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HRWF Human Rights in the World Newsletter Bulgaria Table Of
Table of Contents • EU votes for diplomats to boycott China Winter Olympics over rights abuses • CCP: 100th Anniversary of the party who killed 50 million • The CCP at 100: What next for human rights in EU-China relations? • Missing Tibetan monk was sentenced, sent to prison, family says • China occupies sacred land in Bhutan, threatens India • 900,000 Uyghur children: the saddest victims of genocide • EU suspends efforts to ratify controversial investment deal with China • Sanctions expose EU-China split • Recalling 10 March 1959 and origins of the CCP colonization in Tibet • Tibet: Repression increases before Tibetan Uprising Day • Uyghur Group Defends Detainee Database After Xinjiang Officials Allege ‘Fake Archive’ • Will the EU-China investment agreement survive Parliament’s scrutiny? • Experts demand suspension of EU-China Investment Deal • Sweden is about to deport activist to China—Torture and prison be damned • EU-CHINA: Advocacy for the Uyghur issue • Who are the Uyghurs? Canadian scholars give profound insights • Huawei enables China’s grave human rights violations • It's 'Captive Nations Week' — here's why we should care • EU-China relations under the German presidency: is this “Europe’s moment”? • If EU wants rule of law in China, it must help 'dissident' lawyers • Happening in Europe, too • U.N. experts call call for decisive measures to protect fundamental freedoms in China • EU-China Summit: Europe can, and should hold China to account • China is the world’s greatest threat to religious freedom and other basic human rights -
081216-Keast-YAIA-HK
Hong Kong’s disaffected youths – Is the criticism warranted? December 7, 2016 Jacinta Keast Sixtus ‘Baggio’ Leung and Yau Wai-ching, two young legislators from the localist Youngspiration party, have been barred from Hong Kong’s legislative council (LegCo). Never has China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) jumped to an interpretation on a matter in Hong Kong without a prior request from the local government or courts. This comes after the pair modified their oaths, including enunciating the word ‘China’ as ‘Cheena’ (支那), a derogatory term used by the Japanese in World War II, using expletives to refer to the People’s Republic of China, and waving around blue ‘Hong Kong is not China’ banners at their swearing in. Commentators, including those from the pan-democratic side of the legislature, have called their behaviour infantile, ignorant and thuggish, and have demanded ‘that the hooligans be locked up’. But is this criticism warranted? A growing tide of anti-Mainlander vitriol has been building in Hong Kong since it was handed back to the People’s Republic of China in 1997 under a special constitution termed The Basic Law. In theory, the constitution gave Hong Kong special privileges the Mainland did not enjoy—a policy called ‘One Country, Two Systems’. But in practice, more and more Hong Kong residents feel that the long arm of Beijing’s soft power is extending over the territory. The Occupy movement and later the 2014 Umbrella Revolution began once it was revealed that the Chinese government would be pre-screening candidates for the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election, the election for Hong Kong’s top official. -
H. Res. 422 in the House of Representatives, U
H. Res. 422 In the House of Representatives, U. S., November 1, 2017. Whereas the People’s Republic of China assumed the exercise of sovereignty over the Hong Kong Special Administra- tive Region 20 years ago, on July 1, 1997; Whereas the Joint Declaration between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Govern- ment of the People’s Republic of China on the Question of the Hong Kong (in this resolution referred to as the ‘‘Joint Declaration’’) required China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) to pass the ‘‘Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Re- public of China’’ (in this resolution referred to as the ‘‘Basic Law’’) consistent with the obligations contained in the Joint Declaration, which was approved by the NPC on April 4, 1990; Whereas relations between the United States and Hong Kong are fundamentally based upon the continued maintenance of the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy stipulated in the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–383; 22 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.) and established by the Joint Declaration; Whereas under the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy estab- lished by the Joint Declaration, Hong Kong ‘‘will enjoy a high degree of autonomy except in foreign and defense 2 affairs’’ and ‘‘will be vested with executive, legislative and independent judicial power including that of final adju- dication’’; Whereas Hong Kong’s autonomy under the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy, as demonstrated by its highly developed rule of law, independent judiciary, -
Freedom in the World 2018 Hong Kong
Hong Kong * Page 1 of 9 Published on Freedom House (https://freedomhouse.org) Home > Hong Kong * Hong Kong * Country: Hong Kong * Year: 2018 Freedom Status: Partly Free Political Rights: 5 Civil Liberties: 2 Aggregate Score: 59 Freedom Rating: 3.5 Overview: The people of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, have traditionally enjoyed substantial civil liberties and the rule of law under their local constitution, the Basic Law. However, the chief executive and half of the Legislative Council are chosen through indirect electoral systems that favor pro-Beijing interests, and the territory’s freedoms and autonomy have come under threat in recent years due to growing political and economic pressure from the mainland. Trend Arrow: Hong Kong received a downward trend arrow due to the expulsion of four prodemocracy lawmakers from the legislature, jail sentences against protest leaders, and other apparent efforts by pro-Beijing authorities to stamp out a movement calling for local self- determination. Political Rights and Civil Liberties: POLITICAL RIGHTS: 15 / 40 (−1) A. ELECTORAL PROCESS: 2 / 12 (−1) https://freedomhouse.org/print/50009 3/26/2018 Hong Kong * Page 2 of 9 A1. Was the current head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections? 0 / 4 Under 2010 electoral reforms, the chief executive, who serves a five-year term, is chosen by a 1,200-member election committee. Some 200,000 “functional constituency” voters—representatives of elite business and social sectors, many with close Beijing ties—elect 900 of the committee’s members, and the remaining 300 consist of Legco members, Hong Kong delegates to China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), religious representatives, and Hong Kong members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a Chinese government advisory body. -
Joshua: Teenager Vs. Superpower
JUNE PICTURES Presents JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS. SUPERPOWER A Film by Joe Piscatella WORLD PREMIERE WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2017 Public Screenings Friday, January 20th, 3:00pm // Temple Theatre, Park City Saturday, January 21st, 7:00pm // Redstone Cinema 2, Park City Sunday, January 22nd, 12 noon // Salt Lake City Library Theatre, Salt Lake City Wednesday, January 25th, 8:30am // Egyptian Theatre, Park City Friday, January 27th, 4:00pm // Holiday Village Cinema 4, Park City Press & Industry Screening Saturday, January 21st, 10:00am // Holiday Village Cinema 4, Park City Running Time: 78 minutes Press Contact: Sales Contacts: Acme PR WME Global Nancy Willen Liesl Copland [email protected] Chris Slager 310.963.3433 [email protected] 310.285.9000 SHORT SYNOPSIS When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China’s most notorious dissidents. LONG SYNOPSIS When Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 after more than 150 years of British rule, citizens were fearful of losing many of their personal freedoms. When Beijing announces in 2012 plans to impose a pro-China “National Education” program in schools, Hong Kongers are resigned to China’s encroaching reach until bespectacled 13-year-old Joshua Wong takes action. Refusing to accept Communist Party teachings, Joshua founds the Scholarism movement and shows up at a press conference to confront Hong Kong’s leader, CY Leung, with some hardball questions. -
Hong Kong's Future in the Balance
HONG KONG’S FUTURE IN THE BALANCE: ERODING AUTONOMY AND CHALLENGES TO HUMAN RIGHTS HEARING BEFORE THE CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 15, 2019 Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China ( Available at www.cecc.gov or www.govinfo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 37–154 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020 CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS House Senate JAMES P. MCGOVERN, Massachusetts, MARCO RUBIO, Florida, Cochair Chair JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio TOM COTTON, Arkansas THOMAS SUOZZI, New York STEVE DAINES, Montana TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey TODD YOUNG, Indiana BEN MCADAMS, Utah DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California CHRISTOPHER SMITH, New Jersey JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon BRIAN MAST, Florida GARY PETERS, Michigan VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri ANGUS KING, Maine EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS Not yet appointed JONATHAN STIVERS, Staff Director PETER MATTIS, Deputy Staff Director (ii) C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS Page Opening Statement of Hon. James P. McGovern, a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts; Chair, Congressional-Executive Commission on China ......... 1 Statement of Hon. Chris Smith, a U.S. Representative from New Jersey ......... 3 Martin Lee, founding chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1985–2008) ........... 5 Nathan Law, founding chairman of Demosisto¯ and former member of the Legislative Council of Honk Kong ...................................................................... 6 Mak Yin-ting, journalist and former chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association ............................................................................................................ 7 Lee Cheuk Yan, general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and member of the Executive Committee of Hong Kong Civil Hub .. -
Hong Kong's National Security
FEBRUARY 2021 HONG KONG’S NATIONAL SECURITY LAW: A Human Rights and Rule of Law Analysis by Lydia Wong and Thomas E. Kellogg THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW constitutes one of the greatest threats to human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover. This report was researched and written by Lydia Wong (alias, [email protected]), research fellow, Georgetown Center for Asian Law; and Thomas E. Kellogg ([email protected]), executive director, Georgetown Center for Asian Law, and adjunct professor of law, Georgetown University Law Center. (Ms. Wong, a scholar from the PRC, decided to use an alias due to political security concerns.) The authors would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their comments on the draft report. We also thank Prof. James V. Feinerman for both his substantive inputs on the report, and for his longstanding leadership and guidance of the Center for Asian Law. We would also like to thank the Hong Kongers we interviewed for this report, for sharing their insights on the situation in Hong Kong. All photographs by CLOUD, a Hong Kong-based photographer. Thanks to Kelsey Harrison for administrative and publishing support. Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY i The National Security Law: Undermining the Basic Law, Threatening Human Rights iii Implementation of the NSL iv I INTRODUCTION 1 THE HONG KONG NATIONAL SECURITY LAW: II A HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW ANALYSIS 6 The NSL: Infringing LegCo Authority 9 New NSL Structures: A Threat to Hong Kong’s Autonomy 12 The NSL and the Courts: Judicial -
OFFICIAL RECORD of PROCEEDINGS Thursday, 23
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 23 March 2017 5475 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Thursday, 23 March 2017 The Council continued to meet at Nine o'clock MEMBERS PRESENT: THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE ANDREW LEUNG KWAN-YUEN, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN THE HONOURABLE LEUNG YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE ABRAHAM SHEK LAI-HIM, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE TOMMY CHEUNG YU-YAN, G.B.S., J.P. PROF THE HONOURABLE JOSEPH LEE KOK-LONG, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE JEFFREY LAM KIN-FUNG, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE WONG TING-KWONG, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE STARRY LEE WAI-KING, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAK-KAN, B.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN KIN-POR, B.B.S., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PRISCILLA LEUNG MEI-FUN, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE WONG KWOK-KIN, S.B.S., J.P. 5476 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 23 March 2017 THE HONOURABLE MRS REGINA IP LAU SUK-YEE, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE PAUL TSE WAI-CHUN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE LEUNG KWOK-HUNG# THE HONOURABLE CLAUDIA MO THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL TIEN PUK-SUN, B.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE STEVEN HO CHUN-YIN, B.B.S. THE HONOURABLE FRANKIE YICK CHI-MING, J.P. THE HONOURABLE WU CHI-WAI, M.H. THE HONOURABLE YIU SI-WING, B.B.S. THE HONOURABLE MA FUNG-KWOK, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHARLES PETER MOK, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHI-CHUEN THE HONOURABLE KENNETH LEUNG THE HONOURABLE ALICE MAK MEI-KUEN, B.B.S., J.P. -
Joshua Wong's Testimony U.S. Congressional Hearing May 3, 2017 You May Have Known About Hong Kong's Political Arrangement
Joshua Wong’s testimony U.S. Congressional hearing May 3, 2017 You may have known about Hong Kong’s political arrangement as “One Country, Two Systems.” But it has now become “One Country, One-and-a-Half Systems,” and potentially “One Country, One System” in the future if conditions continue to worsen. I was born less than a year before the handover of Hong Kong from the U.K. to China in 1997. I am 20 years old now. At the same time, the Hong Kong government is preparing its 20th handover anniversary celebration. July 1 will be the first time Xi Jinping visits Hong Kong as the Chinese President. To pave the way for that, we now face massive political prosecution, while the government intends to disqualify democratically-elected lawmakers in the opposition camp, including the core Umbrella Movement student leader Nathan Law, who was elected last year as the youngest ever legislator at age 23. Unfortunately, Hong Kong remains far from a democracy after the Umbrella Movement. Some people may think it is failure because we can’t achieve the goal of universal suffrage but I am here to tell you today that we the spirit of the movement is in the heart of Hong Kong people. That’s why I have been trying to gather more support at the international level by strengthening our collaboration around the world. I am glad to see the reintroduction of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act by Senators Rubio, Cotton and Cardin. Bipartisan support for the bill proves that protecting Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy can be—and ought to be—a consensus across the political spectrum. -
China's National Security Law for Hong Kong
China’s National Security Law for Hong Kong: Issues for Congress Updated August 3, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46473 SUMMARY R46473 China’s National Security Law for Hong Kong: August 3, 2020 Issues for Congress Susan V. Lawrence On June 30, 2020, China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) passed a Specialist in Asian Affairs national security law (NSL) for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Hong Kong’s Chief Executive promulgated it in Hong Kong later the same day. The law is widely seen Michael F. Martin as undermining the HKSAR’s once-high degree of autonomy and eroding the rights promised to Specialist in Asian Affairs Hong Kong in the 1984 Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, an international treaty between the People’s Republic of China (China, or PRC) and the United Kingdom covering the 50 years from 1997 to 2047. The NSL criminalizes four broadly defined categories of offenses: secession, subversion, organization and perpetration of terrorist activities, and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security” in relation to the HKSAR. Persons convicted of violating the NSL can be sentenced to up to life in prison. China’s central government can, at its or the HKSAR’s discretion, exercise jurisdiction over alleged violations of the law and prosecute and adjudicate the cases in mainland China. The law apparently applies to alleged violations committed by anyone, anywhere in the world, including in the United States. The HKSAR and PRC governments have already begun implementing the NSL, including setting up the new entities the law requires. -
Street Occupations, Neglected Democracy, and Contested Neoliberalism in Hong Kong
Street Occupations in Hong Kong 101 Street Occupations, Neglected Democracy, and Contested Neoliberalism in Hong Kong Miguel A. Martínez* he Umbrella Movement (UM) is the conventional label applied to the street occupations that took place in Hong Kong (HK) between September 28 and December 15, 2014. Many participants Talso called it the Umbrella Revolution (Veg 2016, 680). UM activists strove for HK citizens’ right to universal suffrage applicable to the election of the chief executive and the whole legislature. The HK miniconstitution, or Ba- sic Law, in force since the return of the former British colony to People’s Republic of China (PRC) sovereignty in 1997, expressed the same goal as an “ultimate aim” to be implemented “in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress” (J. Ng 2016, 56).1 However, despite the continu- ous pressure exerted by the pan-democratic camp, the HK government has postponed the regulation and implementation of universal suffrage to date. With these promises and pressures in sight, a process of electoral reform was launched by the HK Special Administrative Region (SAR) govern- ment in 2013. To the disappointment of the pan-democrats’ aspirations, the electoral reform was substantially constrained by two documents issued by the Chinese central government in June and August 2014. In a white paper issued in June, the central authorities asserted their absolute power to interpret the Basic Law. In August, the same authorities delivered their interpretation of the electoral reform and set up a nomination committee following the model of the already existing Election Committee.2 The only novelty introduced consisted of the public voting on the two to three candidates standing for the chief executive role previously nominated. -
Desperate for Democracy: a Comparison Between Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Movement and 2019 Antielab Protests
Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2020 Desperate for Democracy: A Comparison between Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement and 2019 AntiELAB Protests Annette Wong Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses Part of the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Wong, Annette, "Desperate for Democracy: A Comparison between Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement and 2019 AntiELAB Protests" (2020). CMC Senior Theses. 2498. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2498 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Claremont McKenna College Desperate for Democracy: A Comparison between Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement and 2019 AntiELAB Protests submitted to Professor Minxin Pei by Annette On Kyo Wong For Senior Thesis Spring 2020 May 11th, 2020 1 Abstract Within the last five years, the special administrative region of Hong Kong found itself embroiled in two major anti-government protests that brought the entire city to a standstill. While both the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the 2019 AntiELAB Protests were similar in pro-democracy rhetoric and substantive collective action, the 2019 protests devolved into a much more violent and radical movement than that of 2014. This study investigates the factors that contributed to the differing protest cultures of the Umbrella Movement and the AntiELAB Protests. This study first explores the language of the Joint Declaration and Basic Law, and investigates British and Chinese incompetence in handling Hong Kong’s handover in order to show that the city’s transition into becoming a special administrative region fundamentally shaped its current political vulnerabilities.