#HONGKONG: Court Finds 14 Freedom Campaigners "Guilty of Subversion"

[world politics news]

Hong Kong has found 14 pro-democracy activists guilty of subversion in the largest use yet of a China-imposed National Security Law.

They included former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung and Helena Wong, journalist-turned-campaigner Gwyneth Ho, and ordinary Hong Kongers who joined the mass protests of 2019 such as nurse Winnie Yu.

They were among the 47 activists charged with trying to "overthrow" the government by organising an unofficial primary in 2020 to pick candidates who can run for office.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Gov't Seeks Ban Of Pro-Democracy Song, Streaming Platforms Remove

[world politics news]

Hong Kong's Attorney General has applied for a Court order to ban a song used by protesters of the city's pro-Communist regime, saying it promotes "secession" of the region from China.

An injunction would prohibit, with the intent to incite others to commit the crime of secession, or with the intent to incite, in any manner, including on the Internet or any medium accessible online, or any Internet-based platform or medium, broadcast, perform, print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, circulate, display or reproduce the song.

The government seeks to ban the content of "Glory to Hong Kong", including its tune, lyrics or lyrics, and in addition, an adaptation of the song. Those whose tunes, lyrics and/or lyrics are substantially similar to the songs concerned, especially those advocating the separation of Hong Kong from the People's Republic of China, are also prohibited.

The injunction also prohibits the dissemination of the song in any manner intended to insult the national anthem so that it is "likely to be misunderstood as the national anthem of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" or to suggest that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an independent country with its own national anthem.

At the same time, the restraining order will prohibit, aiding, causing, procuring, inciting, aiding and abetting others to commit or participate in the above-mentioned prohibited conduct. Knowingly authorizing, permitting or permitting others to commit or participate in any of the above acts is also prohibited.

The unofficial anthem of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in 2019 has been removed from streaming platforms Spotify and iTunes ahead of a court order, but remains on YouTube. A court date is set for July 24. Critics say the anticipated ban is another sign of Beijing's crackdown and efforts to stamp out dissent in Hong Kong against the central Chinese government.

[FULL STORY HERE and HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Former Student Leader Arrested For Sharing Facebook Post

[world politics news]

Former Hong Kong student leader Owen Au was arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) at 7 a.m. on Tuesday for allegedly violating the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, according to HKFP sources.

Over seven months ago, Au shared a post by self-exiled democrat and former lawmaker Ted Hui on Facebook, which encouraged the public to cast blank votes in the first “patriots only” Legislative Council election last December.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Chief Executive Lam Won't Seek Re-Election

[world politics news]

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s current chief executive, has said she will not not run in the upcoming small-circle leadership election.

Lam announced that she would not enter the race on Monday, a day after the nomination period for candidates, which lasts until April 16, opened.

The city’s leadership race was originally scheduled for March 27. In mid-February, Lam and the Executive Council evoked emergency powers to push the election date to May 8, citing the seriousness of the fifth wave of Covid-19.

Lam has presided over a crackdown on free speech and freedom of the press in the city-state, which has become increasingly aligned with mainland Communist China. This, despite the 1997 treaty with Britain that created the "one state, two systems" agreement that allowed for self-government and a separate, western-style legal system until the year 2047.

Under Lam, that legal system has also now more closely aligned itself with mainland China.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Crackdown On Free Press Intensifies

[world politics news]

Life as an independent journalist in Hong Kong, long hard, is becoming impossible. On December 29th Stand News, the territory’s leading pro-democracy news outlet, was forced to shut after hundreds of police raided its office, froze its assets and arrested seven people. 

The current and former editors were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious content and denied bail. 

Fearing for their reporters’ safety, two other news sites, Citizen News and Mad Dog Daily, halted operations on January 4th.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: "Patriotic" Courses To Be Given In Vacant School

[world politics news]

A pro-Beijing group in Hong Kong will convert a vacant school into a national education center to showcase teaching models based on patriotism and train students in flag-raising etiquette.

Wong Kam-leung, chairman of the 37,000-strong Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, said on Tuesday the group was given the school premises in Sha Tin by the city's Education Bureau to set up the support center.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Statue Commemorating 1989 Tiananmin Massacre Removed

[world politics news]

Workers at the University of Hong Kong removed a Tiananmen Massacre monument late on Wednesday night, months after the university said the statue must go.

Views of the area were obscured with curtains and plastic barriers at around 11 pm. 

Alvin Lum of CitizenNews reported that the university’s ruling body had agreed to that the statue would be demolished amid political pressure from Beijing’s local offices.

Jens Galschiøt’s Pillar of Shame monument has stood on campus for over two decades, though – in October – university authorities demanded its removal amid a crackdown on those commemorating the 1989 massacre of students by Mainland Chinese military.

The artist said he was saddened by the statues removal, and demanded compensation because he claims he still owns the statue.

The removal is seen by many as yet another example of the mainland Chinese Communist party's stranglehold on Hong Kong, which was promised an independent government until 2045 when it became free of British colonial control in 1997.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Residents Vote, But Only for Gov't-Approved Candidates

[world politics news]

Hong Kong voted Sunday in the first election since mainland communist China  amended the city-state's laws to reduce the number of directly elected lawmakers and vet candidates to ensure that only those loyal to China can run.

The semi-autonomous territory was rocked by pro-democracy protests in 2014 and 2019, but they were crushed by security forces, followed by the imposition of a sweeping national security law that silenced most of the city's opposition activists and led others to flee abroad.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Exiled Democracy Activist Strikes Back At Gov't Official's Criticism

[world politics news]

Self-exiled activist Nathan Law has hit back after the city’s security chief said he was “extremely furious” that the ex-lawmaker accepted an invitation to speak at the upcoming Summit for Democracy in the US.

Law, who left Hong Kong just before the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law last June, announced on Monday that he had been invited by US President Joe Biden to speak at the summit, to be held on Friday.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang wrote in a blog post published on Tuesday that Law was attempting to “slander the Central and SAR governments, spreading political lies” by accepting an invitation to speak at the summit, “using ‘democracy’ as a façade.”

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: City Could Ban Unvaxxed From Public Places

[world politics news]

Hong Kong is considering banning unvaccinated residents from entering certain businesses in a bid to prevent the transmission of a new, more contagious coronavirus variant already found in the city, the minister in charge of the Covid-19 jab drive said.

The stricter rules revealed by Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip Tak-kuen followed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision to name the new variant detected in South Africa “Omicron,” after the Greek letter. It also said the variant was one “of concern” for the greater risks it could pose than the Delta variety.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Chief Executive Injured In Fall

[world politics news]

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has been released after a night in hospital where she was treated for a bone fracture.

The injury in her right elbow was caused by a fall at the 64-year-old's residence.

Lam “attended the hospital by herself and was diagnosed with a minor right elbow fracture after checking by doctors,” a statement released by the Chief Executive’s Office at around midnight on Tuesday read.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Teacher's Union Disbanded After Attacks By Pro-Beijing Forces

[world politics news]

The Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union announced its disbandment on September 11. Established in 1973, the group has been the largest and oldest teachers' union in the city.

The group's pro-democracy stance has been attacked by pro-Beijing media funded by the Chinese Communist Party government and attacks were picked up by the Hong Kong government.

Source: Stand News

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Government Cuts Ties with Professional Teachers' Union After China Calls it "Cancer"

[world politics news]

China's state media People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency published opinion pieces yesterday against the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (#HKPTU), calling it "a cancer that must be removed".  

By the afternoon, the Education Bureau of the Hong Kong government announced it

that it is terminating its working relationship with the local teachers' Union.

The union responded to the opinion pieces by saying it has always promoted professional growth of teachers and advocating for their rights, giving attention to the development of the country and its people, as well as being "against Hong Kong independence".

The Education Bureau sent out a sternly-worded press release a mere half hour later, outlining its policy towards the Union:

-No further collaboration with the Union;

-No more meetings with the Union

-No consulting with the Union regarding education matters

-No processing of referred cases or topics of concern raised by the Union

The Bureau said that it would fully review its consultation groups, and would consider terminating the terms of any HKPTU members that hold committee positions or have other duties, and not recognize their status as committee members.  

Furthermore, the government would be refused entry into the Bureau's office building or the Bureau's meetings.

Also, the Education Bureau will no longer recognize professional development courses hosted by HKPTU, and schools are not to count the Union's courses toward their teachers' professional development requirements of 150 hours in 3 years.

The Bureau further criticizes the union for its pro-democracy stance and activities in recent years, claiming that they are not in line with the professionalism of educators, even claiming that the Union is effectively no different from a "political group."

The government's spokesperson also criticized the Union for being actively involved in the matters with the Civil Human Rights Front and the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, as well as for "bringing politics into schools" by organizing teachers' strikes.

Founded in 1973, the HKPTU is Hong Kong's largest teacher's union with over 90,000 members.  The other major union is the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, which claims over 40,000 members, though some member categories are not required to be in the education sector.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Social Media Giants threaten To Leave City Over New Data Laws

[world politics news]

Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have privately warned the Hong Kong government that they could stop offering their services in the city if authorities proceed with planned changes to data-protection laws that could make them liable for the malicious sharing of individuals’ information online.

A letter sent by an industry group that includes the internet firms said companies are concerned that the planned rules to address doxing could put their staff at risk of criminal investigations or prosecutions.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Gov't Pressure Closes Pro-Democracy Newspaper

[world politics news]

At 2 a.m. on Jun 24 in Hong Kong's Mongkok neighborhood, newspaper vendors received the second batch of Apple Daily from the printer.

The first batch of 800 copies had sold out immediately. The second print run was increased to 10,000 copies.

As the copies arrived, journalists and civilians rushed to take pictures of the last edition of the most outspoken pro-democracy paper in Hong Kong, which has been printed for 26 years.

Authorities, who are closely aligned with the mainland Communist Chinese government, have used different means of stopping the truth-seeking newspaper from operating, including charging editors and executives with violating the draconian Beijing-inspired National Security Law, which clamps down on Free speech in the city-state, and by freezing the assets of the paper and three connecting companies.

Many see this as an end to press freedom and local culture that Hongkongers have enjoyed under its "one state, two systems" rule, originally put in place by the British when they left the city to mainland communist China in 1997. That plan now seems dead after several such crackdowns.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Police Arrested Top Executives Of Newspaper Critical Of Government

[world politics news]

Hong Kong’s national security police have arrested two executives and three news staff of Apple Daily, the only pro-democracy newspaper in the city, for foreign collusion, and raided its office.

Media say over 500 police officers swarmed the building during the arrests.

CEO Cheung Kim-hung, COO Royston Chow, Chief Editor Ryan Law, Associate Publisher Chan Pui-man and Platform Director of Apple Daily Digital Cheung Chi-wai were taken by police officers early on Thursday morning. 

They are accused of breaking Article 29 of the Beijing-imposed national security law, which prohibits “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.” Police say they wrote op-eds and stories encouraging foreign sanctions on China.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Seven 2019 Anti-Gov't Protest Organizers Convicted

[world politics news]

Hong Kong newspaper owner Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and six former opposition lawmakers have been convicted of organising and taking part in an unauthorised anti-government protest in 2019.

The ruling followed a four-week trial that centred on an unauthorised procession on August 18, 2019, during the social unrest of that year sparked by the since-withdrawn extradition bill.

Prosecutors accused the seven of turning an approved assembly in Victoria Park into an illegal march to Central under the pretext of crowd control.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Heritage Foundation Drops City-State From Freest Economy List

[world politics news]

Hong Kong used to dominate the annual Heritage Foundation ranking of the world’s freest economies. 

But the Asian City-State has disappeared entirely from the latest list. Together with Macau, it is now counted as part of China to reflect to he Communist staye's increasing sway over policy following months of pro-democracy protests in 2019. 

In the latest edition published on Mar 3, China resides in 107th place in the ranking, sandwiched between Uganda and Uzbekistan among economies rated as “mostly unfree.”

The move to scrap Hong Kong and Macau’s independent ratings comes as top Communist Party officials prepare to meet in Beijing for the National People’s Congress.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: China In "Non-Compliance" With 1984 Hong Kong Treaty

[world politics news]

Britain has declared that China is now in “a state of ongoing non-compliance” with the 1984 Sino-British joint declaration, which was supposed to guarantee Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy after the territory returned to Beijing’s control in 1997.

Dominic Raab, foreign secretary, said radical changes planned by Beijing to restrict participation in Hong Kong elections represented a further clear breach of the legally binding declaration.

His comments came ahead of the publication next week of a UK foreign and defence policy, which will see Boris Johnson’s government set out its strategy for dealing with China.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Officials Refuse To Renew Visas For Taiwan Diplomats Without Signing "One China" Document

[world politics news] 

Taiwan officials have been denied visa renewals in Hong Kong by the pro-Beijing government and have been forced to leave the city-state.

Several Taiwan officials of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong  were reportedly declined visa renewals by the Hong Kong government, because they refused to sign statements in support of the “One China" Principle.

To do so would mean they accepted mainland Communist China's sovereignty over Taiwan, which has been self-governing since 1945.

As a result, they had to return to Taiwan, leaving only 12 officials in their office in Hong Kong. 

Visa documents of four Taiwan officials were either expired or about to expire. The officials made applications for visa renewals but they had not heard from the Hong Kong authorities for as long as 6 months. It was suspected that the authorities have been stalling their applications in an attempt to disrupt the office's operation. 

It was reported that there were once 20 officials in the office, which was set up last summer to help Hong Kong citizens who wanted to flee the city-state after the mainland imposed a new security law and the city's government began cracking down on dissidents.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.