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Letter to Ms Boseley, The Guardian

Editor’s note: This is a letter from a subscriber of our channel.

Dear Ms Boseley,

I would like to provide some feedback on your article "Test and trace: lessons from Hong Kong on avoiding a coronavirus lockdown" published on 17 April 2020.

There is nothing you can learn from Hong Kong unless you want your country to degenerate into a failed state. The reasons why we could cope with the coronavirus better than other places are simply that (1) Hongkongers have lost all trust and confidence in our government; (2) we know by instinct that Chinese figures are fake. We know in our hearts that the Hong Kong government is ignorant, incompetent and totally untrustworthy, that it has been blind and deaf for many months, that it would never put the interests of Hongkongers in any priority. To survive, we must rely on ourselves solely.

The terrible experience of SARS in 2003 definitely helps raise the awareness of personal and public hygiene. You are quite right to point it out. When we heard about the outbreak in China in late January, we knew instantly what we needed and which items of personal protective equipment (PPE) were the most essential. Everyone rushed to buy face masks and alcohol hand gel between late January and the entire February. And I must remind you that WHO said wearing masks had little to no effect in preventing the coronavirus infection. Ordinary Hongkongers have done all we can to find PPE from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, North America, South America and the whole Europe.

I need to emphasise it is "ordinary Hongkongers" because our government has never assisted the people of Hong Kong to acquire any PPE. Frontline health workers repeatedly said they did not have sufficient masks (doctors and nurses had to reuse their masks all day long). It was "ordinary Hongkongers", many of whom donated a few boxes each time to the medics. When we learnt that elderly people and low-income families could not afford to buy masks as prices went up more than 10 times, residents and shop owners in the neighbourhoods volunteered to provide free resources, such as masks, gloves, alcohol, liquid bleach, etc. In the time of coronavirus we have created an economy and a culture of mutual self-help. The solidarity of Hongkongers, the spirit and willingness to fight for the benefits of our fellows (by acquiring PPE from around the world and sharing it with others), the determination and sense of urgency to protect this place that is our home, these have nothing to do with WHO guidelines.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/Letter-to-Ms-Boseley-The-Guardian-04-22

#SelfHelp #HongKong #Epidemic #Coronavirus #MedicalStaffStrike #TravelBan #WHO #Taiwan #ChinaThreat #ChinesePropaganda
Oxford Uni Bans Content Recordings and Allows Anonymous Homework Due to the Fears on Guilty of Words

The shock from Minato National Security Law influences Oxford University in the UK that they introduced new measures to protect the students who study China-related subjects. The institution allows them to hand in their work anonymously, at the same time it bans related education recordings, or share the content with others.

Minato National Security Law not only regulates Hongkongers in Hong Kong but also allows the Hong Kong government to prosecute foreigners or overseas action. Many scholars worry that relevant laws will threaten academic freedom, and even affect the personal safety of students and teachers. Following the US Universities implemented measures on student’s identity protection and personal safety late last month, Oxford University also introduced similar new measures to protect the students. The Guardian stated the university allows students who study China-related subjects to hand in their homework anonymously, and tutorial class changes to one-to-one teaching from group format. Oxford will ban students from recording lessons or sharing lesson contents to others. Violators will be disciplined.

Assistant Professor, specialized in China, at Oxford University, Patricia Thornton, said to The Guardian “We are all Hongkongers”, and believed that foreign regulations could deport students. Thornton emphasized that she would not adjust the content of the lesson due to the National Security Law, at the same time, she understands she has the responsibility to protect the student, same as her colleagues in the US. Therefore, she allows anonymous works handing in and one-to-one teaching. She also stated, “the spirit of a tutorial class depends on the clash of students’ opinions, success or failure is also based on whether the institution can ensure everyone can enjoy the speech freedom, expression freedom and academic freedom.” She questioned China’s implementation of the National Security Law against Hong Kong intensifies self-censorship, and the law also regulates overseas behaviour. China can arbitrarily interfere in any places which are hard to practice tutorial classes and guarantee academic freedom.

England University Principal Organisation, Universities UK, will discuss National Security Law with Chinese scholars at the beginning of next month. Some local scholars plan to present the first draft of the code of conduct this week, to help universities dealing with students from authoritarian countries to study locally. British Association for Chinese Studies warned universities should not make “teachers be careful in the teaching content” because of the National Security Law, or removed China-related content from the syllabus because of the difficulty of safe teaching.

British universities are a popular choice for students from Hong Kong and China. The Guardian quoted stated with data, the number of Chinese international students in higher education institutions in the UK has increased by more than one-third in the past four years, reaching a total of 120,000. In 2018-2019 alone, 35% of students from non-EU countries were Chinese students and believed that it would continue to increase in the future.

Source: Stand News #Sep29

#China #England #US #NationalSecurityLaw #TheGuardian #InternationalStudent #Anonymous #RecordingBan #Hongkongers #PersonalSafety #OxfordUniversity
British Think Tank: China Will Replace the United States as the World's Largest Economy in 2028, claimed to Have Rapid Recovery after Covid-19

A British think tank expects China to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy by 2028, five years earlier than last year's forecast. It also predicts that China, which per capita income exceeded US$10,000, is expected to become a "high-income economy" in the next five years.

The Guardian reported on 26 Dec, 20 that the British tank Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has made the above forecast. The report also said that a year ago, CEBR predicted that China would not overtake the U.S. until 2033, but now the prediction has been brought forward.

CEBR studies the economic growth rates of 193 countries around the world. In its review of China, the consultancy group said China would narrow the gap with its biggest rival as it rapidly recovers from the effects of Covid-19 while the U.S. gets dragged by the pandemic. CEBR expects China's economy to grow at an average annual rate of 5.7% from 2021 to 2025 and 4.5% from 2026 to 2030. The Center also expects a strong rebound from the U.S. in 2021, but growth is likely to slow to 1.9% per year from 2022 to 2024 and further to 1.6% thereafter.

#thinktank #Covid19 #China #US #economy #rivalry #TheGuardian #CEBR

Source: Stand News #Dec26

https://bit.ly/3ai2ULX
#Newspaper
#NationalSecurityLaw Charges Over #AppleDaily Editors and Executives Raise Concern Over Hongkongers' Situation Across the World

The Hong Kong police arrest of #AppleDaily senior staff on June 17, 2021 has been widely reported by news outlets across the world. 

On June 19, the newspaper's editor-in-chief #RayLaw and #NextDigital CEO #CheungKimHung were mentioned in court for national security charges and were remanded afterwards. The next trial will take place in August 2021.

June 20, 2021 marks the 26th anniversary of the establishment of Apple Daily in Hong Kong. It is the only pro-democracy Chinese-language newspaper in print in the city.

===

#Reuters

//Five hundred Hong Kong police officers sifted through reporters’ computers and notebooks at pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily on Thursday, the first case in which authorities have cited media articles as potentially violating the national security law.

“This is a blatant attack on the editorial side of Apple Daily,” Mark Simon, an adviser to Lai who is outside Hong Kong, told Reuters. “They’re arresting the top editorial folks.”

Asked how long he thinks the newspaper can survive, Simon said: “They decide, not us,” referring to authorities.//

Full article:
https://www.reuters.com/article/hongkong-security-apple-daily/update-2-hks-apple-daily-says-police-arrest-five-directors-in-latest-blow-to-tycoon-jimmy-lai-idUSL2N2NZ006

=====

#TheGuardian

//The raids were condemned by journalism and human rights groups.

Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the arrests destroyed “any remaining fiction that Hong Kong supports freedom of the press”.

“China, which controls Hong Kong, may be able to eliminate the paper, which it sees as an annoying critic, but only at a steep price to be paid by the people of Hong Kong, who had enjoyed decades of free access to information.”//

Full article:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/17/hong-kong-police-arrest-editor-in-chief-of-apple-daily-newspaper-in-morning-raids

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#CNN

//Press freedoms are a fundamental right guaranteed by Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution. But experts have worried about the usage of the national security law, and there have been indications of pressures on other media in the city. 

A recent ranking of worldwide press freedoms, meanwhile, indicates that the environment in Hong Kong has deteriorated. The international watchdog Reporters Without Borders — which qualifies such freedoms based on data on abuse and acts of violence against journalists along with a questionnaire to experts — ranked Hong Kong 80 out of 180 countries for press freedom, down from 18 out of 138 in 2002.//

Full article:

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/16/media/apple-daily-arrests-intl-hnk/index.html

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#Bloomberg

//“Hong Kong has been left with little free speech under the national security law, which is really aimed at silencing all dissent,” said Victoria Hui, an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. “Beijing has reined in Hong Kong and will continue to take whatever it takes to silence any dissenting voices.”

In a letter to readers on Thursday afternoon, Apple Daily said police officers confiscated a “large number of items,” including the computers of 38 journalists, over the course of a five-hour search of the company’s offices.

The newspaper said it now “faces an unprecedented crackdown by the regime,” but vowed its staff would be “standing firm” despite the growing pressure.

“Hong Kong’s press freedom is now hanging by a thread,” the letter said. “Though we are facing a sweeping clampdown on our publication, the staff of Apple Daily will hold fast to our duties faithfully and press on till the end to see the arrival of dawn.”//

Full article:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-16/hong-kong-arrests-apple-daily-editor-on-security-law-scmp-says

#PressFreedom #PoliceState #Censorship #PoliticalProsecution

Image: Stand News
Foreign Media Reporters Slammed for Obstructing Beijing Winter Olympics Coverage: Stalking, Harassment, and Reprimands

Foreign media reporters based in China issued a statement on 2 November, accusing the Chinese government of "constantly blocking" foreign media from covering Beijing Winter Olympics-related events, including denying or ignoring requests to cover the event, as well as stalking, harassing, bullying and making things difficult for reporters with almost impossible-to-reach epidemic prevention requirements.

The Guardian reported on 2 November that the Foreign Correspondents' Club in China (FCCC) issued a sternly worded statement on Twitter accusing the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympics of failing to uphold the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s charter requirement to adequately ensure media coverage of the Games for a global audience, “Our members have repeatedly asked (the Beijing Winter Games Organizing Committee) how the international media can cover the Games, but have been met with conflicting answers or have been completely ignored.”

The Beijing Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place next February. The statement said that in the past year, most of the FCCC reporters were unable to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics press conference or related events, while domestic Chinese reporters were allowed to cover the event; many of the dates of the press conference were not announced in advance or were announced only a few hours before the press conference. Foreign journalists were denied access to the event because the Beijing Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee limited their participation to selected media outlets, announced that the number of participants was full, or requested that participants submit their COVID-19 test results within a few hours, which was almost impossible.

Source: LibertyTimesNet #Nov03

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.ltn.com.tw/amp/news/world/breakingnews/3724243

#China #Beijing #ForeignMedia #BeijingOlympicWinterGames #BeijingWinterGamesOrganizingCommittee #InternationalOlympicCommittee #IOC #ForeignCorrespondentsClubinChina #FCCC #TheGuardian