Hong Kong calls UK criticisms 'ridiculous' by AFP Staff Writers Hong Kong (AFP) April 1, 2022 Hong Kong on Friday rejected "unfounded and ridiculous allegations" after the UK government said China's national security law had "devastated" civil society, stifled political opposition and criminalised dissent. The city's government hit out at the wide-ranging claims of internal repression made by the UK in its latest six-monthly report on its former colony, released late Thursday. "The HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government urges foreign countries to stop interfering into the internal affairs of China through Hong Kong affairs," a spokesman said. "We strongly oppose the unfounded and ridiculous allegations against the HKSAR Government made by foreign countries through various reports," he added, after similar criticisms from the US State Department. The UK report covered developments in the territory in the second half of last year. In the foreword, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 breached the terms of Hong Kong's 1997 handover to China. "In less than two years... (it) has seen opposition stifled and dissent criminalised. Alternative voices in Hong Kong's executive, legislature, civil society and media have been all but extinguished," she wrote. "The National Security Law has devastated Hong Kong's civil society, as individuals and groups have been forced to disband or self-censor, fearing arrest and imprisonment." The latest war of words follows five retired British judges announcing they will still sit at Hong Kong's top court, despite two other senior British justices resigning Wednesday from their roles. The five judges, as well as four others from Australia and Canada, will remain on Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal because its work is "more than ever important", they argued. In contrast, the pair of judges who resigned said it was "impossible" for them to keep serving as it risked "legitimising oppression". Unlike the opaque, Communist-controlled legal regime in China's mainland, Hong Kong was allowed to maintain a British-derived common law system, underpinning its appeal as an international business hub. Under its mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, senior judges from common law jurisdictions are invited by the territory to sit as non-permanent members on its top court. Before this week's developments, eight of the current 12 were British, including the two serving members of the UK Supreme Court. Their resignations were welcomed by the UK government, which said the arrangement had become untenable. Beijing was now "assuming almost complete control of Hong Kong's law-making process", Truss said in the six-monthly report. "The judiciary is now being required to enforce Beijing's laws and the values they contain." London has also angered Beijing by offering Hong Kongers with handover-era passports a route to citizenship.
Australian TV anchor has closed China trial on state secrets charges Beijing (AFP) March 31, 2022 The sentencing of Australian journalist Cheng Lei by a Chinese court over accusations of supplying state secrets overseas was deferred on Thursday, with Canberra decrying the trial of a woman detained for 18 months so far as "closed and opaque". Cheng - a mother-of-two and a former anchor on Beijing's state broadcaster CGTN - has been detained since August 2020. In February last year she was formally arrested for "illegally supplying state secrets overseas". But Chinese authorities have given ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |