Imported cases of COVID-19 may cause a fourth wave of infection in Hong Kong unless the city strengthens its border checks and plugs policy loopholes, a top infectious disease expert and government advisor said on Sunday.

Professor David Hui, a respiratory disease expert at Chinese University and member of the government’s COVID advisory panel, issued that warning in a television program on the same day that Hong Kong recorded 19 new cases of COVID-19, eight of which were imported and 11 locally transmitted. Three of the cases were of unknown origin while three others were identified in citywide testing.

Hui also noted, however, that Hong Kong will probably not have to allocate new resources for another round of citywide COVID-19 testing unless a new outbreak occurs on the same scale as the previous three.

The government’s most urgent task, he said, is to continue monitoring the border, stemming the inflow of imported cases like those that caused the city’s last three major outbreaks. The latest wave was caused by a policy loophole that exempted certain groups from quarantine, including the crews of ships and airplanes, he noted.

Meanwhile, the government plans to conclude a two-week testing drive on Monday, and although it has already declared the program a success, public debate continues over the initiative’s purpose, efficacy and adequacy.

The testing program has detected 26 symptom-free carriers in 13 days, but only a new outbreak of “exponential proportions” would warrant another mass testing drive, Hui said. Hong Kong would probably need support from the mainland to deal with the difficulties of coordinating another universal testing program, he added.

About 1.68 million Hongkongers had been tested by 11am on Sunday, according to Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip, speaking in a radio interview. Nip said the community testing program was unlikely to be repeated.

“It’s a one-off universal community testing program to help us to understand the infection situation in the community, and also to identify and isolate those infected, especially those asymptomatic cases,” Nip said.

Medical sector lawmaker Pierre Chan criticized the program for falling short of its goals, pointing out that health chief Sophia Chan had initially expected five million people to participate and 1,500 symptom-free patients to be identified.

Pierre Chan believed the scheme’s “benefits” were mainly “political,” because it gave the government many opportunities to express gratitude to the central government.

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美蘋-

Toughen border controls and close loopholes to prevent fourth COVID wave, expert warns

Hong Kong police have defended their track record on women and children and dismissed claims of gender-based violence as “fake news,” after a group of district councillors started a petition calling for officers to apologize and face disciplinary measures.

The force “places a high priority on the protection of women and children, and [officers] have always dealt with cases involving women and children strictly in accordance with rules and internal guidelines, in order to guarantee their rights and safety,” police said in a statement Saturday.

Around 250 district councillors and community officers have signed a petition condemning the police for breaching the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The signatories urged the police to apologize for officers tackling a pregnant woman on Aug. 31 and an incident on Sept. 6 where officers tackled a 12-year-old girl. They also demanded a stop to the “abuse of force” against women and children, and the setting up of an independent inquiry to look into police actions.

The petition was started by Tsuen Wan District Councillors Chan Kim-kam, Lester Shum and Ronald Tse, and included 14 women’s rights and gender-equality groups as cosignatories.

In response to the allegations, police said that the Aug. 31 and Sept. 6 incidents took place at protest sites, and that the force had warned the public against going to those areas. Officers have a responsibility to enforce the law, including using a minimal level of force, they added.

Accusations of gender-based violence were “groundless, malicious attacks,” police said, adding that no evidence has been provided to substantiate the “very grave allegations.”

Police also criticized some of their critics for spreading “fake news” to incite hatred, including allegations of police abuses at the San Uk Ling Holding Centre and an alleged rape case at Tsuen Wan police station last year.

Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam on Saturday called on Police Commissioner Chris Tang to apologize.

“The police are denying that they pushed over a pregnant woman despite there being video evidence. They claim to protect the public, but they shift the blame onto so-called fake news,” Tam wrote on Facebook.

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Scandal-ridden Hong Kong police claim to ‘protect women and children’

China has placed dissenting Catholic priests in Jiangxi province under house arrest, in breach of an agreement signed with the Vatican to protect clergy from coercion, according to a report by Catholic news media.

A number of priests in the Yujiang diocese have been forbidden from “engaging in any religious activity in the capacity of clergy” as of Sept. 1, after they refused to join patriotic churches organized by the Chinese Communist Party, according to the Union of Catholic Asian News.

Authorities have put the priests under surveillance in their homes, and Bishop Lu Xinping was barred from holding Mass on the day that he received notice from the government, the church media reported.

Meanwhile, China is poised to renew its agreement with the Vatican on the appointment of bishops, which was first signed in September 2018 and is due to lapse next week. The agreement was seen as a sign of the two countries moving closer to restoring diplomatic relations after ties were severed in 1951.

The China-Vatican agreement was implemented “successfully” and the two sides “will continue to maintain close communication and consultation and improve bilateral relations,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.

Critics of the Chinese regime have said that its treatment of Catholic priests should not be condoned by the Vatican, adding that cases like those in Jiangxi have become more frequent over the past two years.

In a set of guidelines issued last June, the Vatican said that the civil registration of clergy in China should “take place in a manner that guarantees respect for the conscience and the profound Catholic convictions of the persons involved.”

The Jiangxi clergy faced pressure from officials from the Public Security Bureau, the religious affairs ministry and the United Front Work Department, and they were told they cannot preach unless they sign an agreement to join state-sponsored churches, the report said.

Some underground churches only hold Mass once every six months to avoid detection, and churchgoers were wary of authorities arresting priests, according to the report.

Separately, the Hong Kong government has blocked retired cardinal Joseph Zen from sending mooncakes to prisoners, according to Catholic news agency AsiaNews.

The government explained its decision was on the grounds that the gifting activity had “political elements.” Zen has been sending the mooncakes to inmates since 2010.

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港蘋國際-

China breaks Vatican pact by placing priests under house arrest for defying Party: report

The 12 Hongkongers arrested by Chinese authorities at sea en route to Taiwan last month were separatists intent on splitting the territory from China, Beijing’s most senior foreign ministry spokesperson said on social media on Sunday, raising concerns from their supporters that harsher punishment could be in store.

The comments by Hua Chunying were a retort to her American counterpart on Twitter, who on the same platform the night before denounced the arrests of what she termed “democracy activists” as a further sign of Hong Kong’s deteriorating human rights.

“Seriously?! Fact check: The 12 people were arrested for illegally crossing the border in waters [sic]. They are not democratic activists, but elements attempting to separate #HongKong from China,” Hua tweeted.

On Saturday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus hit out at China, saying “legitimate governments do not need to wall their countries in and prevent their citizens from leaving.”

“The arrest of 12 Hong Kong democracy activists is another sad example of the deterioration of human rights in Hong Kong. Authorities in Guangdong must ensure due process,” Ortagus tweeted.

Late last month, the group of Hongkongers, some of whom were tied to anti-government protests in the city, were intercepted on a speedboat by the Chinese coast guard in waters off Shenzhen. They were allegedly traveling to Taiwan to seek political asylum.

Lawyers hired by families of some of the Hongkongers in detention have said they have not been allowed to see their clients.

The Yantian office of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau said in a statement on Sunday that the group had been arrested on Aug. 23 and “suspected of crossing the border illegally.” The case was under investigation and the public security authorities would “protect the legitimate rights of the suspects in accordance with the law,” the bureau said.

Violations of entry and exit control laws are a criminal offense and punishable by up to one-year imprisonment, the authorities have said.

However, research by Apple Daily of similar cases revealed that some sentences can range from months to up to nearly three years.

The situation of the 12 detainees may have become more serious since Hua’s statement seemingly ratcheted up their alleged offenses to secession, said Owen Chow, an activist and district councilor who has been trying to assist the group. This would make it even harder for supporters and lawyers to assist them, he said.

The high-level spat over the detainees also suggests they are likely to be used as diplomatic pawns by Beijing, which wants to conjure up a “Hong Kong independence drama” for nationalist and populist aims, said Council Front lawmaker Eddie Chu. Other theatrics, such as forced televised confessions, could be expected too, Chu said.

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US, China diplomats in Twitter row over 12 arrested Hongkongers

Taiwanese journalist Edd Jhong has claimed that five Hong Kong activists who participated in last year’s anti-government protests were currently “in the hands of” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council for the past two months.

The claim has not been confirmed by the Mainland Affairs Council, who said it would not comment on individual cases.

Jhong first wrote about the alleged detention on Facebook and later told Apple Daily Taiwan that the five protesters arrived in Taiwan on July 18 via the Pratas Islands, also known as the Dongsha Islands, a Taiwan-controlled atoll in the northern part of the South China Sea. But they have not been heard from after the Mainland Affairs Council took over the case, he said.

“They cannot be reached by those lawyers nor human rights groups that have had a long record of assisting demonstrators, let alone returning home to visit their parents,” said Jhong, who works at Taiwan’s Public Television Service. “If possible, don’t come to Taiwan.”

If they had been arrested at sea, the easy solution “would have been killing them,” he said.

“They did do something,” Jhong said, criticizing Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party. “But they want us — who know the truth — to shut up and not talk about it. If we don’t talk about it, no one will know how little they have done, and how many people object to saving Hong Kong.”

“Taiwan really cannot help and does not want to help you so much. You deserve better. Please find other ways,” Jhong said.

The claims could be concerning to Hong Kong protesters as Taiwan has become the most popular place to flee for those arrested in anti-government protests last year, that were triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill.

China’s marine police recently detained 12 Hongkongers in mainland waters who allegedly attempted to flee to Taiwan via speedboat. They were said to be remanded in custody in Yantian, a town located at Shenzhen’s border with Hong Kong.

The Mainland Affairs Council recently urged Hongkongers to enter Taiwan legally after the interception by mainland authorities. Council spokesperson Chiu Chui-cheng said on Aug. 27 that if people from Hong Kong and Macau needed to seek assistance from Taiwan for political reasons, they should follow pathways under the existing laws.

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Taiwan authorities detaining five Hongkongers, claims Taiwanese journalist

Five detained Indians were released by China’s army on Saturday amid bilateral border tensions and accusations by a hawkish Chinese tabloid that the men were spies.

The People’s Liberation Army of China returned the five men to the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, known as South Tibet in China, the New Delhi government said.

The group had been reported missing after going hunting in Arunachal Pradesh on Sept. 4 and was suspected of having been taken away by Chinese troops. Indian media reports said the men lost their way, mistakenly crossed into Chinese territory and were found by the PLA. Their disappearance prompted officials from the two countries to communicate on a military hotline.

The men’s identities and purpose of wandering into China was questioned by Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the nationalist tabloid Global Times. He alleged that the five had disguised themselves as hunters to spy in the Tibetan city of Shannan. “They were detained by the Chinese and received warnings and education,” Hu said on his Twitter microblog.

Armed personnel from China and India have clashed on multiple occasions along the Himalayan border since June. At least 20 Indian soldiers died during a fight with PLA troops in Galwan Valley on June 15. On Monday, Beijing and New Delhi accused each other of striking first when dozens of soldiers armed with rods, spears and clubs from both sides clashed in the Ladakh region.

This was followed by a Moscow meeting on Thursday between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, during which they reached a five-point consensus to de-escalate military tensions on their border.

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China return 5 Indian men captured amid border tensions

Beijing’s mouthpieces in Hong Kong took the city’s judicial system to task for a whole week after Chief Executive Carrie Lam said there was “no separation of powers” between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

Since Sept. 5, the Chinese-language newspapers Tai Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po have been on full throttle criticizing the courts, judges and even the Department of Justice for seven days in a row.

The intention was to force the judicial system to accept that Hong Kong’s government was “executive-led,” according to a commentator who was familiar with mainland Chinese affairs and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The maelstrom began on Aug. 31 when Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung defended the government’s latest review of school textbooks, in which the phrase “separation of powers” was deleted from content on Hong Kong politics.

Lam lent support to her education chief by saying on Sept. 1 that separation of powers did not exist in the city’s executive-led political system. She said the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, stated that the Chief Executive was the leader of the city and government and that her power was authorized by the central government in Beijing.

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office followed up the controversy, saying on Sept. 7 that the Chief Executive was in a “leading and core” position in the establishment and operation of the regime structure. As the head of the entire Hong Kong, the Chief Executive was responsible to the central government and enjoyed extensive powers, the statement said.

Apart from the official responses, two pro-Beijing propaganda organs in the media also weighed in. Tai Kung Pao fired the opening salvo with a front-page interview of the retired permanent judge at the Court of Final Appeal, Henry Litton. It ran a headline saying the court was disabling the governance of the Chief Executive.

Meanwhile, Wen Wei Po reported on the views of Hong Kong delegates to the National People’s Congress that refuted the notion about “separation of powers.”

The attacks grew specific and personal later in the week. Pulling no punches, both newspapers tore into Magistrate Stanley Ho for handing down “light sentences” to convicted rioters while enjoying a career promotion. Tai Kung Pao also lambasted the judiciary for not publicizing a talk about judicial fairness and public confidence held on July 3.

Ho was later transferred to the High Court to take up an administrative post that would not adjudicate in criminal cases.

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Holden Chow joined the fray, urging the Department of Justice to investigate if one of their prosecutors had encouraged colleagues to attend the June 4 candlelight vigil this year to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

A commentator who spoke to Apple Daily said the Communist Party of China had never recognized an independent judiciary, so it would be a top priority for the party to attenuate such a feature in Hong Kong so as to enforce its comprehensive governance over the city.

The propaganda campaign against the judiciary was intended to put across the message that the judiciary would need to find its place in the executive-led system and receive instruction from the central government, he said. He was worried that this series of attacks could pave the way for an exclusion of foreign judges from the local legal system.

The commentator warned that the loss of an independent judiciary could jeopardize the global economic position of Hong Kong. “Beijing should weigh the benefits against the costs,” he said.

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Pro-Beijing forces disparage Hong Kong judicial system for a whole week

A Tibetan yoga teacher has completed a week-long bicycle ride in Europe to canvass international support for Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang in the fight against the Communist Party of China.

The France-based Tibetan, whose name is transcripted as Ngawang, hoped his Paris-Geneva expedition would raise concern about the tyranny of the Chinese party. He said the Chinese government resembled a virus or bacteria which could not be killed by a single medicine or force, and that external assistance was crucial.

“There has to be a drug to destroy its outer membrane, and another to prevent the bacteria from reproduction,” Ngawang said. “We also need some help from the outside, such as the U.S.-China trade war and the Sino-Indian border conflicts. Then, the Chinese government will be weakened.”

The descendant of Tibetans in exile, carrying the Tibetan, French and European Union flags on his bicycle, started his tour at the Chinese embassy in Paris in mid-August. When Ngawang put his palms together for a meditation outside the embassy, a group of Chinese consular officials summoned security guards, who then spit and coughed at the Tibetan. “When they become rude, I will become more determined to do more,” he said.

He spent one week traveling 598 kilometers to arrive at the United Nations office in Geneva on Aug. 19. The sight of the organization led Ngawang to think about his identity, he said. His father was among some 100,000 Tibetans who had left their homes since the late 1950s following a failed uprising against the Communist Party’s rule. Several of his uncles died as a result of persecution by Chinese authorities. “I may never be able to go back to Tibet in my lifetime,” he said.

Lately, Ngawang has launched an online petition to call on the Communist Party to respect freedoms and basic human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. He said people fighting a tyranny had to have conviction, keep calm and be sensitive to what was happening around the world.

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Cyclist’s Paris-Geneva ride calls attention to Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang 

Veteran Hong Kong politician Wu Chi-wai says he is prepared to take the blame, regardless of the results of a public survey that will decide the fate of 15 pro-democracy lawmakers in the next one year.

Those 15 lawmakers, including Wu, have pledged to abide by the results of the Sept. 21 opinion poll on whether to continue serving in the Legislative Council, after the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the apex of Chinese politics, approved the city government’s decision to push back the legislature’s election for at least one year from September.

The government’s offer of an extended term has divided the pro-democracy camp and its supporters. Those inclined to remain say they have a duty to block controversial government proposals, while the naysayers want the camp’s lawmakers to collectively boycott the extended term, which they say lacks a constitutional mandate.

Wu, who was chairperson of the Democratic Party, said the survey would give a way out of the dilemma after more than a month of fierce debates that have caused a rift in the bloc. He promised to take the blame no matter what the outcome was.

“We’ve already come to terms with it. This is a free society and I can say that we are all doing this with a clear conscience,” Wu said in an interview with public broadcaster RTHK on Saturday.

The 15 incumbents comprise seven lawmakers from the Democratic Party, five from the Civic Party, Council Front lawmaker Claudia Mo, Labour Party’s Fernando Cheung and social welfare sector representative Shiu Ka-chun. The other seven pro-democracy legislators are either undecided or have said they would not serve the extended term.

Wu said he hoped to set up a systematic method of using public opinion polls to settle differences in future debates within the bloc. “If we put controversial matters to a vote, at least we can debate and exchange views, and understand what direction pro-democracy supporters think we should take.”

He believed this method would help bridge the gap between traditional pan-democrats and localists in the legislature.

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