Hong Kong demanded Taiwanese staff sign commitment to Beijing’s one-China principle in visa renewals
Taiwan says it has pulled back all but one staff member from its Hong Kong trade office after they refused to sign a commitment to the one-China principle required for visa renewals.
The officials returned from Hong Kong on Sunday, leaving just one colleague at the office, which acts as Taiwan’s diplomatic presence.
Continue reading...A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms from China to Colombia
Continue reading...What started as a reaction against an extradition bill in the summer of 2019 morphed into months of sometimes violent mass protests in an unprecedented challenge to Beijing’s authority
Continue reading...In One Thousand Dreams, award-winning photographer Robin Hammond hands the camera to refugees. Often reduced by the media’s toxic or well-meaning narratives, the portraits and interviews capture a different and more complex tale
Robin Hammond has spent two decades crisscrossing the developing world and telling other people’s stories. From photographing the Rohingya forced out of Myanmar and rape survivors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to documenting the lives of people in countries where their sexuality is illegal, his work has earned him award after award.
But for his latest project the photographer has embarked on a paradigm shift: to remove himself – and others like him – from the process entirely. Instead, as part of an in-depth exploration of the refugee experience in Europe, the stories of those featured are told by those who, arguably, know them best: other refugees.
Continue reading...Public outpouring of support for tabloid after raid on offices by national security police
Hongkongers queued at city news stands before dawn on Friday to buy the latest edition of the Apple Daily newspaper, a day after national security police arrested its editor-in-chief and four other directors.
On Thursday morning hundreds of officers from the Hong Kong police national security department raided the homes of the employees, including editor-in-chef Ryan Law, and the Apple Daily newsroom for the second time in less than a year. It froze millions of dollars in company assets.
Continue reading...Apple Daily hits back after executives arrested in second raid on pro-democracy paper’s newsroom
Apple Daily’s journalism has ruffled feathers since its establishment in 1995. A populist Hong Kong tabloid owned by Jimmy Lai, a pro-Trump media mogul and now jailed activist, the paper is fond of sensational crime stories, celebrity gossip, and investigations into government scandals and corruption. It’s a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy movement, a thorn in the side of police, and has become a symbol of resistance against Hong Kong’s crackdown.
Hong Kong’s police commissioner has accused it of creating hatred. Pro-Beijing media have called for it to be shut down. Lai has said the paper is on the right side of history.
Continue reading...Hong Kong's security chief, John Lee, accused the five Apple Daily directors arrested on Thursday of using 'journalistic work as a tool to endanger national security'.
Lee said the five were arrested on suspicion of collusion with foreign countries or external elements to invite sanctions or other hostile activities. In a significant escalation in the government’s moves to rein in the Hong Kong press, Apple Daily's newsroom and offices were searched and HK$18m (US $2.3m) in assets frozen
Ryan Law, the editor-in-chief of Apple Daily, has been arrested along with four other directors of the pro-democracy newspaper on suspicion of collusion with a foreign country or 'external elements' to endanger national security. The newspaper's owner, Jimmy Lai, is serving a jail sentence on charges relating to pro-democracy protests in 2019
Continue reading...Ryan Law among five directors detained under national security legislation imposed by Beijing
Hong Kong national security police have arrested the editor-in-chief and four other directors of the Apple Daily newspaper in early morning raids involving more than 100 officers, in the latest crackdown on the media.
The police force’s national security department said the five directors had been arrested on suspicion of collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security. All were arrested at their homes, at around 7am.
Continue reading...Two years ago photojournalist Laurel Chor covered mass protests against the extradition bill. She looks back at how the city has changed in their wake
I had never seen so many people before in my life. On 9 June 2019, hundreds of thousands of people dressed in white marched slowly but steadily across Hong Kong island.
The heat and humidity were almost unbearable, but protesters from all walks of life came prepared with neck towels, folding fans, and umbrellas to shield the sun. It’s never easy to capture the scale of a crowd, but the intense, palpable energy emanating from the masses of people who had united for common values isn’t something a photograph could ever convey.
Continue reading...Key figure in 2019 anti-government protests was imprisoned for more than six months under national security law imposed by mainland China
The Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow has been released from jail after serving more than six months for taking part in unauthorised assemblies during 2019 anti-government protests that triggered a crackdown on dissent by mainland China.
Chow, 24, was greeted by a crowd of journalists as she left the Tai Lam women’s prison on Saturday. She got out of a prison van and into a private car without making any remarks.
Continue reading...Observers worry rule change in Chinese city will restrict pro-democracy movement even further
Hong Kong’s censors have been given expanded powers to vet films for national security breaches in the latest blow to the Chinese city’s political and artistic freedoms.
In a statement on Friday, authorities said the film censorship ordinance had been expanded to include “any act or activity which may amount to an offence endangering national security”.
Continue reading...Officers mobilised to break up the once-traditional events to mark the brutal crackdown against dissent in China 32 years ago
Hong Kong police have arrested a prominent barrister for allegedly promoting an unauthorised assembly on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, as thousands of officers were deployed to enforce a ban on protests and gatherings across the city.
On Friday, Hong Kong barrister and activist Chow Hang Tung, vice-chairwoman of the group which organises annual vigils for the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, was arrested, two group members said.
Continue reading...For years, Hong Kong has been one of just two cities in China allowed to mark anniversaries of the deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989. This year, however, Hong Kong authorities banned the vigil for the second consecutive year, citing the coronavirus pandemic. Critics say the authorities are using the pandemic as an excuse to silence pro-democracy voices. Last year thousands of people gathered in Victoria Park despite the ban, and weeks later police arrested more than 20 activists who had taken part in the vigil. Organisers have urged people to mark the anniversary in private this year by lighting a candle at home
Continue reading...Media figure punished over pro-democracy rally as authorities again cite coronavirus restrictions to prohibit traditional Tiananmen vigil
Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to an extra 14 months in prison over his conviction for an unauthorised assembly in 2019, alongside fellow activists who were also jailed for up to 18 months.
The case came as a separate ruling suggested speaking critically in foreign media interviews could breach the national security laws, and just a week before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Authorities have banned a vigil for the second year in a row, citing pandemic concerns about crowding despite allowing other crowded events in recent days.
Continue reading...Observers say mistrust of government, disinformation and a lack of urgency mean vaccine take-up has been slow
Hong Kong could soon be throwing away millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses because not enough people are taking them before they expire, a health official has warned, saying it’s “not right” while other countries are scrambling for them.
The city of 7.5 million people has bought enough doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and China’s Sinovac, to vaccinate its entire population, but so far only 2.1 million have been administered since the vaccination programme launched in late February.
Continue reading...Foreign ministry responds to west’s human rights claims, saying countries should ‘face up to their own problems’
China has rejected accusations of human rights abuse and economic coercion, made by G7 foreign ministers, accusing them of “blatantly meddling” in China’s internal affairs, calling their remarks groundless.
“Attempts to disregard the basic norms of international relations and to create various excuses to interfere in China’s internal affairs, undermine China’s sovereignty and smear China’s image will never succeed,” said the foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin. “They should not criticise and interfere with other countries with a superior mentality, and undermine the current top priority of international anti-epidemic cooperation.”
Continue reading...Authorities accused of ‘blackmailing’ workers over plan to make vaccine a condition of getting a job
Hong Kong’s government has sparked discrimination concerns over plans to force hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or face losing their job.
Authorities have embarked on mass mandatory testing of the city’s 370,000 domestic workers after a more infectious strain was detected in the community, and flagged plans for compulsory vaccinations.
Continue reading...Bar association and activists decry Beijing-type immigration act with ‘exit ban’ powers
Hong Kong has passed a new immigration law that includes powers to stop people entering or leaving the city, raising fears of Chinese mainland-style “exit bans” in the international business hub.
The legislation sailed through a legislature now devoid of opposition, as Beijing has quashed dissent and sought to make the semi-autonomous city more like the authoritarian mainland after huge and often violent democracy protests.
Continue reading...Authorities lambast British-born Paul Harris for criticising treatment of pro-democracy campaigners
Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have accused the British-born head of Hong Kong’s bar association of being an “anti-China politician” after he criticised jail sentences imposed on pro-democracy activists.
Paul Harris, a human rights lawyer and the chair of the HKBA, had represented one of 10 people convicted this month for organising or attending unauthorised assemblies during the pro-democracy protests in 2019. The defendants were given a range of suspended sentences or immediate jail terms of up to 18 months.
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