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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
#ChrisPatten on How #CCP Changed #HongKong: "They’ve broken their word, as I’m afraid they do regularly"

The last UK governor of Hong Kong, #lChris Patten, blames the #ChineseCommunistParty for the city's malaise.

Patten, 78, who holds the title Baron Patten of Barnes and serves as chancellor of the #UniversityofOxford, spoke the Amelia Loi of RFA Cantonese about the changes in Hong Kong as the July 1 25th anniversary of the #handover approaches.

In the interview, Patten was asked to assess the changes in Hong Kong in the 25 years since the handove. Patten said, "Hong Kong was an exceptionally successful community ––the eighth largest trading community in the world and we never had the sort of demonstrations which have affected Hong Kong in the last few years. I had very much hoped it would continue as long as possible and the Chinese had promised that it would continue for 50 years. They’ve broken their word, as I’m afraid they do regularly. They break their word. They break international treaties whenever it suits them. And I think that’s happening again this time."

Patten also said, "the fact that the independence movement has grown in Hong Kong is an indication of how badly China has behaved and how little people actually trust China today. It’s an extraordinary thing that so few people are actually proud of Hong Kong being part of China now. There’s a great sense of Hong Kong citizenship, and there’s a great sense that people are Hong Kongers but only a small number think of themselves as Chinese."

Read the full interview:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hongkong-patten-06262022085742.html

Source: RFA #Jun26
Illustration: #RebelPepper
#FirstHand #Jun30
Hong Kong Authorities Seal Off Wanchai North to 'welcome' Xi Jinping


Since June 29, 2022, Hong Kong police sealed off a large area completely including car ways and pavements in Wanchai North, to prepare for the arrival of the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) leader #XiJinPing. From the midnight of June 30, the Exhibition and Convention Center station will also be closed.

On July 1, Xi will be present at the Exhibition and Convention Center to observe the ceremony celebrating the establishment day of the Hong Kong SAR and the officiation of the new Chief Executive.

On the eve of July 1, Hong Kong police sent in the anti-terrorism squad to patrol the area in their new uniform. Police dogs were also deployed. Reporters on the flyover were stopped and searched for 4 times.

During Xi's visit to Hong Kong, the metro will not stop at the
Exhibition and Convention Center station until 2pm on July 1. Buses will also be rerouted.

It was reported that some pro-democracy groups like the League of Social Democrats were warned by the authorities of the consequence of carrying out protests on the day.

#PoliceState #FailedState #Authoritarianism #Suppression #Handover
Media is too big
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
Chinese Communist Leader VS British Royal Visits to Hong Kong

On June 30, 2022, Chinese Communist party (#CCP) leader #XiJinping visited Hong Kong on the 25th aaniversary of the transfer of soveignty of Hong Kong. He was received by officials of the Hong Kong SAR and the so-called "citizens representatives". Meanwhile, roads were blocked around "important locations", and a massive number of police were deployed. July 1 also marks two year since Beijing's enforcement of the #NationalSecurityLaw in Hong Kong.

This is very different from even the British royal visits to Hong Kong before 1997, as shown in the RFA video.

Source: #RFA #Jun30

#Handover #PoliceState
Famed Hong Kong Author Ni Kuang Passed Away at 87; Novel Warned of Doom if Hong Kong Lost Its Freedom

Hong Kong author Ni Kuang passed away at home on July 3, 2022 at 87 years of age. A prolific Chinese-language novelist and screenwriter, he was the author of numerous celebrated science fiction novels, including the long-running Wisely series and Dr. Yuen series.

His death was widely mourned by Hong Kong's netizens as well as fellow writers. Author Sai Shing Sun, who is a friend of Ni and had long considered him to be his godbrother, posted on Facebook: "Big Brother Ni had left this afternoon." Columnist and writer Chip Tsao posted a photo of him and Ni together, and remembered him as "the most clear-minded individual in the Chinese-speaking world these past 70 years".

Ni appeared on an #RTHK talk show three years ago, where he and veteran lawyer Paul Shieh discussed his novel "Chasing the Dragon" (追龍). The story revolved around a great city in the east, and it was prophesied that it would lose its great qualities, and the city would thus perish.

An excerpt from "Chasing the Dragon" reads:

"To destroy a great city, the cause doesn't have to be a natural catastrophe; it could also be a man-made disaster. And it is not necessarily a war; but a few words of a few people, the foolish and ignorant acts of a few people - it is enough make a great city completely die. You don't have to destroy its buildings. You don't have to kill a single inhabitant. You can even make it appear the same as before on the outside. You only need to make its great qualities disappear, and city would then perish and die."

Ni, who fled China after the Communist Party came to power, said on the program that the novel was a political allegory for Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong was liberated, just like Shanghai was liberated, by the Communists. They came to power with their own principles. People talk about 'One Country Two Systems' this and that, and I only laughed at them for being so easily duped. They asked me why; I said I don't even believe that One Country Two Systems exists. What do you mean it's damaged? The question is moot.

"Communists do whatever they want. Communists promised One Country Two Systems; since when were Communists trustworthy? They never followed through a single promise all these years."

If Hong Kong were to lose its freedom, he said on the 2019 show, then Hong Kong's great quality would be destroyed. "[They would] be unreasonable, and restrict people's freedoms ... mainly the freedom of speech. It's the mother of all freedoms. Without freedom of speech, you have no other freedoms."

source: In-MediaHK.net #Jul4
https://bit.ly/3a9pWHA

#NiKuang #HongKongLiterature #FreedomOfSpeech #OneCountryTwoSystems #CCP
Missile funding?: #NorthKorea seen smuggling coal to #China

//North Korea is likely shipping coal directly to Chinese ports, activity that is banned from international trade under United Nations Security Council sanctions, a Nikkei investigation found.

Nikkei obtained satellite images of a North Korean-registered ship carrying coal, and confirmed that the ship directly went to China by examining data from the vessel's automatic identification system (AIS).

It is likely that China -- one of five permanent members of the Security Council -- is involved in smuggling activities and shows that current U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang to prevent it acquiring funds for missile development are not being fully implemented...

Nikkei obtained data on about 180 vessels -- including North Korean-flagged ships and vessels that had been cited for sanctions violations in the past -- from ship information companies MarineTraffic and Refinitiv, and traced their movements for about 18 months from January 2021.

There were 37 vessels that stayed in the port of Longkou for several days while transmitting AIS data. Similarly, at least 20 vessels called at ports in Liaoning and Hebei provinces, which handle large volumes of coal.

Regarding the movements of North Korean vessels, there have been previous reports that they would cut their AIS transmissions, making them impossible to follow, and trade at night.

Observers have often noted ship-to-ship transfers North Korea has used to circumvent conventional distribution channels, but it appears the country does not try to hide sanction-violating shipments anymore.//

Source: Asia Nikkei #Jun29

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/N-Korea-at-crossroads/Missile-funding-North-Korea-seen-smuggling-coal-to-China

#UN #CCP
British lawyers defending Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai say they have received threats

//Barristers from a British law firm who are representing jailed Hong Kong tycoon and democracy campaigner #JimmyLai said on July 7, 2022 they had received anonymous e-mails warning them against travelling to the city to defend him.

Lai is among the most prominent people in Hong Kong to be charged under a #National SecurityLaw that Beijing imposed in June 2020 to punish terrorism, collusion with foreign forces, subversion and secession with possible life imprisonment.

The barristers - Caoilfhionn Gallagher, Jonathan Price and Jennifer Robinson from Doughty Street Chambers - told Reuters the messages came from a generic Gmail address.

"A person that refuses to abide by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region could be extradited...from other jurisdictions. Foreign nationals will be charged with the offences of subversion," one of the e-mails said. "You have been warned not to attempt entry or land in Chinese territory."

The barristers declined to say if they would be travelling to Hong Kong for the trial.

"Threatening journalists, campaigners and lawyers within Hong Kong has been happening for some time," the barristers said in an e-mail.

"Now these intimidatory tactics are spreading outside the borders of China and Hong Kong."

Police said in a statement they were concerned about the media reports and "strongly condemn the act of impersonating police officers". They appealed to those concerned to provide further information.

The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the barristers would be allowed to enter Hong Kong.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, Director of the International Bar Association's Institute of Fundamental Rights, condemned what she said was an act of intimidation.

"Intimidating the lawyers who act for citizens pursuing freedom and democracy is the tactic of an authoritarian regime," she said.

"Jimmy Lai's right to instruct international lawyers of his choice is fundamental to a fair trial. The Hong Kong authorities seem to have abandoned the values which underpin the rule of law."//

Source: Reuters #Jul7
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/british-lawyers-defending-hong-kong-tycoon-say-they-receive-threats-2022-07-07/

#PoliceState #CCP #Intimidation #FairTrial #Lawyer #Court #AppleDaily #NextMedia
Hong Kong toes party line on Taiwan as Chinese diplomat threatens 're-education'

Senior officials in Hong Kong's new administration have been lining up to show their loyalty to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by condemning U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, as U.K. lawmakers were reportedly planning their own Taiwan trip.

"The Hong Kong ... government has unwavering determination in and a clear stance against any advocacy of 'Taiwan independence', and fully supports the central government's resolute determination in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Hong Kong chief executive John Lee said in a statement on the government's website.

Source: RFA #Aug04

#HongKong #Taiwan #ReEducation #CCP

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hongkong-taiwan-08042022143105.html
What Does China Want?

The greatest geopolitical catastrophes occur at the intersection of ambition and desperation. Xi Jinping’s China will soon be driven by plenty of both.

In our new book, Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, which this article is adapted from, we explain the cause of that desperation: a slowing economy and a creeping sense of encirclement and decline. But first, we need to lay out the grandness of those ambitions—what Xi’s China is trying to achieve. It is difficult to grasp just how hard China’s fall will be without understanding the heights to which Beijing aims to climb. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is undertaking an epic project to rewrite the rules of global order in Asia and far beyond. China doesn’t want to be a superpower—one pole of many in the international system. It wants to be the superpower—the geopolitical sun around which the system revolves.

Source: Foreign Policy #Aug13

https://t.co/oj5oEdClcu

#China #CCP #XiJinping #DangerZone
Hong Kong's “National Education Calendar” suggests discussing #ChineseCommunistParty development and watching three "patriotic anti-Japanese" films a year

In a letter to all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, the Education Bureau (#EDB) "strongly recommended" schools to "fully and systematically" implement learning activities for #NationalSecurityEducation.

The bureau attached a calendar of "important dates" on the national education curriculum, as well as suggested learning activities for each. These recommendations include watching patriotic or anti-Japanese war movies on three memorial dates related to the anti-Japanese war; holding memorial ceremonies on "mourning day for Nanjing Massacre Victims"; celebrating the "102nd Anniversary of the founding of the #CCP" with discussions on the Party's development, etc.

The EDB had also made it mandatory for all primary and secondary schools to fly the Chinese flag on all school days, as well as to hold a weekly flag-raising ceremony, complete with singing the Chinese national anthem. Secretary of Education Christine Choi says that, as the youth is the future pillars of society, schools must instill in students the concept of the nation, as well as national identity and pride, in order to develop them into a new generation of "knowledgeable, responsible youths who love the country and love Hong Kong".

[Editor's notes: Many China-produced television dramas and films about fighting the Japanese during World War 2 are characterized by their nationalistic nature. They are also known for "over-the-top violence and implausible plot events." For more information, check out this report by Hong Kong Free Press:

Patriotic comedies? Japanese author compiles an encyclopaedia of Chinese anti-Japan dramas
https://hongkongfp.com/2018/05/06/patriotic-comedies-japanese-author-compiles-encyclopaedia-chinese-anti-japan-dramas/ ]

Source: In-Media HK #Aug02
https://bit.ly/3zSgzGw

#Education #EducationBureau #NationalSecurityLaw #AntiJapan #Brainwashing #Nationalism
#HongKong Government publishes "correct" view of Hong Kong #History, claims 1997 was not a "#handover"

In the name of reforming the secondary school curriculum, the Hong Kong government had replaced Liberal Studies with “Civic and Social Development”. The textbook content has also been changed to explicitly state that Hong Kong was never a British colony.

In an article uploaded to its website on August 2, 2022, the Education Bureau (#EDB) explained the government's official version of history, saying that the ceremony on 1st July 1997 was not a “handover of Hong Kong” but a “transfer of sovereignty”. The education bureau argues that denying Hong Kong being a former British colony doesn’t mean it rejects Hong Kong’s history of being occupied by Britain, but stresses that the word “colony” was inappropriate.

The 1,500-word article is available in Chinese only.

Source: In-Media #Aug02
https://bit.ly/3OMSxRr

#Education #CCP #EducationBureau #BritishColony #NationalSecurityEducation #RewritingHistory
China Consulate in Manchester Drags Hong Kong Protesters Inside Gate and Assaults Them, Damaging Props and Tearing Out Hair

At the China Consulate in Manchester, UK yesterday (Oct 16), a group of Hongkongers gathered for a peaceful protest as the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) Congress begins in Beijing.

Less than 2 minutes after a protester began a speech, however, several consulate staff, dressed in riot helmets and body armor, rushed out at the gathered crowd. The staff began destroying protest props and posters, and dragged at least one protester into the consulate grounds from outside the gate. A scuffle quickly developed.

Several consulate staff was seen surrounding and beating one protester that they pulled inside the consulate gates, holding down the victim and apparently tearing out a handful of hair, discarding it in a pile of signs that they had snatched from protesters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj45YCaF4yE

Police officers quickly intervened, rescuing several protesters that had been dragged into the consulate grounds. They quickly formed a line to prevent consulate staff from any further attempts at abducting protesters.

Bob, a Hongkonger at the protest, had several cuts on his face from the altercation with consulate staff. He told Chaser News that he saw at least 6 men came out "looking to beat up people". Sensing trouble, he stepped up to stop them, "but they dragged me inside and beat me up."

He said he was punched and kicked by the men, with injuries all over his body, and thought that he might die there. Fortunately a police officer went inside the consulate grounds and rescued him. The officers later told him that once the gate was closed, they wouldn't be able to do anything.

The man in the trench coat and face mask who came out to kick down the protesters' banners caught the attention of netizens, who noted his similar appearance to Consul-General Zhen Xiyuan in multiple pictures. He was also seen patting the back of one staff member in an armor vest as they retreated after their assault.
https://twitter.com/McWLuke/status/1581705603100995584?s=20&t=ZcjB2FgQiGzvQGyDxE-7iw

https://twitter.com/McWLuke/status/1581705603100995584?s=20&t=ZcjB2FgQiGzvQGyDxE-7iw
In a tweet sharing the video of the beating, Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton, calls for the UK government to urgently investigate their violence on British soil and their violation of free speech. "Chinese Ambassador should be summoned and if any officials has beaten protesters, they must be expelled or prosecuted."
https://twitter.com/aliciakearns/status/1581703837915971585

The activist group Hong Kong Indigenous Defence Force sharply criticized the Chinese Consulate's actions. As consulates are sovereign territory of its represented state, if they were allowed to drag citizens into the consulate grounds, then it meant they could forcibly abduct and detain anyone in Britain who displeased them. The group urges the world to "seriously re-examine the legitimacy of the CCP's overseas consulates".

source #Oct16:
WinAndMac
https://www.winandmac.com/2022/10/hong-kongers-are-beaten-up-by-the-chinese-people-in-uk/

The Chaser News
https://www.facebook.com/the.chaser.news/posts/pfbid02eU6UCXSm5hXRvikq2gFEePA8f5ZnJ1VnELnmEY7GVq8NzyCT4xGYkq5gwGfpAHfjl

Hong Kong Indigenous Defence Force
https://www.facebook.com/100078098827369/posts/pfbid0289p53aDGLEBEAC813VMetGwYwGLaH1tJqwZPcJNiyFDRJWPNrTsTo3vvYKQruczxl/

#Manchester #HongKongProtest #CCPCongress #Suppression
#EnesKanterFreedom is a #US basketball player who dares to criticise the #CCP on public platforms on Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang issues.

He recently published a post on #Twitter that China cannot affect the US externally but internally. He uses #NBA as an example -- he was a basketball player being sold to #HoustonRockets, then soon be a free agent. The whole process is only 10 minutes.

During the #AntiELAB movement in Hong Kong in 2019, the then-Houston Rockets manager once confessed before the CCP government due to showing support to HKers.

Source:
Twitter #Oct01
https://twitter.com/enesfreedom/status/1576312524072714240?s=46&t=1xJ7zlKs6C0AtJE4r7RZaA

Yahoo News #Feb11
https://bit.ly/3TaRgGS
Pro-democracy publishing house in Thailand targeted for shutdown by Chinese buyer

A pro-democracy publishing house in Thailand was approached by a Chinese businessman who wanted to pay it to shut down to boost his relationship with Beijing in the wake of the ruling Chinese Communist Party congress, its editors said in a statement.

A private investigation agency contacted Sam Yan Press in May with an offer of two million baht from a Chinese businessman who wanted to buy the company in order to shut it down, the publishing house said in a statement on its website dated Oct. 26.

Source: RFA #Oct28

#Thailand #Beijing #Businessman #CCP

https://t.co/NygVq66J94
UK summons China diplomat over Hong Kong protester beating at consulate, as MP says consul-general involved

The UK’s foreign minister has summoned the Chinese chargé d’affaires after a Hong Kong protester was dragged into the Chinese consulate grounds in Manchester and beaten up on Sunday, as a major Communist Party Congress began in Beijing.

Minister of State Jesse Norman told parliament that the government was “extremely concerned” about officials allegedly beating demonstrators, and they will meet with the Chinese ambassador’s deputy on Tuesday afternoon.

“Peaceful protest, as this house has always recognised, is a fundamental part of British society and our way of life,” he said.

Lawmakers repeatedly urged the government to oust any Chinese officials found to be involved in the incident, during the Q&A session at parliament. “It is a question of law as to what offences were committed on British soil,” Norman said.

He added that the Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang had not been summoned, when asked by MP Iain Duncan Smith.

full article: Hong Kong Free Press #Oct19
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/10/18/breaking-uk-summons-chinese-rep-over-beating-of-hong-kong-protester-outside-manchester-consulate/

see also:
China Consulate in Manchester Drags Hong Kong Protesters Inside Gate and Assaults Them, Damaging Props and Tearing Out Hair
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/978

#CCP #ManchesterConsulate #HongKongProtest #UKParliament
Surveillance for All: China Pushes for Permanent Health Code by 2025

Source: Radio Free Asia #Nov10

#CCP #SurveillanceState #WuhanPneumonia #HealthCode #BigData #BigBrother

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Surveillance for All: China Pushes for Permanent Health Code by 2025

Although the #WHO had clearly stated that there had been a drastic 90% decrease in COVID deaths across the world, China had not embraced this optimistic view. Instead, it has declared a goal of making the Health QR Code mandatory for everyone in the country by 2025, enforcing a long-term, real-time surveillance for its citizens.

On Nov 9, The National Health Commission of China announced on its website that by 2025, every Chinese citizen will have a dynamically-managed electronic health file and a fully-functional electronic health code. The announcement is jointly published by the National Health Commission, State Administration of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the announcement, the health code systems currently in use are run by each province separately, and the systems from different provinces do not generally recognize each other's codes. In response, the central government aims to create a basic, inter-connected surveillance platform by 2025, in which each resident will have a dynamically-managed electronic health file and a fully-functional electronic health code.

With such a system in place, the Chinese government will be able to leverage big data to trace the so-called "high-risk individuals", establishing a long-term, real-time surveillance and control of the Chinese populace.

Source: Radio Free Asia #Nov10

https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/code-11102022062758.html

see also:
"Encode us": Health Code, or is it CCP's Social Credit System? (Aug 17, 2020)
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24283

#CCP #SurveillanceState #WuhanPneumonia #HealthCode #BigData #BigBrother
China pulls diplomats out of UK before police can quiz them on Manchester brawl

#Dec15 #CCP #ManchesterConsulate #HongKongProtest #UKParliament #ZhengXiyuan
China pulls diplomats out of UK before police can quiz them on Manchester brawl

Six Chinese officials have been removed from Britain by China, including one of its most senior UK diplomats.

The news comes just two months after the violence which took place at its Manchester consulate.

The UK had requested that the officials waive their right to diplomatic immunity, so that detectives can question them about the Manchester incident.

In a written statement to the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said, "I am disappointed that these individuals will not be interviewed or face justice.

"Nonetheless, it is right that those responsible for the disgraceful scenes in Manchester are no longer - or will shortly cease to be - consular staff accredited to the UK."

read full article:
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/chinese-diplomats-manchester-consulate-uk-james-cleverly-b2245565.html

see also:
China Consulate in Manchester Drags Hong Kong Protesters Inside Gate and Assaults Them, Damaging Props and Tearing Out Hair - Oct 16
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/977

UK summons China diplomat over Hong Kong protester beating at consulate, as MP says consul-general involved - Oct 19
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/998

#Dec15 #CCP #ManchesterConsulate #HongKongProtest #UKParliament #ZhengXiyuan
TikTok Pushed Chinese Propaganda Ads To Millions Across Europe

Source: Forbes #Jul27

#Tiktok #EuropeanUnion #DigitalServicesAct #CCP #Propaganda #Xinjiang

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TikTok Pushed Chinese Propaganda Ads To Millions Across Europe

TikTok has served up a flood of ads from Chinese state propaganda outlets to millions of Europeans in recent months, according to a new ad library published by the company on July 20. The promotions range in topic from defenses of Chinese Covid-19 lockdowns to adorable cats playing on the Great Wall of China to efforts to recast the country's Xinjiang region — where it has persecuted and detained more than one million mostly Muslim Uyghurs — as a spectacular tourist destination.

An analysis of the ad library conducted by Forbes showed that as of Wednesday, July 26, more than 1,000 ads from Chinese state media outlets like People’s Daily and CGTN have run on the platform since October 2022. They have been served to millions of users across Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom. The ad library does not yet display data on ads presented to users in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries outside of Europe.

Much of the content advertised by China state media on TikTok focused on frequent talking points from its TV, radio and print outlets that tout China’s economy, technology and cultural heritage. References to Xinjiang, where the U.S. government have branded the Chinese government’s campaign of mass repression, imprisonment and “reeducation” as a genocide, appeared in 92 of the 124 adverts promoted by one state media account.

Full article from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2023/07/26/tiktok-chinese-propaganda-ads-europe/

#Jul27 #Tiktok #EuropeanUnion #DigitalServicesAct #CCP #Propaganda #Xinjiang