Tag: Hong Kong

G7 foreign ministers urge China to reconsider new security law on Hong Kong
20Jun By Grace TsoiNo Comments

G7 foreign ministers urge China to reconsider new security law on Hong Kong

Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) member countries on Wednesday issued a joint statement strongly urging China to reconsider its decision to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong, saying that it would “seriously” undermine the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle."The proposed national security law would risk seriously undermining the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle and the territory's high degree of autonomy. It would jeopardize the system which has allowed Hong Kong to flourish and made it a success over many years," the foreign ministers of United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the EU's High Representative said in the statement.The group said it was writing to underscore their "grave concern" regarding China's decision,
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As Xi Jinping takes on an offensive mode, let’s pray for China
19Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

As Xi Jinping takes on an offensive mode, let’s pray for China

What a difference a year makes! A year ago, on June 4, Xi Jinping – the boss of China and the unelected master of the country’s fate – was confident enough to brush off the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square atrocity, and was gearing up to push back against a rampaging US President who seemed to have the roughest of touches on the delicate issues of diplomacy.Today, after a complete year, Xi is besieged due to the outright lies and cover-up of the novel coronavirus since late 2019.As in any country, it is the domestic situation that tends to be a catalyst for foreign overtures, and so is the case with China.Millions of Chinese today believe even less the lies coming out from the leadership of the Communist Party of China. They know that their leaders kept mum when hundreds of thousan
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Hong Kong police blame youngsters for committing crimes under shadow of protest
17Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Hong Kong police blame youngsters for committing crimes under shadow of protest

Justifying its aggressive tactics towards pro-democracy demonstrators, the pro-China Hong Kong police are now accusing young Hong Kongers of committing crimes under the shadow of unrest.Expressing his concerns, Commissioner of police of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, Chris Tang Ping-keung said that young people committing crimes have become a trend in the territory amid protests against China.The Hong Kong police have been called out of its excessive use of forces against the demonstrators in the territory. On June 12, the police arrested 35 people protesting against China's plan to impose national security legislation on the territory.In 2019, a total of 4,268 young people were arrested, an increase of more than 50 per cent from 2018. Of the 8,057 people a...
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With its actions in Hong Kong, China has let known its scant respect for rule of law
17Jun By Nectar GanNo Comments

With its actions in Hong Kong, China has let known its scant respect for rule of law

With Beijing pushing ahead with its plan for the controversial security legislation, the Hong Kong government will have to set up new institutions to safeguard national security and also allow mainland Chinese agencies to operate in the city "when needed". All moves were widely criticized by opposition politicians as a means to suppress dissent.The legislation has sparked fears that it would undermine the principle of "one country, two systems", eventually leading to erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy as stated under the Sino-British joint declaration of 1997.The Sino-British joint declaration on the question of Hong Kong was signed in Beijing on December 19, 1984, by the Prime Ministers of China and Britain, Zhao Ziyang and Margaret Thatcher. The two governments agreed that China would reass...
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Tibet, Taiwan key in reforming India policies towards China: Experts
14Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Tibet, Taiwan key in reforming India policies towards China: Experts

Amidst the stand-off between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), strategic experts and intellectuals said that to counter Xi Jinping’s ‘One China Policy’, India should support Tibet and Taiwan, and give Dalai Lama more visibility in India’s political circles.“India should be supporting Tibet and try that the Dalai Lama should be given a higher position and more visibility in India’s political circles. Along with this, we must begin economic and technological engagements with Taiwan, besides supporting it politically,” Director of Vivekananda International Foundation Dr. Arvind Gupta said.He was speaking at webinar titled, "Revisiting One China policy: Economic and Political Options for India: Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan, and Xinjiang" jointly organized by the Law and Society
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Fearful Hong Kongers rush to secure limited British passports
13Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Fearful Hong Kongers rush to secure limited British passports

As China continues with its plan to roll out the new Security Law, Hong Kongers are in a rush to avail the citizenship offered by Britain and leave the troubled territory.Shortly before Hong Kong was handed back to China, Simon Ng applied for a British National (Overseas) passport, a document he never thought he would need.His predicament is not new for the people in that region, as thousands of Hong Kongers rush for British passports with China tightening its grip on the territory.China's plan to impose a sweeping national security law on the city in response to huge pro-democracy protests has Ng mulling the prospect of leaving, the first time he has contemplated such action since Britain returned the former colony in 1997."Back then, like many of my peers, I thought China would reform an...
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Hong Kong cannot tolerate any more ‘chaos’, says Carrie Lam
9Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Hong Kong cannot tolerate any more ‘chaos’, says Carrie Lam

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday said that the city could not afford further "chaos" as it marked the first anniversary of the start of rolling mass protests against the extradition legislation by her government.A year ago, more than a million people flooded the streets of Hong Kong to protest a Bill by Lam's government that would have allowed people to be extradited to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party, for trial.Lam later withdrew the Bill but the legislation triggered widespread concern that the central government in Beijing was stifling freedoms in the global financial hub."All of us can see the difficulty we have been through in the past year, and due to such serious situations we have more problems to deal with," Lam said during her w
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accuses US of ‘double standards’ over protests
3Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accuses US of ‘double standards’ over protests

Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, has accused the United States of applying "double standards" in its response to violent protests and new national security laws planned for the territory as she warned Washington's plan to place trade restrictions on the financial hub would "only hurt themselves"."We have seen most clearly in recent weeks the double standards that are around," Lam, who was selected as city leader by a pro-Beijing committee, said on Tuesday."You know there are riots in the United States and we see how local governments reacted. And then in Hong Kong, when we had similar riots, we saw what position they adopted then," she added.Hong Kong has been rocked by months of huge and often violent protests over the past year, which riot police have stamped out with more t...
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“Hong Kong’s ‘romantic fusion of East and West’ is evaporating”
1Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

“Hong Kong’s ‘romantic fusion of East and West’ is evaporating”

China's ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai on Sunday said that the central government has the ultimate responsibility for upholding national security in Hong Kong, and that a proposed legislation for the city "will protect law-abiding citizens"."Hong Kong was a romantic fusion of the East and the West. To our regret, such romance is evaporating," the envoy said adding that the violent actions of protesters against police, citizens and property there had crossed "a red line" for Beijing."Hong Kong is in disarray. China's national security is at risk. That is why the central government has chosen to act," he said.Separately, a newspaper in China wrote that the plans outlined by US President Donald Trump at the White House were a "gross interference" in Beijing's affairs and were "do...
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Trump ‘completely wrong’ for curbing ties with Hong Kong, top officials say
30May By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Trump ‘completely wrong’ for curbing ties with Hong Kong, top officials say

Hours after US President Donald Trump moved toward stripping Hong Kong of its special treatment in a bid to punish China, senior government officials of the global financial hub lashed out at the US President saying the move made by Trump is “completely false and wrong”.Security minister John Lee said that Hong Kong's government could not be threatened and would push ahead with the new laws."I don't think they will succeed in using any means to threaten the (Hong Kong) government, because we believe what we are doing is right," Lee said.Justice Minister Teresa Cheng said the basis for Trump's actions was "completely false and wrong", saying the need for national security laws were legal and necessary.Trump said Beijing had broken its word over Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy from Beiji
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