Day: August 2, 2021

Canadian rapper and former K-pop star Kris Wu is arrested by Beijing police for the alleged rape of a minor, Chinese police said in a recent announcement.

“We have arrested Wu **fan (male, age 30, Canadian national) on suspicion of rape after seen online reports that he repeatedly tricked young females into having sex, and other related situations,” the Chaoyang district branch of the Beijing police department said in a July 31 statement on its official Weibo account.

“The suspect is in detention, and further investigation is under way,” it said.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, said foreign citizenship didn’t confer immunity to prosecution.

“Whoever breaks the law will be punished by law,” the paper said in a recent op-ed piece. “Remember: the greater the degree of celebrity, and more popular someone is, the more self-disciplined and law-abiding they need to be.”

The Central Politics and Legal Affairs Committee responded on Weibo that Chinese laws must be abided by on Chinese land.

State-run media said the arrested man was Kris Wu, whose Chinese name is Wu Yifan.

Several brands have already pulled out of sponsorship deals with Wu, whose arrest came after several young women came forward to add their own allegations.

The sister of Wu’s main accuser Du Meizhu retweeted the police announcement, adding the words: “Our efforts haven’t been in vain … all of the injustice we have suffered will be channeled into motivation.”

‘A victory for women’s rights’

Chinese feminist Lü Pin said in a commentary on Medium.com that Wu’s arrest was “a surprise and also a victory” for women’s rights in China.

“Maybe he won’t wind up getting convicted and sentenced, but it’s clear to everyone that Wu won’t be getting back on his pedestal,” the group wrote.

“Everyone is talking about it … [meaning that] the impact of the Chinese #MeToo movement has reached unprecedented levels,” the post said. “This is far more than just a victory for a few women or girls.”

But it said the arrest was far from being a total victory.

“The response of the law to women’s rights is still very limited and unpredictable,” Lü wrote, adding that the greatest impact of the Chinese #MeToo movement had been on women and girls, who had educated themselves and connected with a wider community as a result.

“Celebrating this moment has nothing to do with anticipating a bright future,” she said. “There is no certainty that the next case will be handled fairly. Many victims still have no voice, many social media accounts continue to disappear, and feminism is still seen as an oppositional force.”

“There is less and less room for debate or action, and I have constantly been asking myself lately how the movement can even continue,” Lü wrote. “The fall of Kris Wu doesn’t bring any answer to this question.”

The Global Times newspaper, which has close ties to the People’s Daily, said Wu would serve a jail term of anywhere from 10 years to life, if convicted.

Li Xueqin, a well-known talk show star who claims that she is a fan of Wu, deleted all her posts related to the idol, the paper said, adding that social media platform Sina Weibo had deleted its topic page for the rapper.

“Chinese media outlets including People’s Daily, China Women’s News, the Committee of Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee’s official news website, Legal Daily, China anti-drug network have all released posts commenting on the severity of the Wu scandal and noting that it will be handled in accordance to the law,” the paper said.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Authorities in Hong Kong have charged a pop-star and a former opposition lawmaker with “corruption” after the singer appeared at a political rally during campaigning for a 2018 byelection.

Cantopop star Anthony Wong, 34, and former Legislative Council (LegCo) member Au Nok-hin, 59, were charged by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Saturday.

They are accused of corrupt conduct, as the performance Wong gave at Au’s rally acted as an incentive to vote for Au.

“Wong performed two songs on stage. At the end of the performance, he appealed to the participants of the rally to vote for Au at the election,” the ICAC said in a statement.

“Providing others with refreshments and entertainment at an election is a corrupt conduct and a serious offense,” it said.

Au is currently already serving a jail time on charges linked to the 2019 protest movement, and is among dozens of former opposition politicians to be charged with “subversion” under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), after they took part in a democratic primary.

Former ICAC officer Stephen Char said the law wasn’t entirely clear on whether concerts at political campaign rallies were indeed a form of incitement to vote a certain way.

“Everyone can argue however they want, but the law isn’t very clear, and it will be up to the judge to decide,” Char told RFA.

“If a professional singer sings, it is obviously entertainment, but if he doesn’t try to get you to vote or not vote for someone, it may not be illegal,” Char said.

Teachers’ union targeted

The move comes amid a widening crackdown on any form of public dissent or political opposition in Hong Kong, with the city’s education bureau cutting off ties with its largest teachers’ union over the weekend.

The announcement came after Chinese state media denounced the Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU), calling for an investigation into its activities, and its abolition.

The bureau hit out at the union’s participation with the Civil Human Rights Front and the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, both of which have already been targeted by Chinese state media for alleged breaches of the national security law.

The bureau will no longer hold meetings with the union or its representatives, and it will be excluded from any public consultation exercises.

CCP mouthpiece the People’s Daily and state news agency Xinhua had earlier likened the PTU to a “tumor that must be excised,” accusing it of fanning the flames of popular protest in Hong Kong.

Education sector ‘hijacked’

Chief Executive Carrie Lam weighed in against the body on Monday, saying it had “hijacked” the education sector for political purposes.

“They made use of their political stance to override the professionalism of education, allowing political issues, anti-government, and anti-central government sentiments to enter our schools,” Lam told reporters.

Lam said the PTU’s “hijacking” of the education sector wasn’t fair to teachers.

“We learned a major lesson [from the 2019 protests],” Lam said. “Thousands of students didn’t have the awareness to abide by the law. They took part in the protests, some even in the riots. Many teachers organized and took part, some were arrested.”

“That’s why we’re determined to restore order.”

A retired teacher and PTU member surnamed Chan said the union had done an excellent job of maintaining teacher morale in the 30 years he had been a member.

He said the move was entirely in line with the thinking of CCP leader Xi Jinping on Hong Kong’s future.

“His aim is not to understand the industry or to understand the needs of people working in it, but to exclude dissent, eliminate certain values, and control everyone’s thoughts, speech, and social interactions,” Chan said.

Joseph Cheng, former political science professor at the City University of Hong Kong, said the PTU was very moderate in its politics, sparking concerns that the government may be planning to come after any independent profession body that doesn’t sing from the CCP hymn sheet.

“People are going to be worried that other independent trade unions and independent professional organizations may also be targeted if they don’t express strong support for the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, regardless of how law-abiding they have been in the past,” Cheng said.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

BANGKOK – Thailand announced yesterday, to extend tighter pandemic control measures in the capital Bangkok and other worst-hit regions, possibly till the end of Aug, to contain the worst-ever wave of the outbreak, which has brought its total case tally to top 600,000.

 

The country reported 18,027 new cases during the last 24 hours, the second highest daily tally since the pandemic began, taking the total number of infections to 615,314, according to the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), the country’s COVID-19 task force.

 

The cumulative fatalities have risen to 4,990, up by 133, according to the CCSA.

 

Restrictive measures, including travel curbs, shopping mall closures and night-time curfews, will be expanded to 29 provincial regions from 13, which had been put under such partial lockdown measures due to end today, according to Natapanu Nopakun, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

Restaurants in shopping malls will be allowed to open, but only for take-away services, Natapanu said, at a CCSA news briefing.

 

The restrictions will take effect from tomorrow and the authorities will evaluate the situation in the following two weeks, but “possibly this will be extended until the end of Aug,” he said.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

HONG KONG– An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9, jolted 183 km NE of Tual, Indonesia, at 05:01:20 GMT on Monday (today), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicentre, with a depth of 12.87 km, was initially determined to be at 4.5173 degrees south latitude, and 133.9866 degrees east longitude

 

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK