Pro-democracy publishing house in Thailand targeted for shutdown by Chinese buyer

A pro-democracy publishing house in Thailand was approached by a Chinese businessman who wanted to pay it to shut down to boost his relationship with Beijing in the wake of the ruling Chinese Communist Party congress, its editors said in a statement.

A private investigation agency contacted Sam Yan Press in May with an offer of two million baht from a Chinese businessman who wanted to buy the company in order to shut it down, the publishing house said in a statement on its website dated Oct. 26.

Source: RFA #Oct28

#Thailand #Beijing #Businessman #CCP

https://t.co/NygVq66J94

UK summons China diplomat over Hong Kong protester beating at consulate, as MP says consul-general involved

full article: Hong Kong Free Press #Oct19

https://hongkongfp.com/2022/10/18/breaking-uk-summons-chinese-rep-over-beating-of-hong-kong-protester-outside-manchester-consulate/

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UK summons China diplomat over Hong Kong protester beating at consulate, as MP says consul-general involved

The UK’s foreign minister has summoned the Chinese chargé d’affaires after a Hong Kong protester was dragged into the Chinese consulate grounds in Manchester and beaten up on Sunday, as a major Communist Party Congress began in Beijing.

Minister of State Jesse Norman told parliament that the government was “extremely concerned” about officials allegedly beating demonstrators, and they will meet with the Chinese ambassador’s deputy on Tuesday afternoon.

“Peaceful protest, as this house has always recognised, is a fundamental part of British society and our way of life,” he said.

Lawmakers repeatedly urged the government to oust any Chinese officials found to be involved in the incident, during the Q&A session at parliament. “It is a question of law as to what offences were committed on British soil,” Norman said.

He added that the Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang had not been summoned, when asked by MP Iain Duncan Smith.

full article: Hong Kong Free Press #Oct19
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/10/18/breaking-uk-summons-chinese-rep-over-beating-of-hong-kong-protester-outside-manchester-consulate/

see also:
China Consulate in Manchester Drags Hong Kong Protesters Inside Gate and Assaults Them, Damaging Props and Tearing Out Hair
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/978

#CCP #ManchesterConsulate #HongKongProtest #UKParliament

Lawmakers urge more scrutiny of Chinese firms in wake of charges

Members of Congress are urging more scrutiny of Chinese companies in the U.S. after the Justice Department this week announced that two Chinese agents sought to obstruct prosecution of a telecommunications company reported to be Huawei Technologies.

The criminal charges unsealed Monday against the two Chinese intelligence officers are the latest twist in the case against the company, which the department indicted in 2020 for federal racketeering and conspiring to steal U.S. companies’ trade secrets. The Justice Department described the company as “a global telecommunications company that is a charged defendant in an ongoing prosecution.” The New York Times reported that the company was Huawei.  

Source: Rollcall #Oct26

#Chinese #US #Huawei #Scrutiny

https://t.co/zCG8KoJIZQ

Hong Kong’s 47 democrats national security case: 19 things since March 2021 you must know

By Translated by BeWaterHK – Sep 3, 2022 • 15 September 2022

A total of 47 democrats were charged with "conspiracy to subversion" for participating in and organising the "35+ primary election" in Hong Kong. Committal proceedings were completed in July 2022 for transfer to the High Court. Under Magistrates Ordinance Section 87A (Restrictions on reports of committal proceedings), journalists have been prevented from reporting on the pre-trial hearings until the win in the appeal by Tonyee Chow Hang-tung to remove media report restrictions on court proceedings of a case related to Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HKASPDMC)…

Reporter: Alvin Chan • 18 August 2022

#47Democrats #NSL #HighCourt #AlvinChan

Full Story：

https://telegra.ph/Hong-Kongs-47-democrats-national-security-case-19-things-since-March-2021-you-must-know-09-14

Judicial repression becomes the norm in Hong Kong

On 26 September 2022, a university professor, two former lawmakers, a Cantopop singer and a Catholic cardinal were charged by the Hong Kong government for failing to register a humanitarian aid fund with the police. The five defendants — 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, singer Denise Ho, cultural studies professor Po-Keung Hui and former lawmakers Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho — are well-known supporters of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

The five founded the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund in 2019 to assist protestors who faced financial difficulties in seeking legal and medical assistance during the six-month-long anti-extradition bill movement. The Fund also sponsored various civil society activities, including peaceful rallies and international advocacy…

Source: Eastasiaforum #Oct26

#HumanitarianReliefFund #NSL #Democracy #Movement #HongKong

https://t.co/mHhmJ3Wc17

Hong Kong protest anthem played at Rugby Sevens series in Korea

Source: Korea Times #Nov15

#Incheon #RugbySevens #HongKong #NationalAnthem #GloryToHongKong

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Hong Kong protest anthem played at Rugby Sevens series in Korea

The Korea Rugby Union, the local operator of the second leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series held in Korea between Nov. 12 and 13, apologized for playing "Glory to Hong Kong," a protest anthem widely sung during the 2019-2020 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, instead of the Chinese national anthem, "March of the Volunteers," during the men's final round between Hong Kong and Korea held in Incheon, Korea on Sunday.

The Hong Kong government chastised Asia Rugby Monday morning about what happened and asked for an "in-depth investigation." However, the remarks of the Korean operator contradict those of the Hong Kong government.

Stressing that playing the Hong Kong pro-democracy protest anthem was "simply a mistake" by the Korea Rugby Union and that the Korean union immediately announced the mistake in the stadium and delivered an official apology to the Chinese and Hong Kong teams, a public relations representative from the Korean organization told The Korea Times Monday that "We ask each country to submit national anthems to play, but failed to get one (from the Hong Kong team)."

The person added that "our staff saved 'the Hong Kong national anthem' listed on the top of a search engine in the file folder named, 'Hong Kong.'"

The person continued that the Korea Rugby Union was later informed by Asia Rugby that the organization should play China's national anthem for the Hong Kong team but failed to delete the mistakenly saved file and delivered it to the broadcasting team. The official added that a staff member of the broadcasting team played the song in the file when Hong Kong made it to the final.

Also, the person said that the organizer then played the Chinese national anthem for the Hong Kong team during the award ceremony, after Hong Kong won the final.

Some pro-democracy restaurants in Hong Kong made the issue into a promotional event, giving those with Korean passports in Hong Kong discounts and some coupons for what happened.

Cafe de JarGor, a local food restaurant chain in Hong Kong that is known to support the anti-government movement and is vocal about anti-government issues, posted on Instagram that they will give a 50 percent discount to Korean passport holders that visit its restaurants for dinner today with the hashtag, "#thankyou" in Korean.

Source: Korea Times #Nov15

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2022/11/600_339811.html

#Incheon #RugbySevens #HongKong #NationalAnthem #GloryToHongKong

U.S. FBI director says TikTok poses national security concerns

The U.S. operations of Chinese-owned TikTok raise national security concerns, FBI Director Chris Wray said on Tuesday, flagging the risk that the Chinese government could harness the video-sharing app to influence users or control their devices.

Risks include "the possibility that the Chinese government could use [TikTok] to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations," Wray told U.S. lawmakers.

Source：Reuters #Nov15

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/us-fbi-director-says-tiktok-poses-national-security-concerns-2022-11-15/

#FBI #TikTok #Security #China

Hong Kong Schools Schedule National Security Education Activities, Mainland Exchange Tours

source: In-Media HK #Sep04

#NationalEducation #NationalSecurityLaw #NationalFlagLaw #Education #Mainlandization

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Hong Kong Schools Schedule National Security Education Activities, Mainland Exchange Tours

Following the Education Bureau's (#EDB) push to increase emphasis on "Citizenship and National Security Education", many Hong Kong schools have scheduled numerous activities around patriotic topics.

Read more:
Hong Kong's “National Education Calendar” suggests discussing #ChineseCommunistParty development and watching three "patriotic anti-Japanese" films a year
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/866

According to the "Primary School Profiles 2022" published by the EDB in September, these activities include exchange trips with schools in mainland China and quiz competitions. Out of the 500-plus primary schools in Hong Kong, 59 will be organizing flag-raising teams this year.

HKFEW Wong Cho Bau School, run by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (#HKFEW), plans to establish exchange tours with sister schools in mainland China. The school aims to "deepen the students' knowledge of the history and culture of the motherland" through poetry reading, studying Chinese music and water painting.

Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong, ranked among the top primary schools in the city, will host a "Life in the Mainland Experience Tour" in primary year 5, "to let students gain a deeper understanding of student life in poorer areas, and to learn to give and be thankful". ELCHK Hung Hom Lutheran Primary School will have "scholarship tours", sending students abroad on exchanges with sister schools in places such as Canada and Beijing, so they could learn more about the world and the motherland. Several schools belonging to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals will also participate in the EDB's mainland exchange program.

Many schools have followed the EDB's suggested calendars and planned events on "important dates". ELCHK Faith Love Lutheran School explains: "Through activities such as Nanjing Massacre memorial day, constitution day, flag-raising ceremonies, and Speeches under the National Flag, students will learn National Security Education, and develop their concept of their country and respect for rule of law."

[editor's note: "Speeches under the National Flag" is a routine part of flag-raising ceremonies in China's schools, featuring speeches by teachers and outstanding students, as well as individuals deemed "model workers" by the Communist Party. The practice is prescribed under China's National Flag Law, so that students from kindergarten onward could "develop a sense of duty to love the country."]

In addition to events on "important dates", many schools are integrating national security education into their regular curriculum. Diocesan Girls' Junior School and SKH Chi Fu Chi Nam Primary School are among the schools who stated this intention.

source: In-Media HK #Sep04

https://bit.ly/3CXtNDM

#NationalEducation #NationalSecurityLaw #NationalFlagLaw #Education #Mainlandization

Iran’s brave and powerful gesture is a small wonder from a World Cup of woe

Well, that was unexpected. After the cold, cold theatre of Qatar 2022’s opening game, elite sport reimagined as a despot’s light-show, something remarkable happened on Monday afternoon in Doha.

As night fell over the vast, swooping Khalifa International Stadium (all these World Cup structures are vast and swooping; unless specifically told otherwise, assume vast and swooping) England and Iran produced something that felt jarringly real, oddly warm, suspiciously authentic.

Source：The Guardian #Nov21

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/21/irans-brave-and-powerful-gesture-is-a-small-wonder-from-a-world-cup-of-woe?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR37cMHY1Xq_DUAD4Ilad_UwEn9R1CtbEkTdhaArEcFo1q72AfozPPfpqrE&mibextid=Zxz2cZ#Echobox=1669067544

#Iran #WorldCup #Qatar #Doha

China hits back at FBI claim of unauthorized ‘police stations’ in US

China has contested claims it was operating unauthorized “police stations” on US soil, calling the sites volunteer-run, after the FBI director said he was “very concerned” about unauthorized stations that have been linked to Beijing’s influence operations.

Safeguard Defenders, a Europe-based human rights organization, published a report in September revealing the presence of dozens of Chinese police “service stations” in large cities around the world, including New York.

Source：The Guardian #Nov18

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwji49X7u7r7AhWQKEQIHbtZDzYQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Famp.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2022%2Fnov%2F18%2Fchina-police-stations-us-fbi-wray&usg=AOvVaw2AnrK9r5rT12Pf9IlmWjxn

#FBI #Police #China #NewYork

Surveillance for All: China Pushes for Permanent Health Code by 2025

Source: Radio Free Asia #Nov10

#CCP #SurveillanceState #WuhanPneumonia #HealthCode #BigData #BigBrother

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Surveillance for All: China Pushes for Permanent Health Code by 2025

Although the #WHO had clearly stated that there had been a drastic 90% decrease in COVID deaths across the world, China had not embraced this optimistic view. Instead, it has declared a goal of making the Health QR Code mandatory for everyone in the country by 2025, enforcing a long-term, real-time surveillance for its citizens.

On Nov 9, The National Health Commission of China announced on its website that by 2025, every Chinese citizen will have a dynamically-managed electronic health file and a fully-functional electronic health code. The announcement is jointly published by the National Health Commission, State Administration of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the announcement, the health code systems currently in use are run by each province separately, and the systems from different provinces do not generally recognize each other's codes. In response, the central government aims to create a basic, inter-connected surveillance platform by 2025, in which each resident will have a dynamically-managed electronic health file and a fully-functional electronic health code.

With such a system in place, the Chinese government will be able to leverage big data to trace the so-called "high-risk individuals", establishing a long-term, real-time surveillance and control of the Chinese populace.

Source: Radio Free Asia #Nov10

https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/code-11102022062758.html

see also:
"Encode us": Health Code, or is it CCP's Social Credit System? (Aug 17, 2020)
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24283

#CCP #SurveillanceState #WuhanPneumonia #HealthCode #BigData #BigBrother

Size of alleged Chinese interference in Canada ‘astonishing’: experts

Shocking reports of alleged Chinese interference in Canada’s 2019 elections, first reported by Global News, have raised questions about whether Ottawa is doing enough to deal with the national security threat. ‘The West Block’ host Mercedes Stephenson speaks with national security expert Akshay Singh, former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney, and Global News investigative reporter Sam Cooper about the bombshell revelations and the Liberal government’s underwhelming response.

Source：GlobalNews #Nov14

https://globalnews.ca/video/9272674/size-of-alleged-chinese-interference-in-canada-astonishing-experts/

#Chinese #Canada

Shanghai protesters, police jostle as anger over China's COVID curbs mounts

Source: Reuters #Nov27

#ChinaProtests #Shanghai #Urumqi #Beijing #Wuhan #A4Revolution

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Shanghai protesters, police jostle as anger over China's COVID curbs mounts

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Hundreds of demonstrators in Shanghai shouted and jostled with police on Sunday evening as protests over China's stringent COVID restrictions flared for a third day following a deadly apartment fire in the country's far west.

The wave of civil disobedience, which has spread to other cities including Beijing, is unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago and comes amid mounting frustration over his signature zero-COVID policy.

The fire at a residential high-rise building in the city of Urumqi triggered protests after videos of the incident posted on social media led to accusations that lockdown were a factor in the death toll.

Urumqi officials abruptly held a news conference in the early hours of Saturday to deny COVID measures had hampered escape and rescue. Many of Urumqi's 4 million residents have been under some of the country's longest lockdowns, barred from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days.

On Sunday in Shanghai, police kept a heavy presence on Wulumuqi Road, which is named after Urumqi, and where a candlelight vigil the day before turned into protests.
By evening hundreds of people gathered in the area.

Some jostled with police trying to disperse them. People held up blank sheets of paper as an expression of protest.

One Reuters witness saw at least seven people taken away by police.

URUMQI, BEIJING, WUHAN

On Sunday at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, dozens of people held a peaceful protest against COVID restrictions during which they sang the national anthem, according to images and videos posted on social media.

One student who saw the Tsinghua protest described to Reuters feeling taken aback by the protest at one China's most elite universities, and Xi's alma mater.

"People there were very passionate, the sight of it was impressive," the student said, declining to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.

In the central city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began three years ago, hundreds of residents took to the streets on Sunday, smashing through metal barricades, overturning COVID testing tents and demanding an end to lockdowns, according to videos on social media that could not be independently verified.

Thursday's fire that killed 10 people in an apartment block in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, saw crowds there take to the street on Friday evening, chanting "End the lockdown!" and pumping their fists in the air, according to unverified videos on social media.

Source: Reuters #Nov27

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-hit-by-covid-protests-anger-spreads-across-china-2022-11-27/

#ChinaProtests #Shanghai #Urumqi #Beijing #Wuhan #A4Revolution