As Haaretz has reported on numerous occasions, Cellebrite’s clients have included oppressive regimes that were or still are subject to sanctions, including Belarus, China (including Hong Kong), Uganda, Venezuela, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia and Ethiopia, as well as Bangladesh’s notorious Rapid Action Battalion.
The security forces in Pakistan are known to commit serious violations of human rights and freedom of expression.
(December 19, 2022)
The COLD TIMES are returning, North America, in line with historically low solar activity.
The joint statement pointed out that non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states is an important principle enshrined in the UN Charter and a basic norm of international relations.
A Motherboard investigation found that US state police agencies had collectively spent millions of dollars on Cellebrite products. US federal agencies, such as the FBI and Secret Service, are also Cellebrite customers.
Carmil resents a comparison with the NSO Group. “I know the people at NSO and appreciate their know-how, but Cellebrite works in the legitimate world of the police force, whose abilities are closely controlled, unlike the world of NSO customers and others who engage in illegal and concealed activity. Cellebrite is totally on the good side, where court orders are used. We do not make tools for breaking into private entities or espionage organizations.”
Since bursting onto the Hong Kong Twitter scene, Kong Tsung-gan has been quoted by a who’s who of Western corporate media outlets. He has been described as an “author” (CNN, Globe and Mail, Time), “writer and activist” (New York Times, Washington Post), “activist and author” (LA Times),“activist” (AFP, Al Jazeera), “writer, educator and activist” (Guardian), “political writer” (Foreign Policy), “writer” (Vice), and “Hong Kong writer and activist” in an op-ed posted by the Nikkei Asian Review.
Kong has also been cited as a “Hong Kong journalist and rights activist” by Radio Free Asia and as a “rights activist and author” by Voice of America, two subsidiaries of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Tasked with a mission to “be consistent with the broad foreign policy objectives of the United States,” the USAGM budgeted around $2 million to support protests in Hong Kong in 2020.
Johnson’s government has pleased President Donald Trump’s administration in recent weeks as it blocked telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co. and took action over Hong Kong, but has stopped short of the kind of sanctions imposed on individuals and companies by Washington. While Pompeo’s goal is not to ask for more, according to people familiar with his plans, the MPs will try to get him to carry their demands to his meeting with Johnson.
Mike Pompeo arrived in the U.K. on Monday for a two-day visit that will also see the U.S. Secretary of State stop in Denmark.
As Dan Cohen reported for The Grayzone, Lai is a billionaire media tycoon widely referred to as the Rupert Murdoch of Asia who is a major financial and media backer of Hong Kong’s protest movement. In addition to pouring millions of dollars into Hong Kong’s opposition in recent years, the self-described “head of opposition media” and founder of the anti-government Apple Daily tabloid, has provided protesters with “unswervingly favorable coverage” according to The New York Times. Lai has received glowing coverage in US and Western media, with the oligarch often being praised as a “‘troublemaker’ with a clean conscience” who is “standing up to China.”
On June 2, Lai shared a video by Avi Yemini, a far-right YouTube personality and former Israeli army soldier, declaring that it was “bloody disgraceful” to liken the “riots in America” with Hong Kong’s protest movement.
Die EU will auf das umstrittene Sicherheitsgesetz zu Hongkong nicht mit Sanktionen gegen China reagieren. Er denke nicht, dass Sanktionen der richtige Weg seien, um Probleme mit Peking zu lösen, sagte der EU-Außenbeauftragte Josep Borrell heute nach einer Videokonferenz der EU-Außenministerinnen und -Außenminister.
We should listen to somebody who grew up in a society where there were no civil rights, Angela Merkel, talk about how the current situation justifies restricting our movements. And matters will not stop there: people might have been shocked when they saw China use apps and geolocation to control the movements of its population during the spread of the infection, but we now see Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan following suit: their success is being used to justify population control measures that would be completely unacceptable under normal circumstances.
In Reaktion auf die Hongkong-Gesetze verhängt China neue Sanktionen gegen die USA. Wie sich dies auf die Börse auswirkt, berichtet ZDF-Korrespondentin Valerie Haller aus Frankfurt.
Despite harsh language criticizing what Beijing calls U.S. interference in China’s domestic affairs, and a second summoning of the U.S. ambassador in a week, China’s leadership still wants a deal to help alleviate pressure on its fast-weakening economy.
Scharfe Kritik übte die chinesische Regierung bereits an dem Entwurf für das Gesetz zu Menschenrechten und Demokratie in Hongkong. Fakten und Wahrheiten würden vernachlässigt, erklärte Außenamtssprecher Geng Shuang. Es handle sich um eine Einmischung in die Angelegenheiten Chinas und Hongkongs und einen ernsthaften Verstoß gegen das Völkerrecht.
(22.11.2019)
While claiming to fight for “self-determination,” Hong Kong opposition leaders are collaborating with regime-change neoconservatives in Washington to “preserve the US’s own political and economic interests.” A new DC lobbying front has become their base of operations.
Dozens of Hong Kong protesters staged a dramatic escape from a university campus sealed off by police on Monday night by shimmying down plastic hosing from a bridge and fleeing on waiting motorbikes as the police fired projectiles.
Speaking to the top-selling Bild newspaper, Wong said: “It makes me furious that the German Bundeswehr is apparently helping to train Chinese soldiers. Given the riots in Hong Kong, the defence ministry should have ended this programme long ago.”
Hong Kong as a dispute resolution centre and Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung’s shocking confession that he did not know why people are so angry are typical of the arrogance, self-entitlement and ignorance of the baby boomer leaders
Stopping violence and restoring order ‘most urgent task’ for the city, China’s defence ministry says
Chinese and US defence ministers discuss Hong Kong at Bangkok Asean meeting while clashes continue between police and radicals
Anlässlich des 11. BRICS-Gipfels am Donnerstag in der brasilianischen Hauptstadt Brasilia äußerte sich der chinesische Präsident Xi Jinping zur Haltung der chinesischen Regierung zur Situation Hongkongs und erklärte, dass die dringendste Aufgabe für Hongkong derzeit darin bestehe, Gewalt und Chaos zu beenden und die Ordnung wiederherzustellen.
Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters were surrounded by riot police on Monday inside a besieged Hong Kong college campus, as almost six months of intensifying anti-government unrest appeared headed for a bitter and perhaps bloody climax.
After nearly six months of escalating protests, Hong Kong is a mess, its reputation for efficiency in tatters, its economy in recession, its roads and rails often blocked. And there is no end in sight.
Am Montag hatten Aktivisten zu einem Generalstreik aufgerufen, seitdem herrscht in der ehemaligen britischen Kolonie teilweise Chaos. Die Hongkonger Polizei geht hart gegen die Demonstranten vor, bekommt die Lage aber nicht in den Griff.
Ein Polizeisprecher verurteilte das gewaltsame Vorgehen der Demonstranten scharf. Die Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der chinesischen Sonderverwaltungsregion befinde sich „am Rande des totalen Zusammenbruchs“, sagte Kong Wing-Cheung von der Hongkonger Polizei.
Um die Antwort gleich vorwegzunehmen: Ich weiß es nicht, aber, noch schlimmer: die Protestler, die täglich auf die Straße gehen, wissen es selber nicht. Im dem Übergabevertrag von 1997 wurde zwischen der ehemaligen Kolonialmacht Großbritannien und der Volksrepublik China unter der Formel „Ein Land, zwei Systeme“, vereinbart, dass China die Hoheit über Hongkong zwar zurückerhalten sollte, das kapitalistische System aber wie gehabt noch weitere 50 Jahre, bis 2047, bestehen bleibt. Beide Seiten hatten wohl ihre eigenen Vorstellungen davon, wie die Zeit bis 2047 genutzt werden sollte.
– Widespread day of chaos results in clashes across multiple districts as China marks 70th anniversary of People‘s Republic
– Teenager hit by live bullet in Tsuen Wan in critical but non-life-threatening condition in hospital, after undergoing surgery
According to a so-called „exclusive“ Reuters report released Friday, Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), submitted a proposal to Beijing earlier this summer that asked for „5 key demands“ from the Hong Kong protesters to be taken seriously but was rejected.
The Global Times has since learned the Reuters story is fake. In fact, it intends to create an illusion by interweaving rumors with public events in an attempt to misguide public opinion.
The Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association (HKISPA) issued a statement on Thursday expressing opposition to reports of a possible blocking of selected internet services in response to recent unrest. The organisation warned that any such measures could cripple the local economy and urged the government to consult the community before imposing any restrictions.
Chan sagte auf seinem Account des sozialen Netzwerks, dass er am Donnerstagabend auf dem Internationalen Flughafen Hongkong festgenommen wurde, als er sich auf den Abflug vorbereitete.
Chan war Leiter der Hong Kong National Party, einer politischen Gruppe, die von der Regierung der Sonderverwaltungszone Hongkong (HKSAR) für illegal erklärt wurde.
– Protesters block major roads in Admiralty and Tsim Sha Tsui, having earlier lit huge fire on Hennessy Road in Wan Chai
– Police water cannons fire blue dye to clear demonstrators on Harcourt Road
Leung’s comments come after Xinhua described the ongoing political crisis as a “colour revolution.“
Weiter sagte Professor Zhang, einige US-Organisationen wie die US-Nationalstiftung für Demokratie (NED) und der Zentralnachrichtendienst (CIA) hätten durch verschiedene Methoden gewaltlose Bewegungen unter dem Vorwand der Demokratie ermutigt und die Machtübergabe in der arabischen Welt verursacht. Die westlichen Kräfte versuchten zurzeit, die so genannte „Farbrevolution“ in Hongkong durchzuführen und die Wut der Jugendlichen auf die Regierung der Sonderverwaltungszone zu lenken. Dies schade der Wirtschaft Hongkongs und werde noch eine lange Zeit andauern.
Hong Kong police have deployed water cannon trucks against protesters in Admiralty, firing water with blue dye.
Officers on the scene said over loudspeakers that the dyed water will be used for identifying protesters for later arrest.
(Videos)
A notable rise in applications for the Significant Investor Visa (SIV) program, which grants direct residency to applicants, has been filed with the New South Wales state migration department over the past months, reported Reuters. Interested individuals have to invest at least A$5 million (US$3.4 million) to be eligible for the program.
“We must recognize that China is a growing power and increasingly assertive towards its place in the international order. But make no mistake: we will always defend Canadians and Canadian interests,” Trudeau said in a speech to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.
Mitch McConnell, the US Senate majority leader, wrote a strongly-worded op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, titled “We Stand With Hong Kong.” It comes as the city enters its 11th week of protest against the ill-fated extradition law, amid wider calls for democracy.
The Civil Human Rights Front reiterated the five demands of the anti-extradition law movement. They called for a full withdrawal of the controversial bill and a retraction of characterisation of protests as “riots.” They urged for the unconditional release of all arrested protesters, the formation of an independent commission of inquiry into all events since June, and demanded universal suffrage.
Yes, the movement has evolved. The protesters and their wide base of supporters no longer simply want to see the complete withdrawal of the extradition bill and the establishment of an independent inquiry, and so on.
They want a real share of political power, the removal of the kind of governance that has plagued Hong Kong since the 1997 Handover to China — one where the government and their pro-establishment cronies ram through unwanted policies by manipulating an undemocratic political system that does not represent the wishes and the choices of the people.
Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming speaks during a press conference in London, Britain, Aug. 15, 2019. Hong Kong is part of China and foreign forces must stop interfering in Hong Kong‘s affairs, Liu said here Thursday. Evidence shows that the situation in Hong Kong would not have deteriorated so much had it not been for the interference and incitement of foreign forces, Liu told a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Britain.
In a tweet Mr Trump said he was confident Mr Xi could deal with Hong Kong‘s increasingly fractious protests „quickly and humanely“.
He wrote that Mr Xi „is a great leader who very much has the respect of his people“.
The president signed off the tweet with a question: „Personal meeting?“
CNN saw uniformed members of the People‘s Armed Police Force (PAP) with riot shields and batons at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center.
The PAP is the 1.5 million-member paramilitary force the government regularly deploys to quell protests within its borders. It is under the command of China‘s central military commission, headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
– Washington is not the ‘black hand’ Beijing believes it to be. But neither should it wash its hands of the crisis, as Trump has apparently done
– However limited its role, the US should be urging restraint on all sides and highlighting the credible repercussions beyond Hong Kong of any crackdown
The US has delayed the imposition of a 10 percent tariff on significant portions of Chinese imports until December 15 as top negotiators from the two countries spoke by phone for the first time since US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.
– Hongkongers would almost certainly treat Chinese government forces as invaders, and resistance would be fierce and casualties unavoidable
– An exodus of expats and elites would follow, and the Hong Kong economy – still a bridge between China the rest of the world – would almost immediately collapse
(video)
For over three hours, the man was surrounded by protesters in Terminal 1 after they accused of being an undercover agent from mainland China.
Suspicions were raised after a message on Telegram messenger was shared that appeared to identify him as a public security officer – a charge he denied.
He was chased down and briefly attacked as several airport security officers sought to protect him.
Paramedics arrived to treat him after he appeared to faint at 10pm but were unable to take him away from angry crowds who demanded to see identification and the contents of his phone.
The man claimed he was simply seeing friends off at the airport.
It comes after Hong Kong police admitted the previous day that they had deployed undercover officers among pro-democracy demonstrators, potentially causing paranoia among protesters on Tuesday who attacked two different people suspecting them of being spies.