Selasa, 06 Agustus 2019
China warns Hong Kong protesters not to 'play with fire' - BBC News - BBC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQfj1Sr1e_8
2019-08-06 09:52:57Z
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China Warns Hong Kong Protesters Not to ‘Take Restraint for Weakness’ - The New York Times
HONG KONG — An official in Beijing on Tuesday issued China’s sternest denunciation yet of the demonstrations in Hong Kong, saying they had “exceeded the scope of free assembly” and warning that the semiautonomous city would not be allowed to descend into chaos.
“I want to warn all the criminals to not wrongly judge the situation and take restraint for weakness,” said Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. He warned against underestimating China’s “firm resolve and strength to safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.”
But Mr. Yang offered little in the way of concrete measures to resolve the political crisis, calling for more patriotic education and encouraging residents to confront protesters. “We need to stand up to protect our wonderful homeland,” he said.
The comments came a day after protesters in Hong Kong carried out their most widespread civil disobedience in weeks of demonstrations, blocking trains and roads and urging workers to strike. Air travel was also snarled, with more than 200 flights canceled after 2,300 civil aviation workers stayed home, according to an estimate by union officials.
Mr. Yang denounced the tactics of protesters who have surrounded police stations, throwing bricks and lighting fires, as “extreme violence that is shocking to see.”
He said, “The central government will never allow any violent attempt to push Hong Kong into a dangerous situation.”
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Protesters gathered at more than a half dozen sites across Hong Kong on Monday, and the police arrested 148 people and fired 800 canisters of tear gas. The tear gas used on Monday alone came close to the 1,000 rounds that the police had used over the previous eight weeks.
Joshua Wong, a leader of the 2014 Umbrella movement and a prominent pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong, said Mr. Yang’s comments were an attempt to scare the people of the city into silence.
“Beijing does not rule Hong Kong by law, they just rule by tear gas,” he said.
The protests this summer began over a proposal that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The government suspended that legislation in mid-June, but the protests have continued, demanding that the government fully withdraw the bill. The protesters are also angry about other issues, including allegations of police brutality and the stalled expansion of direct elections in Hong Kong.
Protesters who have clashed with the police have argued that more confrontational methods became necessary after the government rejected demands made in earlier, peaceful marches, one of which was joined by as many as two million people.
Mr. Yang also warned protesters to not challenge China’s sovereignty, denouncing those who defaced the Chinese government’s representative office in Hong Kong last month and threw Chinese flags into Victoria Harbor in recent days. He criticized protesters’ use of a slogan from an imprisoned activist who once advocated Hong Kong’s independence: “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times.”
Last week, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office expressed its support for Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong chief executive, and the police, but they offered little new to resolve the political crisis. It was rare for the office to hold a news conference, and even rarer for it to hold another just a week later, an indication of the Chinese leadership’s struggle to respond to the increasingly fraught conflict in Hong Kong.
Mr. Yang reiterated on Tuesday that China backed Mrs. Lam and the police, and he said there should be no leniency in prosecuting violent crimes.
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“These rioters are extremely rampant and deranged,” he said. “A blow from the sword of law is waiting for them in the future.”
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to China in 1997, and it operates under a model called “one country, two systems,” which allows the city to maintain its own political and legal systems and gives residents a far greater degree of civil liberties than is seen in mainland China.
The central government is responsible for Hong Kong’s national defense and foreign relations. But many in Hong Kong fear Beijing is wielding greater influence over the city, slowly eroding its freedoms.
A spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense hinted last month that the People’s Liberation Army could be called on to maintain order in Hong Kong. The military has a garrison of 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers in Hong Kong, but local officials have repeatedly denied rumors that they have been preparing to help quell demonstrations.
Last week, the Hong Kong garrison released a video showing its troops training to confront protesters. And images have been released of large groups of mainland police officers holding drills in preparation for the Oct. 1 celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Those images have also fueled unsubstantiated rumors about the possible intervention of Chinese forces.
Asked if he could rule out an intervention by the Chinese military, Mr. Yang said China would “never allow a challenge to the principle of ‘one country, two systems’ to go unpunished and will never allow any turbulence that will threaten national unity.”
Mrs. Lam warned on Monday of a crisis of “security and safety” and said “a series of extremely violent acts” was “pushing Hong Kong into very precarious circumstances.”
A group of protesters met with reporters on Tuesday to challenge the government’s portrayal of them, accusing Mrs. Lam and other top officials of dodging responsibility for the crisis.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/world/asia/hong-kong-china-protests.html
2019-08-06 08:01:39Z
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China Warns Hong Kong Protesters Not to ‘Take Restraint for Weakness’ - The New York Times
HONG KONG — An official in Beijing on Tuesday issued China’s sternest denunciation yet of the demonstrations in Hong Kong, saying they had “exceeded the scope of free assembly” and warning that the semiautonomous city would not be allowed to descend into chaos.
“I want to warn all the criminals to not wrongly judge the situation and take restraint for weakness,” said Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. He warned against underestimating China’s “firm resolve and strength to safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.”
But Mr. Yang offered little in the way of concrete measures to resolve the political crisis, calling for more patriotic education and encouraging residents to confront protesters. “We need to stand up to protect our wonderful homeland,” he said.
The comments came a day after protesters in Hong Kong carried out their most widespread civil disobedience in weeks of demonstrations, blocking trains and roads and urging workers to strike. Air travel was also snarled, with more than 200 flights canceled after 2,300 civil aviation workers stayed home, according to an estimate by union officials.
Image
Mr. Yang denounced the tactics of protesters who have surrounded police stations, throwing bricks and lighting fires, as “extreme violence that is shocking to see.”
He said, “The central government will never allow any violent attempt to push Hong Kong into a dangerous situation.”
Protesters gathered at more than a half dozen sites across Hong Kong on Monday, and the police fired tear gas and arrested more than 80 people. Since early June, the police have fired more than 1,000 rounds of tear gas, more than 10 times the amount used during a 2014 protest movement that shut down major streets for weeks.
The protests this summer began over a proposal that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The government suspended that legislation in mid-June, but the protests have continued, demanding that the government fully withdraw the bill. The protesters are also angry about other issues, including allegations of police brutality and the stalled expansion of direct elections in Hong Kong.
Protesters who have clashed with the police have argued that more confrontational methods became necessary after the government rejected demands made in earlier, peaceful marches, one of which was joined by as many as two million people.
Image
Last week, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office expressed its support for the Hong Kong government and the police, but they offered little new to resolve the political crisis. It was rare for the office to hold a news conference, and even rarer for it to hold another just a week later, an indication of the Chinese leadership’s struggle to respond to the increasingly fraught conflict in Hong Kong.
A spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense hinted last month that the People’s Liberation Army could be called on to maintain order in Hong Kong. The military has a garrison of 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers in Hong Kong, but local officials have repeatedly denied rumors that they have been preparing to help quell demonstrations.
Last week, the Hong Kong garrison released a video showing its troops training to confront protesters. And images have been released of large groups of mainland police officers holding drills in preparation for the Oct. 1 celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Those images have also fueled unsubstantiated rumors about the possible intervention of Chinese forces.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, warned on Monday of a crisis of “security and safety” and said “a series of extremely violent acts” was “pushing Hong Kong into very precarious circumstances.””
A group of protesters met with reporters on Tuesday to challenge the government’s portrayal of them, accusing Mrs. Lam and other top officials of dodging responsibility for the crisis.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/world/asia/hong-kong-china-protests.html
2019-08-06 07:38:02Z
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China calls on U.S. politicians to stop colluding with Hong Kong... - Reuters
Yang Guang (C) and Xu Luying (R) of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council attends a news conference on the current situation in Hong Kong, in Beijing, China, August 6, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee
BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese foreign ministry’s commissioner in Hong Kong said on Tuesday the city belongs to China and that it will firmly respond to any action that harms China’s sovereignty.
The foreign ministry’s commissioner, responding to comments by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said U.S. politicians should immediately stop colluding with separatists in the city.
Hong Kong has been hit by weeks of sometimes violent protests that began with opposition to a now-suspended extradition law that would have allowed suspects to be tried in mainland courts. The protests have grown into a broader backlash against the city’s government and its political masters in Beijing.
Reporting by Huizhong Wu; Editing by Paul Tait
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-china-statement/china-calls-on-u-s-politicians-to-stop-colluding-with-hong-kong-separatists-idUSKCN1UW0JX?il=0
2019-08-06 06:47:00Z
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Senin, 05 Agustus 2019
City-wide strikes bring Hong Kong to a standstill - CNN
More than 2,330 aviation workers joined the strike, according to the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, leading to the cancellation of more than 100 flights to and from one of the world's busiest airports. Unusually long queues were seen in the airport check-in hall throughout the day.
An internal memo circulated Monday by Hong Kong's flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific, said that the city's air space and runway capacity had been reduced by 50% for all airlines.
Experts said Monday's strikes were the biggest to have rocked the city in decades.
Direct action protests also took place in seven districts spanning the semi-autonomous Chinese territory: Admiralty, Sha Tin, Tuen Mun, Tseun Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Mong Kok and Tai Po. Organizers also called for a general strike at Disneyland, on Hong Kong's Lantau Island, where the airport is also located.
Strikers included teachers, lifeguards at beaches, security workers, construction workers -- and almost 14,000 people from the engineering sector.
Monday's strike followed the ninth consecutive weekend of protests in Hong Kong amid a worsening political crisis. The protests began in early June in opposition to a controversial -- and now-shelved -- bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China.
But they have since evolved to include calls for greater democracy, an inquiry into alleged police brutality and the resignation of the city's leader, Carrie Lam, among other demands.
Biggest strike of its kind in decades
The general strikes across Hong Kong on Monday are believed to be the first of their kind since 1967, when a Chinese Communist Party-allied union instigated widespread labor protests.
At the time, Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom and Mao Zedong was the leader of mainland China. As the protesters turned their focus from labor rights to the British colonial administration, work stoppages brought the territory to a standstill.
The strikes were followed by deadly terror attacks in which 51 people died.
Antony Dapiran, a lawyer and Hong Kong historian, said Monday's strikes are likely the biggest in the city since those in 1967. "I've never seen anything like it," he said.
"We've had rallies in Hong Kong before, we've had protests, but we've never had anything where multiple sites around the city have all simultaneously have been the focus of protests," said Dapiran, the author of "City of Protest: A Recent History of Dissent in Hong Kong."
John Carroll, a historian at Hong Kong University, agreed that Monday's strikes were unprecedented in scale and organization in the city's modern history. He said that the best parallel with Monday's action was probably the 1925 general labor strike, which lasted for months. The 1967 strike was different to Monday's unrest, he said, because many workers were living in fear of going to work due to terrorist bombings across Hong Kong.
"I have no idea where it goes," Carroll said of Monday's action. "But it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel here."
Fresh clashes after morning of transport woes
Monday's strikes followed a morning of transport chaos as demonstrators disrupted major transit routes across the city in the fifth day of protests in a row.
Major subway lines were suspended or delayed during rush hour as protesters blocked trains from leaving stations. An average of 4.84 million passengers ride the subway every day, according to the Hong Kong Transport Department -- more than half of the city's population.
Protesters also blocked roads and highways, including the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, a vital traffic artery connecting Hong Kong island with Kowloon.
As the afternoon wore on, clashes between protesters and police broke out across the city and police fired tear gas in five districts.
In Tin Shui Wai, police fired tear gas after facing off with demonstrators who were surrounding the police station and hurling stones at officers. Tin Shui Wai is close to the Hong Kong-China border, in the north of the city, and neighbors the suburb of Yuen Long, where an armed mob attacked civilians in a subway station last month, leaving at least 45 injured.
In Admiralty, the heart of the city's financial district close to the government headquarters, tear gas was fired on protesters from above. Thousands of demonstrators dressed in black, the color of the protest movement, began blocking roads with traffic cones and street barriers on Harcourt Road. Pushing back at officers, protesters threw empty tear gas canisters at the police lines.
A large group of protestors also gathered in Wong Tai Sin, which was the scene of clashes Saturday night when protesters threw water bottles and rocks at officers outside the police station there. Police responded by firing tear gas.
Tear gas was also fired in Tai Po, in the north of the city, and Tsim Sha Tsui, a major shopping district in Kowloon.
1,000 rounds of tear gas, 160 rubber bullets, 420 arrests
In recent weeks the protests have become increasingly violent and unpredictable.
Protesters swarmed the streets of retail hotspot Causeway Bay, on Hong Kong Island, Sunday night, blocking key roads. Police fired a barrage of tear gas in a bid to disperse the crowds. Earlier, in a separate demonstration in the eastern New Territories, a group of protesters gathered around a police station, throwing objects and breaking windows.
On Saturday, marches began in Mong Kok, one of the world's most densely populated areas, and made their way to Tsim Sha Tsui, which wasn't on the protest route approved by authorities -- turning the march into an illegal assembly.
The government on Sunday night condemned the unrest, saying in a statement that "blatant violation of law, wanton destruction of public peace and violent attacks on the police will harm Hong Kong's society, economy and our people's livelihood."
In a press conference Monday, police accused protesters of using "guerrilla tactics" to disrupt public order and said they had arrested 420 people since the unrest began on June 9.
Charges have included rioting, unlawful assembly -- protesters have often veered off police-approved routes -- and attacking officers. Since the start of the protests, police have used 160 rubber bullets, 150 sponge bullets and fired 1,000 rounds of tear gas, a police spokesperson said.
Also on Monday, Hong Kong's leader gave her first press conference in two weeks, calling for an end to the violence that has rocked the city.
Lam acknowledged that her attempt to push through the now-suspended extradition bill had been a "failure." She pledged to "engage more, listen more and do more to meet the wishes of Hong Kong."
But in a move that is likely to further anger protesters, Lam refused to resign and said it wasn't within her power to release those who have been arrested during demonstrations -- another demand of the protesters.
Meanwhile, Financial Secretary Paul Chan warned that the risk of recession is rising in Hong Kong -- citing the protests and the global economic slowdown.
"The demonstrations in the past two months, and some activities that are brewing, will affect people's life and the foundation of Hong Kong's success and hurt the economy. The victims will be the public. Please think it over," he wrote.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/asia/hong-kong-strike-august-5-intl-hnk/index.html
2019-08-05 14:12:00Z
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Kashmir special status explained: What is Article 370? - Al Jazeera English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c95EgpIjCPs
2019-08-05 13:50:01Z
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Iran's Foreign Minister says he was sanctioned after rejecting a White House invite - CNN
Speaking at a press conference on Monday in Tehran, Zarif said that during his visit to the United Nations last month he met with several US senators and congressmen. Zarif said that he was warned that if he had accepted the invitation to the White House, he could have avoided the sanctions against him.
The minister said that he would not name the senators or congressmen he met with nor would he detail the contents of their conversations due to his role as a diplomat.
"On my trip to New York, I was told that I would be sanctioned within two weeks unless I accepted the offer, which I fortunately did not accept," he said.
Iranian government spokesperson Ali Rabiei said on Sunday that an invitation was brokered by Senator Rand Paul, who Trump had authorized to act as an intermediary between the two countries, reported Iran's state media Press TV. CNN has reached out to the White House and Paul's office for comment.
On July 19, Trump told reporters: "Rand asked me if he could get involved. I said yes."
The US sanctioned the outspoken Iranian foreign minister on Wednesday, following through on a weeks-old threat likely to elevate already heightened tensions with Iran.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf have escalated sharply in recent months, with Tehran seizing three tankers, the UK detaining an Iranian vessel off Gibraltar, and mysterious attacks on other oil tankers.
The US has also been building up its military presence in the Gulf, sending a carrier strike group, bomber and at least 1,000 additional troops to the region as it tries to organize an international military force to patrol the waterway. In July, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the US was justified in considering military action against Tehran.
In a statement last Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Zarif "implements the reckless agenda of Iran's Supreme Leader, and is the regime's primary spokesperson around the world."
"The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behavior is completely unacceptable," Mnuchin said.
Addressing the sanctions on Monday, Zarif said that "boycotting a country's foreign minister means that your negotiations fell short," and that the approach the US takes each day leads only to a failure in dialogue.
"The United States has not won any war in modern times and that is why they were forced to use sanctions and boycotts against Iranian institutions and organizations," he added.
On Sunday, government spokesperson Rabiei stressed Zarif's position as chief of foreign policy, diplomacy and security diplomacy, saying that "all diplomatic pathways must go through him," Press TV reported.
"Is it anything but risible for a government to constantly claim to be open to negotiation and then place sanctions on the Foreign Minister of the very country that it invites to talks?" Rabiei said, according to Press TV.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/politics/iran-zarif-trump-white-house-invitation-intl/index.html
2019-08-05 12:52:00Z
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