香港邮筒风波 Hong Kong's royal cover up stirs anti Beijing backlash

The humble postbox, as much a legacy of British rule as railways and cricket, has become the latest target of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing establishment.

与铁道和板球一样，不起眼的邮筒是英国统治时期的遗产，现如今它成为了亲北京的香港当权派的最新目标。

The Hong Kong authorities plan to cover up royal insignias on colonial-era postboxes, deeming them inappropriate. But the move is stirring another clash with activists who say it is undermining the city’s autonomy.

香港当局认为殖民地时代遗留下来的邮筒上的英国皇家徽号不合时宜，并计划将它们遮盖起来。但此举让政府与活动人士又爆发了一场冲突，后者表示，此举损害了香港的自治权。

Campaigners are asking why it is only now, 18 years after the territory was returned to China, that the Post Office wants to change the remaining 59 colonial postboxes, a small fraction of the more than 1,100 in use.

活动人士质问，为何在香港回归18年后的今天，香港邮政(Post Office)希望把殖民地时代遗留下来的59个邮筒（仅占当今1100个在用邮筒的一小部分）改头换面。

“This is a very bad idea,” said Sin Wai-man, who runs a group lobbying to preserve the old postboxes. “The only conclusion we can draw is that they are trying to remove the colonial history from Hong Kong. Maybe there’s some political agenda behind it, to push decolonisation to appease mainland China.”

一个致力于保护旧邮筒的游说组织的负责人冼慧敏表示：“这是一个非常糟糕的主意。我们可以得出的唯一结论是，他们试图抹掉香港的殖民历史。或许背后有某种推动去殖民化以取悦中国内地的政治议程。”

Some lawmakers have written to the head of the Post Office asking for the decision to be reversed to protect Hong Kong’s heritage. The postboxes, which bear the Hong Kong Post Office logo, carry royal ciphers including those of George V, George VI and Elizabeth II, as well as one of the Scottish crown.

一些议员已经写信给香港邮政署长，要求收回遮盖决定，保护香港的文化遗产。这些上面绘有香港邮政署标志的邮筒还绘有英国皇家徽号，包括乔治五世、乔治六世和伊丽莎白二世的徽号，以及苏格兰皇室徽号。

The Post Office said it was still finalising plans and that when it blocks out the royal symbols it will “take care not to cause any damage to these insignia”.

香港邮政表示，计划还未最后拟定，在遮盖皇家标志的时候，将会“小心处理，旨在不对这些徽号造成任何损害”。

Hong Kong was guaranteed a “high degree of autonomy” from Beijing under the one country, two systems arrangement set up after the 1997 handover.

按照1997年主权移交后制定的“一国两制”原则，香港享有“高度自治权”。

But opposition politicians and activists fear that the city’s freedoms, which are unique in China, are coming under increasing attack from the Hong Kong government and its allies in Beijing.

但反对派政客和活动人士担心，香港的自由——这种自由在中国是极为特殊的——日益受到香港政府及其北京盟友的攻击。

They point to the government’s failure to implement truly democratic elections for the chief executive and to a continuing dispute over academic freedom at Hong Kong university.

他们的理由包括，香港政府未能实施真正民主的特首选举，围绕香港大学(HKU)学术自由的争论也在持续发酵。

Adding to activist concerns, normally reticent mainland officials have shown an increasing willingness to express their frustration with Hong Kong

更让活动人士担忧的是，通常保持沉默的中国内地官员越来越愿意公开表达他们对香港的失望。