Day 2: The Trial of Cardinal Zen in Now-Communist-Ruled Hong Kong

Day 2: The Trial of Cardinal Zen in Now-Communist-Ruled Hong Kong

On Tuesday, Cardinal Joseph Zen’s second day in court in Hong Kong, five witnesses were cross-examined and the magistrate ruled that there was sufficient evidence to justify a trial. Paul Marshall, the director of the Religious Freedom Institute’s South and Southeast Asia Action Team, told CNA that Zen’s trial “further undercuts [communist] China’s 1997 promise…

European Parliament calls on Vatican to support Cardinal Zen

European Parliament calls on Vatican to support Cardinal Zen

CNA—The European Parliament has called on the Vatican “to give full support to Cardinal Zen” and told the Holy See it should “strengthen its diplomatic efforts and its leverage on the Chinese authorities”. In a resolution passed on July 7, the parliament condemned the arrest of the 90-year-old former bishop of Hong Kong by Chinese…

Uyghur journalist: “The Chinese government sees any religion as a threat to its rule” including Catholics

Uyghur journalist: “The Chinese government sees any religion as a threat to its rule” including Catholics

CNA—For Gulchehra Hoja, the Chinese government’s systematic repression of Uyghur Muslims is personal: her mother, father, brother, and more than 20 relatives are detained in “reeducation camps” in Xinjiang. “Last week, I learned that one of my relatives … had died in Chinese prison. His body has not been returned to his family,” Hoja said…

108 Leaders and Luminaries Sign Open Letter to the U.S. Olympics Committee: Stop the ‘Genocide Games’ in Beijing

108 Leaders and Luminaries Sign Open Letter to the U.S. Olympics Committee: Stop the ‘Genocide Games’ in Beijing

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers (WRWF) and the Committee on the Present Danger: China, (CPDC) have released an open letter urging the United States Olympics Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics out of China. Failing that, the signatories declared that they would mobilize with others to boycott what amounts to “Genocide Games.” Reggie Littlejohn commented, “It has been officially…

Contact Tracing, Mandatory Smartphone Apps and China

Contact Tracing, Mandatory Smartphone Apps and China

As our society gradually unwinds the Covid-19 shutdowns and people reenter the public workforce, we’re seeing new government efforts to “protect” us whether we like it or not. This increasingly involves mandatory health screenings and various forms of technology-assisted “contact tracing,” including new smartphone apps to identify people who are sick or have associated with…