China is erasing its border with Hong Kong

[Swordsmyth]

In the years since the handover, Beijing has been respectful of Hong Kong's economic power and unique way of life - particularly freedom of expression and legal independence.
The demonstrators took the streets due to what they consider an attempt to undermine that way of life. And, as Statista's Niall McCarthy notes, in the years after the handover, the share of people in Hong Kong identifying as Chinese increased, reaching 38.6 percent in 2008.
Dissatisfaction with Beijing's policies towards Hong Kong has seen that share decline significantly in recent years and it stands at just 10.8 percent today, according to the most recent polling from Hong Kong University.

​

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-09-03/fewer-people-hong-kong-tend-identify-chinese

 

[Swordsmyth]

After lots of growling from Beijing about how the communist regime wouldn't "sit on its hands" over the massive protests disrupting Hong Kong, and new threats to "show no mercy" to the protesters, the Chicoms have folded.

Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed puppet leader, Carrie Lam, has withdrawn the extradition bill that triggered the protests, the one that permitted Beijing to freely snatch back anyone who displeases Red China to face what passes for "justice" in the communist dictatorship.
According to the New York Times:

HONG KONG — Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive, said Wednesday that the government would withdraw a contentious extradition bill that ignited months of protests in the city, moving to quell the worst political crisis since the former British colony returned to Chinese control 22 years ago.
The move eliminates a major objection among protesters, but it was unclear if it would be enough to bring an end to intensifying demonstrations, which are now driven by multiple grievances with the government.
"Incidents over these past two months have shocked and saddened Hong Kong people," she said in an eight-minute televised statement broadcast shortly before 6 p.m. "We are all very anxious about Hong Kong, our home. We all hope to find a way out of the current impasse and unsettling times."
Her decision comes as the protests near their three-month mark and show little sign of abating, roiling a city known for its orderliness and hurting its economy.
​

It is a striking concession from Beijing. But it's probably too little, too late.
The protests that have engulfed Hong Kong have morphed into cries for full democracy, something that has to be Beijing's worst nightmare. As Austin Bay, citing the reporting of Michael Yon on the ground in Hong Kong, has noted., the protests have moved well into the realm of civil unrest. Anecdotally, the whole world has seen how they have featured American flags, the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner, and signs calling for a Second Amendment. Young Hong Kong leaders have turned up in Taiwan with talks about taking in refugees now. Even leftists in the states have started scolding each other for not taking a more assertive stance on standing up for the Hong Kongers.
There's a feeling a Rubicon has been crossed, a bridge has been burned.
The other thing worth noting in this is that Beijing's nightmare is far from over. The protests not only have engulfed Hong Kong, but are actually no longer about Hong Kong. Chinese citizens have been caught sneaking over the border into Hong Kong for no other reason than to join the protests. The impact of the protests has already spread — far into the Chinese interior and into Taiwan.
Gordon Chang, that most astute of Hong Kong observers, notes this:

Lam's formal withdrawal of the extradition bill will not placate #HongKong, but it could embolden people in #China to act on their own grievances. #XiJinping should now expect things to go badly for him everywhere. https://t.co/umg2k1Zni0

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) September 4, 2019​

A genie seems to be out of the bottle. Beijing is going to have a hard time putting it back in.



https://www.americanthinker.com/blo...n_law_but_the_genie_is_out_of_the_bottle.html

 

[Origanalist]

After lots of growling from Beijing about how the communist regime wouldn't "sit on its hands" over the massive protests disrupting Hong Kong, and new threats to "show no mercy" to the protesters, the Chicoms have folded.

Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed puppet leader, Carrie Lam, has withdrawn the extradition bill that triggered the protests, the one that permitted Beijing to freely snatch back anyone who displeases Red China to face what passes for "justice" in the communist dictatorship.
According to the New York Times:

HONG KONG — Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive, said Wednesday that the government would withdraw a contentious extradition bill that ignited months of protests in the city, moving to quell the worst political crisis since the former British colony returned to Chinese control 22 years ago.
The move eliminates a major objection among protesters, but it was unclear if it would be enough to bring an end to intensifying demonstrations, which are now driven by multiple grievances with the government.
"Incidents over these past two months have shocked and saddened Hong Kong people," she said in an eight-minute televised statement broadcast shortly before 6 p.m. "We are all very anxious about Hong Kong, our home. We all hope to find a way out of the current impasse and unsettling times."
Her decision comes as the protests near their three-month mark and show little sign of abating, roiling a city known for its orderliness and hurting its economy.
​

It is a striking concession from Beijing. But it's probably too little, too late.
The protests that have engulfed Hong Kong have morphed into cries for full democracy, something that has to be Beijing's worst nightmare. As Austin Bay, citing the reporting of Michael Yon on the ground in Hong Kong, has noted., the protests have moved well into the realm of civil unrest. Anecdotally, the whole world has seen how they have featured American flags, the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner, and signs calling for a Second Amendment. Young Hong Kong leaders have turned up in Taiwan with talks about taking in refugees now. Even leftists in the states have started scolding each other for not taking a more assertive stance on standing up for the Hong Kongers.
There's a feeling a Rubicon has been crossed, a bridge has been burned.
The other thing worth noting in this is that Beijing's nightmare is far from over. The protests not only have engulfed Hong Kong, but are actually no longer about Hong Kong. Chinese citizens have been caught sneaking over the border into Hong Kong for no other reason than to join the protests. The impact of the protests has already spread — far into the Chinese interior and into Taiwan.
Gordon Chang, that most astute of Hong Kong observers, notes this:

Lam's formal withdrawal of the extradition bill will not placate #HongKong, but it could embolden people in #China to act on their own grievances. #XiJinping should now expect things to go badly for him everywhere. https://t.co/umg2k1Zni0

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) September 4, 2019​

A genie seems to be out of the bottle. Beijing is going to have a hard time putting it back in.



https://www.americanthinker.com/blo...n_law_but_the_genie_is_out_of_the_bottle.html

Interesting times, I don't we will see a Soviet Union style collapse, but who know where all this might lead?

 

[Swordsmyth]

Interesting times, I don't we will see a Soviet Union style collapse, but who know where all this might lead?

I think we will see an economic collapse followed by a massive many sided civil war, that has been China's pattern throughout history.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Economists are downgrading their forecasts for economic growth in China again, to below a level seen as necessary for the Communist Party to meet its own goals in time for its centenary in 2021.
Oxford Economics, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Bloomberg Economics on Tuesday all cut their forecasts for gross domestic product growth in 2020 to below 6% as a result of increasing risks from the tariff war with the U.S. UBS Group AG also cut their estimate on Tuesday, although they’ve been estimating sub-6% expansion since mid-August. In addition, Bank of America’s Helen Qiao and others are warning that the government’s current approach to stimulus is proving insufficient.
China is refraining from cutting benchmark policy rates or pumping large volumes of cash into the economy even as growth slows to the weakest in almost three decades and the tariff escalation in August adds further headwinds. That’s endangering President Xi Jinping’s ability to claim China has reached a “moderately prosperous society” that has doubled 2010 GDP by next year, as a rate above 6% in 2019 and 2020 would be needed.


Demand for credit has been weak, and while targeted policy easing since late last year has helped moderate the slowdown, the impact has been small, according to a report by Louis Kuijs, chief Asia economist at Oxford Economics in Hong Kong. With all the issues facing China, “more policy easing is needed to convincingly stabilize economic growth,” Kuijs said.

China’s economic growth will likely slow to 5.7% in the last quarter of 2019 and remain broadly at that pace in 2020, Kuijs said. Output growth softened to 6.2% in the second quarter from a year earlier, close to the lower bound of the government’s full-year target of between 6% and 6.5%. Earliest indicators compiled by Bloomberg showed the economy slowed further in August.


Bank of America’s chief Greater China economist Helen Qiao said their 2020 forecast has been cut to 5.7% from 6.0%, and warned of the risk that policy makers are falling behind the curve on support to the economy.
“The key reason for delayed policy response is policy agencies are waiting for the instruction from top decision makers to shift policy stance towards easing,” Qiao wrote in a note.

UBS Group AG sees stimulus coming in the form of more monetary easing, but expects policy makers to refrain from boosting the property market unless there’s a significant downturn. Wang Tao, chief China economist, now sees growth of 5.5% in 2020, after cutting the growth forecast on Tuesday from 5.8%. That’s the second time they’ve lowered in less than a month, down from 6.1% in early August.
How much leeway the central bank has in terms of policy easing is questionable, however, as additional tariffs on import products and domestic supply shocks will fuel inflation pressure with the yuan weakening 3.9% since August. Analysts including Citic Securities Co.’s Ming Ming said consumer price growth could breach the government target of 3% in the coming months.

More at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ill-grow-at-5-7-in-2020-oxford-economics-says

 

[dannno]

 

[Swordsmyth]

As the violence in Hong Kong escalates with every passing week, culminating on Friday with what was effectively the passage of martial law when the local government banned the wearing of masks at public assemblies, a colonial-era law that is meant to give the authorities a green light to finally crack down on protesters at will, one aspect of Hong Kong life seemed to be surprisingly stable: no, not the local economy, as HK retail sales just suffered their biggest drop on record as the continuing violent protests halt most if not all commerce:

We are talking about the local banks, which have been remarkably resilient in the face of the continued mass protests and the ever rising threat of violent Chinese retaliation which could destroy Hong Kong's status as the financial capital of the Pacific Rim in a heart beat, and crush the local banking system. In short: despite the perfect conditions for a bank run, the locals continued to behave as if they had not a care in the world.
Only that is now changing, because one day after a junior JPMorgan banker was beaten in broad daylight by the protest mob, a SCMP report confirms that the social upheaval has finally spilled over into the financial world: according to the HK publication, the local central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, was forced to issue a statement warning against a "malicious attempt to cause panic among the public" after rumors were spread online about the possibility of the government using emergency powers to impose foreign-exchange controls.

​

And while the de facto central bank stressed that the banking system remained robust and well positioned to withstand any market volatility, some of the statistics it provided gave a rather troubling impression: the monetary authority said that not only were more than 10% of 3,300 ATMs damaged and could not function, but that banks were negotiating with logistics firms to refill cash machines as 5% of them had run out of money, adding that banknote delivery was affected by the closure of shopping malls and MTR stations.

Will this be enough to prevent a bank run on the remaining ATMs? The answer will largely depend on what happens in the next 24-48 hours in Hong Kong, although the signs are grim.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopoliti...central-bank-steps-prevent-panic-among-public

 

[tebowlives]

Watching a good 60 Minutes video showing people from Hong Kong fighting government for their freedoms. They have more balls than most Americans.

 

[Swordsmyth]

U.K. lawmakers on Oct. 24 debated the escalating tensions in Hong Kong, and whether to give British nationality to residents of the former British colony. Dozens of young Hong Kong supporters watched the debate from the public gallery.

Lord Alton, who proposed the debate, says the U.K. should follow in the footsteps of the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed four bills, three of which related directly to Hong Kong.
“What those laws do, if the autonomy in Hong Kong, the two systems in one country, go on being eroded, Hong Kong will lose its special economic status, there will be implications for some of the individuals,” Alton said. “Should the U.K. do the same, yes we should.”
He is calling for an international push to provide second citizenship, as an insura.nce policy, for all Hong Kong residents. This initiative garnered support from over 170 members of both Houses of Parliament last month.
While Thursday’s debate didn’t have a formal vote, the U.K. Human Rights Minister Tariq Ahmad was there to respond.
“The Government share the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and indeed of all noble Lords, about the situation, in particular, the violent clashes between protestors and the police,” Lord Ahmad said.

More at: https://www.ntd.com/uk-lawmakers-debate-granting-hong-kongers-citizenship_397299.html

 

[Pauls' Revere]

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-military-prepare-for-combat-npc-hong-kong-taiwan-2020-5

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged his army to increase its preparedness for "armed combat" as protests in Hong Kong ramp up over a proposed new law that would effectively strip away the city's autonomy.

Xi on Tuesday told Chinese military officers on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (NPC) — an annual weeklong gathering of China's top legislative bodies — that the military must "explore ways of training and preparing for war" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The new proposal to target secession, subversion, and foreign interference in Hong Kong, is expected to be passed Thursday at the NPC.

The head of China's garrison in Hong Kong, Chen Daoxiang, also vowed on Tuesday that the military outpost would protect China's national security interests and would "act with firm resolve" to implement China's plans for the city.

The aggressive move by China has prompted thousands to take to the streets in Hong Kong over the weekend, resulting in police officers firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray onto crowds that gathered at the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Taiwan's recently reelected President Tsai Ing-Wen has asked her government to draw up a "humanitarian assistance" plan for Hong Kongers as the US moves to strip the island of its "special status" after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined that the territory is no longer functionally independent from Beijing.
Tsai previewed the decision in a tweet sent earlier.

Today I asked the Executive Yuan to draw up a humanitarian assistance action plan for #HongKong citizens that lays out clear, complete plans for their residence, placement, employment, & life in #Taiwan as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/XYBTe89WyD
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) May 27, 2020​

​

According to Tsai, whose remarks were reported by the SCMP, she asked her government to form an ad hoc committee to work out a humanitarian action plan for Hong Kong people.
Under the plan, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, its top policy body for all issues pertaining to relations with the mainland, will establish a concrete plan for the administration to help Hongkongers "live, relocate and work in Taiwan," Tsai said.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopoliti...itarian-assistance-plan-resettle-hong-kongers

 

[Pauls' Revere]

Update:

https://news.trust.org/item/20200630174037-qbqui

HONG KONG/BEIJING, July 1 (Reuters) - Beijing on Tuesday unveiled new national security laws for Hong Kong that will punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, heralding a more authoritarian era for China's freest city.

As the law came into force, authorities were set to throw a security blanket across the heart of the city's financial centre on Wednesday after activists vowed to defy a police ban and rally against the measures.

Local media said up to 4,000 officers would be deployed to stamp out any protests.

China's parliament passed the detailed legislation earlier on Tuesday, giving Beijing sweeping powers and setting the stage for radical changes to the global financial hub's way of life.

Beijing had kept full details shrouded in secrecy, giving Hong Kong's 7.5 million people no time to digest the complex legislation before it entered into force at 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on June 30.

 

[Pauls' Revere]

How is Biden going to deal with this?

 

[Pauls' Revere]

The legislation pushes Beijing further along a collision course with the United States, Britain and other Western governments, which have said it erodes the high degree of autonomy the city was granted at its July 1, 1997, handover.

Britain and some two dozen Western countries urged China to reconsider the law, saying Beijing must preserve the right to assembly and free press.

"The United States will not stand idly by while China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

He said the United States would stand with the people of Hong Kong and "respond to Beijing's attacks on freedoms of speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the rule of law."

Washington, already in dispute with China over trade, the South China Sea and the coronavirus, began eliminating Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law on Monday, halting defence exports and restricting technology access.

China, which has rejected criticism of the law by Britain, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and others, said it would retaliate.

 

[Swordsmyth]

How is Biden going to deal with this?

Ask how much they are willing to pay him and what for.

 

[Pauls' Revere]

Pro Democracy Books are Banned.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/05/democracy-activists-books-unavailable-in-hong-kong-libraries.html

Books by prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures have become unavailable in the Chinese-ruled city’s public libraries as they are being reviewed to see whether they violate a new national security law, a government department said on Sunday.

The sweeping legislation, which came into force on Tuesday night at the same time its contents were published, punishes crimes related to secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with punishments of up to life in prison.

Hong Kong public libraries “will review whether certain books violate the stipulations of the National Security Law,” the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which runs the libraries, said in a statement.