#SocialMedia #Privacy #UserData
Pompeo Praises Google, Facebook and Twitter for Refusing to Surrender User Data to Hong Kong Government
 
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed thanks to Google, Facebook and Twitter for refusing to surrender user data to the Hong Kong government.  He has also encouraged other companies to do the same.
 
At a White House press conference, Pompeo criticised Beijing for its inconsistency, "Beijing said that for 50 years they’d give the people of Hong Kong 'a high degree of autonomy.' And you all have seen what’s happened after only 23 years – empty promises made to the people of Hong Kong and to the world."
 
Many mainstream social media platforms, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and WhatsApp have recently expressed that they will stop processing requests from the Hong Kong government for user information disclosure, after Beijing's forceful implementation of the National Security Law.  
 
Source:  Stand News  #Jul8
 #Twitter #FaceBook #Google #Pompeo

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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

Pompeo: Not Cold War 2.0 – CCP Threat Worse than Soviet Union

Source: Stand News #Aug13
#US #China #CzechRepublic #SovietUnion #ColdWar #Pompeo #Diplomacy #History #ForeignInfluence

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24480

Pompeo: Not Cold War 2.0 – CCP Threat Worse than Soviet Union

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "What's happening now isn't Cold War 2.0", as the threat China poses to Western countries is in some ways "worse" than that posed by the former Soviet Union.

Addressing the Czech Senate on his first stop of the five-day visit to Central Europe on Wednesday, August 12, Pompeo spoke about "the challenge of resisting the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] threat is in some ways worse" than that during the cold war, because “the CCP is already enmeshed in our economies, in our politics, in our societies in ways the Soviet Union never was.”

In his speech, he recalled the years of Soviet suppression of the Czech Republic. While Russia continues to "undermine" Czech democracy and security using disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, Pompeo believes that China would pose an even greater threat because of her "campaigns of coercion of control". As an example, he cited the cancellation of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra's concert tour in China due to Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib's pro-Taiwan policies, arguing that this shows that “the CCP leverages economic power to coerce countries".

Pompeo also mentioned that during the Cold War, the Czech Republic, "and others that suffered behind the Iron Curtain, know best of all how deeply communists plunge societies into ruin and repression". He urged Czech senators to "stand up for the sovereignty and freedoms" that the Czech people demanded for their country between 1968 and 1989.

Source: Stand News #Aug13
#US #China #CzechRepublic #SovietUnion #ColdWar #Pompeo #Diplomacy #History #ForeignInfluence

Pompeo signs 5G Clean Network Security joint declaration with Slovenia

Source: Apple Daily #Aug14
#Pompeo #5G #Huawei #US #CleanNet #Slovenia #CentralEurope

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24482

Pompeo signs 5G Clean Network Security joint declaration with Slovenia

The U.S. and Slovenia have signed a joint declaration on "5G Clean Network Security" that aims to keep untrusted telecommunications vendors out of Slovenia, meaning the country's 5G network will bar Chinese companies like Huawei. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is on a visit to Central Europe, said in a press conference "Free nations must work together to confront authoritarian threats”.

Pompeo met with Slovenian officials in the mountain lake town of Bled, Slovenia, known as the "most beautiful castle" in the country. He said, "The tide is turning against the Chinese Communist Party and its efforts to control information". Over the past year, the U.S. has signed similar agreements with Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic, pledging that 5G suppliers would not be subject to control by a foreign government without independent judicial review, which effectively excludes Chinese telecommunication equipment makers such as Huawei from their 5G network.

Source: Apple Daily #Aug14
#Pompeo #5G #Huawei #US #CleanNet #Slovenia #CentralEurope

https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20200814/BVUIGKWJL5CY7CELAXNIG3ILD4/

Trump hints at banning more Chinese firms, Alibaba included

US President Donald Trump considers more Chinese companies sanctions and Alibaba could be the next target.

Asked at a press conference whether other Chinese companies such as Alibaba would be banned after targeting TikTok, President Trump replied, “Well, we're looking at other things, yes.”

According to a recent CNN analysis, Trump called Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, a friend of his after Ma said he would donate supplies to the US for fighting the pandemic. Still, Alibaba might become the next target. In a statement made earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the expansion of the Clean Network programme. He called on US allies around the world to prevent intellectual property, including COVID-19 vaccine research, from being stored and accessed on Chinese cloud-based service providers as such as Alibaba, Baidu, China Mobile, China Telecom and Tencent.

Source: Stand News #Aug16
#Alibaba #JackMa #CleanNetwork #Pompeo #US #Trump #Sanctions

Target to close all Confucius Institutes at America universities by the end of this year, Pompeo: China’s challenges are different from those during the Cold War

Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, stated in an interview on Tuesday local time (1st September), hoping that all Confucius Institutes at America universities can be closed before the end of this year, and said “I believe everyone can see the risks that related with China”.

In an interview with the Fox Business News, Pompeo stated that the Confucius Institutes which sponsored by the Chinese government are trying to recruit spies and collaborators from America universities, and believed that the universities should be aware of this problem. He said frankly, “I hope in the end of this year, we can close them all”. The US State Department announced in mid-August, that the Confucius Institutes to be registered as ‘Foreign Mission’. Pompeo described such organisation as ‘an entity that promotes Beijing’s global propaganda and vicious influence’. David Stilwell, the Chief Diplomat of the East Coast region, also asked those universities to ‘carefully’ understand what the Confucius Institutes have done.

The Sino-US relation has become increasingly tense, but when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the event of the French Institutes of International Relations few days ago, he had stated that ‘China never want a new Cold War’, and thought that “it is impossible to have a ‘new cold war’, to divide the world into two or three parties” in the era of globalization. In the interview that Pompeo had spoken with the Fox Business News, he responded that the Cold War analogy has a certain significance, but emphasized that the challenges from China are a bit different now, and US is also in face of economic challenge.

Pompeo pointed out that in response to the challenges, the Trump government has already taken various actions to limit the Huawei and other Chinese companies, and will see more actions and new announcements in the coming days. He said, “I hope in the coming days and weeks, I will see the US responding these challenges seriously, and all of this are for the sake of America’s economic benefits”.

Source from: Standnews #Sep02

#US #China #Trumpgovernment #confuciusinstitute #Mike #Pompeo

Belarusian Authorities said opposition attempts to seize power harm national security; Opposition leader calls citizens to stand up, or become a slave

After the Belarusian presidential election in early August, mass demonstrations broke out, with citizens forming human chains to protest against tyrannical rule. The opposition announced the establishment of a Coordination Committee earlier, requesting the government to discuss the transfer of power. The Belarusian General Prosecutor’s Office then charged the Committee on 20th August with suspicion of endangering national security.

The opposition announced the establishment of the Coordination Committee on 18th August, calling for government talks on the transfer of power. Members include Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, an opposition leader exiled to Lithuania, Nobel Laureate in Literature Svetlana Alexievich, and other famous individuals. The authorities accused the Coordination Committee of jeopardising national security and has now launched a criminal investigation. Attorney General Konyuk noted that the establishment and operation of the Coordination Committee was to seize state power, and emphasized that the transfer of power to the Coordination Committee is unconstitutional. Committee lawyer Maxim Znak and organiser of Minsk factory strikes Sergei Dylevsky were questioned by the government on 21st August.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya accepted an exclusive interview with the Britain Broadcasting Company (BBC), appealing to Belarusians to "stand till the end", and oppose the tyrannical rule of President Lukashenko. “If not now, we will be slaves”. She said that as long as her personal safety is ensured, she will return to the country. In a video speech earlier, she also called for Belarusians to be fearless and to escalate strike actions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier that the United State supports the international community in investigating the possibility of fraud in the Belarusian election, and will consider sanctions against Belarusian officials who participated in suppressing demonstrations. Russian President Putin said that any interference in the situation in Belarus or pressure on local leaders is unacceptable.

#Belarus #Election #Protests #Lukashenko #BBC #US #Pompeo #Russia #Putin

Source: Stand News #Aug22

Pompeo: Chinese Diplomats Banned from Visiting US Unis or Meeting US Officials Without Authorization

The US state secretary Mike Pompeo has issued a statement announcing that Chinese diplomats will need the US state department’s permission to visit American universities or meet with American officials. The statement said also that if the Chinese embassy or a Chinese consulate wishes to host a cultural event with more than 50 participants outside of its property, approval from the state department will also be needed. Pompeo added that the state department will take actions to ensure all the Chinese diplomatic missions’ official social media accounts are correctly identified as the accounts of the Chinese government.

Explaining the actions against the Chinese government’s social media accounts, the statement said that the US embassy is not given full access to Chinese social media and that Chinese citizens are prevented from using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.

At the beginning of the statement, Pompeo said that China has deviated significantly from diplomatic norms in making American diplomatic missions there immensely difficult. He also criticized the Chinese authorities’ vetting processes for being opaque and for preventing US diplomats from conducting normal operations and keeping in touch with Chinese citizens. He further pointed out that US diplomats often run into obstructions when organizing cultural events, formal meetings, and university visits.

The statement said in contrast, Chinese diplomats in the US have free access to American society. Pompeo notes that the new policy is a response to the limitations China has imposed on American diplomats over the years. It is hoped that the Chinese government will make improvements, he said. Should China lift the restrictions it has imposed on American diplomats, the statement added, the US is ready to respond in kind.

Source: Stand News #Sep03

#US #China #Pompeo #Embassy #Consulate #Diplomacy

https://bit.ly/2R49qf1