Category Archives: Hong Kong

Big tech firms may be handing Hong Kong user data to China

Posted on by

Allegation follows new law that lets Hong Kong ask for sensitive data if deemed to threaten national security

Big technology companies may already be complying with secret Chinese requests for user information held in Hong Kong and ought to “come clean” about the vulnerability of the data they hold there, a senior US state department official has said.

The allegation of possible secret cooperation between major companies and Hong Kong authorities follows the implementation of a sweeping and controversial new national security law that allows Hong Kong authorities to demand sensitive user data from companies if it is deemed to threaten national security.

Continue reading...

The new centre of dissent: Britain becomes hub for Hong Kong activists

Posted on by

Longstanding cultural ties and a newly welcoming government have led to prominent exiles choosing London as their base

The UK has become an international hub for Hong Kong dissidents as China’s harsh new security law leads to an exodus of pro-democracy politicians, campaigners and protesters, who now face jail terms for their activism.

Longstanding cultural ties, a newly welcoming government and Covid-era travel restrictions that have in effect closed off other potential destinations, such as Canada and Australia, have boosted the number of new arrivals to Britain.

Continue reading...

Demoralised but defiant, Hong Kong’s spirit of resistance endures

Posted on by

Security law has largely stamped out anti-government protests, but the opposition is finding new ways to fight

Tony Chung spends his days in fear and solitude. For the 19-year-old activist, who became the first political figure to be arrested under Hong Kong’s national security law, the spectre of prison looms large.

Chung was arrested in late July with three other former members of the pro-independence group Studentlocalism – which he founded at the age of 15 – on suspicion of inciting secession under the law.

Continue reading...

‘We swam to Hong Kong for freedom half a century ago. What now?’ – video

Posted on by

Hon Man Po is a freedom swimmer who fled China for Hong Kong. He arrived in 1968 after years of trying. 

Two years prior he swam for five hours in the dark from the mainland to Macau, where he made enough money to take an illegal boat journey to Hong Kong. He was one of hundreds of thousands who followed that route between 1950 and 1980. 

More than 50 years ago, Hon risked his life in search of liberty, but now – with the implementation of a new national security law by China – he sees that same fear he was escaping invading his life again

Continue reading...

‘Back where we were’: history repeats for Hong Kong’s freedom swimmers

Posted on by

They risked their lives in search of liberty in the British colony - now the system they were desperate to escape is at the door

They came one by one, dragging themselves from the sea on to the shores of Hong Kong over oyster beds, their bodies bleeding. Some had swum for miles, braving choppy, treacherous seas, tied together by ropes. Others made the desperate journey in makeshift boats.

They were known as freedom swimmers – hundreds of thousands of young men and women who fled mainland China and risked their lives in search of freedom in the British colony amid the oppressive political movements in China between 1950 and 1980, which targeted “class enemies”.

Continue reading...

Who runs Hong Kong: party faithful shipped in to carry out Beijing’s will

Posted on by

Hardliners and allies of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, are remaking the semi-autonomous territory

A senior communist party operative whose only previous experience in Hong Kong is a business trip two years ago; a former Guangdong mayor who oversaw the mass arrests of villagers protesting against land seizures; a former provincial party secretary best known for tearing down hundreds of churches and crosses in eastern China.

These are China’s top officials charged with Hong Kong affairs, hardliners and allies of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, who are remaking the semi-autonomous territory into a city that is directly under Beijing’s control in all but name.

Continue reading...

Trump cuts aid for pro-democracy groups in Belarus, Hong Kong and Iran

Posted on by

Open Technology Fund, which helped activists evade state surveillance and sidestep web censorship, sees $20m grant pulled

The Trump administration has stopped vital technical assistance to pro-democracy groups in Belarus, Hong Kong and Iran, which had helped activists evade state surveillance and sidestep internet censorship.

Related: Trump memo on Comey firing was 'tinfoil helmet material', Mueller prosecutor says

Continue reading...

Hong Kong police tighten control on media with new accreditation rules

Posted on by

Experts say new policy enables government to decide who is a journalist and curbs power of student and online journalism

Hong Kong authorities have moved to further constrain the city’s free press with an announcement by police that they would no longer recognise certain types of media accreditation.

Critics accused the police force of infringing the constitutionally enshrined free press, by attempting to create a government licensing system and reduce independent monitoring of their activities.

Continue reading...

Dolphin numbers up in Hong Kong after Covid crisis halts ferries

Posted on by

Revival prompts calls to divert boats to help protect native Indo-Pacific humpbacks

Large numbers of dolphins returned to Hong Kong waters within weeks of the Covid-19 crisis shutting down high-speed ferries, and researchers are now calling for protections before the ferries resume.

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, also known as Chinese white dolphins and pink dolphins, are native to the Pearl River estuary, but typically avoided the waters between Hong Kong and Macau because of the high volume of high-speed boats.

Continue reading...

US and UK warn travellers of risk of arbitrary arrest in China and Hong Kong

Posted on by

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...

Bottled water flotation makes founder China’s third-richest man

Posted on by

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 problem with Mulan: why the live-action remake is a lightning rod for controversy

Posted on by

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...

Hong Kong shocked by violent police arrest of 12-year-old girl

Posted on by

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...

Hong Kong police violently arrest 12-year-old girl – video

Posted on by

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...

Almost 300 arrests as Hong Kong protesters oppose election delay

Posted on by

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...

‘Chairman Xi’ seeks only to purge and subjugate. That is his weakness | Simon Tisdall

Posted on by

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...

European tour tests Chinese foreign minister’s pulling power

Posted on by

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...

Coronavirus has fuelled authoritarian trends around the world, Australia’s Dfat warns

Posted on by

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...

Twelve arrested at sea while trying to flee to Taiwan from Hong Kong

Posted on by

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...