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thechasefiles · 5 years

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 5/1/2020

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Sunday January 5th, 2020. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Sunday Sun Newspaper (SS).

FIREFIGHTERS FUMING OVER RELOCATION PLANS – Firefighters in Barbados are a bit hot under the collar. The officers say they are far from happy with the decision to base them in outfitted containers after the demolition of their headquarters on Probyn Street in The City in the coming months. Sources, who requested anonymity, said it was not good enough, but Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson said it was way too early to be upset. “They’re not moving tomorrow and when they do move, I’m sure everything will be in place in relation to health and safety and the laws of Barbados. I don’t see how anyone can make an assessment on what they see today [when they do not know what is going to happen]. . .” (SS)

INNOTECH PLEASED WITH SETTLEMENT REACHED WITH BWA –Innotech Services Limited says it is pleased with the settlement reached with the Barbados Water Authority (BWA). Weeks after Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams announced that BWA had reached an agreement with Innotech, which covered a wide range of areas, Innotech’s Chairman Anthony DaSilva said the deal is one both parties could live with. “The Government and Innotech Group, as would be normal in these instances, have agreed that these matters are confidential. But safe to say that the Government feels that they have probably not gotten exactly what they wanted, but Innotech has simply not got also what it wanted, but we both got a deal that we could live with,” DaSilva said. “I think that’s a fair result given both parties looking after their own interest,” He made the comments while delivering remarks at Hope Plantation, St Lucy today where Government commenced its National Tree Planting project to which Innotech donated BDS$25 000. “Barbados is our home base and we have been particularly affected with what’s happening in the economy. We have invested a lot in the Government of Barbados, not in a particular administration, but the Government. And that meant obviously that we had to sit with the Government and negotiate a solution to some of these issues. “I am pleased to say that it has been done. I am not sure that the government or Innotech feels individually that one has taken advantage of the other. And I don’t think that there are any particular hard feelings, it’s just something that had to be done. It’s been done professionally and we have not commented on it up until now,” he added. While the Chairman did not give details on the deal, at the Ministry’s Christmas luncheon at Halton Plantation, St Philip, on December 13, Abrahams revealed that the deal covered the rental and maintenance of the building that houses BWA at Pine, St Michael, the water tanker trucks, the personal tanks programme and portable desal (desalination) units. The Minister said that meetings, negotiations and behind the scenes work by staff within the Ministry, BWA, and Government’s external debt negotiator White Oaks, led to the deal being finalised. DaSilva said Innotech was now at the best place to move forward with Government as a good partner to see economic activity return to Barbados. The Chairman also indicated that while the public arrive at the conclusion that corporate Barbados appear to be insensitive at times, it must be noted that at the end of the day, businesses have employees and commitments to safeguard. “So, I am happy with where we are today. It’s a new year. I think we have cleared last year and I am positive that we are now heading in the right direction,” DaSilva said. (BT)

PRESCOD WANTS TWO MILLION TREES BY YEAREND –Minister of Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod has set a new “ambitious” target for the number of trees he wants Barbadians to plant by year-end. Last November, Prime Minister Mia Mottley launched the Million Trees for 2020 Project. However at Hope Plantation, St Lucy during a tree planting ceremony yesterday, Prescod stressed that a higher number was attainable. “I want to make the announcement now that we are not going to plant one million trees. We are going to overshoot that target based on the collective presence of all the entities here today [because] I am sure there is a great underestimation of the public’s response to this national project. “I am going to shoot for two million by the end of 2020. . . this is an ambitious project and the only thing that can be an encumbrance in this effort is if the national spirit of the people is not moving in harmony with the government,” Prescod said. (SS)

COMPOSER WINS TAX FIGHT OVER FOUR SEASONS – At least one of the 14 villa owners who invested millions of dollars in the failed Four Seasons Barbados project will be able to claim capital gains tax losses in England on their investment. Judge John Brooks recently told the tax tribunal in London that Baron Andrew Lloyd-Webber, 71, and his wife Madeline, 57, should be credited for the “real loss” they suffered when they forked out as much as 20 million pounds for two villas. Lord Webber, a famous composer and impresario had paid a deposit of eight million pounds upfront for the properties, one of which was being sold for nearly £10 (£1 = BDS$2.61) million and the other for more than £7 million. When they first made claims for capital gains tax losses, the HM Revenue and Customs disallowed the claims and the couple filed an appeal. (SS)

FIRST MURDER FOR 2020 – Barbados has recorded the first murder for 2020, four days into the new year. Nation News understands the man who was shot in an alley last night near Block #1 Nursery Close, Eden Lodge, St Michael, passed away. The shooting occurred around 8:20 p.m. and the victim was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by private vehicle. (SS)

COACH LIKES NEW ATTITUDE - West Indies head coach Phil Simmons is expecting his players to have a never-say-die attitude in the multi-format series against Ireland which begins on Tuesday. Speaking on the sidelines of the team’s second training session yesterday at the Desmond Haynes Oval, Simmons said he was impressed with the level of cricket the team played in India and was looking forward to them building on it in the upcoming series. “I am expecting a little more of what I saw in India. The way we played the cricket, the attitude we had on the field and the never-say-die attitude even when India were going well are all things we need to continue doing well. “I think every series we need to be looking to get that one per cent better in everything we do, so that is what I expect to see from them in this Ireland series,” Simmons told Sunsport. (SS)

ZANE MALONEY IS NSC SPORTS PERSONALITY – Zane Maloney is the 2019 National Sports Council's (NSC) Sports Personality of the Year. The announcement was made on Saturday might by NSC chairman Mac Fingall on Saturday night during the awards ceremony and dinner at the Willdey Gymnasium. Fingall said it was the first time the winner was chosen via an online poll on social media. The 16-year-old Maloney, who created history by becoming the first person from the Caribbean to win the British Formula 4 title, narrowly edged West Windies Test captain Jason Holder, who was ranked No.1 in the ICC Test allrounder rankings for most of 2019. Maloney received 423 votes and Holder 420. Another cricketer, Deandra Dottin, was third with 333 votes. At the Barbados Olympic Association’s Awards last month, Maloney won the President’s Award amd was named Junior Male Athlete of the Year. (SS)

$5,000 PRIZE FOR BSS LOGO COMPETITION –Members of the public are invited to enter the Barbados Statistical Service’s (BSS) logo competition. The design will be used to represent the upcoming Population and Housing Census. Interested persons are invited to submit a design which is creative and legible at the minimum size of three-quarter of an inch and at a maximum size of five inches wide. The logo must include the slogan Our Nation, Our Future, Be Counted. Designs should be submitted to the BSS in sealed envelopes, or by email to [email protected] or [email protected] by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, January 10. The designs will be reviewed by the Census Publicity Committee and its decision will be final. The winner of the logo competition will be awarded $5,000. For more information, persons should call the BSS PBX 535-2600, Kimberley Agard at 535-2621, or Lisa Smith at 535-2657. (BT)

There are 362 days left in the year Shalom! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell

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racingtoaredlight · 6 years

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Opening Bell: March 22, 2019

With just over a week until Britain was scheduled to leave the European Union with no exit—or divorce—deal in place regarding customs unions, rights for British nationals living within the EU, the status of EU nationals living in Britain, or perhaps most importantly, the status of the Irish border, Britain was at the mercy of EU member nations. Earlier in the week, the British House of Commons approved a three month delay in the implementation of Article 50; the final mechanism by which the United Kingdom would politically and economically cleave itself from the EU. But this legislative action by the Parliament was ineffective without approval by the EU’s other member nations. This more or less put Britain in a position of profound disadvantage and this showed yesterday when the EU did indeed approve an extension of time on Brexit, but did not grant the terms which the British Parliament sought. Instead of a 90 day extension. The EU instead ordered Britain to come up with a new exit deal and vote on it by April 12, in which case the deal would become effective on May 22. But if no deal is agreed to on April 12, Brexit will be initiated that very evening. Contrary to the belief of many Brexiteers, mainly among the Conservative Party, that a parliamentary rejection of the deal which May negotiated with Brussels would empower May to leverage a better deal, instead this reaction by the EU shows that May has little or no leverage left and that Brussels will be dictating terms at least until the actual Brexit occurs.

In 1967, during the Six Days War—so called because Israel launched a preemptive war against its Arabic neighbors in which they seized vast swathes of territory in only six brief, violent days—Israel attacked and captured the Golan Heights on the border with Syria. In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, Syria launched a massive surprise offensive against the Israeli-held Golan and nearly dislodged the outnumbered Israeli garrison. The Israelis held on, however, and continued to rule the Golan Heights, formally annexing the territory in 1981. The United Nations, United States, and numerous countries refused to acknowledge the annexation and the Golan has been a disputed territory ever since. Yesterday, in an abrupt change to decades of U.S. foreign policy, President Donald Trump tweeted—and it’s difficult to describe the nature of how vitally important American foreign policy changes are apparently changed on a whim through a social media platform that limits a person to 280 characters at a time—that the U.S. should formally recognize Israel’s occupation and annexation of the Heights. This is in some ways a rather feckless move: Syria’s government in Damascus is in no position to react in an effective way, the move will be popular in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in an extremely close reelection contest. Netanyahu, recognizing the boon he had received, immediately praised Trump publicly and lavishly, seeking to capitalize for electoral benefit. The move is also red meat for the incredibly powerful—and bipartisan—support for Israel political lobby; something itself which teems with cynicism and political opportunism.

In New Zealand, less than a week after the worst mass shooting in the nation’s history, the government of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that all military style assault rifles would be banned and that a buyback program would be immediately initiated. This stands in stark contrast, as many have pointed out, to the political reality of this country, where dozens of mass shootings have occurred—including in Las Vegas where over 300 people were injured—and yet no meaningful legislation has been advanced at the federal level. New Zealand is not burdened with a constitutional guarantee of a right to arms, therefore such dynamic legislating is far easier. In a parliamentary democracy where the Prime Minister and her cabinet are essentially the executive council of the nation—notable current exception: Great Britain—passing such major pieces of legislation is, at times expected. Here, where we have largely come to expect political gridlock, not only is such legislation no longer expected in the aftermath of national tragedy, but the mere mention of legislative change is met with charges that interested parties are attempting to “politicize” the tragedy. Where we find ourselves in a situation in which no apparent reaction is appropriate, let alone one which seeks to directly address the very incident which just occurred, representative democracy fails the people it ostensibly seeks to protect.

In the movie A Christmas Story, which takes place in late 1940s Indiana, there is a scene at the dinner table where the youngest child is implored to finish his dinner because there are “starving children in China.” Indeed, China in the late 1940s was in the dying throes of a civil war which had lasted two decades and was only interrupted by a Japanese invasion and the Second World War—which probably killed 25 million Chinese on its own—and was about as far from being a major international political power as a nation could be. China, however, is a large nation with enormous amounts of natural resources, and, after undergoing the self-inflicted torment of Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, a new China began to emerge. In the aftermath of Mao’s reign of terror upon the Chinese populace, the government tasked a small group of low-ranking government officials with diagnosing the issues with the nationally-planned economy and making recommendations for changes. These recommendations, which emerged in the Moganshan report, embraced some of the nascent economic reforms then occurring, formed the basis of the “capitalism is actually okay” [note: not an exact translation] of Deng Xiaoping. This in turn ignited the Chinese economy, which spurred decades of near double digit growth and a shift in the Chinese economy away from government control and central planning towards private investment, albeit under strict government control. While professing themselves doctrinaire Marxists, China’s government officials have relinquished much economic control, but have in turn sought greater political, authoritarian even, control under Xi Jinping. This is the story of how China surpassed all western expectations and emerged, political system if not philosophy intact, as one of the leading challengers to the economic hegemony of the United States.

The theme of such an explication in the above article is a question. The question is this: how did we get to where we are. While the above article seeks to examine how China emerged from the ashes of civil war and foreign invasion and political absolutism, it is also worth examining how the United States came to be where it is now: a nation that is deeply divided politically and with growing economic inequity, and how one fuels the other. Such an examination could, if so desired, form the basis for dozens—hundreds even—of academic journals, long form essays, and dozens of books. What this article seeks to do instead, over the course of 5,000 words, is to describe how the United States emerged from war in August 1945 and how the steps it took in the immediate postwar years laid the foundations for the current state of social, economic, and political disunity we are currently experiencing. An important note to this article is that it does not seek to explain the merits of arguments of the “why” of each turning point, rather it says the “why,” in this context, is unimportant. This article is a pure explainer. The why is irrelevant, that something occurred in the first place is what is important. This piece is long, but the writing is very accessible and I recommend it to everyone.

Texas has the longest border with Mexico, and virtually the entirety of that border is carved by the meandering curves of the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo as it is known in Mexico. As a result, the state, in particular the so-called Valley—comprising four predominantly Hispanic counties in far South Texas and focused on the city of McAllen—has become a hot spot for migration, both legal and illegal, into the U.S. This section of the border is often referenced as a place that is “in crisis” and as part of the basis of the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump. 2016 marked the first time that the border guard union made a political endorsement, supporting Donald Trump. But the union’s head insists that his officers merely enforce the policy decided by Washington. In light of the media coverage and the political characterizations of what is going on at the border, Mattathias Schwartz of New York Magazine travelled to the Valley, visited the Central Processing Center for detainees, and accompanied Customs and Border Patrol agents as they sat in wait for illegal migrants to cross. Whatever one thinks of the immigration policies of the current administration, this is worth a read, as contradictions abound.

In September 1942, the war in the Pacific was still very much at a tipping point. While the United States Navy scored a major victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, where they sank four Japanese aircraft carriers over two days, for the loss of one of their own, the focus of the war had shifted to the South Pacific. In August 1942, the 1st Marine Division seized the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, including its vital airstrip. This allowed the United States and Australia to maintain supply lines and provided a bulwark against Japanese strongholds in Eastern New Guinea and on New Britain, to the north and east. The Japanese could not countenance the loss of Guadalcanal and its airfield and so funneled in troops and supplies in an effort to eject the Marines from the island. In turn, the U.S. continuously reinforced its own foothold on the island, setting the stage for the first major land battle of the war, which carried on until February 1943. Meanwhile the navies of the two nations were involved in a slugfest of their own in the waters around Guadalcanal and to the north of the Solomons. It was during this time that the USS Wasp, an aircraft carrier, was escorting a convoy of reinforcements to Guadalcanal, when it was attacked by a Japanese submarine which fired a spread of torpedoes. One of these hit the battleship USS North Carolina, another hit a destroyer, while the remainder collided with the hull of the Wasp. Hours later, with the ship fatally injured and dead in the water, it was finally finished off with torpedoes from one of its escorts and then it sank to the bottom of one of deepest parts of the ocean. In January of this year, the R/V Petrel, a research vessel funded by Microsoft founder Paul Allen, discovered the wreckage of the Wasp at the bottom of the Coral Sea. The Petrel has been on something of a streak lately, having discovered the wreckage of the USS Lexington, USS Hornet, USS Juneau, and the Japanese battleship Hiei. Reading how they make their discoveries provides an appreciation for the amount of work which goes into their successes.

In 2001, a high school student named Brianna Stewart—‘Bri’ to her classmates—was arrested in Vancouver, Washington and charged with several crimes, including providing a false identity to the state and illegally receiving state benefits. Stewart, the prosecution asserted, was actually a Texas woman named Treva Throneberry, and she had been on the run, living a homeless existence, since 1987 when she disappeared from her hometown of Electra, Texas. The problem, well one of them anyway, was that Stewart, while she conceded that she did not know her actual name, insisted that she was not, could not possibly be Treva Throneberry. This belief by Stewart extended to her insistence—even when presented with incontrovertible proof and when contacted by her parents and members of her family—that she was not Treva Throneberry, did not know who she was, and was a 19-year old girl named Brianna, not a 31 year old name Treva. There is no clear psychological diagnosis here and this is part of the problem. Brianna Stewart is almost certainly Treva Throneberry, and she was convicted in 2001 of her crimes, but the state appeared completely unsure of what to do. And Treva/Brianna/and the other aliases you’ll meet in this story, appeared to take advantage of this time and time again, around the country, until she finally faced her reckoning. This, however, does not even begin to encompass the complexity of this story. This is another worth reading from beginning to end.

Finally, there has been and will likely continue to be a great debate on the continued existence of the Electoral College in presidential elections. Democrats often point to the fact that, since 1992, Republicans have won the popular vote exactly once, and narrowly at that. There is much to analyze, however, from trends in voting by states in presidential elections, and Kyle Kondik of the Center for Politics provides such an analysis.

Welcome to the weekend.

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conspiracy-talk-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Conspiracy Talk News

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/S8YTxu

US Relationship Changed With Latin America During Trump's Government

WASHINGTON – The anti-immigration and anti-trade positions of Donald Trump in his first year as president, together with “lack of strategy” and a “mutual distrust”, have cooled Washington’s relationship with Latin America, which now turns towards China.

It took a year of the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States to reach a degree of suspicion and apathy in Washington’s relationship with Latin America, which, according to experts, was unprecedented in modern times.

The issue is not just the reports that Trump referred to Central American and Caribbean nations as “shitty countries,” or his decisions of deportation of thousands of Latino immigrants from the United States.

Nor is it just about Trump’s trade policy, which renounced the Trans-Pacific Economic Cooperation Agreement (TPP) with Latin American and Asian countries, and put in check the NAFTA free trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada.

It is not even exclusively Trump’s insistence on building a wall along the border with Mexico, a country that he described days ago as the “most dangerous in the world” even though Washington’s own official data indicates that this is false.

Why The Mental Health Of US President Donald Trump Is Being Questioned

What has opened an unknown landscape in hemispheric relations is the simultaneous combination of these and other factors, such as Trump still not designating the State Department team for Latin American affairs.

“It has been said in other administrations that Washington does not care about Latin America, and that is true, but now it is dramatically worse,” says Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a regional analysis based in Washington.

“The lack of interest in the region as a region is unprecedented,” Shifter adds to BBC World.

And the consequences of that are already glimpsed, including a collapse of the US image. in Latin America and a growing influence of China in the region.

Dinner that Trump offered last year to the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Panama, and the vice president of Argentina is considered his biggest gesture of approach to the region.

“He does not have a plan”

Perhaps the main gesture of Trump’s approach to Latin America in his first year in office was a dinner he offered to the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Panama, and the vice president of Argentina, in the framework of the General Assembly of the United Nations in September In New York.

But neither that meeting happened in normal lanes.

Trump expressed his astonishment at the region’s rejection of the “military option” in Venezuela that he himself had mentioned before publicly, asked the leaders present if they were sure about it, and surprised them by their disinformation on regional issues, according to to the Politico information site.

From the White House, Trump has increased the economic sanctions against high officials of Venezuela and imposed for the first time financial sanctions to the government of Nicolás Maduro, which he describes as “dictatorship”.

Trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada expanded with NAFTA, but now faces the uncertainty of renegotiation

But Trump has so far avoided what would be a much more severe blow for Maduro: applying an oil embargo to Venezuela, as suggested by Argentine President Mauricio Macri and the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro. .

Human rights defenders such as José Miguel Vivanco, of the NGO Human Rights Watch, have criticized Trump’s silence on the abuses of other governments or the irregularities denounced in the re-election of the president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, an ally of Washington .

Donald Trump May Lead United States ‘To World War 3’

On the other hand, Trump reversed agreement between the US. and Cuba initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama after half a century of hostilities, in reaction to what Washington described as “attacks” of unknown origin to several of his diplomats on the island, who suffered dizziness, hearing loss and other disorders.

But analysts see all of this as the White House’s specific responses to certain problems, without a clear and predictable policy behind it, guided by Trump’s idea of always putting “the United States first” in its decisions.

“The US government is not seen as a reliable partner” in Latin America, says Oliver Stuenkel, professor of international relations at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, an elite university in São Paulo, Brazil.

“The United States does not have a project in Latin America,” Stuenkel told Conspiracy Talk News. “A Brazilian diplomat told me they do not know who to talk to.”

Trump has increased sanctions on officials of the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela.

Time bombs

America is the region of the world where the image of US leadership fell the most, said a Gallup poll last week: the average of continental approval went from 49% in the last year of Obama’s government to 24% now.

The highest ranking official in the US who visited Latin America was Vice President Mike Pence, but Trump still has not and this could give another unprecedented signal of indifference to the region if he were to miss the Summit of the Americas, scheduled for April in Peru.

His Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was absent during the General Assembly of the OAS in June in Cancun, Mexico, whose main theme was the crisis in Venezuela.

On the other hand, China has shown a growing interest in Latin America, with three visits that President Xi Jinping made to the region since 2013 and meetings like the one that takes place Monday in Chile between Latin American foreign ministers and peer from Beijing.

Under the presidency of Xi, China seeks to increase its influence in the world, including Latin America

China is already the first or second trading partner of several Latin American nations, its relative weight in the region’s imports grew since 2000 while that of the US declined, and its loans and investments are vital for countries like Venezuela.

Some analysts believe that this trend accelerated with the Trump government.

Luis Rubio, president of the Mexican Council of International Affairs (Comexi), points out that the US withdrawal also generated incentives to explore a commercial approach between Brazil and Mexico that had previously been “inconceivable”.

“Everyone is seeing that Washington is more complicated, then there are other types of links,” says Rubio.

So, will the US relationship continue to cool with Latin America in the three remaining years of the Trump government?

Probably yes, experts say, especially if attempts to deactivate two time bombs created by Trump fail.

The first is the renegotiation of NAFTA: this week a new round of discussions is opening in Montreal between the US, Mexico and Canada, which may be crucial in order to save the trade agreement or lead Trump to end it and shake regional trade. .

“The most serious thing that happened in Latin America was the change of position of Trump in relation to NAFTA, due to Mexico,” says Rubens Barbosa, a former Brazilian ambassador in Washington.

The lack of legal protection for immigrants in the US It is one of the hot topics in Trump’s relationship with Latin America.

The second time bomb is the possibility that the US government start deporting hundreds of thousands of Latino immigrants who lost legal protection in recent months, whose future depends on reaching a political pact in Washington.

“It could be worse,” warns Shifter about the deterioration of the US relationship. with Latin America, “it is possible that we have not seen the lowest point yet”.

#Latin America

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vitalmindandbody · 7 years

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‘ We required republic ‘: is Hong Kong’s two-systems venture over?

As China stiffens its control on the city over which British convention dissolved 20 years ago, pro-democracy activists are still fighting against eroding of freedoms

For President Xi Jinping, the 20th anniversary of Hong Kongs return toChina is a moment to toast the reunification of a nation and herald its unstoppable rise. But for activists such as Eddie Chu, one of the leading lights of a new generation of pro-democracy politicians, it has become an party for something very different.

Boot-licking. Unprecedented boot-licking! he says, a smile bursting across his look as he reflects on how many members of the local nobility had been decided to commemorate two decades of Chinese regulation by plastering their houses and professions with patriotic slogans and red flag in the hope, he supposes, of currying economic favour.

That is quite the opposite of what Hong Kong people wanted to see in 1997. We wanted to see democracy. Democracy is not boot-licking.

On Saturday morning, Chinas authoritarian ruler, who is establishing a rare three-day tour of the former British colony, will result celebrations of two decades of Chinese restrict alongside Hong Kongs incoming chief executive, Carrie Lam.

At a flag-raising ceremony merely down the road from where the umbrella revolution happened an extraordinary explosion of opposition in the autumn of 2014 the pair will remember the moment this city of seven. 3 million tenants turned over to China after 156 years of colonial regulate. A flypast and a ocean procession will follow. By darknes, the skies over Victoria harbour, from where the royal yacht Britannia departed on 1 July 1997, is likely to be decorated by a fantastic 23 -minute blaze of fireworks.

The moving party of Hong Kongs return to the motherland like a long-separated child coming back here to the warm cuddle of his mother, is still vivid in our recognition, Xi told a dinner on Friday night.

But in the membership of Hong Kongs democracy movement, the anniversary is accompanied by a profound gumption of misgiving and trepidation.

Eddie Chu and partisans support against the detention of 26 beings reject the Chinese authority. Photo: Yan Lerval/ Sipa/ Rex/ Shutterstock

Twenty times after Britains departure thrust this hyperactive lair of capitalism into the sides of a Leninist dictatorship, activists such as Chu fear Beijing is about to up the ante in its duel for control.

Ten pro-democracy legislators, of which “hes one”, are at risk of losing their jobs as a result of government-backed legal challenges against them. There are fears that under Hong Kongs new manager, who was elected by a tightly restricted pick committee, there will be a restored thrust to enact contentious anti-subversion legislation.

And while Xi has sought to impres an upbeat color during his visit, recent explains by another elderly Communist party figure who dedicated to consolidate Chinas control of the former settlement has put activists on edge.

The relationship between the central government and Hong Kong is that among delegations of strength , not power-sharing, Zhang Dejiang, Chinas number three official, said, adding that Hong Kong could only be governed by those who posed no threat to[ its] prosperity and stability.

Feeding into activists gumption of foreboding is the help feeling that numerous western governments have now cut them loose for panic of injury their economic relationships with the worlds second largest economy.

Martin Lee, 79, the elder statesman of Hong Kongs democracy movement. Photo: The Guardian

The foreign ministers, Boris Johnson, questioned a carefully worded word about the anniversary on Thursday, saying it was vital that Hong Kongs autonomy be preserved. But Johnson shaped no direct mention of growing frights about the corrosion of Hong Kongs discretions, or even of Beijings alleged abduction of a neighbourhood bookseller who viewed a British passport.

The British government is just awful. Im afraid I cannot find any kind words to say about that, says Martin Lee, a 79 -year-old barrister who is the elder statesman of Hong Kongs democracy movement.

Like numerous, Lee is convinced that China is gradually depriving away the freedoms promised to Hong Kongs citizens under the the different countries, two systems formula and that Britain has done nothing to occur.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for Chinas foreign ministry appeared to confirm those frights, telling reporters that the joint declaration, a slew negotiated by London and Beijing insuring Hong Kongs way of life for 50 years, was a historical report that no longer had any practical significance.

Suzanne Pepper, a veteran chronicler of the citys quest for democracy, says campaigners can no longer count on London or Washington for supporting: As long as there is no such thing as blood in wall street, they dont care.

Not everybody is mourning Saturdays landmark anniversary, nonetheless. The streets around Xis waterfront hotel are scattered with clusters of pro-government partisans and embellished with placards that read I love Hong Kong and One country, two systems has the strong vigour. Lilac signs hanging from bridges and lampposts carry the celebrations official catchline: Together. Progress. Opportunity. Skyscrapers have been decked out in bright red banners and neon displays that read: Warmly celebrate the 20 th commemoration of Hong Kongs return to China.

Amid the omnipresent propaganda, there is also sincere patriotic enthusiasm. Hong Kong people should be proud of the achievements of the motherland and all the progress our country has obligated, enthused Li Li, a guide at a government-sponsored exhibit about Chinas space programme that has been erected in Victoria Park to coincide with this weeks party.

Many more have greeted the anniversary and the presidential visit with carelessnes.

Chu estimated that about a third of the population was divided between pro-democracy and pro-government advocates. The residual couldnt care less about the commemoration, and were most worried about the traffic jams caused by the massive insurance operation to protect Xi.

Swaths of the citys waterfront are sealed off with towering white-hot and blue obstructions, with agents patrolling wall street with assault rifles in their hands. Too many police! jokes one of hundreds of officers patrolling the place, sweat beading on his neck.

Lee says the lack of interest numerous young person are showing in Xis visit underscore how detached they detect from mainland China and how Beijings plans have lost their hearts and souls.

Oh, this is the ruler of a neighbouring country thats what they suffer, he says, pointing to a recent canvas suggesting that only 3% of 18-to-29-year-olds consider themselves Chinese, the lowest frequency since 1997. The young people want democracy. They dont is intended to be brainwashed.

For all the irrelevance and hesitation, Hong Kongs protest movement appears in buoyant humor. Tens of thousands are expected to turn out on Saturday afternoon for an annual advance distinguishing the return to China. Their rallying cry will be 20 years of lies.[ It] was going to be Communist party bureaucrats, get out of Hong Kong, but they decided that was a bit very provoking, says Pepper.

Last September, a record number of young anti-Beijing activists were elected to Hong Kongs legislative council, or Legco, in what one victor called a democratic miracle. Nonetheless, many of them could now be forced from power, mainly because of government legal challenges over protests the activists took part in while being cuss in last year.

If two to three of them “losing ones” accommodates, then the whole political counterbalance will change totally, and then Beijing will have absolute control of this legislature, reminds Chu, who was to scream Democracy and self-determination and Tyranny must die while taking his oath.

Xi Jinping at a variety show to celebrate the handover anniversary. Photograph: Keith Tsuji/ Getty Images

Pepper said she was not optimistic that Beijing would give agreements to activists, although there are Hong Kongs incoming lead has pledged to healed the subdivide and build bridges. This is a bridge between democracy and dictatorship, said Pepper. How she is going to bridge that, I dont know.

Chris Patten, Hong Kongs last-place governor, has offered a more upbeat judgment of the city he once extended, saying he was encouraged by the really profound gumption of citizenship of its young activists. Above all, I speculate I am pleased about the practice in which Hong Kong parties themselves are the reason for it still being a justification of optimism rather than pessimism.

Lee, who is famed for an impassioned defence of democracy that he held after Britains withdrawal, says he is an everlasting optimist about his pushes hazards under a brand-new, young leader. These young people are our hope for the future. Im very proud of them.

Sitting in his enclosures between a failure of Winston Churchill and a statuette of the Goddess of Democracy, the token of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrates, Lee recollects strolling through the umbrella moves main clique, a sprawl of tents and policy debate, three days before police finally cleared it, in December 2015.

There were two little fowls singing on the soil.[ It was as if they were saying :] I bid I were free, you know? The air was fresh, he reminisces. I miss those days.

Additional reporting by Benjamin Haas and Wang Zhen .