Hong Kong Authorities Accuses UK National Benedict Rogers of Threatening China's National Security

On March 23, 2022, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (#IBAHRI) calls on the international community to suspend extradition treaties with #HongKong.

#BenedictRogers, a British citizen and co-founder of #HongKongWatch received a letter from the Hong Kong #NationalSecurityBureau. In addition, the #HongKongPolice issued a notice to Rogers on 10 March 2022, orderinv him to take down the website of Hong Kong Watch within 72 hours of receipt of the notice.

Hong Kong authorities claimed that the website of the NGO posed a threat to China’s national security.

In a statement, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute warned that "more than 160 people have been arrested and over 50 civil society organisations have been forced to close in Hong Kong since the National Security Law was enacted in June 2020."

While Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, have suspended their extradition agreements with Hong Kong, countries including the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and Sri Lanka still have an agreement with the Hong Kong government.

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute pointed out that "travelling to these countries poses a threat for human rights defenders who may be targeted with the National Security Laws and extradited to Hong Kong to face charges."

Read the full article:
https://www.ibanet.org/IBAHRI-calls-for-suspension-of-extradition-treaties-with-Hong-Kong

Source: International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute #Mar23

#NationalSecurityLaw #Regime

China State Media Demonizes its Netizens' #StandWithUkraine Effort

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Chinese-language comments supporting the aggression and deriding Ukrainian women were made by #LittlePink and opinion leaders on various social media platforms in China. Other Chinese-speaking netizens, who were appalled at these comments and behaviors, began translating them into other languages and posting them online for the world to see.

Calling themselves "The Great Translation Movement", the volunteer translators soon caught the attention of international media - as well as China's own propaganda machine.

Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Chinese Communist Party, condemned these volunteer translation efforts for painting China in a negative light. In a Weibo post on March 17, 2022, The Party mouthpiece called the translations an "evil force", inciting Anti-China hate on the Internet and endangering China as a whole. It also accused the participants to be supported by "foreign, anti-China forces", suggesting that they lacked "normal morals" and could not bear to see China's successful development - and its "temporary problems".

See also: Chinese in Ukraine Are Trying to Pass for Japanese as Anger Grows over Pro-Invasion Comments by ‘Little Pink’
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/312

Source: Global Times Weibo, The Great Translation Movement Twitter #Mar17
https://twitter.com/TGTM_Official/status/1504448184763904001?t=WLgra5Yo_4hpAR0H37dD3Q&s=19

#Regime #GlobalTimes #Propaganda #TheGreatTranslationMovement

#CarrieLam Condemns Local Newspaper for "preventing" government's works

In a press conference on March 15, 2022, Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam accused the local newspaper #MingPao of disseminating "misleading" information and "wrong message".

This 'wrong message', according to Carrie Lam, concerned the made-in-China vaccine Sinovac.

Lam claimed that the news report published by the said newspaper in relation to #Covid19 deaths and #Sinovac "prevent the government from doing what should have been done."

Source: Ming Pao; InMedia #Mar25
https://bit.ly/3JHeKyi

#Regime #PressFreedom #Mingpao #CovidDeath #Pandemic #MadeinChina

#Shanghai starts China's biggest #COVID19 lockdown in 2 years; residents call it "insane"

Although Chinese officials said lockdown would not be imposed on #Shanghai, two days later the authorities announced that the city will be locked down in two stages from Monday, March 28, 2022 onwards for nine days.

According to BBC, this is the biggest city-wide #lockdown since the Covid outbreak began more than two years ago.

Soon after the government's announcement was out, panic buying occured in various parts of Shanghai.

Videos on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, showed people fighting in supermarket over produce. Some Chinese netizens commented that it was "unbelievable that they are looking at 21st-Century Shanghai" and that the policy was "insane".

Source: InMedia; BBC #Mar28
https://bit.ly/380pPwx

#WuhanPneumonia #ChineseStyle #Lockdown #Pandemic #Regime

#SmallCircleElection #CCPInfluence
Ex-police officer oversees crackdown on pro-democracy protests is sole candidate in Hong Kong's #ChiefExecutiveElection

#JohnLee, a career police officer turned hardline security official, is running unopposed to take over the Chief Executive job in Hong Kong’s elections next month.

As the sole candidate with #Beijing’s blessing, he is all but guaranteed to become the next chief executive.

Hongkongers have not had a direct say in who serves as their chief executive since the handover in 1997. Instead, the post is selected by a small committee of society stakeholders called the Election Committee.

In March, 2021, Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral process, expanding the committee to 1,500 members but also tightening the criteria for candidates. New measures included a two-step national security screening process to ensure all members were loyal to the CCP.

Sources: InmediaHK, Reuters #Apr15

#PoliceState #CCPRules #Regime

#SmallCircleElection #CCPRules
Former Security Head Nominated for Chief Executive Election in Hong Kong Without Any Program

In Hong Kong, #JohnLee, a former police commissioner and the secretary for secutity until recently, claimed that he has submitted 786 nominations to the Election Committee, making him the sole candidate in Hong Kong's #ChiefExecutiveElection.

Lee was known for his pro-Beijing stance and hardliner attitude in suppressing the city's prodemocracy protests.

Lee was asked by journalists to comment on the legitimacy of the election, as he has been nominated without having any program nor statement.

Lee did not give a direct response, but said, "it takes time to write a statement." Lee claimed that he is a pragmatic person and would be able to realise the policy he proposed.

Source: InMedia #Apr15
https://bit.ly/378khQJ

#Regime #PoliceState

#Solidarity #Conscience
Hongkongers flock to support pro-democracy bubble tea shop despite #NationalSecurityPolice Presence

In Hong Kong, two staff members of #RoyalTea, a bubble tea shop in Mong Kok that is known for its pro-democracy stance, were taken away by the police on April 11, 2022 to "assist with an investigation".

When the shop reopened on April 14, 2022, about 10 customers patronized it in the first 15 minutes.

A regular customer who came to show support said that the bubble tea shop could be forced to close down for making known its pro-democracy stance.

"I would do whatever I can to show my support when the shop still opens."

A British student in Hong Kong, Sam visited RoyalTea for the first time. Sam said, althought he doesn't know the local political situation well, he has witnessed "a lot of political changes going on in Hong Kong" in the past year. Sam said that the community has been "oppressed".

Sam is hoping to show his support for those still clinging tight to their beliefs in Hong Kong.

Jessica, one of the two staff members being taken away by the police for "investigation" said she felt "terrified and lost" during police investigation.

However, she asked the supporters of the shop not to worry. She also wishes Hongkongers to stay blissful and hopeful for freedom.

Source: Inmediahk, #Apr14
https://bit.ly/3KKGK4H

#Oppression #ScareTactics #Regime #PoliceState

#PoliceState #SmallCircleElection
Hong Kong small-circle leadership race: Meet John Lee – the ex-police officer #Beijing trusts

[On May 8, 2022, #JohnLee, the sole candidate in the election, was selected by an election committee with 1,000 or so members to be the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, after the end of #CarrieLam's term. Lee received 1,416 votes to become the political leader of a city of more than seven million people. Read: https://hongkongfp.com/2022/05/08/breaking-sole-candidate-john-lee-selected-as-hong-kongs-next-leader/]

//As a former beat cop who rose to become Hong Kong’s security chief, John Lee is the one person China’s leaders trust to run the city as their loyal lieutenant, analysts and insiders say.

Lee, 64, is expected to be anointed Hong Kong’s next chief executive by a small committee on Sunday, the culmination of a choreographed, Beijing-blessed race with no other candidates...

It also places a security official in the city’s top job for the first time, a man who played a key role in the suppression of huge democracy protests and Beijing’s subsequent political crackdown.

Insiders say Lee’s unwavering commitment to that role won China’s confidence at a time when other Hong Kong elite were seen as insufficiently loyal or competent...

Given his security background, it seems unlikely Lee — already sanctioned by the United States — will reverse Beijing’s campaign against dissent.

Where he will enter less familiar territory is the world of business, an area where Hong Kong is suffering...//

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #May8

#Regime #ChiefExecutiveElection

#China, #Russia Again Veto UN Statement on #Myanmar Conflict

// On May 30, 2022, Russia and China once again wielded their vetoes to forestall the release of a United Nations Security Council (#UNSC) resolution expressing its concern over the escalating humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

The two nations’ delegations reportedly objected to the wording of the statement
[...] authored by the United Kingdom’s delegation, the statement expressed its concern at the violence and serious humanitarian situation in Myanmar, 16 months on from the February 2021 coup that overthrew the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. It also expressed misgivings about the “limited progress” on the implementation of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus peace plan.

According to other reports, the delegations from the U.K. and China blamed each other for the failure of the day-long negotiations. For the U.K. officials, Beijing was asking for “too much,” which led to the collapse of the negotiations, according to AFP. One of the sticking points for the Chinese delegation was the use of the word “limited” to refer to the progress on ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, which it suggested replacing with the word “slow.” A spokeswoman told AFP that China’s proposed wording was “factual but less condescending,” adding that “it’s a real shame” that there was no agreement.//

Source: The Diplomat #May30

#Regime #Dictatorship #UnitedNations

Chinese Authorities Detain Civilian in Mental Hospital for Expressing Opinions over Lockdown Policy

In Nanking, China, a young woman called Ding Yin was sent to a mental hospital after expressing her concerns over the lockdown of Shanghai.

Ding wrote a letter to #XiJinPing, reminding the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) of the problems of power abuse and the difficulties faced by the population.

Ding was hospitalised sincr then without any date of release.

Source: Radio Free Asia #Jun10
https://bit.ly/39j6h7x

#Censorship #Regime #ShanghaiLockdown #Pandemic #MentalHospital