The 'Confucian' edge in chipmaking and North Korea's shadow animators

Hello everyone, it's Cissy from Hong Kong.

It has been a super-humid week here. Mushrooms have even started to sprout from the damp floor in our office. Thankfully the wind finally arrived today, otherwise I might have to continue suffering the smell of mold in a lot of indoor places I go.

In other damp news about the city, Hong Kong this week made its first known arrests for alleged sedition under the new local security law passed two months ago. Authorities have accused seven people of inciting hatred against the Chinese central government, the Hong Kong government and the judiciary by commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on social media.

The anniversary is next Tuesday. Before Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, the city used to be a center for people to mourn those killed and pass on memories of the tragedy to the next generation. Some Chinese people would even make special trips from the mainland to join the candlelight vigil at Victoria Park.

In the past three years, the park has been blanketed by heavy security forces on the night of June 4, with police arresting or detaining anyone who tried to commemorate the anniversary. Police would also check the bags of passersby and warn residents who stopped to linger. Events to mark the anniversary have increasingly been held in Taiwan since 2020, though on a smaller scale.

Heavy security is expected at Victoria Park this year, too, and like last year, the venue will also host a food festival organized by pro-Beijing community groups starting on June 1. Organizers have vowed to make the festival an annual event.

Hong Kong still bills itself as a center of business and innovation, but this really says a lot about how much