Du lịch, nghệ thuật di chuyển từ nơi này đến nơi khác, vượt qua ranh giới địa lý và mở ra cánh cửa cho vô số khả năng. Đó là một lực lượng mạnh mẽ đã định hình nền văn minh nhân loại trong nhiều thế kỷ, đóng vai trò là nguồn cảm hứng, giáo dục và phát triển cá nhân. Trong bài luận này, chúng ta sẽ bắt tay vào cuộc hành trình của ngôn từ và suy nghĩ để khám phá những khía cạnh đa diện của du lịch. Từ cảm giác hồi hộp khi khám phá những cảnh quan mới đến tác động sâu sắc đến quan điểm và môi trường của chúng ta, du lịch là một hiện tượng đáng được xem xét kỹ hơn.

Tinh thần mạo hiểm

Một trong những lý do thuyết phục nhất khiến mọi người đi du lịch là tinh thần phiêu lưu bẩm sinh của con người. Tiếng gọi của những điều chưa biết, sức hấp dẫn của những vùng lãnh thổ chưa được khám phá và cảm giác hồi hộp khi khám phá đã thúc đẩy các cá nhân băng qua các lục địa, leo núi và vượt đại dương trong nhiều thiên niên kỷ. Từ những nhà thám hiểm dũng cảm của Kỷ nguyên Khám phá giương buồm đến những vùng biển chưa được khám phá cho đến những du khách ba lô thời hiện đại khám phá những nơi xa xôi trên thế giới, tinh thần phiêu lưu là một khía cạnh vượt thời gian của du lịch.

Đi du lịch cho phép chúng ta bước ra khỏi vùng an toàn của mình, đối mặt với nỗi sợ hãi và đón nhận những thử thách xảy đến với mình. Cho dù đó là đi bộ qua những khu rừng nhiệt đới rậm rạp, lặn xuống vực sâu của đại dương hay di chuyển trên những con phố nhộn nhịp của một thành phố xa lạ, những trải nghiệm này đều thúc đẩy chúng ta phát triển và thích nghi. Chúng nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng những bài học sâu sắc nhất trong cuộc sống thường nằm ngoài giới hạn của thói quen và khả năng dự đoán.

Hòa nhập văn hóa

Một trong những khía cạnh phong phú nhất của du lịch là cơ hội hòa mình vào các nền văn hóa khác nhau. Mỗi nơi trên thế giới đều tự hào về những truyền thống, ngôn ngữ và phong tục độc đáo của riêng mình. Khi đi du lịch, chúng ta có cơ hội tiếp xúc với những nền văn hóa đa dạng này, nuôi dưỡng sự trân trọng đối với tấm thảm phong phú về sự tồn tại của con người.

Sự hòa nhập văn hóa vượt ra ngoài bề ngoài. Nó bao gồm việc nếm thử ẩm thực địa phương, tham gia các nghi lễ truyền thống và trò chuyện với người dân địa phương để hiểu rõ hơn về lối sống của họ. Thông qua những tương tác này, chúng tôi khám phá ra sợi dây chung gắn kết các loại lại với nhau, vượt qua biên giới và

tầng lớp. Hơn nữa, nó thách thức những quan niệm và định kiến ​​đã có sẵn, khuyến khích sự đồng cảm và góc nhìn rộng hơn về các vấn đề toàn cầu.

Sức mạnh biến đổi của du lịch

Du lịch có sức mạnh biến đổi chúng ta ở mức độ sâu sắc. Nó thúc đẩy chúng ta thích nghi với những môi trường xa lạ, nuôi dưỡng khả năng phục hồi khi đối mặt với nghịch cảnh và khuyến khích sự phát triển cá nhân. Cho dù đó là việc chúng ta nhận ra rằng chúng ta có thể giao tiếp bằng tiếng nước ngoài hay sự trân trọng mới đối với những tiện nghi như ở nhà, du lịch đều có cách định hình lại các ưu tiên và giá trị của chúng ta.

Một trong những khía cạnh biến đổi nhất của du lịch là khả năng mở rộng tầm nhìn của chúng ta. Nó cho chúng ta thấy những thế giới quan khác nhau, thách thức những thành kiến ​​của chúng ta và khiến chúng ta trở thành những cá nhân cởi mở hơn. Khi chúng ta vượt qua sự phức tạp của một nền văn hóa nước ngoài hoặc vật lộn với thực tế khắc nghiệt của nghèo đói ở một quốc gia đang phát triển, chúng ta buộc phải đối mặt với đặc quyền và những quan niệm định sẵn của chính mình.

Hơn nữa, du lịch mang lại cơ hội để xem xét nội tâm. Thoát khỏi những thói quen và trách nhiệm hàng ngày, chúng ta có không gian tinh thần để suy ngẫm về cuộc sống, mục tiêu và vị trí của mình trên thế giới. Chính trong những khoảnh khắc khám phá bản thân này, chúng ta thường hiểu rõ hơn về các giá trị và khát vọng của mình.

Tác động môi trường

Mặc dù du lịch mang lại vô số lợi ích cho cá nhân nhưng nó cũng đi kèm với những hậu quả về môi trường. Sự gia tăng du lịch đã dẫn đến lượng khí thải carbon tăng từ các chuyến bay, cảnh quan thiên nhiên phát triển quá mức và phá vỡ các hệ sinh thái mỏng manh. Biến đổi khí hậu, một phần do ngành du lịch thúc đẩy, gây ra mối đe dọa đáng kể cho chính những điểm đến mà chúng ta muốn khám phá.

Giải quyết tác động môi trường của du lịch là mối quan tâm cấp bách cho tương lai. Các hoạt động du lịch bền vững, chẳng hạn như giảm lượng khí thải carbon thông qua các lựa chọn giao thông thân thiện với môi trường và hỗ trợ chỗ ở có ý thức sinh thái, là những bước cần thiết để giảm thiểu những tác động này. Hơn thế nữa,

du lịch có trách nhiệm liên quan đến việc tôn trọng môi trường và văn hóa địa phương, giảm thiểu chất thải và đóng góp tích cực cho cộng đồng mà chúng tôi ghé thăm.

Phần kết luận

Tóm lại, du lịch là một hiện tượng nhiều mặt bao gồm phiêu lưu, hòa nhập văn hóa, chuyển đổi cá nhân và tác động đến môi trường. Đó là một lực lượng mạnh mẽ đã định hình lịch sử loài người và tiếp tục ảnh hưởng đến cuộc sống của chúng ta ngày nay. Mặc dù du lịch mang lại vô số lợi ích nhưng nó cũng đi kèm với trách nhiệm. Nhiệm vụ của chúng ta là phải đi du lịch một cách chu đáo, đón nhận cuộc phiêu lưu đồng thời giảm thiểu dấu chân sinh thái và tôn trọng các nền văn hóa và môi trường mà chúng ta gặp phải.

Du lịch, theo nghĩa chân thực nhất của nó, không chỉ đơn thuần là một cuộc hành trình vật chất từ ​​nơi này đến nơi khác; đó là một cuộc hành trình của tâm trí và tinh thần. Đó là hành trình khám phá bản thân, hành trình đồng cảm và hành trình hướng tới một thế giới kết nối và bền vững hơn. Vì vậy, khi bắt tay vào chuyến du lịch của mình, chúng ta hãy thực hiện điều đó với trái tim rộng mở, trí óc rộng mở và cam kết để lại tác động tích cực cho thế giới, để các thế hệ tương lai có thể tiếp tục trải nghiệm hành trình du lịch phong phú.

China Eastern Airlines (China Eastern) has saved more than 600,000 tons of fuel oil and reduced about two million tons of carbon emissions in 2020, thanks to its efforts to improve operation efficiency and promote green development in recent years, according to the company’s latest corporate social responsibility (CSR) report.

Last year, the airline introduced more than 1,000 new-energy vehicles for ground services and actively took part in market-based mechanisms for reducing carbon emissions and international affairs concerning global climate governance, extending its environmental protection efforts to various links in air and ground services.

As China marches towards its goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, China Eastern is also ramping up efforts to shoulder its responsibility and play an active role in promoting the reduction of carbon emissions and push forward with sustainable development.

During this year’s annual conference of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), , President of China Eastern Liu Shaoyong, submitted a proposal suggesting formulating a plan for peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 in China’s civil aviation sector.

Trying to realize the vision of green and sustainable development, China Eastern has observed strictly regulations on carbon reduction of the global aviation industry, strengthened assessment management in all links of daily operations, and actively taken part in carbon emissions trading in Shanghai, European Union’s carbon emissions trading, activities of the national carbon market of China and endeavors concerning carbon emissions of the civil aviation industry.

China Eastern also attended the online Aviation Green Recovery Seminar held by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and online discussions organized by the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), sparing no effort to explore approaches to and concrete measures for green and low-carbon aviation development.

In fact, in addition to promoting energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction, China Eastern has also actively integrated its development with social value in such aspects as the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, resumption of work and production amid the pandemic, safe development, and intelligent services, in a bid to constantly push forward with sustainable development.

China Eastern was the first airline company to undertake a flight for international aid since the outbreak of the COVID-19. It has performed 24,000 transport flights of various types for the global fight against the COVID-19, carrying a total of nearly 23,000 medical workers and approximately 70,000 tons of supplies.

The company innovatively developed an application that enables passengers to report their health status, and ensured that none of the over 60 million passengers who took its flights last year was infected with the COVID-19 in the passenger cabin.

In an effort to facilitate China’s economic recovery and global anti-epidemic efforts, China Eastern has launched charter flight services to help take workers from their hometowns to places they work, and converted passenger flights into cargo flights to carry cargoes to various international destinations.

While fighting against the pandemic together with people around the world, China Eastern, as one of the safest airlines in the world, has never stopped enhancing its overall capacity for guaranteeing safe trips and safe management. According to its new CSR report, last year, the company managed to maintain its record of zero serious accident for the tenth consecutive year.

While continuously upgrading its smart services to bring more convenience to people’s air trips, China Eastern became the first airline to roll out the “fly at will” air ticket discount packages in China. In 2020, a total of 2.75 million air trips were made with these ticket packages, which have effectively boosted the recovery of China’s aviation and tourism industry chains.

As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates the global trend towards sustainable development, more and more Chinese enterprises attach greater attention to fulfilling their CSR, and take the initiative to publish CSR report in multiple languages to respond to the demands and expectations of international media, the public, and various stakeholders.

Bitcoin surpassed $60K on March 13, 2021 for the first time ever. Even though the price went down to near $54K afterward, the pullback is considered healthy since it may be caused by possible profit taking.

Currently, the market bull run shows no sign to end, and the number of retail investors is still increasing, which might bring huge service burdens to many trading service providers.

In February, Bitkub, claiming to be the largest crypto exchange in Thailand, announced that it stopped accepting new users. Earlier, the trading service system of Bitkub crashed several times because of huge amount of user trading activities. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asked the company not to serve new users until Bitkub’s trading system has enough capacity for existing trading activities.

To Thai investors, there are many platforms for them as options to trade crypto assets, which includes domestic trading service providers like Bitkub, and international exchanges like Bityard. Bityard, with Binance, the world’s largest crypto spot trading platform, as the liquidity provider, launched its advanced spot trading service with more than 70 trading pairs in 2020. People can buy and sell Bitcoin as well as other popular altcoins on Bityard easily.

Bityard is the world’s leading cryptocurrency derivative exchange, providing crypto spot trading, contracts for difference (CFDs) trading, and copy trade services in over 150 countries. In future, Bityard will provide more advanced crypto trading services to its users.

For the third year in a row, Taiwan has been named as the only country in Asia with an open civic space, according to a report by a global civil rights monitor, which was released on Tuesday.

In its “People Power Under Attack 2020” annual report, the South Africa-based non-governmental organization Civicus rated 196 countries in five categories — open, narrow, obstructed, repressed and closed — based on their level of basic freedoms, such as freedom of the press and of speech.

Taiwan was one of 42 countries worldwide, and the only one in Asia, to be ranked in the open category.

Out of 25 Asian countries in the report, four were rated as closed — China, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam — while nine were categorized as repressed and nine as narrowed. Civic space in Japan and South Korea was rated as narrowed.

According to the report, Taiwan hosted one of the few Pride marches around the world this year in June, giving the country’s LGBT community a chance to visibly assert their rights in the public square.

Taiwan also established a National Human Rights Commission in August of this year, and granted press credentials to some 22 foreign journalists who had been forced to leave China, the report noted.

However, it also expressed concern about the rights of migrant workers, overly-broad laws used by the government to combat misinformation, and protest laws which restrict people’s right to hold peaceful assemblies near certain government facilities.

Meanwhile, the only Asian country to move in this year’s ratings was the Philippines, which had its category downgraded from obstructed to repressed.

The reason was a decline in fundamental freedoms, the report said, citing the government’s closure of leading broadcaster ABS-CBN, the conviction of a prominent journalist on “cyberlibel” charges, and deteriorating conditions for both government critics and human rights defenders.

Josef Benedict, a Civicus researcher, said that human rights abuses continued to be the norm in much of Asia this year, with more than 90 percent of the region’s population living in countries classified as closed, repressed or obstructed.

According to the report, some of the most common means of curtailing the civic space in Asia were the use of restrictive laws to stifle dissent, the censorship of journalists and government critics, the harassment of activists and journalists, and crackdowns on protests.

Among the few positive developments in the region this year, the report noted, were Afghan authorities’ commitment to set up a protection mechanism for human rights defenders and a court ruling in Indonesia that the government’s decision to impose an internet blackout in the West Papua region in 2019 had violated the law.

By Lu Hsin-hui and Matthew Mazzetta/ ANN

The latest Taiwan National Security Survey contains both good and bad news for cross-strait stability.

On January 11, 2020, Tsai Ing-wen won a second term as president Taiwan with an impressive 57.1 percent of the popular vote. The victory was especially notable when one considers that her party – the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) – had suffered a crushing defeat in the island’s 2018 mid-term elections. That drubbing forced Tsai to resign as party chair, while the DPP lost control over some key cities.

Does the DPP landslide in the 2020 election reflect a shift in political party alignments within Taiwan? Is popular support for the DPP’s independence-leaning agenda growing? Has opinion shifted with respect to Taipei’s complex relations with Beijing and Washington? The discussion below seeks to shed some light on these and other questions by comparing the findings of the latest Taiwan National Security Survey (TNSS) – conducted on October 27-31 of this year – with the TNSS polls of January 3-7, 2019 and November 29-December 5, 2017. Since 2002, this survey has been conducted 13 times by the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University, under the auspices of the Asian Security Studies Program at Duke University.

Following the Kuomintang’s (KMT’s) sweeping victory in Taiwan’s midterm elections, the 2019 TNSS poll showed that support for the party rose to 28 percent – a significant jump from the 2017 survey – while the DPP’s support dipped to 18 percent. In the 2020 survey, the results were reversed. Today, 19 percent support the KMT and 29 percent favor the DPP. Like earlier polls, however, a plurality of Taiwanese (40.7 percent) do not identify with any party. Considering past survey results and shifts in party loyalty, it appears unlikely that the 2020 election signaled a political realignment in Taiwan.

During the 2015-16 election cycle, promises to revitalize Taiwan’s stagnant economy played a key role in the DPP’s campaign strategy. All subsequent TNSS polls, however, reveal that few Taiwanese have noticed any improvement. In fact, the 2020 poll found that a plurality (43 percent) of respondents believe the economic situation is worse than the previous year. Roughly 41 percent see no change and only 12.3 percent believe the economy has improved. In the 2019 survey, 65 percent saw no change and 28 percent claimed conditions were worse.

Given Taiwan’s sluggish economy and the DPP’s poor showing in the mid-term elections, Tsai tried to shift voters’ attention away from “bread and butter” issues during the 2020 campaign. Rather, she sought to capitalize on hostile words and actions from Beijing, the tragic events unfolding in Hong Kong, and her seemingly cozy relationship with U.S. President Donald J. Trump. But it was the China factor – Taipei’s troubled relationship with Beijing – that loomed large throughout the election. Consequently, DPP leaders proclaimed themselves the true defenders of Taiwan’s democracy against China.

Not surprisingly, a plurality of those polled (48 percent) now characterize the relationship with the Chinese mainland as hostile. The percentage that believes relations are “extremely hostile” has quadrupled from 3 percent in 2017 to 12 percent today. In 2017, the majority had described relations as friendly.

Despite the deterioration in cross-strait relations, a plurality of Taiwanese – 40.2 percent – still favor strengthening economic and trade relations with the mainland. But this support dropped from 53 percent in the previous poll, while those preferring a weakening of economic ties has grown to 35.2 percent. Like all past polls, a majority fears that increased economic dependence will lead Beijing to pressure Taipei into political concessions.

When it comes to strategies employed to handle cross-strait relations, 51.3 percent of Taiwanese still support diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions. Only 38.4 percent favor an increase in military capabilities. Moreover, despite the DPP’s unrelenting effort to demonize the so-called “1992 Consensus,” a plurality of respondents (46 percent as compared to 57 percent in 2019) continue to support the “one China, different interpretations” formula as the best means to handle relations with the Chinese mainland. This understanding served as the foundation for the unprecedented cross-strait détente engineered by the previous administration. And there continues to be little confidence in Taiwan’s military to prevail in a conflict should diplomacy fail. A majority – roughly 60 percent – say Taiwan cannot successfully defend itself and 75.7 percent agree that the length of compulsory military training in Taiwan, which now stands at four months, is too short. A majority supports strengthening cooperation with the United States and Japan to counter China.

Digging deeper, support for immediate unification with the mainland continues to find no market in Taiwan – it stands at roughly 1 percent – and over 60 percent oppose Beijing’s “one country, two systems” unification scheme. Support for immediate independence also remains in single digits (6 percent). Rather, a majority favors the status quo. And the percentage of people who prefer the status quo indefinitely has grown from roughly 24 percent in 2019 to 31 percent today. It’s noteworthy that an impressive majority – almost 75 percent – continue to believe that Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China.

Like past TNSS polls, the 2020 survey includes questions about a cross-strait conflict. How Taiwan’s citizenry plan to respond to a war is not reassuring. On the one hand, roughly 11 percent will join the military, 11 percent will support the war effort, and 10 percent will follow government orders. On the other hand, 21 percent plan to go about their daily lives and/or do nothing, 11 percent will flee to another country, and 24 percent say they don’t know. As in the past, a majority believes that most other Taiwanese will join the fighting.

Perceptions of an American response to an attack on Taiwan merit attention. The TNSS poll normally asks respondents how they believe the United States will react to an attack by China in the event that Taipei declares independence. In 2017, 40.5 percent thought America would commit troops to a conflict, while more (43.4 percent) said it would not. In 2019, the number claiming Washington would provide troops jumped to 48.5 percent, while 35.3 percent disagreed. Today, however, a majority believes the United States would deploy its military to help defend Taiwan if it triggers conflict by declaring de jure independence from China. The 2020 poll found that 53.2 percent now expect the U.S. to protect Taiwan, and 35 percent think it would not. Like past findings, over 60 percent believe the United States would intervene in the event of an unprovoked attack.

In addition to a growing belief that Washington will support Taipei militarily if it declares independence, the new TNSS poll identifies another trend. As described, most Taiwanese seem to favor the status quo and oppose an immediate declaration of independence. In the 2017 and 2019 polls, however, almost 60 percent oppose independence if it triggers a Chinese attack. In the 2020 poll, those opposing a war over independence dropped to 51 percent, while the number supporting armed conflict jumped to 37 percent. And most Taiwanese no longer believe that unification is inevitable. For the first time, a plurality of respondents (47.5 percent) now believe that Taiwan independence is more likely than unification.

What do the new TNSS survey results mean? The TNSS has raised concerns ever since its initial release in 2002. But it’s often possible to find a few nuggets of good news in every poll. For example, almost no one supports an immediate declaration of independence. This is good news for the U.S. as de jure independence is the most likely trigger for a cross-strait war – a cataclysmic conflict that might conceivably involve the U.S. armed forces. Despite a rise in anti-China sentiment, the majority of Americans continue to oppose military intervention in any clash between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. Moreover, most Taiwanese continue to favor diplomatic efforts to resolve differences with Beijing and support an increase in economic ties. And most still believe the two sides can best resolve differences peacefully by using diplomacy and the “one China, two interpretations” framework.

Those concerned with growing threats to democracy within Taiwan – most recently illustrated by the DPP move to silence pro-KMT media outlets – should be reassured by the fact that the 2020 election does not signal an end to competitive party politics. As described, the TNSS poll found that most Taiwanese continue to refuse to identify with either party. It is conceivable that the KMT or an independent candidate not aligned with either camp could win the 2024 presidential election.

The Taiwan Relations Act – the law that guides U.S. policy toward Taiwan – does not include an “iron-clad” commitment to defend Taiwan. Therefore, the finding that most Taiwanese believe the U.S. will support Taiwan militarily if it declares independence will likely raise some eyebrows in Washington. However, it is unclear whether this shift in attitude reflects a meaningful change in public opinion or if it’s a temporary spike that will recede over time. After all, similar results may be found in some earlier TNSS polls.

Another matter that merits attention is the rise in the number of respondents who now agree that independence – not unification – is the most likely future for Taiwan. Given the fact that the majority believes China will attack Taiwan if it declares independence and fear that the military cannot defend the island, this finding might be related to the perception (or misperception) that Washington will intervene. It is also troubling that, while the majority still opposes a war over independence, the number supporting such a conflict has risen to 37 percent. This points to the possibility that the “independence-leaning” DPP might encounter growing pressure from elements within its constituency to do more than just “lean” toward independence.

In sum, the 2020 TNSS poll exhibits similarities and differences when compared to earlier surveys. Some of the changes in perceptions of island’s security equation might be traced to the Trump administration’s robust support, albeit often symbolic, for Taiwan. Others might be attributed to generational changes within Taiwan. Still others might be traced to the Tsai administration and its troubled relationship with Beijing. Irrespective of the catalysts for change, it appears likely that the most complex and challenging China-related issue that the incoming Joe Biden administration will confront is that of Taiwan. Peace and stability in the Western Pacific might well hinge on how the new administration chooses to manage its relationship with the world’s first Chinese democracy.

By Dennis V. Hickey

Dennis V. Hickey is a foreign policy analyst and professor emeritus at Missouri State University. He is the author of numerous books and articles on international security and relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Vietnam Airlines will operate one-way flights from Vietnam to Japan starting from September 18.

The national carrier says the flights are intended to “serve the increasing needs of passengers wishing to work, study and stay in Japan”.

The airline is operating four flights to Tokyo’s Narita Airport, but the carrier will not be flying any return flights.

Flights from Hanoi to Tokyo’s Narita Airport will depart at 11.45 pm on September 18, 25, and 30, and flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Narita will depart at 12 am on September 30. A B787 aircraft will be flown on all flights.

The airline says the its crew will undergo health checks and a quarantine period after the flight.

The airline adds that it is planning to resume return flights from Japan to Vietnam pending “approval from the relevant authorities”, and that it is also hoping to resume flights to South Korea, China, Taiwan, Laos, and Cambodia.

The Japanese government is easing entry restrictions for travelers from Taiwan and four Asian countries on Tuesday.

Long-term residents, like expatriate workers, will now be able to travel back and forth between Japan and these countries.

The four countries are Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. The move is in line with the government’s stance that Japan will allow in travelers from countries where the coronavirus pandemic is largely contained.

Japan has already eased travel restrictions for long-term residents from Vietnam and Thailand.

The government aims to strike a deal with Singapore by the end of this month to mutually admit both short- and long-term visitors.

Tokyo is also in negotiations with China, South Korea and Australia. It hopes to revive Japan’s economy by gradually reopening its borders.

@ NHK

TikTok has been pulled from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store in Hong Kong, days after a sweeping new national security law was introduced in the city.

Users who had already downloaded the popular short video app can no longer use it.

TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, flagged earlier this week it would be exiting Hong Kong “in light of recent events,” referencing the national security law passed at the end of June.

Under the new law, people found guilty of secession or subversion can be punished with a life sentence in prison. But the law also gives authorities powers to police online content including requiring technology platforms and internet service providers to delete content that falls foul of the legislation, or face fines.

Major U.S. organizations including Twitter and Facebook said they were pausing requests for user data from Hong Kong law enforcement while they evaluate what this law means.

Hong Kong TikTok users were greeted with the following message when they opened the app: “Thank you for the time you’ve spent on TikTok and giving us the the opportunity to bring a little bit of joy into your life!”

“We regret to inform you that we have discontinued operating TikTok in Hong Kong,” it continued.

TikTok has come under fire from Washington which has accused it of censoring content on its platform that may be sensitive to Beijing. The app has denied that it does this.

The U.S. is also concerned that TikTok’s data could be accessed by China. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this week the Trump administration is “looking at” banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps.

TikTok said it has “never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.”

The social media app has also come under fire in India where it was recently blocked along with 58 other Chinese apps. The Indian government said it took the action to ban the apps, alleging “they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order.” Meanwhile, tensions between India and China have been rising over their disputed border in the Western Himalayas and a clash earlier this month left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese parent. It hired an American CEO in the form of Kevin Mayer, a former Disney executive. His priority was seen as rebuilding trust with regulators.

And on Friday, ByteDance told CNBC it is “evaluating changes to the corporate structure of its TikTok business,” but did not add further details as to what exactly that would entail.

ByteDance operates a version of TikTok in China called Douyin but a spokesperson said that the company “does not have plans” to make the app available on Hong Kong app stores. Douyin has local Hong Kong users who downloaded the app in mainland China, the spokesperson added.

@ CNBC

China’s new national security legislation for Hong Kong was written and passed behind closed doors, without the consultation of the city’s local government or legislature. It reportedly came into force on June 30, potentially rewriting the city’s legal system — despite the fact the overwhelming majority of residents have no idea of what precisely it will entail.

According to reports in Communist Party-controlled media, the law is expected to criminalize offenses such as secession, subversion against the central Chinese government, terrorism, and colluding with foreign forces. But hours after its reported passage, details remain vague, capping a particularly opaque process that has left analysts and activists guessing.

Speaking at a weekly press conference Tuesday morning, the city’s leader Carrie Lam initially refused to answer questions about the law, saying it was “inappropriate for me to comment.” Hours later she later defended it in a video speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, saying it will restore stability and prosperity to Hong Kong.

Her administration appears to have been cut almost completely out of the process — yet it has not stopped them predicting the law will only impact a tiny minority of individuals in the city, and won’t harm political freedoms and judicial autonomy.

In a statement last week, Lam said the legislation would be “in line with the rule of law” and the “rights and freedoms which are applicable in Hong Kong.”

Some aren’t taking any chances, however. Multiple opposition political parties had already disbanded by Tuesday afternoon, with members fearing prosecution under the new offenses of subversion or secession, which are applied broadly in China to crush anti-government dissent.

Chilling effect

Prominent activist Joshua Wong announced soon after the bill’s reported passage that he was leaving Demosisto, the political party he co-founded in 2016, but would continue to campaign independently. Other leading figures in the party, including former lawmaker Nathan Law and activist Agnes Chow, soon followed suit, and what was left of the party leadership eventually decided to cease operations.

Chow was barred from standing for election in 2018 over her membership in Demosisto, which had previously called for Hong Kongers to be allowed to decide their own future, including voting on a potential break from China.

Such talk could be illegal under the new law, if it follows the model of similar legislation in China as expected. Wong, Law and Chow have also been heavily involved in lobbying the international community to pressure Beijing over Hong Kong, which many expect to be classed as “colluding with foreign forces.”

Two other political parties, the Hong Kong National Front and Studentlocalism, also said they were ceasing operations in the city, though both groups — fringe pro-independence parties — said they would continue to work overseas.

Some pro-independence figures are known to have fled Hong Kong in recent months, fearing arrest in connection with last year’s often violent anti-government protests, or the upcoming law. On Sunday, Wayne Chan, convenor of the Hong Kong Independence Union, confirmed he had jumped bail and left the city. He had been facing protest-related charges.

“After the national security law is passed, we can anticipate that a large group of political figures will be arrested, and may be imprisoned immediately without bail,” Chan wrote on Facebook.
More subtle signs of a chilling effect were also in evidence Tuesday, as shops and businesses which had previously been highly visible supporters of the city’s protest movement began removing slogans and imagery that could be deemed illegal.
Legal limbo

While pro-government groups and politicians welcomed the passage of the law — former leader C.Y. Leung offered bounties for future prosecutions — there was great frustration among many Hong Kongers over the continued lack of detail, and a feeling of almost being in limbo, knowing the law has been passed but not what that means.

In a letter to the city’s government Monday, Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes said the secrecy of the law was “genuinely extraordinary” and called on the government to make clear how citizens’ minimum rights will be guaranteed.

The Global Times, a nationalist Chinese state-backed tabloid, said the law was already having its effect, pointing to the resignation of Wong and others. Stanley Ng, a Hong Kong delegate to China’s National People’s Congress, appeared to endorse this view, saying in a Facebook video that part of the reason for the secrecy around the law was to enable “intimidation and deterrence.”

Such uncertainty will likely persist beyond Tuesday night, when the bill is finally expected to be made public and gazetted. Regardless of how the offenses are described or the punishments laid down, many will be watching to see how strenuously police and prosecutors enforce them.

A key test will come on Wednesday, when Hong Kong marks the 23rd anniversary of the city’s handover to Chinese rule. The day has traditionally seen an anti-government march through the city, but the protest has been banned this year.

Organizers say they will go ahead anyway. Yet how many people join them, and what offenses — if any — those people are deemed to be committing if they do, remains to be seen.

@ CNN

North Korea has suspended plans to increase military pressure against South Korea, after weeks of rapidly deteriorating ties which included blowing up a joint liaison office used for talks between the two sides.

The decision comes following a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the central military commission on Tuesday, which “took stock of the prevailing situation,” according to North Korean media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Possible military plans included the North deploying units into the Mount Kumgang tourist area and the Kaesong Industrial Zone, which borders the South, and setting up police posts that had previously been withdrawn from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two countries “to strengthen the guard over the front line,” according to previous reports in KCNA.
No reason was given for the apparent pull back.

The North had signaled its initial plans to increase military pressure after a group of defectors in the South used balloons to send anti-North Korean leaflets north of the DMZ.

North Korea claimed the leaflets violated the deal Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in struck in 2018 at their first summit, when both leaders agreed to cease “all hostile acts and eliminating their means, including broadcasting through loudspeakers and distribution of leaflets” along their shared border.

On Monday night, a defectors’ group in South Korea sent a further 500,000 leaflets about “the truth of the Korean War” into the North.

The group said it also sent 500 booklets about “successful South Korea,” 2,000 American one-dollar bills and 1,000 SD cards, using the 20 balloons.

In retaliation to the initial leaflet drop, North Korea cut communication lines with the South and blew up the joint liaison office, which is located in the town of Kaesong just north of the DMZ.

While the office had been shut because of coronavirus and South Korean staff had not been in the building since — the destruction was symbolic as the office was meant to facilitate dialogue between the two countries.

As well as threatening increased military pressure, the Korean People’s Army reinstalled loudspeakers at the border and indicated it would launch a propaganda campaign of its own by sending millions of leaflets into the South.

While the North has framed its actions over the past few weeks as retaliatory, Pyongyang has for months voiced displeasure that its diplomacy with South Korea and the United States has not yielded relief from sanctions crippling the North Korean economy.

Talks between the countries had stalled in the months after three inter-Korean summits in 2018. And experts say it’s possible North Korea is using the current standoff to manufacture a crisis in order to gain leverage in any future negotiations, a play it has employed previously in diplomatic talks.

By Helen Regan and Luke Henderson, CNN | Yoonjung Seo, Jake Kwon and Joshua Berlinger contributed reporting.