Beijing — China will adopt wide-ranging security laws in 2024 to “resolutely safeguard” its sovereignty, a top lawmaker vowed at a key legislative meeting Friday, as President Xi Jinping’s government seeks to eliminate perceived threats to its rule.

The “Two Sessions” — parallel meetings of China’s rubber-stamp parliament and political consultative body — offer a rare glimpse into the strategy of the Communist Party-led government for the year ahead.

Top legislator Zhao Leji promised Friday that lawmakers would “resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests” as he laid out the agenda for the National People’s Congress (NPC) for the coming year.

“To modernize China’s system and capacity for national security,” he said, Beijing will enact “an emergency management law, an energy law, an atomic energy law, and a hazardous chemicals safety law.”

It will also revise “the National Defense Education Law and the Cybersecurity Law,” Zhao said in his report.

He did not offer more details about what the new laws would involve, nor when precisely they would be adopted.

The NPC is also set to introduce and amend laws in areas ranging from financial stability to preschool education and disease control.

“Military education and cybersecurity are clear priorities” for China’s legislators, Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor and Chinese politics expert at Hong Kong University, told AFP.

“They want to strengthen the legal framework in these areas, which is part of Xi’s own priorities,” he said, adding it was “no surprise” that national security was highlighted in Zhao’s report.

Broad security push

China last year approved a revised anti-espionage law that dramatically expanded its definition of spying, giving Beijing more power than ever to punish what it deems threats to national security.

A state secrets law adopted last month added more categories of sensitive information, including “work secrets” — information not classified as state secrets, but which could “impede the normal duties of (state) organs or work units” if leaked.

Such leaks must be met with “necessary protective measures,” the amended law says.

“Putting a heavy focus on national security legislation has been a key feature of the NPC’s legislative work during the Xi era,” Changhao Wei, founder of the NPC Observer website, told AFP.

He pointed to over a dozen pieces of national security legislation rolled out by Beijing since 2014, including counterterrorism, national intelligence, and data security laws.

“There has been a general effort to build the necessary legal infrastructure for safeguarding China’s ‘national security,’” Wei said.

Under Xi, he said, “national security is a priority area for legislation and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future.” 
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Nigel Inkster speaks with VOA about China’s unprecedented removal of defense and foreign minister over the past year and party’s tightening grip on the state
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HONG KONG — Hong Kong on Friday published its new national security draft law, a document that broadens the definition of crimes including sabotage, sedition and state secrets, and stipulates tougher penalties of up to life imprisonment.

The bill comes on top of a 2020 security law imposed by China a year after pro-democracy protests.

Lawmakers are expected to pass the draft bill within weeks, and the law could have implications for many sectors in the global financial hub including business, academia, law, diplomacy and the media, observers say.

The new offences span a number of areas ranging from grave acts affecting sovereignty including insurrection – or initiating armed conflict against a Chinese armed force – to everyday offences including possession of publications deemed seditious. Authorities say the law will apply beyond Hong Kong.

KEY OFFENCES AND SENTENCES

SEDITION

Rights advocates and lawyers say this category can be applied very broadly, and any one possessing any publication deemed seditious, such as a book or an article, can be accused of this offence.

*The offence carries jail terms of up to 7 years for any seditious act, word or publication with the intention of bringing hatred, contempt or disaffection against China or Hong Kong governments.

*If such acts are carried out in collusion with an “external force”, which could include foreign governments, a foreign political party, an international organisation or a company linked to a foreign government, the penalty rises to 10 years.

*The offence also carries a 3 year jail term for possession of a publication with seditious intention, although the bill does not give specific examples of what such material might be.

*Law enforcement officers may enter any premises, including with reasonable force, to remove or destroy seditious publications.

*The law also potentially lowers the threshold for sedition convictions, no longer requiring prosecutors to prove the intention to incite public disorder or violence.

*Calls by some media advocacy and rights groups to remove sedition were ignored by authorities.

STATE SECRETS

*At least 3 years jail for unlawful possession of a state secret which would likely harm national security if released, defined broadly to include secrets spanning defence, foreign affairs, economic development or scientific technology.

*Jail terms of 5 years for unlawful acquisition of such secrets, and 7 years for those leaving Hong Kong with such state secrets.

*While the government introduced a limited public interest defence for state secrets, some lawyers say the law gives authorities and the courts much discretion on the matter.

EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE

*Jail terms of 14 years for collaborating with an external force to bring about interference over areas including government policy, the legislature, courts or elections.

ESPIONAGE

*Jail terms of 20 years for acts including entering prohibited places, and intercepting information or documents of use to an external force.

TREASON

*Maximum life imprisonment for various acts including joining an external armed force at war with China, or use of force to endanger Chinese unity. Jail terms of 5 years for a person who takes part in military or armed “drilling” with an external force without official permission. Lawyers say this could include those who have received military training with a foreign government.

INSURRECTION

*A maximum penalty of life imprisonment for crimes including joining an armed force in conflict with China, or an act that endangers the unity of China.

MUTINY

*A maximum term of life imprisonment for inciting a member of a Chinese armed force to abandon allegiance to China, or to organise or initiate a mutiny.

SABOTAGE

*Up to life imprisonment for any person who colludes with an external force to damage or weaken public infrastructure.

HOW WILL THE LAW AFFECT DEFENDANTS’ RIGHTS?

Right advocates say the new law will further undermine the legal protections for defendants charged with national security offences.

The right to a lawyer, the presumption of innocence and right to bail had long been strong features of Hong Kong’s Common Law traditions. Under a 2020 China-imposed national security law, many pro-democracy politicians and activists have been denied bail under stricter rules.

Under the new law, authorities are expected to go further.

“The most drastic changes of the legislative bill would be issues related to due process and fair trials,” said Eric Lai, a fellow with the Center for Asian Law at Georgetown University in the United States.

“It seems the government almost ignores all of the recommendations from the opposing views during the consultation period. The vague and broad terms of offences and definitions remain in the bill,” he said.

The detention period of suspects will be expanded from a maximum 48 hours now, to an additional 14 days with the approval of a magistrate. Access to a lawyer could also be denied in view of circumstances endangering national security by the magistrate, who may issue a warrant authorising a senior police officer to restrict the person’s consultation with a lawyer. A defendant’s movements could also be restricted.

“It is a broad application of very extreme restrictions on the legal rights of an arrestee in Hong Kong,” Lai added.
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Washington — Ongoing plenary sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) offer an annual refresher course in how democracy is practiced under the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party.

Known as the “Two Sessions,” the meetings of representatives chosen through what Beijing calls democratic elections started in Beijing this week with nearly 3,000 NPC delegates gathering in the Great Hall of the People.

The NPC is the largest legislature in the world and nominally the highest authority in China. But its delegates are chosen not through direct elections but by provincial people’s congresses or electoral colleges in 35 provinces or special jurisdictions. The only direct elections are at the county and township level.

By law, potential delegates to the people’s congresses can be nominated and recommended by voters and groups, but they must be approved by the CCP.

Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the second session of the 14th NPC, said at a press conference on March 4 that the work of the NPC must follow “six important principles” that were proposed in 2021 by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CCP.

The first one is, “We must adhere to the leadership of the CCP” and “make the NPC a political organ that consciously adheres to the leadership of the CCP.”

Despite the party’s tight control over the selection of delegates, rare independents with dissenting views have managed to slip through at local levels. Several of them spoke to VOA about their experiences.

Huang Songhai, a former independent delegate in 2007 to the People’s Congress in from Poyang County, Jiangxi Province, told VOA that efforts to reform the process have been mostly frustrated.

“Our election is fake. Of course, we are making a little bit of progress. But basically, it is still fake,” Huang said.

Yao Lifa, a former delegate to the People’s Congress of from Qianjiang City, Hubei Province, ran as an independent candidate and was elected at the county level in 1998. He told VOA that in recent years, public enthusiasm for participation has declined.

“We have had elections so many times, but what is the outcome? What is the impact? What is the impact on society, our class, or me personally? I am not so satisfied, or even dissatisfied,” he said.

Yao said the space for independent electioneering, campaigning and volunteering for candidates is shrinking.

Wang Xiuzhen, who ran as an independent delegate for local People’s Congresses in 2011 and 2021, told VOA that authorities quash candidates who seek office without party nomination.

“After I ran, I was completely suppressed,” she said. “They took me from our community, from my home, to the countryside, to the suburbs. It’s like putting me under surveillance and house arrest. And then, I wasn’t allowed to come back from there until after the election.”

Wang said she has been placed under surveillance during the current Two Sessions “as if I’m a dangerous person, and always being watched. Now, they are watching me again. There are always people stationed in front of my house, and they follow me whenever I come out.”

Xi, who in 2022 became China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, proposed in 2019 what he called a “whole-process people’s democracy.”

The state-run People’s Daily said this process integrated “law-based democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight through a series of laws and institutional arrangements.”

Ye Jinghuan, who ran as an independent delegate in Beijing in 2021, told VOA that China’s whole-process people’s democracy needs great improvements, including in judicial independence, and that NPC delegates should have their own powers.

Now, “they exercise very little real power. The authorities set the tone first, and then everyone raises their hands [to vote on it] and that’s it,” she said.

Despite the lack of democracy, Ye is not giving up. She said elections are all about participation, and everyone must be willing to contribute to whatever progress can be made.
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State Department — The United States and China have agreed to extend a science and technology agreement for another six months, the U.S. State Department said Thursday.

“The Department of State on behalf of the U.S. government is negotiating to amend, extend and strengthen protections within the U.S.-PRC Science and Technology Agreement (STA). In February 2024, the United States and PRC agreed to an additional short-term six-month extension of the U.S.-PRC STA,” a spokesperson told VOA.

“The short-term six-month extension keeps the agreement in force while we continue negotiations,” the spokesperson added.

U.S. officials have said the STA provides consistent standards for government-to-government scientific cooperation between the U.S. and China.

While the agreement supports scientific collaboration in areas that benefit the United States, U.S. officials acknowledge the challenges posed by China’s national science and technology strategies and its domestic legal framework.

Critics, including U.S. lawmakers, point out China’s restrictions on data and a lack of transparency in sharing scientific findings. Washington is also concerned about Beijing’s potential military application of shared research.

The STA was originally signed in 1979 by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then-PRC leader Deng Xiaoping.

The agreement has been renewed about every five years since its inception, with the most recent 5-year extension occurring in 2018. Last August, it received a 6-month extension as officials from the two countries undertook negotiations to amend and strengthen the terms.
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Taipei, Taiwan — Family members say they are still seeking answers more than two months after China’s detention on spying charges of a Chinese citizen who had tried to help an American company find office space in the country.

Emily Chen, 50, was supposed to meet her husband, U.S. citizen Mark Lent, at Nanjing airport on December 29. She texted Lent that her plane had landed but never emerged from the airport, prompting Lent to initiate a frantic inquiry about her whereabouts.

“Her flight was supposed to land at 10:30 p.m. on December 29, but she still hadn’t shown up by midnight,” Lent told VOA by phone. “I contacted the airport police, and 20 minutes later, they told me that Emily had been taken away by state security officers.”

Four days after her detention, Chen’s son, who is also a Chinese national, received a notification from the Dalian state security bureau stating that Chen had been arrested on December 30 for illegally providing state secrets to overseas parties, a charge that could carry a sentence of 10 years or more.

“I know my wife and [spying on China] is not the kind of thing that she would do to her country,” Lent said. “She really cares about her country, and I seriously doubt the charges against her.”

Worried that Chen’s arrest may increase the stress on her son, who is in his early 20s and has mental health issues, Lent tried to take his stepson to Doha, Qatar, with him on February 9. However, when they were going through customs at the Shanghai airport, his stepson was banned from leaving China.

Lent told VOA that his stepson’s relationship with his father in China is strained and that he is still in Nanjing on his own.

Worked for US logistics company

Authorities in Dalian have not spoken publicly about Chen’s case, including her exact whereabouts. It is believed that Chen is being held under what is called residential surveillance at a designated location, or RSDL. The Dalian state security bureau hung up the phone when VOA tried to inquire about Chen’s case.

While there is no clear explanation for the spying charges against Chen, Lent believes her detention may be related to the work she did for an American logistics company in Dalian in 2023.

According to Lent, Chen spent four months working on behalf of Safe Ports, a company that describes itself as a global leader in supply chain management. “She was supposed to find them an office space,” he told VOA.

Safe Ports has previously done work for the U.S. Department of Defense, including supplying American troops in Afghanistan. While there is no confirmation that Chen’s detention is directly related to her work for Safe Ports, the company’s prior association with the U.S. Department of Defense and the sensitive nature of Dalian, which hosts a Chinese naval base, may have resulted in her arrest, some observers say.

Dalian is also where China constructed its first domestically built aircraft carrier, the Shandong.

“Either what the company was doing, which they didn’t share, involves some potential espionage-related activities or her arrest is just a terrible overreach by the Chinese government that has gone out of proportion,” Peter Dahlin, the director of Madrid-based NGO Safeguard Defenders, told VOA by phone.

Neither Safe Ports nor the company’s CEO, Lucy Duncan, responded to multiple interview requests from VOA. However Duncan was quoted by The Guardian newspaper, saying that Chen’s work for Safe Ports was “purely administrative” and that she had no idea why Chen was detained.

Dahlin — who was himself previously held under RSDL — said the fact that Chen was arrested upon returning to China indicates that Chinese authorities “have been tracking” Chen’s activities “for a while.”

Since RSDL is typically used against individuals viewed as a threat to national security in China, Lent said until recently the family had received little information about Chen’s condition for weeks.

Over the past week, her family says, they have received several updates about Chen’s situation in detention, including a letter in which Chen said she “was fine” and a call from state security officers handling her case. According to Lent, the officer told Chen’s son that the investigation was ongoing.

“When [my stepson] talked to them, he seemed to think they were honest and that Emily was given everything she needed,” Lent told VOA, adding that the updates have made him feel more positive about Chen’s situation in detention.

Stepped-up security efforts

Chen’s detention comes as China doubles down on efforts to safeguard national security, passing amendments to laws such as the anti-espionage law and state secrets law and initiating raids against some foreign businesses, including some American due diligence firms.

In a recent interview, the U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns told “60 Minutes” that over the past year Chinese authorities raided at least seven American companies and arrested employees on suspicion of espionage.

Some analysts say Chen’s case is part of Beijing’s campaign to further securitize the country, efforts that ultimately will further reduce foreign businesses’ confidence in China.

“It’s becoming riskier for Chinese citizens to work for foreign companies because the Chinese government under Xi Jinping continues to securitize the country and initiate national-security related investigations against foreign companies,” Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Freedom House, told VOA by phone.

In response to an inquiry about Chen’s case, the Chinese Embassy in Washington told VOA that it was unaware of the specifics of her detention but that China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals “in accordance with the law.”

“China is actively advancing its high-level opening-up and making efforts to provide a world-class, market-oriented business environment governed by a sound legal framework,” Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesperson, wrote in response.

While the recent updates have eased some of Lent’s concerns about Chen’s conditions in detention, he said the case has caused serious financial and emotional damage to the family.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t break down over this because I love her very much,” he told VOA. “[While] I have so much confidence that she will eventually prevail on this, I still think it’s going to be a tough road ahead for her.”
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China’s top diplomat on Thursday scolded the United States and touted his country’s closer ties with Russia. The comments came on the sidelines of a meeting of China’s parliament. More from VOA’s Bill Gallo, who is in the Chinese capital. (Camera: William Gallo)
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Thursday criticized the United States for trying to suppress China’s rise through sanctions and reiterated Beijing’s commitment to uphold the multipolar world order with partners such as Russia.

Speaking to local and foreign media during the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, Wang said while relations between China and the United States have improved since the summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, Washington’s misconception of China remains strong and it has not honored the promises made during the summit.

“The U.S. continues to renew their means of suppressing China while expanding the sanctions list,” he said, adding that Washington’s desire to punish Beijing has reached an “unimaginable level.”

Questioning Washington’s credibility as a great power, Wang urged the U.S. to view China’s rise and development objectively and rationally handle its interactions with Beijing.

“We urge the U.S. to recognize the general trend of historical development and put its promises into practice,” Wang added.

Some analysts say Wang’s criticism of the U.S. reflects Beijing’s concern about facing technological bottlenecks and economic encirclement by Washington and its allies.

“Beijing is hoping to elicit further American concessions and it’s asking the U.S. to lower its walls on technological de-risking from China,” Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at Australian National University told VOA in a written response.

While Wang urged the U.S. to promote a healthy and stable development of bilateral relations alongside China, he touted Beijing’s close partnership with Russia, saying both countries continue to deepen political mutual trust while pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation.

“As major world powers and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China, and Russia have forged a new paradigm of great power relations that adheres to permanent good neighborliness while deepening comprehensive strategic cooperation on the basis of nonalignment, nonconfrontation and nontargeting of third parties,” Wang said.

Some experts say China’s efforts to double down on its “no limits partnership” with Russia is mainly due to its attempt to build an alliance that can resist pressure imposed by the United States.

“Since Russia is anti-U.S., China needs an ally to help it resist pressure from Washington,” Liu Dongshu, an expert on Chinese politics at the City University of Hong Kong, told VOA by phone.

Since China has been highlighting the importance of its partnership with Russia before the Ukraine war, Liu said China may feel the need to stick with that commitment.

“It’s difficult for Beijing to admit that it’s made a mistake in being too supportive of Russia, so for the sake of saving its face, China needs to insist that it’s not wrong for maintaining the partnership with Russia,” he added.

As the war in Ukraine and the Middle East continue, Wang, a 70-year-old veteran diplomat who returned to the role of foreign minister last year following the mysterious dismissal of former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, said China is actively putting forward proposals for resolving regional and global issues.

He said the only way to end the vicious cycle extended from the conflict between Israel and Hamas is to “comprehensively implement the two-state solution” and said Beijing supports establishment of a Palestinian U.N. member state.

On the Ukraine war, Wang said China has always “maintained an objective and impartial position” and reiterated Beijing’s support for convening an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine.

Liu in Hong Kong said China is facing a dilemma where it wants to present itself as a responsible great power internationally, but it doesn’t want to take action to address the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

“Unlike the U.S., which has experience in mediating global conflicts, China has long adopted this nonintervention approach,” he told VOA. “China is unwilling to take actions to get involved in these conflicts and it also may not be capable of doing that.”

Amid rising tension across the Taiwan Strait in recent weeks, with Chinese coast guard vessels increasing efforts to patrol disputed waters near Taiwan’s outlying islands, Wang said Beijing will never allow Taiwan to be separated “from the motherland” and warned countries around the world not to support Taiwan’s potential pursuit of independence.

“Whoever engages in ‘Taiwan independence’ on the island will be held accountable by history and whoever in the world supports ‘Taiwan independence’ will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing,” he warned during the 90-minute press conference.

Sung from Australian National University said Wang’s comments on Taiwan are intended to intensify pressure on Taiwan’s diplomatic partners and ensure Taiwan remains internationally isolated. Wang is trying to “warn other countries about the consequences of offering support for Taiwan while reiterating Beijing’s ultimate goal of achieving unification,” he told VOA.

As tension between China and the Philippines grows because of repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea, Wang said China has always exercised “a high degree of restraint” when handling maritime disputes.

“China has always respected historical and legal facts and sought a solution that’s acceptable to each party,” he said, adding that Beijing will not allow its “good intentions” to be abused or the law in the sea to be “distorted.”

After Wang set the tone for China’s foreign policy in 2024 through the press conference on Thursday, some analysts think Beijing will likely adopt a multiprong approach to manage its relationship with different countries.

“China will focus on managing ties with Europe, maintaining close relations with Russia and other pariah states, heightening tensions with Taiwan, India and in the South China Sea, cautiously testing the waters with the U.S. while seeking to court the Global South,” Sana Hashmi, a postdoctoral a fellow at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, told VOA in a written response.
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New Delhi — India has commissioned a new naval base on an island that lies off its southwest coast, as it looks to strengthen its presence in the Indian Ocean amid growing concerns about China’s expanding footprint in the strategic waters and a downturn in ties with the Maldives.

The base, called INS Jatayu, lies on Minicoy, the southernmost island in India’s Lakshadweep archipelago, which straddles key trade routes. It will be India’s second naval base on the archipelago and is closer to the Maldives.

After commissioning the base Wednesday, India’s navy chief, Admiral Hari Kumar, said it was crucial to recognize the pressing need for heightened surveillance amid prevailing geopolitical developments, according to Press Trust of India.   

The navy has said that the new base is “part of efforts to augment security infrastructure at the strategically important” islands.  

The announcement of the new naval base comes as the Maldives, under its new government, which took power last November, moves closer to New Delhi’s rival, China. 

The Maldivian defense ministry said Tuesday it has signed an agreement with China on provision of military assistance to the archipelago, but gave no details. The Maldives has also asked India to withdraw about 80 security personnel deployed on the archipelago to operate helicopters and other aircraft for surveillance and rescue missions.  

Analysts say that the new base on Minicoy Island will be a strategic counter to China, which New Delhi suspects will strengthen its military presence in the Maldives as those two countries move rapidly to build strategic ties.  

Over the past decade, concern has grown in New Delhi that infrastructure projects China has built in places like Hambantota port in neighboring Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan are bringing the rival Asian nation closer to India’s shores.    

“China’s forays into the Indian Ocean are a concern. By building such bases, India is looking to avoid a situation where China will acquire a dominance on the western side of the Indian Ocean,” said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs.  

The new naval base was commissioned a week after Mauritius and India inaugurated an India-financed airstrip and a jetty on the tiny island of Agalega. Mauritius is an Indian Ocean outpost that lies close to Africa and has strategic significance. Mauritius’ prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, denied reports that Agalega would serve as a military base but said the infrastructure will help modernize and strengthen security.   

Analysts say that the airstrip and jetty can be used by India to facilitate air and naval patrols in the southwest Indian Ocean, which is a transit point for key maritime routes. Oman has also given India access to its Duqm Port for logistics and support to facilitate its naval presence in the western Indian Ocean.   

“India wants to project power further and further away from Indian shores,” said Chaulia. “The long-term objective is to preempt the Chinese encroachments in the region, but we also must show our leadership in the region by protecting sea lanes of communication and countering threats such as piracy to merchant shipping.”  

Analysts point out that boosting the country’s naval capabilities has become a major focus for India due to China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean. Relations between the Asian giants have worsened in recent years following a bitter military standoff along their Himalayan border. The Indian Ocean is a hugely strategic waterway for both countries, carrying their energy and other trade.  

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that India, which had earlier focused on strengthening its land borders, is now “rebalancing its military resources” due to the “increased movement of our adversaries in the Indian Ocean region and the commercial importance of the region.” He was inaugurating a new building at the Naval War College in Goa. 

He said India will ensure that no one exercises hegemony in the Indian Ocean region.

“The navy is ensuring that no country, with its overwhelming economic and military power, is able to assert dominance over friendly countries or threaten their sovereignty,” Singh said.
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Brussels — The European Union moved a step closer Tuesday to banning products made from forced labor after negotiators reached an agreement on a law that supporters hope will help block imports from China involving the Uyghur Muslim minority.

The bloc’s draft text does not specifically mention China, but focuses on all products made from forced labor, including those made within the European Union.

Human rights groups say at least one million people, mostly members of Muslim minorities, have been incarcerated in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region and face widespread abuses, including forced sterilization of women and coerced labor.

Nearly 28 million people, including 3.3 million children, are in forced labor around the world, according to the International Labor Organization.

Under the new law, the European Commission must open investigations when there is suspicion of forced labor in a company’s supply chains outside the EU.

Meanwhile, the EU’s 27 member states will be expected to launch probes when the forced labor is suspected inside the bloc.

If the use of forced labor is proven, the relevant goods can be seized at the borders and withdrawn from the European market and online marketplaces.

Companies can be fined for any violations. Although the law does not set a minimum or maximum limit, officials said fines should be an amount that acts as a deterrent.

If a company removes forced labor from their supply chains, the banned products can return to the European market.

“The prevalence of forced labor products on our market is becoming ever more apparent, most notably with products made with Uyghur forced labor. This is unacceptable,” said EU lawmaker Maria Manuel Leitao Marques, who spearheaded the text through parliament.

“We can no longer turn a blind eye to what is happening in our supply chains,” she said.

The US Congress in 2021 banned all imports from Xinjiang, unless companies in the region can prove that their production does not include forced labor.

The EU law, first proposed in 2022, will become official after formal adoption by the EU’s 27 member states and parliament.

“We now urge member states to respect the deal… and finalize the new law as soon as possible,” socialist EU lawmaker Raphael Glucksmann said.

“The EU is on track to ban products made with forced labor from our market,” the EU’s most senior trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, said on social media.

“This will now require careful and effective implementation,” he said.
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SYDNEY — Six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating Vanuatu’s fisheries law after being inspected by local police who were on board the first U.S. Coast Guard boat to patrol the waters of the Pacific Islands nation, Vanuatu police and officials said.

The infringements included failing to record the fish caught in logbooks, a fisheries official told Reuters, noting it was the first time in several years police could inspect Chinese boats that fish in Vanuatu’s exclusive economic zone and then offload their catch in other countries.

One of the Chinese vessels that police said had breached the law is owned by Chinese state-owned company CNFC Overseas Fisheries, which has a joint venture with Vanuatu’s government called Sino-Van, a Reuters review of ship registration details and company filings showed.

Yakar Silas, principal monitoring, control and surveillance officer with Vanuatu’s Fisheries Department, said penalty notices would be sent to several Chinese companies and their local agents in Vanuatu.

Most violations were by Chinese fishing fleets that fished Vanuatu waters but were based overseas, he said.

“The patrol gave the opportunity to inspect foreign vessels that are fishing in Vanuatu waters and not coming into port and offloading their catch into foreign ports, for example Fiji,” he added. “They are all Chinese vessels.”

The Chinese embassies in Vanuatu and Fiji, where some of the Chinese vessels are based, did not respond to a request for comment.

Sino-Van Director Zhang Junwei said in an email to Reuters that Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai is “supportive of the Sino-Van project.” The CNFC vessel depicted in U.S. Coast Guard photographs did not belong to the company’s Vanuatu branch, he added.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane patrolled Vanuatu waters for the first time last week. Last year, a Coast Guard vessel on patrol for illegal fishing was refused access to Vanuatu’s port.

China is Vanuatu’s largest external creditor, and Beijing and Washington are jostling for influence and security ties in the strategically important Pacific Islands region. Political instability in Vanuatu last year saw two prime ministers unseated in a matter of weeks.

A decade ago, CNFC formed a joint venture with Vanuatu’s government, promising to open a local tuna cannery to bring greater revenue to the economy beyond the license fees from foreign fleets that fish Vanuatu’s exclusive economic zone.

The cannery has not opened, and Sino-Van only sells frozen fish to the local market, a company director said.

Salwai and Chinese Ambassador Li Minggang visited Sino-Van on Feb. 27, the day after CNFC’s boat was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard and police on Feb. 26.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman confirmed the CNFC vessel, Zhong Shui 708, was among six Chinese vessels boarded by Vanuatu police who found infringements.

“The Vanuatu government will be the determining agency on what will happen with the violations,” the U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

Bianca Simeon, an inspector with the Vanuatu maritime police who boarded the fishing boats, said half of the boats inspected had violations. “They did not properly report the catch in their catch logs,” she told Reuters.
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The White House says it looks forward to working with the new Indonesian administration but stopped short of congratulating Prabowo Subianto on his apparent victory in Indonesia’s presidential election last month. Prabowo, for his part, has vowed to continue a policy that allows Jakarta to reap Chinese investments while maintaining security ties with Washington. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Taipei, Taiwan — China’s top leaders set an ambitious economic growth target of 5% for 2024 Tuesday, vowing to “seek progress while maintaining stability” amid a sluggish economy and weak confidence among investors and consumers. 

Delivering his first work report since assuming the second-most powerful position in China last October, Chinese Premier Li Qiang acknowledged that China faces an environment characterized by opportunities, risks, and challenges but emphasized that favorable conditions still outweigh unfavorable factors, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

In the face of weak economic growth worldwide and the lack of a solid foundation for China to stabilize its economic growth, Li said Beijing will continue to adopt “proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy” to cope with the long list of economic challenges.

According to Li, the Chinese government plans to issue about $139 billion in special treasury bonds over the next few years while offering support to debt-laden local governments and sticking with the strategy of “high-quality growth,” which focuses on driving growth through innovation. 

Li said China would mobilize resources across the country to “promote the construction of a modern industrial system, accelerate the development of new productive forces,” and allow innovation to drive economic growth, according to readouts on China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

Li’s speech comes as China faces a long list of economic challenges, including an ongoing real estate crisis, low consumer and household confidence, and weak external demand. While Li promised to expand domestic demand and increase efforts to attract foreign investment, some economists say that unless China initiates fundamental economic reforms, these plans may only be “policy slogans.”  

“A lot of the strategic industries in China are controlled by state-owned enterprises and their investment efficiency is quite low,” Wang Kuo-chen, an expert on the Chinese economy at the Chunghwa Institute for Economic Research in Taiwan, told VOA by phone. 

In his view, even if China tries to increase support for private enterprises, state-owned enterprises, or military enterprises continue to control strategic industries in the country, it will be difficult for the Chinese government to emerge from the current economic turmoil.  

“If Beijing doesn’t fundamentally change its economic model, it’ll be hard for China to implement new economic strategies such as high-quality development and new productive forces,” Wang told VOA.  

Despite the doubt expressed by some economists, other analysts say the Chinese government will continue to concentrate resources on technological innovation in the near future.  

“The whole government work report is focusing on modernization with Chinese characteristics and new productive forces,” Wang Hsin-hsien, an expert on Chinese politics at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, told VOA in a phone interview.  

He said a large part of Li’s speech focuses on technological innovation, which may also be Beijing’s response to the U.S.-led effort to restrict its access to some core technologies, such as advanced semiconductor chips. “These policy proposals have a lot to do with challenges that China faces internationally,” Wang said.  

Apart from the outline of Beijing’s economic measures over the next year, Li Qiang also highlighted the need for China to strengthen social security and services, including a comprehensive strategy to cope with its rapidly aging population and measures to tackle youth unemployment.

Since China’s National People’s Congress passed revisions to the state secrets law just days before the “Two Sessions,” Li reiterated the need for the Chinese government to “safeguard national security and social stability.” “[We should] the overall concept of national security while strengthening the national security system,” he said in the speech.  

Some analysts say Li’s speech shows that security remains the top concern for the Chinese government. According to statistics shared by Ruihan Huang, a senior associate at Chicago-based think tank MarcoPolo, the word security was mentioned 28 times in this year’s government work report, which is three times more than last year.

As Li doubled down on the importance of prioritizing national security in his speech, some experts told VOA that such a governance model imposes a cost on the Chinese economy. “When [a government] invests one unit more in security, in the short term, it at least means one unit less in something else, including in growth,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told VOA by phone. 

While some analysts describe Li’s speech and the content of China’s government work report as “unsurprising,” the Chinese government’s decision to cancel the premier’s press conference at the end of the annual legislative meeting is still a precedence-breaking move that reflects the diminishing power that the premier possesses under the current Chinese political system. 

The Chinese government “has redefined the role of premier as an implementer of decisions made by the Politburo, a top decision-making body, under the general secretary’s leadership,” Dali Yang, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, told VOA by phone. 

As the world now interprets the signals reflected through Li Qiang’s speech Tuesday, Chong in Singapore thinks the outside world’s perception of China will likely remain unchanged in the short term.  

“Ultimately, what investors want is certainty, and for there to be more certainty, there has to be more transparency in data and that compliance is straightforward to follow,” he told VOA. “While Li Qiang talks about confidence, the instruments that allow for confidence aren’t really there.”
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China kicked off its annual session of parliament Tuesday in Beijing. VOA’s Bill Gallo, who attended the event, says Chinese leaders are trying to put a positive spin on the many economic problems they face.
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washington — Lobbying firms in Washington are reportedly rushing to drop clients from China as lawmakers look to tighten scrutiny. The push comes in the wake of a surge in Chinese lobbying in recent years and growing concerns about China’s influence.

U.S. lawmakers say they are promoting legislation that would provide more transparency into who is lobbying for Chinese companies. The legislators aim to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from using gray areas to secretly advance policy agendas that harm the interests of the American people.

Republican Senator John Cornyn told VOA’s Mandarin Service last week that lawmakers are very close to completing work on legislation that aims to address the problem. Last year, lawmakers in the Senate passed the disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act and members of the House have introduced a similar bill. Cornyn was a co-sponsor of the Senate bill.

“We’ve encountered some dissent but will continue to work because it’s important to understand who is actually lobbying these policymakers,” Cornyn said. “The primary focus has been on making sure people register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. As you know, there’s been a lot of problems associated with people not disclosing their lobby contracts with foreign countries.”

Closing loopholes

In pushing legislation, lawmakers are looking to close existing loopholes in the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA) and the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) to demand more transparency regarding foreign governments and political parties that participate in the planning, supervision, direction or control of lobbying efforts regardless of whether they have made any financial contributions or not.

China is a unique challenge, Cornyn noted.

“The Chinese are unique in that there is no true solely private sector; they are forced to share information with the PLA and with their intelligence agencies,” he said. “So, I would say anytime we’re dealing with the Chinese-owned enterprise, it’s a cause for concern.”

U.S. lobbying is regulated by the LDA, which requires disclosure of domestic lobbying, and FARA, which requires disclosure of lobbying and other forms of influence by foreign governments and political parties. However, in 1995, FARA was amended to exempt those who represent foreign companies or individuals if the work is not intended to benefit a foreign government or political party. As a result, lobbyists registered under the far less transparent LDA and the result was a dramatic drop in FARA registrations.

Clients dropped

The effort to tighten scrutiny of China’s lobbying activities follows the U.S. Department of Defense’s release in late January of a list of “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States known as the 1260H list.

Lawmakers subsequently said they were considering a measure prohibiting lobbyists who represent companies on the list from meeting with members of Congress, even to discuss matters on behalf of their American clients.

Following the release of the 1260H list, a chart began circulating on Capitol Hill that named various Chinese companies, including some military firms, as well as the names of their lobbying firms and whether they appear on the 1260H list.

Responding to the chart, at least five U.S. lobbying firms dropped Chinese clients as of late February. Steptoe LLP has terminated its contract with Shenzhen biotech company BGI. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld filed cease-and-desist documents to stop lobbying for Chinese LiDAR maker Hesai Group and terminated its cooperation with Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics company not on the 1260H list. The Vogel Group has also dropped lobbying services for Chinese drone company DJI and Complete Genomics, a subsidiary of genetic technology company BGI.

DJI and Hesai are both on the 1260H list. Complete Genomics is not on the list, but its previous parent company, BGI, is on it.

Boycotting meetings

Republican Senator Marco Rubio told VOA that while it is difficult to pass a law prohibiting members of Congress from meeting with anyone, some congressional offices have decided not to meet with lobbying firms representing Chinese military companies.

“There are just certain entities we won’t meet with because we understand that while they may be doing it for commercial reasons, the interests that they’re representing are linked to Chinese goals, military goals and aspirations,” he said. “And so … we’ve made that decision unilaterally.”

Robert Sutter, professor of practice of international affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University, said historically, Chinese military entities’ lobbying activities have been an ambiguous area, and the enforcement has been weak.

“These [companies] lobbying for these firms … it’s probably legal in some way. But there is a reputational cost, and I think that’s what the Congresspeople are calling attention to in saying they will boycott these firms,” he said.

According to Open Secrets, a political money website, China’s lobbying has surged in recent years. China spent more than $330 million on lobbying between 2019 and 2023. That stands in sharp contrast to the $60 million it spent between 2015 and 2018.

China’s lobbying roster

Craig Singleton, a senior researcher with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, notes up until a few years ago, Chinese corporate lobbying in Washington was almost non-existent but that changed when the U.S. government went after Huawei.

After that, “Chinese firms switched gears and quickly scaled up, deploying lobbyists to protect their bottom lines in the face of increasing scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans alike,” he said. “Today, China’s lobbying roster reads like a ‘who’s who’ of Washington insiders, from retired Pentagon brass to former high-ranking congressional aides. The goal of these lobbying operations is simple: disrupting any actions that could negatively impact their clients’ market share, deflecting regulatory scrutiny and defending against sanctions.”

Singleton said the Department of Justice – which is responsible for administering and enforcing FARA – could play a bigger role in curbing the CCP’s malign lobbying influence on Capitol Hill.

“The U.S. Department of Justice currently mandates only two Chinese companies, Huawei and Hikvision, to disclose their lobbying activities under FARA, offering a comprehensive overview of their engagements,” he said. “Despite additional Chinese firms being flagged as national security risks by the Defense Department and FCC, the Justice Department has not extended FARA filing requirements to these problematic entities. The only apparent obstacle to such action is a lack of political will within the Justice Department itself.”

VOA Mandarin reached out to the Department of Justice, but it declined to comment.

Yi-hua Lee and Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Hong Kong — In a newsroom, editors tell reporters to not touch politically sensitive stories. Reporters are told to put stories on hold until China’s foreign ministry comes out with its statement. Terminology that the government might frown upon is banned from news copy.

Such is the state of journalism, not just in China, but increasingly in Hong Kong, after a national security law was adopted by Beijing for the former British colony in 2020, according to local journalists.

“Sometimes we don’t feel like we’re journalists. We’re simply a part of the propaganda machine. We feel all the things we learned from journalism school are wasted because it’s not applicable anymore. The morale is really low,” said one local journalist who did not want to be named, to avoid retribution.

Once a model of press freedom in Asia, Hong Kong’s journalism scene has deteriorated since Beijing enacted the national security law, outlawing secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, according to journalists and surveys. They also indicate that self-censorship is becoming common, opposition voices are becoming rare, and caution reigns.

Prior to passage of the law in 2020, journalists could cover news largely as they liked, as if they were in a democratic country.

Now, many fear it will become even more difficult to be a journalist in the city if a proposed new security law – known as Article 23 – is adopted, without safeguards, especially a public interest defense clause, for journalists.

Article 23 would add treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage endangering national security, and external interference as offenses, and would expand the scope and penalties for existing crimes, including sedition.

Ronson Chan, chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association – the city’s oldest and largest association for local journalists – said many journalists are worried. He said since the Beijing-imposed national security law was passed, journalists constantly must consider the potential dangers of “crossing the redline,” especially because the government has not clarified what that line is.

“Every day, every moment, you have to consider when you speak anything about the government in some livestream program, what will happen to you,” said Chan, who is also the multimedia manager for local news website Channel C.

As of the end of last year, 156 people, including more than a dozen senior employees at newspapers including editors and editorial writers, have been arrested for security law or sedition offenses, although most are out on bail, according to online magazine ChinaFile.com, which tracks the arrests, charges and convictions. Two well-known news outlets – Apple Daily and Stand News – closed in 2021 following raids, arrests of senior employees, and freezing of their assets. Another – Citizen News – voluntarily closed soon after, to ensure the safety of its staff.

Some journalists have reported experiencing digital or physical surveillance, or both.

More recently, a reporter who has long covered China’s defense beat for Hong Kong’s English language newspaper, The South China Morning Post, became unreachable after a work trip to Beijing. Although her company later said her family confirmed that she was safe and needed to deal with a private matter, her disappearance has raised concerns that she might have been detained. The reporter, Minnie Chan, has not filed any stories since covering a defense forum in China in late October of last year.

Many journalists have also either left Hong Kong or the profession, Chan said. The number of Hong Kong Journalists Association journalist members dropped from 800 in 2019 to just 300.

While foreign media journalists, especially expatriates, have the protection of a foreign passport and backing from major world media organizations, including CNN and BBC, which have bureaus here, they risk losing their visa and right to continue reporting in Hong Kong if the authorities find problems with their reporting, said the Lee Williamson, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club.

An FCC survey on press freedom last year found 65% of responding journalists said they had engaged in self-censorship either in the content of their reporting or by avoiding certain subjects, and 27% said they had self-censored considerably.

“I can’t speak of the motivations, but these numbers do speak to the anecdotal evidence that we do see every day in Hong Kong – journalists who are holding back because they want to make sure they are here tomorrow to continue telling the story of Hong Kong and mainland China,” Williamson said.

The survey also found 88% of the respondents said sources in Hong Kong had become less willing to be quoted or to speak to reporters about sensitive topics.

Perhaps affected on a greater level are local journalists, who may not have a foreign passport, whose long-term home is Hong Kong and who have seen local media organizations closed and their peers arrested.

Nonetheless, they are finding ways to continue their work.

“After the national security law was adopted, senior managers give you warm reminders about how our stories should be written. Certain terms cannot be used. For example, we could not use the words ‘record low turnout’ to describe the recent district council elections and could only say ‘turnout rate was as expected,’” said the journalist who requested anonymity. “They even put out a list saying who you cannot interview – such as pro-democracy activists.”

“No one wants to be the next Stand News, Citizen News or Apple Daily,” she said, referring to the three news outlets that have shut down.

Self-censorship is not only for self-protection, but to protect sources and colleagues as well, she said.

“It’s always a struggle. You got a good [quote] and it’s anti-government. You, your editor, your newsroom would have to make a decision: Do you want to put that person at risk? I don’t think so. Our job is to report the truth but at the same time, you cannot do any harm to anyone,” she said. “When colleagues write sensitive sentences, we censor them too. You don’t want them to get in trouble. It’s a struggle. You’re practicing self-censorship but you’re saving somebody.”

The result is that various media’s reports are similar, with the same kind of opinion and voices, she said.

There’s still space to scrutinize government policies and actions, but the journalist who requested anonymity said that was only for politically nonsensitive issues.

“It’s OK to quote someone saying firework displays are a waste of money since even a lawmaker said it … [but] all reporting on Article 23 has been very positive,” she said.

She said she plans to continue as a journalist despite the difficulties, pointing to the need for nonpolitical stories, and the appeal of “doing social impact stories such as those about NGOs working to help others,” which, she said were rewarding to do because readers become more interested in the NGOs after reading the stories.

“Society is not just about politics,” she said.

On the bright side, no more journalists have been arrested after the Apple Daily and Stand News arrests, Chan said.

He and Williamson agreed that what is encouraging is that there are still passionate journalists trying to report on issues in Hong Kong in the current environment.

“What I do believe in is the dedication and the talent of the journalists who are in Hong Kong, both those who were born here and those who have moved here, to continue to do their job in the face of hardship,” Williamson said.
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Hong Kong — During the Hong Kong government’s recently ended monthlong public consultation period on a controversial new security law, which wrapped up last week, the city’s two main journalist associations voiced concerns that the law will have “profound” implications for journalists’ ability to do their work.

The proposed law, known locally as Article 23, will be an expansion of a national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020, outlawing secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

It would add treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage endangering national security, and external interference as offenses, and would expand the scope and penalties for existing crimes, including sedition.

In their submissions to the Security Bureau as part of the consultation process, both the Hong Kong Journalists Association or HKJA and the FCCHK or Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong , each of which has about 300 journalist members, urged the government to add a public interest defense clause in the new law to protect journalists, on the grounds that, without intending to break the law, they could do so inadvertently in reporting the news.

The FCCHK, whose membership of more than 2,000 also includes diplomats, businesspeople, artists and others who support journalism, said it was “paramount” to do so, and urged the government to “keep press freedom front of mind and make it clear that journalists would not be targeted for doing their jobs.”

The Hong Kong Journalists Association urged the government to “provide sufficient protection for the press in its draft bill and avoid causing irrevocable damage to press freedom.”

The two associations said the definition and scope of offenses in the consultation document for the upcoming legislation such as theft of state secrets, foreign interference and sedition were too broad and would affect the legitimate work of journalists.

The groups fear that journalists could be charged with stealing state secrets when obtaining leaked information from government sources, accused of abetting foreign interference when quoting overseas groups critical of the government, and construed as seditious when quoting government critics or running editorials critical of government policies.

Although the government has said it will try to strike a balance between protecting national security and protection of freedoms, including freedom of the press, journalist associations worry this can be applied subjectively.

The government “did not provide further explanation on what constitutes ‘necessary for safeguarding national security,’” the Hong Kong Journalists Association wrote, saying it “worries that this would grant unchecked powers to the Security Bureau, giving them authority to curb the operations of local news organizations or industry groups, without the need to submit evidence to court or even make its reasons public.” 

The association also suggested that the law only be applied if the government can prove a defendant’s intention to endanger national security and actual material damage to national security. 

In a survey it conducted last month, all of the 160 journalists and other news media respondents said Article 23 would harm press freedom, with 90% believing the impact would be large.

Most respondents also agreed the scope and terminology in the proposed law was too broad and vague, and expressed worries they would inadvertently break the law. 

Hong Kong’s government credits the national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020 for restoring safety and order in the city, which was rocked by widespread, and sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests in 2019. 

It says it is also necessary to adopt the proposed additional home-grown security law because Hong Kong faces lingering national security threats and must prevent a recurrence of protests to ensure its safety and prosperity. 

The government issued a statement last Wednesday saying the vast majority of those commenting on the proposal supported it, adding that it was “pleased that society has reached consensus to complete the legislation as early as possible.”

It hopes to adopt the law later this year.

The Security Bureau has not responded to VOA’s request for comment about journalists’  concerns, but in a previous response, it said “Hong Kong residents enjoy the freedoms of the press and speech” but that these freedoms “are not absolute, and can be restricted for reasons including protection of national security in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Journalists, like everyone else, have an obligation to abide by all the laws, it said.

In its annual World Press Freedom Index last year, the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, ranked Hong Kong 140th out of 180 countries and regions.

Despite what many believe to be increasing restrictions on journalism in Hong Kong, those still in the profession persist in doing their work, including holding the government accountable, albeit with greater caution. 

At a press conference last week after Financial Secretary Paul Chan presented the new budget for the coming fiscal year, with a ballooning deficit and lower than hoped for projected government revenue, journalists asked him tough questions.

One asked whether it was wise to put on monthly firework shows at Hong Kong’s famed Victoria Harbour at a cost of about $128,000 each time. 

Chan said these would be a lot cheaper and smaller scale than the New Year’s fireworks, and would entice tourists to stay overnight and spend more money.

Other journalists asked why there wasn’t more social welfare spending as well as financial subsidies for residents, since the economy has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chan said it was more important to focus spending on stimulating economic growth so that everyone can benefit.

Another journalist fired off two questions in succession and was about to ask a third, prompting Chan to request: “Could I first answer the first two?” The reporter insisted she had already informed him beforehand that she would ask three questions. He quietly let her ask the question.

Independent media are also still able to publish reports on sensitive topics, including a roundup of events that occurred since the national security law was adopted, highlighting the jailing of a veteran activist for a protest that did not take place and artistic performances that were canceled over national security issues.

It’s crucial for Hong Kong’s media to be able to do all of that and much more, according to the associations.

In its submission, the Hong Kong Journalists Association emphasized that “the press is not a threat to national security.

“Journalism serves to enhance transparency in public governance as well as promote good governance,” it said.

The Foreign Correspondents Club in its letter stated: “The freedom of press, publication and speech is one of the cornerstones contributing to the success of Hong Kong. … Protecting those rights and freedoms … is crucial for preserving Hong Kong’s role as an international business and media centre.”

It remains to be seen whether the government will adopt their recommendations.
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Beijing — The China Embassy in the Philippines said Sunday it “strongly” condemns the Philippine ambassador to Washington’s recent China-related remarks, saying they “disregarded basic facts.”

The remarks “wantonly hyped up the South China Sea issue and made speculations and malicious smears against China,” the embassy said in a statement.

Jose Manuel Romualdez said Wednesday that while the United States sees both the South China Sea issue and a potential Taiwan conflict as “serious concerns,” he believed the “real flashpoint is the West Philippine Sea” given “all of these skirmishes happening there.”

The Chinese Embassy said, “Inviting wolves into the house and engaging in small circles will not only not help resolve the differences in the South China Sea, but on the contrary will complicate the regional situation, and undermine regional peace and stability.”

It urged Romualdez to stop spreading the “China threat theory” and “paranoia of persecution,” and to refrain from “acting as a spokesperson for other countries.”

The Philippine Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tensions have flashed over maritime disputes in the South China Sea, with Beijing and Manila trading sharp accusations over a slew of run-ins.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China’s claims had no legal basis. But Beijing does not recognize the court’s authority.
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BEIJING — The former chairman of the state-owned Bank of Beijing is under investigation for corruption, the latest in a series of graft investigations focused on the country’s financial sector. 

Yan Bingzhu, who led the bank since its establishment in 1996 and until he retired in 2017, is among several top officials being probed for “seriously violating discipline and the law,” according to a notice published on the city of Beijing’s official website Friday. 

He is the latest official to be probed for graft as part of President Xi Jinping’s decadelong anti-corruption campaign that critics say has been used partly to remove his political rivals. 

Yan had not appeared in public for more than six months. 

Xi in January vowed to intensify the crackdown against misconduct in the finance, energy and infrastructure sectors, a move observers fear may further stifle the country’s economic recovery. 

Another retired financial executive, Tang Shuangning, who served as chairman of China Everbright Group, was arrested two months ago on suspicion of embezzlement and bribery. 

Others who have been targeted for alleged corruption include a former Chinese central bank senior official, Sun Guofeng, who was sentenced to over 16 years in prison for accepting bribes. 

Sun Deshun, former president of state-owned China CITIC Bank, was also sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting more than $130 million in bribes during his career. 

Another finance executive, Zhang Hongli, a former senior executive of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s biggest bank, has also been investigated for graft. 
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China on Monday opens its so-called Two Sessions gathering, one of Beijing’s highest-profile annual political events. Although carefully scripted, the meeting will provide important signals about Chinese policy plans. However, the proceedings may be overshadowed by a long list of challenges facing China, reports VOA’s Bill Gallo, who will attend the event.
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