BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO OPEN SPECIAL CITIZENSHIP PATH TO HONG KONG RESIDENTS

FROM JANUARY

Britain's government announced on Wednesday that it will open a new special

pathway to obtaining British citizenship for eligible Hong Kongers from

January 2021.

In a statement, the Home Office said holders of the British National

Overseas passport and their immediate family members can move to the UK to

work and study. The change to immigration rules was introduced after China

imposed a new, sweeping national security law on Hong Kong.

Those eligible can access the British job market at any skill level and

without a salary threshold, but will not have access to public funds.

"The UK has a strong historic relationship with the people of Hong Kong and

we are keeping our promise to them to uphold their freedoms," Home Secretary

Priti Patel said.

Those who come to the UK through the new pathway will be able to apply to

settle in Britain permanently once they have lived in the UK for five years.

Then after a further 12 months, they can apply for British citizenship.

Britain handed over Hong Kong, its former colony, to Chinese rule in 1997

under One Country, Two Systems framework that was supposed to guarantee the

city a high degree of autonomy and Western-style civil liberties not seen on

mainland China.

"Today's announcement shows the UK is keeping its word: we will not look the

other way on Hong Kong, and we will not duck our historic responsibilities

to its people," British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

The Chinese embassy said in a statement posted on its website that Beijing

would respond strongly, adding that Britain should immediately correct its

mistakes.

STATE DEPARTMENT ORDERS CHINA TO CLOSE CONSULATE IN HOUSTON - CHINA VOWS

RETALIATION

The State Department confirmed on Wednesday the U.S. has ordered China to

close its consulate in Houston, prompting Beijing to insist on firm

countermeasures unless Washington immediately reverses its decision.

The move is an escalation of political tensions between the world's two

largest economies.

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the directive to close

China's consulate general Houston was made to protect American intellectual

property and the private information of its citizens.

The Vienna Convention says diplomats must "respect the laws and regulations

of the receiving State" and "have a duty not to interfere in the internal

affairs of that State," Ortagus continued.

She added that Washington would not tolerate the People's Republic of

China's violations of U.S. sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just

as we have not tolerated the PRC's unfair trade practices, theft of American

jobs, and other egregious behavior.

China condemned the decision, warning of firm countermeasures if the U.S.

fails to urgently rescind the order.

"The unilateral closure of China's consulate general in Houston within a

short period of time is an unprecedented escalation of its recent actions

against China," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily

news briefing, The Associated Press reported.

Washington has given China three days to close the consulate in the fourth

largest U.S. city, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Alongside the embassy in Beijing, the U.S. has five consulates in mainland

China, according to its website, in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang

and Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic started. A possible closure of the

Wuhan consulate could complicate efforts to share information about the

virus.

CANADIAN COURT INVALIDATES ASYLUM AGREEMENT WITH THE U.S.

A Canadian court on Wednesday invalidated the country's Safe Third Country

Agreement with the United States, ruling elements of the law violate

Canadian constitutional guarantees of life, liberty and security.

But Federal Court Justice Ann Marie McDonald delayed the implementation of

her decision for six months, to give the Canadian Parliament time to

respond.

"I conclude that the provisions enacting the (safe third country agreement)

infringe the guarantees in section 7 of the Charter," Ms. McDonald wrote in

her decision, referring to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, part

of Canada's Constitution. "I have also concluded that the infringement is

not justified under section 1 of the Charter."

Under the agreement, immigrants who want to seek asylum in Canada and

present themselves at ground ports of entry from the United States are

returned to the U.S. and told to seek asylum there.

But if they request asylum on Canadian soil at a location other than an

official crossing, the process is allowed to go forward. In most cases, the

refugees are released and allowed to live in Canada, taking advantage of

generous social welfare benefits while their asylum applications are

reviewed, a process that can take years.

Last fall Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and the

Canadian Council of Churches sued, arguing that the Canadian government has

no guarantee that those returned to the United States will be safe because

of the treatment of immigrants by the administration of President Donald

Trump.

The original legal challenge cited the widespread detention of asylum

seekers who are turned back from Canada and the separation of parents and

children as other examples of why the U.S. is not a "safe" country for newly

arrived immigrants.

DONALD TRUMP IS FIRST RACIST US PRESIDENT, SAYS JOE BIDEN

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden labeled Donald Trump on

Wednesday the first racist to become US president in remarks his opponent's

re-election campaign quickly rebuked.

Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama, the first Black US

president, fielded a question at a Service Employees International Union

roundtable from a healthcare worker concerned about the Republican president

calling the coronavirus pandemic the "China virus."

He responded by saying it was "absolutely sickening" how Trump "deals with

people based on the color of their skin, their national origin, where

they're from."

He added: "No sitting president's ever done this. Never, never, never. No

Republican president has done this. No Democratic president. We've had

racists, and they've existed, and they've tried to get elected president.

He's the first one that has."

Trump campaign senior adviser Katrina Pierson fired back, calling Biden's

comments "an insult to the intelligence of Black voters" given the onetime

senator's past work with segregationist lawmakers. She said Trump "loves all

people" and "works hard to empower all Americans."

TRUMP LAUNCHES 'OPERATION LEGEND' WHICH HAS FEDERAL AGENTS MOVE INTO U.S.

CITIES TO FIGHT VIOLENT CRIME

President Donald Trump announced a plan on Wednesday to send federal agents

to more U.S. cities to crack down on violent crime in an escalation of his

"law and order" theme going into the November 3 presidential election.

Mr. Trump, joined at a White House event by Attorney General William Barr,

unveiled an expansion of the "Operation Legend" program to include cities

such as Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a further effort by federal

officials to tackle violence.

"Today I'm announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American

communities plagued by violent crime," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump said "we have no choice but to get involved" with a rising death

toll in some major cities.

"This bloodshed must end; this bloodshed will end," he said.

The program involves deploying federal law enforcement agents to assist

local police in combating what the Justice Department has described as a

"surge" of violent crime.

Trump hopes his "law and order" push will resonate with his political base

as he trails Democrat Joe Biden in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3

presidential election. But the initiative risks inflaming tensions running

high in many cities in the wake of the death in police custody of George

Floyd, an African-American.

ISRAELIS BLOCK ENTRANCE TO PARLIAMENT AMID INTENSE PROTESTS

After a night of intense protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

and his government, dozens of Israeli demonstrators chained themselves

together and briefly blocked the entrance to parliament on Wednesday

morning.

Police arrested four and broke up the gathering, which was called to protest

an upcoming vote to grant the government sweeping authority to bypass

parliament in enacting measures to combat the rapid spread of the

coronavirus (COVID-19). But it came amid a fresh outpouring of discontent

with Mr. Netanyahu.

Protests outside Mr. Netanyahu's residence have become a weekly occurrence,

with police increasingly taking harsher measures against demonstrators. Last

month, they arrested a retired Israeli air force general, setting off an

uproar.

The protests have since drawn a younger crowd and have grown more defiant.

In the past week, thousands of Israelis have participated in some of the

largest demonstrations in nearly a decade against the long-time Prime

Minister, as public discontent bubbled over.

Mr. Netanyahu has come under growing criticism for holding office while on

trial for corruption, pushing for seemingly anti-democratic measures under

the guise of combating the virus and mismanaging the country's deepening

economic crisis.

CHINA PLANES FLYING NEAR ISLAND DAILY: TAIWAN

China is sending military planes near Taiwan with increasing frequency in

what appears to be a stepping up of its threat to use force to take control

of the island, Taiwan's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Such flights are more frequent than reported in the media and have become

"virtually a daily occurrence," Joseph Wu told reporters.

Along with Chinese military exercises simulating an attack on Taiwan, the

flights by China are causing major concern for Taiwan's government, Wu said.

"What it is doing now is unceasingly preparing to use force to resolve the

Taiwan problem," Wu said.

China claims the self-ruling island democracy as its own territory and

threatens to use the People's Liberation Army to bring it under its control.

The sides split in a civil war in 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists

fled to the former Japanese colony as the Communist Party took control in

mainland China.