China accuses Hong Kong protesters of committing 'evil and criminal acts' - CNN

At a press conference in Beijing on Monday, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office spokesman Yang Guang called the situation in Hong Kong "grave," adding that Beijing would not allow any challenge to the Chinese government's authority or threats to national security.

"No civilization or society under the rule of law would ever allow acts of violence to take place. We call on the general public of Hong Kong to be aware of the grave nature of the current situation," Yang said, calling on Hong Kong citizens to condemn protester violence.

"Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong. Hong Kong's affairs are China's domestic affairs," he added. Hong Kong has been governed under a "one country, two systems" model since the city transferred from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

It was the first time China's top Hong Kong policy office had given a briefing on the mass demonstrations that began in early June in opposition to a controversial -- and now-shelved -- bill that would have allowed extradition from the city to mainland China.

Yang also used the event as an opportunity to reaffirm China's strong support for Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and the city's police force, which has been the target of many protesters' ire for deploying what they believe to be heavy-handed tactics.

Jimmy Shum, of the Civil Human Rights Front, which has organized many official protests in recent weeks, called the press conference "disappointing":

"As an agency with the power to dismiss Carrie Lam, it did not call for her to step down. So the press conference wasted Hong Kong people 40 minutes of their time," Shum said.

Eight weeks of unrest

Mass protests have now been happening in Hong Kong, a major global financial hub, for eight consecutive weeks.

Protesters' demands over that period have broadened to encompass issues such as greater democracy for the city, an inquiry into alleged police brutality and the resignation of Lam.

The demonstrations have also steadily escalated in terms of violence and rhetoric.

On July 1, protesters trashed the Hong Kong Legislative Council offices, the city's seat of government. On July 21, an armed mob at Yuen Long train station, in the north of the city, attacked people in a subway station, many of whom were protesters returning from a march police had broken up in the central Hong Kong. The mob was wearing white, while most of the demonstrators were clad in black, the color of the protest movement.

Last Saturday, protesters staged a march in the small town of Yuen Long, near Hong Kong's border with China, where they clashed with riot police. On Sunday night, much of downtown came to a standstill after riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who had defied a police ban to march through the city.

Beijing has previously denounced the protesters in state media, including their decision to target the Chinese government's headquarters in the city on July 21. State-run news agency Xinhua called the demonstrators "radical protesters" and said their actions were an "open challenge to the central government's authority."

"If this can be tolerated, what can not?" Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily said in an editorial.

At a Ministry of Defense briefing last week, spokesperson Wu Qian said the Chinese military was watching the situation in Hong Kong closely.

When asked if the Chinese military would intervene, Wu referenced a law that allows the Hong Kong government to request assistance to maintain public order from Beijing's military garrison in the city -- a point Yang repeated at Monday's press conference when asked by CNN.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/29/asia/china-hong-kong-protests-intl-hnk/index.html

2019-07-29 11:04:00Z
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China accuses Hong Kong protesters of committing 'evil and criminal acts' - CNN

At a press conference in Beijing on Monday, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office spokesman Yang Guang called the situation in Hong Kong "grave," adding that Beijing would not allow any challenge to the Chinese government's authority or threats to national security.

"No civilization or society under the rule of law would ever allow acts of violence to take place. We call on the general public of Hong Kong to be aware of the grave nature of the current situation," Yang said, calling on Hong Kong citizens to condemn protester violence.

"Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong. Hong Kong's affairs are China's domestic affairs," he added. Hong Kong has been governed under a "one country, two systems" model since the city transferred from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

It was the first time China's top Hong Kong policy office had given a briefing on the mass demonstrations that began in early June in opposition to a controversial -- and now-shelved -- bill that would have allowed extradition from the city to mainland China.

Yang also used the event as an opportunity to reaffirm China's strong support for Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and the city's police force, which has been the target of many protesters' ire for deploying what they believe to be heavy-handed tactics.

Jimmy Shum, of the Civil Human Rights Front, which has organized many official protests in recent weeks, called the press conference "disappointing":

"As an agency with the power to dismiss Carrie Lam, it did not call for her to step down. So the press conference wasted Hong Kong people 40 minutes of their time," Shum said.

Eight weeks of unrest

Mass protests have now been happening in Hong Kong, a major global financial hub, for eight consecutive weeks.

Protesters' demands over that period have broadened to encompass issues such as greater democracy for the city, an inquiry into alleged police brutality and the resignation of Lam.

The demonstrations have also steadily escalated in terms of violence and rhetoric.

On July 1, protesters trashed the Hong Kong Legislative Council offices, the city's seat of government. On July 21, an armed mob at Yuen Long train station, in the north of the city, attacked people in a subway station, many of whom were protesters returning from a march police had broken up in the central Hong Kong. The mob was wearing white, while most of the demonstrators were clad in black, the color of the protest movement.

Last Saturday, protesters staged a march in the small town of Yuen Long, near Hong Kong's border with China, where they clashed with riot police. On Sunday night, much of downtown came to a standstill after riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who had defied a police ban to march through the city.

Beijing has previously denounced the protesters in state media, including their decision to target the Chinese government's headquarters in the city on July 21. State-run news agency Xinhua called the demonstrators "radical protesters" and said their actions were an "open challenge to the central government's authority."

"If this can be tolerated, what can not?" Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily said in an editorial.

At a Ministry of Defense briefing last week, spokesperson Wu Qian said the Chinese military was watching the situation in Hong Kong closely.

When asked if the Chinese military would intervene, Wu referenced a law that allows the Hong Kong government to request assistance to maintain public order from Beijing's military garrison in the city -- a point Yang repeated at Monday's press conference when asked by CNN.

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2019-07-29 09:17:00Z
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China’s Government Shows Support for Hong Kong Police and Leader as Protests Continue - The New York Times

BEIJING — The Chinese government on Monday laid down its firm support of Hong Kong’s embattled leader and police force after two months of rolling protests that have flared into violence and inflamed opposition to Chinese rule.

Chinese officials made a strongly worded defense of the local authorities during a rare news conference in Beijing by the government office that oversees policy toward Hong Kong.

It came days after a People’s Liberation Army spokesman hinted that military force could be used to bring to heel the antigovernment demonstrations that have flared in Hong Kong since June. The demonstrations have repeatedly spiraled into violent melees as smaller groups of more confrontational protesters have faced off with police officers who have used tear gas and clubs against them, including this past weekend.

“Hong Kong cannot afford to have instability,” Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told reporters. “Should the chaos continue, it is the entire Hong Kong society that will suffer.”

Image

A television at a Hong Kong restaurant showing a news conference in Beijing by Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.CreditAnthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In his opening remarks at the news briefing, Mr. Yang expressed support for the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, and the police, who have come under criticism for what protesters say is an excessive use of force against demonstrators.

Mr. Yang also said the local government should work on addressing economic issues including challenges with employment and schooling, a housing crisis, and the rising cost of living.

The news briefing appeared aimed at dousing the wave of opposition in Hong Kong — the most sustained challenge to China’s hold over the territory since 1997, when Britain returned it to Chinese sovereignty.

The protests crystallized around opposition to a proposed legal bill that would have opened the way to extraditions from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland. Many Hong Kongers distrust the Chinese mainland’s courts and police, which are controlled by the Communist Party, and opposition was widespread.

After huge demonstrations early in June, Mrs. Lam, the Beijing-backed chief executive of Hong Kong, suspended the proposed law indefinitely. But the protesters have continued taking to the streets of Hong Kong every week, especially on weekends, demanding a full withdrawal of the legislation and voicing a wider array of grievances.

Image

Tens of thousands of people have been taking part in protests in Hong Kong on recent weekends.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Mrs. Lam has refused to make any further concessions and her advisers have indicated that the administration is confident that it can ride out further protests, despite the escalating unrest and signs that the economy could suffer.

By emphasizing its support for Mrs. Lam yet also emphasizing her responsibility in upholding the law, the central officials also seemed to offer another message: that it was now up to Mrs. Lam, her administration and the police to put an end to the months of strife.

Political tensions and the worsening trade war between the United States and China have already driven down Hong Kong stocks more than 5 percent since early April. Hong Kong’s shares were down more than 1 percent midday on Monday, with property companies taking the biggest hit.

China had promised to give Hong Kong wide-ranging autonomy after 1997, including independent courts and much greater freedoms than in mainland China. But many Hong Kong residents say their city’s distinctive status has been sharply eroded, especially under Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party since 2012.

The demonstrators are increasingly angered by the lack of democratic government, a ruling class that has become more beholden to Beijing than to Hong Kong, and with what protesters and some experts have said are excessively heavy-handed methods used by the police to subdue crowds.

Image

Protesters attacking the doors of the Legislative Council building earlier this month.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

But the Chinese government and its supporters in Hong Kong have focused their outrage on the demonstrators, especially those who have attacked government buildings and hurled bricks and steel poles at the phalanxes of police. The anger from Beijing grew after protesters vandalized the outside of the Chinese government liaison office in Hong Kong, including throwing paint on the national emblem.

The cycle of protests and forceful police response continued over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds of demonstrators who had come out to denounce a mob attack on protesters and what they say is a police force that acts without accountability.

On Monday, the Chinese government defended the city’s police force. “We understand the huge pressure facing the Hong Kong police and their families, and would like to salute the Hong Kong police who have been fearlessly sticking to their posts and fulfilling their duties against all odds,” Mr. Yang said.

Chinese official media reports have suggested that nefarious “hostile Western forces” — rather than heartfelt anger among Hong Kong residents — are behind the protests. And they have also defended the Hong Kong police, and even urged them to take more forceful measures.

“Hong Kong police must no longer be like gentle nannies when they’re enforcing the law,” an editorial in the overseas edition of People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s main newspaper, said on Monday.

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2019-07-29 07:37:56Z
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China’s Government Shows Support for Hong Kong Police and Leader as Protests Continue - The New York Times

BEIJING — The Chinese government on Monday laid down its firm support of Hong Kong’s embattled leader and police force after two months of rolling protests that have flared into violence and inflamed opposition to Chinese rule.

Chinese officials made a strongly worded defense of the local authorities during a rare news conference in Beijing by the government office that oversees policy toward Hong Kong.

It came days after a People’s Liberation Army spokesman hinted that military force could be used to bring to heel the antigovernment demonstrations that have flared in Hong Kong since June. The demonstrations have repeatedly spiraled into violent melees as smaller groups of more confrontational protesters have faced off with police officers who have used tear gas and clubs against them, including this past weekend.

“Hong Kong cannot afford to have instability,” Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told reporters. “Should the chaos continue, it is the entire Hong Kong society that will suffer.”

Image

A television at a Hong Kong restaurant showing a news conference in Beijing by Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.CreditAnthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In his opening remarks at the news briefing, Mr. Yang expressed support for the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, and the police, who have come under criticism for what protesters say is an excessive use of force against demonstrators.

Mr. Yang also said the local government should work on addressing economic issues including challenges with employment and schooling, a housing crisis, and the rising cost of living.

The news briefing appeared aimed at dousing the wave of opposition in Hong Kong — the most sustained challenge to China’s hold over the territory since 1997, when Britain returned it to Chinese sovereignty.

The protests crystallized around opposition to a proposed legal bill that would have opened the way to extraditions from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland. Many Hong Kongers distrust the Chinese mainland’s courts and police, which are controlled by the Communist Party, and opposition was widespread.

After huge demonstrations early in June, Mrs. Lam, the Beijing-backed chief executive of Hong Kong, suspended the proposed law indefinitely. But the protesters have continued taking to the streets of Hong Kong every week, especially on weekends, demanding a full withdrawal of the legislation and voicing a wider array of grievances.

Image

Tens of thousands of people have been taking part in protests in Hong Kong on recent weekends.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Mrs. Lam has refused to make any further concessions and her advisers have indicated that the administration is confident that it can ride out further protests, despite the escalating unrest and signs that the economy could suffer.

By emphasizing its support for Mrs. Lam yet also emphasizing her responsibility in upholding the law, the central officials also seemed to offer another message: that it was now up to Mrs. Lam, her administration and the police to put an end to the months of strife.

Political tensions and the worsening trade war between the United States and China have already driven down Hong Kong stocks more than 5 percent since early April. Hong Kong’s shares were down more than 1 percent midday on Monday, with property companies taking the biggest hit.

China had promised to give Hong Kong wide-ranging autonomy after 1997, including independent courts and much greater freedoms than in mainland China. But many Hong Kong residents say their city’s distinctive status has been sharply eroded, especially under Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party since 2012.

The demonstrators are increasingly angered by the lack of democratic government, a ruling class that has become more beholden to Beijing than to Hong Kong, and with what protesters and some experts have said are excessively heavy-handed methods used by the police to subdue crowds.

Image

Protesters attacking the doors of the Legislative Council building earlier this month.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

But the Chinese government and its supporters in Hong Kong have focused their outrage on the demonstrators, especially those who have attacked government buildings and hurled bricks and steel poles at the phalanxes of police. The anger from Beijing grew after protesters vandalized the outside of the Chinese government liaison office in Hong Kong, including throwing paint on the national emblem.

The cycle of protests and forceful police response continued over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds of demonstrators who had come out to denounce a mob attack on protesters and what they say is a police force that acts without accountability.

On Monday, the Chinese government defended the city’s police force. “We understand the huge pressure facing the Hong Kong police and their families, and would like to salute the Hong Kong police who have been fearlessly sticking to their posts and fulfilling their duties against all odds,” Mr. Yang said.

Chinese official media reports have suggested that nefarious “hostile Western forces” — rather than heartfelt anger among Hong Kong residents — are behind the protests. And they have also defended the Hong Kong police, and even urged them to take more forceful measures.

“Hong Kong police must no longer be like gentle nannies when they’re enforcing the law,” an editorial in the overseas edition of People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s main newspaper, said on Monday.

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2019-07-29 07:34:22Z
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Suspected Boko Haram attack on a funeral leaves 65 dead in Nigeria, official says - CNN

The attack occurred Saturday during a burial in the Nganzai district, near the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said.

Twenty-one people were initially killed during the burial ceremony, Bulama said. An additional 44 people were killed when villagers ran after the assailants, the official said.

At least 10 people were injured in the attack. Eight of them were critically wounded and were being treated at an area hospital, he said.

Boko Haram militants have inhabited the northern states of Nigeria for the past decade. The terror group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Africa's most populous nation, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

The group has bombed churches and mosques; kidnapped women and children; and assassinated politicians and religious leaders.

In January, the escalating violence forced 30,000 Nigerians to flee the country over a two day period, the UN refugee agency said.

CNN's Stephanie Busari reported from Lagos and journalist Isaac Abrak reported from Abuja. CNN's Sophie Sherry and Braden Goyette wrote from Atlanta and Los Angeles.

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2019-07-29 07:29:00Z
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Suspected Boko Haram attack on a funeral leaves 65 dead in Nigeria, official says - CNN

The attack occurred Saturday during a burial in the Nganzai district, near the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said.

Twenty-one people were initially killed during the burial ceremony, Bulama said. An additional 44 people were killed when villagers ran after the assailants, the official said.

At least 10 people were injured in the attack. Eight of them were critically wounded and were being treated at an area hospital, he said.

Boko Haram militants have inhabited the northern states of Nigeria for the past decade. The terror group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Africa's most populous nation, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

The group has bombed churches and mosques; kidnapped women and children; and assassinated politicians and religious leaders.

In January, the escalating violence forced 30,000 Nigerians to flee the country over a two day period, the UN refugee agency said.

CNN's Stephanie Busari reported from Lagos and journalist Isaac Abrak reported from Abuja. CNN's Sophie Sherry and Braden Goyette wrote from Atlanta and Los Angeles.

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2019-07-29 06:39:00Z
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Dan Coats to leave post as director of national intelligence as Trump selects Rep. John Ratcliffe as replac... - Fox News

President Trump on Sunday announced that Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe, a staunch White House ally, will replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence (DNI), following months of speculation and public spats between the president and the intelligence community.

The move prompted immediate outrage from many top Democrats who accused the president of seeking to appoint a blindly loyal yes-man to the key post.

A source close to the matter told Fox News that Coats never saw his 2017 appointment as a long-term proposition. Ratcliffe has been well-versed in the intelligence community after driving key sections of ongoing Republican-led probes into apparent Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses by the FBI and Justice Department, Fox News is told.

"I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence," Trump tweeted.

"A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves," Trump added. "Dan Coats, the current Director, will be leaving office on August 15th. I would like to thank Dan for his great service to our Country. The Acting Director will be named shortly."

Coats frequently appeared out of step with Trump during his two-year tenure, and their frayed relationship reflected broader divisions between the president and the government's intelligence agencies.

For instance, Coats revealed to then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators how Trump, angry over investigations into links between his campaign and Russia, tried unsuccessfully in March 2017 to get him to make a public statement refuting any connection.

"Coats responded that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has nothing to do with investigations and it was not his role to make a public statement on the Russia investigation," Mueller's report said.

And, last year at the Aspen Security Forum, Coats did a double-take when host Andrea Mitchell broke the news on stage that Vladimir Putin was planning a trip to Washington.

Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee this past January. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

"Say that again?" he asked, to laughter in the audience. "OK, that's going to be special."

Coats later said he meant no disrespect to Trump and admitted the moment was "awkward."

"Some press coverage has mischaracterized my intentions in responding to breaking news presented to me during a live interview. My admittedly awkward response was in no way meant to be disrespectful or criticize the actions of the President," Coats said.

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned Ratcliffe's selection and pointed to the congressman's performance during last week's hearings with Mueller.

During his questioning, Ratcliffe told Mueller that he had acted improperly -- and trampled on the presumption of innocence -- by saying in his report that Trump had not been "exonerated."

"It’s clear that Rep. Ratcliffe was selected because he exhibited blind loyalty to President Trump with his demagogic questioning of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller," Schumer said. "If Senate Republicans elevate such a partisan player to a position that requires intelligence expertise and non-partisanship, it would be a big mistake."

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., meanwhile, praised Coats' tenure for staying "true" to the intelligence community's mission and "speaking truth to power."

CNN national security analyst Shawn Turner, Elizabeth Warren, and diplomat Richard Haass also all praised Coats specifically for "speaking truth to power" -- prompting Republican consultant Arthur Schwartz to note that "talking points have been distributed."

Reaction from Republican lawmakers to Ratcliffe's selection appeared positive across the board. House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., called Ratcliffe an "excellent pick to be director of national intelligence."

"His experience on the Homeland Security Committee and as former Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, & Innovation Subcommittee chairman will serve him well in this new role," Rogers said. "I thank Director Coats for his leadership and years of public service.”

And, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Ratcliffe was a "great pick."

TRUMP AT WAR WITH HIS OWN INTEL CHIEFS AS DIVIDE DEEPENS

Speculation about Coats' ouster had been lingering in recent days. Sources told Fox News earlier this month that Trump spoke to two people recently about the job. Among the candidates he was considering at the time were Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Fred Fleitz, who previously served as chief of staff to National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Trump raised the possibility of the job with Fleitz as far back as February and asked if he was interested but did not offer it to him officially. It's unclear how many other potential candidates may have been in the mix.

Trump regularly and openly sparred with Coats and the intelligence community. “Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!” he tweeted in January, after Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel testified about a threat-assessment report that called into question some of Trump's foreign policy judgments.

DID U.S. INTELLIGENCE TRY TO ENTRAP TRUMP AIDE?

Coats said North Korea would be "unlikely" to give up its nuclear weapons or its ability to produce them because "its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival." Coats and other officials also contradicted Trump's positions on Iran, Afghanistan, and the Islamic State terror network.

"The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!" Trump responded. "When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but a source of potential danger and conflict."

Ratcliffe, by contrast, appeared to be on the same page as the president. He grilled Mueller and Democrats at last week's congressional hearings, and told Fox News on Sunday that Mueller had effectively destroyed the presumption of innocence by saying Trump had not been "exonerated."

"By requiring Donald Trump to prove his innocence, they were depriving him of the one thing no one can be deprived of, which is a presumption of innocence," Ratcliffe said in an interview with Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."

Ratcliffe, who won re-election with more than 70 percent of the vote in his district in 2018, echoed that argument in the House Judiciary Committee hearings.

"The special counsel's job, nowhere does it say that you were to conclusively determine Donald Trump's innocence or that the special counsel report should determine whether or not to exonerate him," Ratcliffe told Mueller.

He added: "So, Americans need to know this as they listen to the Democrats and socialists on the other side of the aisle as they do dramatic readings from this report that Volume II of this report was not authorized under the law to be written. It was written to a legal standard that does not exist at the Justice Department and it was written in violation of every DOJ principle about extra prosecutorial commentary," he continued. "I agree with the chairman this morning when he said Donald Trump is not above the law. He’s not. But he damn sure shouldn’t be below the law, which is where Volume II of this report puts him."

A Republican former senator from Indiana, Coats was appointed director of national intelligence in March 2017, becoming the fifth person to hold the post since it was created in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to oversee and coordinate the nation's 17 intelligence agencies.

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Coats had been among the last of the seasoned foreign policy hands brought in to surround the president after his 2016 victory, of whom the president steadily grew tired as he gained more personal confidence in Oval Office, officials said. That roster included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and later, national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

Coats developed a reputation inside the administration for sober presentations to the president of intelligence conclusions that occasionally contradicted Trump's policy aims.

Fox News' John Roberts, Catherine Herridge, Gillian Turner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-07-28 23:38:21Z
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