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We provide translation of news in English from local media and other sources, for academic use.
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#PoliticalProsecution #SaveJimmyLai
Police flag Twitter activity, founding of Apple Daily English in allegations against Jimmy Lai

The Hong Kong police have cited Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai’s comments and actions both before and after the enactment of the national security law in accusing him of colluding with foreign forces. It is understood that this includes activity on his Twitter account, live chats with commentators and the founding of an English version of his newspaper.

The police have also accused Lai of having connections with the online group “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong,” which advocated for foreign sanctions. Lai’s activities before the implementation of the national security law were part of the allegations, including his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 8 last year, and his calls for sanctions in an interview with Apple Daily.

#PressFreedom #CCP #NationalSecurityLaw

Source: Apple Daily #Dec12

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Related article
Wall Street Journal: "Jimmy Lai, China’s Lie: In today’s Hong Kong, promoting democracy makes you a criminal"
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27273

Read full article on Apple Daily
https://hk.appledaily.com/news/20201212/BX7NV27ENREHJLPYMH4UTY2E6U/
Greta Thunberg Has a Message for Jailed Hong Kong Activist Joshua Wong

The Swedish climate campaigner #GretaThunberg has written imprisoned Hong Kong activist #JoshuaWong a letter, in an effort to draw attention to the detention of the protest leader in Hong Kong.

"You are a big hero, we are with you always,” Thunberg's letter reads. “Stay strong and never give up. You are never alone. I really hope that we will be able to meet one day.”

#Save47 #PrisonerRights #PoliceState #HKProtest

Sources: Stand News, #Dec2; Vice, #Nov30 https://thestandnews.page.link/RQ6mMpQ6b1BechAz7
#Boycott
Women's Tennis Association suspends all tournaments in China amid concern for female tennis player
#PengShuai

Source: BBC; #Dec2

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#Boycott
Women's Tennis Association suspends all tournaments in China amid concern for female tennis player #PengShuai

Chinese female tennis player Peng Shuai, aged 35, disappeared from public view for three weeks after accusing Chinese former Vice-Premier #ZhangGaoli of sexual assault.

#WTA chief Steve Simon said he had "serious doubts" that Peng was "free, safe and not subject to intimidation".

"In good conscience, I don't see how I can ask our athletes to compete there," he said.

News of the WTA suspending tournaments in China has been removed from the internet in the country, although the WTA's account on Chinese social media site Weibo is still available.

Read full statement:
https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2384758/steve-simon-announces-wta-s-decision-to-suspend-tournaments-in-china

Source: BBC; #Dec2
https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/59498779.amp

#MeToo #Harrassement #Tennis #Sports #ChineseOfficial
#PressFreedom #Award
Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily Editors win Golden Pen of Freedom Award

Source: Citizen News; #Dec2

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#PressFreedom #Award
Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily Editors win Golden Pen of Freedom Award


Hong Kong media mogul #JimmyLai and the staff of the shuttered Apple Daily newsroom have been awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom award of the World Association of News Publishers.

Lai, who founded #AppleDaily, has been detained for nearly a year on charges under the National Security Law, including colluding with foreign forces and endangering national security. He is expected to spend his 74th birthday on Dec 8 behind bars.

Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, accepted the award on behalf of his father. He said that “journalism is at the forefront of history,” and that “it records the present and informs the future. It is a check against the powerful, and the voice of the people in times of strife.”

Apple Daily, one of Hong Kong’s most popular Chinese-language newspapers, closed in June after authorities used the controversial National Security Law to arrest the editor-in-chief and four other senior executives.

“With Apple Daily closing in Hong Kong, and a crackdown against journalism across the region, there will be less and less people shining light in these dark corners.”

Sebastien Lai said, adding “Thank you very much for this award but please keep dad, the Apple Daily newsroom in Hong Kong, and the people of Hong Kong in your thoughts as these events unfold.”

#GoldenPen #Media #Award #PoliticalOppression #NationalSecurityLaw

Source: Citizen News; #Dec2
https://bit.ly/3EkUSyy
#Regime
HK public broadcaster removes social media pages of 12 popular programmes

Source: Citizen News; #Dec2
Image: Stand News

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#Regime
HK public broadcaster removes social media pages of 12 popular programmes

Since one year ago, the Hong Kong public broadcaster #RTHK, with the change of management, has been removing programmes that the authorities deem "sensitive" from its website and restricting quality programmes from enrolling competitions.

On November 27, 2021,the broadcaster sneaked in a notice at the bottom of its website, saying that the station will halt the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages of 12 shows from December 3, 2021 onwards.

The notice, however, didn't give any reasons to the halt.

The programmes affected are:

- This Morning;
- The Pulse;
- LegCo Review;
- Hong Kong Connection;
- This Week;
- Think About Thinking;
- Headliner;
- Hong Kong Stories – A Time to Mend;
- Rich Mate Poor Mate Series 2 and 3;
- Sign Language; and
- Knowledge Zone.

Most of these shows are no longer in production, including the axed popular political satire show Headliner.

While some of these social media pages have been dormant for periods ranging from around two months to more than two years, others have been popular among netizens and followed by many.

The Facebook page of Hong Kong Connection had 360,000 likes and followed by 440,000.

The Facebook page of Headliner had 420,000 likes and followed by 480,000.

The Facebook page of This Week had 340,000 likes and followed by 430,000;

The Facebook page of Think about Thinking had 87,000 likes and followed by 100,000.

Image: Stand News
Source: Citizen News; #Dec2
https://bit.ly/2ZMdTLg

#MemoryWar #Silence #Censorship #Headliner #HongKongConnection
#FailedState
Hong Kong quarantine pushes Cathay pilots to 'breaking point'

Image: Stand News
Source: AFP; Straits Times #Dec2

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#FailedState
Hong Kong quarantine pushes Cathay pilots to 'breaking point'

//#CathayPacific has been hit by a wave of pilot resignations in recent weeks as resentment over Hong Kong's strict quarantine regime boils over and crew scramble for emerging opportunities overseas.

The departures come as Hong Kong ties itself to Beijing's closed-border zero-Covid strategy - a move that has kept the city coronavirus-free but internationally isolated.

Hong Kong's leaders say normalising travel with China must come before the rest of the world, a strategy that has caused growing alarm within multinationals in a finance hub that dubs itself "Asia's World City".

AFP interviewed four Cathay pilots who requested anonymity. Each said they knew more than a dozen colleagues who had resigned in the last few weeks.

Pilots fear Hong Kong's future as one of Asia's busiest transport hubs is now at risk.

"Once airlines move infrastructure like technicians, ground crew and pilots out of Hong Kong to places like Seoul and Bangkok, trust me, they're not coming back," one pilot said.

One pilot who flies commercial said he had been unable to see his family overseas for more than 20 months because of the quarantine restrictions and his need to stay flying to top up his depleted salary.

He said he felt Hong Kong's leaders have abandoned the idea of the city being an international hub at the request of "our overlords to the north" - a reference to Beijing.

"I love Hong Kong but if we're not going to plan our way out of this with a roadmap the question becomes what am I doing here?" he said.

"I can't take another year of this."//

Image: Stand News
Source: AFP; Straits Times #Dec2

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kong-quarantine-pushes-cathay-pilots-to-breaking-point

#Beijing #Covid19 #Pandemic #Quarantine #Pilot #Resignation
#CulturalGenocide
China Pushes 85% of Population Speaking Putonghua by 2025 Even Among Ethnic Minorities

#CCP #China #MotherTongue #Language #Assimilation

Source: RFA #Dec2; Bloomberg, #Dec1

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#CulturalGenocide
China Pushes 85% of Population Speaking Putonghua by 2025 Even Among Ethnic Minorities

The #PRCgovernment is stepping up efforts to popularize #Putonghua in China, claiming that the use of putonghua remains “unbalanced and inadequate” and needs to be improved to meet the demands of the modern economy.

For the first time, the #PRC government named the two Special Administrative Regions, #HongKong and #Macau, for the new policy.

On November 30, the General Office of the State Council issued a set of new policies on language for #PRC, “Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Comprehensively Strengthening Language and Writing Work in the New Era (關於全面加強新時代語言文字工作的意見)”.

The policy stressed the importance of speaking and using a standardized language, saying that the authorities will “unswervingly" promote the usage among ethnic minorities and in rural areas.

It also set a goal for the national penetration rate of Putonghua to reach 85% by 2025. Along with the 2025 goal, the policy aims to make Putonghua virtually universal by 2035, including in rural areas and among #EthnicMinorities.

The media described the new order as an “aggressive push” to the Chinese regional dialects such as #Cantonese and #Hokkien under even greater pressure, along with #minority languages such as #Tibetan, #Mongolian and #Uyghur.

Critics have protested the changes to the education system and employment requirements that have steadily eroded the role of minority languages. They call it a campaign to eradicate cultures that do not conform with the dominant ethnic group.

#CCP #China #MotherTongue #Language #Assimilation

Source: RFA #Dec2; Bloomberg, #Dec1
https://www.facebook.com/454004001340790/posts/6502480579826405/