And yet ... :
A total of 47 pro-democracy activists were arrested and charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law and had faced sentences of up to life in prison.
Benny Tai, a former legal scholar identified as an "organizer" of the activists, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, the longest sentence so far under the 2020 national security law.
Japanese passport holders may soon be able to travel to China without a visa, for the first time in more than four years, as the two countries work toward mending fences after a period of tension and in the face of rising protectionist threats.
According to two Japanese press reports, travel agencies in China have been informed that policy might be adjusted to once again allow for 15-day visa-free visits by Japanese nationals as early as the end of this month.
The privilege has been suspended since March 2020.
China and Japan have been working toward a thaw in relations and signaling the possibility of a resumption of the visa waiver program.
Former Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai pressed Beijing on this issue when he visited China in August. Keizai Doyukai Chairman Takeshi Niinami, who is also the CEO of Suntory, urged Chinese Vice President Han Zheng to reinstate the policy during a meeting between the two earlier this month in Beijing.
During the first meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese President Xi Jinping, held on Friday, Xi told Ishiba that the two countries should “deepen and expand people-to-people exchange” — a statement that was missing from his meeting last year with Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry readouts.
“We have repeatedly urged the Chinese side at various levels to promptly resume the visa exemption measures and will continue to call for their early resumption moving forward,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Monday, although he declined to confirm whether Ishiba had pressed Xi on this issue during their meeting.
In a white paper issued this year, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China called the current visa requirement “an obstacle to the smooth traffic and business promotion” between the two countries. It strongly supported the reinstatement of the visa-waiver program as soon as possible.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that it will “intensively look into” requests for visa-free travel to be resumed, and that it hopes Japan can work “in the same direction” to make travel between the two countries easier.
They want Japan to play ball.
**
From the most "transparent" government in the country's history:
Justice Marie-Josee Hogue made the decision in a written ruling dated Wednesday now posted on the commission’s website.
Her ruling, obtained by Global News, grants two witnesses — “Person B and Person C” — the right to testify by secret affidavits that will not be disclosed to the public or inquiry participants.
Hogue also issued a simultaneous order to seal their affidavits from the public for 99 years, after commission materials are deposited at the National Archives of Canada when the inquiry ends.
**
The Conservative Party yesterday in its final submission to the China inquiry questioned why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau twice approved a Liberal nomination for MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) despite learning he was under security surveillance. Political aides vetoed Dong’s appointment to a committee on China relations but permitted him to attend four years’ worth of secret Liberal caucus meetings: “Liberals knew.”**
Sucking up to Trump will get you nowhere:
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland thinks China could be the tie that binds the new Trump White House and the Liberal government.
No one in his Cabinet likes you.
**
But there are no guns, right?:
Dozens of people have been killed in China in the past three months in a series of mass attacks. The latest on Tuesday saw primary school students injured by a car as they arrived for classes.The attacks take one of two forms — either drivers mowing down people on foot or knife-wielding assailants stabbing multiple victims. Guns are strictly restricted in China and gun attacks are rare.The attackers appear to be taking out their anger and frustration over a personal issue, according to police reports. The victims are often unknown to them.Such attacks are not new in China and have targeted kindergartens and other schools in the past. The recent surge has gotten the attention of authorities and the public. Here is a look at some of the recent events. ...A small white SUV struck students arriving for class at Yong’an Elementary School in Changde, an inland city in China’s Hunan province. Several adults also were injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.Security guards and parents subdued the driver, Xinhua said. Authorities later issued a a brief statement saying the 39-year-old driver had been detained. Few details have been confirmed yet about the incident. ...Eight people were killed and 17 others injured in a knife attack at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing city, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Shanghai in eastern China.Police detained a 21-year old student. They said he had failed his examinations and could not graduate and was dissatisfied with his pay at an internship. He decided to vent his frustrations via the attack, a police statement said. ...A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement rammed his car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in Zhuhai city in southern China, killing 35 and injuring 43 others.Police detained the 62-year-old man, who they said was in his car attempting to stab himself with a knife. He later fell unconscious from neck and other wounds. They said the man was dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce.
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