Plum Blossoms

1. CCP die-hards like Chen Zuoer
   Evidently to some of these people, expressions of human emotions, like mourning for the dead, are the exclusive domain of the Communist Party. To suggest that Zhao's affairs are the province of the CCP only suggests an arrogance that knows no bounds. Last time I check, Zhao's affairs are, at the very least, an important issue to Zhao's own family.

2. Rita Fan, Legco Speaker
   I know that your appointment is totally political, but at least show some tact when you make a political decision in your power as Speaker. Suggesting that Zhao, who signed the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, has little relevance to Hong Kong is akin to saying that John Adams, who signed the 1783 Treaty of Paris, has little to do with American independence. And as for holding a moment of silence for only figures with "important" contributions to Hong Kong, like Deng Xiaopeng and former Governor Edward Youde, Hong Kong wasn't even under PRC sovereignty when Deng died.

3. "Pro-Democracy" Legco Councillors, especially Long Hair
   It's stupid stunts like this that make people vote against you last year and think you're self-aggrandizing and have martyrdom complexes. Rita Fan might be playing games when she requested a majority of councillors to sign for a debate on asking the HK government's position on Zhao, but she has a point. The majority of councillors (DAB, Liberals, random Beijing lovers) are not in favour of commemorating Zhao. It says a lot about their character, but they do hold the majority in Legco and it's presumptuous for you to keep riding on supposed popular support to satisfy your needs to be martyrs (this is especially true in the case of Long Hair). If you are going to hold up the legitimacy of Legco by participating in it, you can't do your own thing whenever you want and claim popular support to back it up. You can express your sincere feelings for Zhao in the public sphere: candlelight vigils at Statue Square, throwing yourself off the Tsing Ma Bridge, whatever. But when a majority in Legco is unsupportive of a minute of silence and you do it anyway in the Legco chamber, you're hijacking the authority of being in Legco for the sake of scoring cheap political points. Remember that you are not the ones that spent your last fifteen years in house arrest and had your public memory blanked out by the government.

4. "Pro-Beijing" Legco Councillors
   Had you came back into the chamber after the "Pro-Democracy" members have their moment of silence/theatre/whatever, this would've been a non-issue. Instead, you overplayed your cards and stopped the meeting entirely, supposedly to punish the "Pro-Democracy" members (which is the province of the Speaker). Reminds me of destroying a village for the sake of, um, what was it again?

5. Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa
   No one is going to think you're a mute if you shut up once or twice. So why did you go out and defend Rita Fan for being, well, a bitch?

Meanwhile, a much more sincere and touching scene as mourners arrive in Beijing to give Zhao their last respects.