Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Cantonese Opera Day is a government initiative meant to expand the art form for fans and newcomers. In fact, it has been inscribed onto the Unesco List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009.

The free event will see performances of excerpts from Cantonese opera classics including “Purple Bamboo Forest” from “Merciless Sword Under Merciful Heaven” and “Saving Pei” from “The Reincarnation of a Beauty.” It will also feature talks on the stylised movements and postures adopted in Cantonese operas as well as on the singing styles and musical instruments used. Performing artists will include Lee Lung, Nam Fung, Sun Kim-long.

Hilvinn Wong Hai-wing tells the South China Morning Post that opera has been a part of her life from a very young age. Now at age 32, she will take the stage at the Cultural Centre this November 17th for a performance of “Kneeling by the Pond” – an excerpt from the Ming dynasty drama “Henpecked Husband.”

“My mother took me to see Cantonese opera performances at bamboo theatres when I was a child,” Hilvinn says. “Every time when there was a show, I wanted to go. We would eat snacks and we got to stay out late. But I had no idea what was happening on stage. I just thought it was beautiful and alluring.”

However, some artists say that childhood connection is stalling in modern Hong Kong society.

“As young artists, we must run an extra mile to promote the arts of Cantonese opera among the young generation,” she says.

Dennis Wan Chi-hung, 22, who will be taking part in the performance of “Merciless Sword Under Merciful Heaven” tells the paper that he was also exposed to the art form at a very young age. His father Wan Yuk-yu is also a Cantonese opera artist.

“But when I was in school, from kindergarten all the way to secondary school and university, there was little to no exposure to the art form,” Dennis says. “Students should be taught about the art form. Whether they like it or not, it’s up to them. But at least we will have a chance to have [a bigger] audience. Without an audience, we will not be able to survive.

According to the the Arts Development Council’s latest annual arts survey the audience for Chinese opera, including Cantonese opera programmes have dropped by 1.3 percent between 2015 and 2016 despite an increase in performances in that same period.

The move comes after the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, China’s top legislature, incorporated a new national anthem law that aimed to make such acts punishable by prison sentences.

“I don’t care [about the law],” an 18-year-old fan told reporters from the South China Morning Post. “So what? There are thousands of people at the stadium, how will they find me and arrest me?”

Another fan who brought his five-year-old son said, “I don’t think the anthem represents Hong Kong. I don’t care if they arrest me. I just do what I think is right. I will continue to boo. If they have guts, they can arrest all of us.”

The Hong Kong government is now required to establish local legislation to deter abuse of the anthem, a move punishable by up to three years of jail time on the mainland.

Still, there were some supporters of the mainland among the 2,000-plus  crowd.

“There are some pro-China supporters as well, and the aim is to mitigate any risk or breach of peace,” a police source at the match told the SCMP.

According to the paper, about a dozen fans sat by themselves on the East Stand holding both the Hong Kong and Chinese flags. It was the first time the national flag had been seen at a home game that was not being played against the national squad.

“The exile Tibetan community is like a flowing river,” said City University of New York Professor Ming Xia  “Although they have left the mountains of Tibet, they have still remained connected to their homeland like a snow and continue to provide feedback to Tibet. What I am trying to say is the Tibetan tradition and heritage is like a great mountain and through evolution and adaptation to the new environment, the Tibetan community in exile, like a dynamic and creative river, has remained connected with the mountains.”

“If we look at the Middle-Way Approach, if we look at how we are here today with the people of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang, we have to ask one fundamental question whether we are going to be a mountain and be separated, or we are going to be like a river, where we are converging and going to create a strong new future, not only for the Chinese, but also for Tibetans and Uyghurs as well as the people of Taiwan and Hong Kong.”

Dhardon Sharling, the Information Secretary (equivalent) of the Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, told the audience that the peaceful resolution to the Tibet issue will elevate China’s standing due to Tibet’s values of non-violence and mutual respect.

“Under the guidance and leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Middle Way Approach demonstrates these Tibetan values in application,” he said. “The Tibetan approach to its freedom struggle can be a powerful inspiration and example to others around the globe as an alternative to the cruelty of war, violence, and terrorism if the international community supports those efforts and Tibetans achieve their freedom and the return of His Holiness to Tibet.”

Edward Chin, the convener of Hong Kong 2047 Monitor, said: “It has already been close to sixty years since His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been in exile. The whole world is watching as China is getting more and more powerful. We wish that China would respect human rights and have dialogue with His Holiness and in doing so, China is inviting bigger challenges in the near future.”

However, Gui’s family says they have yet to hear from him. His daughter Angela Gui told reporters, “I still don’t know where my father is … Neither I nor any member of my family nor any of his friends have been contacted. It is still very unclear where he is. I am deeply concerned for his wellbeing.” Based in the UK, she said that the Swedish embassy had received notification that he would be released on October 17.  She added that when Swedish officials arrived at the Chinese prison that morning, authorities had told them he left earlier at midnight and was free to travel as he pleased. They gave no detail of his whereabouts, Angela said.

Gui ran a controversial publishing house Mighty Current. its affiliated Causeway Bay Bookstore sold books controversial to the ruling Chinese Communist Party including titles about the personal lives of the country’s political heads.

Gui disappeared from Thailand in October 2015 before later appearing in China where he made a public confession about a fatal car accident that allegedly occurred in 2003. His daughter said it was forced.

Lam Wing-kee, another jailed publisher, agrees. He says the confession was written by Chinese authorities. He added that Lee Bo, another jailed publisher, was kidnapped from Hong Kong. Lee has not confirmed this, but news about Lee and Gui being allegedly abducted against their wills in an extrajudicial process caught the eye of the international community.

Sweden is seeking additional details about Gui’s release.

And while they did not achieve their goal, the three activists say the battle against Communist Party aggression is far from over. “I expect to pay the price, to be sent to prison,” Wong said before his sentencing. “However, I have no regrets at all. What we have done already proves that Hong Kong people will continue to show determination in the front-line against authoritarian rule.”

Wong’s appeal is set to be heard on November 7; although, he is not too optimistic about it. Nevertheless, he expects to continue pushing for the pro-Democracy movement.

“This may not be the first time we go to jail, there may be more young people going to jail in the future — but we will press on with our beliefs and fight together on the path to democracy,” the Hong Kong Free Press heard him saying shortly after his release.

But he says prison time also strengthened him. Wong called it “a chance for us to strengthen our determination to fight for democracy.” He and Law, who also was released, expect to go back to the movement soon.

But before the struggle begins again, Wong plans to take some time off.

A Twitter post by Joshua Wong Chi-Fung read,  “I celebrated my first day on bail by doing what any normal Hong Konger would do: play video games #gundamversus.”

All entries submitted to the U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also known as the Green Card Lottery, between October 3 and 10 have been lost due to a technical glitch. Individuals who submitted applications during these dates are directed to reapply. “Entries submitted during October 3-10 are not valid and have been excluded from the system;…

Wong gained national attention in 2014 when he and two friends stormed the Legislative Council building, kicking off what came to be known as the Umbrella Movement. This was marked by thousands of Hong Kongers marching through the streets demanding for free elections for the post of city chief executive. It caught the sentiment of thousands who believe that China is exerting an unjust amount of power over the lives of Hong Kongers.

Along with two colleagues, Wong was found guilty last summer of unlawful assembly and given suspended sentences as well as orders to engage in community service. But the Hong Kong justice department appealed the decision and called for harsher punishments. Activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow are now sentenced to seven and eight months in jail, respectively.

But Wong said he’s willing to do the time, as others like him carry on the movement beyond the jail cells.

“I expect to pay the price, to be sent to prison,” he told AFP. “However, I have no regret at all. What we have done already proves that Hong Kong people will continue to show determination in the frontline against authoritarian rule.”

The article was penned amid rumors that China’s massive Liaoning warship will soon be making a visit to Hong Kong. The Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily in Hong Kong cited unidentified sources who said the Liaoning would port there on July 7. China’s state-run news agency confirmed it left eastern Chinese port of Qingdao on Sunday escorted by two destroyers on a routine mission. Sing Tao said the fighter-jet-equipped show of force would be open for visits by local Hong Kong residents.

But, some analysts see a practical use for the ship and the growing Chinese military.

“A well trained and equipped military force is better positioned to deal with threats to Beijing’s control of the city than a poorly trained symbolic garrison unit,” said Timothy R. Heath, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corp think tank, in an interview with CNN. “The professionalization of the PLA garrison force also serves a political purpose in instilling patriotism among Hong Kong residents and reminding them of China’s power and strength.”

Ha added, “The Liaoning’s visit signals Beijing’s desire to promote patriotic, pro-China feelings among its young people. The PRC government wants to reinforce the message that it has made China strong and will lead the country to revitalization as a great power.”

The PLA’s growing presence can be traced back to the last few years. Last October, it spent the second straight year running military war games simulating China’s defeat of an occupying force in Hong Kong’s New Territories.

One of them is Angela Gui. She is the daughter Gui Munhai, Swedish citizen who is believed to have been abducted by Chinese authorities for his ties to a Hong Kong book store that carried titles critical to Beijing’s Ruling Communist Party – these books, of course, are banned on the mainland. He disappeared from one of his homes in Thailand in 2015. Other colleagues involved with Causeway Bookstore including Guy’s friend Lee Bo have also disappeared.

Angela, meanwhile, says she has not heard from her father and she cites Swedish counsel as saying the man has not even been given access to a lawyer as he remains imprisoned. “So paranoid is Beijing about its public image, that it chooses to carry out cross-border kidnappings over some books,” Angela writes in an editorial published by The Guardian.

She says that as Chinese President Xi Jinping tightens his grip on Chinese politics, Beijing is pushing harder and harder to erase any perception of the “One Country, Two Systems” doctrine. For Angela and others like her, the notion now means nothing more than the paper it is written on. But she also accuses the opposite party of “looking away” and letting the Chinese hand spread deeper into Hong Kong.

“Theresa May often emphasizes the importance of British values in her speeches,” she writes. “But Britain’s limpness over Hong Kong seems to demonstrate only how easily these values are compromised away. I worry about the global implications of China being allowed to just walk away from such an important treaty. And I worry that in the years to come, we will have many more Lee Bos and Gui Minhais, kidnapped and detained because their work facilitated free speech.”

She adds that Lee Bo is legally British.

Xi had pledged to set his net across “tigers and flies,” or both high-and-low ranking officials who enriched themselves and their families through illegal means. And while the campaign is largely supported by ordinary Chinese, it may be starting to look less than noble.

Many suspect this crackdown is as much a reforming of the party as it is a crusade against Xi’s enemies.

To back this claim, critics point to the arrests of Politburo member Zhou Yongkang, and former minister of commerce Bo Xilai – both of whom were thought to challenge Xi’s ascension.

An even more high-profile example is the arrest of Guo Wengui, a real estate billionaire who has fled China and is under a “red alert” policy, requiring Interpol to turn him over to Chinese authorities. The former real estate billionaire and member of President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort has gained a large media following being interviewed for Chinese-language websites in the U.S. and even the Voice of America. The latter interview was cut short raising speculation that Beijing forced VOA to stop – a claim the company denies. However, Guo has pledged throughout cyberspace to unmask corruption at the highest levels of the Communist Party.

Guo claims relatives of He Guoqiang, a former member of the Politboro Standing Committee, used their influence to rip him out of a business deal. While he has offered no hard evidence, research by Chinese and Western sources points to ties between He’s family and various companies that may have benefited from such an incident.

Nonetheless, Xi Jinping has a lot to clear up as he looks toward a successful 19th Congress of the CCP, which is expected to take place later this year.