The Famous Reporter Jonathan Mirsky, being Beaten up in the June 4 Incident, has Passed Away at Aged 88

Source: Stand News #Sep12

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The Famous Reporter Jonathan Mirsky, being Beaten up in the June 4 Incident, has Passed Away at Aged 88

A famous reporter Jonathan Mirsky had passed away in Britain on September 5, at the age of 88. Jonathan had been concerning about China throughout his life. He once had a live report on the June 4th incident in Tiananmen Square. He was beaten by armed police until his left arm was broken and three teeth fell out. Jonathan has worked for The Times in Hong Kong since 1993 and resigned in 1998 due to the soft attitude to China from owner Rupert Murdoch.

During the Vietnam War, like many intellectuals at the time, Jonathan Mirsky, as a scholar, actively criticised the United States. He also opposed the United States for isolating the policies of China, which he used to believe the protest of Mao was beneficial to China. In 1972, he was invited to visit China for six weeks as a Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars member. He noticed that the organiser tried to hide a few terrible situations in China. Because of this, he changed his mind from a Mao fan to a counter-revolutionary.

Source: Stand News #Sep12

https://bit.ly/3kwVxFz

#JonathanMirsky #June4 #China #TiananmenSquare #HongKong #VietnamWar #UnitedStates #Mao #Protest

#WhiteTerror
Rumour swirls that University of Hong Kong attempts to remove "#PillarofShame" from its campus

Source: Stand News #Oct2

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#WhiteTerror
Rumour swirls that University of Hong Kong attempts to remove "#PillarofShame" from its campus

A Hong Kong media revealed in recent days that the University of Hong Kong (#HKU) plans to remove the Pillar of Shame, an artwork which pays tribute to victims of June 4 Tiananmen massacre in Beijing in 1989, from its campus.

The university declined to comment, although the spokesperson stressed that the university will regularly conduct campus-wide risk assessment.

Richard Tsoi, who was vice-chairman of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, urged the university to allow the display of statue as in past 20 years.

Tsoi saw no reason for authorities to make change to its current practice.

A year 4 student, Leung, came to take picture of the statue after the news swirled. Leung claimed that the authority would be in delusion to think that by removing the statue, it could also remove people's memory of the Tiananmun Massacre in China in 1989.

Leung, however, admitted that he is pessimistic that no one would defend the statue from being removed from the campus, amidst national security law and tightened CCP grip cracking down freedom in Hong Kong.

The Pillar of Shame, an eight-metre tall statue of twisted bodies created by Danish artist #JensAlschiøt, has stood at the university for 24 years.

Galschiøt was shocked to learnt the University attempts to remove the statue. He said removing the statue is
blasphemous to victims of the incident and unethical.

Source: Stand News; #Oct2

https://thestandnews.page.link/zBwQn9r8E14fpqyK9

#ArtWork #June4 #Tiananmen #Regime #University

#CUSU
50-year-old Student Union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Announces Its Dissolution Under Political Pressure

Source: CUSU’s Official Facebook Page #Oct7

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/31205

#CUSU
50-year-old Student Union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Announces Its Dissolution Under Political Pressure

On October 7, 2021, the Student Union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUSU) stated that the University Management had announced in February 2021 that the they would stop collecting fees on behalf of the Student Union starting this academic year, and had demanded that the Union register independently of the University to government agencies instead of recognising their registration in the campus as was wont.

The Student Union had sought professional legal opinion on this matter, who advised that the Union that “the ordinance does not apply to CUSU”.

The Union stated that the 50-year-old history of the Student Union may be put to an end were they to follow the legal opinion, and put them in a dilemma if they didn’t.

For the welfare of the student body, the Union stated, the Union called a joint meeting on 10 September, 2021, and accepted the resignation of all student representatives of the Union Council and the motion to dissolve the Student Union.

Read the official statement here:
https://www.facebook.com/416069858455429/posts/4661717883890584/?d=n

Source: CUSU’s Official Facebook Page #Oct7

#Dissolution #CUHK #StudentUnion #University #PoliticalOppression #Regime

#GlobalSolidarity
Czech Terezín Memorial Exhibits Portraits of Hong Kong Political Prisoners

Source: Stand News #Oct1

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#GlobalSolidarity
Czech Terezín Memorial Exhibits Portraits of Hong Kong #PoliticalPrisoners

A painting installation by Hong Kong artist #LorettaLau depicting some Hong Kong political prisoners will open on 7 October 2021 in Terezín Memorial, a former #NAZI concentration camp in the #CzechRepublic.

Lau was invited to take part in Fortress 1980 exhibition and human rights conference. Titled ‘The Cells’, the paintings are installed in solitary confinement cells, a stark reminder of ‘the nature of the dictators has never changed,’ said Lau.

'The Cells' features 13 political prisoners under the Hong Kong National Security Law, including Jimmy Lai Chi-ying, Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, Tony Chung Hon-lam, Agnes Chow Ting, and more.

A faint portrait of each prisoner is painted on a piece of white door curtain installed at the entrance to a solitary confinement cell.

To have a clear view of the portraits, visitors must walk into the cells. Looking from inside out, the images will be lit up by the light outside.

The design aims to arouse the visitor’s empathy with those imprisoned. ‘I hope by having them walking into the cells, they will have a direct and personal experience of how being confined feels like,’ said Loretta.

*Note: The artist Loretta Lauwill stage a live performance at Terezín Memorial at 5pm Thursday Oct 7 (HKT 2300). She will use her movements and voices to commemorate the countless people who suffered in the concentration camps, to resonate between the tragedies in the past and the happening misfortunes.

The performance will be streamed live at: https://youtu.be/IZ6b-KPctOk

Source: Stand News #Oct1

https://www.thestandnews.com/art/%E6%8D%B7%E5%85%8B%E7%B4%8D%E7%B2%B9%E9%9B%86%E4%B8%AD%E7%87%9F%E7%B4%80%E5%BF%B5%E9%A4%A8%E5%B1%95%E8%A6%BD-%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E8%97%9D%E8%A1%93%E5%AE%B6%E7%8D%B2%E9%82%80%E5%8F%83%E8%88%87-%E5%B1%95%E5%87%BA%E5%9C%8B%E5%AE%89%E6%B3%95%E8%A2%AB%E6%8D%95%E8%80%85%E8%82%96%E5%83%8F

#Art #Culture #Installation #Exhibition #TheCell #ProtestArt #ConcentrationCamp

#Newspaper #CCPRules
‘Red Roulette’ Uncovers Covert Hands in Hong Kong

Source: Bloomberg #Oct3
Photo: Chan Long Hei

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#Newspaper #CCPRules
‘Red Roulette’ Uncovers Covert Hands in Hong Kong

//#China has long accused foreign elements of being behind the protests that convulsed Hong Kong in 2019. Authorities returned to the theme in recent days, with the foreign ministry releasing a 6,300-word “fact sheet” of U.S. interference in the territory.

None of the material in either report offers proof of the so-called black hands that Beijing has frequently invoked in its denunciations of external meddling...

There is, though, an account of behind-the-scenes manipulation by an external presence that sought to incite demonstrations in Hong Kong. It’s just that it comes from the other side. 

Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China is a memoir by Shanghai-born businessman #DesmondShum that was published this month. The book has created a stir among China scholars because of its ringside view of the nexus of business and politics in Beijing. But Shum’s description of China’s actions in Hong Kong is also revealing. 

In Shum’s words, he was enlisted by the Communist Party to serve as a foot soldier in its campaign to undermine Hong Kong’s political system. As a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body that is part of the party’s united front operations, Shum says officials ordered him to go to Hong Kong to organize and fund counter-demonstrations during the 2014 #UmbrellaMovement. Those with businesses in Hong Kong were told to pay employees to march in support of China’s position, he says.

The businessman, who was raised in Hong Kong, relates how he joined one march, making sure that he was seen by officials from the Liaison Office, the central government’s main agency in the city, so that he would receive credit.

“I found the whole exercise laughable,” Shum writes. “Everyone, from the Liaison Office officials to all of us marchers, was acting. Few, if any, believed in the main idea underlying the action — that Hong Kong needed less democracy or less freedom. Everyone was there because of self-interest and to gain brownie points in Beijing.”//

Read the full article:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-10-03/china-worried-about-foreign-meddlers-in-hong-kong-plays-its-own-tacit-role

Source: Bloomberg #Oct3
Photo: Chan Long Hei

#Regime #Infiltration #ForeignPower

The European Parliament’s Report Mentioned Macau Legislative Assembly DQ Incident, Urging China to Respect the Basic Law and the Joint-Declaration

The European Parliament passed the “A New EU-China Strategy” yesterday (16th) with 570 votes in favour, 61 against, and 40 abstentions. The report indicates that Macau, one after another, banned the hosting of Candlelight Vigil for the June 4 Massacre, media being forced to adopt pro-China editorial guidelines, disqualified a large amount of pro-democracy candidates in the Macau Legislative Assembly Election. The European Parliament urged China to respect “Macau Basic Law”, which is effective till 2049, and the “Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration”, which prohibit interference in an election and the operation of media.

Source: Stand News #Sep17

https://bit.ly/3EYjRZd

#China #Macau #EuropeParliament #ForeignAffairs #Diplomacy #NewEUChinaStrategy #June4th

#Genocide
'Some are just #psychopaths': Chinese detective in exile reveals extent of torture against #Uyghurs

Source: CNN #Oct4

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#Genocide
'Some are just #psychopaths': Chinese detective in exile reveals extent of torture against #Uyghurs

//The ex-detective turned #whistleblower asked to be identified only as Jiang, to protect his family members who remain in China.

In a three-hour interview with CNN, conducted in Europe where he is now in exile, Jiang revealed rare details on what he described as a systematic campaign of torture against ethnic Uyghurs in the region's detention camp system, claims China has denied for years.

"Kick them, beat them (until they're) bruised and swollen," Jiang said, recalling how he and his colleagues used to interrogate detainees in police detention centers. "Until they kneel on the floor crying."

The methods included shackling people to a metal or wooden "tiger chair" -- chairs designed to immobilize suspects -- hanging people from the ceiling, sexual violence, electrocutions, and waterboarding. Inmates were often forced to stay awake for days, and denied food and water, he said.

"Everyone uses different methods. Some even use a wrecking bar, or iron chains with locks," Jiang said. "Police would step on the suspect's face and tell him to confess."

The suspects were accused of terror offenses, said Jiang, but he believes that "none" of the hundreds of prisoners he was involved in arresting had committed a crime. "They are ordinary people," he said.//

//...During the routine overnight operations, Jiang said they would be given lists of names of people to round up, as part of orders to meet official quotas on the numbers of Uyghurs to detain.

"It's all planned, and it has a system," Jiang said. "Everyone needs to hit a target."

If anyone resisted arrest, the police officers would "hold the gun against his head and say do not move. If you move, you will be killed."

He said teams of police officers would also search people's houses and download the data from their computers and phones.

Another tactic was to use the area's neighborhood committee to call the local population together for a meeting with the village chief, before detaining them en masse.

Describing the time as a "combat period," Jiang said officials treated Xinjiang like a war zone, and police officers were told that Uyghurs were enemies of the state.

He said it was common knowledge among police officers that 900,000 Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities were detained in the region in a single year.

Jiang said if he had resisted the process, he would have been arrested, too.

Inside the police detention centers, the main goal was to extract a confession from detainees, with sexual torture being one of the tactics, Jiang said.

"If you want people to confess, you use the electric baton with two sharp tips on top," Jiang said. "We would tie two electrical wires on the tips and set the wires on their genitals while the person is tied up."

He admitted he often had to play "bad cop" during interrogations but said he avoided the worst of the violence, unlike some of his colleagues.

"Some people see this as a job, some are just psychopaths," he said.

One "very common measure" of torture and dehumanization was for guards to order prisoners to rape and abuse the new male inmates, Jiang said.//

Read the full article:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/04/china/xinjiang-detective-torture-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

Source: CNN #Oct4

#Torture #Rape #GangRape #HumanitarianCrisis #Chinazi #ConcentrationCamp #Xinjiang
#Astrocity