[gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/Nov/19/https---www.voanews.com-a-hong-kong-imprisons-pro-democracy-activists-in-landmark-national-security-case--7868919.html](gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/Nov/19/https---www.voanews.com-a-hong-kong-imprisons-pro-democracy-activists-in-landmark-national-security-case--7868919.html)

Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.

Hong Kong imprisons pro-democracy activists in landmark national security case

by William Yang

Taipei, Taiwan --

Hong Kong's High Court on Tuesday sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists
to up to 10 years in jail under subversion charges, marking an end to
the largest national security case in Hong Kong under a sweeping law
imposed by Beijing.

The defendants were accused of conspiracy to commit subversion for
taking part in an unofficial primary election aimed at selecting
opposition candidates to run in the 2020 legislative council election.

Authorities said the activists were planning to paralyze the Hong Kong
government and force the city's leader to resign by aiming to win a
legislative majority and use that to block government budgets.

The 45 defendants were given prison sentences between four years and
two months, and 10 years. Legal scholar Benny Tai, viewed as the
mastermind of the primary election by the government, received the
longest sentence.

In addition to Tai, other prominent activists involved in the case were
also given lengthy prison sentences. Journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth
Ho was sentenced to seven years in prison, and prominent Hong Kong
activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to four years and eight months in
prison.

Analysts say Tuesday's sentencing reflects the rapid disappearance of
basic rights and freedom in Hong Kong since the imposition of the
national security law in 2020.

"Today's harsh sentences against dozens of prominent democracy
activists reflect just how fast Hong Kong's civil liberties and
judicial independence have nosedived in the past four years since the
Chinese government imposed the draconian National Security Law on the
city," said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch.

Some former pro-democracy politicians in Hong Kong said the case has
already closed off space for substantive political discussion and
public participation before Tuesday's sentencing.

"Since their arrest in 2021, there are no more protests and there is no
more public discussion about anything in Hong Kong," Debby Chan, a
former pro-democracy district councilor, told VOA by phone.

Experts say the case will further restrain Hong Kong's civil society,
as it shows there is no longer room for meaningful political
participation in the city.

"The outcome would set a precedence for future attempts to organize
political activities in Hong Kong and it also shows that authorities
can arrest and try large numbers of participants at the same time,"
Patrick Poon, a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo, told
VOA by phone.

## A more Chinese-style judicial system

Foreign governments have criticized the trial as politically motivated
and urged Hong Kong authorities to release the activists as they were
penalized for taking part in a peaceful political activity.

However, Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly
characterized the national security law as a means to restore order
following large-scale pro-democracy protests in 2019. They also said
the activists were [1]treated according to local law.

Poon said several defendants in the case were repeatedly denied bail
and endured years of pre-trial detention before court proceedings of
the case finally began, actions that show Hong Kong authorities are
adopting judicial practices that are often used in China.

"The lengthy pre-trial detention and denial of bail application are all
common practices in China's judicial system, so I think this case shows
that Hong Kong is becoming more similar to China in that regard," he
told VOA.

According to [2]data collected by the Georgetown Center for Asian Law,
173 individuals have been arrested under national security-related
charges and 94 individuals have been charged with national
security-related crimes since the law was implemented in July 2020.

Some defendants are reportedly suffering from chronic health issues and
others were not allowed to visit sick relatives.

"One defendant tried to apply for parole to visit his sick parents
multiple times but the correctional services department rejected his
applications. In the end, both of his parents passed away," Sunny
Cheung, an associate fellow for China studies at the Jamestown
Foundation and participant in the 2020 primary, told VOA by phone.

Despite the hardship over the last few years, Chan said Tuesday's
sentencing marks the end of a stage.

"The sentences mean we now have a date to look forward to and we
finally know when all of this suffering will end," she told VOA.

Poon said since Hong Kong has incorporated some Chinese practices into
its judicial system, it's important to see whether Hong Kong
authorities would deprive the detainees or their family members of
basic rights in the future.

"One thing I don't want to see is the authorities blocking relatives
from visiting the defendants, but since Hong Kong's judicial system has
become very similar to the Chinese system, it's really hard to say
whether this would happen in Hong Kong or not," he said.

As family and friends await the activists' release, years from now,
Chan said she will try to position herself in a Hong Kong society where
pro-democracy organizations no longer exist.

"The pro-democracy people are still there, but there are no
organizations to gather these people," she told VOA.

References

1. https://www.voanews.com/a/hong-kong-convicts-14-pro-democracy-activists-in-city-s-biggest-national-security-case/7634597.html
2. https://www.chinafile.com/tracking-impact-of-hong-kongs-national-security-law

#civil-rights #human-rights #democracy #hong-kong #香港 #china #中国 #election #subversion #conviction #sentencing

See also [gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/democracynow/2024/Nov/19/7](gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/democracynow/2024/Nov/19/7)
and
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/19/headlines/hong_kong_court_sentences_45_pro_democracy_activists_in_landmark_national_security_trial

Chinese Government Expands Criminalization of Taiwanese Identity

Court Guidelines Aim to Further Intimidate Taiwan’s Population

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/04/chinese-government-expands-criminalization-taiwanese-identity

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #china #taiwan #中国 #台湾

Meaningful Follow-Up Needed as China’s UN Rights Review Concludes

UN Member States Should Press Beijing on Recommendations

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/04/meaningful-follow-needed-chinas-un-rights-review-concludes

Throughout its Universal Periodic Review – a state-to-state rights review process at the United Nations Human Rights Council that concluded today – the Chinese government issued blanket denials in the face of well-documented and egregious rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and across mainland China and dismissed recommendations on ending such abuses.

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #human-rights-violations #china #tibet #xinjiang #hong-kong #中国 #香港 #西藏 #新疆 #un #united-nations #human-rights-council

Hong Kong: No Accountability 5 Years after Mass Protests

Beijing Arrested Over 10,000 Protesters, Throttled City’s Freedoms

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/10/hong-kong-no-accountability-5-years-after-mass-protests

Foreign governments should seek to hold Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for abuses to account, including by imposing targeted financial and travel sanctions.

#hong-kong #china #freedom #liberty #democracy #protests #香港 #中国 #自由 #hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights

The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
June 4, 2024

Hong Kong Activists Risk Arrest to Mark 35th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre

---

In Hong Kong, some activists are marking the 35th anniversary of the
Tiananmen Square massacre despite a ban on protests and a heightened
crackdown by authorities. On Monday, police arrested artist Sanmu Chen
as he engaged in a protest performance. In the middle of a busy street,
Chen appeared to mimic pouring himself a drink and toasting, followed by
drawing the numbers "8964" in the air with his fingers - the date of the
massacre. On June 4, 1989, the Chinese military attacked a student-led
pro-democracy protest in Beijing, killing hundreds, if not thousands, of
people.

#VIIV #eight-squared #六四鎮壓 #六四屠殺 #may-35th #8964 #tiananmen-square #tiananmen-square-massacre #june-fourth-incident #自由 #中国 #beijing #china #北京 #freedom #liberty #democracy #民主 #1989 #massacre

Children honor parents' legacies as victims of 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown

by Joyce Huang

Taipei, Taiwan --

[gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/Jun/04/https---www.voanews.com-a-children-honor-parents-legacies-as-victims-of-1989-tiananmen-square-crackdown-7642001.html](gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/Jun/04/https---www.voanews.com-a-children-honor-parents-legacies-as-victims-of-1989-tiananmen-square-crackdown-7642001.html)

Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.

Thirty-five years after the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
captured the attention of a shocked world, the children of two victims
of China's 1989 violent crackdown against democracy honor their
parents' legacies.\
\
Zhang Hongyuan, 25, is currently in the Netherlands seeking political
asylum. He fled there in April 2023, after authorities in Wuhan of
China's Hubei province, threatened to arrest him for his
public-interest activism. His advocacy followed the footsteps of his
father, Zhang Yi, who was arrested 35 years ago when Chinese
authorities put an end to public democratic rallies in Tiananmen Square
and in many cities on June 4, 1989. He was then jailed for two years.\
\
Zhang Hongyuan had started a career as a field engineer at the Dapu
Power Plant in Meizhou city in Guangdong province. But he found himself
on a different path in 2020, when he helped his father spread the word
in Wuhan about the outbreak of COVID-19.\
\
Later that year, he worked as a translator for a documentary by
dissident visual artist Ai Weiwei. In 2022, Zhang Hongyuan recorded
video footage in China of public protests against strict
pandemic-related mass civilian lockdowns. His involvement in the White
Paper Movement, as the citizens' public expressions against the
lockdowns became known, and another dissident, Yang Min's, act of
seeking asylum abroad prompted him to flee China on short notice 15
months ago.\
\
Grace Fang, now 23, immigrated to the U.S. at age eight. She did not
learn until she turned 11 or 12 that her father, Zheng Fang, had his
legs crushed by a Chinese military tank during the Tiananmen Square
violence.\
\
Grace Fang graduated in 2023 from Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
Last June, she helped host a San Francisco Bay area event remembering
the crackdown.\
\
The Chinese government refers to the events at Tiananmen Square in June
1989 as a "counterrevolutionary riot" and downplays its severity. In
China, discussion of the event in media or textbooks of the event is
largely forbidden. The authorities regularly harass those at home or
overseas who seek to keep the memory of the events alive.\
\
Zhang Hongyuan told VOA he was raised in China by his father and forced
to mature early, especially after Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader
Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. Zhang Hongyuan said authorities began
to tighten control over the dissidents of the "1989 generation," which
included his father, Zhang Yi.\
\
Frequent police surveillance, house searches and detention had an
effect on Zhang Yi, which in turn had an effect on his son.\
\
"When I was a minor, other people's fathers went to the police station
to pick up their sons, but I was a son who went to pick up my father. I
did this a lot," Zhang Hongyuan said.\
\
"It was precisely these things that prompted me to realize the inhuman
side of totalitarian rule at a young age," he said, adding that it gave
him the courage to echo the boy on bike during the Tiananmen movement,
whose words became famous, and say, "It's my duty and I have to do
something."\
\
Zhang Yi was in Wuhan in 1989 and was attending public rallies in
support of students nationwide when he was arrested on June 4. Zhang Yi
spent two years in prison, convicted of assembling a crowd to disrupt
traffic during that mid-1989 period of democratic expression.\
\
"There was a big black spot on my father's back,'' Zhang Hongyuan said.
"He showed it to me when I was in junior high school and said it was
caused by the beating by the guards, as well as the humid environment
in the detention center. From that time on, I really began to
understand June 4."\
\
About 15 years ago, Zheng Fang and his daughter, Grace Fang immigrated
to the U.S. He is now the president of the China Democracy Education
Foundation in San Francisco.\
\
Zheng Fang said he is proud that all his three daughters, including
Grace who studied American environmental politics and earned a college
degree, have a clear understanding of the Chinese Communist government.
He told VOA that while Grace Fang has grown up to be an American, she
understands the June 4 massacre first-hand and how China's repression
had impacted the Chinese people including her family.\
\
Grace Fang told VOA that she admires her father, who is a ''hero'' for
standing publicly with the democratic movement in China in June 1989.
But as someone who has fewer ties with China now, she can only help
translate for her father during talks and presentations at which he
shares his experience in China opposing state intimidation.\
\
She said that while she is angered by what happened to her father, she
has hope for the Chinese to have a better future.\
\
"Although this historical event [June 4] was very cruel and the
government was wrong in many ways, and the human rights situation [in
China] was definitely not good, I no longer have hatred, and I just
feel sad [about the truth] because I still hope that the Chinese people
can have a better future," Grace Fang told VOA.\
\
She said it is important that young Chinese are aware of recent history
in China, especially about the Tiananmen Square period, because they
have the right to know the truth about their country and government.\
\
With hope, she said, that young Chinese in the future should have the
opportunity to participate in their country's social and political
affairs and promote a more open and free China.\
\
Adrianna Zhang from VOA's Mandarin Service contributed to this story.

#VIIV #eight-squared #六四鎮壓 #六四屠殺 #may-35th #8964 #tiananmen-square #tiananmen-square-massacre #june-fourth-incident #自由 #中国 #beijing #china #北京 #freedom #liberty #democracy #民主 #1989 #massacre

Diaspora community holds Tiananmen commemorations despite crackdowns in Hong Kong, China

by William Yang

Taipei, Taiwan --

[gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/Jun/04/https---www.voanews.com-a-diaspora-community-holds-tiananmen-commemorations-despite-crackdowns-in-hong-kong-china-7641813.html](gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/Jun/04/https---www.voanews.com-a-diaspora-community-holds-tiananmen-commemorations-despite-crackdowns-in-hong-kong-china-7641813.html)

Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.

Authorities in China and Hong Kong are tightening control over civil
society as people in more than a dozen cities around the world
commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on
Tuesday.\
\
Ahead of the anniversary, Hong Kong authorities arrested eight people
over social media posts commemorating June Fourth, which the police
claim were aimed at using "an upcoming sensitive date" to incite hatred
against the Hong Kong government and contained seditious intentions.\
\
Most prominent among those arrested is human rights lawyer Chow
Hang-tung, who has been detained since 2021 for organizing an annual
Tiananmen Vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park, which has been banned
since Beijing imposed the controversial National Security Law on the
former British colony in 2020.\
\
Other individuals arrested by Hong Kong police include Chow's mother
and uncle and former members of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance,
which used to organize the annual vigil and in which Chow served as
vice chairwoman before its dissolution.\
\
In addition to the eight people arrested for social media posts
commemorating June Fourth, Hong Kong police detained performance artist
Sanmu Chen Monday in the busy shopping district Causeway Bay, which was
near Victoria Park.\
\
Local media reports said Chen pretended to drink in front of a police
van and write or draw in the air. This is the second year that Chen was
detained by police on the eve of the Tiananmen Square massacre.\
\
Instead of the now-prohibited Tiananmen vigil, several pro-Beijing
community organizations are holding a "food carnival" from June 1 to
June 5 at Victoria Park, a move that some activists characterized as
ironic.\
\
In China, authorities sentenced former Tiananmen Student leader Xu
Guang to four years in jail on April 3 for demanding that the Chinese
government acknowledge the massacre and for holding a sign calling for
government compensation in front of a local police station in May 2022.\
\
Apart from Xu's jail sentences, some family members of Tiananmen
victims or former Tiananmen student leaders have also been put under
strict police surveillance ahead of Tuesday's anniversary, according to
Human Rights Watch.\
\
Chinese authorities have also censored a wide range of words, phrases,
and even emojis due to their connection to the Tiananmen Square
Massacre.\
\
Chinese activist Li Ying, who became a prominent source of news during
China's "white paper movement" in 2022, disclosed that Chinese
authorities have banned the use of the candle emoji in China, which was
commonly used for posts related to the Tiananmen Massacre.\
\
Some analysts say the increased crackdown on civil society initiated by
Hong Kong and Chinese authorities ahead of the Tiananmen anniversary
reflects their attempt to remove memories related to the tragic event.\
\
"The Hong Kong government is sending a message that June Fourth is a
clear national security red line for Hong Kong and they want to make
sure there is no commemoration or no memory of June Fourth in public,"
Maya Wang, the interim China director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA
by phone.\
\
While the two national security laws that the Hong Kong government has
implemented since 2020 have essentially outlawed public commemoration
of June Fourth, Wang said some people in the city are still using
veiled references to commemorate the event.\
\
"June Fourth continues to be a collective memory among people in Hong
Kong and you do see some of them make veiled references to the date by
wearing black or through other gestures," she said, adding that the
effect of the authorities' attempts to remove memories associated with
June Fourth remains unclear.\
\
A Christian newspaper in Hong Kong that used to release information
about the Tiananmen vigils published an almost blank front page on
Sunday as their response to the upcoming anniversary. Hong Kong's Roman
Catholic Cardinal Stephen Chow called for forgiveness and vaguely
referenced the Tiananmen anniversary in an article he published.\
\
Despite the lack of public commemoration in China and Hong Kong,
several cities around the world, including Tokyo, Paris, London, New
York, Boston, and Taipei, have each organized events to commemorate the
event, which occurred when government troops fired on student-led
pro-democracy protestors on June 4, causing what are thought to be
thousands of deaths.\
\
Zhou Fengsuo, a former Tiananmen student leader, told VOA that the
dozens of commemorative events abroad play an important role in pushing
back against the Chinese government's efforts to erase memories related
to the Tiananmen Square Massacre.\
\
"When the Chinese government tries to intensify crackdowns on the
commemoration of June Fourth, more people in the diaspora community
feel compelled to help organize or participate in commemorations of the
tragic event around the world," he said in a phone interview.\
\
Zhou has attended more than 20 Tiananmen commemorative events around
the world this year and he said many events are organized or attended
by young people or new immigrants from China.\
\
"I met a lot of Chinese people at the June Fourth Memorial Museum in
New York, and they are all actively participating in this year's
commemorative events," he said.\
\
As people around the world take part in commemorations of the Tiananmen
Massacre, some activists say they remain hopeful that this decades-long
tradition will be passed down to the next generation.\
\
"I was encouraged to see a lot of young people, including Japanese
people, take part in the June Fourth commemoration in Tokyo," said
Patrick Poon, a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo, adding
that young people's involvement in the event made him believe the
tradition will be continued.\
\
Through the efforts to organize commemorations of the Tiananmen Square
Massacre around the world, Wang at Human Rights Watch said the
Tiananmen anniversary is helping to strengthen linkages among different
groups in the diaspora community that focus on pushing back against the
Chinese government's crackdown on civil society.\
\
"Through these linkages, there is a growing solidarity of resistance on
the state," she told VOA.

#VIIV #eight-squared #六四鎮壓 #六四屠殺 #may-35th #8964 #tiananmen-square #tiananmen-square-massacre #june-fourth-incident #自由 #中国 #beijing #china #北京 #freedom #liberty #democracy #民主 #1989 #massacre

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

六四屠殺

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre

The Tiananmen Square protests, known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between the demonstrators and the Chinese government to find a peaceful resolution, the Chinese government declared martial law on the night of 3 June and deployed troops to occupy the square in what is referred to as the Tiananmen Square massacre. The events are sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement, the Tiananmen Square Incident, or the Tiananmen uprising.

#VIIV #eight-squared #六四鎮壓 #六四屠殺 #may-35th #8964 #tiananmen-square #tiananmen-square-massacre #june-fourth-incident #自由 #中国 #beijing #china #北京 #freedom #liberty #democracy #民主 #1989 #massacre

Hong Kong: Quash Baseless Convictions of Activists

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/31/hong-kong-quash-baseless-convictions-activists

The Hong Kong government should immediately quash a court’s groundless national security law convictions of prominent pro-democracy activists, Human Rights Watch said today.\
\
On May 30, 2024, three judges handpicked by the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong chief executive convicted 14 activists and former elected lawmakers under the draconian National Security Law. Two were acquitted. Earlier, 31 other defendants had pleaded guilty in hopes of more lenient sentencing. The court will announce sentences, which could amount to life in prison, at a future date.

#hong-kong #freedom #liberty #democracy #china #中国 #香港 #自由

I Have Added Censored Videos to My Minus Library

[minus://envbba6qz5rq36kkt7ipo6oqtj7glvz6hhkescpxb3m6zx2jnmo6zmad.onion/Glory-to-Hong-Kong---Anthem-of-The-Hong-Kong-Protests-Pe1gTPcWyds.mp4](minus://envbba6qz5rq36kkt7ipo6oqtj7glvz6hhkescpxb3m6zx2jnmo6zmad.onion/Glory-to-Hong-Kong---Anthem-of-The-Hong-Kong-Protests-Pe1gTPcWyds.mp4) 3.73 MiB

If you don't have MinusBrowser, you can download this by starting Tor Browser and then typing this in a terminal window.

curl --socks5-hostname 127.0.0.1:9150 -O gopher://envbba6qz5rq36kkt7ipo6oqtj7glvz6hhkescpxb3m6zx2jnmo6zmad.onion:1990/9/Glory-to-Hong-Kong---Anthem-of-The-Hong-Kong-Protests-Pe1gTPcWyds.mp4

Freedom for Hong Kong!

my library
[minus://envbba6qz5rq36kkt7ipo6oqtj7glvz6hhkescpxb3m6zx2jnmo6zmad.onion/](minus://envbba6qz5rq36kkt7ipo6oqtj7glvz6hhkescpxb3m6zx2jnmo6zmad.onion/)

---

[gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/May/15/https---www.voanews.com-a-youtube-agrees-to-remove-videos-of-banned-hong-kong-protest-song-7612904.html](gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/voaheadlines/2024/May/15/https---www.voanews.com-a-youtube-agrees-to-remove-videos-of-banned-hong-kong-protest-song-7612904.html)

Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.

YouTube agrees to remove videos of banned Hong Kong protest song

by VOA News

YouTube says it will block access in Hong Kong to videos of
performances of a banned protest song.

Hong Kong's Court of Appeal ruled last week that "Glory to Hong Kong,"
which emerged as an anthem for protesters during the massive
anti-government protests in 2019, is illegal to sing or play in the
city. The ruling said the song's composer intended for the song to be
used as a "weapon."

There was no immediate comment from the government in Hong Kong.

The ban covers anyone who either broadcasts or distributes the song
with the intention of promoting Hong Kong's independence or
misrepresents it as the city's official anthem. Hong Kong is a
semi-autonomous city.

YouTube said in a statement Wednesday that it will block access in the
Chinese city to 32 videos of the song, which the court deemed was
"prohibited content."

"We are disappointed by the Court's decision but are complying with its
removal order," the online video sharing service said. The company said
it shared concerns with human rights organizations about the chilling
effect the ban would have on free speech online, and that it is
considering options to file an appeal.

A search for the 32 videos in Hong Kong resulted in a message saying
they were "not available on this country domain due to a court order."

The song has mistakenly been played at sporting events as the official
anthem of Hong Kong. The city does not have its own anthem, instead
using mainland China's official anthem "March of the Volunteers."

The appeal court's ruling overturned a previous decision issued last
year by the High Court, which cited free speech concerns. The
government went to court last year to have the song banned after Google
and other internet service providers refused to remove it from their
search results.

YouTube and Google are owned by California-based Alphabet.

The ban is the latest action taken by the government to silence
dissenting voices since Beijing passed a sweeping security law for Hong
Kong in 2020 in response to the protests. The law punishes anyone
believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state
power or collusion with foreign forces.

Since the law took effect, hundreds of pro-democracy advocates have
been arrested, tried and jailed, and the city's once-vibrant civil
society has been stifled.

George Chen, the co-chair of digital practice at the Washington-based
business and policy consultancy Asia Group, said the ban could hurt
Hong Kong's reputation as a global financial hub if officials pressure
online platforms on a daily basis to remove content, as it could raise
questions about its willingness to allow the free flow of information.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press,
Reuters, Agence France-Presse.

The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40
languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people.
Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA
journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

#hong-kong #hongkong #china #youtube #censorship #google #alphabet #anthem #hong-kong-anthem #anthem-of-hong-kong #香港 #中国

Hong Kong: Warrants Aim at Activists Abroad

Concerned Governments Should Impose Sanctions, Protections for Diaspora

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/04/hong-kong-warrants-aim-activists-abroad

Hong Kong authorities have issued baseless arrest warrants and HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounties on eight exiled democracy activists and former legislators that expand China’s political intimidation campaign beyond its borders, Human Rights Watch said today.

#hong-kong #hongkong #香港 #自由 #中国 #freedom #liberty #democracy #china #beijing #xe #hrw #human-rights-watch #sanctions

Pausa pranzo - Lunch break - 午休。

Heure du déjeuner - Pausa para almorzar

#Cina #China #Chine #中国