2023-05-04 20:47:53
“Stand with Hong Kong people” US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee passes resolution condemning Beijing
The U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution on Wednesday (3rd) condemning Beijing for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong.
The resolution was sponsored by dozens of senators from both parties in the Senate, including Risch, Menendez, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Ron Wyden and Cruz. (Ted Cruz).
The main content of the resolution includes condemning the CCP’s implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong and related human rights violations; supporting Hong Kong people’s struggle to exercise their basic rights and freedoms; condemning the CCP’s suppression of Hong Kong people with false and politically motivated allegations and Stealing Jimmy Lai’s media company, Apple Daily; urging the U.S. government to use all available tools, including those authorized by the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, in response to Chinese Communist Party actions in Hong Kong; encouraging U.S. and other governments Put pressure on multilateral organizations to withhold voting rights for Hong Kong independent of China.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the committee’s approval of the resolution. He said the United States cannot remain silent in the face of Beijing’s abandonment of the “one country, two systems” principle, its violent crackdown on peaceful protests, and its politically motivated allegations. “We affirm our commitment to stand with the people of Hong Kong and continue to call on them to Freedom of expression, personal security, as well as democracy and human rights must be respected.”
“The Committee passed this resolution today reaffirming the United States’ commitment to holding the governments of Beijing and Hong Kong accountable for their abuses,” Senator Jim Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. The wrongly charged defendants should all be released immediately.”
The Commissioner’s Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong responded that it strongly condemns and resolutely opposes the above-mentioned resolution.
Mourning “June 4th” Zou Xingtong was suppressed by the Hong Kong government and South Korea presented the Human Rights Award as a form of support
Zou Xingtong, the vice chairman of the disbanded stake association, was accused of “inciting” others to participate in the “June 4th Rally” in 2021. The High Court ruled that the appeal was allowed earlier, and the Department of Justice later appealed the case to the Final Court. According to the website of the judiciary, the case is scheduled to be held in the Final Court on June 8 to process the application for leave to appeal.
According to the website of the Final Court, the case will be heard by permanent judges Li Yi, Lin Wenhan and non-permanent judge Chen Zhaokai to decide whether to grant leave to appeal.
This case stems from Zou Xingtong’s articles about “June 4th” published on social media and Ming Pao in 2021, saying that he “stands firm” and lit candles, and was convicted of “inciting” citizens to participate in the June 4th rally.
Zou Xingtong appealed to the High Court. Judge Zhang Huiling of the High Court believed that the prosecution failed to establish the legality of the police’s prohibition of the June 4 rally in Victoria Park. Even calling others to attend the rally in Victoria Park was not an offense. However, after the ruling, Zhang Huiling pointed out that the case involved major and extensively important legal issues, and issued a certificate of appeal to the Final Court to the Department of Justice.
Zou Xingtong, 38, is currently charged with inciting subversion of state power and needs to be remanded.
The Gwangju 518 Memorial Foundation, a South Korean human rights organization, presented her with the 2023 Gwangju Human Rights Award on Tuesday.
The Foundation commends Zou Xingtong as a human rights lawyer who has been resisting the Hong Kong government’s anti-democratic and anti-human rights treatment, and who has continued to fight against the system that oppresses the people of Hong Kong even while in detention. Citizens bring courage and hope.
The foundation also stated that it hopes to express their support for democracy and human rights to the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong people by presenting the “Gwangju Human Rights Award” to Zou Xingtong.
British Consul in Hong Kong: BNO immigration will be maintained until at least 2025
Brian Davidson, the British Consul in Hong Kong, said in an interview with the South China Morning Post on the 4th that the British government’s BNO immigration policy will be maintained until at least 2025. Have any discussion.
Dai Weichen said that the United Kingdom has always opened up immigration channels for Hong Kong people, and described the BNO visa program as an “absolute commitment” and there is currently no discussion on making changes. When asked whether the immigration policy of the BNO will change after the 2025 general election, David Davis described the issue as “watching a crystal ball”, meaning that he is unpredictable.
Regarding the view that Hong Kong’s brain drain is attributed to the British immigration policy, David Davis pointed out that there are many reasons for the brain drain, and whether a place can attract talents depends largely on how the government creates opportunities to retain talents, and the same is true for Hong Kong.
However, Dai Weichen’s remarks caused Hong Kong people to worry about the change of BNO policy.
British members of the “Stand with Hong Kong” (Stand with Hong Kong), which is committed to fighting for the revision of BNO visas for young people in Hong Kong, told “Chasing News” that Dai Weichen’s speech did not indicate that the BNO visa program will end in 2025, nor did the organization Having received relevant information, the concerns at this stage are unavoidably excessive speculation. Stressed, “If there are any changes, Chongguang’s team will communicate with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as usual, and follow up with members of the congressional group.”
Rogers, founder of Hong Kong Watch, also said that the BNO policy is strongly supported by the Conservative Party government through the cross-party Congress, and there is absolutely no sign of changing the policy in the 2025 general election.
Since the United Kingdom launched the BNO “5+1” residence visa plan at the end of January 2021, it has helped more than 140,000 Hong Kong people immigrate to the United Kingdom through visas in the past two years, and nearly 3 million Hong Kong people hold British (Overseas) national passports.
Russia Handles Over $300 Million in Gold Through Hong Kong to Evade Sanctions
Russia was sanctioned by the West for invading Ukraine, and domestically produced gold was rejected by the European Union and G7 countries. However, “Bloomberg” quoted ImportGenius trade data as saying that in the six months to August 2022, Russia has exported gold worth more than US$1.1 billion via the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Turkey.
According to reports, Russia excavates gold worth about 20 billion U.S. dollars every year. JPMorgan and HSBC were once important buyers. However, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Brink’s Co. and Loomis, which were originally responsible for transporting precious metals, suspended the delivery of Russian gold and replaced it with VPOWER. Escort (VPower Finance Security (Hong Kong)), which handled more than US$300 million in Russian gold via Hong Kong from March to August last year.
At the same time, more than US$500 million in Russian gold flowed into the UAE, and Turkey imported about US$305 million in Russian gold through Istanbul Airport.
While Russia is still trying to find other markets, it is expected to struggle to reach pre-war gold export levels, the report said.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has lasted for 14 months. Recently, the Kremlin was attacked by drones for the first time, and the war is escalating again. Since Moscow was hit by Western sanctions for launching a war in February last year, Hong Kong’s position in the Sino-Russian trade has attracted increasing attention from the outside world.
In February this year, a number of Western media reported that Beijing, through Hong Kong’s specific role as a free port, bypassed Western sanctions and exported integrated circuits to Russia that could be used for military purposes, increasing by 3.5 times in four years. Hong Kong’s financial services industry is also used by Russia to provide aid for oil transportation.
According to outside analysis, Hong Kong is at increasing risk of being sanctioned by the West.
After 3 years, Jay Chou came to Hong Kong to sing, Jacky Cheung visited the class and gave surprises
Starting from the 5th, Jay Chou will hold 7 “Carnival” tours at the Hong Kong Central Waterfront event space. This is his first performance in Hong Kong since the outbreak of the CCP virus. During the rehearsal on the 4th, Hong Kong’s “God of Songs” Jacky Cheung came to the scene to cheer him on, which surprised Jay Chou.
Jay Chou happily shared a photo of him and Jacky Cheung on social media for the first time, and wrote: “It’s really a surprise that the song god came to visit the class! Thank you brother Xueyou for cheering, I will sing well.” and attached the cheering emoji Cheer yourself up.
After the PO of the post was released, tens of thousands of fans came to check in in a short time.
Previously, Jacky Cheung and Jay Chou had interacted in concerts many times, including Jacky Cheung once sang “Kiss Goodbye” at Jay Chou’s concert as a guest. Jay Chou also said that he liked Jacky Cheung’s songs when he was a student, because he just started writing pop songs, and put this experience into the song “Listen to Mom”.
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