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We provide translation of news in English from local media and other sources, for academic use.
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Amnesty International Calling to End Violence on Journalists

Source: Apple News #Aug15, Amnesty International #Aug12

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24592
Amnesty International Calling to End Violence on Journalists

Belarus has had a series of protests and clashes between civilians and police. Journalists have been arrested, beaten, targeted with rubber bullets while covering police crackdown on protests. Some had their cameras smashed. Amnesty International released a statement on August 12 to call for Belarusian authority to stop attacking journalists.

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office Director, said, “ Journalists in Belarus are doing heroic work to ensure the world knows about the authorities’ brutal repression of protests. It is horrifying to see the lengths to which the government will go to suppress this information - attacking reporters with batons and rubber bullets, destroying their equipment, and throwing dozens in jail.”

Struthers continued, “Journalists are being attacked for exposing the crimes committed by the Belarusian authorities against their own people, in a blatant isolation of the right to freedom of expression. The government has even disabled the internet to prevent people from sharing information. As unprecedented numbers of people continue to take to the streets in Belarus, it is essential that press freedom is protected and that no one is harmed simply for doing their job.”

Amnesty International's statement on August 12: Amnesty International calls on the Belarusian authorities to respect media and to immediately and unconditionally release journalists detained solely for fulfilling their professional duties. They must also release all peaceful activists detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. They must end reprisals against peaceful protesters, and investigate acts of unlawful force by police.

Source: Apple News #Aug15, Amnesty International #Aug12

#Belarus #Belarus2020 #AmnestyInternational #HumanRights #FreedomOfExpression
Hong Kong protest leaders poised to give up fight
 
A Hong Kong civil rights group that helped organise the mass pro-democracy protests in 2019 is preparing to disband, according to local media.

The Civil Human Rights Front is understood to be meeting tomorrow to decide whether to fold. If it does so, it will deal another blow to the city’s pro-democracy camp, which has been crumbling since Beijing imposed a tough national security law on the territory in June last year.

The front, established in 2002 by more than 50 groups campaigning for human rights, labour rights and women’s rights, is facing a police investigation into its activities. Most of its member groups have withdrawn or dissolved since the law took effect.

Source: The Times #Aug12

https://t.co/1sFSnLyJrb?amp=1
 
#HongKongCivilRightsGroup #Mass #Democracy
Hong Kong’s Population Shrinks By 89,000 in Just 12 Months
 
Hong Kong’s population kept falling at a record pace over the past 12 months, as people left the city in the wake of the pandemic and the national security law that curtailed protest and dissent.

The city saw an outflow of 89,200 residents in the year that ended in June, leaving its population at about 7.39 million, according to government data released Thursday. That maintains the 1.2% rate of population decline set at the end of last year, the biggest drop in at least six decades for the city.

Source: Bloomberg #Aug12

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-12/hong-kong-sees-89-000-leave-in-past-year-after-new-security-law
 
#HongKong #Population #Falling
#AsiasFinest #PoliceState #FailedState
#HongKongPolice Reinstates #NationalSecurity Director Caught in Unlicensed Massage Parlour as Personnel and Training Director

Source: Stand News; #Aug12

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#AsiasFinest #PoliceState #FailedState
#HongKongPolice Reinstates #NationalSecurity Director Caught in Unlicensed Massage Parlour as Personnel and Training Director

Frederic #ChoiChinPang, the National Security director of the Hong Kong Police Force (#HKPF) has been placed on leave after he was caught in a raid on an unlicensed massage parlour in May 2021. It was the first big scandal to hit the National security unit after it was set up to enforce the controversial #NationalSecurityLaw a year ago.

In just 3 months’ time, Choi has resumed duty and will be reinstated as Director of Personnel and Training in mid-August, 2021.

Police chief Raymond Siu Chak-yee quoted the Department of Justice that Choi’s case "does not involve any criminal offense". Siu also confirmed that Choi will resume his duty in the police force and take the post of Director of Personnel and Training.

Source: Stand News; #Aug12

https://www.thestandnews.com/politics/%E6%B6%88%E6%81%AF%E8%94%A1%E5%B1%95%E9%B5%AC%E6%9C%AC%E5%91%A8%E4%B8%89%E5%B7%B2%E5%BE%A9%E8%81%B7-%E8%AA%BF%E4%BB%BB%E4%BA%BA%E4%BA%8B%E5%8F%8A%E8%A8%93%E7%B7%B4%E8%99%95%E8%99%95%E9%95%B7

#MassageParlour
More than 20 Diplomats in Beijing Calling China to Release the 2 Arrested Canadians;
China Criticizes Canada for “Gathering Nations and Confusing Right and Wrong”.

Source: Stand News #Aug12

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More than 20 Diplomats in Beijing Calling China to Release the 2 Arrested Canadians;
China Criticizes Canada for “Gathering Nations and Confusing Right and Wrong”.


Canadian merchant Michael Spavor was being convicted of espionage by a Chinese court and sentenced to 11-year imprisonment. Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau criticized the trial process as a sham trial, being unfair and Opaque.

Diplomats from more than 20 countries, including the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and the EU, gathered at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing to show their supports. They urged to have a fair trial or a release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Canada for “gathering individual countries, disregarding the facts and confusing the right and wrong”.

Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau stated in the live broadcast at CTV Television Network on August 11 that the sentence is a lack of fairness and transparency. He also indicated that “We are known that arbitrary detention of China and a sham trial with a lack of transparency and with an unreasonable judgement do not match the International Law”. He continued that the Canadian government was negotiating with Senior officials from China and the US, finding the solution to release both. However, Marc did not reveal any details.

Source: Stand News #Aug12

https://bit.ly/3jaPXb4

#Canada #China #Japan #UnitedStates #UnitedKingdom #Australia #Germany #EU #Embassy #ShamTrial #Transparency #Unfairness #ForeignAffairs #MichaelKovrig #MichaelSpavor #MarcGarneau
CCTV Again Questions the US Having "an Ulterior Motive" for Joining Wuhan Military World in 2019 Without Seeking Gold

Source: Stand News #Aug12

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CCTV Again Questions the US Having "an Ulterior Motive" for Joining Wuhan Military World in 2019 Without Seeking Gold

With more than 200 million COVID-19 infections, the whole world is trying to trace the source of the pandemic. While some in the US have suspected the virus was the leakage from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, China continues to wage a public opinion war, questioning the US to be the source of the virus. Following 25 million signatures collected by the Chinese tabloid Global Times, accusing US Fort Detrick laboratory of leaking the virus, official China media CCTV published another article on the 11th on the "Wuhan Military World theory", which proposed that a US athlete joining the game to be the "patient zero" and had transmitted the virus to China.

However, foreign media, such as CNN, has dismissed this claim. China-labelled "Patient zero" Maatje Benassi said that she has never been diagnosed in COVID-19 but has become a talking point of Chinese netizens, with her home address posted on the internet. "It's like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after day", she said.

Source: Stand News #Aug12

https://bit.ly/387UW67

#COVID19 #WuhanMilitaryWorld #WuhanInstituteOfVirology #FortDetrick #PatientZero #MaatjeBenassi #GlobalTimes #CCTV #CNN #China #US
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
Japan calls on Australia to lead resistance to China’s regional sway

Japan’s Defence Minister has warned China is trying to change the status quo in the region by force and has called on Australia and other allies to step up to ensure Beijing’s dominance is not inevitable.

In some of his strongest comments on the deteriorating security situation across the Indo-Pacific, Nobuo Kishi said the shifting power balance between the US and China “has become very conspicuous” while a military battle over Taiwan had “skewed greatly in favour of China”.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald #Aug12

https://t.co/yiASeRaq1c

#Japan #Australia #China #Taiwan
Cyberspace Administration of China: Already Held 30 Large IT Companies' Algorithm Technologies

Cyber Administration of China (#CAC) indicated on #Aug12 that 30 top IT companies have submitted part of their algorithm details, such as how to collect personal data and how to set up individual recommendation content. 

Companies includes #Tencent, #TikTok under #ByteDance, #MeiTuen, #iFeng, #Weibo, #Youku, #Kuaishou, #Baidu, #Sina, #Xiaomi, #WeChat, and #Tmall and #Taobao under #Alibaba.

#Bloomberg report stated that China can have full grasp of every move done by the citizens on the internet, and even all purchase detail and personal information can be seen clearly via the relevant enterprises and applications.

The CAC passed the regulations on algorithm recommendation in March this year, requiring all enterprises to reveal the algorithm used in every application.

Nominally, they can solve the issue of data misuse and enhance cyber security. But once when the authority obtained algorithm technology, they can take further control over web activity and carry out political propaganda.

They even can take "National Security" as an excuse, to obtain citizens' and companies' information.

Source: PC Market #Aug17
https://www.pcmarket.com.hk/china-netcom-algorithm-technology-of-30-technology-giants-has-been-mastered/?fbclid=IwAR3nrfecOdr8bYlAdIkaE3S783sF8pEprBrq_7Jg46s3lLXzzi1Pv8aSX0k

#CyberAdministrationofChina #surveillance #NationalSecurity #Webtracking #AlgorithmTechnology