Free Republic

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration has approved the sale of more than a billion dollars worth of advanced weaponry for Taiwan in a move that will enrage China and further exacerbate tensions between Washington and Beijing that have are already heated over issues such as trade, Tibet, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. The State Department announced Wednesday it had greenlighted the sale of 135 precision land attack missiles, associated equipment, and training to Taiwan to improve its defense capabilities. The package is worth just over a billion dollars, it said in a statement. The missiles are made by Boeing. “This...

Canada and China are once again in a diplomatic battle over a range of issues — this time with Beijing threatening retaliation over Canada's acceptance of activists from Hong Kong who are seeking political asylum. China’s ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu issued a somewhat unprecedented threat to Ottawa late this week, saying that accepting anti-China activists could jeopardize the “health and safety” of 300,000 Canadians who live in Hong Kong. “We strongly urge the Canadian side not to grant so-called political asylum to those violent criminals in Hong Kong, because it is interference in China’s domestic affairs, and certainly it...

HONG KONG—Hong Kong police said on Saturday they had arrested nine people suspected of helping 12 Hong Kong activists who fled the city in August, heading for Taiwan, only to be intercepted by Chinese authorities and held on the mainland.The detainees’ plight has grabbed international attention, with human rights groups raising concern as their families said they were denied access to independent lawyers, and aired suspicion that Hong Kong authorities helped in China’s arrests.Accused of crimes tied to anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, the group is being detained in China’s southern city of Shenzhen after authorities intercepted their...

China & the Vatican -- Cardinal Zen: "Parolin knows he is lying. He knows that I know he is a liar. He knows that I will tell everyone that he is a liar." For Love of Truth I Will Not Remain Silent Cardinal Joseph ZenBishop Emeritus of Hong Kong I read the speech given by Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness, in Milan on October 3. [Rorate: in that speech, Cardinal Parolin defended the Vatican's attitude and deal, and the confirmation of the deal, with Communist China.] It was sickening! He is in no way stupid or ignorant, he...

Since Hong Kong’s long-standing freedoms are are under assault from Beijing, now is a good time for Team Trump to revisit its approach to the refugee resettlement program. Foreigners who have been loyal to the United States and the idea of freedom are justified in seeking asylum when they are fleeing oppressive communist regimes. The Trump administration has a good faith concern about illegal immigration and aliens claiming refugee status when they have no valid claim.  Yet, when you look at examples like we are seeing in Hong Kong today, there are genuine refugees who are in need of the traditional...

As rich nations corner more than half the doses, they must realise that vaccinated pockets don’t lead to stable economies Vaccine nationalism is rearing its ugly head again even as the Coronavirus pandemic rages on. The implications of manipulating access to essential drugs, particularly HIV-AIDS ones in developing countries, due to bulk purchasing power of richer nations and honouring of pharmaceutical patents, are already known. That crisis worsened. Sadly, the trend continues as the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 intensifies with five leading candidates currently in phase three clinical trials. Who gets hold of the vaccine and when...

A group of Chinese virologists released a strange new paper on Monday that claims the new coronavirus was engineered in a Chinese lab. One of the virologists, Li-Meng Yan, told the Fox News host Tucker Carlson it was a "man-made virus" that the Chinese government released "intentionally." Yan and her coauthors work for groups cofounded by the former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. He directed the groups before his arrest in August. Some members of the Trump administration have pushed a fringe theory that the virus accidentally leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, but there's no evidence of this.

China’s draconian “national security law” has not just stifled the free speech of pro-democracy politicians, teachers, and journalists, it has now shut down a prayer campaign called by Roman Catholic hierarchy. Catholic bishops in Hong Kong canceled publication of a prayer for fear of offending officials in the Chinese Communist Party. This summer, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences asked its members to pray for the increasingly oppressive situation in Hong Kong. China’s violation of the “one country, two systems” framework comes as “freedom of religion or belief in mainland China is suffering the most severe restrictions experienced since the...

<p>Another corporation continuing its fealty to the communist regime is seen in this new release.</p> <p>There has been much conversation surrounding the release of the new Disney live-action motion picture. Following its Vault Classics formula of adapting titles from its animation catalog, ‘’Mulan’’ was set to be the studio’s big summer release. COVID changed all of that, and as it now has made its way to streaming, we are seeing some of the small ways it has bowed to the Chinese Communists.</p>

Hong Kong’s national security law has thrown a city scarred by months of political unrest into further uncertainty, as millions continue to adjust to a new normal. Two months after its enactment, pro-democracy activists been rounded up and government officials targeted with tough sanctions amid an increasingly hairy diplomatic dispute between superpowers.

China’s foreign minister warned against giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Hong Kong’s protesters, as he urged Norway to “cherish the healthy and stable” bilateral relationship that was once frozen by the award. Wang Yi also tried to cast doubt on the origin of the coronavirus, as he faced criticism over China’s handling of the pandemic during a press conference in Oslo, the third leg of his five-nation European tour intended to boost Chinese-European cooperation. Wang and Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide said they focused on multilateralism, as Norway prepared to take up a rotational seat on the United...

A collision between Russian and US armored vehicles in Syria leads to a high level conversation but first..... Citizens were urged to show up en masse at Idaho's State Capitol in Boise today following yesterday's tumultuous events when riot police flooded the building and citizen journalists were removed from the building leading to the arrest of People's Right's activist Ammon Bundy.... And again today Ammon Bundy arrested and removed from the Senate gallery in the Idaho State Capitol.... Activists trying to stop legislation that would offer civil liability to business over COVID-19 in Idaho in exchange for business compliance with...

I have the feeling that this news may wind up slamming the brakes on a lot of the optimism about vaccines and new COVID-19 treatments that have been making the rounds lately. Doctors at the University of Hong Kong have concluded that a patient who was confirmed as being infected with the novel coronavirus and mildly symptomatic back in March came down with the disease for a second time this month. There are some complicating factors in his story that will likely need to be taken into consideration, but the overall message from that medical center is clear. If...

President Trump will participate in the arrival of the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi at the White House. (Answers questions about Bannon probe first part of video)

As US aircraft carriers sail the South China Sea, many Chinese military analysts are warning that a military confrontation is inevitable. Rabbi Pinchas Winston, an end-of-days expert, notes that, as prophecy states, a military confrontation is inevitable and China, though not explicitly named in the Bible as the aggressor, has a clear role to play as the nemesis of Israel. Correspondent Yu Zeyuan reported in Think China on a recent scholarly article by Chinese military academic Wang Yunfei. The article warned that “right now, it looks very likely that the Trump administration may make an unexpected move and suddenly decide...

The website of Notepad++ is banned in China as of Monday, “obviously due to� its release of editions named “Free Uyghur� and “Stand with Hong Kong,� the source code and text editor announced on Twitter.First released in 2003 by France-based developer Don Ho, free-to-use Notepad++ operates on Windows and supports some 90 languages. In his release notices for the two editions, Ho openly voiced his concerns over “human rights� conditions, respectively in the Xinjiang autonomous region and Hong Kong.Tests by TechCrunch found that the Notepad++ ban only applies to its Download page — which showcases the special editions and thus...

Dozens of Hong Kong citizens gathered in shopping malls across the city Tuesday to call for press freedom, one day after Hong Kong police raided the local Apple Daily newsroom and arrested its owner, Jimmy Lai, under the city’s new “national security” law. Lai, a Hong Kong media tycoon, is also a prominent pro-democracy figure in the city. He was arrested Monday along with nine other pro-democracy activists, news executives, and his sons for alleged offenses under the city’s new national security law, including “collusion” with foreign forces, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported. Using the Telegram messaging app, organizers...

Goods made in Hong Kong for export to the United States will need to be labelled as made in China after Sept. 25, according to a U.S. government notice posted on Tuesday. The move follows China’s imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong and a U.S. decision to end the former British colony’s special status under U.S. law, escalating bilateral tensions that were already rising over trade war tariffs and the handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The latest step will see Hong Kong companies subject to the same trade war tariffs levied on mainland Chinese exporters, should they...

Trump claimed that China would "own" the United States if Biden becomes president and that Americans "would have to learn to speak Chinese." The president riffed on what he called his tough approach to China and the deterioration of his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the coronavirus pandemic during a morning interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who is also a contributing opinion columnist for The Washington Post. Hewitt noted that Trump's national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien had recently said that China would prefer Biden to win in November. Trump agreed that Beijing would rather deal...

We are deeply troubled by the arrest of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong businessman, publisher, and prominent pro-democracy advocate. Two of Jimmy’s sons and several executives from his media company have also been arrested by Hong Kong authorities under the auspices of the national security law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party. Jimmy and his colleagues are powerful voices for the fundamental rights and liberties that Beijing guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong, but that it now systematically attacks. As a newspaperman, entrepreneur, and citizen, Jimmy Lai has exercised, celebrated, and defended liberty by warning what Hong Kong would...