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#IntellectualProperty
Illegal downloads of #Netflix #Korea's original series "#SquidGame" are circulating in #China with #Mandarin subtitle

Source: Korea ChoongAnh Daily #Oct5

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#IntellectualProperty
Illegal downloads of #Netflix #Korea's original series "#SquidGame" are circulating in #China with #Mandarin subtitle

//Netflix is not available in China. Technically, people in China shouldn't be able to access the series due to the nation’s #GreatFirewall, but many are watching it anyway through illegal streaming and download websites.

Many Koreans are expressing disdain toward the rampant online piracy of Korean content in China, and the popularity of “Squid Game” has made the issue much more tangible...

“Even though Netflix is not available in China and the Chinese government has been pushing back against Korean content in recent years, there are always websites that distribute Korean shows illegally,” said Park Kyung-suk, a history professor at Yonsei University who specializes in modern Chinese history.

“When I was living in China, I found out some websites even charge money for Korean content that they pirated. Even when a website gets taken down, another one springs up right away.” 


According to the Korea Copyright Protection Agency, China is the top country of illegally distributing Korean cultural content — including television shows, films, webtoons and music — over the past five years. From 2017 until September this year, over 85,000 of the total 411,319 cases of copyright violation regarding Korean content happened in China, followed by the Philippines and Vietnam. Although not surprising considering China’s vast population, many Koreans express disdain that such a large viewership is consuming Korea’s intellectual property illegally. 
  
“The disdain boils down to the fact that although China consumes a large volume of Korean content, the Korean firms that created them receive none of the profit that they rightfully deserve,” said Lee Gyu-tag, an associate professor of cultural studies at George Mason University Korea.//

Source: Korea JoongAng Daily #Oct6
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/10/06/entertainment/television/squid-game-china-netflix-dalgona/20211006171306929.html

#StreamingWebsite #Illegal #CCP #Merchandise #Taobao #Copyright
At least 49 organisations have announced to dismiss or stop operation under the National Security Law until September.

#disband #CivilSociety #NSL #NatioanSecurityLaw #GoHKgraphics
Two activists, Tibetan student and exiled Hong Kong activist, arrested in Athens for protesting against Beijing Winter Olympics

Greek police detained two women, 18-year-old Tibetan student Tesla Zoksang and 22-year-old exiled Hong Kong activist Joey Siu, after they attempted to hang banners from the Acropolis in Athens in protest at the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.

They deployed a Tibetan flag and a banner of “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now”, and chanted slogans including “Free Tibet”, “Boycott Beijing 2022”, and “No freedom, no Games.”

The Olympic flame for the 24th Winter Games will be lit at Ancient Olympia on Monday and handed over to China at a ceremony in Athens' Panathenian Stadium on Tuesday. The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board met in Athens on Saturday.

source: ABC News #Oct17

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/arrested-athens-protesting-beijing-olympics-80628356

#BoycottBeijing2022 #Athens #FreeTibet #FreeHK #OlympicGames
#Regime
Hong Kong Authority Introduces #SmartPrison with 24-hour #HD Surveillance, Detainee: I Live As an Animal

Source: InMediaHK #Sep25
https://bit.ly/3o5PSbS

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#Regime
Hong Kong Authority Introduces #SmartPrison with 24-hour #HD Surveillance, Detainee: I Live As an Animal

"Here, it is even worse than the CIC [Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre],"
almost every detainee in Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution in Hong Kong said the same thing.

In 2020, around 30 detainees in #CIC went on a hunger strike, protesting against their unlimited detention time, the facility's poor hygiene, and the inappropriate behavior of the correctional department staff.

The CIC Concern Group, a non-profit human rights group, was thereafter created by a group of social workers, pro-demoncracy activists and volunteers in Hong Kong; however, even them could not believe that there exists a detention centre in Hong Kong that is worse than the CIC.

In June 2021, the Hong Kong authority transferred some of the protesting detainees in the CIC to the Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution.

The newly established facility is the first "Smart Prison" in Hong Kong. This institution is full of HD surveillance cameras. All the detainees are required to wear an electronic bracelet for the authority to monitor their heartbeats and locations.

Those who are detained in the centre are thereoretically not prisoners, as they have only violated the immigration regulation; however, they are being detained in a prison.

To make it worse, the Correctional Service Department (#CSD) has already dispatched twice the Regional Response Team, Panther, within 4 months, to "combat illegal activities". It was found that some detainees have been placed in individual detention for 2 months.

Meanwhile, it was discovered that some correctional department staff have been watching the surveillance canera footage like a voyeur , followed by acts like masturbation and ridiculing the detainees.

A detainee said, "I live as an animal."

The CIC concerned group criticised that the authority has abused the detainees by means of violence, individual detention and privacy infringement.

The group's worst fear is that using the most disadvantaged detainees as guinea pigs is only the first step of the government and that the same operation systen would be appled to all prisons in Hong Kong next.

"The government labelled the CIC detainees as very dangerous to justify the need for an upgrade in military equipment. They can do thr sane thing in any prisons in Hong Kong."

Source: InMediaHK #Sep25
https://bit.ly/3o5PSbS

#Prison #Xinjiang #Surveillance #Dystopia #Panthers #Chinazi #TaiTamGapCorrectionalInstitution
China Applies for Joining Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Japan: Must Observe Whether they can Follow the Rules

Chinese Commence Ministry announced they had formally applied for joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). It is a free trade agreement involving 11 countries with approximately 5 billion population. However, it is still unknown whether China can successfully apply. According to Japanese media, Rotating Presidency Country Japan believed that they have to observe whether China can follow the strict rules of CPTPP.

Chinese Commence Ministry stated that Minister Wang Wentao submitted a CPTPP application letter to Damien O’Connor, New Zealand Minister of Trade and Export. The two ministers also held a conference call on the application.

Source: Stand News #Sep17

https://bit.ly/3arq5Tn

#China #CPTPP #Japan #FreeTrade #NewZeland #Export #WangWentao #DamienOConnor
Executive Committee of UCSU CUHK Dissolves

Source: Stand News #Oct18

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/31262
Executive Committee of UCSU CUHK Dissolves

Following the Chinese University of Hong Kong Student Union (CUSU), the Executive Committee of the Student Union of United College, CUHK have also announced its disbandment. They said in their statement, "CUHK’s management has closed in on college students unions with threats of individual registration after requiring CUSU to do so.” And that with no other choice, all cabinet committees have now resigned, followed by the dissolution of the Executive Committee.

The statement said that the Student Union of United College had voiced out issues of injustice in the preceding decades, including those in college administration, school administration, and current social affairs. They aimed to raise social awareness and put their feet into others' shoes “outside ivory towers”. However, “there is very little room for us to practice the college motto in these times.”

The statement said that the 59-year history of the Student Union has formally come to an end, saying, “we apologise to every UCian for failing to live up to the efforts paid by previous cabinets over the years.”

They also indicated, “there are many goals and ideals we have yet to fulfill, and we are more than reluctant to end our journey here. However, we do not regret what we’ve done in the past months and would like to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts.”

The statement ends with the college anthem, “The sky is vast and the sun remains in the sky. We must keep this pure heart, be kind, and set an example for others.”

Read the full statement here.

Source: Stand News #Oct18
#CUHK #ChineseUniversity #StudentUnion #ExecutiveCommittee #Dissolution
#CarrieLam Fractured Her Elbow in a #Fall

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam fractured her right elbow in a fall at Government House on the evening of October 18, 2021. She went to Queen Mary Hospital on her own, and is staying overnight for observation on doctor's recommendation.

The news had gone viral overnight on social media platforms in Hong Kong.

Source: InMedia #Oct19
‘It Feels Like We’re Just Waiting to Die’: Hong Kong Targets Student Unions

The police arrived at the University of Hong Kong around 3 p.m., wearing black vests marking them as national security officers. They cordoned off the offices of the student union, combed its interior and seized several bins of material.

A top police official said they were investigating the union over comments from its leaders that the authorities said had glorified violence. But the underlying message of the mid-July raid was clear: The authorities were clamping down on the city’s universities, and in particular its student activists.

Source: NY Times #Jul31

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/asia/hong-kong-students.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

#HKU #Police #CCP #NationalSecurityLaw #Beijing
Committee to Protect Journalists: At least 32 journalists jailed, Myanmar’s Fake News Act turns independent reporting into a crime.

Source: Stand News #Jul28

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Committee to Protect Journalists: At least 32 journalists jailed, Myanmar’s Fake News Act turns independent reporting into a crime.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an organization concerned with the state of press freedom worldwide, has released a report on the state of press freedom in Myanmar, saying that at least 32 journalists have been jailed since the coup in February and at least 45 as of July 1, before the military government released about 2,000 of those arrested in late June. The CPJ report said that at least 24 of the journalists were imprisoned because of Article 505(a) of the military's new post-coup Penal Code, which is used locally to combat “false news”.

CPJ's Southeast Asia representative and veteran journalist Shawn Crispin, who authored the report, said at an online press conference that the Burmese military government is fighting the last vestiges of press freedom in Myanmar through arrests, Internet bans, and the withdrawal of news agency licenses, calling for international attention to the press freedom and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

Source: Stand News #Jul28

#Burma #Myanmar #BurmaCoup #MyanmarCoup #Burmesemilitary #CPJ #CommitteeToProtectJournalists #pressfreedom #pressfreedominBurma #pressfreedominMyanmar

https://bit.ly/3BMA41J
#CCPRules #1C1S
#ChineseEmblem Spotted on Hong Kong Government's Websites; Spokesman Cites Requirement from Newly-gazetted Ordinance

Source: Stand News #Oct8
https://bit.ly/3DlEhtA
#CCPRules #1C1S
#ChineseEmblem Spotted on Hong Kong Government's Websites; Spokesman Cites Requirement from Newly-gazetted Ordinance

On October 8, 2021, the Chinese emblem has been suddenly added to the websites of four official bodies in Hong Kong, namely the Legislative Council, the Chief Executive's Office, the Judiciary and GovHK. Other government websites, such as the websites of the Financial Secretary's Office and the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office, remain unchanged.

The emblem of the #PRC was added to the top left of all four official websites, with the Judiciary website being the largest and clearest.

Of the four websites that have been altered, the emblem on the website of the Chief Executive's Office is the most crude, with blurred lines and fonts, and the emblem appearing pixelized when the page is slightly enlarged. In addition, the new Chinese emblem is slightly larger than the Hong Kong SAR emblem.

Hong Kong government spokesman said the National Flag and Emblem (Amendment) Ordinance was gazetted on 8 October, 2021 and the Chief Executive has amended the requirement to use the emblem on the websites of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Legislative Council and the Judiciary.

Source: Stand News #Oct8
https://bit.ly/3DlEhtA
#Censorship #CCP
#Quran App Removed in China

//#Apple has taken down one of the world's most popular Quran apps in China, following a request from officials.

Quran Majeed is available across the world on the App Store - and has nearly 150,000 reviews. It is used by millions of Muslims.

The Chinese Communist Party officially recognises Islam as a religion in the country.
However, China has been accused of human rights violations, and even genocide, against the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang.

Earlier this year the BBC reported that Uyghur imams had been targeted in China's Xinjiang crackdown.

Apple declined to comment, but directed the BBC to its Human Rights Policy, which states: "We're required to comply with local laws, and at times there are complex issues about which we may disagree with governments."

However, it is not clear what rules the app has broken in China.//

Source: BBC #Oct15
NextDigital was unlisted in less than 3 months time due to the Financial Secretary, the Security Bureau, the HKEX, and other organisations and government departments taking actions under the National Security Law.

#NationalSecurityLas #NSL #NextDigital #SecurityBureau #FinancialSecretary #HKEX #GoHKgraphics
#FailedState #Fall
Carrie Lam's Broken Arm Received More "Concern" from Hongkongers Than Policy Address, Big Data Shows

Source: Citizen News; #Oct20

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#FailedState #Fall
Carrie Lam's Broken Arm Received More "Concern" from Hongkongers Than Policy Address, Big Data Shows

After Chief Executive #CarrieLam fractured her elbow when she took a fall at her residence on October 18, the news quickly went viral on social media with mounting public interest. ASIAM Intelligence, a group of big data specialists, analyzed public sentiments based on post comments, Facebook interactions, and swear-word volume.

The analysis found a sharp surge in interactions across social media platforms around topics related to "Carrie Lam". This included news feeds, discussion posts and YouTube videos, totaling approximately 289,000 counts in two days from 18–20 October, the biggest share (148,000) came from Facebook.

This wave of rapid and fervent public reactions towards Carrie Lam's injury was much stronger than any other news topics over the same period.

Compared to the Chief Executive’s Policy Address announced just two weeks ago, her arm fracture generated much more interactions, clearly showing that the public is more “concerned” about her injury than her policy address.


Swear-Word Volume Reached 50%, Mockery from Users of All Political Stances

The analysis also examined swear-word volume, a methodology designed to determine negative public sentiments. Among 17,000 facebook comments in the past 7 days, most of which came after Carrie Lam's fall, the swear-word volume reached as high as 50%. This is believed to indicate the use of the obscenity "仆街", which literally describes someone falling.

Comments from pro-democracy users were overwhelmingly mocking in tone. Notably, the same mocking tone was also found among pro-establishment users' comments, taunting that Lam's injury could be an easy excuse to avoid hot and controversial issues. Some even asked sarcastically if the floor of her residence was alright.

On discussion forums, the news generated more than 4,100 comments in two days. Over half of these comments came from LIHKG, showing that the topic was of particular interest among the younger generation. The swear-word counts reached over 30%.

Interestingly, comments shared on the pro-government forum Hong Kong Discuss were not completely sympathetic towards Lam. It perhaps showed that low public approval rate prevailed even among the pro-establishment supporters.

ASIAM's Heatmap 3.0, measuring Facebook reactions, registered over 158,000 Hahas and over 97,000 Likes from pro-democracy users, while only 5,300 and 2,700 Hahas and Likes were counted respectively from pro-establishment users.

Overall, the analysis clearly shows that the response from pro-democracy users were far more intense than pro-establishment users.

Source: Citizen News; #Oct20
See also Citizen News's report for graphs and statistics: https://bit.ly/3BZl54l
CUHK Democracy Wall Plastered with Images of Suen Yat-sen and School Founder Despite Shutdown

After the Chinese University Student Union announced its disbandment on Oct 7, the school administration quickly barricaded off the student union's "Democracy Wall" in the school's Cultural Ground area.

However, the wall was made over on Double Ten Day (Oct 10). Staff and students arrived to find the wall plastered with portraits of Suen Yat-Sen, recognized in both China and Taiwan as the founding father of modern China, as well as Qian Mu, founder of New Asia College - which later became a member college of CUHK. Many passers-by stopped to take photos.

A message on the wall supporting the student union was vandalized with scribbles in simplified Chinese: "Subverting the state is a serious crime; it will ruin your future!" The message is now flanked by portraits of Suen Yat-sen, leader of the revolution.

#SuenYatSen #CUHK

Source: In-Media HK
https://bit.ly/3AqsDvl