Family members of the 12 #HongKong people detained in Shenzhen held a presser. One mom said she hired a Chinese lawyer to follow up on the case and she emphasized that her son won’t appoint his own lawyer. She doesn’t understand why the Chinese government ...
... wanted to appoint lawyers for his son and she worried for his well-being and safety. She kept thinking about him day and night, wondering if he is still alive. Other family members cried after she finished.
Another family member said the Chinese lawyers they hired experienced all kinds of pressure. The family members called to relevant authorities in #China to follow up and they asked the lawyers to follow up too. However, the detention center rejected all the reasonable requests ..
... made by the family members and the lawyers. The family members hope the Chinese government can directly respond to inquiries about the 12 Hong Kongers and stop letting their family members and people in Hong Kong wonder about their situations.
While there are ways to supposedly arrange the Chinese lawyers or family members to meet the detainees, relevant authorities have used all kinds of excuses to turn them down.
One detainee’s brother said his brother has asthma and he usually takes good care of himself. However, since the level of air pollution is more serious in Shenzhen, they worry that his brother’s asthma might have gotten worse. They think he needs to take medication ASAP.
They submitted relevant requests before but the Chinese police told them that they can’t process their requests. The detainee’s mom said she worried about her son’s wellbeing and whether his asthma has gotten worse. She kept crying.
Pro-democracy legislator Eddie Chu said he hopes the #HongKong government can pay attention to this case and help to arrange meeting between the detainees and their lawyers or family members. He said at least the #HK government should confirm their situations.
Chu hopes #HongKong’s general public can pay attention to the physical and mental wellbeing of the 12 detainees and their family members. He said every step made by #Beijing is hurting the family members.
Someone shared another family member’s experience, saying the family member contacted the Chinese police in Shenzhen through #HongKong police and the government. But like other family members, the Chinese police claimed that since they couldn’t verify the identities of the ...
.. family members, they asked the family member to submit their requests through a Chinese lawyer. The person described the process as “being thrown between different parties” and said the #HongKong police is a mysterious department that can’t handle the case.
The brother of the detainee with asthma said the family’s life has been normal and he thinks the international community’s attention on this case is a good thing. But he hopes foreign governments can take concrete actions to help the case be properly addressed.
Ms. Li said even if she tried to publicly prove her relationship to her son through the process in #China, she still won’t be allowed to meet him. But if there is any possibility to facilitate a meeting, family members will try anything they can.
Family members said they could go to #China on their own and they hope the #HongKong government will stop neglecting the case. They said at least they should give some updates about the case but until today, the government had said nothing.
Another one said she has been having nightmares since her son was arrested and after the Chinese human rights lawyers were harassed, she became rather hopeless about the prospect of the case. She hopes #HongKong government will show some positive attitude.
The notification indicated that the 12 detainees were charged under organizing illegal border crossing and they can face jail sentence from 7 years to life imprisonment.
Ms. Deng said they are all #HongKong people and they should come back to #HK. She said the Hong Kong Government “just doesn’t care.” According to the #NSL, the 12 might face trials in #China, where the legal system is very different from #HK.
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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.
My latest: Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun Sunday issued a stern warning on Taiwan and the South China Sea at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. voanews.com/a/china-warns-…
During his 40-minute-long keynote speech, Dong accused Taiwan’s government under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which favors highlighting Taiwan’s sovereignty, of "pursuing separation [from China] in an incremental way" …
… while external forces continue to sell arms to Taiwan and maintain "illegal" official contacts with Taiwan.
Thread: Following U.S. Secretary of Defense @SecDef's speech at #SDL24, the People's Liberation Army held a presser to hit back against the speech, criticizing Washington's stance on a range of issues including #Taiwan, South China Sea and the Middle East conflict:
“The real purpose [of The U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy] is to merge a small circle into the big circle of NATO, that is, an Asia-Pacific version of NATO, to maintain the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy.
[It] is a political rhetoric that sounds good but does no good. It builds exclusive clubs with the cold war mentality and zero-sum mindset in the name of advancing regional cooperation.”
My latest: #Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has passed a set of legal amendments granting lawmakers greater investigative power to scrutinize the government under President Lai Ching-te, who took office on May 20. voanews.com/amp/taiwan-s-p…
Despite days of protests that have attracted hundreds of thousands of people since May 17, the two opposition parties, the China-friendly Kuomintang, or KMT, and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP, …
… used their combined majority to push through the deal on Tuesday. The bills still require the president’s signature to become law.
My latest: Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded his two-day trip to #China Friday after Beijing and Moscow signed a joint statement and vowed to cooperate against “destructive and hostile” pressure from Washington. voanews.com/a/china-and-ru…
During meetings between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Russian president said Moscow is willing to work with Beijing and other global south countries toward “a multipolar world,” ...
... while Xi said the two countries are committed to steering global governance “in the right direction.”