We've empowered the paper dragon long enough:
Canada must demand the release of a Canadian detained in Hong Kong, experts say, after national security police raided Stand News, the most prominent pro-democracy outlet left in the city following a crackdown on dissent.
(Sidebar: this Stand News.)
Pro-democracy activist and Canadian citizen Denise Ho was arrested alongside six other former and current editors and board members of Stand News on charges of conspiracy to publish seditious publications.
“This is nothing else but a criminalization of freedom of expression by the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong authorities and nothing else but a criminalization of media freedom,” said former cabinet minister Irwin Cotler.
Canada has a “special role and responsibility” to act in this case, said Cotler, a long-time human rights advocate.
Former diplomat Charles Burton said “Canada has to stand up for our citizen and suggest that she has been arrested arbitrarily, without justification, and demand her release.”
Yeah, what country do you think you're talking to?
Also - sometimes, employers need to rein in their employees.
China’s Foreign Ministry says relations with Canada stand “at a crossroads” after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Beijing of engaging in “coercive diplomacy.”
Speaking to media outlets on Dec. 27, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused Trudeau of “misunderstanding” and “miscalculating” Canada’s approach to Beijing.
Do as you're told, Justin!
China warns China-Mart not bring up Uiyghur slave labour:
China's anti-graft agency on Friday accused U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc and its Sam's Club chain of "stupidity and shorted-sightedness" after Chinese news outlets reported Sam's Club had removed Xinjiang-sourced products from stores.
Last week, Sam's Club came under fire in China after several news outlets shared videos and screenshots on the Weibo social media platform that they said showed products from the far-western Chinese region of Xinjiang had been removed from the store's online app.
China re-opens an embassy in Nicaragua:
China opened an embassy in Nicaragua on Friday for the first time since 1990, acting just over three weeks since President Daniel Ortega’s government broke off relations with Taiwan.
Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said there is an “ideological affinity” between the two countries. Moncada also thanked China for donating one million doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine.
Quelle surprise.
The gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church, no matter how hard Xi tries:
Chinese bishops and religious leaders briefed senior Hong Kong Catholic clergymen on President Xi Jinping's vision of religion with "Chinese characteristics" in an unprecedented meeting organised by the mainland's representative office in the city, according to four clerics.
The clerics who attended or had knowledge of the Oct 31 meeting described it as Beijing's most assertive move yet in its attempts to influence Hong Kong’s diocese, which is answerable to the Vatican and includes some high-ranking leaders who have long been defenders of democracy and human rights in the semi-autonomous territory.
The government in Beijing is surely aware that there are strong feelings about this memory among many people, but the government seems nervous to acknowledge this or to examine what happened. In Hong Kong, we persevere in speaking out and remind [the country] that without addressing the legacy of Tiananmen Square, there can be no healing or reconciliation. The truth needs to be told and responsibility for what happened needs to be taken. Without settling this matter, we cannot reconcile, or move on, and we can have no guarantee that such a thing would not happen again.
I'm sure that Xi does not want that topic addressed ever again.
Could corruption bring down the Chinese military?:
Corruption is a widespread phenomenon in China's military where officers, including generals, have relied not on their duration of service or military prowess to rise in the ranks but rather bribery and connections.
Experts commented that a lack of competent leaders now threaten to be severely detrimental to China's warfighting capabilities.
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