Month: August 2023

INTERVIEW: ‘I don’t know if it’s possible for me to ever return to Hong Kong’

Media Library

A photography professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Art and Design has been refused entry to Hong Kong for the second time, further evidence that an ongoing crackdown on dissent under a draconian national security law could affect which foreign nationals are allowed to travel to the city. Matthew Connors, who was denied entry in 2020, immediately after the 2019 protest movement, but who is still allowed to visit North Korea, told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview that he was given a brief, bureaucratic explanation that he “didn’t meet…

In visit to Gansu, Chinese security chief stresses stability in and around Tibet

Media Library

China’s security chief emphasized the importance of national security and the need to confront separatist elements during a visit last week to central Gansu province in what some Tibetans see as an indication of a further clampdown on the ethnic minority. Speaking to a group of provincial security heads, Chen Wenqing, the former head of China’s Ministry of State Security, said they must “take a clear stand” to safeguard the unity of China, oppose ethnic separatism and ensure national security, the South China Morning Post reported. The Chinese government has…

Australia news live: Anthony Albanese to announce referendum date as poll puts yes ahead in South Australia

Media Library

<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"64ee14e68f08b9a6738a9d08","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" The yes vote has nudged ahead in the crucial battleground of South Australia, a poll claims today, as Anthony Albanese prepares to launch the official campaign in Adelaide. ","elementId":"56bb9afb-0374-47bd-8b6b-a96bc3703f2f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" With the eyes of the nation on the state, the survey of 605 people commissioned by the Australia Institute in the first week of August, found 43% of South Australians supported the voice, while 39% said they planned to vote no, the Adelaide Advertiser reports. ","elementId":"48a8ac9b-0fb0-4c15-a6c5-343e3484462d"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Around 18% were undecided, the Advertiser reports, but when asked how…

Hong Kong police arrest two for ‘collusion’ with foreign countries over protest fund

Media Library

Hong Kong national security police on Tuesday arrested two more people with ties to a now-defunct fund set up to help those targeted for involvement in the 2019 protest movement. Police arrested two men aged 33 and 59 in Tai Po on suspicion of “colluding with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to receive donations from various overseas organizations to support people who have fled overseas or organizations which called for sanctions against Hong Kong,” according to a statement posted to the government’s website. The men were also suspected of “conspiracy…

Vietnamese court upholds 8-year sentence for activist Tran Bang

Media Library

A court in Vietnam on Tuesday upheld the eight-year jail sentence of democracy activist Tran Van Bang for anti-state propaganda during a brief hearing in which authorities dismissed the arguments of the defense and “read the old verdict,” according to family members. Bang’s conviction is the latest in Hanoi’s ongoing campaign to silence bloggers and activists. Vietnam has convicted at least 60 such people for “making, storing and disseminating materials against the State” under the same Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, according to rights groups. He is among six…

Uyghur design director from Turkey confirmed detained in Xinjiang

Chin@Strategy

A Uyghur design director who has worked for a Chinese locomotive manufacturer in Turkey for more than a decade was arrested by Chinese authorities in March when he returned to Xinjiang for a family visit, company employees said. Qahar Eli, 39, left Turkey on March 27 with his family on a month-long trip to visit his parents in the town of Turpan with an assurance from his company that he would be allowed to return to Turkey, said his lawyer Wadat, who gave only one name.  Although he had a…

Tested by North Korea’s missile launch, new US-Japan-South Korea alliance passes

Media Library

The trilateral South Korea-Japan-United States security pact got an early test last week, just hours before the summit announcement at Camp David, the US presidential retreat, when North Korea launched a ballistic missile, officials from the three allied countries confirmed on Tuesday. In a historic step, and at the urging of US President Joe Biden, Tokyo and Seoul overcame decades of animosity, agreeing to work with the US on a series of defence measures: a more powerful early-warning missile detection system; annual comprehensive military exercises; a new three-way intelligence sharing…

Goldman bought UK and US companies using Chinese state funds

Media Library

What is included in my trial? During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your…

A UN Body Sheds Light on the Fate of Disappeared Uyghurs

Media Library

Advertisement A little-known United Nations body, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, is helping to shine a light on the extent of China’s enforced disappearances in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Starting from 2017, Chinese authorities intensified a large-scale campaign of repression that aimed to fundamentally transform the social, cultural, and religious life of this area, which has been traditionally inhabited by Turkic-speaking peoples. As part of the crackdown, an estimated 900,000 to 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other predominantly Muslim people were sent involuntarily to high-security camps, which China…

UN: Hundreds of thousands of people forced to scam

Media Library

Hundreds of thousands of people across Southeast Asia have been enslaved and forced to carry out online scams worth billions of dollars, a new U.N. report says, with Cambodia and wartorn Myanmar the worst affected and Thailand serving as a major trafficking hub. The report from the U.N. human rights office notes the latest scourge of human trafficking to hit Southeast Asia is markedly different from the type that historically impacted the region: outflows of uneducated and poor citizens for forced sex work and manual labor elsewhere. Instead, the new…