Hong Kong

| HONG KONG

Some defendants are given seven years in prison over the storming of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. Chief Executive John Lee wants the latter to approve by 31 March the legislation to implement Article 23 of Hong Kong’s constitution. The Diocese of Hong Kong issues a statement saying that the secrecy of confession will be upheld under the new law. By allowing police to detain a suspect for up to 16 days without charge, the bill is violating the right to legal counsel, raising concerns about abuses of basic rights.


The outrage over the death in custody of Putin's opponent should not make the world forget that the number of political prisoners in Hong Kong is on rise with Beijing insists on "non-interference in internal affairs". On the Beijing Spring online platform, a Chinese dissident draws parallels with the fate of Liu Xiaobo and Peng Ming who died in Chinese prisons.

| 19/02/2024
| HONG KONG – CHINA

Today's headlines: Thousands of young men try to leave Myanmar after conscription is introduced. A few weeks before India’s elections, the opposition Congress party has its bank accounts frozen. Satellite photos show Egypt is building a wall next to the Rafah crossing. Japan successfully launched the new H3 space rocket. US and China agree to hold follow-up talks on North Korea and the Middle East.

| 17/02/2024
| ASIA TODAY

Stephen Chen Yueli was arrested as he entered mainland China on charges of "illegal business operations" for his involvement in printing children’s Sunday school materials. According to China Aid, he is in solitary confinement and cannot even see his lawyers. With him, eight other Christians were also arrested.

| 16/02/2024
| CHINA

Today's news: in Pakistan agreement between Muslim League and Pakistan Peoples Party for a government led by Shehbaz Sharif, Imran Khan: 'stolen elections'; Erdogan in Cairo for thaw visit with al-Sisi, Gaza top of agenda; Facial recognition systems in new security cameras in Hong Kong; For the Russian governor of Kaliningrad also the philosopher Kant 'guilty' for the war with Ukraine.

| 14/02/2024
| ASIA TODAY

Today's news: five dead and dozens injured in a landslide in Mindanao; Activist Agnes Chow is wanted by Hong Kong police; Militiamen in northern Myanmar hand over 60 more Chinese accused of online fraud and weapons possession; Bangkok wants to cancel the decriminalisation of cannabis; Domestic tourism in Russia grows +20%.

| 07/02/2024
| ASIA TODAY

Public consultation over a bill scrapped in 2003 following widespread protests will be limited to a single month. Hong Kong’s chief executive wants the bill approved quickly against foreign interference, but a local law (after the one imposed by Beijing in 2020) is likely to be used to further crack down on all forms of dissent.

| 30/01/2024
| HONG KONG
Editor's choices
 
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| 15/03/2024
| PAKISTAN
 
Baek Kwang-soon, 53, is being held on espionage charges. The Love Rice Sharing Foundation, a Protestant charity he works for, says that “all sorts of Russians, Thai and North Korean workers” are “in need, and we provide them with clothes, ...
| 13/03/2024
| RUSSIA - SOUTH KOREA
 
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| 12/03/2024
| CHINA - INDIA
 
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council is set to fast track the approval of a national security bill tabled today that imposes unprecedented restrictions to all forms of freedom in the former British colony, including life in prison for “treason” ...
| 08/03/2024
| HONG KONG - CHINA
 
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| 01/03/2024
| ASIA
 
by Dario Salvi
The 2024 Niwano Peace Prize, the “Nobel Prize for Religions" was given to a Sufi Muslim, who teaches at the American University in Washington, for his "holistic contribution to the cause of peace”. After the Hamas attack sparked Israel's ...
| 27/02/2024
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
 
An image of Christ on the cross painted in Stanley Prison by the Catholic businessman on trial under the National Security Act is on display at the Catholic University of Washington. Meanwhile Agnes Chow from Canada recounts her imprisonment in Hong ...
| 27/02/2024
| HONG KONG - UNITED STATES
 
by Santosh Digal
The archbishop of Goa was elected today in Bangkok by the heads of the continent's Bishops' Conferences. Next January he will become the third Indian to head the collegial body, taking over from Card Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, who led the organisation ...
| 22/02/2024
| ASIA
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”