Samoa Suspends Beijing’s Port Plan;
Prime Minister-Elect: Samoa Has Long Owed China a Heavy Debt

Source: Stand News #May20

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Samoa Suspends Beijing’s Port Plan;
Prime Minister-Elect: Samoa Has Long Owed China a Heavy Debt

Fiame Naomi Mataafa, the Prime Minister-elect of Pacific Island Samoa, promised to suspend the port plan led by Beijing, costing about 100 million USD. She also pointed out that a small country with huge debts to China does not need such a large port.

Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mataafa defeated opponents last month, becoming the first woman prime minister in Samoa. She indicated that Samoa would keep a favourable relation with China, but there are more pressing issues to deal with at the moment. The port plan has already caused controversy in China and is one of the most influential issues in the local election in April.

Mataafa stated in a Reuters interview, “Samoa is a small country. Our seaports and airports cater for our needs. It's very difficult to imagine that we would need the scale that's being proposed under this particular project when there are more pressing projects that the government needs to give priority to.”.

Source: Stand News #May20

https://bit.ly/3vAxBnQ

#Samoa #Beijing #China #Debts #PacificIsland #Port #Mataafa #Reuters

Alberta orders major universities to suspend pursuit of new partnerships with China

Alberta has ordered its four major universities to suspend the pursuit of partnerships with individuals or organizations linked to the Chinese government or ruling Chinese Communist Party, citing concerns over national security and the risk that the research could be used to facilitate human-rights abuses.

The order affects the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge and Athabasca University, institutions with a strong research focus in the province.

Source: The Globe and Mail #May24

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-alberta-orders-major-universities-to-suspend-pursuit-of-new/

#Alberta #University #Partnerships #China

Russia, China sow disinformation to undermine trust in Western vaccines, EU report says

Russian and Chinese media are systematically seeking to sow mistrust in Western COVID-19 vaccines in their latest disinformation campaigns aimed at dividing the West, a European Union report said on Wednesday.

From December to April, the two countries' state media outlets pushed fake news online in multiple languages sensationalizing vaccine safety concerns, making unfounded links between jabs and deaths in Europe and promoting Russian and Chinese vaccines as superior, the EU study said.

The Kremlin and Beijing deny all disinformation allegations by the EU, which produces regular reports and seeks to work with Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft to limit the spread of fake news.

Source: CP24 #Apr29

https://www.cp24.com/world/russia-china-sow-disinformation-to-undermine-trust-in-western-vaccines-eu-report-says-1.5406038

#Russia #China #EU #Covid19

#NeverForget #NeverGiveUp
Pro-democracy Activists Reopen June 4th Commemorative Museum in Hong Kong

On May 30, 2021, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China reopens the June 4th Museum in Hong Kong.

Since 1990, the group has been organizing the annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park to commemorate the victims of the Chinese Communist Party's crackdown on the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing in 1989.

Despite the Hong Kong police's ban on the signature vigil for the second straight year, the Alliance organizes a photo exhibition titled " '89 Movement and Hong Kong" in the museum and called on Hongkongers to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre with each of the own ways, wherever they are.

The secretary for the Alliance Choi Yiu-cheong emphasizes that the Alliance would never give up the commemoration.

Source: InMedia #May30
https://bit.ly/3c65F3z

#June4 #TiananmenMassacre #Museum #CandlelightVigil #Crackdown

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Related News:

HK Police Arrest #GrannyWong
for "participating in unauthorized assembly" ALONE

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29822

#NeverSurrender: Hong Kong Hospital Authorities Employees' Alliance Speaks Up for June 4 Tiananmen Massacre

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29830

#FirstHand #May31
Ex-Lawmaker #EmilyLau Calls Out Unfairness in NSL Trial Procedures, As Hundreds Gather Outside 47 Democrats' Court Hearing

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29879

#FirstHand #May31
Ex-Lawmaker #EmilyLau Calls Out Unfairness in NSL Trial Procedures, As Hundreds Gather Outside 47 Democrats' Court Hearing

Video: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29878

Former Democratic Party chairperson Emily Lau was among the large crowds of Hongkongers who turned out on Monday, May 31, 2021, in support of the #47Democrats, who appeared in court at the West Kowloon Magistracy,

"I'm not a lawyer," Lau said, "but I think that if they haven't finished investigations -- and it could go on for who knows how many more months, how many more years -- then finish it first, and let the people go! Why keep them all locked up?"

"This is not how things used to work in Hong Kong." said Lau, who had been involved in politics since the first direct election of LegCo in 1991. "That's why you see so many people coming out today. Everybody is incensed."

"You have to be more fair," Lau continued.

"Others have also said the same thing: free the people first, then they can take as long as they want with the investigations. But no, they haven't gathered enough evidence, they said; they needed to investigate carefully, they said."

"It's handled so badly! How could they do this?"

The case is adjourned until July 8, 2021, when the 47 Democrats will appear in court again. The 36 defendants who had not been granted bail continue to be held in custody.

#Court #NationalSecurityLaw
#PoliticalProsecution #PoliceState #Save47 #Interview #Video

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Related Stories:

Hong Kong Court Refuses to Answer Whether Jury Trial Would Take Place for #47Democrats

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29857

Hongkongers Voice Support for Pro-democracy Activists Charged with National Security Law
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29846

Pelosi calls for the international community for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics; Zhao Lijian accuse US to be afraid of seeing China's "vigorous development of human rights"

Source: The Stand News #May20

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Pelosi calls for the international community for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics; Zhao Lijian accuse US to be afraid of seeing China's "vigorous development of human rights"

As international community demands for boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics growing, US Congress held a hearing on 18th, in which the House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed leading countries to diplomatic boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics. Chinese Spokesperson of Foreign Affairs Zhao Lijian responded on the 19th that U.S. were calling on countries not to participating the Winter Olympics because they are afraid that people from all over the world would see the "fact" of China's "vigorous development of human rights".

In a US Congress hearing on Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi proposed a diplomatic boycott of 2002 Beijing Winter Olympics, called for countries leaders not to go there to honour China. “For heads of state to go to China in light of a genocide that is ongoing – while you’re sitting there in your seat – really begs the question: what moral authority do you have to speak again about human rights any place in the world?” she said.

Source: The Stand News #May20

https://bit.ly/3c9OCO5

#NancyPelosi #InternationalCommunity #Boycott #UnitedStates #China #Xinjiang #Beijing #HumanRights #Diplomatic #Genocide #WinterOlympics #MoralAuthority

Chinese AI firm blacklisted by U.S. gave funds to York, Queen’s universities

Two Ontario universities, York and Queen’s, have been collaborating with a major Chinese artificial-intelligence company that has been blacklisted by the U.S. government for supplying surveillance equipment used against Muslim Uyghurs.

iFlytek, a partly state-owned enterprise that specializes in voice recognition, provided $1.5-million to Toronto’s York University in 2015 to create a new iFlytek Laboratory for Neural Computing and Machine Learning and a chair at the Lassonde School of Engineering. Queen’s University, in Kingston, received $727,000 in 2019 from the Chinese AI company to develop learning models that detect and process speech.

Source: The Globe and Mail #May28

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-ai-firm-blacklisted-by-us-gave-funds-to-two-ontario/

#China #US #Blacklist #University

China's debt-trap diplomacy

American statesman John Adams, who served as president from 1797 to 1801, famously said, “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country: One is by the sword; the other is by debt.” China, choosing the second path, has embraced colonial-era practices and rapidly emerged as the world’s biggest official creditor.

With its international loans surpassing more than 5 percent of the global GDP, China has now eclipsed traditional lenders, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and all the creditor nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) put together. By extending huge loans with strings attached to financially vulnerable states, it has not only boosted its leverage over them but also ensnared some in sovereignty-eroding debt traps.

Source: The Hill #May03

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/551337-chinas-debt-trap-diplomacy

#China #Debt #Trap

#Smearing #June4
Hostile Banners Seen outside Churches in Hong Kong, Smearing June 4 Memorial Masses and Warning of National Security Breach

Photo: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29886

Tomorrow, June 4, 2021, marks 32 years after June 4th Tiananmen Massacre, a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy civilians by the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, in 1989.

In Hong Kong, the annual candlelight vig has been banned by the police. Despite that, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese will continue to organize a Mass outside their seven churches in the evening.

However, on the morning of June 3, 2021, some hostile banners with words "Cult invades religion" were placed outside the churches, smearing the mass as a potential breach of the #NationalSecurityLaw.

Porson Chan, project officer of the Commission, responded that they had no intention to correlate the false accusations on the banner to the June 4 Mass, emphasizing that the Mass is a legal religious activity protected by Basic Law. Thus the event would be held as scheduled.

Image: Big
Text: InMedia HK #June3

#PoliticalSuppression #Masses #Church #TiananmenMassacre

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Related News:

HK Police Arrest #GrannyWong
for "participating in unauthorized assembly" ALONE

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29822

#NeverSurrender: Hong Kong Hospital Authorities Employees' Alliance Speaks Up for June 4 Tiananmen Massacre

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29830

Pro-democracy Activists Reopen June 4th Commemorative Museum in Hong Kong

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29877