In China and Hong Kong, Citizen Arrested for Wearing Political T-Shirt

However, Li’s “friendly” gesture turned into a performance of political brutality when a male resident was forcibly dragged away and arrested by a number of “men in black”, because he wrote a political T-shirt with the slogan “Vindicate June 4“:

In a television interview, the man said, “I am not protesting. My wife was playing with our kids downstairs. They saw a big crowd in the campus and called me to come down and join them. When I came down from my apartment, suddenly I was surrounded by a group of men in black. Then someone said, ‘take him away’. They dragged me to the corner without telling me what had happened. I live here in flat 26!”

Political T-shirts are casual wear in Hong Kong; probably every one out of 15-20 Hong Kong citizens has a T-shirt with the slogan “Vindicate June 4″, as the city has been organizing the annual June 4 candlelight vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 for 22 years now, with tens of thousands of people attending every year.

Doctor fat posts two sets of T-shirt designs based on June 4 in his blog [zh]:

June 4 T-shirts. Image by Doctor Fat.

One can imagine how the scene of a male resident being “kidnapped” from his own neighborhood because of a political T-shirt has outraged the local community.

To justify the operation, the Hong Kong government quickly issued a press statement [zh] claiming that the male resident was on the police’s wanted list due a traffic incident back which took place in 2006.

“River crab” banquet delivered to Hong Kong

Local blogger Kursk is angry with the situation and wrote a post titled “If you don’t want to see June 4 T-shirts, go back to Beijing!” [zh]:

這是一件十分嚴重的事件，一定要追究。香港幾時禁止著六四t-shi rt架？果度仲要係私人住宅黎架大佬。特區警察同公安有咩分別呀 ？仲有，抬佢走既人冇表示身份，更加冇表示行使緊乜野法律權力，理論上係非法禁錮，係嚴重侵犯人權既做法。
侵犯人權太誇張？你試諗下，有一日無啦啦有四五個黑西裝大漢冇表明身份夾硬夾你走，佢地可以係黑社會點錯相、擄人勒索，甚至係公安跨省都得，咁你知驚未？
呢班黑衣人究竟係G4定係北京既國安？如果係前者，就係特區政府泛用武力既 問題，一定要投訴去監警會同立法會保安事務委員會；如果係後者， 事態就嚴重百倍－－大陸國安黎香港既私人住宅區向只係著住六四T -shirt既香港人施行武力，呢個唔只係一國兩制不保既問題，而係國 安南下香港鎮壓言論自由。

Upon his arrival, Li Keqiang claimed that he had brought some good news (a set of favorable policies that would enhance Hong Kong economy). Journalist and blogger, Those were the days, describes the “gift set” as “a river-crab banquet” [zh]. The term “river crab” is a slang for “harmonious society“.

昨天，只是李副總理訪港第一天，北京風味的打壓反對者的「河蟹全席」，只上了頭盤，未來幾天香港人還可以慢慢「享用」！

Police’s wanted list?

Martinoei explains [zh] the police’s strategy in covering up their illegal arrest:

警察為咗掩飾自已膠，就話條友涉及2006年一宗交通事故，通緝緊，所以要拉佢。
首先，差佬點可能一眼睇出條友係通緝犯，但更膠係，你唔記得找你張牛肉乾，都可以係通緝犯。

況且牛肉乾未找而被通緝，好多時你交低罰款就走人。呢位著平反六四T恤人士可以被無條件釋放(唔係保釋)，分分鐘係因為即場掟低三百二十元，咁咪解除通緝。警隊要膠，都咪咁膠，有國安入咗香港警隊，唔該從實招來。

In the discussion thread on Martinoei’s post, netizen Newbie said:

感覺上, 中國人普遍非常認同呢種”非法逮捕”, 對果種所謂過程唔合法就應該導致証據無效既思想非常薄弱.
即係合唔合法都好, 先拉人進行大搜查外加嚴刑迫供, 只要最後搵到蛛絲馬跡証明被捕者可能犯咗小小法, 整個過程就馬上變成 “合法合情合理” 了. 當個個人都認同呢種思想時, 我係差佬我都濫權喇!
呢個民族, 根本無決心付出某啲代價去平衡權力, 唔搞到 xx 霸權當道就有鬼喇!

Magiccello said:

香港公安學習能力真高. 強國的手段學會了. 維穩辦主任曾偉雄好快又升官發財了.

The incident has been widely discussed on Facebook, and many users claimed that they would wear political T-shirts and walk around on the street during Li Keqiang’s visit in Hong Kong. The University of Hong Kong Centenary Ceremony on August 18, 2011, will probably be another occasion for the display of political T-shirts (see the Facebook Event [zh]).