📡Guardians of Hong Kong aka BeWater HK
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We provide translation of news in English from local media and other sources, for academic use.
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Why China Is Freaking Out Over Biden’s Democracy Summit

The Chinese government is furious about U.S. President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy, and it wants the world to know.

A week before the summit was to take place, the Chinese government hastily convened its own democracy forum and published a white paper called “China: Democracy That Works,” as well as a report titled “The State of Democracy in the United States,” in which it claims to “expose the deficiencies and abuse of democracy” in the United States. These actions have been accompanied by countless articles, press conferences, and, of course, tweets about China’s “democracy” and its alleged superiority to U.S. democracy.

So why is the Chinese government reacting so strongly to Biden’s virtual summit?

Source: Foreign Policy #Dec11

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/12/10/china-response-biden-democracy-summit/

#WHO #China #Biden #Democracy
Taiwan ranks 8th in the global democracy index, making it the best in Asia, with Hong Kong plunging to 85th and China near the bottom.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released its Global Democracy Index 2021 report, which surveys the political status of 167 countries or regions. However, Hong Kong dropped significantly to 85th place and China reached a new low of 148th place, near the bottom of the list.

The EIU Global Democracy Index uses five factors as indicators, including electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties; and the ranking scale is 10 marks, with 4 levels of ranking, namely, full democracy (8-10 marks), flawed democracy (6-7.99 marks), and hybrid regime (4-6.99 marks). Taiwan, the top Asian country, scored 8.99 marks for full democracy, with full marks of 10 for election process and pluralism.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, ranked 85 with a passing score of 5.6, dropping from a flawed democracy in the past to a hybrid regime. The scores of electoral process and pluralism plummeted to 2.75, government operation only scored 3.64, and political culture scored 5.56 just passing. These three factors contributed to the sharp drop of Hong Kong in the Global Democracy Index.

Source: WhatsNewsMedia #Feb12

#democracy #EconomistIntelligenceUnit #GlobalDemocracyIndex #Asia #HongKong #Taiwan #China #electoralprocess #fulldemocracy #pluralism #flaweddemocracy #hybridregime #authoritarianregime
Non-jury trial ordered for Hong Kong’s 47 democrats national security case

Hong Kong’s justice minister has ordered a non-jury trial for the city’s largest national security case to date in which dozens of pro-democracy politicians face up to life in prison, according to documents seen by AFP.

Trial by jury has been used by Hong Kong’s common law legal system for 177 years but legislation imposed by China in 2020 to curb dissent allows cases to be heard by dedicated national security judges.

Source: HKFP #Aug16

https://hongkongfp.com/2022/08/16/non-jury-trial-ordered-for-hong-kongs-47-democrats-national-security-case/

#Jury #NationalSecurity #Democracy
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
Italian Health Secretary: China Teaches the World What Not to Do in a Pandemic

Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci sharply criticised China's anti-pandemic measures in a presentation at the Italian Parliament on Thursday.

He said that China has taught a lesson to the world on what not to do when fighting against the virus. He calls on all countries to never use China-style measures to fight a virus.

Schillaci also indicates that no new variant was found from the import cases from China as of 30/12. However, Italy has to be aware of the risks posed by China's pandemic, but there is no need to panic.

The health minister also commented on the anti-pandemic policy of China, calling it an exercise in self-contradiction. He added that the recent situation in some Chinese mega-cities would be unacceptable in democratic countries.

#Italy #China #OrazioSchillaci #COVID19 #Pandemic #Lockdown #Democracy

Source: Europe Chinese #Dec30

http://europechinese.blogspot.com/2022/12/blog-post_99.html