US warns Europe over China's aid to Russia, Philippines' Marcos warns China, and Arab leaders visit Beijing
US warns Europe over China's aid to Russia, Philippines' Marcos warns China, and Arab leaders visit Beijing
+ 35th anniversary of China's 1989 crackdown
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THROUGH THE LENS
XINJIANG
In Xinjiang, China's security chief calls for normalization of counterterrorism steps
RFA
In a visit to the far-western region of Xinjiang, China’s security chief Chen Wenqing called for the normalization of counterterrorism policies, which experts said could signal renewed efforts to suppress the more than 11 million Uyghurs who live there.
During his May 22-26 visit, Chen — a former head of China's Ministry of State Security espionage agency — stressed the need for persistent law-based crackdowns on violent and terrorist crimes and called for political and legal bodies to make social stability a top priority, according to Chinese media reports.
On May 27, the day after his visit ended, China’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement that the country had not had a terrorist attack in more than seven years.
[…]
The Washington-based advocacy group Campaign for Uyghurs said Chen’s call to further normalize counterterrorism efforts suggested continued and possibly increased surveillance, restrictions and arbitrary detentions of Uyghurs.
“Chen Wenqing’s statement is a blatant admission that the Chinese Communist Party intends to perpetuate a permanent campaign of genocide against the Uyghurs,” said Rushan Abbas, the group’s executive director in a statement.
“Instead of addressing international scrutiny, they are doubling down on their efforts,” she said. “The international community must see through the CCP’s propaganda and euphemisms, which justify their horrific crimes as ‘counterterrorism measures.’”
POLITICS & SOCIETY
China’s outspoken foreign ministry press department chief Hua Chunying promoted to vice-minister
SCMP
Outspoken diplomat Hua Chunying, who has been heading the Chinese foreign ministry’s press department, has been promoted to vice-minister, Beijing announced on Monday.
After her promotion Hua, 54, who has been a foreign ministry spokeswoman since 2012, is the youngest of the five foreign vice-ministers and the only woman among them.
[…]
Hua is seen to embody China’s Wolf Warrior diplomacy, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic when she called on the US to open up its lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland, for investigation in response to accusations from the Trump administration that a lab in Wuhan was the origin of the virus.
Hua joined X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2020 as part of Beijing’s wider push to promote its own narrative, and has around 2.5 million followers on the platform.
On X, she often blasts Western officials over their accusations and criticism against China. In 2020, she exchanged a series of tweets with then-US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, rebuking the American’s criticism that China’s Covid-19 policies lacked transparency.
Efforts to modernize nation's public security work encouraged
China Daily
President Xi Jinping has called on the police force to forge ahead with the modernization of China's public security work and contribute to the building of a strong socialist nation and national rejuvenation.
Goldfish Memories
China Media Project
In a fitting illustration last week of the Chinese leadership’s unrelenting efforts to manipulate collective memory, an online essay with a shocking revelation about the wholesale disappearance of Chinese internet content spanning the 2000s was deleted by content monitors. But the post, quickly archived and shared, reverberated in platforms beyond PRC-managed cyberspace.
Written by He Jiayan (何加盐), an internet influencer active since 2018, the essay concluded, based on a wide range of searches of various entertainment and cultural figures from the late 1990s through the mid-2000s, that nearly 100 percent of content from major internet portals and private websites from the first decade of China’s internet has now been obliterated. “No one has recognized a serious problem,” wrote He. “The Chinese-language internet is rapidly collapsing, and Chinese-language internet content predating the emergence of the mobile internet has almost entirely disappeared.”
Trump’s conviction: The former US president is trending on Chinese social media, and many are rejoicing
CNN
As a rising authoritarian superpower, China has long sought to project its political system as superior to American democracy.
But while Trump’s trial has been a boon for that narrative, it’s also offered a potential window into something unimaginable and dangerous to the ruling Chinese Communist Party — an elected leader held accountable by independent courts and prosecutors, convicted by a jury of his peers.
Parents vs. Privacy: Students Debate Universities Sharing Transcripts
Sixth Tone
It’s generally thought in China that, after the intensity of high school, students look forward to relaxing once they get to university. As a result, some end up failing, and in recent years several universities have reported an increasing number of undergraduates who had to transfer to vocational programs after flunking too many classes.
In 2018, Wu Yan, then director of the higher education department at the Ministry of Education, said: “We should not have ‘insane’ high schools, nor can we have ‘happy’ universities. In universities today, some students are living in dream-like confusion — this is unacceptable. It’s inevitable that the expulsion rate of undergraduates will be moderately increased.”
China’s volunteer programmers work in the shadows to set the internet free
Al Jazeera
Chinese programmer Chen earns his living working remotely for a Western tech company.
But in his free time, he answers to a higher calling: helping his fellow citizens jump the Great Firewall that blocks them from freely accessing China’s internet.
Chen is a volunteer “maintainer” who helps run V2Ray, one of a number of open-source virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxy servers that are gaining in popularity amid China’s crackdown on commercial VPNs, which are illegal to use without government authorisation.
[…]
China ranked as the most repressive internet environment out of 70 countries assessed by the nonprofit, closely followed by Myanmar, Iran and Cuba.
Tiananmen pro-democracy advocates still fighting regime, 35 years on
Yahoo News
"The gunshots were loud," Wu'er Kaixi said, recalling the night of June 3 to 4, 1989, when soldiers arrived. The violent crackdown brought a bloody end to weeks of peaceful protest led by students calling for political and economic reform.
"We want dialogue. We want to have a say. We want to be heard," he said. The protestors demanded that the democratic student movement be recognized and that political elections be held.
Looking at today's China, under head of state and party leader Xi Jinping, these demands still seem like an impossible dream.
But the problem is not the Xi, but the system itself, says 68-year-old Wu Renhua, who was also one of the demonstrators at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Statement From the Tiananmen Mothers on the 35th Anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre
Human Rights in China has translated the following statement by the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of survivors and families of the victims of the Tiananmen Massacre, in honor and remembrance on the 35th Anniversary.
HONG KONG & MACAO
How a primary election led to activist convictions in Hong Kong's biggest national security case
AP
Verdicts were handed down Thursday in Hong Kong’s largest national security case to date, involving some of the city’s best-known pro-democracy activists and coming more than three years after the defendants’ arrests.
In 2021, 47 pro-democracy activists were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under the sweeping, Beijing-imposed national security law for their involvement in an unofficial primary election. The mass prosecution crushed the city’s once-thriving political activism and dimmed hopes of a more democratic Hong Kong.
Fourteen of the 47 defendants were convicted Thursday and two others were acquitted. The convicted face up to life in prison.
Hong Kong 47: Who are the democracy activists facing jail?
BBC
From a 68-year-old former opposition lawmaker to a 27-year-old student activist, fourteen pro-democracy campaigners have been convicted for subversion by a Hong Kong court in the city's largest national security case.
They are among 47 protesters and activists - better known as the Hong Kong 47 - who were charged three years ago in what was seen as the biggest crackdown under the National Security Law (NSL) imposed by China.
Officials had accused the 47 - eight women and 39 men - of trying to “overthrow” the government by running unofficial primaries to pick opposition candidates for local elections.
After EU, US criticism of new HK security law, China says 'stop interfering'
HKFP
China on Thursday told international critics of Hong Kong’s security law to “stop interfering” following condemnation of the arrests of seven people for posting “seditious” online messages.
The seven were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday for “offences in connection with seditious intention” in relation to social media posts commemorating Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
They were the first people to be arrested under the “Safeguarding National Security Ordinance” — enacted by Hong Kong in March and commonly referred to as Article 23 — which penalises sedition with up to seven years in prison.
The European Union had said the arrests suggest that the new legislation “is used to stifle freedom of expression”.
Hong Kong SAR: Türk deplores use of national security laws
OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday voiced his concern at the recent application of national security laws in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
[…]
“My Office and other UN human rights experts have raised repeated concerns that this legislation does not comply with China’s obligations under international human rights law and, in particular, those with respect to Hong Kong under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” said Türk.
“As the UN Human Rights Committee has stated, this legislation should be repealed and, in the meantime, not applied,” he added.
Business-First Hong Kong Now Comes With a Catch: Beijing Politics
The New York Times
Doing business in Hong Kong increasingly comes with a new risk: the political cost of upsetting Beijing.
Chinese clients recently dropped one big Chicago law firm after it recused itself from a politically sensitive case. A former Wall Street banker was muzzled for writing a “Hong Kong is dead” column. And Google was effectively cornered into enforcing a ban on a popular protest anthem.
In all areas of life, Hong Kong is hewing closer to mainland China, blurring distinctions that once cemented the city’s status as mostly free from the politics of Beijing. Legal rulings echo the courts in mainland China. City regulations follow edicts in Beijing. Even government banners recall Chinese Communist Party slogans.
The city’s transformation is being driven by a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 and additional legislation passed by Hong Kong lawmakers in March. Both have dealt a blow to the partial autonomy promised by China when it took possession of the city from Britain nearly three decades ago.
China dismisses activists' calls for US Congress to close Hong Kong offices
VOA
Activists who attended the discussion May 23 hosted by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party urged the passing of the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office Certification Act.
The bill has been approved by the Foreign Affairs Committees of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but it is unclear when it will be voted on.
If voted into law, it would require the U.S. executive branch to certify whether the three Hong Kong offices are worthy of extending the diplomatic privileges, exceptions and immunities they currently enjoy within 30 days.
If the White House removes the diplomatic rights, the offices would be forced to cease operations within 180 days. If the government allows them to continue to function, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade offices’ rights would be extended for one year or until the next time an assessment is conducted.
Protest song Glory to Hong Kong reuploaded to Apple Music, Spotify
HKFP
Protest song Glory to Hong Kong has been reuploaded to Apple Music and Spotify, just days after the distributor pulled versions of the tune off streaming platforms following a Hong Kong court injunction.
Hong Kong’s top Catholic priest urges ‘forgiveness’ for harm caused in Tiananmen Square crackdown ahead of anniversary
SCMP
Hong Kong’s top Catholic priest has called on residents to “proactively forgive” those who inflicted wounds during the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and move on from “the dark space of unending sadness and resentments” caused by the event for the sake of “reconciliation and healing”.
Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, in an article published on Friday in Catholic newspaper the Sunday Examiner, also reminded readers that “to forgive is not to forget”, though he did not explicitly mention the June 4 incident.
Titled “It’s that time of year …”, Chow’s piece came on the back of the first arrests made by Hong Kong police under the domestic national security law earlier this week.
How the world remembers Tiananmen, 35 years on
The Hong Konger
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Chinese army’s tragic termination of student-led protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on 4 June 1989.
[…]
Outside Hong Kong, people who want to remember the victims can take part in Tiananmen-themed events. The Hong Konger has compiled a list of commemorative documentary screenings, exhibitions, rallies and talks planned in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Taiwan and the United States.
TAIWAN
Taiwan passes controversial reform bill after violence and protests
The Guardian
Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has passed a controversial reform bill after days of hostile debate and physical fights between MPs inside, and mass protests by citizens outside.
The bills passed 58 votes to 45, Bloomberg reported, after a third reading on Tuesday evening in Taipei during which there were further scuffles and members of the ruling party throwing paper planes and hurling garbage bags at the opposition.
[…]
Proponents say legislative reform is needed in Taiwan for greater accountability and argue that these bills are not dissimilar to some which the ruling DPP attempted to introduce when they had a legislative majority.
However, critics have said the bills go further than the DPP’s attempts, and are also ill-defined, with many citing a newly introduced criminal offence of “contempt of congress”. They have said the proposed law can easily be abused to attack political opponents and disrupt the functioning of Lai’s administration.
Taiwan reports renewed Chinese military activity less than week after war games end
Reuters
Taiwan reported renewed Chinese military activity nearby on Wednesday, saying China's warships and warplanes were carrying out "joint combat readiness patrols", less than a week after Beijing ended two days of war games.
[…]
Taiwan's defence ministry said that from 3:20pm (0720 GMT) on Wednesday it had detected 28 Chinese military aircraft, including Su-30 fighters, operating around Taiwan and carrying out "joint combat readiness patrols" in conjunction with warships.
Eighteen of the Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line or areas nearby, and flew into airspace to the north, centre and southwest of Taiwan, the ministry said.
Speaking to reporters at parliament earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said the aim of China's drills last week was not to go to war.
"The purpose of the military exercises was to intimidate," he said.
The drills were meant to show an external and domestic audience that Beijing "has absolute control over the situation in the Taiwan Strait", Tsai added.
US, China lock horns on Taiwan, Marcos slams Beijing at Asia defence summit
Reuters
The U.S. and Chinese defence chiefs locked horns on Taiwan in their first face-to-face meeting in two years on Friday, while Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr slammed "illegal, coercive actions" in the South China Sea, a clear censure of Beijing.
[…]
Austin expressed concern about Chinese military activity near Taiwan, including after the island's presidential election and the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te this month, U.S. Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
"The secretary expressed concern about recent provocative PLA activity around the Taiwan Strait, and he reiterated that the PRC should not use Taiwan's political transition - part of a normal, routine democratic process - as a pretext for coercive measures," Ryder said after the 75-minute meeting.
[…]
Dong warned Austin that the U.S. should not interfere in China's affairs with Taiwan, defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian told reporters. China claims the democratically governed island as its own territory.
The U.S. approach to Taiwan violates commitments made by the United States and sends the wrong signal to "separatist forces" in Taiwan, the spokesperson quoted Dong as saying. Beijing calls the new president, Lai, a "separatist".
A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting marked an "important step" in opening lines of communication.
The official said Austin was "firm but professional" and also brought up China's nuclear, space and cyber developments.
WORLD
US warns Europe to get serious about China’s aid to Russia
Politico
The U.S. is stepping up diplomatic efforts to convince Europe about the scale of China's role in aiding Russia's war against Ukraine.
And according to the second most senior figure in the U.S. State Department, Europe is now hardening its stance on Beijing.
Kurt Campbell — the deputy secretary of state who until recently served as U.S. President Joe Biden's "Indo-Pacific czar" — this week hand-delivered that warning to European diplomats in NATO with "as much detail and specifics as possible." His visit came ahead of a big NATO leaders' summit in Washington in July at which the alliance is expected to send a serious message to Beijing.
[…]
"I do want to underscore that what we've seen from China to Russia is not a one-off or a couple of rogue firms involved in supporting Russia.
"This is a sustained, comprehensive effort that is backed up by the leadership in China that is designed to give Russia every support behind the scenes that will allow them to reconstitute elements of their military force, their long-range missiles, their UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones], some of their capacities to track movements on the battlefield, long-range artillery and the like," Campbell said. "This is an effort that has been designed to be largely out of view."
US officials meet China’s vice-foreign minister after sanctions warning
The Straits Times
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer met China’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu in Washington on May 30, a day after Washington accused Beijing’s leadership of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine and warning that China could face further Western sanctions.
State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told a news briefing the meeting was part of intensive diplomacy in the past year to responsibly manage competition in the US-China relationship and the US expected more such senior-level engagement. Mr Patel said the US, its Group of Seven partners, and other EU and Nato countries shared the view that China’s support for Russia “not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security”.
US Treasury No. 2 warns China over support for Russia
The Straits Times
Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Friday that Washington and the European Union must deliver a message to China that its firms face a choice between doing business with U.S. and EU economies or equipping Russia with dual-use goods.
It had to be made clear that "Chinese firms can either do business in our economies or they can equip Russia's war machinery with dual-use goods. They can't continue to do both," he said in a speech on a visit to Berlin.
Adeyemo said every country in the coalition that imposed sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and every country in NATO must communicate to Beijing that it is unacceptable for China to abet Russia's military-industrial base.
"Let's make clear to Chinese companies that we are all prepared to use our sanctions and export controls to hold them accountable," he said.
Exclusive: China says it won't join Swiss peace conference on Ukraine
Reuters
China will not attend a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland next month because it does not meet its expectations, which include both Russia and Ukraine taking part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday, confirming an exclusive Reuters report.
Switzerland is seeking a broad-based turnout from different parts of the world for the summit in mid-June, which Bern hopes will lay the groundwork for a peace process in Ukraine.
[…]
China briefed some diplomats this week that it had declined the invitation, saying that its conditions had not been met, four sources told Reuters earlier.
These included that the conference should be recognised by both Russia and Ukraine, there should be equal participation by all parties, and there should be fair discussion of all proposals, one of the sources said.
"We are very sorry that the Chinese side does not use the opportunity to present its position on the platform of the Summit in Switzerland," a spokesperson for the Ukrainian embassy in Beijing said in a statement to Reuters.
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