Tucked away in a back alley with authentic street food from Tainan, this is a must for homesick Taiwanese or anyone wanting a taste of the island’s cuisine With big fluorescent light boxes inscribed with the names of dishes hanging on the walls, a corner in the back alley behind Lee Gardens in Causeway Bay has been transformed into a vibrant night market of the kind that is seen all over Taiwan. Interior of Tainan Mr Bean in Causeway Bay. Following in the footsteps of Yuan is Here in Sai Ying Pun, Tainan Mr Bean recently opened on Lan Fong Road, serving the kind of Taiwanese street fare that is hawked in night markets in Tainan City. While Yuan is Here has only a handful of seats and long queues waiting outside, Tainan Mr Bean is more spacious. The ambience is right, and there are friendly waiters speaking Mandarin. Many of the ingredients, including the sauces, are from Taiwan. Restaurant review: 8 Pots in Tsim Sha Tsui – pungent Taiwanese-style hotpots The menu is large. We liked the braised pork rice (HK$28 for small), which had theright proportion of fatty and lean meat and a slightly sweet flavourful sauce. Shrimp and pork ball noodle soup.Sesame oil chicken.The shrimp and pork ball noodle soup (HK$42)had a generous amount of ingredients in a rich broth. Taipei’s beef noodle restaurants take on US and Japanese fast food The sesame oil chicken (HK$65) was disappointing as the chicken flesh was not tender enough andhadn’t absorbed the sauce, making it bland. Pineapple and bitter gourd soup.We enjoyed the pineapple and bitter gourd soup (HK$38) with carrot and dried shrimp. The soup had light taste with a slightly bitter flavour, making it taste like a soothing tonic. Bar review: Thaiwan in Wan Chai – Thai and Taiwanese-themed drinks and tapas For those who think street fare is unhealthy, there are many vegetable dishes on offer. We liked the sweet potato leaves (HK$45) cooked with garlic.For indigenous Tainan dishes, we ordered the Hsinchu vermicelli(HK$55) – chewy rice noodles which came in a big portion with many ingredients such as pork, shrimp and vegetables.

(New York, October 17, 2016) – The Chinese government should immediately free Swedish bookseller Gui Minhai, who disappeared from Thailand a year ago today and reappeared in custody in China, Human Rights Watch said today. The Chinese government has provided little information about the enforced disappearances and detentions of Gui and four other bookseller colleagues in Thailand, Hong Kong, and China. “A full year has gone by, yet all that’s clear is that Chinese authorities have grossly violated the rights of the five booksellers both within and outside China’s borders,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “China’s willingness to snatch people in Thailand and Hong Kong with the apparent involvement of their governments adds to the concerns.” Gui Minhai, who co-owns the Hong Kong Mighty Current publishing house, which issues books about mainland political intrigues, went missing from Pattaya, Thailand, on October 17, 2015. In mid-January, CCTV, China’s state television network, broadcast a “confession” by Gui in which he said he had returned voluntarily to the mainland to face charges related to a 2003 drunk-driving incident. Subsequent state media reports said Gui was being investigated for other unspecified “criminal activities,” and that others have been investigated in connection with him. Swedish diplomats have been allowed two brief visits with Gui. Neither his family nor the Swedish government has been informed of any formal charges against him, nor the formal place of his detention, rendering him forcibly disappeared. Enforced disappearances are defined under international law as the arrest or detention of a person by state officials or their agents followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty, or to reveal the person’s fate or whereabouts. Enforced disappearances violate a range of fundamental human rights protected under international law, including prohibitions against arbitrary arrest and detention; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and extrajudicial execution. Disappearances are a continuing offense that cause anguish and suffering for the victim’s family members. Following Gui’s abduction in Thailand, four other staff members of the Causeway Bay Bookstore, owned by Mighty Current, also went missing between October and December 2015. One, British national Lee Po, disappeared from Hong Kong. Although his travel documents remained in Hong Kong, Lee later resurfaced in China, saying that he had gone there voluntarily “using his own methods” in order to “cooperate in a judicial investigation.” Three other booksellers and Hong Kong residents – Lui Por, Cheung Chi Ping, and Lam Wing Kee – were detained in the mainland. These booksellers have since been released; only Gui remains detained in China. On June 16, 2016, one of the booksellers, Lam Wing Kee, held a news conference in Hong Kong revealing details about his detention in China. He said the authorities interrogated him about the publisher’s operations, including information about the books’ authors and readers, and forced him to read from a scripted “confession.” In general, the circumstances surrounding the abductions and detentions of Gui Minhai and Lee Po remain unclear. The Thai government said, in January 2016, that it had no record of Gui leaving the territory. Although Hong Kong government officials have met with mainland Chinese officials about the booksellers’ case, neither has publicly explained whether Lee was abducted from Hong Kong. Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung had said that it would be “unacceptable for mainland law enforcement to operate in Hong Kong” because it “violates the Basic Law,” the territory’s functional constitution. Yet Leung has never clarified whether any mainland security agents operate in Hong Kong. The Causeway Bay booksellers were not the first to be targeted by mainland authorities for their sale of politically opinionated books in Hong Kong, Human Rights Watch said. In May 2014, Yao Wentian, 75, chief editor of Morning Bell Press, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “smuggling” in Shenzhen. In July 2016, Wang Jianmin, a US citizen and editor of magazines Multiple Face and New-Way Monthly, was sentenced to five years in prison in Shenzhen for “operating an illegal business,” together with his associate Guo Zhongxiao. A dozen governments have publicly condemned the Chinese government for the booksellers’ case, including a 12-country joint statement delivered at the Human Rights Council in March, as well as a European Parliament resolution adopted in February. “Although the booksellers’ case has generated considerable condemnation from foreign governments, none has imposed meaningful consequences on Beijing for its arbitrary arrests of foreign citizens,” Richardson said. “This failure to do so may only embolden the Chinese government.”

Ronny Tong also blasts pan-democrats for handling of controversy The previous Legislative Council president warned that if any ?incoming lawmakers fail to properly take their members’ oath when retaking it this week they could be breaking the law and could even lose their seats. Jasper Tsang Yok-sing was referring to Youngspiration’s Sixtus “Baggio” Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching and Edward Yiu Chung-yim, whose oaths Legco secretary general Kenneth Chen Wei-on invalidated last week. During last week’s inaugural Legco meeting, Leung and Yau pronounced China as “Chee-na”, a variation of the derogatory “Shina” used by Japan during the second world war. Yiu modified the oath by adding his own phases. The trio are due to retake their oaths on Wednesday in front of new president, Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, and Tsang said on Sunday that any legislators who lead the president to believe they are neglecting the oath on purpose would be breaking the law and would need to resign. Moderate Hong Kong politician Ronny Tong Ka-wah, convenor of think tank Path of Democracy, criticised the Youngspiration pair’s actions last week. “I was very angry and saddened when I heard what they said,” the former Civic Party lawmaker said in a radio programme. “Whichever way you look at the matter, whether it’s political, ethical or legal, it’s not acceptable.” Leung and Yau defended their actions, with Leung claiming he mispronounced the country’s name due to his “Ap Lei Chau accent”. But Tong dismissed the explanation, saying what they did was clearly intentional. “I don’t respect anyone who can’t own up to what they do,” he said. “And being young is not an excuse ... I think some people are too tolerant towards youngsters.” The city government and Beijing’s liaison office have both condemned the duo’s words and actions. Tong also criticised the pan-democratic camp for being ambiguous in comments on the incident. “As the pro-democracy camp, if you don’t even have the courage to point out right from wrong on major issues, how can you represent Hongkongers to fight for better lives?” asked Tong, himself a former pan-democrat. At a forum on Sunday, Baggio Leung maintained he did not change any aspects of the oath. “We read out every single word [in it],” he said. Yau could not be reached for comment. While the Youngspiration pair read out their oaths, they also displayed a banner bearing the slogan: “Hong Kong is not China”. The Legco secretary general said at the time the banner gave him reasons to doubt whether they understood the oath. But Leung said: “How does my banner contradict the meaning of the oath? The slogan is merely a fact. ‘Hong Kong is not China’ is just like [saying] ‘an apple is not an orange’.” In the same forum, pro-Beijing legislator Dr Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said the Youngspiration legislators should be disqualified if they do not take the oath properly on Wednesday. “Just like at a wedding ceremony, if you hold up a banner saying ‘as if’ while saying ‘I will love you for the rest of my life’… others can see that you are not sincere,” she said. Meanwhile, a survey of 2,345 educators by the Beijing-loyalist group Education Convergence found that around 80 per cent of participants believed the Youngspiration pair should resign over the issue. Some 95 per cent also thought their actions didn’t represent youngsters in the city, while around 65 per cent demanded the duo apologise. Ho Hon-kuen, vice-chairman of the group, said: “They should apologise at the very least. If not we will demand they resign.” Pro-Beijing volunteer Ivan Mok Ka-kit has organised a rally against Yau and Leung for Wednesday, when they swear in again. An online petition against the pair had secured 72,000 signatures by Sunday.