The Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong

A Biden Win Could Stabilise Sino-American Relations – Experts

A win by Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala D. Harris in November would likely not change America’s tough line toward China, but the tone would soften and the U.S. would seek more allies against Beijing, according a panel of experts at an FCC webinar.

The three August 12 panelists – political scientist Mary E. Gallagher, journalist Lingling Wei and Asia expert Bonnie Glaser – all agreed that although presidential hopeful Biden was unlikely to dramatically change some policies if he were elected, his administration could move to stabilise the frail relationship.

The three were speaking the day after Biden announced Senator Kamala D. Harris as his running mate. She is the first Black woman and the first Asian American to appear on a major-party presidential ticket.

Relations between the United States and China have soured since President Donald Trump took office, resulting in a trade war, tit-for-tat expulsions of journalists, and more recently, sanctions over the new national security law in Hong Kong.

Wei, an award-winning correspondent for the Wall Street Journal who herself became a casualty of the deteriorating relations when she was expelled from China earlier this year along with colleagues, warned that Trump’s final days in office posed a major threat to relations with China.

“I think Beijing welcomes a Biden administration. The next 90 days… are going to be the most dangerous time for China,” said Wei, the co-author of a book on Sino-U.S. relations, Superpower Showdown. “The South China Morning Post story about Xi Jinping instructing the Chinese military not to fire the first shot, I think that’s really a sign of how nervous the leadership is about this whole relationship completely getting out of control. They’re trying very hard to show restraint.”

Gallagher, a professor at The University of Michigan, has been director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies since 2008, said: “I think it’s a super exciting ticket and I love that a black Jamaican Asian child of immigrants is the safe choice for Joe Biden. One thing that will be different and I would certainly advise is to stop thinking about China as the Soviet Union. It is nothing like the Soviet Union, it is not going to disappear. When we talk about the Cold War, it ended when the Soviet Union disappeared. China is not going to disappear.”

She added that she would advise the Biden administration to “stand up to China on human rights issues and freedom of expression and freedom of speech”.

Biden would not be seen “on a daily basis hammering China” in the way that Trump has, said Glaser, adding that a sustained dialogue mechanism would likely be restructured under Biden in an “effort to resurrect some cooperation with China”.

Echoing Wei’s warning over the run-up to the November election, Glaser said that U.S. pressure on China would increase now that Trump has declared he no longer has a good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Now he’s really taken the gloves off, and this has enabled other people in the administration to do things, for example, regarding Xinjiang and Hong Kong that the president was not on board with when the trade negotiations were going on. In that period, we’re going to see a lot more ramping up of pressure,” she predicted.

You can watch the video here

An open letter to the Director of Immigration, Au Ka-wang

Response From Chinese Foreign Ministry to FCC Statement on Jimmy Lai Arrest

On August 10, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, published a statement condemning the arrest of Apple Daily founder and chairman Jimmy Lai and eight others, as well as a police raid on the newspaper’s headquarters that was reportedly carried out by almost 200 officers. Hong Kong, On August 11, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a response to that statement, below.

In response to a statement by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC), Hong Kong on August 10, which misrepresented the truth, heaped groundless accusations upon the National Security Law and law-enforcement efforts of the Hong Kong police, and tried to whitewash and justify Jimmy Lai and other criminal suspects, the spokesperson of the Commissioner’s Office expressed strong disapproval and firm opposition.

The spokesperson said that law shall be abided by, lawbreakers shall be held accountable, and no one shall be above the law. By openly colluding with external forces to endanger national security, Jimmy Lai and a small handful of other anti-China troublemakers in Hong Kong have purposely undermined Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability and its citizens’ fundamental wellbeing, and have put the enduring success of “One Country, Two Systems” and the long-term stability of Hong Kong into jeopardy. Eagerly justifying Jimmy Lai is nothing short of siding with the forces sowing trouble in Hong Kong and China at large.

The spokesperson pointed out that rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents, including the freedom of the press, are safeguarded under the National Security Law. With over seven decades of presence in the city, the FCC, Hong Kong knows it very well that press freedom is fully cherished here. It should also be clear that there is no such thing as absolute press freedom above the law anywhere in the world, and that it is totally unacceptable to interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine China’s national security and Hong Kong’s stability under the pretext of press freedom. National laws applied to Hong Kong and local laws of the HKSAR, including the National Security Law, shall be observed on the land of the HKSAR, part of China.

The spokesperson emphasized that it is only right and proper for the Hong Kong police to take actions against the troublemakers in accordance with the National Security Law and other local laws so as to safeguard national security and Hong Kong’s stability. We firmly support the Hong Kong police in strictly enforcing the law, and firmly oppose any external interference in Hong Kong affairs. We call on the FCC, Hong Kong to respect the facts, distinguish right from wrong, and stop smearing under the pretext of press freedom the implementation of the National Security Law.

‘Huge mistake’ if China tries to eradicate Hong Kong’s identity, warns Asia scholar

Hong Kong has become a political football between China and the West, according to author and Asia scholar, Kishore Mahbubani.

It would be a “huge mistake” for China to try to eradicate what makes Hong Kong so special, he told an August 10 FCC webinar, and China must act with restraint as the West weighs in on the row over the national security law.

“Hong Kong has become a political football … when players play football they get a lot of fun kicking the ball but after a while the ball breaks down. It’s important for Hong Kong to steer itself out of being a political football as soon as possible,” he said.

Prof Mahbubani, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, said that although Hong Kong was a “piece of treasure” to China, the people of the city “should not force the leaders to choose between the interests of 1.4 billion people in China and 7 million people in Hong Kong”.

When asked if he thought China was trying to eradicate Hong Kong’s culture and identity, Prof Mahbubani warned it would be a “huge mistake” on China’s part.

“Even though the Chinese have tried very hard to get Shanghai to grow as a financial centre, you can see that Shanghai just cannot keep doing what Hong Kong is doing. Hong Kong is really at the end of the day a piece of treasure for China and it will be huge mistake for China to destroy that culture, that separateness.

“For the same reason, I think it’s also a huge mistake in the West – the United States and U.K., and all – to continue using Hong Kong as a political football. It’s in the global interest for Hong Kong to be one step in, one step out as part of the One Country, Two Systems framework. We should globally recognise that it’s good for China, good for the West and good for the rest of the world,” he said.

Prof Mahbubani’s latest book, Has China Won? analyses the tensions between the United States and the world’s second largest economy. In it, he argues that the real question – “one that never surfaces in America” – is whether the United States can lose.

“America has got so used to winning the idea of losing doesn’t come up,” he said, adding that 100 years of growth into the world’s largest economy had made the country complacent. His book, which he said he hoped the Trump and subsequent Administration would read, would help them to “at least think about the possibility of being number two”.

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FCC Condemns Arrest of Jimmy Lai and Raid on Apple Daily’s Offices

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong strongly condemns the arrest of Apple Daily founder and chairman Jimmy Lai and eight others, as well as a police raid on the newspaper’s headquarters that was reportedly carried out by almost 200 officers.

The arrests, and the raid on the newsroom, are a direct assault on Hong Kong’s press freedom and signal a dark new phase in the erosion of the city’s global reputation. Today’s events raise worries that such actions are being used to erase basic freedoms in Hong Kong.

The arrests and the raid were carried out under the new National Security Law, which was imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese central authorities in Beijing, with no input from Hong Kong. Mainland and Hong Kong officials have given repeated assurances that the new law will target only a tiny number of offenders and that Hong Kong’s cherished freedoms, including freedom of the press, would go unhindered.

Today’s police action upends those assurances. According to the police statement, Mr. Lai was arrested under the section of the law pertaining to collusion with foreign forces. So far, police have provided no public evidence of any crimes, and under the National Security Law, where trials can be conducted entirely in secret, no evidence may be forthcoming.

Police said that nine people between the ages of 23 and 72 had been arrested on suspicion of breaches of the national security law and that the operation was continuing. Alleged offences include collusion with foreign forces or external elements endangering national security.

Mr. Lai has long been known as a staunch advocate of democracy in Hong Kong and a critic of the Chinese Communist Party. Apple Daily, which he founded in 1995, is one of the city’s most popular newspapers because of its pro-democracy stance. He recently opened a Twitter account, and publicly speculated in a May 29 New York Times opinion piece that he was likely to be jailed soon for his pro-democracy views and criticisms of the Communist Party.

Just as troubling as the arrests was the subsequent police action at the Next Digital offices, where uniformed police entered and set up cordons with orange tape, questioned journalists and took down their identifying information, and were seen rifling through notes and papers on reporters’ desks. All of this was witnessed via live-streaming by Apple Daily reporters who continued to video this breach of press freedom and provide continuous coverage online.

During the raid on the newsroom, the Hong Kong Police Force blocked several local and international media outlets from a press briefing at the Apple Daily headquarters about the events. Police at the scene said “only those who’ve not been obstructing police in the past are invited” for the briefing.

Hong Kong has no system of press accreditation, which has been one of the hallmarks of its role as a bastion of press freedom in Asia. In the absence of an accreditation system, it seems some police officers are substituting their judgment as to which media outlets they consider “friendly” and allowed to cover important briefings, and which media they can block.

Police later said those media outlets blocked could watch the police force’s livestream and did not permit journalists present to ask questions. The FCC condemns this development. A livestream provided by the Police Public Relations Bureau is not a substitute for impartial media outlets being able to conduct their own reporting, shoot their own video and provide their own news coverage.

The FCC would like to remind the Hong Kong Police Force that they should not be “inviting” favoured media outlets to cover operations, events and briefings, and barring others. If the police are allowed to decide who counts as a legitimate journalist, it will mark the end of press freedom in Hong Kong, and no critical coverage available to the public. Instead of the free flow of information, Hong Kong will have only propaganda.

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In his May 29 op-ed piece, Mr. Lai warned of the chilling effect the National Security Law would have on Hong Kong. “Every sentence, every word will carry the risk of potential punishment on the mainland,” he wrote. “When it comes to free speech, this law will remodel Hong Kong so that it becomes like the rest of China.”

Unfortunately, today’s events make Mr. Lai’s warning even more prescient.

FCC, Hong Kong

10 August 2020

Response From Chinese Foreign Ministry to FCC Statement on Jimmy Lai Arrest

Journalism Conference explores

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Enemies of the People? FCC Journalism Conference explores how industry is regarded

Response From Commissioner’s Office of the Foreign Ministry to FCC Statement on Journalist Visas

In response to the statement by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong on 6 August, the spokesperson of the Commissioner’s Office said that the US has been ramping up political suppression of Chinese media out of the Cold War mentality and ideological bias. The actions by the US have severely disrupted the normal journalistic activities of Chinese media there, tarnished their reputation, and chilled bilateral people-to-people exchanges. While proclaiming itself as a champion of the freedom of the press, the US keeps obstructing Chinese media from doing their job, laying bare its hypocrisy, double standards and hegemonic bullying. If the US is bent on going down the wrong path, China will be compelled to take necessary and just reactions to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. It is the US that has caused the situation and should be solely responsible for it. We hope FCC, Hong Kong will distinguish right from wrong.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is part of China. The Central Government has the diplomatic authority to take countermeasures against the suppression of Chinese media outlets in the US.

The National Security Law makes it crystal clear that the freedoms of speech, the press and publication of Hong Kong residents will be protected under the law. And the HKSAR Government has also repeatedly reiterated that the law will not erode the institutions that underpin Hong Kong’s success as an international city, including the freedoms of expression and the press, and the free flow of information. Meanwhile, any freedom shall be exercised within legal boundaries, and media outlets are not free from law anywhere in the world. We are firmly against external interference in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs as a whole on the pretext of the freedom of the press.

New Cold War between U.S. and China is a ‘disaster for the world’ – Noam Chomsky

Deteriorating relations between the United States and China have potentially disastrous consequences for the world when global cooperation is needed to fight threats such as COVID-19 and global warming, renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky said Friday in an FCC webinar.

Noam Chomsky talks to Club President Jodi Schneider on August 7, 2020.

The attempts by the United States to prevent China from developing were cruel and pointless, he said.

“If China develops, we all benefit,” Chomsky said. “If we’re going back to a Cold War between China and the United States, that’s a disaster for the world. This is a moment, more than ever, where we have to have international cooperation. The crises that we face are all international.”

Relations between China and the United States have deteriorated since U.S. President Donald Trump – whom he called “the most dangerous political leader in history” – took office, resulting in a trade war and retaliatory actions against journalists in both countries.

Chomsky, one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world, said China was “trying to reassert its traditional role as the dominant force in Asia”, and the United States “won’t tolerate it”. He then likened the situation to the Mafia.

“The fact is the world is being run very similar to the Mafia.. the Don doesn’t tolerate any interference from states that challenge it, or even states that get out of line,” Chomsky said.

Discussing a range of topics, the author of more than 100 books including Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power, addressed the political unrest that gripped Hong Kong in 2019 and said the only way to ease the pressure on Hong Kong to “undermine its democratic procedures, practices and opportunities” was a “reduction of international tensions” between China and the United States.

“It’s always worth remembering the old saying that when the elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. Hong Kong is the grass. If the elephants start fighting, Hong Kong is lost.”

“The Hong Kong protests were a major sign of optimism. They didn’t totally succeed but laid the seeds for future progress,” Chomsky added.

The webinar opened with Chomsky’s thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Trump Administration’s handling of it.

“The United States is basically a wreck,” he said, citing Trump’s dismantling of former President Barack Obama’s preparations against a global health emergency which he said left America “unprepared when the pandemic struck”.

Chomsky went on to warn of future coronavirus pandemics that, intensified by the impact of global warming and habitat destruction, would be even more lethal.

“It could be something like the Black Death,” he said.

Arizona, the state where Chomsky resides and where he is laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Arizona, was “now vying for the international record for the highest number of cases per capita”, he said. He accused Trump of “flailing around desperately to find some scapegoat to cover up for the fact that he’s responsible for killing over a hundred thousand Americans”.

Referring to misinformation around the pandemic, he took aim at media organisations such as Fox News for “peddling” misleading messages playing down the seriousness of COVID-19. But Chomsky also lamented the Trump Administration’s rhetoric towards the media as enemies of the people.

“With the media now it’s very scary. When half of Republicans think the government should have the right to close down media it doesn’t like, then that’s dangerous,” he said.

You can watch the entire talk here.