NGOs Raise Concerns Over South Korea's 'Complicity' in Forced Organ Harvesting in ChinaNongovernmental groups called on the United Nations to urge the South Korean government to end its complicity in forced organ harvesting in China. “South Korea, known as a major consumer of transplant tourism to China, has not taken sufficient steps to monitor and discourage this practice, despite being aware of the circumstances surrounding forced organ harvesting—a grievous and arbitrary deprivation of human lives,” two nonprofits said in a statement on Sept. 13. The two groups—the Korea Association for Ethical Organ Transplants (KAEOT) and Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH)—raised concerns over the Korean government’s involvement in the Chinese regime’s organ transplant abuse in a report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). A session of the global body is scheduled to take place in Geneva next month....

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Chinese Lawyer Persecuted for Article on COVID in Wuhan, Remains Determined to Stand Up for Her RightsChina’s stringent censorship of speech, including online, targets not just ordinary citizens, but also lawyers, who find it difficult to protect themselves—even with the advantage of their legal knowledge. A young Chinese lawyer was punished and has been persecuted for the past three years for posting online what she saw in Wuhan, the capital city of China’s central Hubei Province, where the COVID pandemic broke out three years ago. Liu Yingying, a lawyer in her thirties from China’s central Henan Province, wrote a short article on Mar. 26, 2020, about what she saw in Wuhan after the pandemic broke out....

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Philippines Accuses Chinese Maritime Militia of Severely Damaging Coral ReefThe Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Monday that Chinese maritime militia ships were responsible for the “severe damage” on coral reefs within Philippine territorial waters in the South China Sea. This follows a report by the Philippine military accusing Chinese militia of destroying corals in the seabed of Rozul Reef (also known as Iroquois Reef) and Escoda Shoal, which are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The PCG backed the military’s report and said it observed an average presence of 33 Chinese maritime militia vessels in Iroquois Reef and 15 other vessels in Escoda Shoal between Aug. 9 and Sept. 11. During that period, the PCG conducted extensive underwater surveys of the seabed, and the results showed that the marine ecosystem there “appeared lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life.”...

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Mainland Student Charged With Sedition for Planning to Display Pillar of Shame in Hong KongThe Hong Kong Jockey Club announced at an International Charity Forum held in Hong Kong on Sept. 11 that it would allocate HK$5 billion (US$640 million) as an initial fund for the establishment of an “Institute of Philanthropy (IoP).” HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made it clear on the same occasion that he would promote policies to attract family offices and trust funds to Hong Kong. He also firmly believed that the institute would help promote Hong Kong to become an “international center of philanthropy.” Comments abound questioning the government’s intention, in that while it is doing all it can to enforce stricter control over charities and dismantle civil society, it becomes highly skeptical that its real purpose is no more than just to attract mainland funds to Hong Kong....

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