China fumes over US law backing Hong Kong, says retaliation inevitable

Election News
Terms of Trade is a day by day bulletin that unravels a world entangled in exchange wars. China is making a propensity for giving obscure counter dangers. Up until now, be that as it may, it hasn't really done a lot. The outside service gave another admonition on Thursday after President Donald Trump marked bills backing Hong Kong's nonconformists, utilizing language that reflected an announcement a week ago.
China gave comparative dangers not long ago after the U.S. affirmed arms deals to Taiwan, authorized organizations over human-rights maltreatment in Xinjiang and put Huawei Technologies Co. on a boycott. "We recommend that the U.S. quits adhering determinedly to its course or China will take fearless countermeasures," the outside service said. "The U.S. side will bear all duty regarding the outcomes." Later, outside service representative Geng Shuang evaded inquiries on when China would answer or whether it would affect exchange talks, advising journalists to "stay tuned."
"What will come will come," he said. The inability to tissue out the subtleties regardless of having a long time to get ready shows the challenges China faces in hitting the U.S. without additionally harming its own economy, which is developing at the slowest pace in right around three decades. Aside from actualizing retaliatory levies against the U.S., China has to a great extent adhered to an approach of "vital poise" with regards to different parts of the relationship.
Exchange Talks Impact

Mei Xinyu, a specialist at a research organization under China's Commerce Ministry, said that the Hong Kong issue will be talked about at the exchange arrangement table and China will probably ask the U.S. side to explain its position, or even make a few guarantees on ceasing from utilizing the bill. He included that China will set up certain countermeasures simultaneously, resounding the Foreign Ministry's comments prior, without expounding on what explicit estimates will be taken......READ MORE

A long list of economic problems await Hong Kong. How they can be fixed

International News
Beyond Hong Kong’s current political turmoil, a long list of economic problems await the city’s current and future rulers.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, on Wednesday unveiled more than 220 initiatives in housing, land supply and livelihood support, in a recognition that economic policy has a role to play in alleviating some of the city’s frustrations. She also acknowledged that Hong Kong entered a recession in the third quarter and warned of an “unprecedented” economic challenge.
That’s a start, though observers say the long-standing growth model -- as a low-tax, low-regulation entrepot for finance and trade -- has become an element in the political unrest, rather than the main solution.
Huge income inequality, markets controlled by insiders and a spiraling cost of living -- especially of housing -- are by now hallmarks of Hong Kong’s brand of capitalism, alongside the “world’s freest economy” label perennially awarded by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative-leaning U.S. policy group.
From using the city’s fiscal firepower to breaking the dominance of conglomerates and raising the standard of public facilities, there exists a range of proposals from economists and other experts for a way forward. In some areas, the government is already moving ahead. In others, a fundamental shift -- and the political consensus to make it -- is required.
Use Reserves to Tackle Housing

Many in the city question the political will of Hong Kong’s government officials to take bold, aggressive action in a range of policy areas. This criticism often arises in relation to the city’s HK$1.17 trillion ($149 billion) fiscal reserve, which some contend has grown steadily for years while the city’s problems were allowed to fester...READ MORE

Hong Kong inseparable from China, secessionism will be crushed: State media

International News

Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China and any form of secessionism "will be crushed", state media said on Monday, a day after demonstrators rallied at the US consulate to ask for help in bringing democracy to the city.
The China Daily newspaper said Sunday's rally in Hong Kong was proof that foreign forces were behind the protests, which began in mid-June, and warned that demonstrators should "stop trying the patience of the central government".
Chinese officials have accused foreign forces of trying to hurt Beijing by creating chaos in Hong Kong over a hugely unpopular extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to be tried in Communist Party-controlled courts.
Anger over the bill grew into sometimes violent protests calling for more freedoms for Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula.Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam formally scrapped the bill last week as part of concessions aimed at ending the protests.
"Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China, and that is the bottom line no one should challenge, not the demonstrators, not the foreign forces playing their dirty games," the China Daily said in an editorial.
"The demonstrations in Hong Kong are not about rights or democracy. They are a result of foreign interference. Lest the central government's restraint be misconstrued as weakness, let it be clear secessionism in any form will be crushed," it said.

 State news agency Xinhua said in a separate commentary that the rule of law needed to be manifested and that Hong Kong could pay a larger and heavier penalty should the current situation continue.

Hong Kong leader setting up communication platform to help end protest

Current Affairs
Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped "calm" will prevail after a massive weekend march passed without clashes between police and demonstrators, but again refused to give ground to protester demands.
Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the heart of the city on Sunday in a show of peaceful protest after escalating street battles with police drew stark warnings from Beijing and threatened to undermine public support.
"On Sunday, many Hong Kong residents participated in a rally at Victoria Park that was largely peaceful," Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a televised press conference."I wholeheartedly hope that this is the beginning of society returning to calm and staying away from violence." The protests began against a proposed extradition law to China but morphed into a pro-democracy movement sparking the city's biggest political crisis in decades.
They have been fuelled by anger over alleged police brutality, with tear gas and rubber bullets deployed against protesters. Lam reported 174 complaints have been made against police since protests began.
She said they would be "robustly" investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Council, whose head is appointed by the chief executive. However, the probe is unlikely to satisfy protesters who have called for an independent inquiry by an external body.In addition to universal suffrage and cancelling the extradition bill, protesters also demand the release of those detained during clashes.

 Lam, pilloried by press and protesters for failing to step down while the city plunges into crisis, said her government would continue a "fact-finding mission" on how to move forward from the demonstrations...Read More

Hong Kong airport on alert as anti-govt activist gear up for 3-day rally

International News

Hong Kong's Airport Authority said on Friday only departing passengers with travel documents will be allowed to enter the terminal as anti-government activists gear up for a three-day rally to raise awareness among tourists entering the city.
The move comes as officials confirmed on Friday that a police commander who oversaw pro-democracy demonstrations that roiled the former British colony in 2014 has been recalled to help deal with protests that have plunged the financial hub into crisis.
Former deputy police commissioner Alan Lau Yip-shing has been appointed to help handle large-scale public order events and steer operations, including activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1, the government said in a statement.
Reuters reported late on Thursday, citing sources, that Lau had been recalled in a move that suggests the government lacks confidence in the capacity of the current police leadership to manage the response to protests.
Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is embroiled in its worst political crisis for decades after two months of increasingly violent protests that have posed one of the gravest populist challenges to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he took office in 2012.
The escalating cycle of violence has prompted travel warnings from countries including the United States and Australia.

 Activists plan to converge on the airport on Friday afternoon, with more protests planned across the city at the weekend."To maintain the smooth process of the departure procedures of passengers and the terminal operation, only departure passengers with an air ticket or boarding pass for the next 24 hours and a valid travel document, or airport staff with identity proofs will be allowed to enter to the check-in aisles at Terminal 1,"...Read More

'Prepared to die': Hong Kong protesters embrace hard-core tactics

International News

In 2014, a protester named Chloe camped out on city streets, chanted slogans and planted “seeds of hope,” part of a 79-day occupation of major roads. The protesters’ demands for greater democracy were ignored.
This summer, the civil servant, who is in her 20s, has zip tied metal barriers together to block roads and dug bricks out of sidewalks to throw at police. Her primary role is to be “arrest support”—ready to hire lawyers for detained protesters and help their families with an emergency plan.“Some of them are prepared to die for the movement,” said Chloe. “I am also willing to die for it.”
Hong Kong’s protests against the mainland government’s increasing reach are emerging as bigger, more frequent and more violent than previous pro-democracy movements. In a contrast to 2014, when demonstrations were largely led by students, the current action has been embraced by a broader cross-section of Hong Kong society—including civil servants, pop stars, doctors, shopkeepers and people of all ages. And those taking part in more radical acts of civil disobedience are finding wider support.
Hard-core current protesters have largely rejected the strategies of veteran leaders, whose approach is seen to have failed. Actions are mostly organized by anonymous leaders of small groups. In 2014, named student leaders became well known figures.

 The shift in attitude means Hong Kong’s resistance has become the biggest open rebellion against China’s ruling Communist Party since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.“There’s a feeling among many that there’s no other option, that some physical confrontation is the only way for the regime to listen to the voices of Hong Kongers,” said Jeffrey Ngo, chief researcher at pro-democracy group Demosisto. Mr. Ngo said he doesn’t use violence himself in the current protests, but understands why some have resorted to it....Read More

Hong Kong protesters used encrypted messages, Ninja outfits to elude police

Company News
Thousands of black-clad demonstrators braved tear gas and rain for 79 days in Hong Kong’s 2014 "Umbrella Movement.” The lessons of that agitation appear to have made the city’s protesters swifter and better prepared in some of their latest attempts to weather police action.
The young citizens who crowded into the streets this week to protest a bill that would allow extradition to mainland China used the Telegram encrypted messaging app to share locations. They handed out surgical masks for protection against pepper spray and to hide their faces from the police. They turned cars and trucks into roadblocks in the middle of highways. And they set up supply stations throughout the demonstration, acting more quickly than they did five years ago.
"It’s a real genius of Hong Kong people," said Kong Tsung-gan, author of Umbrella: A Political Tale from Hong Kong. "There are no pre-existing structures and before you know it, they’re there."
At the same time, Hong Kong’s police also appeared better equipped in their efforts to disperse the crowd -- and more determined to prevent a repeat of 2014’s extended sit-in. In full anti-riot gear, they used pepper spray and fired rounds of tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bags, making it harder for demonstrators to hold their ground. The police said they’d fired about 150 rounds of tear gas in Wednesday’s melee, almost double the 87 rounds fired in the entirety of the Umbrella Movement.
Here are some of the tactics Hong Kong’s protesters used in this week’s protests:Encrypted Messaging

 While a pro-democracy group called the Civil Human Rights Front helped run the movement against the bill, there were no obvious leaders at Wednesday’s protests. Student activist Joshua Wong, one of the most public faces of the 2014 protests, is currently in jail in Hong Kong.