Hong Kong leader urges calm as protest tensions rise

@Wipeout

Going against the extradition bill was the goal of this movement. This one and only big appeal has already been accepted by the HK government, so this bill has already fallen.

If you’d like to have more say in your government, declare your intentions, proposals, and solutions. No one is calling for independence, end to corruption, and so on. Without any leadership, it’s just a bunch of people sitting at an airport. There is no point being made.

bass4funk:

The rioters in HK are being treated no different to protesters on any other country including the US, India, France.... The function of the police is to maintain the rule of law. Fact check this!

Then let them vote if they want to be independent or if they want citizenship rights and be added to the flag with another star.

Completely irrelevant to these people not having the right to vote. One cannot simply snap one's fingers and change the law.

It is a pity that local politicians do not listen to whom elected them but to their master.

I think the protesters have crossed the line by some of protesters destructive activity. I won't be surprised if the Chinese Government sends its military to HK and declare martial law. HK is China sovereignty and the Chinese Government won't be tolerated such as destructive activity. This problem was Chinese domestic affair and so other Government will not interfere Chinese domestic problem.

The protesters must demonstrate peacefully and they should not destroy the Government's building and public property. Do not disturb travelers and stay away from the Airport.

bass4funk: "Never have, never would."

You're right you don't check the facts and never would. That's why you had to change handles after Obama won -- you just could not justify your comments. Same here; although you haven't changed names yet you did call Trump a lunatic, and now bend down for him. As for not making things up, you have continually plagiarized The National Review in your writings on this site.

"I’m sorry, so your point is what exactly?"

That all of your points are both copied and moot. If Trump said he's against what Hong Kong is doing, you'd post you are against what Hong Kong is doing (despite the lunatic!). If while you were typing Trump said he supported them, you'd backspace what you were typing in support of the opposite and post that you support them. Such a vacuous state of "journalism" we pretend to live in. "LOL", right?

food.. for thought.

Eppee: "During those troubled periods, when journalistic independence is questioned I would suggest to also add https://www.hongkongfp.com/ to the list of online reading."

This is NOT unbiased and independent journalism. Very biased and very anti-Chinese.

I recommend watching some of the videos on the SCMP's website

During those troubled periods, when journalistic independence is questioned I would suggest to also add https://www.hongkongfp.com/ to the list of online reading.

wipeout: The extradition bill is just the tip of the ice burg. What the RIOTER really want is independence and China will never give them that, just as Spain will not give independence to Catalonia, India will not give independence to Kashmir, the US will not give independence to Hawaii or the Guam... Where is the support for the independence of these people? Where is the support for the independence of the Palestinians?

Many countries around the globe are in civil war either because they want independence or want to overthrow their government. Is HK ready to go to civil war?

Why do you continue to ignore the truth and the fact? It does you no credit.

Then let them vote if they want to be independent or if they want citizenship rights and be added to the flag with another star.

These US citizens are not able to vote for a President and have some other citizenship restrictions

Yes.

“Protesting is an American cultural thing, like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to assemble. Americans DEMAND them, for popular and unpopular speech/protests.”

Yes

The US National Guard often uses tear gas, batons and rubber bullets against protester. I, again, refer you to the Jackson State and State protests in which the law enforcers killed 6 and wounded 20 using LIVE ammunition.

Why do you choose to ignore the truth? Check the facts.

Oh, boy.....

theFu:

Why do you continue to ignore the truth and the fact? It does you no credit.

 Again, I refer you to the “Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment” which does not extend to all American citizens of US territories (which were initially annexed by the US). Not all “People in the US have the right to choose who stands for elections and for whom they vote.” These US citizens are not able to vote for a President and have some other citizenship restrictions

“Protesting is an American cultural thing, like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to assemble. Americans DEMAND them, for popular and unpopular speech/protests.”

The US National Guard often uses tear gas, batons and rubber bullets against protester. I, again, refer you to the Jackson State and State protests in which the law enforcers killed 6 and wounded 20 using LIVE ammunition.

Why do you choose to ignore the truth? Check the facts.

^ further to the Chan Tong-Kai case, Taiwan government actually did propose a few times to proceed on that, but HK government decided to ignore those requests and wanted to use this as an excuse to implement the extradition law.

Also, people are not in flavor of the law is that no one trusts the so-call law or justice systems in China.

Chan Tong-kai, the man who murdered his girlfriend during a vacation in Taiwan last month, may get away with murder as he is only charged with theft and handling stolen goods.

...

This was why the extradition bill was proposed. It simply means that this murderer can be brought to justice by being extradited for his crimes. Seems fair enough.

that's not entirely correct, Taiwan has officially refused the murderer if it was at the price of the extradition bill. In addition a one time extradition agreement could have been found if needed.

Make no mistake - they are falsely claiming "terrorism" so that they can try to justify the deadly crackdown that's about to come. This is what tyranny looks like.

You are right, Crazy Joe. And juminRhee just above is also right. Keep that skeptical frame of mind and look at your own country - because China is not the only country that will do this.

Crazyjoe:

I recall another country claiming terrorism as the right to invade wherever, kill whomever, and national sovereignty be dinged. And they call themselves the best country in earth and Beacon of democracy...igg

Well, they get free speech once...then they disappear.

I doubt Beijing will let Lam resign. The yellow vest protests have been going on in France for some time and there are injuries too. US would probably have homeland security detain (since they handle airports) and spin to call them terrorists and disrupting the economy. That being said, China has no outlet (free and fair elections, free speech, etc).

Im not sure where along the process did it became a cry for “freedom” and “democracy.” The very extradition bill was created by Hong Kong. They should rewrite the bill and cover the legal loopholes in question. Sit down and come up with the bill you want. The same with all the protesting by the Koreans. Why not work on solving the problem with the Japanese instead of just making noise? Not a big fan of violent protests. I am neither Chinese or Hong Kongnese or Taiwanese. Just am trying to make sense of global events.

Chan Tong-kai, the man who murdered his girlfriend during a vacation in Taiwan last month, may get away with murder as he is only charged with theft and handling stolen goods.

The 19-year-old man was never charged with murder because Taiwanese investigators never had the chance to question him, according to Taiwan News. Other analysts also suggested that he may actually get away with it since there are legal loopholes in how the judicial system is recognized between Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Chan, along with his girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing, went to Taipei, Taiwan to have a vacation for Valentine’s Day on Feb. 13. However, only Chan returned home on Feb. 17, which raised concerns for the 20-year-old’s parents asking him about their daughter.

He was caught by Hong Kong police on March 13 and admitted he strangled Poon as he was enraged by the fact that she may have been pregnant with another man’s child. Chan also admitted that he stuffed her lifeless body inside the suitcase and dumped it on a grass bank outside Zhuwei metro station in New Taipei City.

Taiwan has reportedly asked for Hong Kong’s assistance in the case, but without the suspect in the former’s custody, they won’t be able to proceed with the murder charges. Unless a special arrangement is made, Hong Kong will not recognize Taiwan’s jurisdiction.

This was why the extradition bill was proposed. It simply means that this murderer can be brought to justice by being extradited for his crimes. Seems fair enough.

The problem is that many people in HK seem to be misguided by what the bill actually is, thinking that promoting anti-Chinese propaganda would get them extradited to China. This is of course incorrect. Criminals residing in HK need to be assessed by HK law first before being extradited. This is the same law endorsed by the former British governing body, so everybody can agree that it meets international standards. If the severity of the crime exceeds HK terms, then those criminals must be extradited.

It seems that some people consider the bill to be a threat made by China, where in fact it was proposed by the HK government and its own legal system. It really has nothing to do with China at all.

Easier said than done but both Hong Kong and Korea can work more on solving the issue instead of raising the issue in my opinion

I hope the people in Taiwan that are thinking about reunification with Mainland China are paying attention to how Beijing respects personal freedom and rights.

kyronstavicToday 08:04 am JST

When will democratic governments around the world wake up and isolate China from commerce and political connections until the brutal and despotic CCP falls?

Probably because so many of those bankrupt democratic countries cant because they need the Chinese money to keep themselves a float

Lam says, 'Hong Kong, as an open, free, very tolerant, economically stable city......', and the protesters rightly want to keep it that way.

Neither side backing down, more and more violent incidents.  feels like a crackdown is coming.

China's intent is to keep the current chosen leader in power, else they would have removed her. Seems by reading both sides, it is the police force that has been the most aggressive and using tactics that escalates a tense situation. Without a doubt this is not Tiananmen reborn. Time will tell.

I fear we're going to see another Tiananmen massacre. There's no way the Communist government of China will let Hong Kong get what it wants.

Not necessarily. While the Chinese government is authoritarian and can be brutal within their own borders, they are trying to put forth a modern, first-world image to the rest of the world. If they step in and step on HK, it will do serious damage note only to their reputation insofar as how they deal with HK, but also will somewhat destroy the image they've been trying to cultivate of being more advanced than they used to be. Dealing with a declining image world-wide already as a result of Trump going on about them, such a hit could be crippling for them.

They may very well move on HK, but it's not something that's they're going to do lightly, nor without getting off lightly.

I fear we're going to see another Tiananmen massacre. There's no way the Communist government of China will let Hong Kong get what it wants.

Make no mistake - they are falsely claiming "terrorism" so that they can try to justify the deadly crackdown that's about to come. This is what tyranny looks like.

And then what Crazy Joe?

She said violence by protesters had pushed Hong Kong into "a state of panic and chaos".

cough, the violence was caused by rent-a-triad and CCP, the protesters have been mostly peaceful.

Make no mistake - they are falsely claiming "terrorism" so that they can try to justify the deadly crackdown that's about to come. This is what tyranny looks like.

Lam can make almost all of this end tomorrow.

She just needs to step down.

If protesters behaved this way in the US, (causing a disruption bad enough to close an airport ) I wonder how they would be treated? I'm not against the protest, just wondering how another Government would react?

People in the US have the right to choose who stands for elections and for whom they vote. There are also processes to have govt officials removed from office.

Only govt accounts say there was a reason to close the airport. Other sources say the protesters were not causing any issues, were passing out fliers with their grievances, and were completely peaceful.

Protesting is an American cultural thing, like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to assemble. Americans DEMAND them, for popular and unpopular speech/protests. Hong Kongers do understand.

I'm not against the protest, just wondering how another Government would react?

Open discussion channels with the protesters. Listen to them, talk to them.

Yes, I wonder too why the airport decided to close yesterday.

I would guess that ensuring the security of travelers would have become impossible in those conditions, better close it than facing security issues in an international airport.

Videos coming in today from Shenzen indicate that China is staging massive resources along the border.

Anyone that thinks a repeat of Tiananmen won't happen is delusional.

The PRC has no compunction about crushing resistance and killing innocent people in the process.

Bad things are about to happen!!

When asked their names in interviews, the protestors should all say Xi.

Any group of people will a population equal or greater to Liechtenstein, or perhaps even smaller, has the right to independence on the very ground they stand on. This should be obvious to all people whether its Hong Kong, Crimea. Quebec, Scotland or even a U.S. city or state wanting to cede. Anything else is being a slave to despots and favoring it. But there are a lot of very stupid people in the world.

China won't let the Empire wannabe fall because of some protesters. They still have a plan to export over 300 million people worldwide to other countries for all kinds of nefarious reasons.

The protesters are doing what China's leadership fears the most - practicing democracy. If even a small part of the Chinese people were to demand freedom and democracy, China's government would collapse, and the corrupt party elite would have to give up their power and wealth.

When will democratic governments around the world wake up and isolate China from commerce and political connections until the brutal and despotic CCP falls?

Step one: Infiltrate

Step two: Suggest the protestors are terrorists

Step three: The infiltrators will commit a terroristic act

Step four: The government sends in troops to "stamp out terrorism."

Protests end, and over the next month many of the leaders will quietly be arrested and disappear.

The only terrorists are the Beijing police force.