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The Relation Between Hong Kong's Anti-Subversion Article No. 23 and Joseph Heller's Satirical Commentary on the Military in the Novel, "Catch 22" By Xiao He
(Clearwisdom.net)
On September 24 the Hong Kong government firmly publicized Article No. 23,
making Hong Kong residents who have become accustomed to democracy and freedom
to be at a sudden loss in the face of "instigating subversion" and
"instigating splits". This legislation's stipulation for a
consultation seems to leave no room for residents to choose; there is only the
possibility to "consult" with residents, and this is only for fear of
the democratic habits formed in the people of Hong Kong.
This makes me recall a satirical novel written by Joseph Heller called "Catch
22." The novel takes place in World War II and describes a United
States flight team that was stationed on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. The
head of the team, Cathcart, who was eager to be promoted to general, purposely
increased the flight and bomb missions of his subordinates. He was willing to
use the lives of his subordinates in exchange for his own promotion. The manager
of the restaurant, Milo, looks "honest," however, he established a
private international company under the pretense of buying food. He used a large
amount of planes to smuggle goods, even hiring the planes of the enemy to move
goods for his company and setting up contracts with the enemy to safeguard a
bridge. Later, he even became an international celebrity.
Yossarian is the bomber of this flight team. Full of eagerness to fight for
justice he was devoted to the war and obtained a military decoration, but after
he witnessed the phenomenon of delusion, ridiculousness, insanity and cruelty,
he realized that he had been cheated. He saw his fellow soldiers die in batches
and he wished he could go home alive. He tried to pretend to be sick and stay in
the hospital until the end of the war. According to the "Military rule No.
22", only those declared to be mentally insane could avoid flight duty, but
the application had to be raised by the person himself. At the same time, the
code stipulated that, whoever could realize the danger and raise the application
to avoid flight duty was considered to be a clear-minded person and should
continue to be used for flight missions. Military rule No. 22 also stipulated
that the pilot could go home after fulfilling the number of missions stipulated
by the higher authority, but he must absolutely obey the order, otherwise he
could not go home. Therefore, the higher authority could continuously add
missions and one had to obey. Finally the leading character realized that the
Military rule No. 22 was a complete fraud, he could only obey it
unconditionally. Finally, the leading character's solution was to escape from
the military. [Therefore the term "Catch 22" became a widespread
term meaning a no-win situation.]
Given the fact that Hong Kong already has enough applicable laws, the
government has set up a strict law against an imaginary threat -
"instigating subversion" and "instigating splits," these
threats are basically non-existent. Furthermore, the Hong Kong government had
the power to establish such a law from the very beginning. They firmly refused
the public requirement to issue a "watermelon consultation book" to
investigate public opinion. Such a cursory and careless attitude demonstrates
the pressure these officials who are under the system of "whoever makes
decision takes the responsibility" bear. The pressure does not come from
the residents but from the central government that controls their lives, or
their deaths. The officials who plan the legislation also have their own
secretarial goals just like the heads of the flight team in Joseph Heller's
novel, Catch 22.
Therefore, at present, the final explanation of Hong Kong's Article No. 23 is
- If you are not engaging in the activity of "instigating subversion"
and "instigating splits", Article No. 23 will not affect your freedom
and so you should not oppose it; but if you oppose legislation No. 23
legislature you are opposing the legislature of the country and you are under
suspicion of "instigating subversion" and "instigating
splits".
"Military Rule No. 22" and Hong Kong's Article No. 23 are
surprisingly similar to each other. But we cannot escape like the leading
character in the novel. Hong Kong is our home. We should stand up to oppose this
unreasonable legislation.
Posting date: 10/24/2002 |