Hong Kong activists yesterday called off protests in remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the US and denounced a Chinese state newspaper report that they were planning “massive terror” in the territory.
“Anti-government fanatics are planning massive terror attacks, including blowing up gas pipes, in Hong Kong on Sept. 11,” the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily said on its Facebook page on Tuesday, alongside a picture of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
“The 9/11 terror plot also encourages indiscriminate attacks on non-native speakers of Cantonese and starting mountain fires,” it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Facebook post said that “leaked information was part of the strategy being schemed by radical protesters in their online chat rooms.”
“We don’t even need to do a fact check to know that this is fake news,” protester Michael, 24, said of the China Daily post.
“The state media doesn’t care about its credibility. Whenever something they claimed to have heard on WhatsApp or friends’ friends, they will spread it right away,” he added.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The protesters called off action yesterday.
“In solidarity against terrorism, all forms of protest in Hong Kong will be suspended on Sept. 11, apart from potential singing and chanting,” they said.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday reassured foreign investors that the territory can rebound from months of protests, despite no sign that the unrest will subside.
Lam told a forum on China’s Belt and Road Initiative that Hong Kong faces a double whammy of the prolonged US-Chinese trade dispute and the unrest by demonstrators seeking democratic reforms.
Lam voiced confidence that rifts can be mended through government plans for dialogue and upholding the “one country, two systems.”
“We can find a way back to reasoned discussion, to social stability ... after all, Hong Kong has been built and rebuild time and again on our indomitable resilience. Call it the spirit of Hong Kong and know that it will see us through,” she said at the opening of the two-day forum in Hong Kong.
The protests spread to the sports field on Tuesday, as many soccer fans defied Chinese law to boo the national anthem ahead of a soccer World Cup qualifier against Iran.
Also on Tuesday, the Chinese government expressed its anger with German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas over his meeting with the Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), saying that the encounter was “disrespectful” of Beijing’s sovereignty.
Wong tweeted a picture of himself and Maas following his arrival in Berlin, saying that the two had discussed the “protest situation and our cause.”
Speaking at a gathering of politicians and media commentators on Monday night, Wong pledged to continue to “protest until the day that we have free elections” and compared Hong Kong with communist East Germany during the protests that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“If we are now in a new cold war, Hong Kong is the new Berlin,” Wong told the gathering. “We urge the free world to stand together with us in resisting the autocratic Chinese regime.”
Wong, was to address students and the public yesterday evening at Humboldt University in Berlin before traveling to the US.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Friday said that his father, jailed former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, has chosen him to lead the country’s powerful conservative movement, shaking up next year’s election race. The 44-year-old senator said on social media that he will carry forward the political legacy that reshaped Brazilian politics. His announcement makes him an instant contender for the presidency. Jair Bolsonaro, 70, is unlikely to run after being sentenced to 27 years for plotting a coup and banned from public office. He is appealing and seeking a legislative pardon. The former president also faces serious health issues, including complications from a
RSS