Category Archives: Hong Kong

UK should give British nationality to Hong Kong citizens, Tugendhat says

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Move would be to reassure Hong Kong’s people rather than facing down Chinese threats, he says

The UK should give Hong Kong citizens full UK nationality as a means of reassurance amid the current standoff with Beijing, the chair of the influential Commons foreign affairs committee has argued.

Tom Tugendhat said this should have happened to people in the formerly British-ruled territory in 1997, when it was handed back to Chinese control, and that doing so now would reassure Hong Kong’s people that they were supported by the UK.

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Hong Kong protests: airport suspends flights for second day

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Hundreds of demonstrators stage new rally a day after shutdown at key transport hub

Hong Kong’s airport authority has suspended flights for a second day as thousands of protesters staged another rally at the busy international travel hub.

Tuesday’s action marked the fifth consecutive day of protests at the airport, as pro-democracy demonstrations in the Chinese territory entered their 10th week, with both sides showing few signs of backing down.

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China releases video showing troop carriers moving to Hong Kong border – video

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State media outlets videos with a rousing choral soundtrack show armoured troop carriers purportedly driving to Shenzhen, the south-eastern state that borders Hong Kong. Chinese officials have released a series of threatening statements about Hong Kong's protesters, with one claiming 'terrorism' was emerging in the city on Monday after flights were cancelled

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China’s conduct in Hong Kong comes under cautious scrutiny on Q&A

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Panellists debate whether Australia ‘turning a blind eye’ to China’s rising power

As demonstrators shut down Hong Kong’s airport on Monday in protest against police brutality, Chinese official said “terrorism” was emerging in the city.

Meanwhile, on the ABC’s Q&A program, the “people’s panellist” guest suggested he shared China’s view, prompting one of the more cautious political discussions ever held on the show.

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Closure of Hong Kong airport shines fresh light on protest movement

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Disruption on Monday stopped flights to UK, US and Australia and will be felt worldwide

The closure of Hong Kong international airport has shone a fresh global spotlight on the city’s protest movement.

The airport was forced to cancel all remaining passenger flights on Monday – more than 100 – after thousands of demonstrators flooded into the main terminal during the afternoon. The disruption will be felt worldwide, with cancellations including long-haul departures to the US, Australia and the UK.

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Violence in Hong Kong intensifies as protests enter 10th week – video report

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Pro-democracy street protests in Hong Kong stretched into their 10th week with no sign of either side backing down. Clashes with police were particularly serious on Sunday night compared with previous days, as riot officers fired teargas into a railway station to disperse crowds and were captured on film beating protesters with batons as they fled down an escalator in another station. Rights groups and democracy activists have accused police in Hong Kong of using excessive force 

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Police fire teargas into Hong Kong subway station – video

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Rights groups and democracy activists have accused police in Hong Kong of using excessive force after teargas was fired into an enclosed subway station on Sunday night in Kwai Fong during an intense weekend of clashes. It is unclear how many protesters were in the station but it is rare for officers to fire teargas indoors. Pro-democracy street protests in Hong Kong entered their 10th week on Monday with no sign of either side backing down

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Hong Kong hit by more violence as protests enter 10th week

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Police fire teargas and beat demonstrators during fierce clashes across city

Hong Kong has once more descended into violence, with police firing teargas at protesters across the city as mass demonstrations calling for democracy entered their 10th consecutive week.

Clashes with police were particularly intense on Sunday night compared with previous days, as riot police fired teargas into a railway station to disperse crowds and were captured on film beating protesters with batons as they fled down an escalator in another station.

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Versace apologises after tops imply Hong Kong and Macau are countries

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One of China’s best-known actors, Yang Mi, ends contract over controversy

The luxury fashion label Versace and its artistic director, Donatella Versace, apologised to China on Sunday after one of its T-shirts was criticised for identifying the semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau as countries.

Versace said on its Weibo account that it had made a mistake and had stopped selling and destroyed the T-shirts on 24 July.

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Beijing’s new weapon to muffle Hong Kong protests: fake news

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China’s media used to ignore the turmoil. Now the state is waging a campaign that could pave the way for intervention

As Hong Kong enters its third month of mass anti-government protests, across the border in China, people are seeing a very different version of events.

On Saturday, as protests entered their tenth weekend and demonstrators and police clashed in Hong Kong, the People’s Daily posted an article on the Chinese WeChat webchat service saying members from “all parts of Hong Kong society” were calling for the “violence to stop”. As peaceful rallies at the Hong Kong airport continued over the weekend, Chinese state media posted videos on Weibo of a tussle between demonstrators and an angry resident yelling: “We just want Hong Kong to be safe”.

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British government’s Hong Kong intervention riles China

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Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, underlines ‘one country, two systems’ in call to Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong chief executive

China has lashed out at the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, after he spoke to Hong Kong’s leader about protests that have morphed from a campaign against a controversial extradition bill into rolling street demonstrations demanding electoral reforms.

Raab spoke to Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, and stressed the need for “meaningful political dialogue and a fully independent investigation into recent events as a way to build trust” in the territory, the UK Foreign Office said.

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‘P is for protest’: Hong Kong families take to the streets in pro-democracy rally

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Event billed as rally to ‘guard our children’s future’ given permit by authorities, unlike others planned for weekend

Armed with balloons and strollers, several hundred families took to the streets in Hong Kong on Saturday to show support for pro-democracy protests that are now in their third month.

The colourful and calm atmosphere at the rally was a far cry from the increasingly violent confrontations that have marked recent demonstrations by activists calling for greater freedoms in the city.

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Hong Kong protests: Carrie Lam says priority is to stop violence

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City’s leader rules out political concessions as demonstrations continue with sit-in at airport

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has said her priority is to “stop the violence” rather than make political concessions, as the city’s two-month-long protest movement pressed on with a demonstration at the airport.

Lam said traffic disruptions and confrontations between police and protesters had hurt the economy, particularly the retail and food and beverage sectors. The demonstrations, however, are not abating and more are planned for this weekend, including at the airport, where protesters holding signs staged a sit-in at the arrival and departure halls on Friday.

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US calls China ‘thuggish regime’ for targeting American diplomat who met Hong Kong protesters

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Anger at release of diplomat’s personal information as Hong Kong police bring back police chief who handled 2014 Occupy protests

A US official has described China as a “thuggish regime” for disclosing personal details about a US diplomat who met student leaders involved in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

The denunciation came as the US became the latest country to issue a travel alert to the territory on Thursday, and Hong Kong’s police force brought out of retirement a senior officer who led the police response to the 2014 Occupy movement.

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Hongkongers stage ‘laser show’ to protest against arrests – video

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Protesters in Hong Kong gathered to support the use of laser pointers in demonstrations after a university student leader was arrested for buying and carrying laser pointers. Police had sought to justify the arrest of Keith Fong, head of the Baptist University student union, by showing how one of the lasers could burn through newspaper. Fong was arrested on suspicion of carrying offensive weapons

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Hong Kong protests: Australia issues travel alert as China warns of worst crisis since 1997

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Australia tells tourists there is a risk of violence between protesters and police or ‘criminally linked individuals’

Australians travelling to Hong Kong have been warned to exercise a “high degree of caution” as China said Hong Kong was facing its worst crisis since the former British colony was handed back in 1997.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said: “There is a risk of violent confrontation between protesters and police, or criminally linked individuals, particularly at unauthorised protests.” Ireland, the UK, and Japan have all issued Hong Kong travel warnings since July.

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