Free Republic

Beijing's aggression confirms that the Chinese Communist Party is fully committed to fulfill its own great power ambition regardless of the consequences to other states. While nations worldwide were busy dealing with health care and economic crises caused by the Wuhan virus pandemic, Beijing is exploiting the attendant confusion to tighten its control over Hong Kong and the South China Sea.Beijing Tightens Its Grip on Hong Kong Since summer 2019, an extradition bill that would have eroded Hong Kong’s judicial independence ignited the city’s pro-democracy movement. The spread of the coronavirus added a new dimension to the movement in 2020....

The death of Apple Daily marks the end of Hong Kong's free press, and the west must ask: is it wise to continue empowering the CCP's destruction of values we cherish?The Chinese Communist Party and pro-Beijing Hong Kong authorities forced Apple Daily, the last pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, to cease operation this week. The death of Apple Daily marks the end of a free press in Hong Kong, once one of the freest places on the planet.Founded By a Refugee of CommunismThe newspaper was founded 26 years ago by outspoken Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai. Born in mainland China,...

President Donald Trump divulged how Chinese President Xi Jinping responded to his inquiry about releasing Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong businessman imprisoned after his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government. Lai, 78, is serving a 20-year sentence after the communist regime found him guilty of sedition and conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces. "I brought up Jimmy Lai. I would say the response to that was not positive. He said that he's been, you know, he said it's been sort of his worst nightmare," Trump told "Special Report" in an interview airing Friday. Trump said he spoke with Xi...

When President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet in Beijing later this week, there will be a lot to discuss: war, peace, Iran, Taiwan, trade. Trump has vowed to bring up another issue too: the case of Ezra Jin. A Christian pastor and the leader of the Zion Church, Jin was arrested by Chinese police in October and his family hasn’t been able to speak with him since. Frannie Block has been following the case ever since Jin’s arrest, and has obtained exclusive access to never-before-seen footage of Chinese police arresting Christians, audio recordings of police interrogations, and...

[Catholic Caucus] Faith Betrayed: The Vatican’s Silence on China and the Fate of Jimmy LaiJimmy Lai's conviction underscores the Vatican’s failure to exercise meaningful leadership in defending justice—serving as a stark reminder of the Catholic Church’s compromised role.Jimmy Lai, the Catholic Hong Kong media tycoon and outspoken critic of Beijing, has just been convicted in what many observers are calling a “show trial” under China’s sweeping National Security Law. The trial of the 78-year-old Lai, which was conducted without a jury and overseen by three government‑appointed judges, ended with guilty verdicts on charges of collusion with foreign forces and sedition—offenses...

Jimmy Lai, Catholic imprisoned for crticizing the CCP, heads to trial; Trump promises to "get him out"Almost five years since Communist China charged Jimmy Lai for allegedly breaching its draconian National Security Law (NSL), the show trial of the Hong Kong media mogul, pro-democracy activist, and Catholic convert, is still ongoing. Most recently, President Trump promised to "get him out" of jail. "It'll be easy to get him out," said Trump, "but people don't talk about it."On March 11, Sebastien Lai, Jimmy’s son, urged for his dad’s liberation from the long arms of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to...

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has heaped praise on Keir Starmer’s economic policy, as the UK prime minister used their first meeting to raise concerns about sanctions on MPs and the treatment of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai. During their conversation at the G20 summit in Rio, the first meeting between the UK and China’s leaders in six years, Starmer said he would be keen to host a full bilateral meeting with Xi and the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing or London as soon as possible, aimed at turning the page on frosty UK-China relations. In a marked change of...

"Taped on the wall by my desk," wrote Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn in the summer of 2020, "is a photo of Jimmy Lai in handcuffs. It was taken (Aug. 10, 2020), the day 200 Hong Kong police raided his Apple Daily newspaper and arrested him. It is my most treasured photo of Jimmy, who also happens to be my godson, having been baptized in 1997 just before the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty. The point is that though the handcuffs were intended to humiliate him, every man, woman and child in Hong Kong saw them for...

This is the full post, minus the photos and some formatting. If you don't know who Jimmy Lai is, how the NED is funded through the CIA, and what John Bolton is all about, this article is for you. Here, in this article, we look at the United States involvement with HK. We [1] study how the United States uses Hong Kong to exert pressure on China for trade and geopolitical advantage. We also [2] take a look at the various people “behind the scenes” that are pushing for American involvement, for their own personal gain. Finally, [3] we study...

Hong Kong “elected” a new chief while the world wasn’t paying attention. Hong Kong’s current chief Carrie Lam will retire at the end of June. The selection of her successor has followed the rules Beijing dictated since it took control of Hong Kong in 1997. Beijing stamped out any hope of universal suffrage in Hong Kong in 2004. Rather than letting more than 7 million residents in Hong Kong have a say in whom the city’s chief should be, Beijing created a “nomi­nating committee” (which has more than 1,400 members today), the majority of which are pro-Beijing elites. The committee...

In Western universities and board rooms, souls are cheap. But Jimmy Lai's is not.In Hong Kong right now, Jimmy Lai is sacrificing all — his fortune and possibly his life — for his God, his fellow man, and for freedom.Lai is a billionaire, although he wasn’t always one. Born two years before the Communists defeated the nationalists in China’s civil war, his father fled and his mother was sent to a labor camp when he was a young child. Carrying bags for train passengers and getting by as a street vendor, he first tasted freedom when a man from British...

Some 150 people protesting mask orders and other coronavirus restrictions in Winnipeg, Canada this evening... the case against Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary, Alberta dropped... A "mask off" student walkout at Prairie High School in Vancouver, Washington today over the school order to wear masks... Tonight vaccination in the US reaching new milestones with "partial vaccination" reaching just over 50 percent of the nation's population and the "full vaccinated" moving over the 40 percent... The biggest vaccination lottery yet announced in California... "When the Democrat Party is applauding your actions, especially in a state like Idaho,...

TAIPEI—On May 15, representatives of Taiwan warned that Hong Kong’s decision to freeze assets belonging to jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai was a sign to the international community that doing business in the Chinese-controlled city was becoming increasingly risky.The asset freeze, announced one day earlier on May 14, includes all shares in Lai’s company, Next Digital—the first time a listed firm has been target by Beijing’s national security law in the financial hub.Shortly before the announcement, the Taiwan arm of Lai’s popular Apple Daily said it would stop publishing its print version, blaming declining advertising revenue and more difficult business...

Children two to four years old now subject to the mask order from Michigan's state government... A tightening of COVID controls in Canada's largest province... A Mississippi man is partially paralyzed and unable to talk after receiving the Johnson and Johnson vaccine... Oxford University helped to develop the AstraZeneca vaccine. Now amidst reports of blood clot side effects from the vaccine Oxford University research pointing to the blood clot risks of contracting COVID-19.... The CEO's of Pfizer and Moderna pointing to the future and the need for a third dose of their coronavirus vaccines... In Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel injected...

FOR SALE: The Chair of St. PeterIn this episode of The Editor’s Desk, Michael J. Matt discusses the Vatican’s new “Council for Inclusive Capitalism”, which is the implementation of the Great Reset.First they infiltrated the Church and redefined ‘Catholicism’; now they’re infiltrating Capitalism and redefining it along globalist, communist lines. And Francis is all in!Lynn de Rothschild—who is on the board of the CFR—is partnering with the “Holy Father”, who will use the full weight and moral authority of the Catholic Church to implement the population controlling Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.Meanwhile, Catholic billionaire Jimmy Lai gets arrested...

<p>HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged under the city’s national security law as authorities step up a crackdown on dissent, local media reported.</p><p>Lai, who founded the Apple Daily tabloid, was charged on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces and endangering national security, local broadcaster TVB reported Friday. He is the most high-profile person out of more than two dozen charged under the sweeping law since it was imposed by Beijing in June.</p>

The Supreme Court rejects the Texas election lawsuit but first... The Christmas Coronavirus Crackdown picking up steam with indoor dining banned in New York City... A 10 pm curfew for restaurants and bars in Delaware... Here in Pennsylvania restaurants and gyms in the Harrisburg area vowing to stay open in defiance... In Boise, Idaho Central District Health is set to vote on a Christmas Coronavirus Crackdown... You will still have to wear a muzzle (mask) after you get the coronavirus vaccine. That is what an immunologist at Stanford University is saying... US Attorney General William Barr was aware of federal...

History shows totalitarian regimes fall when brave people rise up. As the future of Hong Kong, time is on the side of Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam.Three prominent leaders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement were sentenced to prison this week for leading a protest last year. Joshua Wong received 13 and a half months; Agnes Chow, 10 months; and Ivan Lam, seven months. Wong has already been in prison a few times as the result of his activism.They are young. Lam is 26. Wong is 24. Chow turned 24 this past Dec. 3, the day after she received...

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...

"My appeal is to be heard in September at some point and I pray that justice is served in the 9th Circuit's decision at that time" That message from Jerry DeLemus one of the men still imprisoned for the 2014 Bunkerville Standoff near Bundy Ranch in Nevada..... Two teenage girls in a shopping center in Australia's Queensland state got a rude awakening to what their nation has become today when they were detained by police in the country's continuing coronavirus crackdown.... Standing up for his rights today Ammon Bundy of People's Rights not wearing a mask or muzzle when confronted...