Chinese Netizens Seem Disdainful of Everyone Who Opposes the Communist Regime, even God

The following post has gone viral on #Weibo, a Chinese social media:

"On the Hill of Crosses, Lithuania, some 'toxic Hongkongers' (meaning protesters of the movement, who are often regarded as Hong Kong independence activists by Chinese netizens) have placed some crosses inscribed with their slogans. A mainland tourist discovered it and removed the cross."

Lots of Chinese netizens commented under the post, with one of them saying, "Who cares if it is a Holy Cross of the Church. If Almighty God himself were yellow (siding with the Hong Kong Protesters), we would definitely murder him!"

Further comments included, "I am the master of my own destiny" and "God didn't make man; man made gods. (quoting from Cowboy Bebop)"

Pro-China Supporters Vandalized Commemorative Cross on the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/14362

Source: Internet #Dec30
#Lithuania

Belarus Bans 50 News Websites, Lukashenko Inspects Border and Accuses NATO of Splitting up the Country

As anti-government protests in Belarus continue, more than 50 news media websites have been blocked by the local authority. On the other hand, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, donning military fatigues, inspected Grodno, a town near Belarus's borders with Poland, and accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of attempts to split up Belarus. NATO refuted his claim and said that it served only to divert the people’s attention from their discontent. US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit Lithuania and Russia shortly to discuss issues related to Belarus.

Lukashenko claimed that NATO attempted to split up Belarus and replace him with a new president. He also said that as Poland and Lithuania were ready to take action, he had to deploy troops to the western border and order his defence minister to take "the most stringent measures to protect the territorial integrity of the country.”

NATO denied the allegations, stating that "NATO poses no threat to Belarus or any other country and has no military buildup in the region" and that "Our posture is strictly defensive". It accused Lukashenko's government of employing a fictitious narrative of foreign threat to shift the public's attention away from its discontent towards the government and the election.

Source: Stand News #Aug23

#Belarus #NATO #Lukashenko #Poland #Lithuania

Lithuania’s Ruling Coalition Expresses Its Support for Taiwan to Fight for Their Freedom

Lithuania’s new ruling coalition published its policy outline and expressed their support for Taiwan to fight for their freedom.

After two rounds of parliamentary elections in Lithuania, three political parties formed a centre-right ruling coalition and issued its policy outline.

Its diplomatic policies would be based on values, as it sought to actively contest actions that violate human rights and democratic freedom, and defend people around the world who are fighting for their freedom, including Belarusians and Taiwanese people.

Source from: Now News #Nov10

#Taiwan #Lithuania #Belarus

https://bit.ly/3ls6DtG

#TwoYears #HongKongWay
Second Anniversary of Pro-democracy #HumanChain in Hong Kong; Commemorative Exhibitions Open in Estonia and Luthuania

Two years ago on August 23, 2019, around 210,000 pro-democracy Hongkongers formed a 60km human chain across the city, going through different districts and even up on Lion Rock. In addition to voice pro-democractic demands, the event also commemorated the 30th anniversary of the #BalticWay, where a 675km human chain was formed by over 2 million people across three countries occupied by Russia, namely, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. One year after the human chain event to raise international concern, Russia acknowledged the independent status of the three countries.

In 2021, a Hongkonger residing in Estonia, Iverson Ng, curated a photo exhibition titled "1989 Baltics - 2019 Hong Kong". The exhibiting partners include the Institute of Historical Memory in Estonis, the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in Lithuania and the Museum of the Occupation (#MOL) in Latvia. The exhibition opened on August 23, 2021, marking the second anniversary of the Hong Kong Way and the 32nd anniversary of the Baltic Way.

However, the Museum of the Occupation (MOL) of Latvia suddenly pulled out just one week prior to the opening. The vice director of the museum, Taiga Kokneviča, wrote to Ng on August 17, 2022, saying that "it is not a moment to discuss other issues in the museum".

Despite this, the museum director Solvita Vība has earlier promoted the exhibition when speaking to the local media LSM. In the interview, Vība praised the perseverance and solidarity of pro-democracy Hongkongers and pointed out the support for Hongkongers from the country's Minister of Foreign Affairrs, Edgars Rinkēvičs.

Since the vice premier Artis Pabriks tweeted the news in his twitter, Ng does not think the government has put any pressure on the museum. The real cause of the withdrawal remains unclear.

In any case, the Estonian section of the exhibition is available online: https://chainsoffreedom.communistcrimes.org/

Source: Stand News #Aug23
https://www.thestandnews.com/international/%E4%BA%BA%E9%8F%88%E5%85%A9%E5%91%A8%E5%B9%B4-%E6%B8%AF%E4%BA%BA%E6%B3%A2%E7%BE%85%E7%9A%84%E6%B5%B7%E4%B8%89%E5%9C%8B%E8%BE%A6%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E4%B9%8B%E8%B7%AF%E5%B1%95%E8%A6%BD-%E6%8B%89%E8%84%AB%E7%B6%AD%E4%BA%9E%E5%B1%95%E9%A4%A8%E7%AA%81%E5%8F%96%E6%B6%88%E5%90%88%E4%BD%9C-%E5%89%AF%E7%B8%BD%E7%90%86%E4%BA%A6%E9%97%9C%E6%B3%A8

#Censorship #Photography #Exhibition #Latvia #Estonia #Lithuania

China’s trade halt with Lithuania over Taiwan ties sends warning to Europe

China’s use of trade as a weapon in diplomatic disputes appears to be now targeted at Lithuania, home to fewer than 3 million people, after the Baltic nation agreed to exchange diplomatic offices with Taiwan.

But Beijing’s unofficial halt to its already limited trade with Lithuania is more about sending a warning to the rest of Europe, analysts have said.

Lithuania and Taiwan have agreed to establish mutual representative offices as a sign of deepening ties between the two governments. In response Beijing recalled its ambassador from Vilnius and expelled Lithuania’s from Beijing.

Source: The Guardians #Aug26

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/26/chinas-trade-halt-with-lithuania-over-taiwan-ties-sends-warning-to-europe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

#China #Lithuania #Taiwan #Europe

Setting up a Lithuanian Representative Office in Taiwan Deteriorates the China-Lithuania Relation and Recalls Each Other’s Ambassadors

Taiwan will set up “The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania”, the first Taiwanese representative office in European countries.

Lithuania originally has diplomatic relations with China. Therefore, this is the first time for Taiwan to set up a representative office in a country that already has relations with China. China then immediately recalls the ambassadors in Lithuania for protest. It is the first time for China recalling their ambassadors from European countries since the European Union establishment in 1993. China has also requested for recalling the ambassadors of Lithuania in China.

Source: Stand News #Aug12

https://bit.ly/3C23wQM

#China #Lithuania #Taiwan #RepresentativeOffice #Europe #EU #Ambaasadors #Diplomate

Financial Times: US Expect to Anger China over Proposal on Renaming Taiwan's US Office

Financial Times quoted from sources that the US is seriously considering Taiwan's request, renaming the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US to Taiwan Representative Office. Lithuania had a similar arrangement earlier, leading to China's opposition and recalled its ambassador. The report states that China would be angered should the US change the name of the office.

The request was backed by the White House Asia adviser Kurt Campbell and had wide support from the United States National Security Council and the state department Asia officials, according to people knowing the matter. The final decision would require an executive order signed off by President Joe Biden.

Source: Stand News #Sep12

https://bit.ly/3ExvYv1

#US #Taiwan #China #Lithuania #TECRO

Reuters: China puts pressure multinational firms to break ties with Lithuania or be driven out of China market

The relationship between China and Lithuania is still poor. Chinese customs recently removed Lithuania from its list of "countries of origin", making it impossible for Lithuanian goods to enter China, and Lithuania's foreign minister asked the European Union to intervene with China.

The Reuters news agency on Thursday (9 December) quoted Lithuania's deputy foreign minister and representatives of local industry that China had asked a number of multinational companies to cut ties with Lithuania or else drive them out of the Chinese market.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded on Thursday that he did not understand the situation reported by Reuters, but stressed that China has always acted in accordance with WTO rules, criticizing "Lithuania's betrayal of trust and justice, blatantly violating the political promises made to China when the two countries established diplomatic relations, creating ‘one China, one Taiwan’ in the world and seriously undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity", and that China is determined to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Reuters quoted Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas as saying that China is putting pressure on multinational companies, saying that if they use Lithuanian-made components and goods, they can no longer sell in the Chinese market or get supplies in China, and some companies have already cancelled contracts with Lithuanian suppliers.

Source: StandNews #Dec10

#Reuters #Lithuania #ChinaLithuaniaRelation #EU #ChineseCustoms #Lithuaniangoods #ChineseForeignMinistry #WangWenbin #LithuanianForeignMinistry #MantasAdomėnas

#MadeinChina #Surveillance
Lithuania says throw away Chinese phones due to #censorship concerns

[Editor's note: The National Communications Commision of #Taiwan has confirmed the same result of Chinese censorship in China-made mobile phones in the findings released on January 6, 2022. Taiwan conducted a similar investigation after Lithuania published their report on September 21, 2021 as below]

#Lithuania's #DefenseMinistry recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.

Flagship phones sold in Europe by China's smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK)have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as "Free Tibet", "Long live Taiwan independence" or "democracy movement", Lithuania's state-run cybersecurity body said on Tuesday.

The capability in Xiaomi's Mi 10T 5G phone software had been turned off for the "European Union region", but can be turned on remotely at any time, the Defence Ministry's National Cyber Security Centre said in the report.

"Our recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible," Defence Deputy Minister Margiris Abukevicius told reporters in introducing the report.

Lithuania says throw away Chinese phones due to censorship concerns.

Read the full article:
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/lithuania-says-throw-away-chinese-phones-due-censorship-concerns-2021-09-21/

#Cybersecurity #Censorship #Xiaomi

Source: Reuters #Sept21;
National Communications Commision of Taiwan #Jan6

The Report of National Communications Commision (#NCC) of Taiwan in Chinese:
https://www.ncc.gov.tw/chinese/news_detail.aspx