A COMMENT ON THIS THREAD OF NEWS REPORTS:
Having myself experienced #CCP interference directly in various ways, including very senior Chinese diplomats lobbying MPs on several occasions to ask them to tell m to shut up, I am not the least surprised by the news breaking today/
My only surprise is that it took so long to wake up to #CCP infiltration and influence operations. But better late than never.
This should be taken very seriously, by all political parties, & action taken to prevent further or future #CCP influence, infiltration or intimidation.
Without doubt she is not the only one. Indeed, I can think of several others I have come across who need to be investigated by MI5.
THREAD: Some reflections on @ReginaIplau very kind tribute to my work & that of @hk_watch, which is much appreciated
However:
1. I was denied entry to #HongKong by #CCP in Oct 2017. So if she wants to draw parallels between me & #ChristineLee, perhaps UK should expel Ms Lee? /
2. The parallel, however, is ridiculous. I do not live in #HongKong, I have not influenced anyone in #HK, I have not donated any money to anyone in HK. I have merely expressed opinions & conducted advocacy in support of the wishes of #HongKongers.
In contrast to Ms Lee/
3. Ms Lee has allegedly donated funds to political parties in UK, gained access to Parliament, and, it seems, may have spied and lied on behalf of the #CCP
I have never even visited Legco in #HongKong (I went to old Legco when I lived there from 1997-2002 but that's different)/
I had the privilege of meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and corresponding with him by email several times, especially about #Myanmar/#Burma, which he took a very deep interest in
He wrote the Foreword to my book, "Burma: A Nation At the Crossroads"
THREAD: After a beautiful day celebrating #Christmas in freedom & peace with my family, I received this truly heartbreaking and horrific news from #Myanmar/#Burma
"Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring; –
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!"
THREAD: I am writing this thread on "democratic values", because there is some profound misunderstanding & some utterly stupid wrongheaded thinking around which needs to be knocked on the head. Otherwise we're all in real trouble. /
Let me start which two principles:
1. Among us who defend "democratic values" around the world, NO ONE I know wishes to impose anything on anyone;
2. Supporting "democratic values" is NOT about dropping a Westminster-style Parliament or US Congress in the middle of the desert/
Instead, support for "democratic values" is about SUPPORT for those around the world who wish to live in freedom, with human dignity, without fear and with the chance to pursue their potential.
Note: it's about supporting those aspirations, NOT imposing them!/