Free Republic

On Thursday, all 15 of the remaining pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong resigned from the Legislative Council after staging a noisy protest in the legislature's chamber. The day before, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China had expelled from the body four legislators labeled "infamous" by Global Times, a Communist Party publication, for their opposition views. Moments before the expulsions, the HKSAR government, as it is called, had received authorization, in the form of a "Decision" from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the legislature of the Chinese central government....

HONG KONG - Cua Chiu-fai is on a mission to rid Hong Kong’s classrooms of what he sees as poisonous anti-China bias. His soldiers: mainly parents. He has recruited hundreds of mothers and fathers to monitor and report on teachers deemed guilty of filling their students with hate for China and urging them to take to the streets in protest. Cua’s vigilante initiative has won the support of some pro-Beijing political figures in Hong Kong. Targeting the city’s teachers has become part of a broader plan by China’s leaders to reform the city’s rebellious youth after last year’s sometimes-violent pro-democracy...

CHINA today warned the UK and its allies that their "eyes will be plucked out" if they carry on "meddling" in its affairs in Hong Kong. The Five Eyes alliance was hit with the bizarre threat after the group demanded Beijing end its crackdown in the former British colony.... Britain and its four partners - the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have frequently condemned the Chinese government for allegedly trying to crush dissent in the South Asian financial hub. Now a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has warned the countries to stay out of it affairs saying: "They should be...

Georgia Democrat and Senate candidate Jon Ossoff has been compensated by a Hong Kong media conglomerate whose owner has spoken out against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, according to his most recent financial disclosure. Ossoff, whose role as CEO of a London-based producer of investigative documentaries has drawn scrutiny over the years, reported in an amended financial statement that he has received at least $5,000 from PCCW Media Limited over the last two years — a detail that has previously gone unreported. Ossoff did not disclose his ties to PCCW in his initial financial report, which he filed in May....

All of Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmakers have resigned after four of their colleagues were disqualified. On Wednesday Beijing passed a resolution allowing the city's government to disqualify politicians deemed a threat to national security. Shortly afterwards the opposition lawmakers said they would leave the city legislature in solidarity. For the first time since Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 the body has almost no dissenting voices. BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonnell says the legislature was already stacked in favour of the pro-Beijing-camp. The territory's leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, is pro-Beijing and is supported by the central...

CHICAGO–Fraudulent driver’s licenses, which are used for criminal activity or fraud, continue to be found by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the International Mail Facility (IMF) at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. ID Since the beginning of the year to June 30, CBP officers at the IMF have seized 1,513 shipments with fraudulent documents- a total of 19,888 counterfeit US drivers’ licenses. The majority of these shipments were arriving from China and Hong Kong, with other seized shipments arriving from Great Britain and South Korea. The driver’s licenses were for various people in different states with a vast...

...some updates on coronavirus controls... In Missoula County, Montana businesses ordered to limit occupancy to 20 percent of capacity. In Albuquerque, New Mexico businesses told they must call police if unmuzzled people (not wearing masks) enter and refuse to be muzzled... In Pueblo, Colorado the city imposing a 10 pm to 5 am curfew... "It's unacceptable and breaking all norms for Dr. Fauci, a senior member of the President's Coronavirus Taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump's actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics.... With just hours to go before the election...

Wait, what really happened at the United States Consulate General in Hong Kong on October 27 when four young anti-China activists suddenly turned up at the gates with the intention of seeking asylum? The official silence from the US and Beijing governments has been deafening – which is kind of understandable, given the high political sensitivity and potential for a damaging flare-up at a time of extreme tensions between the two powers, with Hong Kong caught in the middle – but let’s look at what we do know so far. One of our reporters personally witnessed the four running up...

Breaking: Tony Chung, a young HK activist who was arrested for breaking the #NSL in July, was arrested again near the US Consulate of HK this morning. Reportedly, he planned to enter the consulate and seek asylum. The police may once again prosecute him for colluding with the US.

BREAKING: New audio of Hunter Biden talking about his partner “the f**king spy chief of China” “I’m receiving calls from SDNY”  @TheNatPulse https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1321138196097490947 

Former CIA operative arrested in Honolulu, charged with helping China spy on U.S. [Video] HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) -- A Honolulu resident who spent years working for the Central Intelligence Agency and as a contractor for the Federal Bureau of Investigation was charged Monday with spying on the U,S, and selling state secrets to China. Authorities say 67-year-old Alexander Yuk Ching Ma -- who moved to Honolulu from Hong Kong in 1968 and began his CIA career in 1982 -- had become ‘a compromised asset’ of the Chinese Ministry of State Security by at least early 2001. In a press conference...

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>