In recent weeks, Hong Kong national security police have embarked on a tactic more commonly associated with their counterparts in mainland China. In early July, Hong Kong police announced arrest warrants and HK$1m bounties for eight dissidents currently in exile overseas. Just days later officers began showing up at their families’ homes in Hong Kong, taking away parents, siblings, children and in-laws for questioning. None of the family members have been arrested or charged. Observers and supporters say while there is still fear that could happen, it isn’t really the…
Tag: Hong Kong
China and Hong Kong Stocks Slump as Economic Gloom Spreads
About three weeks ago, at a meeting chaired by Xi Jinping, China’s leader, officials acknowledged that China’s economy was facing “new difficulties and challenges.” According to the official Xinhua News Agency’s summary of the Politburo meeting, officials promised to juice the economy, which had started to rebound at the start of the year after Covid restrictions were lifted but had been struggling. The economic troubles, they said, arose from flagging domestic demand and a “grim and complex” global economy, among other factors. Chinese stocks jumped at the time, even though…
Pro-democracy advocate says Australia should prepare to lay future sanctions against Hong Kong officials
An Australian citizen who the Hong Kong authorities have vowed to “pursue for life” has risked further ire from Beijing by calling on the Australian government to consider future sanctions against Chinese officials. Kevin Yam, one of eight overseas-based pro-democracy advocates accused of “encouraging sanctions … to destroy Hong Kong”, said the city’s descent into increasingly repressive rule had been “gut-wrenching”. In his most extensive interview since arrest warrants and “bounties” were announced last month, the Melbourne-based lawyer also expressed concern for two other Australian citizens detained in China. Yam…
Life in the UK for one of China’s most wanted – podcast
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‘I won’t be deterred’: Hong Kong activist Finn Lau vows to fight on despite arrest bounty
When Finn Lau woke one morning this month to dozens of messages urging him to take care, he was confused as to what had happened. But he was not distressed to learn that Hong Kong authorities had offered a HK$1m (£100,000) bounty for his arrest, along with that of seven other overseas activists, because it was not the first threat he had faced. Since helping to lead pro-democracy protests challenging Hong Kong’s authorities and a national security law that brought sweeping extraterritorial powers into force three years ago, Lau, 29,…
US bars Hong Kong leader John Lee from San Francisco Apec summit
The United States will not invite Hong Kong’s chief executive, who faces US sanctions, to visit San Francisco during November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. John Lee, Hong Kong’s top official, was placed under US sanctions in 2020 because of his role in implementing what Washington deems a “draconian” national security law when he was the city’s security secretary. Two congressional aides confirmed on Friday that the state department had notified members of Congress that Lee would not be invited, after the Washington Post reported on the decision on Thursday. In…
Judge Rejects Hong Kong’s Bid to Ban Pro-Democracy Song From Internet
The Hong Kong authorities suffered a surprising setback on Friday when a judge denied their request to ban a popular pro-democracy song from the internet. The government was seeking an injunction that could have given it the power to force Google and other tech companies to restrict access to the song. Since coming under the tighter grip of Beijing several years ago, Hong Kong has jailed political opponents, quashed street protest and shuttered pro-democracy newspapers. But the internet, unlike in mainland China, has remained largely free of government control. At…
Typhoon Doksuri Grazes the Philippines on Its Way to China
Typhoon Doksuri, a tropical cyclone moving through the Pacific Ocean, grazed the northern Philippines on Wednesday morning and was expected to pass near Taiwan before making landfall in China later this week. As of early Wednesday morning local time, the storm was over Fuga Island in the Philippines’ Cagayan Province, the national meteorological service said in a bulletin. The agency had warned that flooding and rain-induced landslides were possible over the next three days, and urged people in some low-lying areas to evacuate. It was not immediately clear if the…
Typhoon Doksuri Heads for Philippines, Taiwan and Southern China
Typhoon Doksuri, a tropical cyclone moving through the Pacific Ocean with wind speeds equivalent to that of a Category 4 hurricane, was forecast to potentially hit the northern Philippines on Tuesday before passing near Taiwan and making landfall in China later this week. As of late Tuesday morning, the storm was about 167 miles east of Tuguegarao City, near the east coast of Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island, the Philippine national meteorological service said in a bulletin. The agency warned that flooding and rain-induced landslides were possible…
Daughter of Hong Kong exiled activist detained by national security police
Hong Kong national security police have reportedly detained the daughter of a wanted activist, in the latest move targeting the families of pro-democracy figures in exile. Mimi Mi Wahng Yuen, the daughter of Elmer Yuen, was taken for questioning on Monday morning, according to local media. Elmer Yuen, 74, is accused of having encouraged foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong officials and judges, online from the US, and promoting Hong Kong’s self-determination. Authorities in Hong Kong recently announced bounties HK$1m (£99,500) on eight activists wanted for arrest. All…