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Imprisoned lawyer Hang Tung Chow from Hong Kong, along with Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi from China received the CCBE Human Rights Award 2023, “For their courage, determination, and commitment to defending human rights and the rule of law in China.” The CCBE president Panagiotis Perakis stated, “Through the CCBE, European lawyers will continue to closely monitor the situation and support their Chinese colleagues who need help. We will never accept that lawyers are targeted because of their legitimate activities as lawyers.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee put the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act (H.R. 1103) up for mark up next week which would require the U.S. President “to remove the extension of certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the HKETO if Hong Kong no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy from the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes”.
On the 28th of November, the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK Foundation) and Georgetown's Asian Studies will host an exhibition and panel discussion in Washington, DC, titled, ‘Art Under China's Red Line: Exhibition/Panel on Press Freedom in Hong Kong’. Experts, researchers and former Apple Daily workers will gather for a discussion on press freedom in Hong Kong. To RSVP, please register here.
Hong Kong
In a worrying sign of the politicisation of an independent civil service, the Hong Kong government hosted a lecture for the city’s top officials and high-level civil servants to learn about China’s path to modernisation, according to China’s leader Xi Jinping. The lecture was titled “One Country, Two Systems and contemporary China.”
The Hong Kong government omitted an entire section on the city's history in the Hong Kong 2022 yearbook. This segment had been a consistent part of the annual yearbook since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and is now being removed for the first time. This is a step towards the eradication of the history of Hong Kong in line with the CCP’s policies in the mainland.
Hong Kong Education Bureau unveiled new curriculum mandates for children as young as 8 to start learning about the CCP history and the National Security Law. The authorities wrote, “The enrichment aims to keep pace with the times and systematically cultivate students’ sense of belonging to our country, national sentiments and sense of national identity from an early age for the implementation of Patriotic Education.”
UK-China Relations
The Henry Jackson Society released a report on Chinese infiltration in UK universities. It revealed more than 90 student associations in the UK are actively engaged in furthering the interests of the Chinese state and promoting the propaganda of the CCP.
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