The Pulse：The potential legislation on electronic cigarettes and interview with Alex Chow

Repercussions continue following the Umbrella Movement and protests advocating localism which took place in the past four years – Edward Leung and some of his colleagues are now sitting in jail having been given long sentences earlier this month, other activists have been barred from standing for election – more trials are pending and new laws to limit both protests and freedom of expression are in the pipeline. An editorial in the pro-government Ta Kung Pao newspaper this week, for example, called for a ban on the annual 1 July protests on grounds that they conflict with the Basic Law.
Does this mean that not only did the moment fail but that activists are too demoralised to carry on? Earlier this week we spoke to Alex Chow, one the movement’s more prominent leaders who has found another way looking at protest. More on that later.
But first, this week the government announced that it was considering legislation to regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes. This has been met with strong opposition from the medical profession and anti-smoking advocates who point out that just three years ago the government was planning to simply ban the sale of e-cigarettes. With us to discuss the issue is Kwok Ka-ki, who is a doctor and Civil Party legislator.
The severe prison sentences given to Edward Leung, the former leader of Hong Kong Indigenous and others found guilty of rioting in Mong Kok, after the Umbrella protests sent a sharp reminder that anti-government protests can come with a heavy price. Meanwhile the level of protest in Hong Kong has clearly gone down. Does this mean that democracy advocates are either too dermoralised or indeed too scared to carry on? One person who’s been thinking a lot about this is Alex Chow, the former Secretary General of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and was among the most high profile leaders of the Umbrella Movement.
Finally, to another kind of disruption, we’ll leave you with images of the mayhem and u-turns caused by Donald Trump’s immigration policies…
There will however be no u-turns at The Pulse, at least until next week – so see you then- Goodbye.