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We provide translation of news in English from local media and other sources, for academic use.
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#Interview #ChuMokMan

Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act Pusher - Chu Mok Man

//over the past 30 years, whenever a large-scale democracy movement took place in Hong Kong like the million people against Article 23 in 2003 and the Umbrella Movement in 2014, the international community would pay attention. Hongkonger civil society would go to Washington to lobby.

//"Without money to hire professional lobbyist, what can one do?" Samuel's answer is to build his political power, familiarise himself with the "rules of the game" in political procedures, and motivate himself to advocate for agendas requiring attention.

//A lobbyist and their target could unexpectedly switch roles and become the helper.

//"I didn’t need to persuade her; I just brought up this memory. This is a part of her political and personal life."

//"This NBA incident made average Americans understand what it was like to be bullied by China." The police brutality and injustices from the past few months are naturally vivid in the minds of Hongkongers but are very remote to the general American populace. To gain their support and put pressure on Congress, it must be relevant to their daily lives and interests.

//HKDC can help Americans and the Congress understand why they should not be passive bystanders.

Full translation:
https://telegra.ph/In-Epidemic-Hongkongers-show-the-ability-of-Self-help-03-05

Source: Stand News
https://bit.ly/2To84xr

#HKHRDA #NBA #USCongress #SelfHelp
Mass Protest in Washington, US Representative Calls for Punishment for CCP as Transnational Organized Crime Group

More than 10 pro-democracy groups assembled in front of the US Capitol on 1 October in protest of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) tyrannical rule. A number of members of the US Congress attended the demonstration in support of the cause. A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives demanding that the CCP be designated as a transnational organized crime group, prosecuted, and punished.

Over 10 organizations from Washington and New York gathered in front of the US Capitol in protest of the CCP’s persecution of the Uyghurs and the Tibetans, erosion of freedom in Hong Kong, suppression of dissidents, and bullying and intimidating Taiwan by military means. Hundreds attended the demonstration, including a number of Hongkongers, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and pro-democracy Chinese activists.

Speaking at the demonstration, Democratic representative Tom Suozzi thanked the participants for exposing what the CCP had done. “No new movies, fancy pamphlets, sanitized history, or trade deals will make these [acts by the CCP] palatable. We must be aware of the threat the CCP poses to all those around the world who love freedom as well as to Chinese citizens,” said Suozzi.

Republican representative Scott Perry said he would hold the CCP responsible for what they had done. He introduced a bill at the Congress the same day, asking that the CCP be designated as a transnational organized crime (TOC) group, and prosecuted and punished as such. “The CCP is detaining people against their will, altering cultures, damaging or eradicating languages, coercively harvesting organs, building concentration camps, and so on and so forth. And yet, they are getting away with these by virtue of being the legitimate ruler of China when in fact it is a criminal group subjecting China to oppressive rule. We need to define them as such and hand out fitting punishment to them,” he said.

Source: Apple Daily #Oct02

#US #China #CCP #HongKong #Uyghurs #Tibetans #USCongress #TomSuozzi #ScottPerry #Protest

https://bit.ly/3dtk1KA
50 US Senators urged US-Taiwan Trade Agreement to counterbalance China's economic dominance in Indo-Pacific Region

A total of fifty US Senators from the Republican and the Democratic Parties, accounting for more than half of the Senate, sent a joint letter to the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday [01 October]. The letter states that Taiwan is a long-term economic partner as well as a safe ally of the US, and called for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between two countries as soon as possible. This is part of the from the Congress to the US government to counter China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan expressed gratitude to the US Congress for showing bipartisan support for Taiwan once again.

42 Republican Party Senators and 8 Democratic Party Senators participated in the joint petition, including the co-chairs of the Senate Taiwan Caucus, James Inhofe and Robert Menendez along with US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations chairman, Jim Risch. The letter stated that they believed this is the time to negotiate trade agreements with like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region. A time when the US was seeking to promote an initiative for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Therefore, they strongly recommend having formal trade agreement negotiations with Taiwan.

The letter also stated that Taiwan is the 11th largest trade partner with the US, showing the ability to maintain its economic partnership with the US. Also, Taiwan is supporting approximately 208,000 jobs in the US and this number could increase after the signing of a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement.

#Taiwan #US #TradeNegotiation #Economy #USCongress #USsenators #JointStatement

Source: Apple Daily #Oct02
https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20201002/JEPPYE7VURB3LPUXYNMPEXVST4/
#FreeJimmyLai #HumanitarianCrisis
US Human Rights Commission Names #JimmyLai a "Religious Prisoners of Conscience"

On Dec 16, 2020, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (#USCIRF) Commissioner Johnnie Moore announced his adoption of Jimmy Lai through the Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project.

The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on threats to religious freedom abroad.

Jimmy Lai is the founder of Next Media and Apple Daily. On August 10, 2020, Lai was arrested at his home in Hong Kong for alleged collusion with foreign forces under the new national security law, as well as fraud. On December 2, the Hong Kong police arrested Lai again for fraud and subsequently denied him bail. On December 12, Hong Kong authorities charged Lai with colluding with foreign forces under the new national security law. 

In the statement, Commissioner Moore said, “Communist China must immediately release Jimmy Lai along with Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and others who it has detained in Hong Kong for their advocacy of democracy, human rights, and religious freedom.”

“A proud and strong nation has nothing to fear from the criticism of its citizens. The abysmal human rights and religious freedom record of China is incompatible with its national ambition. This is the real threat to China—not its own citizens. In the meantime, the world must speak with one loud and united voice against these atrocities. I raise my voice for Jimmy Lai and all those like him.”

Source: USCIRF Statement #Dec16
https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-commissioner-johnnie-moore-adopts-jimmy-lai-through-religious

Photo: Apple Daily #Dec17
https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20201217/J4AASI2HABHSBP3TEY4GR2T6A4/

#NationalSecurityLaw #US #USCongress
#GlobalSupport
US lawmakers nominate Hong Kong democracy movement for #NobelPeacePrize

Led by US Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Representative Jim McGovern, co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that assesses human rights, the U.S. Congress nominated Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement for the Nobel Peace Prize, calling the campaigners a global inspiration as they endure a crackdown by Beijing.

In a letter to the Nobel Committee, nine lawmakers across party lines cited the estimate that more than two million took to the streets on June 16, 2019.

“This prize would honor their bravery and determination that have inspired the world,” they wrote.

“A number of [Hong Kong] democracy advocates are already in jail, some in exile, and many more awaiting trials where they are expected to be convicted and sentenced in the coming months for the sole reason of peacefully expressing their political views through speech, publication, elections, or assembly.”

The lawmakers said they expected more Hong Kong democracy activists to be convicted in the coming months “for the sole reason of peacefully expressing their political views.”

Source: Stand News, #Feb4

#USCongress #NobelPrize
#HongKongProtests #AntiELAB
#CrossStrait #Invasion
Expert Testifies in Hearing: #China likely to attack #Taiwan within five years

//China's military modernization plus US failure to build robust coalitions to counter Beijing's regional aggression could lead to a Taiwan takeover

“Cross-strait deterrence is arguably weaker today than at any point since the Korean War,” said Oriana Skylar Mastro, a fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies who specializes in Chinese military policy. She was speaking at a virtual hearing Feb. 18 before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which was examining U.S. deterrence policies aimed at preventing a future attack on Taiwan by Beijing.

“Impressive military modernization on the part of China, U.S. failure to build robust coalitions to counter Chinese regional aggression, and [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s personal ambition, all have coalesced to create a situation for Beijing in which the benefits of using force more and more are becoming so high that they outweigh the costs,” she continued.

“I believe the greatest threat now is that Beijing will launch a military operation to force ‘reunification,’ in their words, irrespective of Washington’s or Taipei’s policies or actions,” Mastro said. She added that Chinese military leaders have told her they believe Xi will conclude that the Chinese military will have the capability to occupy and seize Taiwan in a year or two even as some Western analysts predict that it is more likely five years or more from that goal.//

Read full article here:
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/02/23/china-likely-to-attack-taiwan-within-five-years-panel-told/

Source: Roll Call #Feb23

#USCongress #StanfordUniversity #Security
#Judiciary
US Report Condemns Judges Handpicked for National Security Cases in Hong Kong: Judiciary Independence "In Name Only"

The United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (#USCC) released its annual report to the US Congress on November 18, 2021.

In the Chapter on Hong Kong, the Commission stated that Hong Kong's judiciary independence has been impaired under Beijing's imposition of the #NationalSecurityLaw.

The report also criticized that the judge's impartiality in handling national security law cases has been questioned. The report especially named three judges involved in such cases. They are District Court Judge Stanley CHAN Kwong-chi; Magistrate Victor SO Wai Tak; and judge Johnson Lam. These pro-establishment judges are handpicked by the Hong Kong authorities to handle national security charges.

The report reiterated that the National Security Law has impaired media freedon and subverted Hong Kong's social and political environment. The report pointed out that the independence of the judiciary in Hong Kong was "in name only," as the judiciary is no longer impartial especially when dealing with cases relating to the Chinese government under National Security Law.

To make It worse, Beijing decides which judges in which jurisdiction to trial national security cases, so as to ensure an outcome that is what the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) wants. 

While US and Taiwan scholars commented that the possibility for the US to impose sanctions against Hong Kong judges shall not be ruled out, it takes time to evaluate the strategy. In any case, the "distrust" of the rule of law in Hong Kong will continue to be a concern of foreign companies and will seriously weaken Hong Kong's business status.

Full report:
https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2021-11/2021_Annual_Report_to_Congress.pdf

Source from: RFA #Nov19
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/htm/us-hk-11192021072903.html/ampRFA

#PoliceState #Freedom #USCongress #Beijing #Report #Court #Judges
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