UK updates travel advice and US urges citizens to ‘reconsider travel’ to Hong Kong
The US and the UK have warned of a risk of arbitrary arrest in China and Hong Kong in updates to their travel advice for citizens.
The US advice urged citizens to “reconsider travel” to Hong Kong, citing an environment in which the central Chinese government “unilaterally and arbitrarily exercises police and security power” in the semi-autonomous city.
Continue reading...Zhong Shanshan’s net worth rises to $51bn as Nongfu Spring shares launch in Hong Kong
The stock market flotation of China’s biggest bottle water company has made its founder the country’s third-richest man, as shares in his company rocketed on their debut in Hong Kong.
At one point the paper fortune of Zhong Shanshan, the biggest shareholder in bottled water company Nongfu Spring, briefly surpassed that of China’s two richest men, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Tencent founder Pony Ma.
Continue reading...The remake of Disney’s hit animation has triggered pro-democracy and human rights protests in Hong Kong and around the world
It’s an understatement to say that a lot has happened since the trailer for Disney’s live-action Mulan was released last year, shortly after Hong Kong’s draconian national security law was passed without consultation or vote in June. The ongoing assault on democracy in Hong Kong has dominated international headlines, with the arrests of pro-democracy activists, newspaper editors and government legislators. With its original cinema release put on hold due to the coronavirus epidemic, Mulan is now emerging to a vastly different political landscape.
On the face of it, the new Mulan is a missed opportunity for Hollywood to explore Chinese history and identity, a confused and superficial statement about Chinese nationalism. A hodgepodge of Chinese historical mise-en-scène, wuxia-style choreography, cheap orientalism and stilted dialogue, it’s also become a lightning rod for pro-democracy and human rights protests around the world.
Continue reading...Child’s mother says her daughter was buying art supplies when she was tackled and pinned to the ground by police
Hong Kong police have been strongly criticised over the rough arrest of a 12-year-old girl whose family says was caught in a protest crowd while out buying art supplies.
Video widely shared across social media and in Hong Kong media showed the officers seeking to corral a group of people including the young girl, who ducked aside and tried to run away. An officer tackled her to the ground, while several others helped to pin her down.
Continue reading...Hongkongers have been left shocked by the rough police arrest of a 12-year-old girl whose family says was corraled into a protest crowd while out buying art supplies.
It came amid the largest street protest seen in Hong Kong since 1 July, the first full day under the national security laws imposed by Beijing on the city, outlawing acts of sedition, secession, foreign collusion and terrorism
Continue reading...Police fire pepper pellets in one of largest gatherings since national security law imposed
On what was supposed to have been Hong Kong’s election day, hundreds of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets on Sunday, where they encountered a heavy presence from police, who fired pepper pellets and arrested almost 300 people.
It was one of the largest gatherings of protesters since China’s implementation of a sweeping set of anti-sedition laws that a coalition of United Nations expert groups has said risks breaching multiple international laws and human rights.
Continue reading...From Tibet to Taiwan, China’s leader is intent on wielding absolute power. Instead he is fanning the flames of dissent
It’s often said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely – but does it also induce leaders to act in foolhardy, headstrong and ultimately self-destructive ways? History, especially Chinese history, is full of examples of omnipotent rulers whose unchecked behaviour led to disaster. Xi Jinping, China’s comrade-emperor, is a modern-day case in point. Xi seems to think he can do no wrong. As a result, not much is going right.
Xi’s authoritarian, expansionist policies, pursued with increasing vehemence since he became communist party chief and president in 2012-13, have enveloped China in a ring of fire. Its borderlands are ablaze with conflict and confrontation from Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet and the Himalayas in the north and west to Hong Kong, the South China Sea and Taiwan to the east. More than at any time since Mao’s 1949 revolution, China is also at odds with the wider world.
Continue reading...The reassessment of China highlighted by Wang Yi’s trip has political, economic and security implications
The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi did not exactly end his week-long European tour with his tail between his legs but he may have been chastened if he ever believed Beijing could simply win over Europe by pointing to the extremist cold war rhetoric of Europe’s natural ally America.
The five-nation tour surely marked the end of an era where China can any longer get away with simple homilies on win-win solutions, multilateralism and non-interference in another’s internal affairs. Pointing to Donald Trump is also no longer enough to win European friends.
Continue reading...Officials acknowledge ‘clear differences’ exist in Australia’s relationship with China as they prepare to spell out how Covid-19 is reshaping the global order
Covid-19 has fuelled protectionist and authoritarian trends around the world as some countries take advantage of the pandemic to erode the rule of law, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warns.
As officials prepare to face a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, Dfat has also acknowledged “clear differences” exist in the relationship with China, while insisting Australia seeks a constructive partnership “that is not defined by those differences”.
Continue reading...Chinese coastguard stopped a speedboat on Sunday suspected of an illegal border crossing
More than 10 Hong Kong residents, including an activist charged under the city’s punitive national security law, have been detained by China’s coastguard while trying to flee to Taiwan, according to reports.
China’s coastguard released a statement on Weibo saying that on Sunday at 9am, authorities in Guangdong tracked down a speedboat suspected of an illegal border crossing. The notice, posted on Wednesday evening, said more than 10 people had been arrested including two suspects surnamed Li and Tang.
Continue reading...Irish journalist Aaron McNicholas’s visa was rejected in what’s believed to the first such case at a local title
After months of reassurance that Beijing’s national security law would not affect Hong Kong’s free press, the government has denied a visa to local media outlet, the Hong Kong Free Press.
The English-language outlet had sought to employ a new editor, Aaron Mc Nicholas, an Irish journalist already based in Hong Kong. However the immigration department rejected an application to transfer his work visa after an almost six-month wait, without giving an official reason.
Continue reading...Ted Hui and Lam Cheuk-ting held over incident in July 2019 when white-clad thugs attacked activists at train station
Hong Kong police have arrested pro-democracy lawmakers over involvement in protests in 2019, including one who was injured when a large group of thugs attacked protesters and civilians at the Yuen Long transport station.
The arrests come amid a crackdown on dissent and freedom of expression.
Continue reading...Hong Kong case leads scientists to doubt development of antibodies in previous patients, but other experts say it is no cause for alarm
A young man has been diagnosed with coronavirus more than four months after he recovered from a first episode of the disease, suggesting that immunity to the virus can be short-lived and raising more questions about vaccines against Covid-19.
The case in Hong Kong is the first lab-confirmed reinfection. Genetic sequencing by scientists at the University of Hong Kong established that the second episode, in an otherwise healthy young man, was caused by a slightly different strain. Researchers had hoped that the man’s immune system would still have recognised and fought off the virus at the second encounter.
Continue reading...References to ‘separation of power’ removed in some books, as well as illustrations of protesters holding placards
Hong Kong publishers have been told to remove references to the separation of powers and protest slogans from school textbooks, in a move decried as censorship by the authorities.
Six publishers voluntarily submitted eight textbooks to the education regulator for vetting and were asked to make revisions, reports in Hong Kong and mainland media said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Publisher Jimmy Lai’s arrest shocked Hongkongers, but since the anti-sedition law they’ve entered uncharted waters
On Monday, 10 August, Hong Kong woke up to the startling news of the arrest of Jimmy Lai, the 71-year-old publisher of Apple Daily, the only pro-democracy high-circulation newspaper in the territory. As the day progressed, more arrests linked to Lai and his businesses were carried out (including that of his two sons), and hundreds of police officers entered the paper’s headquarters. Much as Hong Kong has had to get used to shocking news, such an open move against a major media outlet was unexpected, as was the arrest of pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, 23, also escorted from her home handcuffed by police. It all seems to be too much and too fast, but ever since the national security law against secession, sedition and terrorism was imposed on Hong Kong by the central government in Beijing on 30 June, the city has entered uncharted waters.
And while Hong Kong has been relatively spared from the worst disasters of the pandemic, for months now there have been serious limitations on how much people can gather – to discuss what is happening or protest against it. The draconian law has been imposed from above, hastily approved and supported by the local government without any space for public debate.
Continue reading...Apple Daily founder and pro democracy activist says his case will likely be a ‘litmus test’ of Hong Kong’s legal system
Wary but defiant, Jimmy Lai is determined to keep fighting for a democratic Hong Kong, even as he acknowledges that China’s goal is to take full control of the region.
Speaking to the Guardian five days after his arrest on foreign collusion allegations – he is currently out on bail - media tycoon Lai argues the press must keep going. But he also believes that Monday’s round up was a warning from Beijing.
Continue reading...Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has told the Guardian he believes that how authorities handle his case will likely be a 'litmus test' for the future. The 71-year-old this week became the highest-profile pro-democracy figure so far to have been arrested under Beijing’s national security law, which makes even the mildest forms of activism a crime against China.
Lai was taken into custody for more than 40 hours for on suspicion of committing foreign collusion crimes, and conspiracy to defraud. Speaking after being released on bail, he said that 'without fighting, we don’t have hope [of democracy in Hong Kong]. We don’t know when we’ll win, but we’re so sure we’re on the right side of history, and time is on our side'
Continue reading...Pro-democracy activist says he did not expect to be arrested so soon given the global outcry, and that it suggested chaos in the ranks
Jimmy Lai has said he was surprised to be arrested so quickly, and suggested there was “great disorder” among Chinese and Hong Kong authorities about how to handle the territory’s national security law.
The 71-year-old media tycoon and prominent pro-democracy figure was arrested on Monday, on suspicion of committing foreign collusion crimes in breach of Beijing’s national security law, and conspiracy to defraud.
Continue reading...The Hong Kong pro-democracy figure and media mogul Jimmy Lai has received a hero’s welcome on return to his newspaper after his arrest on allegations of foreign collusion. Chinese state media labelled him a 'genuine traitor'. Lai, his sons, senior executives from his Next Digital media company and others including the activist Agnes Chow were detained under Beijing’s national security law on Monday. Hundreds of police officers raided the offices and newsroom of Apple Daily, the tabloid Lai founded, in a move decried as an assault on press freedom. Most of the 10 arrested were released on bail
Continue reading...Apple Daily founder and pro-democracy activist returns to office following arrest under national security law
The Hong Kong pro-democracy figure and media mogul Jimmy Lai received a hero’s welcome as he returned to his newspaper after being arrested on allegations of foreign collusion, while Chinese state media labelled him a “genuine traitor”.
Lai, his sons, senior executives from his Next Digital media company and others including the activist Agnes Chow were detained under Beijing’s national security law on Monday. Hundreds of police officers also raided the offices and newsroom of Apple Daily, the popular tabloid Lai founded, in a move decried as an assault on press freedom.
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