Alarm over discovery of hundreds of Chinese fishing vessels near Galápagos Islands - "Ecuador has sounded the alarm after its navy discovered a huge fishing fleet of mostly Chinese-flagged vessels some 200 miles from the Galápagos Islands, the archipelago which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.About 260 ships are currently in international waters just outside a 188-mile wide exclusive economic zone around the island, but their presence has already raised the prospect of serious damage to the delicate marine ecosystem"
Academic journal reviewer says Hong Kong should be written as 'Xianggang' in row over official name - "A journal reviewer has said “Hong Kong” is a foreign name that should be amended to include its Mandarin romanisation “Xianggang,” raising concerns about academic freedom... “One of the reviewers requests me to add Mandarin Pinyin and remove all colonialism-related wordings,” he wrote. “Perhaps he or she is from China? My answer to the requests is NO.”... Cheung told HKFP the translation could not by any means be “Xianggang”: “It is totally unacceptable that they refer to Hong Kong as ‘Xianggang.’ They are testing Hongkongers’ limit, bit by bit, to see at which point there would be backlash.”"
Chinese Credit Fuels Debt Crisis in Africa - Bloomberg - "Zambia started to take out loans from Chinese banks for airports, hospitals, housing projects, and the roads connecting them. Chinese credit has grown to about a third of Zambia’s external debt, which has surged sevenfold over the past decade, forcing the government this year to ask creditors to reschedule loans. Patel, now a real estate investor, is challenging in court the legality of billions in foreign money Zambia has borrowed without what he says was required consent from Parliament. “Nobody other than the government knows the terms,” he says. The government says it didn’t need parliamentary approval. Patel is among a growing number of African activists and policymakers questioning the deluge of Chinese credit—some $150 billion in 2018, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University—that has fueled a debt crisis aggravated by the new coronavirus. Nigerian lawmakers are reviewing Chinese loans they say were unfavorable. Activists in Kenya are demanding the government disclose the terms of Chinese credit used to build a 470-kilometer (292-mile) railway. And Tanzanian President John Magufuli calls an agreement his predecessor made with Chinese investors, to build a $10 billion port and economic zone, a deal “only a madman would sign.”... Governments there were hungry for loans not tied to austerity programs imposed by Western financial institutions, and China was quick to approve credit, with scant concern about the money going to regimes accused of corruption or human-rights violations... China helped foot the bill for Senegal’s Museum of Black Civilizations—which until recently included Chinese art in its exhibits. It’s become the largest financier of infrastructure in Africa... To guarantee a quarter of that debt, African countries have effectively mortgaged future earnings from exports of commodities such as oil, cocoa, and copper... China has lent more than the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Club of Paris, a group of wealthy countries, combined. And many loans aren’t made public, prompting suspicions that Africa’s debt to China is bigger than estimated... The Chinese loans have drawn parallels to the lending boom of the 1970s that led to a crippling debt crisis across the developing world a decade later. “We’ll see a wave of defaults,” says Christoph Trebesch, an author of the Kiel study. “It’s just a question of whether it will be a huge wave or a small wave.” Nondisclosure clauses mean many loans escape public scrutiny, raising fears of money ending up in the pockets of corrupt officials or middlemen... Faced with growing criticism and a slowing economy, China has become more cautious. Its multibillion-dollar “Belt and Road” initiative, aimed at expanding commercial ties around the world, has tightened oversight of projects and it now gauges a country’s capacity to repay before approving credit. Annual loan commitments have fallen from a peak of almost $30 billion in 2016 to $8.9 billion in 2018... It may be easier for African countries to gain debt relief from China than from commercial bondholders"
How China lost central and eastern Europe - "Bulgaria became the most recent country from central and eastern Europe (CEE) to show hostility toward China. In the latest sign of relations souring between the region and the Asian superpower, Bulgaria’s prime minister, Boïko Borissov, claimed that a series of compromising pictures, appearing to show him sleeping with a gun and wads of cash by his bedside, were acquired by his opponents with a drone supplied by the Chinese government. This was the same Borissov who had hosted a China-CEE summit 2018 in Sofia despite persistent EU pressure not to do so. Bulgaria is not the only country in the region to have qualms about China. In the Czech Republic, Prague city council ended its sister-city relationship with Beijing in October 2019 in favour of a partnership with Taipei. The president of the senate then announced plans to visit Taiwan in August in defiance of China.In May, the Lithuanian foreign minister called for Taiwan to be reinstated to the World Health Organization. The same month, CEE officials were among signatories of a protest letter against China’s introduction of national security legislation in Hong Kong. This falling out comes after a decade of cooperation between China and eastern Europe, under the banner of the so-called “17+1” initiative... China has not fulfilled the lavish promises it made to the region for large-scale investments... After years of 17+1 summits, eastern European politicians realised that it was the photo opportunities rather than meaningful discussion that mattered more to their Chinese counterparts. The ornate photo albums from these events were meant to advance careers back home rather than develop initiatives in the CEE region... growing frustration with their marginalisation has led CEE countries to reflect on their political identity. In particular, the wave of recent protests in Hong Kong brought back memories of their own fight against Soviet control. Hongkongers’ use of tactics developed by eastern-European dissidents – such as the Lennon Wall and the Baltic Way – resonated in the region. In July 2019, the Slovak president, Zuzana Čaputová, criticised the visiting Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, for his country’s treatment of activists and human rights advocates. A month later, Chinese diplomats in Lithuania were censured for attacking a gathering of people showing solidarity with Hong Kong’s protesters. China has not taken this criticism well. In Prague, for instance, a group of self-styled “Chinese patriots” defaced the original Lennon Wall with graffiti celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China... CEE countries have grown wary of the political risks associated with their bonhomie with China, amid growing criticism from the EU and US over the past few years."
China continues to exert damaging influence on Hollywood, report finds - "studios and film-makers continue to change “cast, plot, dialogue and settings” in an “effort to avoid antagonising Chinese officials” in films including Iron Man 3, World War Z and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick... LGBT content was removed from Bohemian Rhapsody, Star Trek: Beyond, Alien: Covenant and Cloud Atlas, scenes where Chinese people were killed were taken out of Skyfall and Mission: Impossible III and a major character was changed from Tibetan to Celtic in Doctor Strange, a decision made by the screenwriter to avoid the risk of “alienating one billion people”. In the report, Stanley Rosen, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California, says that the government “will focus on everything that has a China component in it. Don’t think that if you’re doing something that’s not intended for China, that’s an indie film meant for a small market, that China won’t notice and that it won’t hurt your blockbuster film. It will.”The report recommends that “Hollywood studios commit to publicly sharing information on all censorship requests received by government regulators for their films”. In 2019, American films made over $2.6bn in China with Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far from Home and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw making more money there than in the US."
The cost of friendship with China - "In Pew Research’s survey of 34 countries last December, 45% of respondents said they lack confidence in the Chinese leader when it comes to world affairs, with only 29% approving. Few see China’s growing military benefiting their country, with those in Asia “especially doubtful”... Hong Kong’s new national security law was hurriedly passed on June 30 without debate or consultation with the region’s government of chief executive Carrie Lam, business and legal elite. The law was drafted behind closed doors by members of Beijing’s top lawmaking body, the National People’s Congress (NPC), bypassing Hong Kong’s own elected legislative council.Article 38 has captured the most attention: “This Law shall apply to offenses committed against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from outside the Region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region.”According to Donald Clarke (22), a Chinese law expert at George Washington University Law School, the article can be interpreted to empower Beijing “asserting extraterritorial jurisdiction over every person on the planet.” On paper, it means the PRC government has the right to arrest anyone anywhere that it broadly accuses of involvement in acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers against China. In including critics, Beijing has criminalized free speech everywhere, far exceeding the US’ extraterritorial powers that target people suspected of terror activities. Clarke further notes that the establishment of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong is empowered to “send people back to China for processing and sentencing in mainland institutions according to the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law.”Its officers are “untouchable under Hong Kong law” and possibly even under mainland law as well. Vested with “Gestapo-level” powers, Clarke said they may commit murder “in the course of duty” and not be held liable. This new law speaks to Beijing’s desperation to impose its will on the world. How is friendship possible under such circumstances? In a friendly situation, laws are enacted and applied defensively. They are not designed to dominate and stifle the other party."
Hong Kong hedge funds explore exit as national security law looms | Financial Times - "Fund managers and traders in the former British colony are expressing concerns that the industry could find itself in Beijing’s crosshairs, after the Chinese Communist party approved a plan to impose national security laws targeted at what it called “subversion of state power” or “interference” from foreign countries.“Hong Kong as we know it is dead,” said an adviser who works with hedge funds in the city and elsewhere in the region. “It will become just another city in China. The hedge fund community will move on to Singapore and elsewhere,” added the adviser, who like many in the industry requested anonymity in order to speak freely. At stake is Hong Kong’s status as the premier destination in Asia for hedge funds. More than 420 such funds are based in the city, according to data from research firm Eurekahedge — about 80 more than in Singapore, the regional runner-up. Funds in Hong Kong manage assets worth almost $91bn, more than is managed in Singapore, Japan and Australia combined... many fund managers would decamp if the city were to face restrictions on access to information on a par with those in mainland China, such as the free internet. They also pointed to the introduction of capital controls or difficulty getting visas as potential issues... One trader said Beijing’s move had forced him to set a timetable for leaving Hong Kong within a few years, noting that the language used by Beijing suggested short-sellers and activist investors could be among those vulnerable to prosecution... Mainland Chinese regulators are known for targeting foreign entities when markets fall. In January, Citadel Securities agreed to pay almost $100m to Chinese authorities in a settlement over alleged trading rule violations during a stock market rout... “We rely on objective information, objective reporting,” the fund manager said, adding that if Hong Kong’s free press were to be cowed by the new law, “propaganda comes into play in investment decisions”."
Poor silly, misled hedge fund managers!
Exclusive: Global banks scrutinize their Hong Kong clients for pro-democracy ties - "Global wealth managers are examining whether their clients in Hong Kong have ties to the city’s pro-democracy movement, in an attempt to avoid getting caught in the crosshairs of China’s new national security law... One banker at a global wealth manager that holds more than $200 billion in assets said the audit of its clients could go back as far as 2014 in some cases to gauge a client’s political stance since Hong Kong’s 2014 pro-democracy “umbrella” movement."
Britain ready to welcome Hong Kong refugees - "The proposal is that refugees from the Chinese would get full passports.The meeting at Chequers saw unanimous support for the move". It is similar to the campaign to provide full citizenship to Ugandan Asians in the 1970s, when they were persecuted by dictator Idi Amin. One of the families to come over then was that of Home Secretary Priti Patel... "Sensitivity to the issue in Beijing has even seen the regime black-out BBC World broadcasts in mainland China when the new law was discussed."
'This is for my children': Hong Kongers prepare to seize UK offer of a new life - "This isn't how Mrs Lee imagined her middle age in Hong Kong: doing an anonymous interview, using a pseudonym, as she prepares to leave her home."I am a traditional Hong Konger," she tells Sky News. "I believe there ought to be justice."... Mrs Lee is among hundreds, if not thousands, of Hong Kong residents preparing to leave the territory and take up the UK's offer of a path to citizenship there. Last year's protests, and Beijing's imposition of a sweeping national security law this year, have turned Mrs Lee and her family - her children are school age - into unlikely refugees. Before that, she says she had been "a Hong Kong pig" - someone more concerned for their own well-being than politics... "We appreciate that the UK has opened this door to us," she says.After Beijing imposed the national security law in Hong Kong, the British government made an offer to those eligible for a British National (Overseas) Passport - meaning anyone born before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and their dependants. Around three million people are eligible.BNO citizens will be able to stay and work in the UK for five years. After another year, they will be allowed to apply for citizenship.China has reacted angrily, accusing the UK of interfering in its internal affairs, and has threatened to stop recognising BNO passports, although the actual implications of that are not clear. But it's not having much of a deterrent effect on people in Hong Kong.Billy Wong, an immigration consultant, tells Sky News that there has been a "massive" increase in demand.
Communists built a wall in Berlin to stop people leaving, after all
Those who claim the Hong Kong protests are really motivated by bread and butter issues like the cost of housing - and who welcomed the national security law as restoring stability and thus improving normal people's lives - must be puzzled
Hong Kong: China threatens retaliation against UK for offer to Hongkongers - "Senior Chinese officials said the UK had no right to give residency to Hongkongers in response to Beijing forcing a sweeping anti-sedition law on the territory.“China strongly condemns this and reserves the right to take further measures. The British side will bear all the consequences,” the foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian... China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, also said any move to grant residency to BNO holders would be a violation of agreements between the two countries... It was clear that “all Chinese compatriots residing in Hong Kong are Chinese nationals, whether or not they are holders of the British dependent territories citizens passport or the British national (overseas) passport”, he said.“If the British side makes unilateral changes to the relevant practice, it will breach its own position and pledges as well as international law.“We firmly oppose this and reserve the right to take corresponding measures,” he said in a statement posted on the embassy’s website on Thursday. “The UK has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of ‘supervision’ over Hong Kong.” Since the Hong Kong law went into effect late on Tuesday, at least 10 people have been arrested on national security related charges, including a 15-year old girl who waved a Hong Kong independence flag. On Wednesday, a total of almost 400 people were detained on other charges such as unlawful assembly, as thousands protested against the law."
China can violate the Joint Declaration with impunity, but Britain doing something unrelated apparently is an unforgiveable violation
Chinese citizenship is like the Hotel California
