Commentary: Hong Kong rioters must be severely punished for beating reporter
http://en.people.cn/n3/2019/0814/c90000-9605962.html
A Global Times reporter who went to report on the current chaos in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) was tied up, insulted, and beaten by radicals in Hong Kong International Airport on the evening of Aug. 13.
The news provoked widespread outrage in China. Many Chinese lost sleep, worrying about the life of reporter Fu Guohao.
These rioters, who have thrown gasoline bombs at police, hurt tourists from the Chinese mainland, and brutally beaten this reporter, have defied every law and regulation. What they have done is appalling and intolerable.
In contrast to the savage acts of the rioters, Fu's bravery and integrity were admirable. Facing the rioters who surrounded him, Fu shouted, “I support Hong Kong police, you can beat me now.”
When he was finally brought out of the airport, while lying on a stretcher, Fu said “I love Hong Kong, thank you, thank you,” which shows the love this reporter feels for his country and Hong Kong SAR despite the rioters.
Insulting and attacking a member of the press is unforgivable. The rioters have trampled on journalistic ethics and civil rights. They have broken the bottom lines of morality and the law. All rioters must be severely punished.
Stopping the violence, ending the chaos and restoring order is the priority for Hong Kong right now. Hong Kong police announced in a statement that “radicals have caused physical and mental damage to the victims”, and that “the Hong Kong police will carry out an in-depth investigation into the cases,” stressing that they “will be sure to bring the attackers to justice”.
It’s touching to see more and more people stepping out to say no to violence, rioters, and criminal acts. The power of justice is converging!
As the old saying goes, “Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.” What awaits the mob is surely the punishment of the law.
The disgusting conduct of the radicals can neither frighten the people who have a sense of justice nor obstruct the determination of Hong Kong to maintain stability. Justice will prevail over evil. Hong Kong will see a better tomorrow!
Hong Kong's most urgent task is to stop violence, end chaos, restore order
http://en.people.cn/n3/2019/0808/c90000-9604192.html
A symposium is jointly held by the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Aug. 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)
Op-Ed: Hong Kong is not and shall not be the frontline of US and China
http://en.people.cn/n3/2019/0812/c90000-9605407.html
Hong Kong has been rocked by chaos and violence for weeks and the violence is getting more and more intense. What is going on in Hong Kong? There is already evidence of interference by foreign forces. As Chinese officials have pointed out, the situation in Hong Kong bears the features of a "color revolution."
https://twitter.com/pdchina/status/1160823734606815233
Are the protests in #HongKong "peaceful"?
https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/1160626939469717504
Profile: Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong VIDEO
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48646472
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has been the face of the Hong Kong government throughout months of protests.
In press conferences she has defended the city's police and called for anti-government protesters not to push the city into an "abyss". The extradition bill was her first serious challenge since being elected in 2017 as the city's first female leader. At the time, she was not the popular candidate for the top spot.
However she was favoured by Beijing - and by those who decide who leads the territory. The chief executive is chosen by a committee of 1,200 people who are said to represent the city.
HK suspends controversial extradition bill
Hong Kong-China extradition plans explained
She won with a total of 777 votes, a number that has since become one of her nicknames in Hong Kong.
Ms Lam previously told the BBC: "I don't think it's a question of a number. The question is about legitimacy. The election committee itself is formed from a much larger electorate representing broadly all the sectors in society in Hong Kong."
A long-serving civil servant
Ms Lam, a Roman Catholic, was born in Hong Kong and comes from a working class background.
The New York Times describes her as a "workaholic", regularly sleeping just three or four hours a night.
She joined the civil service in 1980 after graduating from the University of Hong Kong.
During her time there, she was sent to the University of Cambridge for a one-year diploma course in Development Studies.
In 2004, she was appointed Director General of London Hong Kong Economics Trade Office - the city's representation in the United Kingdom.
She returned to Hong Kong in 2006, climbing through the ranks.
Ms Lam gave up her British nationality in 2007 in order to serve as secretary for development.
Her husband and two children retained their British passports. Ms Lam's husband resides in the UK along with one of their sons. The other lives in mainland China.
The Umbrella Movement
Ms Lam was Chief Secretary for Administration during the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, serving under then Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
Protesters occupied key areas in Admiralty and Causeway Bay for 79 days.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has been the face of the Hong Kong government throughout months of protests.
In press conferences she has defended the city's police and called for anti-government protesters not to push the city into an "abyss".
The extradition bill was her first serious challenge since being elected in 2017 as the city's first female leader. At the time, she was not the popular candidate for the top spot.
However she was favoured by Beijing - and by those who decide who leads the territory. The chief executive is chosen by a committee of 1,200 people who are said to represent the city.
HK suspends controversial extradition bill
Hong Kong-China extradition plans explained
She won with a total of 777 votes, a number that has since become one of her nicknames in Hong Kong.
Ms Lam previously told the BBC: "I don't think it's a question of a number. The question is about legitimacy. The election committee itself is formed from a much larger electorate representing broadly all the sectors in society in Hong Kong."
A long-serving civil servant
Ms Lam, a Roman Catholic, was born in Hong Kong and comes from a working class background.
The New York Times describes her as a "workaholic", regularly sleeping just three or four hours a night.
She joined the civil service in 1980 after graduating from the University of Hong Kong.
During her time there, she was sent to the University of Cambridge for a one-year diploma course in Development Studies.
In 2004, she was appointed Director General of London Hong Kong Economics Trade Office - the city's representation in the United Kingdom.
She returned to Hong Kong in 2006, climbing through the ranks.
Ms Lam gave up her British nationality in 2007 in order to serve as secretary for development.
Her husband and two children retained their British passports. Ms Lam's husband resides in the UK along with one of their sons. The other lives in mainland China.
The Umbrella Movement
Ms Lam was Chief Secretary for Administration during the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, serving under then Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
Protesters occupied key areas in Admiralty and Causeway Bay for 79 days.
But her time in office has been marred by the controversial extradition bill proposed in 2019, which she argued was necessary to protect the city against criminals.
It was introduced after a high-profile case where a Hong Kong man was accused of murdering his girlfriend on holiday in Taiwan but could not be extradited.
However many people felt that the law could be used to target political opponents of the Chinese state.
Millions of people have marched on the streets of Hong Kong over the past two months.
Despite Ms Lam announcing that she would suspend the extradition bill, protesters have still called for it to be completely withdrawn.
Andrew Fung Ho-keung, chief executive of the Hong Kong Policy Research, said that Ms Lam's condemnation of protesters would not diffuse tensions.
He told the South China Morning Post: "She needs to come up with feasible ways to defuse the crisis."
Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten told the BBC: "What's clearly needed is a process of reconciliation. It's the only way I think you'll put a cap on this and get back to peace and stability in Hong Kong."
Carrie Lam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Lam
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBM, GBS (Chinese: 林鄭月娥; Cantonese Yale: Làhm Jehng Yuht-ngòh; née Cheng, born 13 May 1957) is a Hong Kong politician serving as the 4th and current Chief Executive of Hong Kong since 2017. She served as the Chief Secretary for Administration, the most senior principal official, from 2012 to 2017, and as Secretary for Development from 2007 to 2012.
After graduating from the University of Hong Kong, Lam joined the British Hong Kong civil service in 1980 and served in various government agencies. She became a key official in 2007 when she was appointed Secretary for Development. During her tenure, she earned the nickname "tough fighter" for her role in the controversial demolition of the Queen's Pier.
She became Chief Secretary for Administration under the Leung Chun-ying administration in 2012. From 2013 to 2015, Lam headed the Task Force on Constitutional Development for the 2014 Hong Kong electoral reform and held talks with student and opposition leaders during the widespread protests. In the 2017 Chief Executive election, Lam won the three-way election with 777 votes of the 1,194-member Election Committee as the Beijing-favoured candidate, becoming the first female Chief Executive in Hong Kong history.
Lam's administration has been mired in numerous controversies, including the trial and imprisonment of activists as well as the disqualification of several pro-democracy candidates and the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party. Her government also received criticism for raising the age of threshold for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance welfare scheme and the handling of the cross-harbour tunnel toll plan, among other policies.
In mid 2019, Lam’s government pushed for the controversial amendment to the extradition law. The widespread opposition to the bill and Lam's hardline approach on the issue sparked massive protests attended by nearly two million protesters who called for the withdrawal of the bill and her resignation, which led to the indefinite suspension of the bill. However, protests have continued throughout the summer as protestors renewed demands for the complete withdrawl of the bill, free elections, an independent inquiry on police brutality, the release of arrested protesters and for the government to retract the characterization of the protests as "riots".
In 1984, Carrie married Chinese mathematician Lam Siu-por, whom she met while studying at Cambridge. Lam Siu-por obtained his PhD in algebraic topology in 1983, under the supervision of Frank Adams.
Lam Siu-por used to teach at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and retired to England,[clarification needed] but has since taught[when?] some short courses at the Capital Normal University in Beijing. The couple have two sons, Jeremy and Joshua, who studied in England.
Their elder son Jeremy joined Xiaomi, an electronics and software company in Beijing in April 2016. Her husband and both sons are British citizens, while Carrie herself renounced her British citizenship to take up the principal official post in the Hong Kong SAR government in 2007.
"What's clearly needed is a process of reconciliation. It's the only way I think you'll put a cap on this and get back to peace and stability in Hong Kong."
Chris Patten
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Patten
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC (Chinese: 彭定康; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who served as the 28th and final Governor of Hong Kong from 19 July 1992 until the end of British administration over the territory on 30 June 1997. He has been a Conservative member of the House of Lords since 2005 and previously represented Bath in the House of Commons from 1979 to 1992.
Patten first became a junior minister in 1986, and a member of the Cabinet from 1989–1992. He was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990–1992, and European Commissioner from 1999–2004. Patten served as Chairman of the BBC Trust from 2011–2014. Currently, he is the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, a post he has held since 2003.
Patten served various junior ministerial posts under Margaret Thatcher, including at the Department of Education and Science, before joining the Cabinet in 1989 as Environment Secretary. On the succession of John Major as Prime Minister in 1990, Patten was promoted to become Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He orchestrated the Conservatives' unexpected fourth consecutive general election victory in 1992, but unexpectedly lost his own seat.
He then accepted the final (28th) Governorship of Hong Kong until the territory's handover to China on 1 July 1997. As Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Patten presided over a steady rise in the living standards of Hongkongers while encouraging a significant expansion of Hong Kong's social welfare and electoral system page needed Patten played a significant role in the Hong Kong handover ceremony with Charles, Prince of Wales and exited Victoria Harbour on HMY Britannia. Patten received national recognition for his services by appointment as Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 1998 New Year Honours.
From 1999–2004, he served as one of the United Kingdom's two members of the European Commission. He returned to the UK and became Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2003 and was made a life peer in 2005. On 7 April 2011, Queen Elizabeth II approved Patten's appointment as the Chairman of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Patten held the position until his resignation on grounds of ill-health on 6 May 2014.
Patten married Lavender Thornton, a barrister, on 11 September 1971. They have three daughters.
On 29 September 2005, he published his memoirs, Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths About World Affairs. In October 2009, Patten was Chief Guest at The Doon School, a boarding school in Dehradun, India, which is a member of the United Kingdom's Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Patten is a Roman Catholic and oversaw Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010. In 2010, The Tablet named him as one of Britain's most influential Roman Catholics.
In February 2010, Patten was appointed President of Medical Aid for Palestinians, but he stepped down in June 2011.
In 2014 Pope Francis appointed Patten to head a body to advise the Vatican on media strategy and on how to handle the press, which he remained on until 2016
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2099806/chris-patten-recalls-happiest-years-last-governor-hong-kong