Tag Archives: world news

“Working People Must Not Be Dragged Off This Cliff Edge Without Getting A Final Say.” [UK]

August 1, 2019 Cal Knight Leave a comment

In the UK, worker’s rights are suddenly in danger after Theresa May’s recent resignation and replacement by conservative politician Boris Johnson and his cabinet. Johnson, who promises to ‘Brexit’ by Halloween 2019.

“The UK has a world-leading record in protecting workers’ rights, setting the highest standard, and a labour market we can be proud of, with more people in work than ever before. We are determined to maintain this record of leadership after we leave the EU, with or without a deal.” says a UK Government Spokesperson. But insiders are telling a different story.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has delivered public remarks, warning of the dire straits that UK workers are now in: “Boris Johnson claims that he intends to enhance rights at work after Brexit. He and his advisers should be focused on delivering that promise.” O’Grady says. “But instead they’re threatening a catastrophic no deal, which would strip away existing legal protections and leave essential rights open to attack. Working people must not be dragged off this cliff edge without getting a Final Say.”

Johnson, a conservative and seemingly openly racist man, oddly evocative of the US’s own Donald Trump, has the nation worried about the future of social issues in the UK. The freshman PM has already announced plans to increase the size police forces and their powers. With the US already struggling with police brutality and false arrests, the UK’s future appears grim.

“The new Tory government will make life harder for black and Asian people, and migrants. One of Boris Johnson’s first announcements was a plan to hire 20,000 more cops and give them “greater powers to use stop and search”.
“Black people were nine times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people in England and Wales in 2017/18, according to government figures.”
SocialistWorker.co.uk

All is not lost. There are many in the UK who vehemently support the rights of the working-class, and are pushing heavily against these latest attempts to deregulate and strip workers of safeguards.

“And whenever other workers strike, we should raise solidarity with them. It won’t just help strikers—it will get people talking about walkouts in your workplace. The key opportunity for organising workers’ action is the global climate strike on Friday 20 September. Socialists should go into every union and staff meeting arguing for strikes, and try to organise unofficial walkouts on the day. Inaction by Labour and union leaders has relegated working class people to being spectators to the Tory crisis.”
“Action on 20 September could mark a break from this.”
SocialistWorker.co.uk

Direct Action, Politics

In Latest Dystopian Move, China Jails Popular Human Rights Activist… Again.

July 30, 2019 Cal Knight 2 Comments

Gillian Wong, AP

Huang Qi (黃琦) is a human rights activist and reporter from Chengdu, China who runs 64Tianwang, a website that popularly reports on the disappearances of Chinese citizens perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the nation’s ruling party. The site is blocked on the Chinese internet, accessible to residents of mainland China through use of a VPN.

Huang Qi is no stranger to Chinese detention. He’s been imprisoned by the government twice previously, both times under the color of vague espionage laws. Most recently the CCP has accused him of “leaking national state secrets and providing state secrets to foreign entities.” One sentence was dished out for “subversion” after Huang Qi and others reported and assisted victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed more than 69,000 Chinese citizens.

The activist was placed in detention from 2000 to 2005, and again in 2009 for similar crimes. This latest sentence of 12 years is the longest any “cyber-dissident” has been sentenced to yet. “Huang Qi, founder and director of Sichuan-based human rights website “64 Tianwang”, was secretly tried at Mianyang City Intermediate People’s Court on 14 January 2019 after being held in detention for more than two years.” Amnesty International reported in January of 2019. “…Pu Wenqing, his 85-year-old mother, was taken away by Sichuan police in December 2018 and only released after more than a month in detention.”

Many are concerned over this latest sentence given Huang Qi’s poor health after years in detainment. The activist and Cyberfreedom Prize winner suffers from heart disease and kidney disease. “The authorities are using his case to scare other human rights defenders who do similar work exposing abuses, especially those using online platforms,” says Reporters Without Borders researcher Patrick Boon.

Direct Action

Hong Kong and the People’s Fight Against Authoritarian Rule

July 24, 2019 Cal Knight 3 Comments

BEIJING — Hong Kong continues to experience chaos as approximately 3.38% of the territory take to the streets to protest the controversial extradition bill that threatens the liberty of all its citizens.

As the protests, which first began 31 March, 2019, rage on, harsher and more frequent violence against the protesters is being reported by those present. Most recently, protesters have posted testimony, photos, and videos of large crowds of masked people wearing white shirts, sometimes called Wumao, ambushing protesters and violently beating them, allegedly at the behest of the Hong Kong police and government. Protesters note that police officers were seen leaving the scene shortly before the attacks in the Yuen Long area of Hong Kong.

South China Morning Post

In one instance, prominent member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Junius Ho, was seen warmly greeting the ‘white shirts’ on the streets. Ho, elected in 2016, has a history of advocating violence against activists. In response to activists promoting independence from China, Ho said:

“If those who are pro-independence lead to the subversion of the fate of the country; with Hong Kong and the 1.3 billion people in the motherland having to pay a huge price, why shouldn’t these people be killed?”
– Junius Ho

“The behavior of some radical protesters challenges the central government’s authority, touching on the bottom line principle of ‘one country, two systems,’” said Colonel Wu, in reference to the unique system of governance that separates Hong Kong from the direct control of mainland China. “That absolutely cannot be tolerated” He continued.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam declared the bill “dead” and all work on it a “total failure” on 9 July. However, the protests rage on as Lam has yet to officially withdraw the bill. Protesters worry that her words are meant as a distraction to quell the activists, so that the bill may be passed quietly without dissent.

Hong Kong is embroiled in a fight for its soul. The protesters are seeking liberty, and resisting the seemingly all-powerful pull of Mainland China, and the dystopian, authoritarian future it promises to the people of Hong Kong if this bill is passed.