China steps up expansion via Hong Kong elections. Seven editors are banned from Wikipedia on concerns of not acting in good faith and with relation to China. The US sails through the Taiwan Straight again, this time a destroyer. Taiwan… Read More ›
Hong Kong
Cadence Column: Asia, August 30, 2021
Adversity creates alliance. If China’s goal was to unite the world, it is succeeding. Taiwan and Japan are getting cozier than ever, as are Taiwan and the EU. The shift is happening and maps may need to be redrawn. The… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, August 23, 2021
The White House’s distinction between Far Eastern allies and Afghanistan is consistent with the US strategic pivot during the Obama years: away from the Middle East, toward China. While China interprets the befuddled Afghanistan withdrawal as an indication that the… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia August 16, 2021
Taiwan continues to shine. Aide sent to Haiti after a devastating earthquake combines growing ties with Lithuania. China objects—and those are bad optics that China’s speech-control can’t control outside its borders. China has been rewriting religion for years. Hymnals already… Read More ›
US warns companies about doing business in Hong Kong
The Biden administration issued a blanket warning Friday to U.S. firms about the risks of doing business in Hong Kong as China continues to clamp down on political and economic freedoms in the territory. Four Cabinet agencies — the departments… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, July 12, 2021
The case against China keeps sprawling—trade, currency, COVID, now SAARS. Understanding China is such a key in global public opinion, it has become a case against Biden that political grandstanding and demagoguery can use without spinning facts. But being a… Read More ›
Shanghai Extravagance, Silicon Valley Stoics, and US-China Agony
Shanghai has just replaced Hong Kong as the ‘most expensive city’, according to Swiss private bank JuliusBär Group’s Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2021 (Juliusbaer.com 2021 Apr 8). By comparing Shanghai on the socialist mainland and HK as a champion… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, June 21, 2021
China is facing massive resentment against its own Communist Party from inside its own borders. Members of ordinary society stab Communist Party members and are regarded heroes. The party of self-importance on the world stage isn’t only hated by the… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, June 14, 2021
The snowball of worldwide hate toward China is past the growth knee. It was slow going, but now it’s gaining unstoppable momentum. China’s self-importance has reached embarrassing levels. G7 wants stability, introducing an alternative plan to China’s tightening Belt Road…. Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, June 7, 2021
It’s that time of year again. While Americans celebrate independence on July 4, Chinese mourn one month before on June 4, to remember the 1989 Tienanmen massacre. Chinese aren’t allowed to gather. People in Communist China are tightly controlled by… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, March 15, 2021
More pressure on China over the games and Hong Kong. According to the Chinese, treaties with China don’t obligate China. That’s how the West views it anyway. This is the war-causing confusion between the West and the Chinese… China believes… Read More ›
Charging of Politicians For ‘Subversion’ in Hong Kong Sparks International Outcry
The charging of 47 democracy activists and opposition politicians with “subversion” in Hong Kong under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sparked an international outcry on Monday, amid calls for… Read More ›
China Continues Crushing Hong Kong
Since China adopted its National Security Law in June 2020, Hong Kong’s government, under Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and China have sought to extinguish all opposition to Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and to eradicate Hong Kong’s core… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, March 1, 2021
China was fooled again. They thought Biden would be the same pushover he was as vice president. Oops. Human Rights groups are amassing. Now the Beijing 2022 Olympics are a candidate for boycott. As if that’s not enough, the USS… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, February 8, 2021
Biden doesn’t only continue the stance on China from the previous administration, he seems to be clamping down. The US sails through the Taiwan Strait, again. China strong arms Guyana out of an office for Taiwan; the US defends Taiwan…. Read More ›
January 20, 1841 – Hong Kong ceded to the British in perpetuity
During the First Opium War, China cedes the island of Hong Kong to the British with the signing of the Chuenpi Convention, an agreement seeking an end to the first Anglo-Chinese conflict. In 1839, Britain invaded China to crush opposition… Read More ›
Hong Kong urged to curb numbers in public spaces due to COVID-19
Medical experts have urged the Hong Kong government to cap the number of people in shopping malls, country parks and wet markets to curb virus transmissions in public areas. The government should step up enforcement of social distancing rules at… Read More ›
Hong Kong suspends flights from United Kingdom
Hong Kong is suspending all flights carrying travelers from the United Kingdom after a mutated coronavirus was identified in London. From Tuesday, people who have stayed in the UK for more than two hours will not be allowed to board… Read More ›
December 19, 1984 – Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China
In the Hall of the People in Beijing, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of… Read More ›
Hong Kong’s leader sees further fall in public support and confidence
Public support for Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and her top officials has fallen further in recent weeks, with pollsters citing the freezing of the bank accounts of a former opposition lawmaker and his family as a key factor…. Read More ›
U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdown
The United States imposed travel bans and other sanctions on 14 high-level Chinese officials over the continuing crackdown on the opposition in Hong Kong, as the police in the Chinese territory arrested more pro-democracy figures on Tuesday. The U.S. State… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, November 23, 2020
“Prematurely shredded”—that’s how the “Five Eyes” alliance described the treaty allowing Hong Kong to be ruled by China. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and the United States have decided that China broke the deal, referring to the 1984 Sino-British Joint… Read More ›
Britain, EU join U.S.in condemning China’s crackdown on Hong Kong lawmakers
Britain and the European Union on Thursday condemned China’s move to disqualify fourpro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong — an action that has led to the mass resignation of the opposition in the city’s legislature. The move follows the approval on… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, September 14, 2020
It was only a matter of time. The stories are breaking about Taiwan’s inhospitality toward foreigners. Taiwan has the lowest birthrate in the world. They need people; they need talent; they need support. By denying dual-citizenship to foreigners who would… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, August 31, 2020
There was always a stark difference between America’s southern wall and the Berlin Wall. America’s wall was built to keep people out—whether they were desperate to come in or hungry to invade. The Berlin Wall was meant to keep people… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, August 17, 2020
All of us enjoy the results of the paths we choose, paths which no one can choose for us. Americans believe this so strongly, it often leads to unhealthy apathy toward others in distress. When America finally decides to help… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, August 3, 2020
If ever there were a time when two nations didn’t want to get along, it is now. If ever there were a time when a growing group of nations decided that a single other nation never wanted to get along,… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, July 27, 2020
Bail on Hong Kong, jump to Taiwan. That’s the move from everyone. Britain doesn’t bail on Hong Kong, but creates a path for Hong Kongers to bail on Hong Kong. Britain isn’t just walking away. By allowing British Overseas Passport… Read More ›
U.S. wants to build coalition to counter China’s ‘disgraceful’ menace
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States wants to build a global coalition to counter China as he accused Beijing of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to further its own interests. U.S. President Donald Trump identifies… Read More ›
Cadence of Conflict: Asia, July 20, 2020
Hong Kong is seriously considering shutting itself down. Many may argue that Hong Kong is certainly shutting down, but a basic understanding of humanity says that people are resilient. China claims that doing whatever China wants inside Hong Kong is… Read More ›
2025: End Game China – The Balkinization
”Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones.” – Chinese President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Nepal in Oct 2019. The above statement clearly indicates the nervousness of… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, July 13, 2020
China and the US have shown their intentions to the world. The new “National Security Law”, passed and interpreted solely by the Chinese Communist Party, applies to the entire world. China made it illegal for Americans to support calls for… Read More ›
Trump is a bigot and a hypocrite, but he’s right to condemn China
Donald Trump taints everything he touches. If he supports a cause, he damages it. If he takes a stance, the instinct of most self-respecting liberals is to rush to the opposing side. So when Trump rails against China, a favourite… Read More ›
Australians at risk of arbitrary arrest in China, Australian government travel advice warns
The Federal Government has issued new travel advice warning Australians they could face “arbitrary detention” if they go to mainland China. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also said Chinese Government authorities have detained foreigners because they were allegedly… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, July 6, 2020
It’s official. China has broken the treaty that allows Hong Kong to be Chinese. The last time Britain accused China of breaking treaty, the Royal Navy opened fire on the Taiwan city of Tainan in 1858. The time before that… Read More ›
Hong Kong man accused of terrorism in first use of China’s new security law
A man carrying a “Liberate Hong Kong” sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against the territory’s Chinese rulers became on Friday the first person charged with inciting separatism and terrorism under a new security law… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, June 29, 2020
At what point is it okay to bully the bad guy? At what point does bullying the bad guy make the bully the bigger bad guy? This is a line China is fast approaching and the US is fast leaving…. Read More ›
World War III – China vs the rest of the world
“Hide your strength and bide your time.” China in 2008 “No force can shake the status of our great motherland, No force can stop the advance of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation.” China in 2019 The above statements… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, June 22, 2020
China seems desperate for war. America has typically been the infamous provocateur. That’s how China paints things. That’s how Japan and Germany saw things. But, China has taken up a new role. Buzzing jets into Taiwanese airspace is just one… Read More ›
Hong Kong leader says opponents of security law are ‘enemy of the people’
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday urged opponents of Beijing’s plan to impose national security legislation in the financial hub to stop “smearing” the effort, saying those who did were “the enemy of the people.” Beijing last month announced… Read More ›
Understanding and navigating Hong Kong’s security law
US Secretary of State Pompeo says new security law will be a ‘death knell’ for Hong Kong’s autonomy.” “China warns UK of economic damage unless it backs down.” “National security law for Hong Kong to boost ‘one country, two systems’… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, June 8, 2020
If China thinks that the poll numbers looking low or that the unrest in America means the Xi doctrine has a widening path on the road ahead, they should think again. But, being Confucian Communist, that’s hard. Trump actually may… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, June 1, 2020
China says every effort will be made for peaceful reunification with Taiwan as long as there remains hope; force is the last resort. But, Taiwan wants peaceful freedom from tyranny; force is the last resort. There is no hope for… Read More ›
China approves restrictive national security laws for Hong Kong
China on Thursday approved a controversial national security law that would allow Beijing to wield expanded power over Hong Kong. The vote by the National People’s Congress was close to unanimous: 2,878 delegates voted in favor of the proposal while… Read More ›
Cadence of Conflict: Asia, May 25, 2020
Taiwan has a new Vice President: Former Premier William Lai, known for his pro-independence posture. China won’t be happy, but China is rarely happy these days. The Chinese made two loud omissions in their rhetoric this week. When talking about… Read More ›
China’s proposed national security law could end Hong Kong as we know it
Hong Kong is known for being a “city of protest,” with people taking to the streets by the hundreds of thousands to hold their government to account. Long before the Umbrella Movement or last year’s sustained political unrest, this reputation… Read More ›
World governments are condemning the arrest of Hong Kong protesters
Foreign governments criticized the arrest of 15 Hong Kong democracy activists in a police sweep on charges of organizing and participating in anti-government protests last year. The arrests on Saturday were the biggest crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement since… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, April 6, 2020
The pneumoniavirus is having a detrimental effect on China. While Xi Jinping kicks China’s economy into full swing, the rest of the world is on full alert. Manufacturing moves home—whether to or from China. Countries seek alternate supply sourcing. Taiwan… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, February 17, 2020
The 2019-nCoV Wuhan virus isn’t doing any good for Xi Jinping’s public trust. Dissidents inside China are silenced and their social media accounts scrubbed. Joshua Wong issues a call to arms from Hong Kong. Taiwan closes its border and plans… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, February 10, 2020
The words of US President Trump set an unsettling policy for Communist China: “We’re also getting our allies, finally, to help pay their fair share.” This is far-reaching. By having multiple nations with multiple militaries operating with appropriate budgets, China… Read More ›
