Hong Kong under National Security Law; Some Pro-Democracy disband political parties

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/01/china/hong-kong-activists-arrest-warrant-intl-hnk/index.html

Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for six overseas-based democracy activists who are alleged to have breached the city's newly imposed national security law, according to Chinese state media.

The six include United States citizen and resident Samuel Chu and Nathan Law, a former Hong Kong lawmaker and prominent pro-democracy campaigner who fled the city and is now living in London, according to the report.

The issuing of the warrant appears to mark the first time that authorities have used the new national security law, imposed by Beijing on June 30, to target activists based outside of the city.

The law criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference, and it applies to offenses committed "outside the region" by foreigners who are not residents of Hong Kong or China.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53699084

The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, and 10 other top officials from Hong Kong and mainland China.

The sanctions were used to target those undermining Hong Kong's autonomy, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

<snip>

Among those sanctioned are Hong Kong's police commissioner and several political secretaries.

<snip>

The 11 sanctioned officials will have all property in the US seized and financial assets frozen.

No personal sanctions against Xi Jinping yet, but I have to assume they are coming (and that's one of those things I hope a Biden Administration does.)

[NewYorkExpress]

Lol ban their kids from coming to US colleges.

Really we should be banning all Chinese citizens from entering the U.S until the Communist Party is overthrown.

The Chinese Communist Party is much like the Nazi Party in that you have to join, if you don't want to be hunted down by the secret police...so everyone's a member.

If Trump/Biden were to introduce a travel ban again, China should be on the list (and probably should be one of only like three countries on it... the other two being Russia and Venezuela.)

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/10/politics/china-sanctions-rubio-cruz-cotton-smith/index.html

China said on Monday it has imposed sanctions on 11 Americans, including six US lawmakers, for "behaving badly on Hong Kong-related issues."

The action is the latest in escalating tensions between the two countries and a back-and forth in sanctions. The US on Friday sanctioned Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam as well as 10 other Chinese and Hong Kong officials for their role in crackdowns on political freedom in the region -- the latest measure taken by the Trump administration in response to China's imposition of a controversial national security law on Hong Kong.

"The US action (Friday) was a blatant interference in Hong Kong's affairs and in China's internal affairs," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday. "It was in serious violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations."

Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey were the US lawmakers sanctioned by Beijing.

<snip>

Humans Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth, President of the National Endowment for Democracy Carl Gershman, President of National Democratic Institute Derek Mitchell, President of the International Republican Institute Daniel Twining and President of Freedom House Michael Abramowitz were also sanctioned.

No sanctions against President Trump or his family to this point.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53773776

The US has designated the Confucius Institute (CI), the Chinese government-run global education programme, as a foreign propaganda mission.

The order says CI, which offers language and cultural programmes overseas, is "owned or effectively controlled" by a foreign government.

Staff will be required to register and adhere to restrictions similar to those placed on diplomatic embassies.

It comes amid worsening relations between China and the US.

In a statement announcing the move, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Confucius Institute "an entity advancing Beijing's global propaganda and malign influence campaign" on American classrooms and campuses.

"The United States wants to ensure that students on US campuses have access to Chinese language and cultural offerings free from the manipulation of the Chinese Communist Party and its proxies," Mr Pompeo continued, adding that the move was made to better inform educators.

China criticised the US measure as "demonising and stigmatizing the normal operation of China-US co-operation projects".

"We urge the US to stop politicising educational exchange programs, stop interfering with normal people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and stop undermining China-US mutual trust and co-operation," said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

I'm honestly astonished Trump hasn't decided to do something really crazy, like land troops in Hong Kong yet.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/06/media/china-visa-restrictions-journalists/index.html

In the latest round of tit-for-tat between Beijing and Washington targeting each other's media outlets, Chinese authorities have imposed new visa restrictions on foreign journalists working for US news organizations in China amid growing bilateral tensions..

In the past week, during the routine renewal of their press credentials -- which are normally valid for a year -- several journalists were handed a letter that said their applications were being processed, instead of a new press card. They were advised to carry the letter along with their expired press cards as proof of journalistic identity.

Since their Chinese visas are tied to their press cards, these journalists were issued a new visa valid for only about two months, much shorter than the usual one year.

Chinese authorities have made clear that the temporary press credentials -- and the visas linked to them -- can be revoked anytime, leaving affected journalists in a limbo without knowing for sure how long they would be able to remain in China.

<snip>

In May, Washington limited the duration of stay for most US-based Chinese journalists to 90 days. Beijing claims none of its journalists has heard back from US authorities on the status of their latest applications for visa extension, which they say has seriously disrupted their work and life.

If no approval is granted, the Chinese journalists will have to leave the United States by early November,

<snip>

Earlier this year, Beijing effectively expelled about a dozen journalists from the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal after the Trump administration capped the number of Chinese nationals allowed to work in the US offices of China's state-run media, resulting in major staff cuts in these operations.

Since then, Washington has designated a growing number of US offices of China's state-run news organizations as "foreign missions," requiring them to file paperwork with US authorities on their finances and personnel. Beijing has hit back by demanding the same of multiple US outlets in China.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/06/asia/hong-kong-protests-elections-arrest-intl/index.html

Nearly 300 protesters were arrested in Hong Kong Sunday, according to the city's police force.

Hong Kong Police said officers had arrested 289 people, with the majority suspected of breaching unlawful assembly laws.

"Among them, 270 were suspected of unlawful assembly, including 169 men and 101 women; 5 men were suspected of misconduct in public places; 5 men were suspected of failing to produce valid identity documents," the police force said in a Facebook post.

The remaining people were arrested "on suspicion of attacking police officers," loitering and obstructing police from performing their duties, the statement added.

The protesters were arrested in the Hong Kong neighborhoods of Yau Mai Tei and Mong Kok.
Earlier on Sunday afternoon large crowds gathered at Yau Mai Tei, rallying and shouting at a prohibited group gathering. Local elections were supposed to be held Sunday but the government has postponed them for at least a year due to the pandemic.

The opposition argues that Hong Kong authorities postponed the vote for fear of pro-government parties doing badly.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/china-us-visas-intl-hnk/index.html

More than 1,000 Chinese nationals have had their visas revoked by the United States since June, under a program aimed at graduate students and researchers believed to have ties to the Chinese military.

The US State Department said in a statement Wednesday that "high-risk graduate students and research scholars" had been expelled, after they "were found to be subject to Presidential Proclamation 10043 and therefore ineligible for a visa."

Issued by President Donald Trump at the end of May, and implemented beginning June 1, the proclamation claims that China "is engaged in a wide‑ranging and heavily resourced campaign to acquire sensitive United States technologies and intellectual property, in part to bolster the modernization and capability of its military, the People's Liberation Army."

You know, if President Trump wants to revive his travel ban now, he could put China on the list, and I'm not sure Democrats would fight him on it.

[NewYorkExpress]

Carrie Lam will not seek a second term as Hong Kong's Chief Executive.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who has faced a tumultuous five-year term defined by political upheaval and Covid-19, will not seek to extend her time in office, she confirmed Monday.

The decision was her "personal wish and aspiration" and was entirely driven by "family considerations," said Lam in a news conference, a day after the nomination period for the post opened.

She added that she had informed Beijing of her decision in March last year during China's annual parliamentary meeting. Her term ends on June 30.

"This will also mean I am finishing my 42 years of public service," she said, adding that she has not decided on future plans.

Speculation has swirled on whether Lam, who has the lowest public approval rating seen since Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, would run again in the May 8 leadership race.