Hong Kong democracy advocates yesterday staged a rare public protest against government plans for a new national security law, saying it lacked democratic oversight and human rights safeguards.
Public demonstrations have all but vanished in the Chinese territory since Beijing quelled huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 and imposed a sweeping National Security Law.
Hong Kong officials now say a further homegrown security law is needed to plug “loopholes,” with Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Paul Lam (林定國) earlier saying that he heard no objections during a month of public consultations that ends today, but Yu Wai-pan, from the League of Social Democrats (LSD), yesterday said that “many Hong Kongers are quite concerned.”
Photo: AFP
“I don’t understand why the secretary for justice said he heard no objection or worry,” Yu said.
The LSD is one of the last remaining opposition groups in Hong Kong and its members have faced multiple prosecutions for their shows of dissent.
Yu and two other activists were surrounded by reporters and more than a dozen police officers as they chanted slogans outside the Hong Kong Government headquarters yesterday.
“National security is important to the people, but it must be based on democracy, freedom and rule of law,” activist Chan Po-ying (陳寶瑩) said.
The government referenced examples in the US and the UK in defending the proposed legislation, but Chan said that comparison was misleading, as Hong Kong is not a democracy.
The month-long public consultation for the new security law, known as Basic Law Article 23, was largely limited to pro-Beijing voices, she said.
Chinese Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Director Xia Baolong (夏寶龍) arrived in the territory last week in a tightly choreographed tour to meet with leaders in business and politics.
Xia discussed the security law proposal with two local lawyers’ groups in a closed-door meeting and engaged in “candid exchanges,” the head of the Hong Kong Bar Association told reporters.
Separately yesterday, Hong Kong convicted Joseph John — also known as Wong Kin-chung — of “conspiracy to incite secession,” the first such case involving a dual national.
The Portuguese citizen, 41, pleaded guilty to the national security offense, admitting that he was chair of the UK-based Hong Kong Independence Party and an administrator of its six online platforms.
A diplomatic source said that the Portuguese consulate has been unable to visit John since he was arrested and detained in November 2022.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS