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The Five Eyes plans to sanction China to counter Beijing's trade war against Australia

China has been making moves to put pressure on Australian trade. The Australian media reported that the Five Eyes Alliance, which consists of Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, has recently discussed how to deal with the situation and has not ruled out imposing trade sanctions against China. Australia has just formally filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization today against the China-initiated trade war.

According to reports, the Five Eyes Alliance is negotiating to respond to China’s trade sanctions against Australia. The U.S. is actively considering the possibility that each of the five countries may impose trade restrictions on Chinese goods or services, or that only Australia may impose punitive tariffs on China. The other four countries are open to express their support.

Fergus Hanson, the Director of International Cyber Policy Centre of Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that the Five Eyes could also refer to Article 5 of NATO. It establishes a collective defence mechanism for member states which can respond to China's trade sanctions against Australia. “Only in this way can let the CCP realize that it (the trade sanctions) is a two-way street. Our current approach is not a solution to this problem."

Source: Apple Daily #Dec16

https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20201216/JR6ZDIMKLJCKJF7LS7G4CT4AEY/

#FiveEyesAlliance #AustralianChinaRelations #Australia #US #UK #Canada #NewZealand #tradewar #WTO #FergusHanson #ASPI
Torres Strait Islanders' fear over $200m Chinese fishery handshake with PNG

China’s ministry of commerce has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PNG to build a $200 million "comprehensive multi-functional fishery industrial park" on Daru Island in Western Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Torres Strait Islanders say they are "very nervous" about China's plan to build a fish processing plant on their doorstep, and are seeking urgent talks with the Australian Government.

There are calls to review the Torres Strait Treaty, which allows PNG nationals to fish in Australian waters. Chinese could use the Torres Strait Treaty to "vacuum-up" fish.

Source: ABC #Dec16

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-16/china-fishery-fears-for-torres-strait-islanders/12988998

#PNG #TorresStraitTreaty #China #Australia
As China Tracked Muslims, Alibaba Showed Customers How They Could, Too

The website of Alibaba, one of the world’s most valuable internet companies, taught its corporate customers how they could detect members of a minority group with its facial recognition software. The feature was built into Alibaba software that helps web platforms monitor digital content for material related to terrorism, pornography and other red-flag categories, the website said.

After The Times asked Alibaba about the tool, the company edited its website to remove the references to Uighur and minority faces and declined to explained why information of this feature had been included official documentation of its software.

Source: New York Times #Dec16

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/technology/alibaba-china-facial-recognition-uighurs.html?referringSource=articleShare

#Alibaba #China #FacialRecognition #Muslim
China Charges Hong Kong Activists Caught Fleeing to Taiwan

Ten Hong Kong activists who were captured at sea while trying to flee to Taiwan in August 2020 were charged in mainland China with illegal boundary-crossing offenses on Dec 16 2020.

The Yantian district of the city of Shenzhen said in a statement that eight of the activists were sentenced up to one year in prison. Also, two others, Tang Kai-yin and Quinn Moon, were charged with the more serious offense of organizing the escape attempt, punishable by up to seven years.

Another two, who are juveniles, are due to have a separate, closed hearing into their cases, but no charges were announced.

The group of twelve activists ranges in age from 17 to 33.

Source: New York Times #Dec16

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/world/asia/china-hong-kong-activists-charged-taiwan.html

#12HKYouths #HongKong #HongKongProtestor
Exclusive-Suspected Chinese hackers stole camera footage from African Union - memo

Source: Reuters #Dec16

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Exclusive-Suspected Chinese hackers stole camera footage from African Union - memo

The African Union’s (AU) technology staffers discovered that a group of suspected Chinese hackers had rigged a cluster of servers in the basement of an administrative annex to quietly siphon surveillance videos from across the AU’s sprawling campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

The security breach was carried out by a Chinese hacking group nicknamed “Bronze President,” according to a five-page internal memo reviewed by Reuters. It said the affected cameras covered “AU offices, parking areas, corridors, and meeting rooms.” Bronze President operated from China and had been detected in espionage campaigns targeting China’s neighbors, including Mongolia and India.

Some American and European officials have voiced concern as Beijing has stepped in to meet the AU’s needs - part of an Africa-wide shift that has seen China become the continent’s top creditor.

Chinese workers built the AU’s showpiece new conference center in 2012 and Chinese technicians still help maintain the organization’s digital infrastructure.

Source: Reuters #Dec16

https://www.reuters.com/article/ethiopia-african-union-cyber-exclusive/exclusive-suspected-chinese-hackers-stole-camera-footage-from-african-union-memo-idUKKBN28Q1EB?edition-redirect=uk

#AfricanUnion #AU #China #BronzePresident #Chinahecker
WHO research team expected to travel to Wuhan to investigate coronavirus origin

Source: The Guardian #Dec16

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WHO research team expected to travel to Wuhan to investigate coronavirus origin

A World Health Organization (WHO) research mission to China is expected to arrive in Wuhan in Jan 2021 to investigate how the novel coronavirus jumped from animals to humans. Most scientists think the virus Sars-Cov-2 began in animals in China, most likely bats, before jumping to human.

Initial attempts by Chinese authorities to cover up the outbreak, including detaining citizen journalists and punishing doctors, and a reported reluctance to allow the WHO or others to investigate inside China only added to hostilities throughout the year.

Chinese authorities and state media have also stepped up an apparent campaign, Covid-19 did not originate in China. State-run media said in a social media post that “all available evidence suggests that the coronavirus did not start in central China’s Wuhan”.

However Michael Ryan, director of health emergencies programme at WHO, told reporters in Nov 2020 that it would be “highly speculative” to argue that the disease did not emerge in China.

Source: The Guardian #Dec16

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/16/who-research-team-expected-to-travel-to-wuhan-to-investigate-coronavirus-origin?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

#Covid19 #WHO #Covid19Origina #Covid19Investigation #China
As China Tracked Muslims, Alibaba Showed Customers How They Could, Too

As the Chinese government tracked and persecuted members of predominantly Muslim minority groups, the technology giant Alibaba taught its corporate customers how they could play a part.

Alibaba’s website for its cloud computing business showed how clients could use its software to detect the faces of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities within images and videos. The feature was built into Alibaba software that helps web platforms monitor digital content for material related to terrorism, pornography and other red-flag categories, the website said.

It could not be determined whether or how Alibaba’s clients had used the minority detection tool. But the potential for troubling use is high.

Source: NYT #Dec16

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/technology/alibaba-china-facial-recognition-uighurs.html

#Alibaba #China #Uyghur #Xinjiang #Surveillance
A future in which China no longer needs the world but the world cannot spin without it’

Chinese President Xi Jinping is probably the only national leader in the world who has managed to consolidate power despite facing the threat of the novel coronavirus.

Helped by the Chinese Communist party’s authoritarian one-party rule, he will continue to wield power as the country’s supreme leader over the next five years. Mr Xi’s extended reign and his ambitions could prove problematic for the incoming US president, Joe Biden.

The Chinese leader has been laying out his vision of a China-centric world since earlier this year. The speech he delivered at an early April meeting was recently published in the November 1 edition of party journal Qiushi. 

Source: The Financial Times #Dec16

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-scientific-collaboration-with-china-under-the-microscope-in-canada/

#China #XiJinping #CCP #US #President #JoeBiden.
#RecordBreaking
Hong Kong Olympic hero Siobhan Haughey makes swimming history

#SiobhanHaughey became the first-ever swimmer from the Asian nation to break a world record as she won gold at the 2021 #FINA short course world championships.

The 24-year-old broke world record in the 200m freestyle final on December 16 to win gold at the 2021 FINA Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Haughey clocked 1:50.31, 0.12 seconds faster than previous mark from 2017: That's the first-ever swimming world record set by an athlete from Hong Kong.

She is also the first swimmer from Hong Kong to win a world title or any medal at the championships.

“This is a huge moment for me and my country,” she said. “I’m Hong Kong’s first-ever world champion & world record holder. I hope this is just the start for me and other swimmers in my country.”

Source: Stand News, #Dec16

#Sportsmanship #WorldRecord #Swimmer
Hong Kong Pro-democracy Activist #RayChan Gets Married in Face of #PoliticalProsecution

Activist and former legislator Ray CHAN Chi-chuen is one of the 47 pro-democracy figures who were charged over national security violations for participating in the Primary Election of the pro-democracy camp in July 2020.

In face of political prosection, Chan, while on bail, decided to get married. Chan thanked his partner for supporting him during his arrests, trials, and detention.

The ceremony took place in Hong Kong on December 15, 2021. Since Hong Kong's law does not recognise same sex marriage and Chan's passport has been confiscated by the authorities, Chan and his partner registered their marriage virtually in Utah of the United States.

Chan is the first #LGBTQ legislator in Hong Kong. He has been detained for half a year before his bail was granted in September 2021.

Source: Stand News #Dec16
https://thestandnews.page.link/LQ5BCkoEfqDpFsFm7

#Save47 #PoliticalProsecution #Pride #SameSexMarriage
#Regime #WhiteTerror
HK Government Arrest at least 10 Civilians for 'Inciting' #BlankVotes in “Patriots-only” #LegCoElection

Source: Inmediahk.net; #Dec16

Read more
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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/31649
#Regime #WhiteTerror
HK Government Arrest at least 10 Civilians for 'Inciting'
#BlankVotes in “Patriots-only” #LegCoElection

As of December 16, 2021, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (#ICAC) has arrested a total of 10 civilians suspected of "inciting" others not to vote, or to cast invalid votes.

The latest two civilians were arrested and accused of sharing a social media post by democrat and former lawmaker #TedHui, who is in self-imposed exile in Australia. In the post, Hui called for Hongkongers to cast blank votes in the upcoming “patriots only” legislative election as a form of “silent protest.”

Responding to the arrest, Hui wrote on his Facebook page that “I’m confident and I believe, HongKongers, who know the true meaning of ‘#BeWater’, would know what to do on election day.”

This time, Hui added a prominent disclaimer to this facebook post, which wrote “the tyranny has been making rampant arrests. Avoid public dissemination, but please share the post privately.”

Source: Inmediahk.net; #Dec16
https://bit.ly/3Fd6nZ2

#Elections #CCP #LegCo #Protest #SocialMedia #Censorship
US Terminates HKETO to Get Rid of China's Propaganda in the US

Source: Commons #Dec16

http://cmmns.co/ejN8w

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US Terminates HKETO to Get Rid of China's Propaganda in the US

With the implementation of #NationalSecueityLaw (#NSL) in 2020, the US has announced that they no longer recognise Hong Kong's autonomy; One-Country-Two-Systems is also dead.

On 15 Dec, Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Chris Smith requested the US to re-assess the privilege and status of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (#HKETO) under the HKETO Certification Acts. They believe HKETO has become Hong Kong's propaganda and urge the US to completely remove them from the country.

Chris Smith described that China's dictator, #XiJinping, suppressed civil and political rights in Hong Kong with NSL, destroying the #BasicLaw and #SinoBritishJointDeclaration. He pointed out that the #USCongress had once published Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in 2020 to decline Hong Kong's autonomy. Therefore, US Law should reflect the fact. At the moment, HKETO is only China's propaganda with no reason for its existence inside the US border.

The HKETO Certificate Act requests the US President to prove whether their Offices can continue having the current privilege within 30 days after it has been passed. If the President opposes their existence, the government must revoke the offices' benefits, and they must cease operation in 6 months. Even if the President agrees on the privilege, Congress can still disapprove.

Executive Director of Hong Kong Democracy Council (#HKDC), Anna Kwok, mentioned the 3 locations of the HKETO offices in the US in Washington, New York and San Francisco on her Facebook Page. HKDC and other HongKonger organisations in the US found out the HKETO promoting "Hong Kong is back" earlier. They present a false picture of peace and prosperity, claiming Hong Kong as a free and democratic place.

#China #US #OneCountryTwoSystems #MarcoRubio #ChrisSmith #AnnaKwok

Source: Commons #Dec16

http://cmmns.co/ejN8w