The Opium war (or how Hong Kong began)

The first Opium war left an indelible scar on China. The mainland lost Hong Kong and was forced to open up trade to foreigners.

In the 18th century, foreign trade with China was limited to Canton, modern-day Guangzhou. Foreigners were confined to towns outside of Canton, known as the '13 Factories', or Hongs (not really factories). British trade was run by the East India Trading Company; Chinese trade was dominated by the Hongs.

Here is a timeline of what happened:

1820 - Import of opium begins in earnest

China is willing to provide Britain with tea and other luxury goods, but is unwilling to accept anything but silver as payment. The British have to import silver from Europe or Mexico. They run into a trade deficit and seek ways to counter-trade. They find a solution in an Indian narcotic: opium. In the next few years, the amount of opium imported to China increases dramatically. Tensions arise because, in China, opium can only be used as a medicine. It has been banned as a recreational drug for more than 100 years.

April 1839 - Lin Zexu is sent to Canton and 20,000 chests of opium are burnt
Emperor Daoguang sends government official Lin Zexu to Canton. He has already cracked down on the use of opium in Hubei and now focuses on Canton. Lin asks the British to surrender all their opium and sign an agreement to stop trading in the drug. Charles Elliot, the British superintendent of trade, agrees and promises the merchants they will be compensated by the British government. But he has no authority to sign the bond, and he wants the British to be allowed to trade along the eastern coast of China and not be confined to Canton. He threatens to stop trade until a compromise is reached. But some traders who are not dealing in opium sign the deal.



July 1839 - The Kowloon Incident
A crew of American and British sailors arrives in Kowloon in search of provisions. They get drunk on rice wine and kill a man. Lin demands that the sailors be tried in a Chinese court, citing a Swiss law that gave them jurisdiction over all foreigners. Elliot refuses and delays their sentencing, eventually giving them prison terms that were never to be met. Tensions increase.



1839 - The first shots
One British merchant ship that has lost faith in Elliot ignores the ban. Elliot blockades the Pearl River. A second ship tries to run the blockade. British ships chase after it and fire the first shots of what will become the Opium war. The Chinese navy tries to protect the merchant ship, which is not trading in opium, and a battle ensues. The Chinese suffer many losses; the British only one injury. This is the first battle of Chuenpee.


April 1840 - Motion to go to war passed
The British government, after much delay and debate, narrowly passes a motion for war against China. The war is funded by the government and seeks to force China to open up trade along the eastern coast.


Summer 1840 - The occupation of Zhoushan and first talks of Hong Kong's cession
British forces gather off the coast of Macau with Elliot and his cousin, George Elliot, in charge. The British occupy Zhoushan and its principal town Dinghai, fighting almost unopposed. Meanwhile, Lin has fallen from the emperor's favour.


January 1841 - Negotiations
Second battle of Cheunpee happens on January 17. Lin has been replaced with Imperial Commissioner Qishan who is eager to negotiate with the British. Elliot asks for seven million dollars over six years and several inland ports. Qishan agrees to give the British six million over 12 years, but rejects the possibility of inland ports. The British prepare for battle and Qishan reconsiders. They finally agree to the Treaty of Chuanbi which cedes Hong Kong Island and six million dollars to the British. This treaty is rejected by both governments. Fighting resumes along the eastern shore.


Summer 1842 - The Treaty of Nanking
British forces beat the Chinese right up to the Yangtze, and occupy Shanghai. The Chinese suffer many casualties and are forced to surrender. On August 29, the Treaty of Nanking is signed, five ports (Canton, Ziamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai) are opened and Hong Kong is ceded to the British.

CHILD ABUSE
Girl, 11, brings AR-15 to Idaho hearing on gun legislation


By KEITH RIDLER, Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — An 11-year-old girl toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon appeared Monday at a legislative hearing with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits. 

© Provided by Associated Press CORRECTS BYLINE TO KEITH RIDLER, NOT KEN RITTER - Charles Nielsen, 58, and his 11-year-old granddaughter, Bailey Nielsen, testify before a House panel at the Idaho Statehouse on Monday. Feb. 24, 2020 in Boise, Idaho. Visitors to Idaho 18 and older who can legally possess firearms would be allowed to carry a concealed handgun within city limits under legislation that headed to the House on Monday, Feb. 24. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler)

Charles Nielsen addressed the committee that voted to send the legislation to the full House as Bailey Nielsen stood at his side with the weapon slung over her right shoulder, but did not say anything.

“Bailey is carrying a loaded AR-15,” Charles Nielsen told lawmakers. “People live in fear, terrified of that which they do not understand. She's been shooting since she was 5 years old. She got her first deer with this weapon at 9. She carries it responsibly. She knows how not to put her finger on the trigger. We live in fear in a society that is fed fear on a daily basis.”

He said Bailey was an example of someone who could responsibly handle a gun, and lawmakers should extend that to non-residents.

“When they come to Idaho, they should be able to carry concealed, because they carry responsibly,” he said. “They're law-abiding citizens. It's the criminal we have to worry about.”

Republican Rep. Christy Zito, who is proposing the measure opposed by the three Democrats on the House State Affairs Committee, said the legislation is intended to clear up confusion about state gun laws. Backers also say it will give people the ability to defend themselves if needed.

Idaho residents 18 and older are allowed to carry a concealed handgun within city limits in Idaho without a permit or training following a new law that went into place last summer. The legislation would extend that to any legal resident of the United States or a U.S. armed services member.

“I stand here before you today as a mother and grandmother who has had to use a firearm to defend their child,” Zito said. She said two men once approached her vehicle with her daughter inside.

“Even though I didn't have to pull the trigger, just the fact that they could see it, and they knew that I had it, was the determining factor,” Zito said.

Opponents say allowing teenagers to carry a concealed weapon without any required training within city limits is a bad idea and could lead to shootings. If the bill becomes law, Idaho would be among a handful of states that allow that type of concealed carry.

Post Magazine / Books
Young American’s first-hand account of second opium war: bloody battles and ‘hospitable’ Chinese

The journals of George Washington (Farley) Heard, who would go on to become chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, reveal what happened when he found himself caught between Anglo-French forces and Chinese defenders in 1859

Gillian Bickley  Published: 19 Apr, 2018




The Toey-Wan during the Second Battle of Taku Forts at the mouth of the Peiho River on June 25, 1859, in a lithograph by T.G. Dutton. Picture: courtesy of George W. H. Cautherley


The second opium war, 1856-60. When in 1856, the 1844 US-China Treaty of Wangxia expired, American envoy to China William Reed set about negotiating new terms of trade, permission for diplomatic residence in Beijing and the extension of religious freedom to Christians.


Following the eventual conclusion of these negotiations, in 1859, his successor, American minister John Ward, embarked in Hong Kong aboard the USS Powhatan destined for Beijing, accompanied by the hired steamer Toey-Wan, on a mission to ratify what had become known as the Treaty of Tientsin (Tianjin).

George Washington (Farley) Heard. Picture: courtesy of Skinner, Inc.

Among those he took with him was George Washington (Farley) Heard. Ward had met Heard, an American of about 22 years of age, en route to Hong Kong from America and, having taken a liking to the young man, asked him to join the American Legation as an attaché.

Heard had been travelling east to join his uncle’s firm, Augustine Heard and Company, one of the two largest American trading companies in China from the 1840s to the 1870s. He would later manage the com­pany in Canton, and serve as the chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1870.

The Opium war (or how Hong Kong began)

At the same time as the American party was setting out from Hong Kong, an Anglo-French naval force began making its way north from Shanghai with newly appointed envoys for embassies in Beijing. But while the Americans – neutrals in the opium wars – were welcome, the British and French were less so.

When, towards the end of June 1859, the British began to remove barricades placed across the Peiho River by the Chinese to arrest their progress towards the capital, they came under attack. The second of three battles for the Taku Forts to take place during the second opium war ensued, an engagement that caused serious loss of British life and vessels, and which the Americans witnessed at close quarters.

Heard provided the following first-hand account of the battle in a journal he kept throughout his time with the legation, and now published by Proverse Hong Kong as Through American Eyes.

The USS Powhatan, circa 1859. Picture: courtesy of Gillian Bickley
USS “Powhatan” off Peiho 27 June 1859


On the 24th June, the “Toey-Wan” having on board Commodore Tattnall, Captain Pearson and a few of the officers of the ship – Mr Ward the Minister and Mr W[ard] his Secretary and the three interpreters, Mr Lurman and myself got under weigh at 8am to endeavour to communicate with the shore and send news of Mr W[ard]’s arrival and demand permission to proceed to Peking, there to ratify the Treaty of Tientsin [Tianjin].

Got over the bar and at 10am we were unfortunate enough, or as it turned out to be, fortunate enough to get hard aground on the mud at the entrance to the Peiho River which extends out at some distance from the shore and is bare at low water. We got on it at low high water and so we were high and dry at low tide.

When in this position the Admiral of the English sent a gunboat “Plover” 86 to our assistance with the exceedingly courteous offer – that if we couldn’t get off, to take the “86” and raise our flag on her and use her entirely as if she was an American ship. Before this, however, the tide had gone down so much it was found impossible to move her and Commodore Tattnall declined the amiable offer of the Admiral thinking he should be able to get off with the next flood.

At 2pm we sent on the barge with the Interpreters and Lieutenant Trenchard to find out whether there was anybody there of sufficient rank to communicate with.

The answer was negative. The party was received at the end of a jetty by about forty men, one of whom was spokesman. He said that there [are] very few men in the forts, no mandarin there even of the sixth rank (white button), that they had received orders from Peking not to allow any vessel to enter the river, and that they should be obliged to fire on anyone endeavouring to pass and break down the barriers.

We managed luckily to get off at about 8.30pm and we anchored outside the English ships, between the “Coromandel” and the junks which contained the English marines and their reserve forces of sailors and troops.

During the night, the first barrier was blown up by the English, who received a shot from the forts.

The barriers appeared to be three in number – the first: Iron stakes of this form connected with heavy chains, which was the one blown up by the English during the night of the 24th; the second barrier was of stakes; and the third, as I learned, was composed of heavy booms and logs chained securely together. Captain Wills swam up to it and found it a hundred and fifty foot wide and very strong. The forts were of this form and arrangement –

A sketch by George Washington (Farley) Heard, circa 1859. Picture: Baker Library, Harvard Business School


– seven in all – see over

Another sketch by Heard to illustrate the formation of the forts, circa 1859. Picture: Baker Library, Harvard Business School

At daylight the following morning the English began disposing of their forces. – Their ships outside the bar were:–

“Chesapeake” “Highflyer” “Magicienne”, “Fury”, “Assistance”, “Cruiser” and “Hesper”. The gunboats inside were:– “Kestrel” 69, “Janus” 76, “Plover” 86, “Banterer” 79, “Opossum” 94, “Forester” 87, “Lee” 82, “Starling” 93. In addition to these forces were the “Nimrod”, “Cormorant”, two large dispatch boats, and the “Coromandel” (the Admiral’s tender which was afterwards used as the Hospital ship).

The French had their gunboat with sixty-four men on board – the “Nosagari” in cooperation with the English forces.

The “Toey-Wan” remained at the same anchorage she had taken during the night. The gunboats all moved in towards the forts about 8am, with the exception of the “Coromandel” and the “Nosagari”. The Admiral Hope had transferred his flag to the “Plover” 86, and we saw him sitting amidships on a coil of rope going in ahead of everybody else. The gunboats soon got in near the forts, where some of them got aground and the rest anchored near them.

All the eight forts opened their fire at nearly the same time and they all seemed to direct their fire on the Admiral’s ship, which they distinguished by his square blue flag. The execution by the heavy guns of the forts was terrible

The “Coromandel” and “Nosagari” went in about noon and took up their position on the extreme left of the squadron, the “Nosagari” being inside of the “Coromandel”.

No movement was made till 2.30pm on either side, when the “Plover”, followed by the “Kestrel” and “Cormorant”, steamed up by the first barrier to the second and commenced pulling up the stakes. One had already been pulled out and the second one loosened when at 2.40pm the middle fort number three fired a heavy gun at the “Plover”. The fire was returned by the “Cormorant” and the cannonading became general throughout the forces on both sides. The forts discharged their guns almost as rapidly as the English and did great execution. All the eight forts opened their fire at nearly the same time and they all seemed to direct their fire on the Admiral’s ship, which they distinguished by his square blue flag.

The execution by the heavy guns of the forts was terrible. The men were twice swept away from their quarters on board the “Plover” and in less than an hour she only had three men left. The Admiral transferred his flag on board the “Opossum” 94 and she was terribly shot. Six men killed outright and many more severely wounded. He then went on board the “Cormorant”, where he remained till night. He himself was severely wounded in the beginning of the action but like a gallant fellow, as he is, refused to be carried below, but remained on deck among his men. The first shot fired from the forts took the head off the Captain of the “Plover” 86. [Rayson] his name was and a fine young sailor, as I ever saw. He came on board the “Toey-Wan” the day previous, when we were aground, to offer his assistance in the name of the Admiral.

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We found we were just out of range of shot where we were at anchor and so we remained there. At about 4pm as we were sitting down to dinner, a young fellow from the Admiral’s ship, the “Plover”, at that time, came on board of the “Toey-Wan”, told us the state of the things, and asked us for the Admiral, to assist in towing up the reserve boats of the English. The tide and wind were both against them, and in rowing they would not have been able to reach the scene of battle for a great while. The boats were lying just astern of us and [we?] were hanging on to the junks.

Commodore Tattnall consulted with Mr Ward, and both concluded to do it, thinking it a course which met with their “unqualified approbation”. The Commodore then ordered us to the junks – I mean the US Legation to go to the junks – saying a steamer about to tow up the English boats into the middle of the fire was not the proper place for Mr Ward when the English and French Ministers were both aboard their respective vessels ten miles off.

As the order was peremptory we were obliged to obey and the barge pulled us on board.

They paddled up to the “Cormorant” on the debris of the boat and found the Admiral lying on the deck and heads, arms and legs lying round in every direction, and the decks streaming with blood

The “Toey-Wan” then towed up the boats of the English and anchored herself between the “Nosagari” and the “Coromandel”, both of whom were firing very rapidly. The “Toey-Wan” remained there three-quarters of an hour and while in that position the Commodore went to pay a visit to the Admiral to offer his sympathy to a wounded brother officer, who was severely wounded and who was suffering a mortifying defeat. He pulled up in the middle of one of the hottest fires that ever came from the forts, and when nearly alongside of the “Cormorant”, the ship on which the Admiral was at the time, a shot struck his boat, knocking the stern sheets out of it, throwing the Commodore and Lieutenant Trenchard out of their seats and killing the coxswain. They paddled up to the “Cormorant” on the debris of the boat and found the Admiral lying on the deck and heads, arms and legs lying round in every direction, and the decks streaming with blood.

While the Commodore was on board, a lieutenant was brought up dead and laid on deck and two men were struck down at a gun. An English boat came alongside at this time and the officer in charge offered to take the Commodore and his barge’s crew back to the “Toey-Wan”. Three of the barge’s crew could not be found in the excitement: they came back to the “Toey-Wan” in the middle of the night, and when asked where they had been they replied that –

“They found themselves in the way and they thought their only way to get out of the way was to go to the guns”.

The Toey-Wan during the Second Battle of Taku Forts at the mouth of the Peiho River on June 25, 1859, in a lithograph by T.G. Dutton. Picture: courtesy of George W. H. Cautherley

By this time the fire from the forts had slackened considerably and the English determined to bring out all their boats, land a storming party, and endeavour to carry them. For this purpose two gunboats, the “Opossum” and another came out of the fire as did the “Toey-Wan” for the rest of the boats.

Mr Ward determined to remain no longer on the junk but get back to the “Toey-Wan” and go in to danger with her, and of course we (i.e. young Ward, Lurman and me) determined to go too. Mr Ward went to the “Toey-Wan” in the boat of Captain Wills of the “Chesapeake”. The Interpreters remained on the junks. Young W[ard], Lurman and myself all got on the “Opossum” at first, but afterwards went to the “Toey-Wan” in a boat sent for us.

We had about a hundred marines on board the “Toey-Wan”.

As we approached the forts, the firing did not seem to increase, and nearly everybody seemed to think an easy victory would be gained by the stormers.

The boats all collected within the lee of the ships and giving three cheers pulled in to land.

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Then it seemed as if a flame burst out all over the eight forts, so rapid was the fire, and such execution it made. We could see the shot strike in and around the boats in every direction, and every shot took effect. Whole rows of poor fellows were mowed down at a time. One boat was cut in two by a shot and many men killed in her and the rest were picked up by the other boats.

The “Nimrod” and the gunboats were firing shot and shell, and rockets to protect the stormers and cover their landing. The red sun was just going down behind the middle fort, as they landed, and it was a wild-looking sight. The whistling of the small balls, the fierce roar of the heavy ones, and the bursting of the shell and rockets made the little “Toey-Wan” tremble all over. A great many shots struck all about the “Toey” but not one hit the boat itself. One shot passed between the awning and the deck between Mr Ward and myself and fell into the water within ten or thirteen feet of her counter and a great many fell between us and the Frenchman, who was anchored on our right.

Then it seemed as if a flame burst out all over the eight forts, so rapid was the fire, and such execution it made [...] One boat was cut in two by a shot and many men killed in her

As we found afterwards the boats of the storming party could not approach near the shore as the water was so shallow, and as soon as the boats touched, a good many of the men jumped out and sank in up [to] their necks in the mud and water, in which position several were drowned before they could extricate themselves. Those who got to the shore wet their powder so none of them could return a shot and the fire from the forts was so fatal that a great many were killed. It is estimated that a hundred men were lost during the landing alone.

When they got to the shore, they found there was a deep ditch, through which they had to wade, waist deep – then a little hard mud, then another ditch filled with mud and water, that could only be passed in swimming, and then there was a third ditch filled with mud and water, and sharp iron spikes and lances. Very few of the men got up to the walls of the forts, which were about twenty-five foot high, and swarming with men, who fired at them with rifles, gingalls [a type of gun], and arrows, which were very long and barbed in such a manner that when the arrow entered the flesh, the head detached itself and remained in the wound.
The few men who succeeded in getting to the walls tried to scale them with ladders but the ladders broke and they found there was no safety but in flight. Captains Commerell of the “Nimrod” and Heath of the “Assistance” told me that when they were at the foot of the walls they had to lie close in under them, and as soon as a head was seen, the Chinese sent a bullet through it – that the Chinese were armed with real Minie Rifles, [and] were large men wearing fur caps. Captain Commerell, who was in the Crimea, says he repeatedly heard the Russian word for “powder” cried within the walls, and a good many of the marines who were in the same position heard the same word used. Several men declare they heard in good English, “Why in the devil don’t you pass that powder up?”

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Whether this latter was the effect of their imagination or not I don’t know, but I am inclined to believe what Captain Commerell says. I think there were other men than Chinamen inside the walls probably some runaway sailors or mercenary Russians. They understood the science of gunnery too well not to have been trained to their guns, and they stood to them well. The Chinese burnt blue lights etc. as soon as it was dark and shot down the men by their lights.

They began to come off from the shore about 10pm and kept coming off all night. Several boats came to the “Toey-Wan”, where the crews were supplied with food and shelter; other boats made fast to her stern and lay there all night.

The “Nimrod” and the “Coromandel” anchored close by us during the night. The firing from the forts continued at intervals all night, and during the day. In the morning we did all we could to assist the English, in getting their wounded off etc., etc. We could see in the morning the Chinese walking about on the beach in front of the forts cutting off the heads of the dead and wounded; others were picking up the swords, guns and pistols etc. that were lying about on the beach.

We came out to ships about 11am, towing out two large launches filled with wounded and bringing out the first news of the battle to the English and French Ministers.

Hart the Commodore’s Coxswain was buried in the evening: and it was a solemn one after the scenes we had passed through.

An engraving of the attack by Anglo-French forces on the Chinese fortifications at the mouth of the Peiho River, on June 24 and 25, 1859. Picture: courtesy of George W. H. Cautherley


USS “Powhatan” off Peiho River 29 June 1859

The Chinese had told us, when we sent our boat on shore [on] the 24th, that the real Peiho River was ten miles farther North. The Commodore determined to send the “Toey-Wan” up there to see if there was a river and endeavour to communicate with the authorities, and leave a letter from Mr Ward to the Governor General of this Province to announce his arrival “dans ces parages” [in this area].


I got leave to accompany the party which consisted of Messrs W.W. Ward, Martin, Aitchison, and Dr Williams and Lieutenant Habersham. It was sort of a Men of Wars cruise “there and back again”.

We left the “Powhatan” at 10.30am and got under weigh at 11.30. It was a beautiful day though rather windy and rough. Our course was North about five knots an hour and we carried on this course five fathoms of water as far as six miles from the “Powhatan”. The flood tides in this part of the Gulf of Pechelee sets to the North outside the bar. [The] Wind was North North West.

A good many large junks were seen about four miles North of the forts at the mouth of the Peiho, and large piles of salt dotted the shore in every direction. The shore was very low and there seemed to be a dike along the shore as we could see in almost every part of it junk masts above the land.
When our party told the Chinese they were from the United States of America, the Chinese asked them where it was, saying they had never heard of that country

The water shoaled very gradually, but as we stood into toward land we got to ten foot water where we anchored to take bearings etc. We were about three to four miles from shore, and could distinctly see a large entrance, the mouth of it crowded with junks’ masts, of which there was a whole forest. In the middle of the entrance there were two islands apparently, one of which was very thickly covered with houses and the other entirely covered by an immense square fort, made of the same material as those at the mouth of the Peiho – mud – junks’ masts all round, hulls down out of sight. –

On the left bank of the entrance as you approach it from the sea, was a large round fort with long wings extending away back out of sight, and seemingly connecting with another square fort also on the left bank. It looked like a very strongly fortified place and a place too of much importance if one may judge from the great number of junks, in and around the entrance. Behind the fort was a very large village containing several Joss houses whose peaked roofs stand above the surrounding houses. There were a number of tall trees resembling poplars near the village.

Country looked fertile and populous – vast number of junks. We were near enough the forts to see men at work on the tops of the bastions with our glasses (binoculars or telescope).

After getting bearings of the forts etc. we stood to the Northward, and found ourselves in a bight of the coast, and at the water’s edge were a number of villages. I counted six of them in sight and near us at the same time. [The] country looked fertile and apparently swarming with population. We anchored in two fathoms about two and a half miles from one of them and sent an armed boat in, with Messrs Merchant, midshipman, Martin, Interpreter, and Ward, Secretary of Legation.

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As they approached the shore the Chinese streamed out of the village; men, women and children running as fast as they could go. Three junks were anchored near shore, and as the boat got near them, their crews jumped out and waded and swam ashore.

The boat soon grounded and as the gentlemen in it couldn’t get the boat in further, got into the water to wade ashore. The crew remained in the boat. As the three got near the shore three-quarters of a mile from their boat, two carriages drawn by four horses each started off full gallop, from the village – and everyone was in full flight. However, two or three men remained and came down to meet the party. They were very large men, two of them almost giants – there were soon about twenty collected round their party and the interpreter found no one of them could read (having different dialects, characters were often used to communicate).

Another man came down from the village who was one of the local authorities. He received the letter for the Governor General and then told the party that [there] were four thousand troops encamped in the vicinity and that a courier had gone off to call for their cavalry and advised them to run for their boat as fast as possible, saying that the villagers were all well disposed enough towards foreigners, but the soldiers were Tartars who recognized no distinction between foreign barbarians. The Chinese all called out to them to run fast – and so they did. Before they could get to their boat the shore seemed alive with cavalry two of whom chased our party in the water till they got up [to] their waists. They got to the boat safely but very much fatigued and pulled back to the “Toey-Wan”.

Two or three men remained and came down to meet the party. They were very large men, two of them almost giants – there were soon about twenty collected round their party and the interpreter found no one of them could read

When our party told the Chinese they were from the United States of America, the Chinese asked them where it was, saying they had never heard of that country.

This part of the country seemed very fertile indeed and there was a great number of inhabitants. A good many junks were seen standing to the Northward, and I saw one under full sail just behind the beach where our party went ashore. We could also [see] many masts over the land. There were not many trees to be seen, but a number of shrubs and bushes.

Returned to the “Powhatan” at 8.30pm.

An engraving of the attack by Anglo-French forces on the Chinese fortifications at the mouth of the Peiho River, on June 24 and 25, 1859. Picture: courtesy of George W. H. Cautherley
USS “Powhatan” Off Peiho River 4 July 1859

The “Glorious Fourth” – as they call it, and no doubt every village, town and city in the United States is ringing and shaking from bells, crackers, guns and cannon today. We are celebrating the day in a quiet manner enough. The American Ensign waves from each mast head, and the spanker gaff, and at noon we fired a salute of twenty-one big guns. This, together with a bottle of champagne at dinner, comprised our celebrations. All the English and French ships at the anchorage hoisted the American flag at the main mast head out of compliment to us and kept it there all day.

The English have been employed all the week in getting their gunboats off and in taking care of their wounded etc., etc. They had six boats ashore and sunk on Sunday morning the 26th. The “Lee” 82, “Plover” 86, “Starling” 93, “Kestrel” 69, “Haughty” 89, and the “Cormorant”.

They have succeeded in saving all but the “Lee”, “Plover” and “Cormorant” which they have destroyed. The forts have been firing on them all the week, and I understand have killed several more men.

The English estimate their loss at 452 – 87 killed, wounded 363 and missing [sic].

On the 2nd July the Chinese sent a junk with a letter from the Taoutai of the village, to announce that the letter given by our party to the men on the beach had been forwarded to the Governor General at Tientsin. The Taoutai sent another junk containing twenty sheep, twenty pigs, sixty ducks and chickens and 2,500 lbs of rice and flour and a great quantity of fruit etc.

The “Glorious Fourth” – as they call it, and no doubt every village, town and city in the United States is ringing and shaking from bells, crackers, guns and cannon today. We are celebrating the day in a quiet manner enough

USS “Powhatan” off Peiho River 7 July 1859

On the 5th July, two white button mandarins (sixth order) came off to the ship with an answer to Mr Ward’s letter, written by the Governor General – and inviting Mr Ward to an interview. Mr Ward has appointed tomorrow as the day and we are going on board the “Toey-Wan” this evening to stand in and so go in tomorrow morning.

The mandarins were shown all over the ship and they were apparently much pleased and astonished at the guns and machinery.

I went on board the “Chesapeake” last night with Lurman, Habersham and Semmes to make a visit and aid young Wish. –

“Fury” sailed on Monday 4th, “Du Chayla” and her tender, and “Assistance” on Tuesday 5th, “Magicienne” [on] Wednesday 6th. Mr Bruce and Rumbold came on board on Monday to see Mr Ward.

10.30pm
I went on board the “Toey-Wan” this afternoon at three with Messrs Wards, Martin, Lurman and Commodore Tattnall and Lieutenants Habersham and Trenchard. Got under weigh at 3.20pm, the “Powhatan” having got up her anchor, and following us into an anchorage nearer shore. Found a good anchorage for her in twenty-seven feet [of] water, and then we stood in towards land. Saw the forts and we anchored in two fathoms [of] water. Several junks were in sight two and a half miles from us, and we sent the boat to them. I went in her with some others. Rough water and we sailed very fast. Heard on board the first junk [that] there were several mandarins on board another one further in.

Went on board of her and found a blue button, crystal and white button mandarin on board with a numerous retinue. We went in the dirty little cabin where they spread several cushions etc. for us to sit on and they squatted down too. Passed round some delicious tea and some very nice little sponge cakes, which were very palatable as we were rather hungry. Then there was another kind of cake made of beans – it looked like brick dust and tasted very much like it too. One of them had a very small bottle filled with some kind of white snuff which he passed over to me. I tried it and found it rather agreeable – it was a powder that might have been composed of camphor and musk. The blue button mandarin had on a tunic, or whatever they call it, of blue navy cloth, very fine texture, and Mr Martin said it was Russian cloth, and that he [Martin] had bought it at Ningpo and cheaper than he could have done in America or Europe.

These Mandarins were as hospitable as possible and all smiles etc. – no allusion was made on either side to the battle of the 25th June

They called the American flag, the “flowery flag”, and said they should know us very well. They are going to send us a boat tomorrow, and they have buoyed the whole channel [plotting a safe path]. I have got a line of soundings from the anchorage of the “Toey-Wan” to the junks. They tell us there is 30 foot of water in shore under the batteries and that there is water communication from this place up to Tientsin. I don’t know the name of the place – but it’s the same place so strongly fortified we saw on the 29th June. We go in tomorrow in full uniform to an interview with the Governor General. The Mandarins told us we must be particularly careful not to go anywhere, where the guides do not take us, as the city is all a mass of ambuscades for the English.

These Mandarins were as hospitable as possible and all smiles etc. – no allusion was made on either side to the battle of the 25th June. Tomorrow I shall have something to write about, I think, but there’s nothing now.

Text © Proverse Hong Kong 2017.

Through American Eyes, edited by Gillian Bickley and transcribed by Chris Duggan is published by Proverse Hong Kong.

Hong Kong history: the fortunes built on opium – including those of many of its richest families

During the 18th and 19th centuries, most of those involved in commerce on China’s coast had connections to the opium trade, whether they like to admit it or not

A man smokes opium in Peking, with an attendant holding a tobacco pipe, circa 1905. Picture: Alamy

Opium – for numerous economic and political reasons – has loomed large in Asia for more than three centuries. Importation from India to China and the wider balance-of-trade dynamics, regional power struggles and eventual international conflicts that surrounded the trade have generated entire libraries of historical research.

Young American’s first-hand account of second opium war: bloody battles and ‘hospitable’ Chinese


Less acknowledged – especially by inter­net trolls who, like Pavlov’s dogs, salivate and bark at the slightest mention of the so-called opium wars – is the basic historical fact that virtually everyone involved in 18th- and 19th-century commerce on the China coast was connected with the trade. Individuals or firms were either directly involved or they brokered deals, banked or arranged letters of credit, or were tangled up in the shipping, refining and warehousing of opium, or its retail sale.

Opium being weighed in China in the 1880s. Picture: Alamy


Their descendants become skittish at any mention of their forebears’ business activities – the original source of their own affluence. Few are as principled as, say, Austrian-British mathematician and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who renounced a family fortune made in steel production and the armament industry; that repudiation would be a bridge too far, especially for “pragmatic” Hongkongers. Corporate “histories” that document local firms and their founding families with connections to the opium trade usually airbrush out inconvenient facts and play down those that can’t be completely hidden while retaining any credibility.
The Opium war (or how Hong Kong began)

Finding businessmen of any ethnicity who were not involved is a challenge. Prominent among this tiny minority was Olyphant and Co; and the firm’s co-founder, David Olyphant, who was a vocal opponent of the opium trade. This stance was respon­sible for its Canton offices being known to com­peti­tors as “Zion’s Corner” – a snide reference to the moral standpoint maintain­ed by the company’s American principals.

As well as Canton, the firm had offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Foochow (principally for the tea trade), Australia and New Zealand. Olyphant and Co dealt mainly in silk, hessian and other heavy fabrics; it also owned a small fleet of clippers used primarily to transport tea and silk to the United States. Due to a reduction of business activity in China, and a series of ill-advised invest­ments in Peru, the firm collapsed in 1878.
How cotton once rivalled opium in importance for Hong Kong – and helped build city’s textile trade

H.N. Mody, co-founder of Kowloon Wharf and Godown Co and opium trader.In Hong Kong, the Tung Wah Hospital, established in 1870, numbered many opium-merchant philanthropists among its early committee, which was drawn from the Chinese community. Opium, for them, was just one of many profitable enterprises, which ranged from dealing in cotton and dried seafood, medicinal herbs and preserved foodstuffs to pawn­broking, remittance services and emi­grant passage agency.



China, by the mid-1920s, produced more opium, mainly in Yunnan and Sichuan, than ever had been import­ed from India, Persia and elsewhere. And this latter-day trade was almost entirely in Chinese hands. Government corrup­tion played a key part. Opium suppression movements in the 30s were just so much tawdry political theatre, with the most enthu­si­astic anti-drug campaigners often being the greatest profiteers. “Key­board warriors” looking for a convenient anti-foreigner starting point for their ravings neatly overlook all these facts.

The University of Hong Kong’s Main Building, pictured in 1911, was built with funds donated by Parsee businessman H.N. Mody.


Like all social evils, some lasting good came from opium-trade investments and the economic diversification that followed. To cite one example, H.N. Mody, Hong Kong’s leading late 19th-century Parsee businessman, the co-founder of Kowloon Wharf and Godown Co (now part of the Wharf conglomerate) and an opium trader, was a major early bene­factor of the University of Hong Kong; its Main Building, opened in 1912, was personally paid for by him.

China has positioned itself as a leader in the fight against climate change, but is it really prepared for the role?

Climate crisis
Following the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, China, the world’s second-largest economy, was expected to take the environmental lead
As the deadlock at the recent COP25 conference shows, Beijing has other plans

Stuart Lau Published: 9 Feb, 202


Infernos have burned  through the Amazon and much of Australia. Island nations from Vanuatu to the Virgin Islands are inhaling as deeply as possible before disappearing under a rising sea.Climate break­down is proving to be every bit as dramatic as Al Gore was when he stood on a crane beside his stage-sized chart in order to keep up with the rising temperature line flying off the graph, in An Inconvenient Truth (2006).

Neither that documentary film nor the former United States vice-president’s 2017 sequel got everything right but some of Gore’s grimmest warnings have come to pass in the intervening 14 years. The US, the world’s largest economy, and the fossil-fuel industry have an obvious interest in seeing business continue as usual but the tension between those demanding drastic measures to mitigate climate collapse and those fighting to protect the status quo is, in some ways, working to the advantage of the second-largest economy.

China likes to cast itself as a world leader in tackling climate change –
witness the recent initiative to ban single-use plastics – particularly in the wake of
US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2016
Paris climate agreement. For scientists and environmentalists, however, the truth is less convenient.

China remains – by far – the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, with total emissions in 2018 standing at about 14 gigatonnes, according to United Nations statistics. That’s more than twice those of the US, although China’s per-capita emissions roughly match those of Japan and the European Union.

A firefighter surveys a bush fire around the town of Nowra, in the Australian state of New South Wales, on December 31, 2019. Photo: AFP

While many countries have been phasing out the use of coal, China increased its capacity for the emission-intense fossil fuel by 42.9 gigawatts in the 18 months to June 2019. This rendered the 8.1GW reduction made by the rest of the world in the same period almost irrelevant. Furthermore, under the geopolitical Belt and Road Initiative, China plans to finance a quarter of all new coal projects in the rest of the world, including plants in South Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

And so in December, at the UN’s most recent round of climate talks,
COP25 – hastily rearranged in the Spanish capital, after the Chilean government deemed the original venue, protest-wracked Santiago, too risky a proposition – the Beijing delegation rolled into the Feria de Madrid conference complex with conflicting priorities. China had to at least appear to be embracing measures to tackle climate change but any new plans that could work against the interests of the politically influential domestic coal industry had to be stalled.

Behind the armoured vehicles of the Spanish military and the glass exterior of the Feria de Madrid, China circled the wagons, forming an alliance with Brazil, India and South Africa to emphasise its role as a “developing country”, and blocking proposals supported by the EU on clear targets to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and the creation of a global carbon-trading market. In contrast to the growing despair of the environmental groups and activists who attended the 12 days of talks, China’s delegation of more than 60 celebrated their nation’s ability “to safeguard the interests of developing nations”, which they believed sent “a very good warning to developed nations on certain issues”, a member told mainland media.

Given Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, China had been seen by other powers as a crucial partner on climate policy going into the conference. Emmanuel Macron told Chinese President Xi Jinping in November that, “cooperation between China and the European Union in this respect [joint commitments to reduce emissions] is decisive”. But the French president’s call appeared to have fallen on deaf ears when Beijing’s
new top climate negotiator, Zhao Yingmin, walked into the Madrid talks, flanked by ministry officials and technocrats.

Read more 

China’s role ‘critical’ if world is to meet climate change targets

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China’s green bonds show how we can fund climate change goals

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How long do we really have to save the planet from global warming?

“China insists that, in order to realise the global goals set by the Paris Agreement after 2020 […] developed nations shall take action first, drastically pushing up the strength of action and setting the time for achieving carbon neutral­ity much earlier,” a confident Zhao told an audience of mostly Chinese businesspeople and policymakers in the China Pavilion. “There would therefore be a technologically and economically viable policy path for developing nations to follow.”

Having just turned 55, the tall, bespectacled Zhao is a lifelong Communist Party member whose career has focused entirely on environment-related work, accordi

“Behind closed doors, Zhao is a cheerful but cautious figure,” a negotiator from the Benelux region of Europe told me, as he took a break from lengthy talks to refuel at the conference centre’s Burger King. Judging by the packed restaurant – and the ubiquitous brown paper bags seen around the venue – it’s hard to conclude that many partici­pants found the presence of a fast-food joint at a climate conference distasteful. The European negotiator, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, continued, “But [Zhao’s] negotiating tactics were less impressive than [those of] his predecessor, the very well known Mr Xie.”

One of the architects of the Paris Agreement,
Xie Zhenhua had helmed China’s climate policies since 2007. He abruptly stepped down as special representative for climate change in late October due to “poor health”, according to a Chinese delegate in Madrid, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Through extensive mingling with experts and policymakers worldwide, Xie had established an image of being affable in person but hard-headed during negotiations. His successor is apparently even less of a pushover.

“It was very difficult to talk to the Chinese side this year,” Bas Eickhout, chair of the European Parliament delegation to COP25, told Post Magazine. “It seems to me they are trying to postpone things until COP26. I doubt that would do any good to China’s international image.”

The next round of climate talks, COP26 will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, this November, with the opportunity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, the aspirational goal set out in the Paris Agreement, fast disappearing. There are no legal obligations for countries to submit improved plans to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by the end of the year, however, and the following deadline is not until 2025, by which time, the drafters of the agreement hoped, the world would be ready to significantly raise annual goals above those established for 2020 and would have put mechanisms in place to achieve that scaling up.

At the Copenhagen UN climate talks in 2009, the goal was set for the world to raise US$100 billion per year by 2020, from a variety of sources, to back efforts by vulner­able, poorer states to shift their economies onto a greener path and adapt to a harsher climate. The amount rich nations and private-sector donors raised in 2016 exceeded US$70 billion, according to data in a biennial UN assessment.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s chief negotiator at the Paris Agreement. Photo: AFP

This money is being put to use in places such as Fiji. The South Pacific island nation is “one of the smallest contri­butors to global carbon emissions”, says the UN, yet it faces “some of the most devastating consequences of extreme weather patterns”. In 2012, residents of Vunidogoloa, on the shore of the second-largest island, Vanua Levu, became the first village in Fiji to have to relocate due to climate breakdown. UN projects include helping Fiji transition completely to renewable energy sources by 2030 and adopt a reforestation policy, intended to store carbon in the planted trees.

Lest there remained any doubt the world’s second-largest economy considered itself a developing country, a statement released days before the end of COP25 reinforced the idea that Beijing needs money from the developed world to reach emissions levels rich nations have laid out but have yet to achieve themselves. Released jointly with China’s three allies, the statement read, “There has been a lack of progress on the pre-2020 agenda, adaptation and issues related to […] climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building support. This imbalance needs to be immediately rectified.”

The quartet alleged wealthier nations had failed to adequately help the developing world both deal with rising carbon emissions and adopt less polluting power infrastructure.

China and her allies had not themselves been idle, they insisted. “[The four countries] have already set forth climate policies and contributions reflecting our highest possible ambition, above and beyond our historical responsibilities.”

According to Climate Action Tracker, run by the Germany-based NewClimate Institute, China’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agree­ment, to be achieved by 2030, is rated “highly insufficient”, which means that the official commitment is “not at all consistent with holding warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, let alone with the Paris Agreement’s stronger 1.5 degrees Celsius limit”. However, “China’s next step could be to submit a strengthened NDC to the Paris Agreement by 2020, something it has indicated it intends to do, which would set a positive example for others to follow”, the institute says, on its website.

A corner of the China Pavilion at the COP25, in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Xinhua

In Madrid, China and her allies urged rich countries to set their own positive example, and quickly: “The time for action is now, and not next year or thereafter.”

The man leading the struggle to persuade the developed world to act more decisively on its climate pledges made a low-key debut. Zhao gave only one major speech during COP25 and did not hold a press conference, giving inter­views only to Chinese state-run media. His other appear­ances were to present the opening remarks – mostly formulaic speeches about how much China has already achieved on climate change, how willing Beijing is to cooperate at the UN level and pledges made by Xi – at the China Pavilion, one of 33 rooms constructed in the Feria de Madrid for delegate groups.

The Chinese pavilion was designed with a rounded doorway of the type seen in imperial-style parks across China and was next to that of the Arctic Council. It played host to talks such as “The Chinese Story of Ecological Civilisation” and “Experience Sharing of the Synergizing Action on the Environment and Climate”, and Zhao’s appearances drew few non-Chinese listeners.

When pushing his way through a media scrum on December 11, surrounded by security guards, Zhao did speak to the press, to claim China wanted to make progress with regard to the most controversial clause in the Paris Agreement, Article 6, which expresses the desire to estab­lish an emissions trading system. And in remarks made at the China Pavilion, Zhao emphasised his country’s readiness to roll out, some time this year, domestic carbon-trading, under which provinces could trade emission credits between themselves. Beyond that, though, Zhao wasn’t giving much away.

It may never be publicly known what he feels about the “endless rows over agendas, ongoing unresolved splits over who should pay and insufficient attention and funding for adaptation and resilience” that beset climate meetings, according to former British COP President Claire O’Neill.

Environmentalist, documentary maker and former US vice-president Al Gore. Photo: Shutterstock


“It was particularly awful at the last COP in Madrid,” wrote O’Neill, in a fiery letter to the British prime minister, dated February 3, in the wake of her sacking. “While half a million climate action protesters gathered in the streets, I sat in plenary sessions where global negotiators debated whether our meeting should be classified as “Informal” or “Informal-Informal”; others argued over the structure of tabs, tables and colours in reports (rather than the commitments countries would make) and some of the world’s wealthiest oil-rich countries made their annual demand for global funding to offset the damage all this low carbon planning would do to their economy.

“Some teams did rise above the negativity [...] You can’t fault the negotiators for doing their jobs sometimes under awful circumstances – it’s a systemic failure of global vision and leadership.”

One of the few non-Chinese speakers invited to take the stage at the China Pavilion in Madrid was Mr Inconvenience himself. Gore, now 71, showered his hosts with diplomatic deference and recounted the good memories he had of former climate envoy Xie. Zhao and other Chinese delegates listened attentively, some through interpreting headphones.

Addressing Zhao directly from the dais, Gore then said, “We had a candid conversation earlier about the difficult issue of financing the building and development of the coal plants in other countries in the world, and, please allow me even in the midst of this warm hospitality, to express my heartfelt opinion, Mr Vice-Minister, that it would redound to China’s everlasting credit if this policy of financing the construction of so many new coal plants in other countries could respectfully be reviewed and reconsidered.

“Perhaps the traffic light is now showing green – but blink yellow and then blink red, and decisions might be made in favour of alternative sources of energy in the way China finances development in other countries.”

As soon as Gore finished speaking, Zhao rose to shake his hand. Then China’s top climate negotiator walked away alone, hurrying onto other meetings. And despite the ever-so-polite rebuke delivered by the world’s second-most famous climate activist (sorry, Al, Greta has you beaten), Zhao left Madrid for Beijing able to savour his first inter­national diplomatic victory. No commitments were made and China won another round of deferment.

Whatever climate horrors befall us between now and November, it seems likely Zhao will walk into the COP26 talks with his head held high and perhaps more to offer an ever-more desperate world. Gore has yet to confirm his attendance.

How songs became powerful weapons for protesters around the world

Hong Kong protests
From Glory to Hong Kong to Blowin’ in the Wind, songs taken up by civil movements have brought people together through a shared sense of purpose
Manami Okazaki Published: 29 Dec, 2019

On a crisp winter evening at Tai Po Waterfront Park, musicians are gathering, the auditorium stage is ready, instruments are being set down. It’s like any other pre-performance scene, only this evening, the sun having set, some performers are still wearing sunglasses. And those who are, also speak from behind face masks.

The musicians range from amateur to professional, and all initially met over the
social media app Telegram, the go-to method of communication during this summer and autumn of 

unrest, uprising and violence across Hong Kong. And just as they would conceal their identity during an anti-government protest march, so they will on stage, for tonight’s free orchestral performance of Les Miserables.

“Playing music is one of the most peaceful forms of protest,” says C.T., a soprano. “Lots of people don’t know how to contribute to the movement, so this is one way.”

The performance reaches a crescendo as those on stage segue from the trials of Jean Valjean to a rendition of the city’s new, de facto anthem, Glory to Hong Kong. All in the stadium are on their feet, swaying their smart­phone lights as they join in with the chorus.

Who wrote ‘Glory to Hong Kong’?

Tonight’s performance is a salve for six tense months of turmoil, but it is also part of the one constant theme of the unrest, a prevalent feature at and between protests; from the primordial rhythm of chants along Hennessy Road to hymns at Chater Garden rallies and lunchtime choral outbursts in malls, music has remained the connective tissue for Hong Kong’s leaderless movement now charging into the new year.

It is hardly a new phenomenon. Music has played an intrinsic role in strengthening protest movements world­wide, from apartheid era South Africa to “the singing revolution” that led Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to break the yoke of the Soviet Union.

Protest music has been integral to pop music’s greater lexicon as well, providing cultural record of historic struggles such as Billie Holiday’s 1939 rendition of Strange Fruit, a haunting ballad using fruit hanging from a poplar tree as a metaphor for lynched African-Americans. From the folk songs of leftist icon Woody Guthrie to rapper Kendrick Lamar being chanted at Black Lives Matter rallies and MILCK at the 2017 Women’s March.

Bob Dylan was one of the most prominent protest songwriters of the 20th century. HisA Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (1963), Only a Pawn in Their Game (1964) and Blowin’ in the Wind (1963) fuelled rally morale from voter registration protests in Mississippi to the march on Washington for jobs and freedom in 1963 and anti-Vietnam war rallies alike.

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Protesters’ latest theme song, ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, rings out in malls

“Voices joined together can have immense force, visually as well as sonically. Music is a way of claiming or inhabiting a public space,” says ethnomusicologist Caroline Bithell. “Mass singing allows people to stand up for a cause without engaging in violent or illegal activity.”

Bithell, a professor at Britain’s University of Manchester where she teaches political activism and identity through music-making, says, “Music in itself can be a powerful and intense experience often leading to a sense of euphoria. This effect is intensified further when music is allied with a cause about which people feel passionate.”

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan perform in Washington DC during a civil rights rally, in 1963. Photo: Getty Images

A Hong Kong musician and ex-lawyer, who uses the alias GoDareShe, says of this summer’s aural landscape, “Music is to do with vibrations and it travels deep into your physi­cal being. During protests, of course you don’t get sophisti­cated harmonies, but if you have 1,000 people singing the same song, your vibrations multiply 1,000 times.”

During Hong Kong’s 2014 “umbrella movement”, songs such as Do You Hear the People Sing, from Les Miserables, became the soundtrack on the streets, while this summer saw a performer playing the Korean protest song March for the Beloved, an anthem that commemorates those who were massacred by paratroopers and police in the May 1980 Gwangju democratic uprising. It was also prominent in the June Struggle of 1987, which ultimately led to democratic reforms.

“Those who sing these songs today might be reminded of all those who have sung them before,” Bithell says. “This creates an even stronger solidarity through a sense of shared history, as well as optimism, with the knowledge that music has made a difference in the past and can do so again.”

When examining what makes a successful pro­test song, Mark LeVine, professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of California, in the United States, suggests there are several elements. “Like any other song, it needs to be catchy, it can’t be too complicated and it needs to have a pulse that is easy to follow. It can’t be too fast and can’t be too slow. It has to be an earworm; something that is repeatable and you can’t get out of your head. And it has to have a message; the more you say it, the more it becomes part of your political person­ality,” says LeVine, who was recently in Hong Kong and “saw how powerful the chants were”.

Hundreds gather in shopping malls to sing new protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong

“Repetitive patterns in both lyrics and melody are common,” Bithell agrees. “This helps to make the song more memorable and easy to learn and at the same time it reinforces the message. A good example is Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, built around the rhetorical question, ‘How many … before/till … ?’ and culminating in hard-hitting lines such as ‘How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?’”

What Dylan changed was that through “the sound of his voice [it] became possible for popular music to cover the full range of emotions. [It was] no longer limited to sounding nice,” says Alex Lubet, a professor of music at the University of Minnesota, in the US. “He had a particular influence on African-American popular music, in part because of his anthemic contributions to the civil rights movements but also on individual artists.”

Global struggles often reflect local music traditions. Chile’s recent protests saw mass assemblies of guitar-wielding marchers, strumming activist and folk revivalist Víctor Jara’s exquisite ballads. While his music lives on in the streets of Chile’s protests, Jara himself was killed when dictator Augusto Pinochet’s soldiers tortured and shot him more than 30 times after the 1973 coup.

More Western protest artists are internationally known due to their commercial success; both Lamar and Dylan have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize. MTV even has an awards category for the Best Video with a Social Message.

Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar. 

Photo: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

While Lubet agrees that political songs are “part of the American identity” he also acknowledges that “the other great influence on rock was the Beatles who also wrote topical songs and were arguably more activist than Dylan, especially John Lennon in the anti-Vietnam war movement and Paul McCartney in animal rights. The UK has also produced the Clash, the Sex Pistols and Billy Bragg. Ireland is the home of U2”. All of these artists incorporate themes of activism, anti-establishmentarianism or solidarity with the disenfranchised in their music.

Digital technology has also fundamentally transformed the production and dissemination of protest music, enabling people to memorise songs before coming together in a physical space.

German band Atari Teenage Riot have been creating anti-Nazi and anti-fascist electronic music since the early 90s. The video for their 2011 track Black Flags, from the album Is This Hyperreal?, is a montage of clips taken during protest movements and features rapper Boots Riley, who was active in the Occupy Oakland protests.

“We came up with an idea where our fans could film themselves singing along to the song and then send clips and we would edit them together,” says vocalist Alec Empire. “Not a great idea in itself, though in 2011, these things were not yet that common. Suddenly things took an interesting turn.”

Occupy Wall Street supporters and groups fight­ing censorship and surveillance pushed the song online and Empire’s inbox filled up with footage shot by activists at protests globally. A third version of the video includes a contribution from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

“The video morphed from a viral fan video to a music documentary that reflected what was happening with these protests on the streets and online,” Empire says by email from Berlin.

This digital crowdsourcing technique was also used by Belgian initiative Sing for the Climate in 2012. Recordings of 380,000 voices at gatherings in more than 180 cities were synthesised into one video. Likewise, Glory to Hong Kong was produced collaboratively by various independent musicians.

Numerous cover versions involving instruments as diverse as the piano, bagpipes and even a musical-calculator were uploaded to YouTube – allowing the song to extend its reach.

One such YouTube video, which has garnered more than 700,000 views, shows busker Oliver Ma defiantly playing the English version of Glory to Hong Kong while being surrounded by police officers. At his Po Lam flat, Ma says, “Glory to Hong Kong is the song that makes people here the most emotional right now. People cried in front of me, or offered me a hug. It is touching because they relate to this song a lot.”

“Singing on the streets itself was a novel experience,” says GoDareShe. “In Britain, everyone sings every week at the football stadium, but we don’t have that – we got to experience that in protests.”

The song has a national anthem-like melody that con­nects with the desire to reinforce a Hong Kong identity. The military beat allows it to circulate easily, and the specificity of the lyrics made Hongkongers embrace it.

“A song is most relevant when it doesn’t just have that emotion of rebellion but directly addresses the phenomena that we have witnessed in the current political climate,” says GoDareShe. “In every political protest you have some wounds, resentment or complaints. You can sing an Olympics song about reaching for your goal and that is also empowering, but it doesn’t touch on the frustration or the fight against people in authority who are abusing their powers. If you can combine these two, it will move people the most.”

A street performer at Occupy Wall Street, in 2011. Photo: Manami Okazaki

Folk singer-songwriter Ryan Harvey, one of the many artists who gathered in New York’s Zuccotti Park during 2011’s Occupy Wall Street, was “not trying to write a vague anthem song. I write songs that are extremely specific. Back in the day, the reason a song existed was to sing together and share a common moment. I’m writing songs for people who might be listening to music rather than reading a book.”

Harvey launched Firebrand Records for “radical political artists” with Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Their line-up of international talent includes French-Chilean musician Ana Tijoux and Ramy Essam, who was a prominent musician at Tahrir Square during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

Bithell says songs don’t necessarily have to have revolution­ary lyrics: just the act of hundreds or thousands of people singing together can be seen as an “empowering and emancipatory” political act.

This can be seen in the prevalence of Sing Hallelujah to the Lord over the summer, where pastor-led singing sessions permeated the streets of Hong Kong. The hymns were part “spiritual weapon” and part demonstration of the importance Hongkongers place on religious liberties. Christian Hongkonger K. says, “The song is a peaceful way for Christians to say that the Lord in Heaven is the actual ruler of our world. The Communist or Hong Kong govern­ment, or the police, are basically nothing in comparison.”

Protesters sing in Johannesburg, South Africa, on October 14, 1989, during a march against the labour relations act. Photo: AFP

While many people were surprised by the singing of hymns at Hong Kong’s gargantuan protests, composer Byron Au Yong, who hosts protest-song workshops in the US, says, “Churches were organising spaces for the civil rights movement in the United States. Singing religious songs makes sense as they are constructed to bring people together in celebration, hope and prayers.”

In another use of orchestral activism, Au Yong’s work Occupy Orchestra 無量園 Infinity Garden uses “sonic tactics” inspired by the 2011 Occupy movement, such as the “People’s Microphone”, where people repeat what a speaker says to amplify the words acoustically throughout a crowd.

“We discussed how to address economic, environmental and societal inequities,” says Au Yong. “At the same time, orchestras around the United States were going bankrupt and closing. Occupy Orchestra provides a way to consider the role of a large musical ensemble [that has been] displaced and deemed no longer relevant by advanced global capitalism.”

The piece references the classic Chinese garden, a space with which Au Yong draws parallels with Occupy rallies in parks. “Historical Chinese scholars and political dissidents gathered in gardens,” Au Yong explains. “Unlike Japanese gardens, to be observed from afar, Chinese gardens were intentionally designed as chaotic to allow people to discuss political turmoil and easily disappear, if needed.”

A lunchtime anti-government sing-along protest in Mong Kok on October 18. Photo: Dickson Lee

Aware of the power of protest music, authorities often hold a particular disdain for songs that express political dissent.

Atari Teenage Riot have performed at numerous rallies and their performance at a Berlin May Day protest against the Nato bombings of Kosovo in 1999 descended into chaos when band members were arrested.

“We were asked to perform at the protest and we wanted to support it,” Empire says. “At one point, the police started attacking protesters with sticks and threw tear gas into the crowd – the strategy was to break it up. The video material that was later used in court against the police clearly shows that peaceful protesters were attacked. Some of them even held up their hands but they got beaten anyway.”

During Tunisia’s jasmine revolution of 2010-11, which led then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country, folk and hip hop music helped galvanise support.

Tunisian rapper El Général’s scathing track Rais Lebled, which he describes as “a beautiful gift” to Ben Ali, became one such soundtrack to the uprisings that overthrew the government. In it, El Général addresses state corruption, waxing lyrical about police violence, starvation and the misery of citizens.

Hip hop was a weapon that I used to defend myself and the causes I care for, like the Tunisian cause, the revolutionEl Général, Tunisian rapper

“I knew that since the 70s rap has been revolutionary and that is the basis on which it was created,” El Général said of his use of hip hop, during an interview in his home­town of Sfax in 2011. “It became commercialised but the origin of the musical format was to defend people and to talk about their problems, such as racism.

“Hip hop was a weapon that I used to defend myself and the causes I care for, like the Tunisian cause, the revolution. I could have sung another style of music that was less political, but I wanted to have this socially engaged personality, fighting for real problems.”

With El Général’s release of Tunisia, Our Country the then 21-year-old was promptly arrested, handcuffed and interrogated. His much-publicised detention, however, made El Général a celebrity and his provoca­tive rapping gained him a spot on Time magazine’s most influential list for 2011.

Another “official” response to protest music can come in the form of a government releasing its own songs – often with embarrassing results. Recently during the Hong Kong protests, Chinese propaganda rappers CD Rev released a track titled Hong Kong’s Fall that describes “1.4 billion Chinese standing firmly behind Hong Kong police” and goes on to says the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is waiting to “wipe out terrorists”.

“They would likely be repeating themes that the state are trying to impress on the people, themes that are under threat,” LeVine says of the propaganda music.

“If it is in response to protests, they are being made in semi-desperation so it might be very blatant and obvious. Generally, you don’t have many of the best artists working with the state. In Egypt, for example, artists supporting [former president Hosni] Mubarak were ostracised when he left.

“When the state gets involved in music production for propagandistic purposes, they put a lot more resources into it than the protesters might have at their disposal. Rais Lebled was a cheap but powerful video, very lo-fi and DIY.”

While LeVine says “bubblegum” music might work in more normal times, during intense political moments, those kinds of songs “can’t hold a candle to even something as simple as [Tunisian] Emel Mathlouthi singing a cappella into a microphone on an iconic boulevard”.

Protest music can escalate a situation, turn a protest violent, calm it down or even turn it into a joke. When you hear music from people who fight for freedom, you can understand that within a few secondsAlec Empire, vocalist, Atari Teenage Riot

As Nigerian iconoclast and afrobeat founder Fela Kuti once said, “Music is the weapon of the future,” and Empire agrees: “Protest music can escalate a situation, turn a protest violent, calm it down or even turn it into a joke. When you hear music from people who fight for freedom, you can understand that within a few seconds.

“It’s part of analysing where the cultural zeitgeist is in that moment in time, and how you position yourself as an individual within that. Music only works this way when it expresses real truths.”

Before she steps on stage in Tai Po, C.T. wonders whether there is a “danger” of citizens enjoying the music but not engaging in “further steps”.

Yet as the protests roll into their seventh month – with many suffering from protest fatigue – for GoDareShe the answer is clear.

“Music provokes you into action, it feels like energy,” she says. “You might be uncertain and frightened but when you listen to music you feel like, ‘I might be able to do this!’”

WIKILEAKS EDITOR CALLS ASSANGE EXTRADITION ARGUMENTS 'HOLLOW WORDS' AS U.S. CLAIMS ITS SOURCES 'DISAPPEARED' AFTER LEAKS

BY JASON MURDOCK ON 2/24/20


VIDEO
Julian Assange - What Happens Next?

The editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks has blasted what he calls "hollow words" pushed by the U.S. during its opening arguments for the extradition hearing of Julian Assange today.

Speaking to the media at Woolwich Crown Court, at times drowned out by chanting supporters, Kristinn Hrafnsson suggested there was nothing new in the U.S. argument and teased "the real news" would come out later this week when the defense outlines its evidence.

WikiLeaks Editor Says Julian Assange Extradition Is About Politics Over Law
READ MORE

He said: "The words that are coming out from the United States about WikiLeaks revelations in 2010 and 2011 were hollow 10 years ago, and they don't increase in legitimacy as years go by. On the contrary, those are hollow words. There is nothing to back it up.

"What we are seeing here is simply journalism on trial. It is a shameful thing that we should be defending journalism in a court of law in this country."

In court, James Lewis QC, who is representing the U.S. government, reiterated the list of allegations previously made in the U.S. indictment, and referenced numerous legal arguments previously produced during the trial of Chelsea Manning in 2013.

According to reporter James Doleman, it was again noted WikiLeaks documents were found at Osama Bin Laden's property when it was raided by the U.S in 2011, while Lewis maintained the potential U.S. jail term of 175 years, as claimed by WikiLeaks, was "hyperbole."

"This is an extradition hearing, not a trial," Lewis said, the AP reported. "The guilt or innocence of Mr. Assange will be determined at trial in the United States, not in this court."

The hearing also heard the allegation that human sources who gave information to the U.S. had "disappeared" after the release of files by the website, The Guardian reported.

"The U.S. is aware of sources, whose unredacted names and other identifying information was contained in classified documents published by WikiLeaks, who subsequently disappeared, although the U.S. can't prove at this point that their disappearance was the result of being outed by WikiLeaks," Lewis said, claiming the leaked files put those people at risk.

Tristan Kirk, court reporter for the Evening Standard, reported Assange at one point said that he was "having difficulty concentrating" due to noise from protestors outside. "I'm very appreciative of public support, I understand they must be disgusted," Assange said.

In the lunch break, WikiLeaks' Hrafnsson rejected the claims by the U.S. government that its disclosures caused harm or put human sources at risk of identification.

"What we heard this morning was more of the same, the same thing we have been hearing for 10 years... [that] 'we are putting lives at risk.' And now, 10 years later, there is no evidence of such harm. To the contrary, Pentagon officials were forced to admit in the Manning trial in 2013 that nobody had been physically harmed because of these revelations," he said.

"Now, in 2020, they are in court not able to present a single [piece of] evidence of that harm. Still they go on...why aren't we discussing the harm that was revealed by the releases?"

After the short break, WikiLeaks' defense argued the extradition request is politically motivated and said claimed U.S. politician Dana Rohrabacher offered Assange a "full pardon in exchange for 'personal services,' on behalf of [president] Donald Trump," according to Doleman.

WikiLeaks was being represented by Edward Fitzgerald QC.

Breaking #Assange Defence counsel says a Republican congressman visited Assange and offered him a full pardon in exchange for "personal services," on behalf of Donald #Trump— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) February 24, 2020

Assange lawyer expanding on claims US Repub congressman offered Trump pardon in exchange for saying Russia not involved in leaking DNC emails
Dana Rohrabacher said to have described it as "win win" situation.. Assange could get out of Ecuadorian embassy and get on with life"— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) February 24, 2020

The extradition proceedings are taking place across two separate hearings inside Woolwich Crown Court, and are expected to span several months. The first hearing started today and runs until February 28. The second is currently set to take place between May 18 and June 5.

Ultimately, a ruling is not expected for months after the last court date, and the British government would make the final decision if extradition is greenlit, The Associated Press reported. If it goes ahead, it has been estimated that Assange will be facing up to 175 years in prison.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven out of Southwark Crown Court in London on May 1, 2019.DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/GETTY

In May, the WikiLeaks founder was named in an 18-count indictment linked to the release of documents obtained from former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Manning.

The filing alleges Assange "conspired" with Manning, and describes the fallout as "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States."

Prosecutors have alleged the documents contained unredacted names of human sources and accused Assange of risking "serious harm to United States national security." They do not say Assange did any hacking, instead claiming he "solicited" classified information. They also do not reference disclosures made during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Instead, the allegations date to 2009, and specifically reference the leaking of activities reports linked to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, alongside 250,000 Department of State cables. The U.S. government rejected the assertion that Assange was acting as a journalist.

But that's exactly what his supporters argue, stressing that the ongoing extradition hearings are a grave threat to press freedoms around the world. Those with inside knowledge of WikiLeaks say the motivations behind the proceedings are political in nature, and not based in law.

Assange, 48, has been incarcerated at H.M. Prison Belmarsh since last April, after about seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy under political asylum. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) blasted the U.S. extradition request as "unprecedented and unconstitutional."

Christine Assange, the leaker's mother, said on Twitter Sunday the case marked the "David and Goliath fight of our generation." She wrote: "Between the world's superpower & the journalist who dared publish proof of its war crimes. The outcome will decide his fate."

Protests in support of Assange popped up in London the weekend prior to the hearings, with speakers including Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and designer Vivienne Westwood.

Last week, two Australian politicians traveled to the city to speak out in support of the founder, as British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn renewed his extradition opposition. At the same time, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Hrafnsson said U.S. motives were murky.

"It is absolutely certain in my mind there is an overwhelming argument for the dismissal of this extradition request," he said at a Foreign Press Association (FPA) event.

"If it was simply a case which was decided upon with the merit of the laws, I wouldn't worry at all, but this is a political case," Hrafnsson added. "And what's at stake is not just the life of Julian Assange, who faces 175 years in prison if extradited, it is the future of journalism."

Wikileaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, Julian Assange's father, John Shipton, and fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood, march together on February 22, 2020 in London, England.

Julian Assange was 'handcuffed 11 times and stripped naked'

WikiLeaks founder’s lawyers complain of interference 

after first day of extradition hearing


Ben Quinn Tue 25 Feb 2020
 

A Julian Assange supporter attaches a sign 

to a fence outside Woolwich crown court in 

London. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters


Julian Assange was handcuffed 11 times, stripped naked twice and had his case files confiscated after the first day of his extradition hearing, according to his lawyers, who complained of interference in his ability to take part.

Their appeal to the judge overseeing the trial at Woolwich crown court in south-east London was also supported by legal counsel for the US government, who said it was essential that the WikiLeaks founder be given a fair trial.

Edward Fitzgerald QC, acting for Assange, said the case files, which the prisoner was reading in court on Monday, were confiscated by guards when he returned to prison later that night and that he was put in five cells.

Amid the din, Julian Assange struggles to hear case against him

He appealed to the judge to consider the treatment as it was harming his “right to a fair trial and his ability to participate in the proceedings”.

The judge, Vanessa Baraitser, replied that she did not have the legal power to comment or rule on Assange’s conditions but encouraged the defence team to formally raise the matter with the prison.

However, she said she would expect Assange to be treated in a way that protected his right to a fair trial. “I think everyone in the court supports a fair hearing,” she said.

James Lewis, for the prosecution, said they did not want Assange to be held in a condition or experience treatment that jeopardised his right to a fair hearing. It was open to the court to make “trenchant comments” to the British government.

The court heard on Monday that the Donald Trump administration was targeting Assange as “an enemy of the America who must be brought down” and his life could be at risk if he was sent to face trial in the US.

Lawyers for Assange intend to call as a witness a former employee of a Spanish security company, who says surveillance was carried out for the US on Assange while he was at Ecuador’s London embassy and that conversations had turned to potentially kidnapping or poisoning him.

Assange, 48, is wanted in the US to face 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the Espionage Act. They relate to the publication a decade ago of hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and files covering areas including US activities in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Australian, who could face a 175-year prison sentence if found guilty, is accused of working with the former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak classified documents.

The hearing continues.