Latest news with #proDemocracy
The Verge
08-07-2025
- The Verge
Jack Dorsey made an encrypted Bluetooth messaging app
Twitter co-founder and Block Head Jack Dorsey launched a new peer-to-peer messaging app over the weekend called Bitchat that runs entirely over Bluetooth. Bitchat relies on Bluetooth Low Energy mesh networks to send encrypted communications directly to nearby devices without requiring internet or cellular service. 'Bitchat addresses the need for resilient, private communication that doesn't depend on centralized infrastructure,' according to a white paper published on Dorsey's Github page. 'By leveraging Bluetooth Low Energy mesh networking, Bitchat enables direct peer-to-peer messaging within physical proximity, with automatic message relay extending the effective range beyond direct Bluetooth connections.' Images of the app posted by Dorsey also show that Bitchat operates without accounts, servers, or data collection, and includes privacy features like password-protected channels and a 'Panic Mode' that instantly clears all data when the logo is triple-tapped. Similar Bluetooth-based messaging apps like Bridgefy and the now-defunct FireChat have notably been used by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong over the last decade because they're harder for Chinese authorities to trace or block. While Bridgefy says it can send messages over a distance of 100 meters (330 feet), Bitchat offers a range of more than 300 meters (984 feet), with future updates planned that will allow users to increase speed and range via Wi-Fi Direct. Bitchat is available to beta testers via Apple TestFlight, but TestFlight is currently full after reaching its maximum 10,000-user capacity. Dorsey says the app is still undergoing review ahead of its full release.
BreakingNews.ie
03-07-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Chinese aircraft carrier sails into Hong Kong to boost patriotism
China's first domestically built aircraft carrier has arrived in Hong Kong as part of a drive to drum up patriotism, days after the former British colony marked the 28th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule. The Shandong entered the city's waters alongside another vessel from its battle group in the early hours of Thursday. Advertisement According to state media, two destroyers and a frigate had accompanied the aircraft carrier into Hong Kong. The warships will be open for public visits this weekend. All 10,000 available tickets for visits have already been claimed by eager residents. Two thousand of them were for seeing the Shandong, while the others were for one of the destroyers and the frigate, local media reported. People watch the Shandong sail into Hong Kong (Chan Long Hei/AP) The arrival of the carrier comes days after the Asian financial hub marked 28 years since it was turned over to China after more than a century of British rule. The ship is China's second aircraft carrier and first to have been fully self-built. It is smaller than US carriers, carrying 24 Shenyang J-10 fighters. Advertisement China has redoubled its patriotism drive in Hong Kong since crushing anti-government and pro-democracy street protests in 2019. A large number of opposition figures have been imprisoned after the passage of a sweeping new national security law. Hong Kong enjoys a degree of semi-autonomy and civil liberties compared with other major Chinese cities. But its government has no jurisdiction over military and foreign affairs, with Chinese military officers and a garrison of land, sea and naval forces based in the city. The Shandong is China's first domestically built aircraft carrier (Chan Long Hei/AP) In April, the Chinese military sent the Shandong, named after the Chinese province of the same name, to conduct training exercises with some naval and air forces in the eastern sea area and airspace of Taiwan, a self-ruled island Beijing claims as its territory. Beijing sends warplanes and naval vessels towards Taiwan regularly, and it has stepped up the scope and scale of these exercises in recent years. Advertisement A month later, the Shandong and China's first carrier, the Liaoning, stirred considerable attention by conducting joint exercises in the Pacific beyond what is referred to as the first island group, showing a degree of assertiveness not seen before. The Liaoning, built from an unfinished hulk purchased from Ukraine, visited Hong Kong in 2017. Another carrier, this one with a flat top rather than the 'ski jump' type decks used by the first two, is undergoing sea trials, and a fourth is under construction.
ABC News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Hong Kong has proposed limited legal recognition for same-sex couples
Hong Kong's government has proposed a new system to give same-sex couples a limited set of healthcare-related rights as long as their marriages are registered abroad. The government is seeking to comply with a landmark court ruling from September 2023 where the city's top judges ruled a framework for recognising same-sex couples' legal rights must be made within two years. The ruling did not grant full marriage rights to same-sex couples but was a partial victory for prominent pro-democracy and LGBTIQ+ activist Jimmy Sham, who fought a five-year legal battle for the recognition of same-sex marriages registered overseas. The new laws proposed on Wednesday would allow registration for same-sex adult couples to allow rights around medical decisions, provided consent is given. These would include rights for hospital visits, sharing medical information, organ donation and dealing with a person's remains. To be eligible, adult couples must have a valid overseas marriage, civil partnership or civil union, with at least one person a Hong Kong resident. Mr Sham said the proposal offered a minimal level of protection, especially the stipulation that couples needed to be married abroad. "I doubt it fully complies with what the judge required," Mr Sham said. Mr Sham said heterosexual couples were not required to register their marriages overseas to get the recognition locally and questioned why same-sex couples had to do so. He also suggested that the government allow same-sex couples to enjoy equal prison visiting rights as heterosexual couples. "I hope the government will listen to opinions from society and the community, and try to develop a solution that doesn't exceed society's acceptance level, while meeting the expectations of same-sex couples and avoiding legal challenges," Mr Sham said. Same-sex couples cannot get married or register for civil partnerships in Hong Kong, but authorities recognise same-sex marriages registered abroad for taxation, civil service benefits and issues like dependent visas. Jerome Yau, co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said the government document was "very conservative" and "far from acceptable." "We believe that will create an obvious inequality in the sense of local same-sex couples who are not married overseas won't be eligible to register the relationships. I think that's unfair, and potentially that will lead to further litigation," he said. The government said its proposals were made after considering the city's actual situation, adding there are different views over the recognition of same sex partnerships and it would have to strike a balance to avoid dividing society. Lawmakers will discuss the issue on Thursday and there is yet to be a target date for the bill passing. Hong Kong reformed its legislation in 2021 so that only those loyal to Beijing can hold office, ousting pro-democracy lawmakers. Members of the pro-Beijing camp have spoken out against legal recognition of same-sex couples' rights, insisting Hong Kong society only tolerates marriage between a man and a woman. However last year, LGBTQI+ rights activists notched another legal victory with the top court affirming housing and inheritance rights for same-sex couples. The policy document released on Wednesday does not mention the topics addressed in the legal cases like rights related to housing, inheritance or taxes. Support for same-sex marriage in Hong Kong has grown over the past decade and hit 60 per cent in 2023, according to a survey conducted jointly by three universities. More than 30 countries around the world have legalised marriage equality since the Netherlands became the first to do so in 2001. In Asia, only a few places including Taiwan, Nepal and Thailand currently allow same-sex unions. China is not among them, nor does it have specific laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people. -ABC with wires
Malay Mail
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Hong Kong touts ‘safety and order' 28 years after handover, but critics slam crackdown on dissent
HONG KONG, July 1 — Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Tuesday the city has become safer and more competitive as it marks its 28th year under Chinese rule, although critics including the EU decried the use of a 'repressive' security law. The former British colony was handed over to China in 1997 under a 'One Country, Two Systems' governance model, which guaranteed key freedoms and a high degree of autonomy not enjoyed on the mainland. July 1 in Hong Kong had been marked in previous years by demonstrations but authorities have cracked down on dissent after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019. Lee said 'high-level security to safeguard high-quality development' was a top priority for his administration, noting the need to integrate into China's economic blueprint. The city this week also marked the fifth anniversary of Beijing's imposition of a sweeping national security law, under which 76 people have been convicted so far, imposed after the 2019 protests. Lee's government enacted a separate security law of its own in 2024 that authorities say is needed to restore order. 'We have rebuilt a safe Hong Kong,' Lee said in a speech. However, the European Union said on Monday 'the repressive use of the National Security Law has undermined confidence in the rule of law and Hong Kong's international reputation'. 'The European Union regrets that additional national security legislation... introduced new offences, increased penalties and further empowered security authorities,' it said in a statement. The League of Social Democrats, one of Hong Kong's last remaining opposition parties, disbanded on Sunday citing 'immense political pressure' and concern for the safety of its members. It was the second pro-democracy party to announce plans to wind down this year, following the Democratic Party in February. Outgoing US consul general in Hong Kong Gregory May also criticised the Hong Kong government last week for using the security law to target overseas activists. Authorities say that Hong Kong residents continue to enjoy rights and freedoms guaranteed under its Basic Law constitution, although such rights are not absolute. Lee also said Hong Kong will speed up an ambitious plan to urbanise land near its border with China, a development known as the Northern Metropolis that will take up a third of Hong Kong's total area. The project has raised concerns over its environmental impact as well as its long-term burden on Hong Kong's public finances. — AFP
Reuters
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Hong Kong's last active pro-democracy group says it will disband amid security crackdown
HONG KONG, June 29 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats said on Sunday that it would disband amid "immense political pressure" from a five year-long national security crackdown, leaving the China-ruled city with no formal pro-democracy opposition presence. The LSD becomes the third major opposition party to shutter in Hong Kong in the past two years. Co-founded in 2006 by former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung as a radical wing of the pro-democracy camp, the LSD is the last group in Hong Kong to stage small protests this year. Mass public gatherings and marches spearheaded by political and civil society groups had been common in Hong Kong until 2020, but the threat of prosecution has largely shut down organized protests since. China imposed a national security law on the former British colony in 2020, punishing offences like subversion with possible life imprisonment following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. A second set of laws, known as Article 23, was passed in 2024 by the city's pro-Beijing legislature covering crimes such as sedition and treason. Current chair Chan Po-ying said the group had been "left with no choice" and after considering the safety of party members had decided to shutdown. Chan declined to specify what pressures they had faced. "We have endured hardships of internal disputes and the near total imprisonment of our leadership while witnessing the erosion of civil society, the fading of grassroots voices, the omnipresence of red lines and the draconian suppression of dissent," Chan told reporters, while flanked by six other core members including Tsang Kin-shing, Dickson Chau, Raphael Wong, Figo Chan and Jimmy Sham. In February, the Democratic Party, the city's largest and most popular opposition party, announced it would disband. Several senior members told Reuters they had been warned by Beijing that a failure to do so would mean serious consequences including possible arrests. Earlier this month, China's top official on Hong Kong affairs, Xia Baolong, stressed national security work must continue as hostile forces were still interfering in the city. "We must clearly see that the anti-China and Hong Kong chaos elements are still ruthless and are renewing various forms of soft resistance," Xia said in a speech in Hong Kong. The League of Social Democrats is one of Hong Kong's smaller pro-democracy groups known for its more aggressive tactics and street protests in its advocacy of universal suffrage and grassroots causes including a universal pension scheme. In a 2016 incident, Leung threw a round object at former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying inside the legislature. Three LSD members were fined on June 12 by a magistrate for setting up a street booth where a blank black cloth was displayed and money was collected in public without official permission. Chan told reporters that the party had no assets to divest and no funds left after several of its bank accounts were shut down in 2023. While never as popular as the more moderate Democratic Party and Civic Party, it gained three seats in a 2008 legislative election - its best showing. The LSD's founder Leung, 69, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit subversion in 2021 in the landmark '47 Democrats' case. He is currently serving a sentence of six years and nine months in prison. Another member, Jimmy Sham, was also jailed in the same case and released in May. The security laws have been criticised as a tool of repression by the U.S. and Britain, but China says they have restored stability with 332 people so far arrested under these laws. "I hope that the people of Hong Kong will continue to pay attention to the vulnerable, and they will continue to speak out for injustice," Figo Chan said.
