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A Cartoon That Moved Many People to Tears

The Hong Kong people sent a major message to Beijing in the district council election on November 24, 2019. The election saw an unprecedented turnout (71 pecent of eligible voters showed up). The number of people voting has tripled the number of pro-democrats from 124 seats to 388 seats while the number of those who are pro-Beijing parties and independents shrank to only 62 seats, a drop of 242 seats.

A Taiwanese cartoonist, whose Facebook account is SXTbit, posted a cartoon about the vote. The cartoon has moved many people into tears. The following is the cartoon and the translation:

A Hong Kong mother knocked on the door of her daughter’s room: “Sweetheart, mommy’s coming in now!”

 

Holding a wipe in her hand, mother said, “Mommy went out to vote yesterday!”

 

While cleaning the desk, mother continued, “You always asked us to go out to vote. This time I also dragged your dad to go along!” “The line was really long!”

 

Sitting on her daughter’s bed, mother kept talking, “I voted for the young candidate whom you asked me to vote for!” “You know what? This time in our Wong Tai Sin District, the pro-Beijing camp didn’t win any seat at all!”

 

The scene zoomed out. In an empty room, the mother sat on her daughter’s bed and said with great mourning in her heart, “If you could hear this, would that give you a bit more comfort…”

Note: A poster on the wall said, “Five key demands, not one less!” Another one said “Support Hong Kong!”

Source: Facebook, November 24, 2019

[English]"Sweetheart, mummy's coming in now!"

Posted by SXTbit on Sunday, November 24, 2019

 

 

To Block Falun Gong Cases, Local Justice Officials Threaten Lawyers’ Parents

On November 25, Lu Tingge, a human rights lawyer in China’s Hebei province, filed a complaint with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Commission for Discipline Inspection of Shijiazhuan city, capital of Hebei, and the city government’s Supervisory Commission. The complaint stated that in August of 2019, two senior officials of the Justice Bureau of the Shijiazhuang City government visited Lu’s parents, carrying two barrels of cooking oil as a gift. Claiming themselves to be Lu’s superiors and colleagues, the officials threatened Lu’s parents with serious consequences if he continued representing Falun Gong cases.

Lu Tingge believes that such a visit constituted a serious infringement on his rights and those of his family and also violated the CCP’s own discipline. In the light of their suspected use of public power for private use, misappropriation of funds and property intended for poverty alleviation, and their violation of citizens’ rights, they should be subject to a serious investigation.

Lu said, “First, their attempt to restrict me from representing Falun Gong cases by itself is illegal; Second, they should have come to me if it’s about my practice, instead of harassing my family. My practice of law has nothing to do with my family. . . . Third, they actually did this in the name of poverty alleviation. This represents a suspected misappropriation of poverty alleviation funds.”

Sui Muqing, a Guangdong based human rights lawyer whose license has been suspended for representing sensitive cases, told Radio Free Asia that, in recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has cracked down severely on human rights lawyers  and the Justice Bureaus have played the role of hatchet man. Sui said that on the surface China’s judicial bureaus protect lawyers when, in fact, their role is to monitor and control lawyers and make sure the lawyers follow the Party and the government.

Lu Tingge is a well-known human rights lawyer. In early March this year, the authorities took Lu away for half a month after he proposed a constitutional amendment. He was also one of the defenders of the Beijing-based human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, who was arrested for proposing a constitutional amendment.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 26, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/cn-Hebei-11262019104408.html

Huanqiu Attributes the Results of the Hong Kong Election to Influence from Western Countries

A November 26 editorial from China’s State media, Huanqiu (Global Times) attempted to attribute the results of the November 24 Hong Kong District Council election to the influence of Western countries.

“In the past week, some Western forces have worked at full steam to assist the Hong Kong opposition in the District Council elections. The Australian media suddenly revealed that ‘an agent who committed infiltration in Hong Kong surrendered’ (the man was a scammer). Also a former employee of the British Consulate General in Hong Kong who was arrested three months ago in the Mainland precipitously claimed to the BBC that he had been ‘tortured’ while in the Mainland. These factors have influenced public opinion in Hong Kong. In addition, the U.S. Congress expeditiously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. All of these targeted the District Council elections.”

“The Western forces and the radical forces in Hong Kong wanted to turn the elections into a political demonstration and deny that stopping the violence and ending the riots is the most urgent task facing Hong Kong at present.”

“It is inconceivable and completely impossible that most people in Hong Kong support violence, support the formation of a political confrontation in Hong Kong, and support Hong Kong in becoming a bridgehead for some American political forces to exert pressure on China. The reason is that this would severely damage everyone’s interests and push Hong Kong into great uncertainty.”

“A number of forces in Hong Kong, including the opposition, must compete for influence within the existing establishment. No one should follow the wicked path of street politics.”

Source: Huanqiu, November 26, 2019
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnKnYqd

CCP Issues Guidelines for Patriotic Education

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and the State Council have published new guidelines titled, “Outline for Promoting Patriotic Education for the New Era”.

The guidelines state that patriotic education in the new era should be guided by “Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of the Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”

The guidelines define patriotism as not just a love of the country but also of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and its official political ideology. “Adhere to the unity of love of the [Communist] Party, the country and socialism. The new China is a socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The fate of the motherland is inseparable from the destiny of the Party and the destiny of socialism. In contemporary China, the essence of patriotism is to maintain a high degree of unity of patriotism and love for the Party and socialism.”

Source: Xinhua, November 12, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2019-11/12/c_1125223796.htm

Malaysia Chinese Newspaper Follows Directives from the CCP

The Central News Agency of Taiwan reported that See Hua Daily News, the largest Chinese language newspaper in Eastern Malaysia, was receiving directives from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

An internal directive from the See Hua Daily News stated that, per a request from the Chinese Consulate in Malaysia, because Taiwan and Hong Kong are China’s territories, news reports and their titles from now on should avoid listing “China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan” in parallel. If these three regions need to be mentioned together, it should be written as “China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong).” The directive was signed by the newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief, Chia Chew Boon.

People criticized the CCP’s interference in Malaysia’s internal affairs.

A high-ranking person from one of See Hua’s sister media companies confirmed that the directive was true, but said the owner didn’t know about it. After it was reported, the owner ordered a withdrawal from the directive.

That person also revealed that the Chinese consulate staff members frequently have meals with the top managers of the Chinese language newspaper in Malaysia and continuously express what direction and position the CCP wants that media to hold. Especially after the Hong Kong protest, the CCP wants Malaysian reports to be close to the CCP’s position.

Source: Central News Agency, November 17, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/201911170002.aspx

CCP’s Informant Culture Has Penetrated Hong Kong

A senior lecturer in journalism at the Hong Kong Baptist University expressed that the informant culture that exists in Mainland universities, where students report teachers to the Communist Party, has been spreading fast in Hong Kong, particularly since the Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement (OCLP) started in Hong Kong.

One indication is that the management in Hong Kong universities engages their counterparts from the Mainland universities. Those with close ties to the CCP are appointed to senior management positions in the Hong Kong universities. The intention is to control promotions in Hong Kong universities and thus see that they fall in line with the CCP.

Another indication is that students coming from the Mainland monitor lecturers in the Hong Kong universities. These students from the Mainland suddenly show interest in a lecturer and shower him with a lot of questions. They show an obvious increase in curiosity,  much more than normal students. Some even tape every class. Others have stated without hesitation that they are tasked with reporting regularly to the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government (LOCP). There are a few who are made to do so and have no choice. Such students handle LOCP in a perfunctory manner.

While academic or research organizations recruit these informant-students, it is the CCP security departments that control these organizations. Often the informants are required to write reports for the CCP’s internal dissemination. On some occasions, they simply turn in the recorded tapes. Students join in because of the good pay as well as their belief that such activities serve the interest of the country. For that reason, they don’t think it is wrong to be an informant for the CCP.

Source: Epoch Times, November 21, 2019CCP security departments
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/11/21/n11670500.htm

New York University Shanghai Reportedly Teaches Pro-Government Propaganda Course

New York University Shanghai has disclosed that, since 2018, its students of Chinese citizenship have been forced to take a “civic education” course which covers the history of the Communist Party and China’s socialist path. According to the school, the course was opened at the request of the Chinese government and non-Chinese students are not required to take it.

The website of the U.S. online media VICE posted the syllabus of the course, titled “Marxism: Dissemination, Practice and Development.” It is an eight day, Chinese-speaking course running daily from 8:30 am to 5:15 pm. The course will not appear in the university’s public course catalog and the school will register students through WeChat. It includes a visit to the Longhua Martyrs’ Cemetery in Shanghai, commemorating the sacrifice of the “martyrs” in the Communist revolution. There is also a movie screening on the “development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

The school claimed that professors from NYU do not teach this course. It has been offered during the winter break and will not interfere with the students’ usual courses at NYU, nor will it affect academic freedom.

In recent years, Beijing has intensified its efforts to promote patriotic education, with an emphasis on fostering loyalty to the Communist Party among young people. In recent months, with the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, the political atmosphere of Chinese universities and colleges has become tense. It has been reported that the Chinese government has mobilized students to monitor and report “radical” political views. Some teachers have been dismissed or subjected to discipline for expressing views not in line with the Communist ideology.

Source: Radio France International, November 22, 2019
http://rfi.my/4wpE.T

A Canadian CSSA Lost Its Student Club Status for Reporting to Chinese Consulate

The Chinese Student & Scholar Association (CSSA) of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada was decertified and its club status was removed because it was monitoring college activities and sending information to the Chinese government.

On February 11, 2019, the university held a forum to support the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The CSSA, along with another four student associations, called that meeting an “anti-China lecture” and reported it to China’s Consulate in Toronto, CA.

Deutsche Welle obtained the Chinese students’ communication from WeChat, including their reporting to the Chinese Consulate and passing down the Consulate’s direction.

The WeChat records showed some students sent the forum’s video to China’s Consulate, some students went to the forum to create a disturbance, and some posted and sent a threatening request in order to find out the name of the son of the speaker at the forum.

The Chinese Consulate responded by asking Chinese students at McMaster University to report the case to their CSSA.

The student representative assembly at the university decertified the CSSA in September for a full calendar year, during which it will be denied club privileges such as being able to book a room and access to student union funding.

None of four other student associations that signed the February statement has faced disciplinary action. One of them testified in writing that it had signed the statement at the invitation of the CSSA’s then-president.

The CSSA filed an appeal. The university’s student union government rejected the appeal on November 3. It also passed a motion to oppose the CCP or the CSSA for trying to “directly or indirectly intervene in college political activities.”

Source: Epoch Times, November 5, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/11/5/n11635793.htm