Ambassador Qin Gang’s speech came on the same day when Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone conversation on November 13.
The talk between the two was a preparation from both sides for a virtual meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, which is scheduled on November 16.
In the phone call, Wang stressed the importance of “working in the same direction” and told the U.S. not to send wrong signals to the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces.”
Qin said, “We will strive for peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and greatest efforts. We will redouble our efforts to promote the integrated development of the Taiwan Straits, but we make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means.”
In ‘technology of tomorrow’, Asia is clearly dominating. China, Japan and Korea. India, not even on the horizon. (Update: Recently, China has become #1 in Quantum Computing as well; US has fallen behind)
TIANJIN, July 26 2021 (Xinhua) — China puts forward two lists during talks with visiting U.S. deputy secretary of state
China has put forward two lists to the United States during the talks in Tianjin, one of which is the List of U.S. Wrongdoings that Must Stop and the other is the List of Key Individual Cases that China Has Concerns with, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said here Monday.
Xie made the remarks at a press briefing after talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who is on a visit to north China’s port city of Tianjin from July 25 to 26.
In the List of U.S. Wrongdoings that Must Stop, China urged the United States to unconditionally revoke the visa restrictions over Communist Party of China (CPC) members and their families, revoke sanctions on Chinese leaders, officials and government agencies, and remove visa restrictions on Chinese students.
China also urged the United States to stop suppressing Chinese enterprises, stop harassing Chinese students, stop suppressing the Confucius Institutes, revoke the registration of Chinese media outlets as “foreign agents” or “foreign missions”, and revoke the extradition request for Meng Wanzhou.
In another list, China expressed serious concerns to the United States on some key individual cases, including some Chinese students’ visa applications being rejected, Chinese citizens receiving unfair treatment in the United States, Chinese diplomatic and consular missions being harassed and rammed into by perpetrators in the United States, growing anti-Asian and anti-China sentiment, and Chinese citizens suffering violent attacks.
China urged the United States to address those cases as soon as possible and earnestly respect and protect the legitimate interests of Chinese citizens and institutions in the United States.
NED regime change activities in Thailand. Thailand is friendly to China and key to Belt and Road, that makes Thailand enemy of US to face destruction by all means at full force.
Strengthen HK national security law as people wish: Global Times editorial – Global Times Jul 16 2021
A symposium marking the first anniversary of the national security law for Hong Kong was held Friday with representatives from Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao attending via video link. The symposium shows the whole Chinese people have become more proud, confident and assured in their identity as Chinese and are firmly determined to ensure the steady implementation of “one country, two systems.” It conveyed a solemn warning against some politicians in the US and the European Parliament: You brutally trampled on international law, interfered in our country’s internal affairs, and imposed meaningless so-called sanctions on us, which can only arouse our anger and contempt for you. This can only continue to sound the death knell for your agents in Hong Kong. You are lifting a rock only to drop it on your own feet.
Comparing today with the past, whether the national security law for Hong Kong is good or not, facts speak louder than words and people’s support has the final say. Bidding farewell to the past Hong Kong plagued by rampant secessionists, violent rioters and Lam Chau radicals who advocate “If we burn, you burn with us,” who else would not like to see the fresh and orderly streets of Hong Kong today? In a city where citizens travel with ease, shops operate and students go to school without worries, who else would not be happy to see human rights, freedom and people’s livelihood and welfare thrive in such a way? The answer is certainly not the general public in Hong Kong.
But we must be vigilant. The troublemakers who have attacked and smeared the national security law for Hong Kong are not willing to cease their actions. This reminds us that we must make national security clearly and thoroughly understood. Without national security, there will be no human rights and freedom. Numerous historical lessons have made the Chinese people clear about this. Hong Kong’s past colonial history was a product of failed national security. It was also a page when the human rights and freedom of our Hong Kong compatriots were mercilessly trampled upon by colonists.
To boost the country’s prosperity, to make the law dignified, and to ensure that the people live and work in peace in a healthy economic and social order is the logic to realize a safe country and happy families. Bringing the anti-China rioters in Hong Kong to justice, and invigorating patriotism is the only way to maintain the long-term stability of Hong Kong. The practice in the past year has proven that the promulgation and implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong has effectively safeguarded the administrative authority of the chief executive and the special administrative region (SAR) government, helping the SAR government focus on preventing and controlling the epidemic, developing the economy, improving people’s livelihood, and promoting the positive interactions between Legislative Council and the SAR government. In the face of illegal and unreasonable sanctions by the US, officials of the SAR and Hong Kong patriots are fearless and righteous. They have inspired the Hong Kong people’s firm belief in self-respect and self-improvement.
Letting the national security law for Hong Kong take root and become increasingly powerful is the common wish of Hong Kong people. As of the end of June, law enforcement agencies of the SAR have arrested 117 rioters, charging 64. Strong enforcement actions have achieved immediate results, proving that the law is a guardian angel of Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability. The public in Hong Kong is more confident in the prospect of “one country, two systems” because they see that the original loopholes in Hong Kong’s national security system have been fundamentally blocked, and hidden hands of hostile forces inside and outside Hong Kong that had endangered the national security have been cut off. The constitutional order of the SAR established by the Constitution and the Basic Law has been strongly guaranteed.
Judging from facts and statistics from the Hong Kong market, the impact of the national security law for Hong Kong since its enactment is satisfactory. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the gloomy global economy, compared to the 12 months before the law’s enactment, the funds raised for new IPOs exceeded $HK 500 billion, a 50 percent increase. Total deposits in Hong Kong banks increased 5.6 percent to $HK14.9 trillion. In the first half of the year, the number of newly established local companies is 11 percent more than the second half of last year.
It should also be noted that the steady economic development in the mainland is the driving force of many foreign investors to open new companies in Hong Kong. China is the only major economy that realized positive growth last year. In the first half of the year, it performed well with its GDP increasing 12.7 percent compared with the same period last year. The Chinese economy is believed to be the locomotive of the global economy. International investors eye the Hong Kong market, while they are eager to share the enormous dividends of the mainland economy.
Hong Kong’s future is bright as the national security law has been enacted for a year. The mainland views national security issues from an overall and long-term perspective and will not allow any risks that threaten the country’s core interests. The attempt by some US and Western forces to incite a Hong Kong-version color revolution is futile. No matter how they rudely trample on international law, interfere in China’s internal affairs or resort to sanctions, they are doomed to fail, as always.
HKSAR handles work visa of foreign journalists in line with law: Immigration Department by Chen Qingqing and Guo Yuandan Nov 14 2021
Hong Kong residents converge on the streets of Causeway Bay on June 30, 2020 to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of returned to China and the enactment of the National Security Law.
The Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said it would not comment on individual cases when asked by the Global Times on Sunday about the reported rejection of the visa renewal for a journalist from The Economist, and that the authority handles each application in accordance with relevant laws and policies.
The authority replied to a question about the case of Sue-lin Wong, an Australian correspondent from The Economist, whose application to renew her visa was refused, according to media reports on Sunday.
“The immigration office won’t comment on individual cases, but it will handle each application in accordance with relevant laws and policies,” the Immigration Department said in an email sent to the Global Times.
Although the immigration office did not specify the reason for reportedly rejecting Wong’s visa renewal, some Western media connected the case to “freedom of press” in Hong Kong, with the Guardian saying that denying the visa to the journalist was a “latest media blow.”
“Hong Kong authorities have the authority to accept, delay or refuse an application for a work visa from anyone, and there is no need to exaggerate the individual case as it’s common practice in Western society that a visa application is rejected or withdrawn if there are any suspicions,” Chu Kar-kin, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies and veteran current affairs commentator based in Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Chu noted that the problem may have come from the applicant’s previous words and deeds that are inconsistent with the scope of work and the nature of the visa.
Slandering the HKSAR government for intruding on press freedom or violating human rights is just another example of making exaggerations to scare others, the expert noted.
“Even if conditions are set for a work visa, there’s demand and supply, and there’s no need for a public explanation for entry policy or security,” Chu said.
It is not the first time that foreign media have hyped up the so-called deteriorating environment for foreign media outlets since the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong.
When a reporter from Bloomberg asked where the red line for reporting in Hong Kong was, citing a survey from the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) saying that nearly half of respondents were considering or had plans to leave the city due to the decline in press freedom, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a press conference on November 5 that if foreign media and journalists in Hong Kong follow the law and do their reporting in accordance with the law, their legitimate rights will be fully protected.
The spokesperson also gave out some numbers to refute the survey from the FCC. For example, as of April, there were 628 foreign employees from foreign media outlets holding work visas in Hong Kong, an increase of 98 from the same period last year with a growth rate of 18.5 percent.
The figures can’t lie, Wang said, noting that it truly reflected the opinion of foreign media outlets in Hong Kong concerning the city’s social and economic status as well as media environment.
Johnson Choi Biz 