#National Security Law

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Scott Scheffer

Just before the 1950-53 Korean War, the U.S. oversaw mass executions of political prisoners carried out by their comprador South Korean puppets. Many who were spared execution spent the rest of their days in prison, refusing to renounce their desire for socialism, liberation, and reunification with the North.

Japan’s National Security Law remains in place today. Arrests have continued. Those refusing to renounce their desire for reunification and socialism serve some of the world’s longest sentences for political prisoners.

[jovialbasementbouquetblr]

2024: MSS Warns PRC Experts Beware Foreign Intel Traps!

PRC experts working overseas are cautioned to avoid traps set by foreign intelligence agencies. Related translations: 2023: PRC Defense Worker Arrested Two Years Ago by MSS as US Spy 2022: Accused Japan-China Friendship “Spy” Hideji Suzuki Talks About His Torture and Imprisonment in China 2024: PRC Min State Security Chen Elaborates on Secretary Xi’s PRC National Security Concept 2023: Xi…

[aristeon89]

Hong Kong's Civic Party To Officially Dissolve Within Three Months

The Civic Party (公民黨), a pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong, held its last meeting today (December 23) as part of its voluntary liquidation process. The liquidator appointed by the party presented and explained the liquidation report to the members and announced that the remaining balance of NT$97,494.25 of the party’s funds had been donated to a local charity organisation. Alan Leong…

[hong-kong-art-man]

Rebound For Life Is What Happens When Other People Are Busy Crying And You Are Busy Making New Plans After A Catastrophe—Historical Devastations Which Have Almost Killed Hong Kong Since 1950s

Pete Seeger composed “Turn! Turn! Turn!” in 1959. He wrote

a time to be born, and a time to die

a time to plant, a time to reap

a time to kill, a time to heal

a time to laugh, a time to weep

to everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season (turn, turn, turn) and a time to every purpose, under heaven……

The vast devastations, political, economic and health hazards, in the history of Hong Kong did not destroy but raised us to greater heights of ability to survive. We can trace our proud ancestry through these past struggles. In fact, the devastations have made Hong Kong very different from other places in Asia and so a uniquely charming city gone down in history.

In our old days, there were 3 incidents of violent rivalry between the establishment vs the people. In 1967, street protests and fights occurred under the influence and in the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution taking place in China. There were people who were either shot down dead or killed by bombs. My mother forced us to stay at home at all times. Schools were closed. Tear gas was often deployed in riotous scenes near our house in Wan Chai and we always kept windows shut.

I was told that back in 1956, the pro-Taiwan and pro-Chinese Mainland political supporters fought fiercely in Sham Shui Po. Soon, Hong Kong was convulsed by deadly violence. The city became in chaos.

As we can remember not long ago, street conflicts in 2019 were stirred over the ‘Rendition Bill’ legislation dealing with fugitives. Thousands were arrested, inevitably many were injured and some unfortunately died. By mid-2020, the serious commotion led Hong Kong government to declare the restoration of peace and stability with the imposition of the National Security law.

Sometimes, it takes a social or natural disaster to reveal the highest human qualities such as hope, love and endurance. No tragic disaster can destroy the treasures of our heart. Despite all these hardships, people in Hong Kong managed to live, continue and exist. To believe in future can help us overcome all the above unbearable situations because we try to envision a better tomorrow at the end of the dark tunnel.

It is recorded that Hong Kong has been hit by death-dealing health plagues for nearly 25 times since 1843. The heart-breaking ones are never forgotten. In 1914, 1,300 people were killed by the Black Death epidemic. In 1937, 1,000 victims died of cholera. In 1970, 1,500 lives were taken away by tuberculosis. In 2003, we lost almost 300 patients due to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). At present, the death toll caused by COVID-19 has been more than 10,000 and the figure is still rising…Mamma Mia, we still cannot get rid of the Omicron nightmare in Hong Kong right now!

The writer Gene Wolfe humorously put, “You think whatever is wrong with you is contagious? Yes, but you had it already. You caught it from your mother. Death!” We are the humble beings that have to die when it is time for us to die. We can do very little but just try hard to survive.

No one should ever ever have a good reason for suicide. It is especially not sensible for some in economic crisis to end their life. ‘Bankruptcy’ in Hong Kong is a legal solution which can be adopted by a person who is unable to repay outstanding debts. His debts will be written off after 4 years of bankruptcy.

Tragedy is timeless. The overarching theme for an economic crisis is always that many will become poor but a few will painstakingly find ways to become rich; and on that note, Hong Kong has transitioned from a number of well-known economic catastrophes: 1973 Stock Market Crash (caused by oil crisis), 1981 Economic Slump (Sino-British’s talk over the political future of Hong Kong failed), 1987 ‘Black Monday’, 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and 2008 World Economic Recession. Hong Kong took great pride in having been able to overcome these economic downturns and seek the opportunities to reform as a result of all these lessons. The governing fundamentals in our city are still strong but we have to watch out the future balance of power management—Hong Kong does have to be a very international city if it wants to maintain its status as the economic centre in Asia.

We can never tell what goes on in between Hong Kong is and what it will become. The uncertainty of destiny of a city is always a blue and scary section of hell. No one is able to give us the map which can put Hong Kong continuously on the map. Rebound for life is what happens when other people are busy crying and you are busy making new plans after the COVID holocaust! This is why I am now busy packing my bags for my 1st trip to Thailand since 2020! Oh my gosh, 3 years have passed!

Devastation never ends, and hope never melts too.

MLee

Chinese Version 中文版: https://www.patreon.com/posts/lan-de-xi-xu-xin-76194473?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Song – “Turn! Turn! Turn!”  https://youtu.be/snZKnES4ng4  Acknowledgement – Classic Hits

Song – “The Windmills of Your Mind”  https://youtu.be/WEhS9Y9HYjU  Acknowledgement - Noel Harrisonfan 

Tips on Hong Kong Airport  Arrival in 2022  https://youtu.be/rol6Fsu8z-c  Acknowledgement-The Walk  Street Channel 

Popular places in Bangkok  https://youtu.be/FaVIuwTpxIo  Acknowledgement-KKday Taiwan

[panicinthestudio]

Further reading:

AFP, via HKFP: Hong Kong Christian newspaper runs blank front page ahead of Tiananmen crackdown anniversary, June 3, 2024

HKFP: Hong Kong’s Catholic Diocese axes third consecutive Tiananmen mass as cardinal urges ‘forgiveness’ over crackdown, June 4, 2024

HKFP: Ex-local councillor asked by police about Tiananmen crackdown anniversary plans; lawmakers say marking date in private is lawful, June 4, 2024

[herukapadmajungiansworld]

Switzerland has for years been the destination of choice for Russian oligarchs and corrupt officials to hide their stolen money. Swiss banks are estimated to hold over $200 billion in stashed Russian cash.

The United States recently opened an investigation into Swiss banks helping #Russia to evade sanctions, subpoenaing the two largest Swiss banks at the time. Switzerland is also key to Russian #evasion of export controls meant to ensure Russia cannot resupply its military and continue its war.

Russian-induced corruption within the Swiss law enforcement system led to the resignation of the former top prosecutor of Switzerland and the conviction of a senior Swiss law enforcement official on bribery charges. Switzerland is now primed to send millions in frozen Russian dirty money related to the revelations of Sergei Magnitsky to the Russians who stole it.

This hearing will examine Switzerland’s key role in laundering Russian money. Witnesses will discuss how Switzerland came to be a favorite destination for Russian dirty money, how Russian corruption in Switzerland endangers U.S. national security and the ability of Ukraine to defend itself, and possible policy responses. This hearing builds on years of work by the #Commission to hold Switzerland to account for its role in Russian money laundering and corruption.

The following witnesses are scheduled to testify:

1Bill Browder, Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign

2Drew Sullivan, Co-Founder, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)

3Olena Tregub, Secretary General, Independent Defense Anti-Corruption Committee (NAKO)

HEARING

Russia’s Alpine Assets: Money Laundering and Sanctions Evasion in Switzerland

July 18, 2023

1:00 p.m.

Senate Dirksen Building G50

Live stream:

youtube.com/watch?v=dxX98X…

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Exclusive: Some US officials say in internal memo Israel may be violating international law in Gaza | Reuters

Some senior U.S. officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find "credible or reliable" Israel's assurances that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, according to an internal State Department memo reviewed by Reuters.

Other officials upheld support for Israel's representation.

Under a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of U.S. weapons does not violate U.S. or international law.

By March 24, at least seven State Department bureaus had sent in their contributions to an initial "options memo" to Blinken. Parts of the memo, which has not been previously reported, were classified.

The submissions to the memo provide the most extensive picture to date of the divisions inside the State Department over whether Israel might be violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.

"Some components in the department favored accepting Israel's assurances, some favored rejecting them and some took no position," a U.S. official said.

A joint submission from four bureaus - Democracy Human Rights & Labor; Population, Refugees and Migration; Global Criminal Justice and International Organization Affairs – raised "serious concern over non-compliance" with international humanitarian law during Israel's prosecution of the Gaza war.

The assessment from the four bureaus said Israel's assurances were "neither credible nor reliable." It cited eight examples of Israeli military actions that the officials said raise "serious questions" about potential violations of international humanitarian law.

These included repeatedly striking protected sites and civilian infrastructure; "unconscionably high levels of civilian harm to military advantage"; taking little action to investigate violations or to hold to account those responsible for significant civilian harm and "killing humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate."

The assessment from the four bureaus also cited 11 instances of Israeli military actions the officials said "arbitrarily restrict humanitarian aid," including rejecting entire trucks of aid due to a single "dual-use" item, "artificial" limitations on inspections as well as repeated attacks on humanitarian sites that should not be hit.

Another submission to the memo reviewed by Reuters, from the bureau of Political and Military Affairs, which deals with U.S. military assistance and arms transfers, warned Blinken that suspending U.S. weapons would limit Israel's ability to meet potential threats outside its airspace and require Washington to re-evaluate "all ongoing and future sales to other countries in the region."

Any suspension of U.S. arms sales would invite "provocations" by Iran and aligned militias, the bureau said in its submission, illustrating the push-and-pull inside the department as it prepares to report to Congress.

The submission did not directly address Israel's assurances.

Inputs to the memo from the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism and U.S. ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said they assessed Israel's assurances as credible and reliable, a second U.S. official told Reuters.

The State Department's legal bureau, known as the Office of the Legal Adviser, "did not take a substantive position" on the credibility of Israel's assurances, a source familiar with the matter said.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the agency doesn't comment on leaked documents.

"On complex issues, the Secretary often hears a diverse range of views from within the Department, and he takes all of those views into consideration," Miller said.

MAY 8 REPORT TO CONGRESS

When asked about the memo, an Israeli official said: "Israel is fully committed to its commitments and their implementation, among them the assurances given to the U.S. government."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Biden administration officials repeatedly have said they have not found Israel in violation of international law.

Blinken has seen all of the bureau assessments about Israel's pledges, the second U.S. official said.

Matthew Miller on March 25 said the department received the pledges. However, the State Department is not expected to render its complete assessment of credibility until the May 8 report to Congress.

Further deliberations between the department's bureaus are underway ahead of the report's deadline, the U.S. official said.

USAID also provided input to the memo. "The killing of nearly 32,000 people, of which the GOI (Government of Israel) itself assesses roughly two-thirds are civilian, may well amount to a violation of the international humanitarian law requirement," USAID officials wrote in the submission.

USAID does not comment on leaked documents, a USAID spokesperson said.

The warnings about Israel's possible breaches of international humanitarian law made by some senior State Department officials come as Israel is vowing to launch a military offensive into Rafah, the southern-most pocket of the Gaza Strip that is home to over a million people displaced by the war, despite repeated warnings from Washington not to do so.

Israel's military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the enclave's health authorities, most of them women and children.

Israel's assault was launched in response to the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 250 others taken hostage.

The National Security Memorandum was issued in early February after Democratic lawmakers began questioning whether Israel was abiding by international law.

The memorandum imposed no new legal requirements but asked the State Department to demand written assurances from countries receiving U.S.-funded weapons that they are not violating international humanitarian law or blocking U.S. humanitarian assistance.

It also required the administration to submit an annual report to Congress to assess whether countries are adhering to international law and not impeding the flow of humanitarian aid.

If Israel's assurances are called into question, Biden would have the option to "remediate" the situation through actions ranging from seeking fresh assurances to suspending further U.S. weapons transfers, according to the memorandum.

Biden can suspend or put conditions on U.S. weapons transfers at any time.

He has so far resisted calls from rights groups, left-leaning Democrats and Arab American groups to do so.

But earlier this month he threatened for the first time to put conditions on the transfer of U.S. weapons to Israel, if it does not take concrete steps to improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

(This story has been refiled to remove an extraneous paragraph)

[agentfascinateur]

Freedom for Vladimir Kara-Murza

Russia can offer no lessons until it lets people speak.

[falseandrealultravival]

Modern The First Emperor of Qin: Xi Jinping (Essay)

The First Emperor of Qin

``Even if there is someone who has a different opinion than yours, do not deny the other person's position, but rather engage in dialogue and seek a compromise. “Law'' regulates these actions and attempts to reconcile interests. This is the essence of democracy. However, some cannot understand this logic at all...China's President: Xi Jinping.

He suppresses opinions that differ from his own. This is using the "laws" he arbitrarily enacted. It is a ``law'' for oppression, not a ``law'' for adjusting interests. Hong Kong is an easy-to-understand example. In addition to sufficiently depriving Hong Kong citizens of their freedoms under the Hong Kong National Security Law, the law "legally" deprived pro-democracy candidates of the opportunity to run in district council elections. In the end, no one could run. and he excluded democratic factions from the district assembly. What a wonderful application of the "law"!

Repression by ``law''... Xi Jinping is said to respect the ancient Chinese thinker: Han Fei. Han Fei envisioned applying ruthless ``laws'' to the common people to suppress them. Of course, there was no dialogue, it was a one-way street. The First Emperor of Qin was the one who adopted this idea, so isn't Xi Jinping aiming to become The First Emperor? He hangs a picture of the Great Wall of China built by The First Emperor. He believes in political ideas from 2000 years ago. It's anachronistic and frightening. Maybe Xi Jinping is an extremely timid person. Because he is afraid of dialogue. Does Xi Jinping know that The First Emperor wanted to become a god and drank mercury as a means to that end? What if Xi Jinping also drank mercury? As a fake chemist.

　Rei Morishita

現代の始皇帝：習近平（エッセイ）

「自分と異なる意見の者がいたとしても、相手の立場は否定せず、対話し妥協点を探る。それらの行動を規定し、利害調整を図るのが「法」である。これは民主主義の要諦である。しかし、この理屈を全く理解できない者がいる・・・中国国家主席：習近平である。

彼は自分と異なる意見を、圧殺する。彼が恣意的に制定した「法」によってである。抑圧するための「法」であり、利害調節のための「法」ではない。解りやすい事例として香港がある。香港国家安全維持法によって香港市民の自由を十分奪っているのに加え、区議会議員選挙で、民主派の候補の立候補の機会を、「法」によって「合法的に奪い」、ついにはだれも立候補できなくし、民主派を区議会から締め出した。なんて見事な「法」の適用だろう。

「法」による抑圧・・・習近平は古代中国の思想家：韓非を尊敬しているという。韓非は非情な「法」を庶民に適用して抑圧することを構想した。もちろん対話などなく、一方通行だ。この思想を採用したのが秦の始皇帝であり、習近平は始皇帝を目指しているのではないか。彼は、始皇帝の作った万里の長城の絵を掛けている。彼は２０００年前の政治思想を信奉している。アナクロであり、恐ろしいことである。たぶん、習近平は小心者である。対話が怖いのだから。始皇帝は神になることを望み、その手段として水銀を飲んでいたことを習近平は知っているだろうか？習近平も水銀を飲んだらどうだろう？化学者もどきとして。

[jbfly46]

In Tennessee, I was placed into two different state contracted group home over $20 worth of mid grade cannabis and probation violations for home invasions actually done by upper class white junkies with politically connected parents. Once I had all my panels torn out of my car as soon as I crossed into Clinton from Oak Ridge while giving a black man a ride home by a sloppy roided out Clinton “drug task force”. They accused me of drug trafficking and said they knew I had just met my dealer, who I had just texted for a personal amount of pills, manufactured by an Israeli drug company, but never met, a son of another politically connected white man who was politically who also sold crack. They could only have eavesdropped on my text messages with spy tech Israel sold them in violation of the U.S. constitution and federal law. The group homes were ran by abusive fundamentalist cults with state contracts. Everyone I brought up the illegality of this to ignored everything I said. Tennessee is a racist gestapo communist Israeli owned shithole. Oh the irony of Republicans in a Republican state complaining about communism.

[mourning-again-in-america]

man, remember when we were worrying about war with Iran under Trump?

[trashistudios]

Drawing from the TikTok I made earlier.

What would happen if Rachel and Roxy met? Oh, they’d probably be pretty good friends. :)

Tags: 

[aristeon89]

Hong Kong Activist Agnes Chow Ting Has Fled Hong Kong and Is Now in Self-Exile in Canada

Agnes Chow Ting (周庭), a prominent Hong Kong politician and social activist, announced on Sunday (December 3) that she has left the former British colony and is now in self-exile in Canada. Chow is a former member of the Standing Committee of the pro-democracy party Demosisto and former spokesperson of Scholarism. She was involved in the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.…

[protoslacker]

[T]he basic problem with Project Texas and the whole “we’re going to air-gap US user data from everything else” premise is that you’re establishing geographic limits around a problem that does not respect geography — and doing so meaningfully hinders the company’s ability to find and shut down the very threats of malign interference that regulators are so worried about. . . [snip] At the end of the day, Project Texas’s side effects are another example of the privacy vs security tradeoffs that come up again and again in the counter-influence operations space. This work just isn’t possible to do without massive troves of incredibly privacy-sensitive user data and logs. Those same logs become a liability in the event of a data breach or, say, a rogue employee looking to exfiltrate information about activists to a repressive government trying to hunt them down. It’s a hard problem for any company to solve — much less one doing so under the gun of an impending ban, like TikTok have had to.

Yoel Roth in TechDirt. How Forcing TikTok To Completely Separate Its US Operations Could Actually Undermine National Security

[panicinthestudio]

Hong Kong: Chinese control and the future of protest, October 18, 2024

In Hong Kong, protests have fallen silent. The Chinese state is more restrictive than ever. Back in 2019, artists were among those who took to the streets to demonstrate against the curtailing of basic rights. How are they doing, five years on? Unlike many of his contemporaries, multimedia artist Samson Young chose to remain in Hong Kong rather than going into exile. Young plays with codes and hidden references in his complex art installations. Filmmaker Kiwi Chow also stayed. He sold the rights to an internationally acclaimed documentary about the 2019 protest movement to a friend outside the country. Others felt they could no longer stay in Hong Kong, like Kacey Wong, who now lives and works in Taiwan. Despite their different paths, these artists all ask themselves the same question: Will Hong Kong ever be as free as it was before the protests, or will Beijing’s grip get even tighter? Deutsche Welle