for its contributions to society. The introduction of political betting would generate additional revenue for the club, which can be used to support more public projects in education, healthcare and community development. Additionally, a political gambling market in Hong Kong might attract more tourists to our city.

We should have an open discussion on whether to legalise political betting and if yes, how to create a regulatory framework to ensure fairness and transparency.

After all, if we can put legal wagers on horse races and football matches overseas, why can’t we bet on the two-horse race for the White House?

David Chan, Yau Ma Tei