Carrie Lam - Page 2

Hong Kong activists defied orders from the police and marched on Tuesday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the protest movement.

Hong Kong police confirmed on Friday the arrest of nearly 100 minors during law enforcement attacks on peaceful protesters this week, actions that resulted in nearly 400 arrests.

China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), its rubber-stamp legislature, passed a draft law on Thursday eliminating Hong Kong’s autonomy, allowing the Communist Party to punish anyone in the nominally autonomous city for crimes such as “secession” and “acts against national security.”

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters at a press briefing Tuesday that alarm over a proposed “national security” bill in Beijing, intended to silence the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, was overblown, and that the city continues to be a free society, “for the time being.”

Lee Cheuk-yan of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democrat Movements of China, organizer of an annual June 4 vigil to remember the victims of Communist China’s murderous crackdown on Tiananmen Square in 1989, said on Wednesday that this year’s event will be held in a socially distant manner due to extended coronavirus bans on large public gatherings. Lee said the coronavirus restrictions are “disproportionate” to the state of the pandemic in Hong Kong and accused the Beijing-controlled government of using the emergency to suppress dissent.

Hong Kong television broadcaster RTHK announced on Tuesday that it would indefinitely suspend production of Headliner, a comedy show that has aired since 1989, after the government began harassing the channel over a law enforcement parody in February.

Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong took to several shopping malls on Wednesday for protest events marking the birthday of Chief Executive Carrie Lam, complete with a fake birthday cake and celebratory singing modified to “happy birthday, fuck you.”

On Monday, Hong Kong’s former health minister said face masks are largely ineffective in preventing transmission of the Chinese coronavirus, adding that he only wears them in public to be “polite,” Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported on Tuesday.

A court of appeal has ruled that Hong Kong’s ban on wearing masks at “unlawful” assemblies is constitutional, overturning a lower court decision, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported on Thursday.

Reuters on Friday reported on a poll that showed support growing for the pro-democracy protest movement in Hong Kong, even as the coronavirus epidemic makes it extremely difficult for them to hold protest rallies.

Angry protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong over the weekend to denounce government plans for coronavirus quarantine facilities, arguing that treatment centers should be kept far away from residential neighborhoods, and would be unnecessary if their government properly restricted travel from China.

Striking hospital workers in Hong Kong demanded a complete shutdown of the city’s border with China on Friday in response to the coronavirus, entering the offices of the Hospital Authority to demand an immediate meeting with health authorities.

Health authorities in Hong Kong announced Monday that they have procured 500 electric trackers to place on individuals suspected of being infected with the new form of coronavirus originating in China last month.

Hong Kong healthcare workers launched a five-day strike as threatened on Monday to protest their government’s refusal to completely seal the border with China until the coronavirus epidemic is under control. Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam responded by announcing more travel restrictions, closing down all land crossings except the bridges to Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

Over 15,000 medical workers in Hong Kong announced on Wednesday their newly-formed union will go on strike unless the border to China is completely sealed to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

A new and unoccupied residential building in Hong Kong that was designated as a quarantine facility for people infected by the rapidly spreading Wuhan coronavirus was attacked by vandals with firebombs on Sunday, prompting the authorities to postpone plans to expand the quarantine operation.

Pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong protested against the city’s Beijing-controlled government on Thursday over its inadequate response to the coronavirus.

Hong Kong Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma said on Monday that a special “task force” will consider “how best and how expeditiously” to handle the enormous number of criminal trials related to the ongoing protest movement.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced Tuesday she would expand the government’s power to isolate individuals from the general public if considered a health hazard in the wake of a viral pneumonia of unknown cause that reached the city from within China.

Hong Kong’s anti-government protests continued on Christmas, with some reports of confrontations between police and demonstrators but not the general chaos government officials seemed to be expecting. 

Chinese dictator Xi Jinping applauded Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam during her visit to Beijing Monday for her “courage” in leading a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, describing the past year as the “grimmest” since China seized the capitalist city from British control.

The Hong Kong Education Bureau announced on Wednesday that up to 30 teachers may face penalties for “misconduct” related to student protests.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters on Tuesday that she met with the losing pro-communist candidates in November’s District Council elections to apologize for their defeat and that it was “natural” for her to do so.

Nearly a million Hong Kong residents flooded the streets of the city on Sunday, demanding safeguards for their longstanding democracy against the Communist Party of China, the largest crowds to show for rallies since the summer.

Chinese state media confirmed Thursday that Hong Kong Police Commissioner Chris Tang will visit Beijing this weekend for meetings at the Communist Party’s Public Security Ministry.

A small group of communists denounced the United States outside of its consulate in Hong Kong Tuesday, burning an effigy of President Donald Trump in a devil costume and trampling the American flag.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam confirmed in remarks Tuesday that her government, appointed by Beijing, would follow Chinese sanctions on the U.S. Navy and American human rights groups following the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.

Sunday’s district council elections in Hong Kong are an “early chapter” of a longer push for freedom and democracy among the city’s people against China’s Communist Party, said Steve Mosher, president of the the Population Research Institute.

Communist Party officials in Beijing were “extremely dissatisfied” with the landslide defeat of their candidates in this week’s Hong Kong District Council elections and may be seeking to replace its local representatives in the region, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Tuesday.

Reuters reported Monday the Chinese government has established a “crisis command center” in Shenzhen, the Chinese city closest to Hong Kong.

The government newspaper China Daily published a host of unsubstantiated claims of “dirty tricks” against the Hong Kong protest movement Monday, alleging that protesters did not rightfully win Sunday’s District Council elections.

Chinese state media declared on Monday that the success of pro-democracy candidates in the Hong Kong District Council elections Sunday should end the city’s mass demonstrations against Beijing’s interference.

The Hong Kong pro-democracy movement fueled record voter turnout and a crushing defeat for pro-China parties in Sunday’s District Council election, leaving the establishment with only 60 of the nearly 500 seats on the council.

China’s State Council in Beijing on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Chris Tang Ping-keung as police commissioner for Hong Kong. Tang, nominated to the position by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, was hailed in Chinese media as a “more decisive” top cop than outgoing Police Commissioner Stephen Lo Wai-chung, who has held the position since 2015.

Chinese authorities berated the High Court of Hong Kong on Monday for ruling that banning face coverings in public is “unconstitutional,” claiming that only Beijing’s communist lawmakers have the right to rule on such matters.

Parents of students trapped at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) after a violent weekend that set a significant percentage of the campus ablaze were reportedly “begging” police to let them see their children on Monday.