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Austin Ramzy

@austinramzy.bsky.social
2.7K followers 830 following 485 posts

Wall Street Journal reporter in Hong Kong covering China and the world. email: austin.ramzy@wsj.com signal: austinramzy.99

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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Reuters: China plans to put forward a late candidate to ‌lead the World Health Organization, according to four diplomats and a source familiar with the matter, giving Beijing a chance to expand its influence after the US quit the WHO www.reuters.com/business/hea...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: China plans late entry into WHO leadership race, sources say
China plans to put forward a late candidate to ‌lead the World Health Organization, according to four diplomats and a source familiar with the matter, giving Beijing a chance to expand its influence a...
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
WSJ: The U.S. has warned Moscow that its failure to disclose details about the death of a lab worker from a plague research center in Siberia runs counter to its international health obligations www.wsj.com/world/russia...
wsj.com
Exclusive | U.S. Escalates Pressure on Russia Over Siberia Lab Death
The U.S. has warned Moscow that its failure to disclose details about the death violates international health obligations.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
AFP: China's influence in Latin America is now viewed more positively than that of the United States, a major poll conducted in 17 Latin American countries showed Friday www.yahoo.com/news/world/a...
yahoo.com
China a better influence in Latin America than US: poll
China's influence in Latin America is now viewed more positively than that of the United States, a major poll conducted in 17 Latin American countries showed Friday.It showed 57 percent of people in L...
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Nick Holdstock @nickholdstock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Really interesting piece - www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Inside the Ukrainian military unit training fighters from China
Despite the risks, a number of soldiers from the country seen as Russia’s biggest backer have found their way to Ukraine
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
RFE does their own teardown of a Geran 4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYaj...
youtube.com
What You Need To Know About Russia's New Geran-4 Drone
YouTube video by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Peter Baker writing in the NYT’s current lead story: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/u...
Screenshot of text that reads: “In the epic contest between democracy and autocracy, Mr. Trump has long given the impression that he may be on the other side. But rarely has that been brought home as starkly as this week, as he punishes news outlets for being too “negative” about him while embracing Mr. Xi and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, two of the world’s leading authoritarians whose governments brutally suppress free speech.”
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“As of Thursday evening, the TV pool remained suspended.” Also: “Chinese state television was on hand for the proceedings in Washington on Thursday.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/b...
nytimes.com
White House Restores Access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico (Gift Article)
A judge ordered President Trump to reverse his ban on three media outlets, but it took several hours for them to get back in. The White House TV pool remains suspended.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called on the U.N. to remove from its charter references to defeated World War II nations as “enemy states,” a term recently weaponized by China and Russia to put pressure on Tokyo over its plans to ramp up spending on defense www.wsj.com/world/asia/j...
wsj.com
Japan’s Leader Calls on U.N. to Drop ‘Enemy State’ Label
China has used language in the United Nations charter to attack Japan as part of a broad pressure campaign that Tokyo wants Washington to help bring to an end.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
FT: Trump will welcome Xi at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, a break with six decades of protocol that displays a huge amount of respect for the leader of the only other superpower. In May, Xi did not even travel to Beijing’s airport to greet Trump. www.ft.com/content/5b7d...
ft.com
Has Donald Trump caged his China hawks?
Xi Jinping will arrive in Washington this week to find a US president wary of jeopardising their détente
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Reuters: Xi is expected to press Trump to halt Taiwan arms sales under a 1982 ​joint statement during a visit to Washington this week, which he could do at the US National Archives www.reuters.com/world/china/...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: China's Xi expected to press Trump to halt Taiwan arms sales under 1982 agreement, sources say
Three sources told Reuters that China is likely to bring up its ​interpretation of the third of the three "joint communiques" between the two countries signed in 1982.
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Alex Luck @alxluck.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A shipment of F-35 parts incl worn out canopies on transfer from Australia to the US accidentally ended up in Hong Kong. As usual I'd suggest Hanlon's razor applies. www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Hill investigates after F-35 parts diverted to Hong Kong
The incident raises the possibility that top secret weapons technology may have been exposed to a foreign adversary — including China.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
CNN: U.S. almost interdicted a Chinese ship in the Middle East over intelligence it was carrying nuclear weapons components. But just before the operation, officials discovered the suspected material had been misidentified by an intelligence analyst’s chatbot edition.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
edition.cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Quality Reddit content: minibus driver ama www.reddit.com/r/HongKong/s...
reddit.com
From the HongKong community on Reddit: Part time Red Minibus Driver - Ask me anything
Explore this post and more from the HongKong community
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Reuters: China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen's Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group's military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with ​the matter. www.reuters.com/world/china/...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: China presses Iran to help rein in Houthis after Saudi appeal, sources say
China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen's Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group's military blitz in the past week, according to three Irania...
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Debris in Yemen indicates Saudi Arabia has fired a Chinese-made ballistic missile in combat for the first time. The apparent use of a Dongfeng 15 against the kingdom's Houthi rivals sheds new light on China’s sale of missiles to the Middle East www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Debris Found in Yemen Suggests Saudi Arabia Fired Its First Chinese Missile
The body of what appeared to be a Dongfeng 15 was found in the desert.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Min Zin stepped off his China Eastern Airlines flight on June 3 and sent his family a text: “Just landed in Kunming.” The U.S. citizen and Myanmar scholar went to China to take part in a workshop on economic cooperation. His family hasn’t heard from him since. www.wsj.com/world/china/...
wsj.com
Exclusive | A U.S. Scholar Was Invited to China. Then He Vanished.
Min Zin and other detainees in China are expected to be on the shortlist of issues President Trump will raise with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this month.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
WSJ: Before Iran carried out its attack that killed three U.S. troops in July, Tehran acquired high-resolution satellite images of the base in Jordan from Chinese entities, according to U.S. officials familiar with details of the incident www.wsj.com/world/u-s-li...
wsj.com
Exclusive | U.S. Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike That Killed Three Troops
The finding deepens U.S.-China tensions ahead of the Trump-Xi summit as officials examine possible Chinese help tracking American warships.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Six years after a deadly clash on their mountainous border sent relations between India and China into a deep freeze, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is visiting New Delhi this weekend, delivering the strongest sign yet of a thaw between the two nuclear-armed neighbors www.wsj.com/world/asia/s...
wsj.com
Shifting U.S. Alliances Push Rivals China and India Together
As President Trump blows hot and cold, a summit in New Delhi presents an opportunity for two giant neighbors to smooth over their differences.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Chinese artificial intelligence companies attempted to clone American AI models by funneling real Chinese user queries to them via a network of intermediate platforms, Anthropic said in a report published Thursday www.wsj.com/tech/ai/chin...
wsj.com
How Chinese AI Firms Tried to Clone U.S. AI Models
Anthropic says DeepSeek and Moonshot used thousands of fake accounts and millions of real user queries in “distillation” efforts to clone its AI capabilities.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Rough out there for waterfowl
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Tung Chee-hwa, a shipping tycoon who became Hong Kong’s first leader after the transfer of power in 1997 and resigned eight years later after the city had been battered by the Asian financial crisis, the SARS epidemic and mass protests, has died at 89 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/w...
nytimes.com
Tung Chee-hwa, Who Led Hong Kong After Its Return to China, Dies at 89
As the first leader of the former British colony after its handover, he balanced the demands of Beijing and Hong Kongers, making it clear that Beijing was now in charge.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Politico: A Chinese state-owned firm has supplied Russia with the materials required to build hundreds of one-way attack drones, according to internal Russian company shipping documents www.politico.eu/article/chin...
politico.eu
China’s secret lifeline to Russia’s killer drone producer
New documents obtained by POLITICO provide the clearest evidence yet of a Chinese state firm supplying the Kremlin’s military industrial complex.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
FT: Russian gold shipments to Hong Kong have surged this year as the Chinese territory becomes a top trading center for bullion placed under sanctions by the west www.ft.com/content/39b0...
ft.com
Russian gold floods through Hong Kong in wake of western sanctions
Shipments hit record high with almost 100 tonnes imported from Russia in first seven months of this year
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
China has spent years boosting trade and gaining influence with Nepal. After deadly mudslides and flooding raged through part of their shared border last week, China is now under pressure to show its growing embrace can help its small Himalayan neighbor, too www.wsj.com/world/asia/h...
wsj.com
Himalayan Disaster Tests China’s Clout as Regional Leader
China has spent years building a relationship with Nepal. Now Beijing is under pressure to show its embrace can help its neighbor, too.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The U.S. has rushed so many munitions to the Middle East to fight Iran that military planners are concerned the loss of firepower is diminishing America’s ability to defend against potential threats from China and Russia, said U.S. officials. www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
wsj.com
Drain on U.S. Munitions From Iran War Raises Fears Over Ability to Deter China, Russia
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is overseeing the shift of munitions using an “orders book” under longstanding Pentagon procedures.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Chinese state media over the past day has been filled with images of soldiers, police and firefighters rushing to the disaster zone. But discussion of this disaster, like others, is strictly controlled www.wsj.com/world/india/...
wsj.com
How Devastating Floods Created High in the Himalayas Swept Through Nepal and China
More than 1,450 people, including pilgrims and children, have vanished in a wave of destruction likely sparked by a broken glacier. At least 380 people are dead.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Hundreds of tourists were missing and 19 people were killed after flash floods tore through towns and villages along the border between Nepal and China, officials said Wednesday www.wsj.com/world/foreig...
wsj.com
Foreign Tourists Among Hundreds Missing After Flash Floods in Nepal and Tibet
Heavy floods washed through border areas of Nepal and China’s Tibet region.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
In early July, terrifying shrieks were heard across Kyiv. As part of a wider attack, Russia launched one-way drones powered by turbojet engines instead of propellers. This latest innovation in the Shahed drones, like others, was only possible thanks to China 🎁 link www.wsj.com/world/how-th...
wsj.com
How the Iranian Shahed Drone Transformed War—With China’s Help
The rapid rise of cheap one-way attack drones was made possible by a complex global supply chain that keeps leading back to China.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A prominent Chinese artist was convicted on Tuesday and sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Chinese heroes in a series of works in the early 2000s that lampooned Mao Zedong and other leaders, his brother said www.wsj.com/world/china/...
wsj.com
Chinese Court Sentences Artist Who Lampooned Mao
Gao Zhen was convicted on charges of insulting Chinese heroes in works from early 2000s.
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Joel Chan @kjoules.org · 24/08/2026
Video has emerged of a Hong Kong taxi driver spending over 20 minutes trying to turn his taxi around at Peel Street and Rednaxela Terrace. A street cleaner was present to clear off the debris from both ends of the vehicle while the driver was struggling to turn the taxi around
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
A Hong Kong court on Friday convicted two activists who organized large-scale annual memorials for those killed in the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in China www.wsj.com/world/china/...
wsj.com
Hong Kong Court Convicts Activists Who Organized Tiananmen Vigils
The annual events drew large crowds before Beijing cemented its grip and outlawed dissent.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Taiwan’s government proposed its highest level of military spending ever at over $35 billion, in a $123 billion budget for 2027 unveiled on Thursday www.wsj.com/world/china/...
Graph showing Taiwan’s annual defense spending from 2009 to the present, with marked increases in recent years
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
WSJ: President Trump is pushing aides for a meeting as soon as this fall with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, U.S. officials said, seeking to revive a dramatic diplomatic quest from his first term to convince Kim to abandon his country’s nuclear weapons program. www.wsj.com/world/asia/t...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Trump Pushes for Kim Jong Un Meeting This Year
The president attempted nuclear diplomacy with the autocrat during his first term. North Korea’s program has only grown stronger since then.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Reuters: China’s Unitree Robotics – among the world's biggest producers of humanoid and quadruped robots – based designs for its most successful robot dogs on innovations funded by the U.S. military www.msn.com/en-us/techno...
msn.com
MSN
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Xi Jinping gave a rare mention of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown today, saying that during the “serious political turmoil,” Jiang Zemin “firmly supported and implemented the correct decisions of the Party Central Committee, effectively maintaining stability in Shanghai” www.news.cn/politics/202...
news.cn
习近平:在纪念江泽民同志诞辰100周年大会上的讲话-新华网
习近平:在纪念江泽民同志诞辰100周年大会上的讲话-
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CNN @cnn.com · 17/08/2026
A US Navy guided-missile destroyer spent four days last month without working toilets, galley services and air conditioning in the blistering heat of the South China Sea after the warship lost power. cnn.it/45y26hT
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The Intercept @theintercept.com · 16/08/2026
Somewhere in a sweltering desert, cockroaches scurry around the cell of Carlitos Ricardo Parias. He holds up a plastic bottle, gazing at the worm-like creatures swimming in his water. His other arm is turning purple from a gunshot wound for which he says he hasn’t received proper medical care.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Bamboo viper surprise on my walk home. Think it was dead, but I didn’t get close enough to find out
Photo of a green snake, believed to be a dead bamboo viper, on a sidewalk in Hong Kong
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Google Earth, a tool often used as a source of satellite imagery to verify photos and videos, has added a feature that allows you to alter satellite imagery with AI, for reasons. blog.google/products-and...
blog.google
Transform any place with Nano Banana in Google Earth
Custom images — generated from Google Earth satellite, aerial, and 3D imagery — help you redesign any location.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
WSJ: Panama is paying a price for its involvement in the great superpower competition between China’s government and the Trump administration. Chinese authorities have detained nearly 500 Panamanian-flagged ships for safety reasons in Chinese ports since January www.wsj.com/business/log...
wsj.com
Panama Infuriated China. Now It’s Paying the Price.
Beijing is pressuring the Central American country with measures that have disrupted its vital shipping industry, thwarting its ambitions to become a global logistics hub.
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Sven-Erik Volberg @volberg.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
2 russian cruise missiles in Polish airspace confirmed "I can confirm that we do indeed have a threat of airstrikes. This information comes directly from the Government Security Center. It is credible and confirmed," Marcin Bubicz, spokesman for the Lublin Voivode, told Wirtualna Polska.
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Joel Chan @kjoules.org · 30/07/2026
In a “news” article, Hong Kong paper The Standard claims Western exchange programs and scholarships are covert recruitment schemes designed to groom Hong Kong students, journalists and politicians into anti-China agents, largely by linking overseas study to their later criticism of the government.
(The Standard headline) Foreign schemes use free travel to recruit elites to disrupt Hong Kong
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Iran International: A newspaper close to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator with Washington, is asking whether China quietly neutralized Tehran's most feared economic weapon: the oil shock through the Strait of Hormuz that never came www.iranintl.com/en/202607297...
iranintl.com
Did China quietly defuse Iran's oil weapon? Pro-Ghalibaf paper asks out loud
A newspaper close to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator with Washington, is asking whether China quietly neutralized Tehran's most feared economic weapon: the oil shock through the Stra...
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Greenfield Book Store, one of the independent Hong Kong outlets targeted in a police raid earlier this month, says it will close when its lease expires after 50 years in operation www.facebook.com/greenfieldbo...
facebook.com
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Wartime disruptions at two shipping chokepoints in the Middle East are sending shock waves through global markets. China has still found a way to get oil from the region www.wsj.com/world/china/...
wsj.com
One Megabuyer—China—Finds a Way to Get Mideast Oil
Beijing’s longtime position as both a financial lifeline to Iran and a customer for its foes has helped it work around blockades.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
During his short speech at the German Bundestag, Zhang Yabo began to choke back tears, Li Yuan writes. Zhang had served for nine years as a police officer in Xinjiang, enforcing China’s campaign to surveil, detain and indoctrinate that region’s Uyghur population. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/b...
nytimes.com
He Served China’s Police State of Xinjiang. He Says It Imprisoned Him, Too.
After nearly 10 years carrying out Chinese government repression in Xinjiang, a former police officer is now seeking asylum in Germany.
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Austin Ramzy @austinramzy.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Trendspotting in Wanchai
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Tom Grundy @tomgrundy.hongkongfp.com · 27/07/2026
The former leader of Hong Kong’s opposition Democratic Party, Wu Chi-wai, has reportedly been restricted to a one-week stay in the UK after he was briefly detained at the border last Wednesday. hongkongfp.com/2026/07/27/e...
hongkongfp.com
HK democrats Wu Chi-wai faces deportation from UK on Wed - report
The former leader of Hong Kong’s opposition Democratic Party, Wu Chi-wai, has been restricted to a one-week stay in the UK after he was briefly detained at the border last Wednesday.
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Joel Chan @kjoules.org · 23/07/2026
Via @franceshui.bsky.social on Twitter, Wu Chi-wai has successfully entered the country, according to multiple media sources
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Joel Chan @kjoules.org · 23/07/2026
Wu Chi-wai, the former leader of Hong Kong's Democratic Party who was released from prison this year after serving his 4-year sentence for subversion, was detained at Heathrow Airport and told he would be deported in 7 days ... www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...
scmp.com
Ex-Hong Kong opposition leader reportedly denied UK entry, faces deportation
The Times cites friends as saying former Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai was refused entry after prison release.
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