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An American citizen suspected of being an Islamic State group member was deported to the U.S. on Friday after spending five days in no man’s land between Turkey and Greece, the Turkish interior minister said. Two German IS suspects were also removed f…
November 15, 2019Read More
US Senator Marco Rubio and Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, initiated a “hotline” process for the Senate to pass their Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act on Thursday.The strategic procedure carried out by the upper chamber’s leadership checks for last-minute opposition to an attempt to bring a bill immediately to the floor for a vote.If no senators voice opposition to side stepping a formal vote, the bill passes.”The world witnesses the people of Hong Kong standing up every day to defend their long-cherished freedoms against an increasingly aggressive Beijing and Hong Kong government,” Rubio said in a press release.”Their cries have been met with violence, and young Hong Kong lives have tragically been lost.”Now more than ever, the United States must send a clear message to Beijing that the free world stands with Hongkongers in their struggle,” Rubio’s release said.”I thank leaders McConnell and Schumer for their support, as well as Chairman Risch, Ranking Member Menendez and Senator Cardin for their strong partnership on this legislation and look forward to its enactment.”Rubio’s comments came after China’s state-run Xinhua news agency earlier on Thursday quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping as reiterating that Beijing supported the Hong Kong police’s use of force to quell the “continuing radical violent crimes”.US Senator Marco Rubio and Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, launched a “hotline” process for the Senate to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Photo: AFP alt=US Senator Marco Rubio and Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, launched a “hotline” process for the Senate to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Photo: AFPEarlier in the day, China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper had published a post on its Twitter account asserting that Hong Kong authorities were preparing to announce the imposition of a weekend curfew. The tweet was later deleted.”The world needs to see that the United States will stand up and tell the Chinese Communist Party that what they are doing to the people of Hong Kong is wrong,” Risch said.”After more than two decades of broken promises, it is time to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy. The US stands with the people of Hong Kong, and I look forward to continuing to work with Senate leadership and my colleagues across the aisle to move this bill swiftly.”In 2007, Beijing said it would grant universal suffrage to the city in 2017, but that plan was scrapped when the Chinese capital said in 2014 that the candidates had to be chosen by a “nominating committee”.Protesters attack the University MTR Station on the East Rail Line and a train carriage near Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin on Wednesday. Photo: Felix Wong alt=Protesters attack the University MTR Station on the East Rail Line and a train carriage near Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin on Wednesday. Photo: Felix WongHong Kong increasingly has become a battleground between police and protesters since June, when mass peaceful marches targeted a government proposal, since shelved, to allow the city’s criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China.Those protests have since morphed into a larger activism, with Hongkongers demanding the right to vote for their own city leaders.This week, the pro-democracy protests have taken a dark turn. On Wednesday, a 15-year-old boy was hit in the head by what appeared to be a tear-gas canister, according to the city Hospital Authority.A day earlier, a battle between police and protesters turned the a top university’s campus into a combat zone.On Monday, a Hong Kong police officer shot a protester, while in a separate incident, protesters apparently set on fire a man who had expressed support for police outside an MTR station.US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed Rubio and Risch in a tweet on Thursday, urging the US government to act quickly to protect the protesters.””The Senate needs to stand with Hong Kong, and I hope we can take action soon”” McConnell said.””I was encouraged by a productive conversation with [Rubio on Wednesday] on legislation to further help the people of Hong Kong.”The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act would give the president a mandate to impose sanctions on foreigners determined to be responsible for the extrajudicial rendition to the mainland, arbitrary detention, torture, or forced confession of people in Hong Kong, as well as for other gross violations of human rights in the city.A poster at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin expresses support for the proposed US democracy bill amid a demonstration on Wednesday. Photo: Felix Wong alt=A poster at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin expresses support for the proposed US democracy bill amid a demonstration on Wednesday. Photo: Felix WongIn addition, the bill would task the Executive Branch to develop a strategy to protect American citizens and others in Hong Kong from rendition or abduction to China, and to report annually to Congress any violations of US export control laws and United Nations sanctions occurring in the city. “”Only international sanctions could impose some constraints on those who order to shoot and those who follow order to shoot. Senate needs to act as soon as possible on the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act”” said Victoria Tin-bor Hui, a board member of Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC), a Washington-based pro-democracy non-profit organisation.Samuel Chu, an HKDC managing director, praised Rubio’s effort to institute a hotline process that would speed up the bill’s passage in the Senate.”The quickest way for the Senate to move would be to seek unanimous consent using a hotline,” he said.”If the Hong Kong bill is hotlined, and that can be done as soon as today, I firmly believe that the full Senate will stand united for Hong Kong”””There is no time to waste, as every day we wake up to new images of a violent crackdown, increased bloodshed, mass arrests and suppressions on the streets, on university campuses, in private residences and even houses of worship”” Chu said.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2019 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
November 15, 2019Read More
Laurel Chor/Bloomberg via GettyHONG KONG—“You have bullets. I have the right to vote.”Those were words found on banners and posters hoisted during peaceful demonstrations when one million, then two million people marched toward the government headquarters here in June. The message was simple: If you’re fighting for democracy, don’t forget to register to vote, and be sure to show up when it’s time.But before the ballots, the bullets have started flying. A trigger-happy and ill-trained police force is constantly itching for a skirmish, this week placing a shot point-blank into a young man’s chest. And the populace continues looking for ways to fight back, while keeping in mind that the big battle should still be at the voting booth.With Rising Violence, China Pushes Hong Kong Toward Civil WarIn the rest of China, there is no real democracy, but the terms by which the British signed over their former colony to Beijing 20 years ago made this a very special place, where the central government was part of the same country, but under a different system—one that is designed to continually undergo democratic reforms.Hong Kongers want to keep it that way, and have resorted to measures as innovative as they are desperate.On Tuesday, riot police surrounded a university campus only to face flaming arrows and walls of fire, with those on the front lines supported by ordinary citizens who replenish necessary supplies. Two days later, an elderly street cleaner died due to injuries sustained when he was hit during clashes.Months of street-level resistance have been calculated by the protesters to translate into some degree of political ownership and Hong Kong will soon have the opportunity to exercise its right to vote—or will it?District elections, where more than 1,100 candidates are running for 458 seats, are set for Nov. 24.But the city’s pro-Beijing politicians, along with Chinese state-run media, have called for cleared streets and “a return to peace” as prerequisites for district elections. In particular, Global Times threatened on Wednesday that Beijing may mobilize its Armed Police Force and People’s Liberation Army in what it calls “direct intervention.” The outlet’s chief editor has characterized the “black bloc” at the vanguard of the protests and its supporters in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp as “ISIS-like terrorists.” Hong Kongers, however, see them as crucial figures in their quest to counter or even shake off the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in local governance.The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute has been consistently polling to monitor support levels for the Hong Kong government, the police force, and the black bloc movement. As of mid-October, over 70 percent of those polled wanted the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, to resign, while more than 80 percent agree that the city should have universal suffrage. (At present, Hong Kongers can vote for members of their legislative and district councils, but Beijing vets all candidates for the city’s top political leadership.)More tellingly, since June, when the massive anti-government protests kicked off, there has been a shrinking portion of people who identify as politically neutral, and a growing population that consider themselves to be localist or part of the democratic camp.And this is the statistic that the establishment worries about the most: support for Carrie Lam is at a mere 11 percent. Proximity to her could prove to be the downfall of some candidates running in this month’s district elections.Last week, China Daily said in a report that “the wish for Western-style liberal democracy is a malignant virus that infects places with weakened ideological immune systems.” Translation: Beijing demands an ideological cleansing in Hong Kong. If the Chinese Communist Party had its way, democratic elections here, however limited they may be under the current system, would be null and void.The situation deteriorated further after the death last week of Alex Chow, a 22-year-old man who sustained heavy injuries after falling from the third floor of a parking lot near a location where police were dispersing crowds. They subsequently faced allegations that they blocked an ambulance from reaching Chow. He was in critical condition for days and died of cardiac arrest.If the rage felt by Hong Kongers in the last few months was infectious, then the grief felt after Chow died was downright viral. Impromptu memorials spread across Hong Kong. A note left by Chow’s father at the parking lot where he fell simply read, “My child, your duty is over. Rest in peace. I am proud of you.”Vigils were held all over the city, and seething beneath the sorrow was outrage. One police officer was recorded on video saying he would pop Champagne to celebrate Chow’s death. Another shouted to a crowd, “Thank you for coming out to be shot by us!”While street-level actions like traffic disruptions and clashes with police have been conducted chiefly by high school and university students, a vast network of medical professionals, drivers, logistics professionals, lawyers, graphic designers, printers, pastors, and other volunteers provide various forms of support for the black bloc—ferrying protesters to safety, producing infographics and banners and posters, offering pro bono legal aid, and more.That assistance materialized in a crucial way when the Chinese University of Hong Kong—nicknamed “Rioters U” by pro-establishment figures—came under siege.Early on Tuesday morning, police amassed on its outskirts, then stormed the campus to make arrests. Many students, in full black and equipped with respirators, were quick to erect barricades with anything they could find—chairs from classrooms, tires, roadblocks, bricks, a car, and more. Lookouts climbed aluminum folding ladders to observe and relay information about police movements. Others prepared for clashes by collecting bows, arrows, javelins from the athletics department. The students filled glass bottles with flammable liquids to make Molotov cocktails. They even built a catapult.Over at another school, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, riot police dragged off a member of the university’s governing council to beat him up.Around 8,000 students live on the Chinese University’s campus. After dark, citizens formed human chains to pass supplies to the students. Police arrested some individuals who were attempting to take more toward campus, alleging that they had “stolen goods” in their possession.By evening, Chinese University’s vice chancellor managed to establish an agreement with the police force’s commanders for the riot police surrounding the campus to cease fire. However, when he approached the riot police to inform them of this development, they launched tear gas at him. Police reinforcements trickled in. The university fitness center was converted into a first aid station. During a respite, students slept on a running track and grass field.When asked why police superiors didn’t directly order frontline police to stop their barrage, the vice chancellor said, “They did already, a few times.” To put it plainly, there was a total breakdown in the police force’s chain of command. Attempts by superiors to deescalate the situation were refuted by officers on the ground.The campus hosts the city’s internet exchange point, where 99 percent of Hong Kong’s web traffic is routed through.Chinese University has ended its semester early. Kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools across the city were closed on Thursday. The University of Hong Kong and several other tertiary education institutions have suspended their classes on campus for the rest of the semester. There are professors who are holding classes in their own homes. Others are using Skype or other online tools to wrap up their courses.For days in a row, over in Central—the city’s busiest business district, where many multinational corporations and blue chip companies have their Asia Pacific headquarters—office staff, many in business attire, stalled traffic and occupied roads during their lunch breaks, lining up in formation to face off with riot police.Violence has been mounting across the city. On Monday morning and early afternoon, two black bloc protesters were shot with live rounds; a traffic cop rammed into protesters multiple times with his motorcycle; students on their way to school were stopped, lined up, and searched by police. A person was shot in the eye with a tear gas canister or rubber bullet, public transportation was set on fire or damaged, scuffles broke out between people who hold different political stances. A 57-year-old man who was arguing with protesters at a train station was splashed with a flammable liquid and set on fire; he was hospitalized with second degree burns mainly on his chest and arms.With that said, it’s important to distinguish the reactions to violent acts committed by protesters and the police force. After the man was set on fire, members of the black bloc and their supporters overwhelmingly condemned the attack and said the individual responsible should at a minimum sit out future street-level engagements. The police, however, doubled down to defend their officer who shot an unarmed protester point blank with no warning.On Wednesday night, another protester, dressed in full black, was found dead. Like Chow, he fell from a height.By Thursday morning, students at multiple universities had fortified the entrances to their schools and blocked roads that lead to their campuses. Supplies donated from all over the city streamed in. Notably, Polytechnic University is beside one of the People’s Liberation Army’s barracks in Hong Kong. Baptist University, which has fortifications to hinder police entry, too, is situated next to another PLA facility.Raining on China’s Big Parade: Hong Kong Protests Give the Lie to ‘One State, Two Systems’In the past week, altercations between individuals holding different political stances have become common. In some cases, they escalate quickly. On Wednesday, two groups hurled bricks and rocks at each other. One brick struck the head of a 70-year-old man who was hired by the government to clear debris from public areas. He was hospitalized and died on Thursday.A police spokesperson said on Thursday that university campuses are “just like cancer cells.” Carrie Lam has said previously that those who oppose her governance have “no stake in society.” This week, with renewed backing from Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, she went further to call Hong Kong’s protesters “the enemy of the people,” lifting language used by the most odious dictators and authoritarians in modern history.On Thursday, as legislators debated how to mitigate the violence that is unfolding in Hong Kong, with pro-Beijing figures laying the blame on university students and their educators, even toying with the idea of passing a “fake news law” like Singapore’s to censor media outlets publishing reports that are unfavorable to the government, office workers in Central occupied roads in the district again—for the fourth consecutive day. Nearby, someone wrote with black spray paint, “We will not forget Alex Chow.”In this city of more than 7.4 million people, Hong Kong has around 4 million registered voters. If the election isn’t postponed, November 24 will be the first time for Hong Kongers to vote since widespread, decentralized anti-government organization kicked off in June. Current sentiment is overwhelmingly against Carrie Lam and her supporters despite the black bloc’s increasingly violent tactics, largely because these public officials have consistently voiced support for the police.This election will be the first step for the black bloc and pro-democracy figures to seize more seats in the government—and more importantly, positions within the 1,200-member body that selects the chief executive.That is, if the elections happen.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
November 15, 2019Read More
Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained four mayors over their suspected links to Kurdish rebels, as part of an ongoing crackdown on the country’s pro-Kurdish party. Anadolu Agency said the mayors of the towns of Savur, Derik and Mazi…
November 15, 2019Read More
Syrian President Bashar Assad says the American presence in Syria will lead to armed “resistance” that will eventually force the U.S. troops to leave. Assad spoke in an interview with Russia24 TV and Rossiya Segodnya news agency that was broadcast on …
November 15, 2019Read More
Iraq’s most influential Shiite religious leader called Friday for a new election law that would restore public confidence in the system and give voters the opportunity to bring “new faces” to power. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani emphasized support fo…
November 15, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg Opinion) — The U.K.’s Dec. 12 vote is being called the Brexit election for obvious reasons. So obvious that it’s easy to forget that the winner will also head a country with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, a nuclear deterrent and the world’s sixth-largest defense budget, as well as a historically close political and security relationship with the U.S. That could complicate things a lot.Differences between the two biggest parties extend way beyond Brexit and economics. Foreign policy isn’t getting the same attention as Brexit and the National Health Service in this campaign, but if Labour’s hard-left leader Jeremy Corbyn were to form a government rather than the Conservative Party’s Boris Johnson, it would have a profound impact on Britain’s role in the world and its alliances.On Monday, Corbyn, who has long romanticized left-wing leaders in Latin America, joined the leaders of Venezuela and Cuba in condemning the ouster of Bolivia’s Evo Morales. The fact that Morales had violated his country’s constitution, that the election was found to have been manipulated or even that Bolivia’s trade union federation called for his departure didn’t matter. Corbyn called it a “coup against the Bolivian people.”Corbyn has never met a national liberation movement he doesn’t like, nor a Western intervention that he doesn’t condemn. When asked on Wednesday about the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by American commandos last month, Corbyn suggested it would have been preferable to arrest him. He seemed to ignore or dismiss the fact that al-Baghdadi was wearing a suicide vest, which he detonated, killing himself and two of his children, according to the U.S. government account.This was a reminder of Corbyn’s 2015 references to the killing of Osama bin Laden as “yet another tragedy,” along with the attack on the World Trade Center and the wars in Afghanistan. Corbyn wasn’t defending Bin Laden or al-Baghdadi; he just thinks they should be put on trial. But comments like these are hugely unsettling as they suggest a Britain under Corbyn would be more scold than ally. The Labour leader’s views were formed in the 1960s and ‘70s and have hardly changed. Corbyn has often seemed most animated when talking about foreign or global causes, whether the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign or Irish republicanism. He has opposed the European Union, which he regards as too capitalist, and, to his credit, apartheid in South Africa. He justifies his description of Hezbollah and Hamas as “our friends” by arguing that it’s important to talk to all sides in a conflict, yet it’s impossible to miss his moral equivalency.Corbyn’s positions may be shared by his inner circle, but they’re often outside the mainstream of his own party. Labour’s 2017 manifesto pledged to renew Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent, keep the country in NATO and to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defense, all policies Corbyn dislikes. The new Labour manifesto, not yet published, will probably be similar, although the Scottish National Party, a potential Labour partner in any coalition, is demanding the nuclear program’s termination.Even in coalition (which is much more likely than an outright Labour win), a Corbyn-led government would have a very different relationship with the U.S. In a 2017 foreign policy speech, he denounced the interventions in Iraq and Libya as part of the “disastrous wars that stole the post-Cold War promise of a new world order.” He made clear there would be “no more hand-holding with Donald Trump.” He has advocated closer ties with Iran and cutting off arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Given Corbyn’s views on the Middle East, and his party’s poor record fighting anti-Semitism, Britain would be a non-existent partner in the region.Another fear is that a Corbyn government would make the U.K. and its allies more vulnerable to Russian election interference, intelligence operations and other meddling, while undermining sanctions against Moscow and Tehran. After the poisoning by nerve agent of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter last year, Corbyn initially parroted Russian denials. When confronted with the intelligence evidence, he demanded it be shared with the Kremlin.Indeed, it’s a measure of Corbyn’s weakness on this front that a visiting Hillary Clinton made more of Johnson’s refusal to publish a parliamentary report into Russian interference in British politics than the opposition leader has.So Anglo-American ties would weaken inevitably with Corbyn as prime minister. “The only effective protection would be to downgrade the degree of intelligence sharing with a Corbyn government,” Azeem Ibrahim, a former U.K. government adviser on countering extremism, wrote recently in Foreign Policy magazine. “This would have a broad and lasting negative impact, because close cooperation is not just essential for dealing with hostile states — it also provides greater protection against non-state actors such as Islamic State or al Qaeda.”Brexit, of course, is a foreign policy issue too. It’s effect on information sharing and security cooperation between Britain and the EU isn’t yet clear, but the next government will determine that and the future trading relationship. Britain has long punched above its weight by virtue of its alliances, its role as a bridge between the U.S. and Europe and its hard and soft power. Brexit diminishes all of those.Outgoing European Council president Donald Tusk told an audience Wednesday that Brexit is probably “the real end of the British empire.” That’s a long way from the Global Britain that both Leavers and Remainers cling to as a brighter future. But it would suit Corbyn just fine. He’s no fan of empire.To contact the author of this story: Therese Raphael at [email protected] contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at [email protected] column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Therese Raphael writes editorials on European politics and economics for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
November 15, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg) — Germany will maintain its disciplined approach to spending as lawmakers look set to confirm the government’s balanced budget for 2020, despite calls for fiscal stimulus to boost the country’s slowing economy.After all-night discussions, …
November 15, 2019Read More
Days to Brexit deadline: 77(Bloomberg) — Sign up here to get the Brexit Bulletin in your inbox every weekday.Today in Brexit: Nigel Farage vows to “stand up and fight” Labour in every seat they hold.What’s happening? He’s not backing down. Brexit Part…
November 15, 2019Read More
The former ambassador to Ukraine will testify publicly about the campaign by Rudy Giuliani that led to her ouster and her shock and anger about the effort to get her fired.
November 15, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg) — Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterKenya and Somalia agreed to restore diplomatic relations that had deteriorated over the disputed ownership of an Indian Ocean territory thought to be rich in hyd…
November 15, 2019Read More
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