Hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers flocked to a downtown park for a rally after two months of increasingly violent clashes that have prompted severe warnings from Beijing and failed to win concessions from the city’s government. Torrential rain came down an hour into the rally, turning the park into a sea of colourful umbrellas. Many began walking on the streets, despite the police ban on a march, as the park became overcrowded
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Hong Kong: 1.7m people defy police to march in pouring rain
An estimated quarter of the population fill downtown park and surrounding streets
An estimated 1.7 million people in Hong Kong – a quarter of the population – defied police orders to stage a peaceful march after a rally in a downtown park, after two months of increasingly violent clashes that have prompted severe warnings from Beijing and failed to win concessions from the city’s government.
Huge crowds filled Victoria Park on Sunday afternoon and spilled on to nearby streets, forcing police to block traffic in the area. Torrential rain came down an hour into the rally, turning the park into a sea of umbrellas. At the same time, protesters walked towards Central, the heart of Hong Kong’s business district, and surrounded government headquarters.
Continue reading...The nuclear arms race is back … and ever more dangerous now
Donald Trump has increased spending on America’s arsenal while ripping up cold war treaties. Russia and China are following suit
Imagine the uproar if the entire populations of York, Portsmouth or Swindon were suddenly exposed to three times the permissible level of penetrating gamma radiation, or what the nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford termed gamma rays. The outpouring of rage and fear would be heard across the world.
That’s what happened to the roughly 200,000 people who live in the similarly sized northern Russian city of Severodvinsk on 8 August, after an explosion at a nearby top-secret missile testing range. Russia’s weather service, Rosgidromet, recorded radiation levels up to 16 times higher than the usual ambient rate.
Continue reading...Stand-off in Hong Kong: ‘Get out of the airport,’ they said. ‘Something’s going to happen’
The comedian describes how he was caught up in ‘extraordinary’ scenes at Hong Kong airport as protesters’ anger boiled over
When I first landed in Hong Kong for a family holiday a few nights before the clashes with police, we were greeted in the arrivals hall by a large and vocal crowd of protesters, chanting and handing out leaflets.
When we returned to the airport to depart a few days later, there was a marked change. The protesters had swelled from a few hundred to several thousand and there was now a very tense atmosphere. In front of the abandoned check-in desks, a crowd had gathered around a man who was allegedly a police officer posing as a protester. He was, by all accounts, being roughed up and had been cable-tied to a luggage trolley.
Continue reading...Pro-Hong Kong rally in Melbourne turns violent amid clashes with China supporters
Victoria police say they will not tolerate ‘those who break the law or engage in antisocial or violent behaviour’
Two men have been interviewed by police after a clash between pro-Hong Kong and pro-China demonstrators at a rally in Melbourne’s CBD turned violent.
Hundreds gathered outside the State Library on Swanston Street from about 7pm on Friday for a planned rally in solidarity with protesters in Hong Kong. It turned violent when a group of pro-China protesters arrived. The event was estimated to have attracted 600 people at its peak.
Continue reading...Disney’s Mulan star sparks call for boycott with Hong Kong stance
Crystal Liu, the lead in Disney’s live-action remake, voiced support for police in the city
Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan is facing calls for a boycott after its star voiced support for police in Hong Kong.
Crystal Liu, also known as Liu Yifei, reportedly posted a message on the Chinese social media site Weibo, which translated as: “I also support Hong Kong police. You can beat me up now.” In English, the post added: “What a shame for Hong Kong.”
Continue reading...Markets jittery as trade war and recession worries spook investors -as it happened
Beijing has alarmed investors by threatening counter-measures against the US, threatening to escalate the trade war
- Latest: Beijing says US has violated trade agreement
- FTSE 100 hits five-month low
Earlier:
- US yield curve inverts for second-day running
- 10-year US bonds offer lower return than 2-year - a worrying sign
- Stocks have fallen across Asia today
- Last night, Wall Street tumbled by 3%
Update: Britain’s FTSE 100 has hit a new six-month closing low.
The blue-chip index just closed 80 points lower at 7,067, a drop of 1.1%.
Time for a quick recap
Financial markets remain volatile today, as fears of an economic downturn hit stock prices and drive bond prices to new record highs.
Related: Online shoppers and Amazon Prime Day lift UK retail sales
If President Xi would meet directly and personally with the protesters, there would be a happy and enlightened ending to the Hong Kong problem. I have no doubt! https://t.co/eFxMjgsG1K
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: envoy says China has ‘power to quell unrest’
China’s ambassador to UK also accuses British politicians of ‘colonial mindset’
China has issued its most pointed threat yet to pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, warning that it has “enough solutions and enough power to swiftly quell unrest” should it deem the situation “uncontrollable”.
Speaking to international media in London on Thursday, China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, also accused some British politicians of harbouring a “colonial mindset” in their interventions.
Continue reading...China’s ambassador to UK says Beijing ‘will not sit on its hands’ over Hong Kong protests – video
Liu Xiaoming issues stark warning to protesters in Hong Kong, saying Beijing is prepared to 'quell any unrest swiftly' if demonstrations continue. 'Their moves are severe and violent offences, and already show signs of terrorism,' Liu said
Continue reading...Shanghai’s ostracised skateboarders – in pictures
Skateboarding will debut in the Tokyo Olympics next year. Despite this, those who are part of a growing scene in Shanghai, China, complain of being labelled troublemakers
Continue reading...Satellite photos show Chinese armoured vehicles on border of Hong Kong
Paramilitary police personnel carriers appear to be parked in Shenzhen sports stadium
Satellite photos show what appear to be armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles belonging to the China’s paramilitary People’s Armed police parked in a sports stadium in the city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, which some have interpreted as Beijing threatening increased force against pro-democracy protesters.
The pictures collected on Monday by Maxar’s WorldView show more than 100 vehicles sitting on and around the soccer stadium at the Shenzhen Bay sports centre just across the harbour from the Asian financial hub that has been rocked by more than two months of near-daily street demonstrations.
Continue reading...Hong Kong: flights resume at airport as China condemns ‘near-terrorist acts’
Beijing steps up war of words and airport obtains injunction against protesters to prevent further disruption of flights
Flights have resumed in and out of Hong Kong airport after two days of protests by pro-democracy activists as Chinese officials condemned the disruption that paralysed the international hub as “near-terrorist acts”.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Tuesday after demonstrators blockaded two terminals in the latest escalation of a 10-week political crisis that has gripped the city.
Continue reading...Uighur man held after leaking letters from Xinjiang camp inmates, says family
Abdurahman Memet believed notes from his parents and brother were proof they had been imprisoned in Chinese ‘re-education’ centres
A Uighur man who leaked letters from inmates at China’s secretive internment camps in Xinjiang has been detained, according to activists and relatives.
Abdurahman Memet, 30, a tour guide in Turpan, last year received letters from his parents and brother, written from inside detention centres in the far western region where as many as 1.5 million Muslims are believed to be detained in political “re-education” and other camps.
Continue reading...Hong Kong: airport protests descend into violence – video report
Mass protests at Hong Kong's international airport descended into chaos as riot police used pepper spray and batons in an attempt to disperse the thousands of demonstrators who had grounded flights for a second consecutive day.
Continue reading...China flaunts military muscle as it seeks to quell Hong Kong’s ‘colour revolution’
Beijing’s rhetoric escalating alongside video of troop carriers at border, yet experts say deployment a last resort
The messages from Beijing to protesters in Hong Kong are increasingly ominous. First there was propaganda footage of Chinese soldiers garrisoned in Hong Kong drilling for intense urban fighting that looked more like a civil war than search and rescue or crowd control.
Now footage has emerged of armoured paramilitary vehicles massing across the border. Two months into demonstrations sparked by a controversial extradition law, official rhetoric from Beijing has escalated too. Authorities recently denounced protests as “terrorist acts”, promised an “iron fist” response and, perhaps most alarmingly, described the movement as a “colour revolution”.
Continue reading...UK should give British nationality to Hong Kong citizens, Tugendhat says
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.
Continue reading...Hong Kong protesters stage new rally at airport – video
Hundreds stage a new rally at Hong Kong's airport, a day after a huge demonstration there triggered a shutdown
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: airport suspends flights for second day
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.
Continue reading...China releases video showing troop carriers moving to Hong Kong border – video
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
Continue reading...China’s conduct in Hong Kong comes under cautious scrutiny on Q&A
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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