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Former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa has accused the United States and Taiwan of orchestrating the “well-organised” recent protests against the Hong Kong government. Tung, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, also warned on Wednesday that there could be no compromise with those who challenge Beijing’s sovereignty and damage the city’s stability. He said he remained firmly behind the Hong Kong police and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. He called on Lam’s government to listen to public opinion and solve long-standing problems such as housing, health care, education and pensions. “Some young people have vented their anxiety...

Are Hong Kong's liberties gradually being taken away? THROW a frog into boiling water and it jumps out; gently bring it to the boil, and the frog, never noticing the incremental increases in heat, allows itself to be cooked. Is Hong Kong a frog in a pot in Beijing's kitchen? If so, then on September 24th the temperature rose another notch. On that day, Hong Kong's government formally began—by circulating a consultation paper—the process of enacting a controversial set of laws against subversion, sedition, treason and other ills, as required by Article 23 of the Basic Law, the territory's constitution....

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said he had asked CIA Director William Burns to become a member of his cabinet, elevating one of his closest advisers on national security and foreign policy. . .... He "has made a significant contribution to national security decision-making, especially with regard to Russia and China" Glaser said.

China's Communist Party is intensifying covert influence operations in the United States that include funding Washington think tanks and coercing Chinese Americans, according to a congressional commission report. The influence operations are conducted by the United Front Work Department, a Central Committee organ that employs tens of thousands of operatives who seek to use both overt and covert operations to promote Communist Party policies. The Party's United Front strategy includes paying several Washington think tanks with the goal influencing their actions and adopting positions that support Beijing's policies. "The [Chinese Communist Party] has sought to influence academic discourse on China...

NOTE The following snippet is a quote: losangeles.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel11/la050911.htm Southern California Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Convictions in Smuggling Schemes, Including Plot to Bring Surface-to-Air Missiles Into United States LOS ANGELES—A Southern California man was sentenced this morning to 25 years in federal prison after being convicted on a series of federal charges related to schemes to smuggle many items into the United States, including surface-to-air missiles designed to shoot down aircraft. Yi Qing Chen, 49, of Rosemead, California, received the 300-month sentence from United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer. Last October, following a two-week trial, a...

HONG KONG - The United States expressed concern Friday about Hong Kong's leadership change - a switch some legal experts and companies fear might mark the erosion of a legal system that has made the Chinese territory one of the best places in the world to do business. Washington avoided the blunt language it used before when it accused China of chipping away at the high degree of autonomy Hong Kong was supposed to enjoy after returning to China in 1997. Instead, U.S. Consulate General spokeswoman Susan N. Stevenson conveyed America's worry by citing the importance of the rule of...