Sunday, March 9

Political Systems, Domestic Politics

Free Press Dies in Hong Kong As China Freezes Paper’s Assets
22Jun By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Democracy, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Analysis

Free Press Dies in Hong Kong As China Freezes Paper’s Assets

June 22, 2021--The writing may have already been on the wall for the forced closure of the Apple Daily paper when China passed its security law. But the news yesterday that China's strong-arm control of Hong Kong would force the pro-democracy tabloid to shut down still stung like an unexpected bite. In the past week, Hong Kong authorities froze the paper's financial assets, arrested two of the paper's senior executives and raided the paper's offices. Unable to pay staff or operations, the paper is expected to close within days. The forced closure of the paper made headline news around the world on Monday. And in Hong Kong, it represents "the biggest sledgehammer blow to Hong Kong's fast-vanishing civil liberties" since the handover to China in 1997, an editorial in the Apple Daily sa...
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Is the Sky Turning Red Over EU-Member Hungary?
4May By Patti MohrNo Comments
Democracy, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Analysis

Is the Sky Turning Red Over EU-Member Hungary?

Hungary And China Strengthen Ties, Will Build Chinese University In Budapest May 4, 2021--As tensions rise between China and the West, one European Union-member country is drawing ever closer to Asia's Red Dragon: Hungary. Situated between seven countries in Central Europe, Hungary is a key outpost of the 27-member European Union. Lately, however, the country appears to be falling out with its European allies and drawing closer to communist China. Hungary Leaning East In March, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban broke with the rest of the EU consensus on COVID-19 by ordering China's Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik V vaccines. Later that month, Hungary's President Janos Ader met with his Chinese leaders in Budapest and promised to strengthen relations with China on trade, econ...
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US Government Gives Notice: No More Business With State-Owned Entreprises in Belarus
19Apr By Patti MohrNo Comments
Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

US Government Gives Notice: No More Business With State-Owned Entreprises in Belarus

April 19, 2021-The U.S. government today announced it is taking action in response to "sharply deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus" since the widely disputed August 2020 election. Since the election, hundreds of thousands of people have protested in the streets to protest the presidential rule of Alexander Lukashenko. The government responded with a violent crackdown. Today the government holds at least 340 people captive as political prisoners, according to the U.S. State Department. The 2020 Elections Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized Lukashenko as the president of Belarus while the European Union and the United States consider the election to be illegitimate. The EU has said the election was "neither free nor fair" and has issued multiple rounds of san...
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Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting
22Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Global Trade, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting

March 22, 2021--The kid-gloves came off at the first in-person meeting between the United States and China under the new U.S. administration. In a sign that tensions between the world's two largest economies are rising, the diplomats exchanged political punches from the beginning. They met first in front of cameras at the beginning of two-day strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska. Typically, televised remarks might be a brief exchange of niceties. But , this exchange was anything but typical. It wasn't brief. And it wasn't polite. In fact, the opening remarks turned into an extended exchange of insults and condemnations between the countries' top diplomats. The United States launched the first blows. U.S. Cites Concerns on Hong Kong, Human Rights and Coercion U.S. Secr...
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China’s Leaders Want Hong Kong to Only Elect ‘Patriots’
7Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Democracy, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

China’s Leaders Want Hong Kong to Only Elect ‘Patriots’

China Plans to Change Hong Kong's Election System; West Says Freedoms Are At Risk March 7, 2021-As China's National Legislature opened its annual legislative session on Friday, pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong and around the world watched with bated breath. This week, delegates at the National People's Congress (NPC) are taking up reforms to Hong Kong's electoral system that would guarantee only "patriots" serve. The proposed changes would effectively bring Hong Kong representatives under the control of China. China Wants Hong Kong 'Patriots' According to a transcribed statement of a speech by Wang Chen, China intends to change the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The senior Chinese lawmaker said the goal is to bring the politica...
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U.S. Raises ‘Deep Concerns’ About Conclusions of WHO Investigation
16Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Diplomacy, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Raises ‘Deep Concerns’ About Conclusions of WHO Investigation

Feb. 16, 2021-As the United States reengages with the World Health Organization under the new administration, its top national security officers are raising "deep concerns" about the credibility of the organization. The criticism comes as the WHO completed a controversial mission to Wuhan, China to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The WHO team, which included 17 participants representing China, ignored key information that scientists from the lab in Wuhan collected bats and virus samples from caves in China and brought them back to the lab. In the end, the WHO ceded the mission of scientific discovery to that of collaborating with China. U.S. Membership On his first day of office January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden informed UN Secretary General António Guterres...
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WHO Mission Gives China Political Win, Overlooks Evidence About Bats in Wuhan Lab
15Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Analysis

WHO Mission Gives China Political Win, Overlooks Evidence About Bats in Wuhan Lab

February 15, 2021--Over a year after the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization concluded a four-week investigatory mission in Wuhan, China, making comments favoring the Chinese government's narrative. It was a political win for China and a significant loss for science. In almost a surreal and surprising outcome, the mission team downplayed the possibility the virus started in a Wuhan lab and pointed to other theories popular in China. "All the work that has been done on the virus and trying to identify its origin continue to point to a natural reservoir of this virus and similar virus in bat population," said Peter Ben Embarek, the head of the WHO Mission in Wuhan. "But since Wuhan is not a city or environment close to this bat environment, a direct ...
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China Aims to Upend And Amend World Order, U.S. State Dept Says
20Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

China Aims to Upend And Amend World Order, U.S. State Dept Says

Nov. 20, 2020--The Chinese Communist Party intends to create a new world order serving authoritarian goals and nationalistic ambitions, according to a newly released report by the U.S. State Department. 'New Great Power Competition' The 74-page report asserted that China's ambition of revising the world order is triggering "a new era of great-power competition." Specifically, the State Department said that China plans to influence every region of the world with its economic power and reform international organizations from the inside out. As it does, it is increasingly reshaping the world with its authoritarian model, the report said. That puts that current world order -- one founded on free and sovereign nation-states -- that advances U.S. national interests, according to the...
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Aiming to Attract Foreign Business and Visitors, UAE Eases Islamic Laws
8Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Domestic Politics, Global Economics, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

Aiming to Attract Foreign Business and Visitors, UAE Eases Islamic Laws

November 8, 2020--In an effort to attract foreign capital, business and tourists, the United Arab Emirates announced plans on Saturday to ease up on Islamic Laws governing citizens and non-citizens. The changes come as COVID-19 and low oil prices impact the global economy. For the UAE alone, the IMF projects a 6.6 percent economic contraction in 2020 and a growth of 1.3 percent for 2012. Laws Governing Personal Status Officially, the the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported the changes. The site announced that UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan approved changes to Federal Law-Decrees on "Personal Status, Civil Transactions, Penal Code and Criminal Procedural laws." According to reporting by the Associated Press, the changes amount to "a major overhaul" of Islami...
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House Panel Wraps Up Antitrust Investigation On High Tech Giants
7Oct By Patti MohrNo Comments
Big Tech, Digital Economy, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

House Panel Wraps Up Antitrust Investigation On High Tech Giants

October 7, 2020-After a 16-month antitrust investigation of high-tech giants Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google, a U.S. congressional committee suggests the companies wield extraordinary power in the economy and use their dominance to cut off competition. According to Democrats on a House Judiciary Subcommittee, the "market power of the dominant platforms risks undermining both political and economic liberties." Not since the "era of oil barons and railroad tycoons" have firms commanded extensive monopoly power in the market, they asserted in a 450-page report released by subcommittee this week. "By controlling access to markets, these giants can pick winners and losers throughout our economy. They not only wield tremendous power, but they also abuse it by charging exorbitant fees, ...
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