Asia

A popular student leader said Catholics and other Christians should take a more visible role in protests against the government’s plans to allow extradition to mainland China.

A new report alleges that the Chinese government has set its formidable propaganda machine in motion against Hong Kong protesters, issuing false reports riddled with ideology in an attempt to deflect attention from the reasons behind the demonstrations.

China’s state-controlled Global Times on Friday lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of feigning support for Chinese President Xi Jinping in a ruse to squeeze trade concessions out of China. The Communist paper interpreted Trump’s good wishes as a “bullying” tactic and a tacit admission the U.S. is manipulating the Hong Kong protests to further its own ends.

Thursday was the 74th annual Liberation Day in South Korea, commemorating the end of Japanese occupation after World War Two, featured demonstrations denouncing both Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries.

China’s technologies giant Huawei, the largest telecommunications company in the world, is enabling digital authoritarianism in Africa by helping dictators spy on their opposition, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday.

The official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party called for communists to gather in Tiananmen Square for an event denouncing the pro-freedom movement in Hong Kong, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Thursday.

China’s largest state-run oil company PetroChina will no longer make direct purchases of Venezuelan oil following the latest round of economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. against the Maduro regime, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

China’s nightmare scenario is that Hong Kong’s huge protest movement could spread to other cities – especially Macau, which is only an hour away and also has semi-autonomous “Special Administrative Region” status.

Rupert Hogg, chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, announced his resignation on Friday along with chief customer and commercial officer Paul Loo.

Some of communist China’s most prominent rappers, many who faced threats of censorship from the regime for their individualistic music, shared a pro-Hong Kong police meme this week created by Beijing.

Hong Kong’s wealthiest man, Li Ka-shing, bought multiple front-page newspaper ads Friday encouraging protesters to “love China” and “love [the] rule of law.”

Russia in recent days came out in support of India’s decision last week to rescind New Delhi-administered Kashmir’s limited autonomy.

India’s Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed his decision to revoke New Delhi-administered Kashmir of its autonomy last week as “path-breaking.”

China reportedly requested “closed consultations” in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) this week to address India’ decision to revoke New Delhi-administered Kashmir’s limited autonomy.

ROME — Officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hosted a week-long training program for Catholic priests who have enlisted in the state-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, organized around the theme “Guiding the Catholic Church to follow a path conforming to socialist society.”

A look at the Chinese Communist Party’s annual conclave by Nikkei Asian Review found the Party and Chinese businessmen at odds over economic policy, which several sources described as confused and subject to political squabbles among the Communist elite.

Attorneys for some of the dozens of Hong Kong residents arrested for participating in pro-democracy protests in the last three months said on Wednesday that police officers have abused their clients, forcing them to drink what they believe was toilet water.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has not visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine since 2013, but he paid for a ritual offering on Thursday, which was enough to ruffle feathers across Asia. The shrine is seen in Japan as a memorial to peace, and by many other Asian nations as a nostalgic celebration of Japan’s militaristic era.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned his countrymen about the risks of overpopulation on Wednesday, arguing that having small families was its own “form of patriotism.” 

A group of over 350 Hong Kong civil servants wrote a petition to the government on Thursday that said they are “absolutely disgusted” by the excessive use of police force against demonstrators and warning they might call a strike if the abuse continues.

A 400-year-old temple in Kyoto, Japan has installed a human-like robot to deliver the teachings of Buddha to worshipers. Foreigners are reportedly appalled, but the temple’s chief steward says that he hopes the robot will be the first of many found in Buddhist temples and that unlike Westerners, “Japanese people don’t possess any prejudices against robots.”

A Turkish ambassador this week called for his country and Indonesia to be deemed permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The pro-communist China leader of Hong Kong Carrie Lam fielded tough questions during a press conference Tuesday amid chaotic pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese region.

President Donald Trump floated a potential “personal meeting” with chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping on Wednesday to discuss ongoing protests in Hong Kong. The president highlighted Xi’s public absence in the struggle as China’s only capitalist city pushes Beijing away.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued its clampdown on religious activities in the country, banning a number of Christian summer camps organized for children.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet confirmed on Wednesday that China had blocked a previously scheduled visit for two U.S. Navy ships to Hong Kong, adding that it hopes Beijing will soon reconsider and continue allowing the American military to have ties to the capitalist port city.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan lambasted recent moves by India in the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir as an “ethnic cleansing” ploy during a speech Wednesday marking Pakistan’s Independence Day.

The Pew Research Center on Tuesday released a poll showing the number of Americans with an unfavorable view of Communist China at an all-time high of 60 percent.

Similarities between the protest movements in Hong Kong and Moscow have not gone unnoticed by the authoritarian rulers of China and Russia. Russia’s state-run Tass news service on Wednesday quoted the new Chinese ambassador calling for the two countries to “cultivate our relations at a higher level” and “open a new page” in their friendship.

Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have detained more than 1,300 people during an ongoing security lockdown intended to ward off a popular uprising in the country’s only Muslim-majority region, the Independent reported Wednesday.