🌊 US professor denied visa to teach at HKU
🌊 US professor denied visa to teach at HKU
Hamsters inhumanely disposed :(
Good morning.
I’m sad to report that I didn’t get to celebrate Chinese New Year because I spent the day sick in bed with what I thought was COVID but turned out to be a severe UTI. I spent this morning and early afternoon in A&E; shoutout to the NHS nurses who do great work despite trying times.
If you’d like to help me out with my antibiotics expenses this is my personal PayPal (I’m a minimum wage earning barista who does HT on the side, after all).
On Today’s Tide
Immigration | Hong Kong denies a visa to American scholar hired to teach at HKU.
COVID-19 | Rising unlinked cases and lockdowns continue.
Events
COVID-19 cont. | Hamsters found abandoned in the streets. Penny’s Bay quarantine centre gets some upgrades.
American scholar with ties to Human Rights Watch denied visa to teach at HKU
Harbour Times is no stranger to the government denying worker visas to Hong Kong, I’ve personally been rejected not once – but twice! It looks like Ryan Thoreson, an American scholar who specialises in LGBTQ+ rights, was similarly denied a visa to teach at the University of Hong Kong.
I know how it feels Prof. Thoreson, if you need any words of support shoot me a message on Twitter so we can commiserate.
Thoreson was hired by the university to teach human rights law, but the government rejected his application without giving any explanation as to why. He is an LGBTQ+ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, and while it is uncertain whether or not his connection to the NGO has anything to do with the rejection of his app, the organisation has been known to be outspoken on its criticisms of China’s history of human rights abuse.
Thoreson and I aren’t the only ones to have had their visa applications turned down – over the last four years, four journalists have been unable to remain in Hong Kong after immigration denied their visa applications.
Lockdowns and cases with unknown sources
New cases: 116
Unlinked cases: 30
Local infections: 103
Two preliminary positive cases were found during the lockdowns at Tung Moon House in Sham Shui Po. Three other preliminary positive cases were found during lockdown at Serenity Villa in Tai Po.
Tsui Wo House in Tai Po and a building in Shek Yam East Estate in Kwai Chung went into lockdown last night.
Events
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We’ll throw in a free month of Paid High Tide for yourself or a friend!
Starting TODAY | #GTopia: Game Kitchen - Hong Kong Masters of Kung Fu
The Goethe-Institut along with Current Plans, an Art Space in Sham Shui Po, is hosting a year-long series of indie video game events celebrating local tech and creative talent.
Their grand opening was a few days ago, but if you missed it, their first showcase ‘Games for and by Working Heros in Hong Kong’ starts on Thursday 3rd Feb featuring works by mobile game developer Wong Yue Fai.
When: from 3rd Feb
Where: Current Plans. 3/F, Tak On House, 13 Wong Chuk Street, Sham Shui Po
Find out more about the whole Game Kitchen project here.
The Future of Money and Power: e-RMB and CIPS
Join this lunch to learn more about China’s electronic currency and its “answer to the American-dominated SWIFT system: CIPS”. The talk emphasises the importance of China’s monetary system “as a global currency to rival the Euro and maybe, someday, the USD.” The speaker will be one of our own: Andrew Work, founder of Harbour Times and Co-founder and Director of the Lion Rock Institute.
When: 18 February 2022, 12:30 – 2 PM
Where: The Foreign Correspondents' Club - Verandah
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