For the upcoming @n3conference organized by @aaja at the end of August, I joined some of the best colleagues in #HongKong to reflect on our experience covering the #antiELAB protest last year. Here's the final piece by @BennettHMarcus:
"I’m given a reason to tear up on most protest days: Maybe I’m moved by the chorus of tens of thousands of voices singing the same song. Perhaps I’m angry at the abuse of power that I witness. Or I’m sad to see what’s become of my home," wrote @laurelchor.
"The past year has also shown me the power of storytelling, images, and journalism in being able to make people all over the world care about a place they might never visit. For those lessons, I’ll always be grateful," Laurel wrote.
"Walking down the row of black-clad people, I noticed a boy who was barely over age five. I almost missed him at first, his small body concealed by the adults around him. A backpack weighing down his tiny frame, he picked up what he could — ...
... handfuls of eye goggles, stacks of umbrellas almost as big as him, bottles of water and saline — and handed it down to the next person. Behind him, etched in black spray paint on the concrete road divider, was a refrain now common through the months of protests:...
'It was you who taught me that peaceful protests are useless,' wrote @ShibaniMahtani.
"The group, who were just standing outside the mosque in the hope that their presence would keep the highly symbolic landmark safe, was left retching, coughing and burning from the impact of the water. It turned out that it was the police they needed protecting from."
"Over the past year of covering Hong Kong’s protests, I’ve learned that I’m better off leaving the frantic frontline action to breaking-news reporters and photographers who are better geared up for the task....
... That leaves me time to focus on other parts of the protest, and to look at the events not just as a breaking news event but as a broader social movement reflecting an ongoing sociological phenomenon," wrote @maryhui.
"At one point, I noticed a team of six armed riot police officers — plus another who acted as a lookout — clearing a stray pushcart from the middle of a road. To me, that quiet moment crystalized the entire day of protest: it marked #HK’s descent into a de facto police state."
"It was another July 1st in Hong Kong, and as they had been doing for the last 22 years, Hong Kongers were preparing for the annual march that commemorates the anniversary of the city’s handover to China. What was different in 2019 was the tension and uncertainty in the air."
"Suddenly, news came that a large group of riot police was on the way to retake the Legislative building. As protesters began to wonder about their next moves, a young man took off his mask and recited the five demands of the crowd,...
... which later became the universal demands of the anti-government movement," I wrote.
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United States President Joe Biden on Friday (Dec 20) approved US$571.3 million in defence assistance for #Taiwan, the White House said, as the Democrat prepares to leave office ahead of the January inauguration of Donald Trump.
In a brief statement, the White House said Biden had authorised his secretary of state to "direct the drawdown of up to US$571.3 million in defence articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan".
The statement did not provide details of the military assistance package, which comes less than three months after a similar package worth US$567 million was authorised.
My latest: #China has sent officials to the Russian central bank to study the effects of Western sanctions for a better understanding of how it would be affected if it were to invade Taiwan.
Beijing had already set up a task force months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, which was tasked with producing reports about the impacts of Western sanctions on the Russian economy.
China is “very interested” in “practically everything” about the sanctions, including potentially positive effects on domestic production, a person with knowledge of the specialist task force told the Wall Street Journal.
A Beijing court sentenced veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu on Friday to seven years in prison for espionage, a family member told Reuters.
Former Guangming Daily editor and journalist Dong Yuyu, 62, was detained by police in Beijing in February 2022 while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat, according to a statement from the US National Press Club, and later charged with espionage.
There was a heavy police presence outside Beijing’s No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, with at least seven police cars parked nearby. Reuters journalists were asked to leave the area.
Australia and the Philippines said their militaries would conduct a joint maritime activity with Japan, New Zealand and the United States in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, which covers one of Asia's most sensitive sites. channelnewsasia.com/asia/philippin…
"The Maritime Cooperative Activity demonstrates our collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Australia's Department of Defence said.
The joint exercise comes after a series of air and sea encounters between the Philippines and China, which have sparred over disputed areas of the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, one of Asia's most contested features.
My latest: As #China and Russia look to deepen cooperation in the Arctic, analysts cite concern about increasing geopolitical competition in the region, forcing countries to think more about how to respond to potential threats.
Following a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on August 21, China released an expansive communique outlining ways the two countries are boosting cooperation.
On the Arctic, Beijing and Moscow pledged to strengthen cooperation in areas including shipping development, navigation safety, polar ship technology and construction.
The EU is expected to notify #China that it will impose tariffs on electric vehicle imports this week, firing the starting gun on a potential summer trade war with Beijing. theguardian.com/business/artic…
A formal pre-disclosure of tariffs could happen as early as Wednesday, after a lengthy investigation into China’s state subsidies for its car manufacturing, which is predicted to conclude that massive support continues to be concentrated on the EV sector.
Chinese manufacturers are already bracing themselves for new import duties, but experts anticipate that Beijing will retaliate with countermeasures that could hit a range of EU exports to the country, ranging from cognac to dairy products.