The case of Wang Xing, a Chinese actor kidnapped in Thailand and moved to a centre in Myanmar, has put the spotlight back on the human trafficking of Chinese nationals in Southeast Asia. According to the team of experts who met with Thai representatives, 12 Hongkongers are to be released, but the timing remains unknown.
Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing administration wants to introduce “smart ballot boxes” for next year’s legislative election, already restricted to “patriotic" candidates. Scanners would warn voters of any “error” in their ballot. The proposal was withdrawn after a few hours due to obvious objections to secrecy of the vote.
From Mindong, Hong Kong and Taiwan to Milan’s Chinese community, various voices speak at a meeting sponsored by AsiaNews on the feast day of Saint Francis Xavier, grateful to the communities that have kept and passed on the faith amid many difficulties and new encounters, with questions about meaning in a changing world.
One of the 45 people given very harsh sentences yesterday for organising primary elections in Hong Kong was able to smuggle her thoughts out of prison. “We dared to confront the regime with the question,” she writes. “Will democracy ever be possible within such a structure? The answer was a complete crackdown on all fronts of society.” “Defend and repair your own democracy,” she says in an appeal to the world. “Give authoritarian dictators one less example of failed democracy to justify their rule, and give freedom fighters around the world one more inspiration to continue the struggle”.
The territory’s High Court convicted 45 activists for organising primary elections for the opposition in 2020. They include well-known people, like legal scholar Benny Tai and umbrella movement leader Joshua Wong. Many pleaded guilty to obtain a reduction in sentence, but none were sentenced to less than 4 years. Card Zen was in the courtroom for the verdict. Jimmy Lai’s trial resumes tomorrow.
Local authorities alarmed by labour force shortages amid an aging population. This is the other side of the brutal repression against pro-democracy groups in 2019 that drove thousands of people out of the city.
