Lee Meng-chu from Taiwan held on state security charges after going missing weeks ago
China has detained a Taiwanese man on state security charges after he reportedly distributed photos of Chinese troops massing equipment on the Hong Kong border.
Lee Meng-chu was being investigated after he “allegedly engaged in illegal activities that endanger state security”, said a spokesman for mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, without elaborating.
Continue reading...Beijing criticises German foreign minister over meeting with Joshua Wong
The Chinese government has expressed its anger with Germany’s foreign minister over his meeting with the Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, saying the encounter was “disrespectful” of Beijing’s sovereignty.
Wong tweeted a picture of himself and Heiko Maas following his arrival in Berlin, saying the two had discussed the “protest situation and our cause”.
Continue reading...Ambassador Liu Xiaoming says politicians free to express their opinion – within limits
China’s ambassador to the UK has accused British politicians of exhibiting a “colonial mindset” when they express support for demonstrators in Hong Kong or raise concerns about Huawei or freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Liu Xiaoming said British MPs were free to express their opinion about the Hong Kong crisis but needed to recognise there were limits. Critical comments were not a problem “as long as you do not interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs,” he said.
Continue reading...Riot police clashed with pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, in an area crowded with banks, jewellery shops and luxury shopping arcades, which became littered by graffiti, broken glass and bricks torn up from pathways. Protesters started street fires and vandalised the district's MTR station
Continue reading...Thousands of Hong Kong protesters sang the Star-Spangled Banner and called on Donald Trump to 'liberate' the territory in the latest in a series of demonstrations that have gripped the territory for months. Police stood by as protesters waved US flags and placards appealing for democracy after another night of violence in the 14th week of unrest
Continue reading...Security was tightened at Hong Kong's airport on Saturday in a bid to prevent protesters paralysing the travel hub. It came after violent clashes between police and protesters on Friday night. Riot police fired teargas and bean bag rounds at protesters outside Mong Kok metro station after they occupied roads and set fire to barricades
Continue reading...Riot police posted at main entrances and only travellers with passports and boarding passes admitted
Hong Kong authorities implemented tight security measures in and around the airport after protesters planned to paralyse the travel hub following a night of violence in which riot police fired tear gas and sponge rounds in a local district to disperse crowds.
The measures came as anti-government demonstrations aimed at drawing global attention to the semi-autonomous Chinese city’s political crisis entered the end of its 13th week.
Continue reading...Teargas canisters made in the UK have previously been used on protesters in the territory
Hong Kong is no longer sending a delegation to next week’s DSEI arms fair in London, a month after it emerged that the UK government had invited representatives from the territory to visit.
The decision to pull out was confirmed in a parliamentary answer by Graham Stuart, a junior international trade minister, in response to a question from a Labour MP following a report in the Guardian last month.
Continue reading...Competition to name Meng Meng’s twins intensifies pressure on German government
They may have captured the public’s imagination, but the tiny, pink panda cubs born at Berlin zoo a few days ago have also spurred a national debate about whether panda diplomacy is blinding Germany to the Chinese government’s human rights record.
As visitors and journalists queue around the block to catch a glimpse of Meng Meng’s cubs, a competition to name them has increased pressure on the government of Angela Merkel, who kicked off a trip to Beijing with a large economic delegation on Thursday.
Continue reading...Leader refuses to resign and backs police handling of protests despite widespread claims of brutality
Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, has vowed to use “stern law enforcement” to stamp out violent protests, a day after she made a dramatic announcement to formally withdraw an extradition bill that has ignited months of protests.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Lam said the purpose of her decision to formally withdraw the suspended bill was to “zhibao zhiluan” (“put a stop to violence and chaos”) – a phrase often used by mainland Chinese officials when condemning the protests in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...The incendiary extradition bill has been binned but protesters’ demands have grown
The decision by the Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, to withdraw the extradition bill that provoked months of turmoil represents a major and unexpected concession from Beijing, but is almost certainly too little, and too late, to end the protests.
In June when millions first poured into the streets in peaceful protest, a promise to ditch the law might well have muted the burgeoning popular uprising. But Lam is only acting after months of police brutality, thug attacks on protesters, mass arrests, and barely veiled threats of security intervention from mainland China.
Continue reading...Demonstrators say it’s too little, too late, as call for inquiry into police force rejected
The decision by Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, to withdraw the controversial extradition bill that has plunged the Chinese territory into its worst political crisis in years seems unlikely to end the months-long protests in the semi-autonomous city – with police violence remaining a key concern for demonstrators.
Many ordinary Hong Kong residents, as well as protesters, have lambasted the move as too little, too late, and vowed to continue demonstrating. Late on Wednesday, dozens shouted slogans and set up makeshift barricades outside a police station in the Mong Kok district in the first protest after Lam’s announcement.
Continue reading...Chief executive did not concede to other demands including an inquiry into police violence
Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said her government will formally withdraw an extradition bill that has ignited months of protests and plunged the territory into its biggest political crisis in decades.
In a five-minute televised address on Wednesday, Lam said her government would formally withdraw the controversial bill to “fully allay public concerns”.
Continue reading...Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam formally withdrew an extradition bill on Wednesday that has sparked months of violent protests and plunged the territory into its biggest political crisis in decades. In a pre-recorded statement, Lam made four proposals to 'initiate a dialogue' between the government and Hong Kong residents
Continue reading...Leader says she wants to remain in job, but doesn’t deny authenticity of leaked audio recording saying otherwise as arrests continue
Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam has said that she has never offered to step down, a day after an audio recording emerged of her saying she would quit if she had “a choice”.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Lam did not deny veracity of the audio, but told reporters: “I have never tendered resignation to the central people’s government. I have not even contemplated tendering resignation ... The choice of not resigning is my own choice.” She added: “The reason being I believe I can lead my team to come out of this impasse.”
Continue reading...The embattled Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, said she has caused ‘unforgivable havoc’ by igniting the political crisis engulfing the city and would quit if she had a choice, according to a leaked audio recording of remarks she made last week to a group of businesspeople.
Lam admitted she now has ‘very limited’ options to resolve the crisis because the unrest has become a national security and sovereignty issue for China amid rising tensions with the United States.
Continue reading...University and secondary school students attend pro-democracy rallies in central Hong Kong on Monday as part of a wider anti-government movement that has plunged the region into its biggest political crisis in decades. The boycott follows a weekend marked by some of the worst violence since unrest escalated more than three months ago, with protesters burning barricades and throwing petrol bombs, and police retaliating with water cannon, teargas and batons
Continue reading...School and university students call for democracy after weekend of violent clashes
Thousands of students in Hong Kong have boycotted the first day of the new term in a fresh wave of protests, after a tense weekend of violent clashes between police and demonstrators.
On Monday, university and secondary students marked the end of their summer break by skipping classes and holding rallies to call on the government to withdraw a controversial extradition bill, among other demands.
Continue reading...In a continuation of the waves of demonstrations and sometimes violent clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong since 9 June, protesters have blocked the freeway leading to the city’s airport, and the operator of the express train to the airport suspended service. Others protested outside the British consulate, calling on London to grant citizenship to people born in the former colony before its return to China. Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam apologised for introducing a controversial extradition bill, declaring it ‘dead’, but protesters have continued to draw large crowds demanding her resignation and the withdrawal of the bill
Continue reading...Fears of Tiananmen-style crackdown as regional officials’ tactics only serve to fuel unrest
How far will China go to end Hong Kong’s unrest, now in its 13th week and still growing? Senior officials have spoken not only of “terrorist acts” but of “colour revolution characteristics”, making it clear that they have ruled out compromise.
So far they have relied on the Hong Kong government to suppress the protests, but the banning of rallies, brutal police tactics, thug attacks, the arrests of high-profile activists and metro line closures have failed to dampen the unrest. On Sunday, thousands of activists descended on the airport.
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