Author: ASEAN Tribune

Hong Kong newspapers backed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stepped up their denunciations of independent trade unions in the city on Friday, amid an ever-widening crackdown on civil society under the national security law.

The Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao newspapers on Friday reported that Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) would be the next civil society group to disband following denunciations by CCP media.

“Our information indicates that the CTU will soon disband,” the report said. “The executive committee met on Sept. 16 to pass the resolution, but it still needs to be formally approved at a general meeting on Oct. 3.”

The report accused the CTU of prompting a “tsunami” of new union registrations during the 2019 protest movement, and of “promoting anti-Chinese sentiment and unrest.”

“They have deviated utterly from the purpose of a trade union under the law, steal from industry, and divide society,” the paper said, naming veteran labor activist Lee Cheuk-ying, who is currently serving a 14-month jail term for his role in the 2019 protest movement.

It also singled out Winnie Yu, the founder and chairwoman of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, a labor union representing Hospital Authority staff.

Political denunciations in CCP-backed media are increasingly being used to target civil society groups and NGOs in Hong Kong.

The denunciations usually focus on accusations that a given organization has done something that could be in breach of a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP from July 1, 2020.

Several groups disband

Several organizations, including protest march organizers the Civil Human Rights Front, the Professional Teachers’ Union, and Wall-fare, a prison support group for those in custody because of the 2019 protest movement, have disbanded following similar articles, or after being criticized by Hong Kong’s leaders.

The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance said it had recently received a letter from the Registry of Trade Unions alleging that its funds were used for “political purposes.”

The group’s questioning of the effectiveness of Chinese-made COVID-19 jabs and the government’s LeaveHomeSafe app, and its setting up of street booths were also listed as matters requiring explanation, government broadcaster RTHK reported.

“Our alliance’s legal status and the past activities we organized, including the strike to fight for reasonable rights, should be protected by international covenants and the Basic Law,” it quoted acting chairman David Chan as saying.

He declined to comment when asked if the alliance has any plans to disband, RTHK reported.

Meanwhile, another labor NGO, the Asia Monitor Resource Centre, said an article published in the CCP-backed Ta Kung Pao newspaper was inaccurate.

“For decades, we [have been] a civil society organization independent of any local or international organizations,” it said. “We are not a subsidiary unit of any of the organizations as wrongly described in the Ta Kung Pao article.”

The group said it plans to shut down its Hong Kong operations by the end of September and relocate elsewhere in the region.

“The pressure on our operation has intensified significantly,” the group said in a statement on its website. “Therefore, we feel that we are left with no choice but to cease operating in Hong Kong by the end of September.”

Pattern becoming clear

Chung Kim-wah, deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI), said the pattern of denunciation leading to investigation by the authorities is becoming increasingly clear in Hong Kong.

“We have seen so many similar occurrences, in which the Ta Kung Pao or the Wen Wei Po post articles listing [alleged] crimes, sometimes photos, and even stalking some people,” Chung told RFA.

“Maybe the first thing the secretary for security does when he gets to work in the morning is look at the Wen Wei Po or Ta Kung Pao to see which groups they are targeting, and make a list,” he said.

“It looks as if the [pro-CCP] media are running Hong Kong now.”

Set up in 1990, the CTU sprang from the work of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (HKCIC), a church-backed grassroots labor group active during the 1970s and 1980s.

A coalition of independent and politically unaffiliated union organizations, its membership consisted largely of white-collar unions organizing the civil service and professional or service employees in the public and subvented sectors, including the now-disbanded Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) and the Hong Kong Social Workers General Union.

Both former leaders Lau Chin-shek, a founding member of the Democratic Party, and Lee Cheuk-yan went on to be elected to the city’s Legislative Council (LegCo).

The CTU was involved in a number of mass protest movements, including the July 1, 2003 march to oppose national security legislation, which was eventually imposed on the city by the CCP on July 1, 2020.

It was also instrumental in founding Hong Kong’s Labour Party in 2005.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

With the fate of the world’s environment hanging in the balance, China has tried to raise the stakes even higher by making demands in exchange for climate cooperation with the United States.

The developing standoff over commitments to limit global warming led to a 90-minute phone call last week between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping in an attempt to clear the air.

But the outcome for climate policy remained unsettled as China continued to link broader issues of U.S.-China relations to environmental affairs.

The phone talks between the two leaders followed stormy negotiations between John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, and Chinese officials, leading to a high-level impasse.

During the second of two recent visits to China, Kerry ran into a virtual stone wall when he met by video link with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sept. 1.

Kerry’s trip and face-to-face talks with Chinese officials in the northern port city of Tianjin were aimed at promoting cooperation on carbon emissions in the runup to a critical U.N.-sponsored climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland in November.

Despite bilateral tensions, the calls for cooperation stemmed from a realization that international attempts to avert the worst effects of global warming will fall short without greater efforts by the world’s two largest sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

According to the latest available figures from the Global Carbon Atlas, China’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels accounted for 27.9 percent of the world total in 2019, while U.S. emissions stood at 14.5 percent.

Last September, President Xi pledged that China would reach a peak in its emissions before 2030 and achieve “net- zero” neutrality before 2060.

In April, President Biden set the U.S. target for emissions reductions at 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030 with net-zero neutrality “no later than 2050.” Climate advocates hope that both countries will agree to do more.

In the days before Kerry’s visit, Chinese officials spoke repeatedly in favor of tension reduction and closer cooperation on a range of issues despite bilateral differences.

“In fact, the need for China-U.S. cooperation is not decreasing, but increasing. Our two countries should not be enemies, but partners,” said China’s ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, in a Washington speech on Aug. 31, one day before Kerry’s meeting with Wang.

A few days before that, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson cited the mutual benefits of trade in an online briefing for the bilateral comprehensive economic dialogue.

In the first seven months of the year, China’s imports of U.S. goods jumped 50.4 percent from a year earlier, while China’s exports to the United States climbed 36.9 percent, said Gao Feng, according to the official English-language China Daily.

“China always emphasizes the two sides should work together to create conditions for the expansion of China-U.S. trade cooperation,” Gao said.

The tone of such statements made Wang’s confrontational message on climate cooperation something of a surprise.

Climate cooperation

According to a Foreign Ministry statement, Wang warned Kerry that “deteriorating U.S.-China relations could undermine cooperation between the two on climate change,” the Associated Press reported.

“Wang told Kerry … that such cooperation cannot be separated from the broader relationship and called on the U.S. to take steps to improve ties,” the AP said.

In the statement posted on the Foreign Ministry website, Wang told Kerry that Washington “should pay attention and actively respond” to the “two lists” and “three bottom lines” that Beijing defined as requirements for improved relations.

The statement implied that climate cooperation would be conditioned on resolving the entire range of U.S.-China disagreements, including decades-old foreign policy differences that have nothing to do with climate change.

“The United States hopes to transform cooperation into an ‘oasis’ in Sino-U.S. relations, but if the ‘oasis’ is surrounded by ‘deserts,’ the ‘oasis’ will sooner or later be deserted,” Wang said.

In July, China gave U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman the two lists, one of which covered “errors” for Washington to address, while the other raised issues regarded as “important” to China, CNBC reported.

The lists included a demand that Washington should end its attempts to extradite Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou from Canada to face charges of violating U.S. export rules, as well as visa restrictions on Chinese students and Communist Party members, curbs on Chinese companies and other issues, CNBC and China’s Global Times said.

The “three bottom lines” outlined by Wang also included a broad range of policy issues.

First, the United States “must not challenge, slander or even attempt to subvert the path and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” said the document given to Sherman, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Second, Washington “must not attempt to obstruct or interrupt China’s development process.” As part of the demand, China called for the removal of all unilateral U.S. sanctions and bans on technology trade.

Third, Wang insisted that the United States must not “infringe upon China’s state sovereignty” or damage its “territorial integrity,” referring to U.S. penalties for rights abuses in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. China’s sovereignty claims also extend to Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Taken together, the demands for sweeping changes in U.S. policies toward China put the prospects for a climate change agreement on thin ice.

After two days of talks with China’s special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, Kerry pushed back against Beijing’s attempts to establish linkage between climate agreements and a wish list of grievances over unrelated disputes.

“My response to them was, look, climate is not ideological, not partisan and not a geostrategic weapon,” the former secretary of state told reporters, according to Reuters.

Tension increase

Climate policy experts have acknowledged that the high stakes for an agreement on emissions targets may raise tensions on other issues.

“Kerry and Xie have been able to carve out a channel for ongoing communication on climate change, which is extremely valuable right now,” Joanna Lewis, a Georgetown University associate professor, told The New York Times.

“Yet it is increasingly difficult to fully insulate climate change from the broader tensions,” Lewis said.

But if China sticks to its demands, the effect would essentially hold the climate hostage to an insurmountably long list of policy differences.

China also added to the conditions for cooperation with demands that the United States must stop calling for a World Health Organization investigation into origins of the COVID- 19 pandemic, charging that it was nothing more than a smear campaign against Beijing.

In a phone call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken reported by Xinhua on Aug. 29, Wang called on the United States to “stop undermining China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.”

In the weeks before the Tianjin meetings, Kerry pressed China long and hard to stop building coal-fired power plants, arguing that the projects will frustrate plans to meet climate goals.

But China pushed back, arguing that its plans to supply its energy needs are also a matter of sovereignty and its own affair.

“China already has its own plans and road map for achieving its climate goals,” the South China Morning Post said, quoting “a person familiar with the two countries’ negotiations.”

“China would not accept Washington telling it what to do and when,” the source said.

The outcome of the Biden-Xi phone talks seems to be a softening of tone in the demands from Beijing, which could allow climate talks to go ahead.

“Relevant departments of the two countries, on the basis of respecting each other’s core concerns and properly managing differences, may continue their engagement and dialogue, and advance coordination and cooperation on climate change, COVID-19 response and economic recovery as well as on major international and regional issues,” a Xinhua commentary said.

But it remained to be seen whether there will be any change in the substance of China’s demands or its climate pledges.

The Chinese warnings may still represent red lines, leading to an impasse and failure to reach new agreements in time for the U.N. conference of parties, known as COP26, in November.

An alternate reading is that China’s far-reaching conditions for a new climate deal are a measure of the difficulty of meeting more stringent emissions goals.

Either way, the next two months are likely to be a period of intense diplomatic activity and recalculation of the critical interests in U.S.-China ties.

Adding to the uncertainty are questions about whether the COP26 meeting will be held in November at all.

In the past week, a broad coalition of climate groups called for postponing the conference. In a statement, the Climate Action Network voiced concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine requirements would raise costs for poorer countries and “makw it impossible for many representatives to attend.”

Kerry battled back against postponement, citing the risk that any delay could allow some nations to “backtrack” on their climate commitments, The New York Times reported.

“We don’t have time to mess around with reconvening,” Kerry said.

Citizens in North Korea are becoming increasingly angry that state media is touting this week’s cruise missile tests as a major national defense achievement when many are struggling to find their next meal, sources in the country told RFA.

Pyongyang over the weekend tested a new long-range cruise missile with a range of 1,500 kilometers (930 miles), which puts targets in Japan within reach. Cruise missiles are low-flying and harder to defend against than ballistic missiles.

North Korea also conducted ballistic missile tests on Wednesday, launches which coincided with a South Korean submarine-launched missile test, a visit to Seoul by China’s foreign minister, and a three-way meeting between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington to discuss North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Chronically short of food, North Korea has seen starvation deaths this year in the wake of the closure of the Sino-Korean border and suspension of trade with China in Jan. 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Against that backdrop, citizens are grumbling that their government does not care about their plight.

“The people are so antipathetic, asking how the authorities can do such things as if they don’t know that many of us here are starving because of this economic crisis,” said a resident of the northeastern coastal city of Hamhung, in South Hamgyong province.

“The people say that Kim Jong Un doesn’t even know that the people are starving and he’s doing things like that,” the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA’s Korean Service.

Missile tests, many people say, are meaningless when the army cannot even feed its soldiers, according to the source.

“They are saying that the People’s Army can’t fight a war because the soldiers are subsisting on corn and rice, and they can’t survive in the military unless their family sends money to support their military life,” said the source.

“Things have not changed in the slightest since the era of Kim Jong Il, when the government was saying the military was not afraid of war and that we had the greatest armed force in the world with our missiles and our troops,” the source said.

Kim Jong Il, leader Kim Jong Un’s father and predecessor, was in power during the 1994-1998 North Korean famine, which killed as many as 10 percent of the country’s then population of 22 million.

The source said the lack of nutrition for soldiers was more dangerous to them than any external threat.

“They don’t have the strength to even hold bullets. If you don’t have money to send to your enlisted son, you have to steal for him,” said the source.

“Now the state is widely promoting that this new long-range cruise missile is another deterrence method that will guarantee the safety of the country and will suppress military action against our republic by hostile forces,” the second source said.

But many in North Korea disagree with this approach and would prefer that the government ask the outside world for help, according to the source.

“They say it’s wrong to block dialogue with the outside and focus only on missile development. It’s an act of self-destruction and threatens the safety of the nation and the people.”

Another source, a resident of North Hamgyong province’s Rason city, which lies within a Special Economic Zone near the Chinese and Russian borders, told RFA that state propaganda is describing the long-range cruise missile tests as an act of self-defense that supports peace.

“People are reacting harshly, saying they don’t understand how,” said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

“They say the government has no interest in the people’s livelihood in this crisis, and they are only doing things like this to enhance their prestige,” the second source said.

With North Korea reeling from the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, food shortages, and recent flood damage, they think the missile launches are tone-deaf, according to the second source.

“Naturally the relatively few government officials who will remain in power only if they continue to develop missiles are all positive about the news of the missile launch,” the second source said.

“But the majority of residents express strong concern and resentment, saying, ‘North Korea’s missile provocation is an act of self-harm that destroys people’s livelihood and leads the country to self-destruction.’”

Frivolous Parades

North Koreans are also tired of the county’s frequent military parades, dismissing them as ploys to distract the masses during the severe economic crisis.

North Korea last week held a midnight parade in the capital Pyongyang last week to commemorate the 73^rd anniversary of the founding of the country.

“The people reacted coldly to the news of the parade, which included members of the various civil defense forces,” a resident of South Pyongan told RFA.

“People are saying that they held the parade to give faith to the people because there’s no food to eat here in North Korea. They also did it to show that self-reliance is the only way to survive. That’s why I don’t think military parades are worth much,” said the South Pyongan source.

The parade is a sign that Kim Jong Un is not in touch with the people and their needs.

“He seems to have no idea that the residents don’t want to see three military parades in less than a year. Some are strongly criticizing the frivolity of the whole thing, saying that the state is ignoring the people’s livelihood during this crisis and only concerned about playing politics,” said the third source.

A fourth source, from North Pyongan, told RFA that the amount of training required to prepare for a military parade is a waste of the army’s resources.

“During the parade on October 10 of last year for the anniversary of the founding of the party, some of the participants said they had undergone intense training for six months,” said the fourth source, who declined to be named.

“Residents are aware that the solders can’t eat well, but they work hard to prepare for parade day and their lips are all chapped. How can there be a positive response to a military parade,” the fourth source said.

The source said it was unfair that soldiers sacrifice six months of their time and their health for these military parades, while Kim Jong Un prepares by dressing up as his grandfather, national founder and North Korea’s first leader Kim Il Sung.

Kim Il Sung remains a revered figure in North Korean culture, and legends of his deeds as an anti-Japanese guerilla during World War II and as a benevolent ruler afterward are taught to children from a young age.

When Kim Jong Un was being groomed to rule the country shortly before his father’s death in 2011, North Korea watchers noted that his attire and hairstyle closely resembled that of a young Kim Il Sung, a look he has maintained to the present. But many people inside North Korea say that despite the tribute, Kim Jong Un is not even a shadow of his grandfather.

“Kim Jong Un just imitates his grandfather, right up to the hairstyle… What’s the point of copying his appearance? He needs to fix the rot in this country but he’s not doing that. 

Reported by Jeong Yon Park for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.