#ChinaPneumonia
Shoppers Snap Up Frozen Foods and Disinfection Items in Supermarkets

Fearing that the new coronavirus epidemic would persist, some citizens hurried to supermarkets to stock up food. Staple foods, such as rice and noodles could be seen to be low in stock. Frozen foods, hand sanitizers, and sanitized paper towels were almost all snapped up.

Shoppers said that the situation is worse than the SARS outbreak and that currently it is most difficult to buy disinfection goods.

Source: RTHK

#Jan29 #GlobalOutbreak #HK

Wow! China use the latest technologies to clean the floor.

Probably more dramatic than the last Star Wars movie!

Source:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9bzSfmAKNE/?igshid=n97aetntlhy9

⬆️⬆️⬆️ Continue reading

Nathan Law: Meeting with Pompeo, Call for International Solidarity Against CCP

I met Pompeo on 21 July afternoon in London. We discussed the situation in Hong Kong after the implementation of the National Security Law, the CCP’s policies for Hong Kong in recent years, and the international community's policies towards China in the future.

I mentioned that 610 000 Hongkongers stood up to vote in the first pan-democratic primary election despite the white terror, showing that Hongkongers will continue to fight for democracy and freedom. However Beijing chose to ignore the people's mandate, and was even planning to disqualify candidates by made-up reasons, perhaps even cancelling the LegCo election in September. This kind of disqualification would be treated as a severe election fraud by any international standard, challenging the core values of democracy. I urged the international society to take a strong stance against such behaviour.

I also mentioned that it has been 1 year since the 7.21 incident. I believe with the terror of the National Security Law and Wuhan Pneumonia, Hong Kong is quietly waiting for a better time to start another round of large-scale protest.

The CCP tends to persecute its fringe regions to win support from the majority of its people. Therefore the International community should continue to observe the human rights situation in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. We exchanged our thoughts on CCP's policies, and how the world should restructure its strategies against China in order to secure the fruits of our democratic system.

I met Pompeo last time in May 2019 in Washington, along with pan-democratic leaders Martin Lee and Margaret Ng. One year has passed, and the world and Hong Kong have changed drastically. I thank the US Embassy in London and Hong Kong Watch for arranging this meeting.

When Pompeo representing Kansas in early 2015, he was one of the few representatives who supported the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. During this meeting, I told him frankly about the situation of Hongkongers who were forced to leave their hometown. I hope that Pompeo can understand better the challenges faced by the young people of Hong Kong. I hope for more opportunities to meet with American politicians, and press for a stronger international response against the expanding authoritarian powers of the Chinese Communist Party.

Source:
https://t.me/HKinternationalfront

#NathanLaw #Pompeo #HumanRight #Democray #Freedom #US #HK #CCP

Hong Kong's national security law intensifies fears of confiscation and censorship


The recently enacted national security law of Hong Kong has driven the use of stablecoins for securing assets and raising funds for pro-democracy movements.

Aiming to quell opposition to CCP, the law empowers the Hong Kong government to freeze and confiscate assets that are suspected of being involved in national security "crimes".

People in Hong Kong are increasingly using stablecoins such as USDT as a way of keeping their assets independent from a banking system that is subject to government control.

Cryptocurrencies are also used for raising funds for protesters.

Besides, there is also a growing concern over tightening Internet censorships and surveillance of personal data in Hong Kong.


Source:
https://www.coindesk.com/hong-kong-citizens-turn-to-stablecoins-to-resist-national-security-law

#InternetCensorship #HK
#NationalSecurityLaw #CCP

US universities allow anonymous online discussion, warn of sensitive course materials due to Hong Kong National Security Law

Universities are supposed to be a platform for freedom of speech and academic freedom. However, some of universities in the United States(U.S.) have imposed new measures to protect students from falling into legal traps because of the Hong Kong National Security Law, including concealing students' identities, reminding students that lesson content may violate the law, or even allowing students not to participate in the class discussion should they be in fear of violating the law.

The Hong Kong National Security Law covers violation anywhere in the world. US universities are always a popular choice for students from China and Hong Kong, so the universities also have to prepare for the National Security Law before the course starts this autumn. The Wall Street Journal stated some of the top universities would remind students that the course content may be classified as "politically sensitive” by the Chinese Government. The schools started to formulate new policies to protect the identities of staff and students, to avoid legal troubles due to the law. The Chinese Politics curriculum at Princeton University requires students to use a nickname instead of a real name, protecting their identities. Among the colleges, some professors at Amherst College plan to have anonymous online communication in order to ensure students can express their opinions freely.

These decisions were made for online learning this semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for Chinese and Hong Kong international students who cannot attend lessons in the United States. Some scholars worry that the classes may be recorded, and even sent to the relevant Chinese authorities. According to data for the 2018-2019 academic year, there were 370,000 Chinese students and 7,000 Hong Kong students studying in US colleges and universities.

Article 38 gives the Hong Kong National Security Law “extraterritorial jurisdiction" covering offences committed overseas by non-Hong Kong residents. Even if they are not permanent Hong Kong residents and not inside the Hong Kong border, they are also under the regulation of this law. Offenders may be arrested once they step into Hong Kong.

#US #COVID19 #HiddenIdentity #Chinese #HK #PrincetonUniversity

Source: Stand News #Aug20

https://bit.ly/31szhTH

#Newspaper

Education Bureau has a presentation mentioned “Separation of Powers” in 2011

Editor’s notes: When their reporter rechecked the website at 12:30 pm on 1 Sep, it showed “404 Page Not Found.” Readers can search relevant content about Patrick Chan’s “Separation of powers” quoted by the Education Bureau in “saved webpage (cache)” of a searching engine, Google. However, the relevant webpage cache which existed on 1 Sep is also deleted now.

(1 Sep) “Stand News” found a presentation prepared in 2011 by Patrick Chan Siu-oi, permanent Judge of Court of Final Appeal at that time, in Education Bureau’s website. At page 18 of the document with the title of “Basic Law, Rule of Law and Hong Kong’s advantage”, it mentioned “The rule of law as a system” and “Separation of powers (or three powers). It explained that functions of the Hong Kong government were carried out by 3 different branches, executive, legislative and judiciary, independently. Each of them had its own responsibilities and power, thereby avoiding centralisation of power and abuse of powers.

According to a press conference in Information Services Department, when Yueng Kwok-yung replied an inquiry of “white paper of one country two systems” in 2014, he said, “every government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial. This is what is meant by “Separation of powers” in western countries - the three branches execute their separated roles and responsibilities independently. “

Source: Stand News, 404 Webcache
Translated by: Hong Kong Echo

Further reading:
Hong Kong Authorities Eradicate All Mentionings of "Separation of Powers" From Textbooks, their Websites and Database
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24821
Separation of three powers in Hong Kong
https://twitter.com/hongkongecho/status/1301243656075010048?s=21

#1984InHongKong #RewriteHistory

#Newspaper

Secret Detention of 12 Hong Kong Residents by the CCP

(19 Sep) John LEE Ka Chiu, Hong Kong Secretary for Security, who said each of the twelve detained by CCP had “selected” 2 lawyers via the arrangement by the CCP authorities. However, families of the twelve rebutted by saying they were not aware of such circumstances. The families further questioned why none of them were informed of the latest development by the Hong Kong government when it received such news.

Responding to LEE’s remarks, one of the family-appointed lawyers from the Mainland said it was nothing but hypocrisy and deception to say that the detainees had chosen the lawyers themselves. He said he retained the right to act in the case.

According to the laws in mainland China, the authorities will arrange government lawyers to represent accused / arrestee if they cannot afford legal fee. The Hong Kong government should, as a government representing and protecting Hong Kong citizens, at least request the mainland China government to let the 12 meet those family-appointed lawyers. If then the twelve do not want to have those lawyers, it’s their rights. However, currently the families cannot believe the twelve “selected” those lawyers appointed by the authorities at their will.

The twelve families also issued a joint statement accusing LEE of trying to mislead them into accepting lawyers appointed by the authorities.

Source: RTHK
Translated by: Hong Kong Echo

#save12hkyouth #save12hkyouths #CCP

China’s Diplomatic Offensive Sees Major Setback as Discontent Grows in Europe, Says New York Times

With Sino-US relations having remained tense in recent years, Beijing has arranged for its foreign minister Wang Yi to visit Europe in August in what was said to be an attempt to show goodwill to Europe and strike a new balance in international relations. But a New York Times commentary said more and more European countries are voicing dissatisfaction at China’s trade tactics, policies towards Hong Kong and Taiwan, human rights record, and other issues. The growing discontent, it said, has seriously undermined China’s diplomatic offensive in Europe.

Steven Lee Myers, head of The New York Times’ Beijing bureau, pointed out that while China believes Europe, given its pragmatism, could play a stabilizing role as Sino-US relations deteriorate, Europe’s changing perception of China poses a major challenge for the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Myers wrote, “In the short term, it threatens to undermine the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery by stifling new investments as the United States restricts them, especially in high tech. In the longer term, it could blunt his ambitions for China to offer an alternative to the United States as the global leader dictating the rules for governance and trade.”

Myers sees China’s authoritarian system as representing very different political values from those of Europe, noting that the same goes for the new National Security Law in Hong Kong, which “has been used to crack down on dissent in the semiautonomous territory.” Janka Oertel, director of the Asian programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said similarly that “[i]t makes it really hard for [China] to convey a message of cooperation and peacefulness and harmonious society, if at the same time you see schoolgirls being beaten up by the Hong Kong police.”

Europe’s dissatisfaction at China’s policies has become even more pronounced amid the Wuhan virus pandemic. China’s attempt to conceal its mishandling of the outbreak in the beginning and its subsequent ‘mask diplomacy’, which exposed the poor quality of its protective gear and medical supplies, have had a knock-on effect on attitudes towards China, especially in the Netherlands and Spain. According to the results of last week’s ECFR poll, only 7% of Europeans see China as a useful partner in the fight against the pandemic with 62% of the respondents viewing China negatively.

Sources: Apple Daily #Sep18

#Europe #US #HK #China #NewYorkTimes #NationalSecurityLaw #NSL #WuhanVirus #Coronavirus #Pandemic #COVID19 #Diplomacy

https://bit.ly/309D5ID

#NationalSecurityLaw #CCTVB

CCTVB fired and threatened Director citing the National Security Law

Since Hong Kong implemented the National Security Law, white terror has been spreading throughout society. A scene in the daily sit-com series “Lo and Behold” broadcasted by CCTVB [see note] on 9 Sep 2020 surprisingly showed the “Five-One” [five demands not one less] movement gesture - two yellow washing gloves in the shot, one glove with the middle finger pointing down for “one” and the other glove showing all “five”, lasting for 14 seconds. It was rumoured that this incident came about because of one playful actor in the series. He made one the yellow gloves “hold the middle finger” gesture, other actors were also laughing about it. Nobody in the scene was aware it would look like the “five-one” gesture. Someone stated that CCTVB realised it was unintentional after investigating, but management still insisted on pressuring the responsible Director of that scene, Justin, to resign.

An insider stated that: “Justin had been working at TVB for 8 years, the Company did not want to compensate for his long service, so they pushed him to tender the resignation, and threatened to report Justin to the police on possible violation of the National Security Law if he did not resign by himself.” As Justin “resigned” on his own, he was not only unable to take the long service compensation by statutory regulation, he also did not get the payment in lieu of notice for breach of employment contract. The insider stated that: “The Company had already waived Justin’s compensation of three month notice payment in lieu based on Justin’s resignation. The fact is that someone in the Company oppressed the employee to “save money”, but distorted it as “kindness” in disguise, which is a typical case of “the big stone crushing a crab” [a Chinese proverb], to the dismay of many.

Editor’s Note :
CCTVB is a portmanteau of CCTV (China Central Television) and the Hong Kong-based TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited). The combined acronym is used to convey TVB's pro-China bias.

Source: Apple Daily, #Sep16

Translated by: Hong Kong Echo

https://hk.appledaily.com/entertainment/20200916/XQUTHSNQINESNNZAYKX4GJD4RQ/

American-Chinese Writer Slammed as “Pro-American Traitor” on Internet, Says China Uses Her in Propaganda

American-Chinese writer Fan Jiayang has recently taken to Twitter to fight for a waiver that would allow private nurses to care for her mother, suffering from ALS, at the hospital during the epidemic. The incident was widely reported and hotly debated in China with Fan being slammed by Chinese netizens as a “traitor”, “worshipping America,” and “bringing shame to her extended family.” In a New Yorker article, Fan tells the story of how she and her mother have been used by China in its propaganda.

In her article “How My Mother and I Became Chinese Propaganda,” Fan says she was born in Chongqing, China in 1984. When she was two years old, her father was sent to the US to study biology at Harvard University. At the age of eight, she followed her mother, who was a doctor, to America to reunite with him.

A year and a half after Fan arrived in the US, her father had an affair and left her and her mother. To provide Fan with the best education possible, her mother moved to Greenwich, Connecticut to work as a domestic helper in an affluent neighbourhood—just so her daughter could attend a public school and receive a scholarship to attend a prestigious school. Having been through the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution in China, her mother, as Fan describes, developed her survival instincts out of a “brutal, unsentimental pragmatism.”

Fan eventually graduated from Williams College, became a writer for The New Yorker, and moved to New York City with her mother. In 2011, her mother, then 59, was diagnosed with ALS, which left her paralysed and hospitalized for an extended period of time. Since 2014, she has been unable to breathe on her own and relied on a ventilator at all times. Fan hired a round-the-clock caregiver to take care of her mother. Communication with her would now have to depend on blinking and letter boards.

When the Wuhan virus pandemic broke out in New York City this March, the Henry J. Carter Specialty Hospital, where Fan’s mother was staying, banned visitors like Fan, who now had to rely on the caregiver to care for her mother. As a patient was diagnosed with the virus, the hospital expelled everyone other than medical workers on 9 April. The caregiver Fan hired was among those asked to leave.

Fan then gave a detailed account of the incident on Twitter, stressing that her mother required exclusive care, and posted photos of the situation at the hospital. This drew the attention of a number of legislators in New York. With the help of various people, Fan’s caregiver was able to return to the hospital the following day to continue taking care of her mother.

Fan’s story was soon widely reported in China. The Global Times, a state-run media outlet, said Fan had been targeted by the protesters when covering the demonstrations in Hong Kong for The New Yorker last year. The tabloid then said she described her Chinese-looking face as a “liability” on Twitter following the assignment. Other reports said that Fan’s articles endorsed the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and that she has “misattributed the origin of the virus to China.” Fan was attacked by a large number of Chinese netizens on WeChat, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, who criticized her for being a traitor and making a living by slandering the motherland. They hurled at her such slurs as “NMSL” (“your mother is dead”) and threatened to burn, rape and abuse her. A photo of Fan and her mother also circulated on the Internet, where netizen China15z0dj wrote, “Your mother’s gonna die, haha. The 1.4 billion of us wish you a reunion with her in hell, haha.”

Source: Apple Daily #Sep12

#US #HK #China #FanJiayang #TheNewYorker #Internet #Propaganda #WuhanVirus #Coronavirus #Pandemic #COVID19

https://bit.ly/33dCDLi

#Newspaper

Xinhua News criticised forced closure of Confucius Institutes as political persecution

(28 Sep) Xinhua News Agency published a commentary stating that forced closure of Confucius Institutes was a form of political persecution. The article indicated that anti-China politicians from the US were unable to see the good in others and were intolerant of other cultures. Wielding their big stick [policy] of political oppression against Confucius Institutes that promote Chinese culture, it lambasted, was "isolationist rhetoric" possessed by "McCarthyism". There was no cure to pursuing political self-interest in lieu of virtue and suppressive paranoid delusions.

The article also pointed out that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent threat to shut down all Confucius Institutes in higher education institutions by the end of this year constituted further defamation and suppression. It stated that Confucius Institutes adopted a collaborative method of operations; it was the US universities that voluntarily applied for their establishment according to their own needs, based on "mutual respect, friendly negotiation and mutual benefit". Its operations and management were open and transparent, [it claimed,] strictly complying with local laws and university administration standards. Statistics show that the US currently has 81 Confucius Institutes.

Source: RTHK News, #Sep28

Translated by: Hong Kong Echo

#Xinhua #PoliticalPersecution