Day: June 8, 2022

Hong Kong’s largest national security law case started on Tuesday, with 47 pro-democracy activists and lawmakers standing trial.

The defendants are charged with “conspiracy to subversion” under the city’s national security law, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Following the anti-government protests in 2019, Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong to quell political dissent. The law, which strictly prohibits acts deemed as secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, has been used by authorities to target the core of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

In February 2021, the 47 activists surrendered to authorities and were charged under the sweeping security law for organizing an unofficial primary election in 2020. Authorities accused them of intending to abuse their powers as lawmakers, had they had been elected and achieved a majority in Hong Kong’s Legislature. They also said those accused would have stifled government operations and forced Hong Kong’s chief executive to resign.

The defendants include democratically elected lawmakers, councilors, academics and pro-democracy advocates. Among them are prominent activist Joshua Wong, veteran activist Leung “Long Hair” Kwok-hung, former professor Benny Tai, former lawmaker Claudia Mo, and former journalist Gwyneth Ho.

‘De facto sentences’

Since the defendants were charged, court proceedings have been lengthy. Only 13 of the defendants have been granted bail, while the remainder have been in pretrial detention, waiting for court proceedings to reach trial.

Michael Mo, a former Hong Kong district councilor who is currently in Britain, criticized the time it has taken for the trial to begin.

“The prolonged pretrial proceedings served as de facto sentences to these pro-democracy campaigners and displayed the mockery of the prosecution procedure, which claimed itself to be fair and efficient,” he said.

The case was first brought to court in March last year, and the hearing lasted for four days. Over the past 15 months, there have been few updates because most of the pretrial hearings have been subject to reporting restrictions.

“The court imposes strict restrictions on journalists about what can be reported. The public is in the dark, as what happened at the proceedings remained largely whispered or forbidden. It left a scar on Hong Kong’s judiciary, which were once proud to be transparent,” Mo said.

“The trial and the sentences [charges] reflect how Beijing views the legal system of Hong Kong,” he said. “It’s their tool to silence the dissidents just like what they did in mainland China.”

National security law

Since the national security law came into effect nearly three years ago, more than 180 people have been arrested and several have been jailed. The legislation has also forced independent media and civil societies in the city to close.

In landmark cases under the law, dissidents have faced trial without a jury and before specially enlisted national security judges. The first person sentenced under the law received nine years in prison in July.

According to local reports, 46 of the 47 cases are now with Hong Kong’s High Court and carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Source: Voice of America

Shanghai officials are seeking to revive confidence among multinational firms bruised and frustrated by the city’s COVID-19 lockdown by holding multiple meetings with foreign firms and easing a key border requirement for overseas workers.

The image of China’s most cosmopolitan city and its biggest business hub was badly damaged by the two-month lockdown, with countless expatriates relocating and foreign businesses warning that they are reconsidering investment plans.

The Shanghai government plans to hold 20 meetings this month with foreign firms engaged in key industries such as automobiles, trade, semiconductors and biomedicine, according to a report by the Jiefang Daily, a Shanghai-government backed newspaper, on Sunday. The report was reposted on the Shanghai city website.

The firms would be picked from major investment countries and regions, including the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.

The first of two meetings held so far was attended by executives from U.S. blue chips such as Procter & Gamble PG.N and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N, the report said. The second meeting included automakers Tesla TSLA.O, General Motors GM.N and Ford F.N.

The companies did not respond immediately to requests for comment on Wednesday.

In addition, the European Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday it had been informed during a meeting with the city’s vice mayor that Shanghai will no longer require official invitation letters, so-called PU letters, for foreigners returning for work and their dependents, addressing what had become a bugbear for the expat community.

China began in early 2020 to require foreigners to obtain PU letters as part of their visa application as it dramatically tightened border controls when the pandemic hit.

Many firms had complained about the difficulties and long waits in obtaining the document, which impeded the hiring of foreign staff.

The removal of this requirement was “an initiative from central government to encourage work and production resumption in Shanghai,” the European Chamber said.

Asked for comment on Wednesday, the Shanghai government referred to remarks city official Gu Jun made at a press conference in late May, in which he acknowledged that the epidemic had impacted foreign trade and investment in the city.

He said the city would take measures to boost confidence among businesess and support multinationals in setting up regional headquarters and research centers in Shanghai. It did not provide further comment.

Tom Simpson, managing director of the China-Britain Business Council, said it was expecting to meet with the Shanghai government in the coming weeks.

Shanghai had provided its members “more practical” business resumption support including issuing logistics permits and reopening warehouses, he said.

During the lockdown, Shanghai tried to keep factories open under “closed loop” operations but businesses said the arrangements posed numerous difficulties.

The lack of flights into China — the vast majority have been cancelled for more than two years — also remains a key hindrance.

China has resolutely stuck to a “zero-COVID” policy that aims to eradicate the spread of the virus, an approach that is increasingly out of step with the rest of the world.

Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber, said the zero-COVID policy was not just denting Shanghai’s attractiveness, but China as a whole, especially as other rival markets open and try to lure companies away from China.

“The world is not going to wait for China to clean this mess,” he said.

Source: Voice of America

China and Russia were called to explain to the international community on Wednesday why they vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for new sanctions on North Korea for its recent string of prohibited long-range and ballistic missile tests.

Wednesday was the first time the General Assembly implemented its April 25 resolution requiring any of the five permanent members of the powerful Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) to explain their actions to the wider U.N. membership when they exercise their use of the veto.

Both countries shifted the blame to the U.S., saying Washington pushed for the May 26 council vote on sanctions, which they did not believe were warranted.

“Since the DPRK took denuclearization measures in 2018, the U.S. side has not reciprocated the DPRK’s positive initiatives and has not addressed the DPRK’s legitimate and reasonable concerns,” China’s envoy, Zhang Jun, told the assembly, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea by its acronym. “Nor has it demonstrated the necessary sincerity for resolving the issue.”

He said the council’s sanctions were harsh and unprecedented, and in light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea, new measures would be inhumane.

“Anyone who is seriously addressing the North Korean problem has long understood that it is futile to expect Pyongyang to unconditionally disarm under the threat of a spiral of sanctions,” Russian Deputy Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said.

Both said they would have preferred the council express itself through a formal statement rather than a resolution.

For its part, North Korea’s envoy, Kim Song, said his country carries out missile tests on a regular basis and it is exercising its legitimate right to self-defense.

So far this year, North Korea has carried out more than 30 missile launches, including several intercontinental ballistic missiles. In a 2017 resolution, the Security Council threatened to intensify sanctions if Pyongyang carried out another ICBM launch.

“Each and every one of these launches violated multiple Security Council resolutions that were adopted by consensus,” U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said. “In response to these provocations, China and Russia cast vetoes that gave the DPRK an implicit nod of approval.”

The U.S.-drafted resolution would have tightened some sanctions, but also would have provided COVID-19 humanitarian relief.

Since the veto, North Korea carried out eight ballistic missile launches in a single event — the most ever. International concerns are also growing that Pyongyang is preparing for a potential nuclear test.

“Over the last few years, there have been very high tensions in the Security Council, but China, Russia and the U.S. had always agreed to limit their divisions over Korean affairs, and it’s a worrying sign that they have come to this breakdown,” Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group, told VOA of the council’s break in unity.

The Security Council veto has been cast 296 times since the U.N. was created in 1945. The USSR/Russia has cast the majority of them. Britain and France have used it the least, last in 1989. It has stalled action recently on Ukraine, but also for the last decade on Syria’s conflict, as well as crises in other parts of the world.

Source: Voice of America

Republic of Korea (ROK) First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyundong, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and Japan Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo met today in Seoul to discuss how our three countries will work together to address the challenges of the 21st Century for the benefit of the region and the world.

The Vice Foreign Ministers and the Deputy Secretary strongly condemned the repeated unlawful ballistic missile launches by the DPRK. They reaffirmed the outcomes of the May 27 Minister-level trilateral joint statement and committed to advance trilateral security cooperation to curb threats from the DPRK. The Deputy Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ steadfast commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan, including extended deterrence. The Vice Ministers and the Deputy Secretary urged the DPRK to abide by its obligations under relevant UNSC resolutions and immediately cease actions that violate international law, escalate tensions, destabilize the region, or endanger global peace and security, and instead engage in dialogue toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. They stressed that a path to serious and sustained dialogue remains open and urged the DPRK to return to negotiations, while also expressing their hope that the DPRK will respond positively to international offers of assistance to fight against COVID-19. They reaffirmed the importance of achieving a swift resolution to the abductions issue.

The Vice Foreign Ministers and the Deputy Secretary discussed a range of pressing regional and global issues, including our joint efforts to support Ukraine, restore Myanmar to a democratic path, bolster engagement with ASEAN and within ASEAN-led architecture, enhance cooperation with Pacific Island countries, strengthen economic and energy security, prioritize women’s empowerment and workforce development, uphold international law, and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive.

ROK-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation, grounded in our shared values, demonstrates that democracies can build a better future for their people, and the Vice Foreign Ministers and the Deputy Secretary decided to meet in Tokyo to continue their regular trilateral consultations as we advance our shared efforts.

Source: US State Department

On Monday 6 June 2022, Mrs. Vilawan Mangklatanakul, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, presented 500,000 Baht donation from the Royal Thai Government to Ms. Kyungsun Kim, Representative, and Head of Mission of UNICEF Thailand, to support humanitarian assistance programmes for the affected Ukrainian children and their families.

On this occasion, the Deputy Permanent Secretary expressed grave concern of Thailand on the ongoing conflict and humanitarian situation in Ukraine, which have caused pervasive impacts on a large scale of its population, including children and their families. She stressed the importance of timely and adequate humanitarian assistance for the affected civilians, which was a shared responsibility of the international community. Thailand was pleased to contribute through international organizations like UNICEF to support its proactive and effective programmes to sustain help and provide support to those in need, especially the most vulnerables. In addition to this financial contribution, since February this year, the Royal Thai Government, together with Thai private sector, civil societies,and Thai people, have already provided over 11 million Baht of humanitarian assistance in total to the people of Ukraine through various channels, such as the Thai Red Cross Society, Polish Red Cross Society, Ukrainian Red Cross Society, the Embassy of Ukraine in Bangkok and Thai private sector operating in Europe.

The UNICEF Thailand’s Head of Mission expressed appreciation to the Royal Thai Government and all parts of Thai society on behalf of the organization and of the Ukrainian children and their families. She stressed that Thailand’s support was meaningful and would help to alleviate the sufferings of a large number of Ukrainian civilians, which has been ongoing for over 3 months now.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand