…Governor of Minnesota, Warren Zevon fan, mocker of Trump’s people as ‘weird’, and possible next Vice President of the US…
Thread by Jeffrey Ngo on Walz’s connections with China and Hong Kong. China Talk on his China experiences, including his pick of the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre for his wedding…
“He wanted to have a date he’ll always remember,” said his wife.
The SCMP manages to find quotes claiming he is pro-Beijing…
Numerous social media posts, including those from accounts followed by members of Trump’s inner circle, with some suggesting he could be a Communist Party agent.
“Communist China is very happy with @GovTimWalz as Kamala’s VP pick. No one is more pro-China than Marxist Walz,” Richard Grenell, a former acting director of National Intelligence in the previous Trump administration, posted on X, the social platform owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk.
Jimmy Lai’s trial is postponed yet again, to November 20. The WSJ says…
…Delay is beginning to look like a feature and not a bug—especially given that Mr. Lai is being kept in solitary confinement.
Mr. Lai was arrested in 2020, and his trial was set to begin in 2022 but started a year late largely because of the government’s repeated challenges to Mr. Lai’s attempt to choose his own lawyer. He’s been charged with colluding with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious materials.
But the head of Mr. Lai’s international legal team, King’s Counsel Caoilfhionn Gallagher, says that after seven months of trial all the prosecution has done is reveal how flimsy its case against Mr. Lai is.
“Basic actions which are essential for any successful newspaper owner,” she says, “are described as criminal, such as asking respected public figures to write op-eds on newsworthy topics, widening the pool of readers, securing advertisers.” Ms. Gallagher adds that raising concerns about Hong Kong’s freedoms under the national security law has now become criminal. And a trial that should have been over by Easter may not be done by Christmas.
Some more on the forthcoming Taiwan TV series Zero Day, from CNN…
The 17-minute trailer hit close to home in Taiwan, making headlines in local media and garnering more than a million views on YouTube.
“As a 21-year-old, I almost burst into tears when I watched it. Every scene in those 17 minutes felt so close to us. Maybe one day in the future, these scenarios will become the reality around us,” said a top comment with more than a thousand upvotes.
…and the Guardian…
“The feeling that war is imminent is something that most people in peaceful countries find hard to relate to. In Taiwan, everyone thinks about it, but hardly ever talks about it,” the director, Lo Ging-zim, tells the Guardian in his Taipei studio. “But if we don’t make that fear tangible, if we don’t turn it into drama, we’re going to have a hard time getting people to start a dialogue quickly.”
The plot begins with a Chinese warplane disappearing in the Taiwan Strait, and China using the search as a pretext for enacting a military blockade. Over the course of seven days it chips away further. The financial system crashes, communications are cut, foreigners and dual nationals flee. Fake news and fifth column sabotage spreads, and Beijing hacks public screens with a smiling, pink-jacketed Chinese news anchor urging Taiwanese to accept the “peaceful reunification of the motherland”.
Don’t forget to visit!
https://hongkongfp.com/2024/08/06/in-pictures-hong-kong-unveils-new-national-security-exhibition-as-officials-urge-vigilance-against-risks/
Richard Grenell is a hack political consultant, one of those formerly “normal” Republicans who jumped on the Trump gravy train. Trump named him ambassador to Germany, where he shat the bed repeatedly and cosied up to neo-Nazi groups. My dog has more knowledge of China than he does.
OT but from today HKFP report as to the national security exhibition.
“Tang declined to comment related costs, saying that the security law prevented such expenditure from being disclosed.”
@steve: Add to that his self loathing sexuality as evidenced by his cozying up to the same people that wouldn’t mind seeing the likes of him put into “camps” and deprogrammed.
It’s hard not to imagine the smoke & Mirror advantages of having Jimmy’s sham trial slap-bang in the midst of what is most likely to be a very messy US presidential election.
And lest we forget – “As people look for a comfortable and relaxed life, [we] must remind everyone to stay on guard and aware that the sharp blade of the law is ever present,” Zheng said in Mandarin.
The BBC also has coverage of Walz’s position on China: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgewpzyd91o. It appears to be similar to what one often heard from Hong Kong people when they still felt free to comment on such matters: love the country, but not its government.
‘And constant craving
Has always been…
…bringing all the investment to the hub…
…my crisis is better than yours…
Six visits to Macao— the Kompromat will be strong with ol’ Waltzy, don’t be fooled by a few PR pics of him with the “right” people…