East Asia

Francis celebrated mass on All Souls’ Day at the Teutonic Cemetery in the Vatican. “Hope is an anchor, clinging on a rope, we support each other,” he said.

Lawmaker Ted Hui was arrested today; yesterday, police arrested seven other pro-democracy activists, including four lawmakers. On 8 May, the opposition vigorously challenged the appointment of a member of the pro-China majority to chair the LegCo House Committee. Since no pro-Beijing politician was arrested, the crackdown represents “selective justice” according to supporters of democracy. For Hui, Hong Kong is now a “police state”.

Due to the pandemic, the number of Masses has increased so that fewer participants attend and approach the communion. Non-Christians often visit, especially young people. The seed of faith never dies, whatever soil receives it.

The Indonesian government opens to Washington to protect its territorial interests, threatened by Beijing. US financial support in the island nation is growing. However, Jakarta does not want to break with the Chinese giant.

Embarrassment, fear and silence among the Muslim leaders in the aftermath of the Nice attack. The link between violent Islamism in France and international Islamist terrorism is now evident. It is time to choose which Islam should be proposed to society, making a clean sweep of "Salafist, Brotherhood, Sufi, revolutionary, Wahhabi" Islam. Prayers for the victims in all the churches of France. In Dhaka, 50,000 demonstrate against Macron.

Our online news agency receives over 20,000 individual visits per day. In 2020, as of November 1st we have had more than 7 million visitors. Reports into Islam and its evolution (or involution) around the world. Many are reducing the Nice attack to Islamic terrorism targeting Christians and call for a "crusade". “Religious wars" only serve the political powers. Benedict XVI: the enemies of peace are religious fundamentalism and relativism. The positivist pride that despises religion relegating it to the obscurantist wastelands of history, is just as dangerous as the beheadings of the Islamist terrorist.

During the Angelus, Pope Francis called on the faithful to live the Beatitudes, bearing witness, like the saints. "against the tide" of the world’s ideals. The pontiff urged the warring parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to engage in active talks; he also turned his thoughts to the peoples of the Aegean hit by an earthquake. Francis also mentioned the beatification of Fr Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus.

Comment (in Italian) on the Gospel of the Solemnity of All Saints (Matthew 5:1-12)

Both government and opposition approve membership. Argentina is the third Latin American country to join the institution after Ecuador and Uruguay. Buenos Aires is under pressure to settle its debts with the International Monetary Fund. For a former lawmaker, Argentina is choosing to go along with dictatorships, like Perón did with Hitler.

The US president is the preferred choice because of his hardline against China. Others argue that his anti-democratic positions tend to favour China. Only a few countries support Trump, but for a former US ambassador to China, Chinese leaders want Biden.

Informers’ identity will be protected. Hotline is in place to allow informers to snitch on last year’s pro-democracy protests. Since Hong Kong’s national security law came into effect, police have arrested 22 men and six women.

The guidelines set for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and those of a medium-term strategy renamed “Vision 2035”. Focus on technological self-sufficiency and growth of domestic consumption. Hong Kong remains central. Create an army equal in strength to that of the USA by 2027. Decoupling from Washington is considered unrealistic.