China freezes pastor’s account in Hong Kong clampdown [Los Angeles Times :: BC-HONGKONG-PASTOR:LA]
SINGAPORE – During the height of Hong Kong’s protests last year, Pastor Roy Chan led a ragtag crew of middle-age and elderly church volunteers who would turn-up at pro-democracy demonstrations wearing yellow vests with Chinese characters on the back that read, “Protect the Children.”
They’d form human chains to try to block police from reaching the mostly teenage and college-age protesters, shouting: “Beat us, don’t beat the kids.”
At times, the authorities obliged. Many of the volunteers, including an 83-year-old known as Uncle Wong, were tear-gassed and pepper- sprayed.
China freezes pastor’s bank account in Hong Kong clampdown [Los Angeles Times :: BC-HONGKONG-PASTOR:LA]
SINGAPORE – During the height of Hong Kong’s protests last year, Pastor Roy Chan led a ragtag crew of middle-age and elderly church volunteers who would turn-up at pro-democracy demonstrations wearing yellow vests with Chinese characters on the back that read, “Protect the Children.”
They’d form human chains to try to block police from reaching the mostly teenage and college-age protesters, shouting: “Beat us, don’t beat the kids.”
At times, the authorities obliged. Many of the volunteers, including an 83-year-old known as Uncle Wong, were tear-gassed and pepper- sprayed.
Under Hong Kong s New National Security Law, Authorities Arrest Top Pro-Democracy Activists
December 17, 2020 | By Heath Sloane
Introduction
In recent weeks, Hong Kong authorities have conducted sweeping arrests of high-profile activists for alleged breaches of the country s new National Security Law. In the latest blow to the city s pro-democracy movement, veteran activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam were sentenced to extended prison time, while media mogul Jimmy Lai was formally charged with colluding with foreign forces. [1] As Beijing cracks down on political dissent and media freedom in the city, Hong Kong s hopes for any semblance of autonomy under the One Country, Two Systems framework are disappearing at an alarming rate.
2020/12/17 17:09 (Facebook, Daniela Kluckert photos) (Facebook, Daniela Kluckert photos) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) German parliamentarian Daniela Kluckert on Thursday (Dec. 16) posted a photo of herself showing support for democracy in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Taiwan. Kluckert, a member of the Free Democratic Party who backed Taiwan s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) in April, took to Facebook on Dec. 16 to speak out in support of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and democracy in Tibet and Taiwan. In the post, she included photos of herself wearing a red T-shirt, the front of which states Ich bin ein Hongkonger, which in German means I am a Hongkonger, while the back reads We are Tibet, Tiananmen, Taiwan.
Last week, while in Britain, the 39-year-old pastor went online and discovered that bank accounts belonging to him, his wife and the Good Neighbour North District Church had been frozen. The next day, he learned police had raided the church s two locations and arrested a staffer and a former director. Chan and his wife are accused of fraud and money laundering for under-reporting millions in church donations – charges he denies. “We are a registered charity organisation. We ve done everything lawfully,” said Chan, who is living in an undisclosed location in Britain indefinitely with his wife and three young daughters. The frozen accounts at HSBC were discovered a day after Hong Kong s new national security police department confirmed it had ordered the suspension of bank accounts belonging to former pro-democracy legislator Ted Hui, his parents and his wife. Hui was accused of misusing crowdfunded donations and is now self-exiled in Britain. He denies the charges.