Beijing appears to be using Hong Kong’s National Security Law to target “foreign forces,” and is continuing to change the territory’s governance and institutions to reflect those of mainland China, the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) latest quarterly report said.
China is continuing to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy and is beginning to target foreign organizations that operate in the territory, using the law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong nearly two years ago, the report said.
Citing an example, the report said that British nonprofit Hong Kong Watch was on March 4 approached by officials from Hong Kong’s National Security Department to remove content from its Web site that the department said contravened the national security legislation.
Photo: Bloomberg
It was the first report of a foreign organization targeted with the law, the report said.
Suppression of individual rights and freedoms accelerated in January with the first convictions in Hong Kong for publications contravening the law, it said.
In March, former Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Paul Harris left the territory after security officials warned him that he was allegedly in contravention of the law, the report said.
Although Hong Kong participates in international organizations separate from China, it supports the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) political goals, such as blocking Taiwan’s “meaningful participation in the WTO,” it said.
By demonstrating its need to act on behalf of the CCP, Hong Kong is showing that its ability to meaningfully participate independently in international organizations is weakening, it added.
The report also cited Hong Kong government data as showing that the number of mainland Chinese and foreign companies registered in the territory is increasing, despite overseas companies leaving — indicating that Chinese investment in Hong Kong is growing.
Last year, 9,049 foreign and Chinese companies were registered in Hong Kong, compared with 9,025 companies the previous year.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
Suspected Chinese spies posing as Taiwanese tourists have been arrested for allegedly taking photographs of Philippine Coast Guard ships, local media reported. The suspected spies stayed at a resort in Palawan, where from a secluded location they used their phones to record coast guard ships entering and leaving a base, Philippine TV network GMA said on Wednesday. Palawan is near the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and other disputed areas of the South China Sea, where tensions have been on the rise between China and the Philippines. The suspects allegedly also used drones without permission and installed cameras on coconut trees in the
RSS