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We provide translation of news in English from local media and other sources, for academic use.
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#Mainlandization
Chinese biotech companies appointed by HK Government for #COVID19 testing

Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that three national-level testing facilities will be in charge of voluntary community testing in Hong Kong that will be launched in two weeks. The three facilities include #BGI Group, #KingMed and #Hybribio.

BGI Group was recently sanctioned by the US government for facilitating mandatory gene testing in Xinjiang, while the other two are closely related to the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) government.

Hybribio is under the Chinese Academy of Science and Shanghai Atomic Nucleus Institute of the Shanghai local committee. KingMed set up a branch in Hong Kong in 2014, while its parent company Guangzhou KingMed Diagnostics is managed by CCP committee members. Its major shareholder Liang Yaoming is also the Secretary of Party Committee. Liang stated in a previous interview that KingMed will be responsible for the “testing” in Hong Kong.

Source: Stand News #Aug8 #WuhanPnemonia
#Mainlandization #Sinicization
#Poll: 64% Respondents Consider #HKU's Appointment of Mainland Professors as Vice-Presidents as Against Principle of Fairness

Source: InMedia #Nov6

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#Mainlandization #Sinicization
#Poll: 64% Respondents Consider #HKU's Appointment of Mainland Professors as Vice-Presidents as Against Principle of Fairness

The governing council of the University of Hong Kong (#HKU) appointed two professors from mainland China, Max Shen Zuojan and Gong Peng, as vice-presidents. Shen is suspected to be a Communist Party member but the council clarified that the allegations are found to be unsubstantiated.

The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (#PORI) has interviewed 5,767 Hong Kong citizens in November 2020. The survey asked the question: 'The University of Hong Kong recently appointed two scholars from Tsinghua University, Max Shen and Peng Gong, as Vice-Presidents. How much do you consider the appointment to comply with, or not comply with, the principle of fairness?'.

89% of the pro-democracy respondents said the appointment did not comply with the principle of fairness. A total of 64% of respondents, pro-democracy or otherwise, considered the appointment 'not quite comply', ' very much not comply' and 'entirely not comply' with the principle.

Dr. Chan King-ming, associate professor at the School of Life Sciences of Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK) and the former chairman of the Teacher's Association of CUHK, said that this appointment clearly shows the mainlandization and Sinicization of HKU.

Chan added that when he was the union chief a few years ago, a number of his colleagues at CUHK complained the use of Mandarin during meetings, 'it is now mainlandization, not globalization.'

Chan mentioned that since many mainland Chinese scholars had returned to China from the US, Hong Kong had become one of their preferred destinations. He worried that these scholars are being intentionally installed in different universities and organizations in Hong Kong. He added that HKU's appointment this time was related to the earlier change in the governance structure, such as the direct interventions occurring in the governing council and the Court. Such things had actually happened 15 years ago at the university.'

Chan also criticized that this appointment had already posed threats to academic freedom and institutional autonomy, and noted that the issue of resource allocation was involved here as a number of scholars had been invited to work in mainland China, especially the Greater Bay Area.

Regarding the National Security Law, Chan remarked that chilling effect had already been brought by the reporting hotline set up by the Police's National Security Department, and 'Cultural Revolution 2.0' had come. Some students had begun self-censoring as they changed the names of their online accounts.

Source: InMedia #Nov6
https://bit.ly/34ZHErD

#AcademicFreedom #University #Academia #CCPControl #CulturalRevolution
#CCPControl #FailedState
The #Mainlandization of Hong Kong Legislature: First Bill After Pan-Democrats' Resignation Passed Near-Unanimously

After the whole pan-Democratic camp resigned in solidarity following the removal of 4 elected lawmakers by Beijing, the Legislature in Hong Kong has passed its first bill on Nov 13, 2020 with a near-unanimous vote, on an amendment concerning parking meters.

Such results have been common at the Chinese National People's Congress, famous for its one-party rule, and Hong Kong's Legislature has finally begun to resemble it.

The single opposition vote is also highly reminiscent of the recent Chinese Congress vote on Hong Kong's National Security Law, in which one single "no" vote stood against thousands of "yes" votes. Less than 5 months after the law has gone into effect, Hong Kong's lawmaking body seems to have already been transformed into the likeness of its single-party counterpart in China.

Image: RTHK; Arm Channel #Nov13
#Education #University
Open University of Hong Kong renamed Metropolitan University

The Open University of Hong Kong (#OUHK) announced on December 11, 2020 that it will be renamed "Hong Kong Metropolitan University", following a public consultation earlier this year.

University president Wong Yuk-shan claimed with Hong Kong being "a vibrant, international metropolitan city", this name is most suitable and expandable meeting the University's expansion plan in the future.

The name-change decision immediately invited keen discussion online. On the popular LIHKG forum, most comments made fun of the short form of the new name, which could roughly be translated into "also a university" or "also big", others said it sounds more like the name of a hotel or a nightclub.

Source: Inmediahk.net; RTHK #Dec11
https://bit.ly/3oGn2vx

#Mainlandization #MetropolitanU #CCPControl
#Mainlandization #CCP
China's Maoyan Entertainment Becomes Hong Kong's New Ticketing System; Concert Tickets will have to be Purchased through Chinese Firm

Source: Apple Daily #Dec16

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#Mainlandization #CCP
China's Maoyan Entertainment Becomes Hong Kong's New Ticketing System; Concert Tickets will have to be Purchased through Chinese Firm


China's biggest ticketing operator Maoyan Entertainment (1896) won the tender to the ticketing services offered by the Hong Kong government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department at a low price of 91.7 million HKD, which is cheaper than 7 years ago.

The local firm Cityline which had been the ticket system provider for 14 years stated that it is quite difficult to hire IT talents and resources in Hong Kong with the same price, and it will end its service at the end of 2021.

If citizens want to book tickets for 28 venues including Hung Hom Stadium and Queen Elizabeth Stadium, they will have to purchase through the Chinese firm. Experts have expressed their concerns about the user's privacy issues.

Source: Apple Daily #Dec16
https://hk.appledaily.com/finance/20201216/SMZGYBJM65FSHCNR5QOVXVFPPY/

#BigData #Privacy #Maoyan
#Breaking #Mainlandization #1C1S
Public Broadcaster in Hong Kong Follows China's Decision to Lift #BBC

Recently, the British authorities cancelled the licence of the Chinese Communist Party-funded English channel #CGTN in the United Kingdom.

On the early morning of Feb 12, 2021, Beijing responded by accusing BBC of "serious content violations" and banning BBC World News in "Chinese territory".

Two Reuters journalists in China said the channel had gone blank on their screens. Although it was said that BBC would remain available in Hong Kong, the public broadcaster #RTHK in Hong Kong announced on the same day that BBC World News would be lifted from their program from 11pm onwards that day, due to the decision of the broadcasting regulator in Beijing.

Source: RTHK #Feb12
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1575376-20210212.htm

#UK #CCPControl #Regime #Retaliation #Censorship
#PoliticalSuppression #BNO
Hong Kong authorities tells 14 countries to stop accepting special British passport

//The Hong Kong government on March 25, 2021 confirmed a Reuters report that it had told 14 countries to stop accepting a British travel document that many of its young people use to apply for working holiday visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia...

“The Hong Kong government has no authority to dictate which passports foreign governments recognise as valid,” a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said when asked about the Reuters report.

“The UK will continue to issue British Nationals (Overseas) passports which remain valid travel documents.”

Almost 3 million Hong Kong residents hold or are eligible for the BNO document that was created ahead of Britain handing the city back to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong has also started to mirror mainland China by not recognising dual nationality, preventing for the first time foreign diplomats from visiting locals with foreign passports in detention...//

Read full article:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-security-passports-exclusive-idUSKBN2BH0PR

Source: Reuters #Mar25

#FailedState #Mainlandization #Passport #TravellingDocument
#Mainlandization
HK Authorities Raze 10,000 Sq. Feet of #Agriculture To The Ground, Local Farmers Could Merely Rescue Surviving Crops

On April 9, 2021, Mr. Chik, a Hong Kong farmer, was notified by the Lands Department that staff from the Civil Engineering and Development Department are “doing work” on their farmland in Tsiu Keng Pang Uk Village.

When he arrived, he found that all his crops had been razed down and the affected area was estimated to be more than 10,000 square feet.

“If there are roots, they can still grow.” Mr. Chik and the farmers who came to help search around the field for any plants that could still be grown and took them away. “We are trying to save as many as possible.”

They placed the rescued plants and wood planks on handcarts and took them to a small field outside of one of the farmer’s house for temporary storage.

“If you ask where I can move my field, I really don’t know. The whole New Territories is being resumed, all our living spaces are compromised for the sake of development, where else could we go?”

Source: In-Media HK #April17
https://bit.ly/2Qeuq5E

#FailedState #NewTerritories #LandResumption #Farmland
#Mainlandization #PoliceState
Over 100 Police Evict Residents From Village in Hong Kong

Source: InMedia; Apple Daily #Apr27

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