Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s message for the nation and the world: The Communist Party is here to stay, inseparable from the Chinese people, and its guidance has been indispensable to China’s “rejuvenation” and now-unstoppable development.
Two security officials in Hong Kong were promoted today, marking an even heavier emphasis on enforcement of Beijing’s national security law. John Lee, the new number two in city government, is the first chief secretary since the 1997 handover to not have economic or social policy expertise.
With its founder in jail, bank accounts frozen, and editorial staff at risk of arrest, the blows fell fast and hard against the territory’s 26-year-old pro-democracy tabloid.
Media is the new target of national security law enforcement in Hong Kong. A day after 500 police officers raided the newsroom of pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily and arrested five executives, two were charged with foreign collusion.
The G7 world leaders concluded their first in-person summit since the beginning of the pandemic by criticizing China over several issues, including human rights. They also agreed to compete with China in infrastructure and vaccine distribution in developing countries.
Chinese internet users branded D&G racist in 2018, and they have not forgotten or forgiven the fashion house, as Karen Mok discovered this past weekend.
Any movie, whether foreign or domestic and even regardless of content, can now be barred from screening in Hong Kong if local censors feel its showing could endanger national security as defined by Beijing.
Beijing has quickly formulated and passed a new law to retaliate against any individual or organization who implements “discriminatory restrictive measures” — i.e. sanctions — against Chinese citizens or organizations, or those who “interfere in China’s internal affairs.”
Hong Kong’s Victoria Park was empty on June 4 for the first time in 32 years, as police enforced a ban on the annual Tiananmen remembrance vigil. Some Hongkongers defied police and gathered near the park and elsewhere, while others found more subtle ways to mark the day.