@krislc@IndexCensorship@thecfhk They just poisoned the DNS at the ISP level and it’s easy to circumvent though. But Hong Kong now is truly China. Well done Commmies.
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New @USAinHKMacau notice confirms a major escalation in #HongKong. Refusing to hand over passwords or unlock devices can now be treated as a crime, even for travelers in transit.
Authorities can seize and hold phones and laptops on vague “national security” grounds. This puts businesses, journalists, and ordinary travelers at real risk.
Many Americans ask me: what good are lawyers in China when there's no rule of law?
The answer: still enormously important.
Yes, the absence of rule of law severely constrains outcomes. But Chinese lawyers still limit the worst impulses of the state. They are often the only lifeline between wrongfully detained people and their families. And they provide the only independent information that escapes prison walls in many cases.
They do all of this at tremendous personal risk.
The CCP still wants to appear lawful to its own people—but it also can't restrain its totalitarian instincts. When those two things collide, it's the lawyers who pay the price. The state makes a mockery of its own laws, and then goes after the people who dared to invoke them.
That is happening right now to the lawyers of Zion Church—my father-in-law's congregation.
Please pray for them and their families.
Thank you to @BrianSpegele of @WSJ for getting the word out.
STATEMENT: Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong President Mark Clifford responds to the outrageous arrest of an independent #HongKong bookseller and his staff on suspicion of selling seditious materials, namely his #JimmyLai biography, "The Troublemaker."
🗞️https://t.co/92AExG7k2M
🚨BREAKING🚨
In response to #HongKong independent bookseller Pong Yat-ming and three of his Book Punch staff reportedly being arrested on suspicion of selling seditious titles, including @thecfhk President @MarkLClifford's biography of #JimmyLai "The Troublemaker" (@_Troublemak3r_), Mark Clifford said:
"It is a cruel irony that selling a biography of a man who is in jail for his activities as a journalist, for promoting free expression, would lead to sedition charges.
"It shows how far Hong Kong has fallen from its tradition of free expression and free speech that providing a book could be considered a national security offense.
"My work has been attacked in the pro-Beijing press and implicit threats made against bookstores that sold it, so this is not an aberration, but part of a continuing crackdown.
"Even from the government standpoint, it’s hard to see what good can come out of criminalizing even the minor liberty of retailing a book in a place that still wants to be taken seriously as a global financial center.
"The arrests are a breach of China's promises to Hong Kong's people that freedom would continue after the end of British colonialism, when 'Hong Kong people would rule Hong Kong.'
"Finally, my sympathies go to the brave owner and staff of Book Punch, the Sham Shui Po bookstore that sold 'The Troublemaker.'
"Authorities have subjected Book Punch to repeated harassment simply for daring to host events and sell books that keep the spirit of free thought and critical thinking alive.
"Freedom is in the DNA of the Hong Kong people. Continuing arrests will not destroy Hong Kong's quest for freedom. Someday, Hong Kong people will achieve what China promised them four decades ago, as it prepared to take control of the former British colony, and become 'masters of their own house.'"
#FreeJimmyLai
https://t.co/9Enh1ot6Eq
📺 On the eve of the #YearoftheHorse, our 🇬🇧 Patron and #HongKong’s last Governor Lord Patten thinks of Hong Kongers everywhere, and wishes everyone a peaceful and happy #LunarNewYear 🧧
https://t.co/T2fnYhZzZV
Appalling: the South China Morning Post, formerly the most respected newspaper in Hong Kong, thinks that the Jimmy Lai trial "shows Hong Kong's rule of law remains robust."
Today, my father was convicted simply for being my father.
This is how the Hong Kong government retaliates against me and my pro-democracy advocacy. This is hostage taking. This is transnational repression.
I can’t imagine the weight @AnnaKwokFY has carried through this fabricated prosecution.
No one should be punished for who their family is. Targeting our loved ones is a clear act of intimidation, but it won’t silence our fight for freedom.
Standing with Anna & her family.
Jimmy Lai is a hero who has risked everything in the fight for a free Hong Kong.
His conviction in this sham trial tells you everything you need to know about Xi Jinping's tyranny, and his fear of anyone who stands up for what is right.
https://t.co/inZPZ5Cyxd
Jimmy Lai, a 78-year-old man, was convicted by the Chinese Communist Party for standing up for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.
The British government must ensure his release.
Free Jimmy Lai.
Six years ago, November was one of the most intense phases of the 2019 #HongKong mass protests: Police laid siege to 2 universities, arrested >1,000 & injured hundreds. The pro-democracy movement won a landslide victory in what would prove to be HK’s last free & fair elections.