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    Arrested cardinal repeatedly warned Holy See of Chinese persecution, condemned Vatican’s secretary of state

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    Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong was arrested Wednesday alongside a variety of other freedom activists in the Chinese island city. Zen has repeatedly warned the Vatican of increasing government persecution of religious minorities and anti-communist public figures but has historically received next to no response.

    Zen is at the epicenter of the Catholic Church‘s fight for survival in China. The nation has rolled out intense censures on religious expression, including Christianity, which it regulates through state-sponsored “patriotic associations.” Chinese citizens who wish to worship at a Catholic Church (or any other house of worship) are required to register with an aggressively pro-CCP governing body for their faith. These organizations often force churches to teach counter to their dogma, and often insert nationalistic propaganda into worship. This regulation has forced a schism in the Chinese Catholic Church – the “official” and CCP-approved ministry, and the clandestine, illegal “underground church.”

    Zen has served as an unofficial spokesman for the underground Catholic community, which has seen little support or protection from the Chinese government. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) explicitly condemns the underground church for its affiliation and loyalty to a foreign power – the worldwide Catholic communion.

    Cardinal Joseph Zen with Buddhist Master Sik Kok Kwong at a gathering of religious leaders on March 12, 2007. (K.Y. Cheng/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

    Zen previously dismissed fears that he was a target for arrest, stating that he tries not to provoke them into action. However, in a lucid bit of foresight, Zen acknowledged that “no public person who dares to speak freely can feel safe anymore.”

    Hong Kong police arrested the Roman Catholic cardinal and several others accused of colluding with foreign forces on Wednesday.

    In addition to Zen, the arrested include singer-actress Denise Ho, lawyer Margaret Ng and scholar Hui Po-keung, according to Hong Kong Watch. Each of the individuals was arrested for allegedly supporting protests against the CCP’s destruction of democracy in Hong Kong.

    “I want to stress that Hong Kong is a society with rule of law where no organization or individual is above the law and all offenses shall be prosecuted in accordance with law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. “We firmly oppose any act that denigrates rule of law in Hong Kong and interferes in its affairs.”

    Zen has been an outspoken critic of Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who he blames for keeping church leaders in the dark about ongoing turmoil in Chinese religious communities. 

    Zen has also blamed Pope Francis’s South American background for the church’s relaxed diplomacy with China, saying that the pope was not familiar with “communists in power.”

    “I try to explain, remembering that Pope Francis comes from South America, where the communists are the good guys defending the poor from the oppression of military regimes in collusion with the rich, so he may have sympathy for them,” Zen said in 2020. “He doesn’t have direct experience of communists in power, oppressors of peoples.”

    However, the cardinal is vocal about his support for the pope and his loyalty to the Holy See, adding, “I can sincerely tell you that my personal relation with the pope is very good, and I have evidence to say that we think the same way.”

    “The strange thing is that he doesn’t answer my letters (I even doubt if he has received them), and his actions seem all in agreement with Cardinal Parolin,” he added.

    Cardinal Joseph Zen attends the episcopal ordination of the Most Rev. Stephen Chow in Hong Kong’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 4, 2021. (Bertha Wang/AFP via Getty Images)

    “We condemn the arrests of these activists whose supposed crime was funding legal aid for pro-democracy protesters back in 2019,” Hong Kong Watch said in a statement. “Today’s arrests signal beyond a doubt that Beijing intends to intensify its crackdown on basic rights and freedoms in Hong Kong. We urge the international community to shine a light on this brutal crackdown and call for the immediate release of these activists.”

    Cardinal Joseph Zen, second from left, is among those attending the episcopal ordination of the Most Rev. Stephen Chow in Hong Kong’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 4, 2021. (Bertha Wang/AFP via Getty Images)

    The arrests come days after CCP loyalist John Lee became mayor of Hong Kong. Lee was elected with 99% of the vote from the Beijing-controlled election committee, which has 1,500 members.

    “I love China. China is not the Communist Party. The Party is not eternal, we hope to be one day, soon, free from the tyranny of Communism,” Zen wrote in 2020. “We believe in God and in the intercession of Our Lady. May all the good people preserve in their faith and the bad people be convicted!”

    Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

    Beijing loyalist John Lee elected as Hong Kong’s next leader

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    HONG KONG — John Lee was elected as Hong Kong‘s next leader Sunday, after winning over 99% of votes cast by a largely pro-Beijing election committee.

    Lee received 1,416 votes in the chief executive election, far exceeding the 751 votes he needed to win and the highest support ever for the city’s top leadership position. The Election Committee’s nearly 1,500 members cast their votes in a secret ballot Sunday morning.

    “I look forward to all of us starting a new chapter together, building a Hong Kong that is caring, open and vibrant, and a Hong Kong that is full of opportunities and harmony,” Lee said in his victory speech.

    Lee will replace current leader Carrie Lam on July 1.

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    As the only candidate in the polls, Lee was widely expected to win, especially since he had Beijing’s endorsement and last month obtained 786 nominations from members of the Election Committee in support of his candidacy.

    China’s national flag is seen in front of cranes on a construction site at a commercial district in Beijing, China, January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon – RTX240F5 (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon – RTX240F5)

    Lam congratulated Lee in a statement and said she would submit the election results to Beijing.

    “The present-term government and I will ensure a seamless transition with the Chief Executive-elect. We will render all the support needed for the assumption of office by the new term of government,” Lam’s statement said.

    The election followed major changes to Hong Kong’s electoral laws last year to ensure that only “patriots” loyal to Beijing can hold office. The legislature was also reorganized to all but eliminate opposition voices.

    Hong Kong Secretary for Security, John Lee listens to questions during a press conference in Hong Kong, Thursday, June 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

    The elaborate arrangements surrounding the pre-determined outcome speak to Beijing’s desire for a veneer of democracy. Though they voted in a secret ballot, Hong Kong’s electors were all carefully vetted.

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    The Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong also congratulated Lee in a statement and said the election was conducted in a “fair, just and orderly manner in accordance with laws and regulations.”

    “Lee received many nominations and was elected with a high number of 1,416 votes. This is not only the solemn choice of the election committee, but also a strong expression of public opinion,” the statement read.

    Mainland China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council also congratulated Lee in a statement, saying the “successful election” proved that the city’s new electoral system is “good” and in line with the “one country, two systems” framework that Hong Kong is governed by.

    The statement added that the new chief executive will lead the Hong Kong government and “people from all walks of life to forge ahead in unity.”

    The British handed Hong Kong over to mainland China in 1997 under the “one country, two systems” framework, which promised the city certain freedoms not found on the mainland, including freedom of speech and assembly.

    Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai is escorted by Correctional Services officers to get on a prison van before appearing in a court, in Hong Kong, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    Critics say these freedoms are being eroded as Beijing has exerted greater control over the former British colony in recent years.

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    On Sunday morning, three members of the League of Social Democrats, a local activist group, protested the election by attempting to march toward the election venue while displaying a banner demanding universal suffrage that would allow Hong Kongers to vote both for the legislature and the chief executive.

    “Human rights over power, the people are greater than the country,” the banner read. “One person, one vote for the chief executive. Immediately implement dual universal suffrage.”

    One protester was handing out flyers before police arrived and cordoned off the protesters and the banner. Police also searched protesters’ belongings and took down their personal details, though no arrests were immediately made.

    The pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong has long demanded universal suffrage, which they say is promised to the city in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law. It was also a key demand in the 2014 Umbrella Revolution protests and 2019 anti-government demonstrations.

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    Lee’s role as Hong Kong’s next leader has sparked concern that Beijing could further tighten its grip on Hong Kong. He spent most of his civil service career in the police and security bureau, and is an outspoken and staunch supporter of a national security law imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 aimed at stamping out dissent.

    His rise grew out of massive anti-government protests in 2019 that spiraled into violent clashes. As security secretary, he oversaw the police campaign to confront protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, then rounded many of them up for arrest later.

    More than 150 people have been arrested under the security law, which outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to intervene in the city’s affairs. Almost all prominent pro-democracy activists have been jailed, with others fleeing abroad or being intimidated into silence.

    Thousands of residents have left the city of 7.4 million people amid the 2019 protests and subsequent harsh pandemic restrictions, including many professionals and expatriates.

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    In his election campaign in the weeks leading up to Sunday’s polls, Lee pledged to enact long-shelved local legislation to protect against security threats and vowed to increase housing supply in the world’s most expensive real estate market.

    He also said he would improve the city’s competitiveness and set a firm foundation for Hong Kong’s development.

    COVID cases declined again last week worldwide: WHO

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    The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a weekly report that the number of new COVID-19 cases around the world fell by nearly a quarter last week. 

    The agency said that nearly 5.59 million cases were reported between April 11 and April 17, which is 24% less than the previous week.

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    Additionally, the number of newly reported deaths dropped by 21% to 18,215.

    While new cases declined in every region, the Americas only saw a 2% decrease.

    Visitors take photographs of giant panda at the Ocean Park, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Hong Kong Ocean Park reopened to the public after shutting down due to a surge in COVID-19 infections.  (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    The countries with the highest reported case numbers last week were South Korea, France and Germany. 

    The highest numbers of new deaths were reported by the U.S., Russia and South Korea.

    According to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the U.S. reported 68,781 new cases and 877 new deaths in the past day.

    COVID CASES, DEATHS FALL FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE WEEK, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SAYS

    The WHO said that “these trends should be interpreted with caution as several countries are progressively changing their COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected.”

    More than 502 million cases of COVID-19 and nearly 6.2 million deaths related to the coronavirus have been reported so far, though total numbers are believed to be much higher.

    Visitors wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus take a photograph under lanterns ahead of the upcoming birthday of Buddha on May 8, at the Jogye temple in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 21, 2022.  (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

    While cases have fallen markedly since the winter’s omicron surge, experts have warned about the circulation of highly transmissible subvariants.

    Still, restrictions have relaxed around the world, with Hong Kong reopening Disneyland and museums and Shanghai easing its stringent lockdown a bit. 

    South Korean officials recently announced the intention to remove most pandemic regulations, including indoor gathering limits. 

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    People there will be allowed to eat inside movie theaters, religious facilities, bus terminals and train stations starting on April 25.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

    Hong Kong to loosen COVID-19 restrictions

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    Hong Kong will ease some of its COVID-19 restrictions later this month. 

    City officials said Thursday that, from April 21, restaurants will be able to operate until 10 p.m. with a maximum of four customers per table.

    Other businesses – including beauty parlors, gyms, theme parks and cinemas – will also be allowed to open at 50% capacity. 

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    Regulations that only allow two households to gather will also be lifted and local tours and public gatherings of four people will be allowed to resume.

    Bars and pubs will remain closed. 

    The number of COVID-19 infections in Hong Kong has declined in recent weeks.

    A woman wearing a face mask and shield walks at a commercial building in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    On Wednesday, the city reported 1,260 cases in the community, down more than 95% from the peak of its coronavirus outbreak last month.

    “To relax these measures, to allow some degree of normal activities in society, with more interactions among citizens, inevitably they will come with some transmission risks,” Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told reporters on Thursday. 

    COVID CASES, DEATHS FALL FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE WEEK, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SAYS

    She called on residents to continue to comply with social distancing and to get vaccinated.

    “While the number of positive cases reported every day has dropped to a relatively low level, in absolute terms they are still rather high,” Lam noted.

    People have lunch at a restaurant in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    If another COVID-19 wave hits, Lam said Hong Kong is “much better prepared” to handle it, and she highlighted that the government has not yet given up on mass testing.

    According to Bloomberg, Michael Tien – a National People’s Congress deputy and city lawmaker – said Wednesday that Hong Kong cannot reduce its one-week quarantine for incoming residents until Beijing moves past “COVID Zero.”

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    “For us to cut it down to seven, already the mainland is unhappy and feels they cannot connect with us,” Tien said in an interview. “So, to go any lower than seven, forget it. If we go lower than seven, they may even ban Hong Kong people from going into Shenzhen.”

    Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center data shows China reported 25,960 new cases and 62 deaths in the past day.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Hong Kong reports record COVID-19 cases; movements could be restricted

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    Hong Kong’s leader on Wednesday said people’s movements may be restricted during mandatory testing this month of the entire population for the coronavirus, as health officials reported a record 55,353 daily infections and over a hundred deaths.

    Chief executive Carrie Lam said authorities are still refining the plan, but that there would be no “complete” lockdown that would prevent entry and exit from the city.

    HONG KONG’S COVID-19 SUCCESS ACCELERATES OMICRON SURGE

    “The extent of it must take into account Hong Kong’s circumstances and people’s needs,” she told reporters.

    Hong Kong is planning to test its more than 7 million residents as it grapples with soaring numbers of COVID-19 cases in its worst outbreak of the pandemic, linked largely to the omicron variant.

    Workers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, move a corpse from the mortuary to the coffin van at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Some hospitals in Hong Kong are currently being overloaded with possible COVID-infected patients. (AP Photo/Janice Lo)

    Officials on Wednesday reported 117 deaths, taking the total number above 1,000. About 80% of the deaths have occurred since late December. Most involved elderly patients who were not fully vaccinated.

    “We recorded about 55,000 infections today, which is within our expectation. Recently every two or three days the number of confirmed cases is doubling,” said Albert Au, a health officer with the Centre for Health Protection. He said cases have not yet peaked.

    U.S. authorities on Wednesday warned Americans against traveling to Hong Kong, with the State Department raising its travel advisory to Level 4 — Do Not Travel — because of rising cases and restrictions imposed by the city and mainland China under their “zero-tolerance” policy toward the coronavirus.

    HONG KONG ORDERS MANDATORY COVID-19 TESTS FOR ALL RESIDENTS

    “We especially want to note for families considering traveling to or residing in Hong Kong that in some cases, children in Hong Kong who test positive have been separated from their parents and kept in isolation until they meet local hospital discharge requirements,” the travel advisory said.

    The surge is threatening to overwhelm Hong Kong’s hospitals, with officials saying they have reached maximum bed capacity and some general wards are being converted into isolation areas.

    Public mortuaries have also reached full capacity, and help is being sought from the private sector to store bodies, officials say. The Hospital Authority has also ordered refrigerated containers to temporarily store bodies, health officials said.

    An aerial view shows a construction site of a new makeshift COVID-19 hospital and isolation facilities, in Tsing Yi of Hong Kong, Wednesday, March 2, 2022.   (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    Supermarket shelves were wiped bare this week as residents stockpiled daily necessities after reports spread of a possible citywide lockdown. Authorities have called for calm and reassured people that food supplies are normal.

    In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin backed Hong Kong’s virus control measures.

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    Wang said the measures “are necessary, science-based and responsible to effectively prevent and control the epidemic and ensure the health of Hong Kong residents and foreigners in Hong Kong.”

    “We believe that the relevant measures will further build up the international community’s confidence in Hong Kong’s epidemic control, ensure Hong Kong’s safe and orderly interaction with the international community, and provide a more secure and stable business environment for international investors in Hong Kong,” Wang said at a daily briefing Wednesday.

    Joe Exotic, Assange, Snowden: Here’s who wanted a Trump pardon but didn’t get one

    Although former President Donald Trump issued more than 73 pardons and 70 commutations before his departure from the White House on Wednesday, some popular names were not included on the list. 

    Recipients included former White House adviser Steve Bannon, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.

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    Bannon is awaiting trial after allegedly defrauding Trump-supporting donors, Kilpatrick has served part of a 28-year sentence on corruption charges, and Lil Wayne and Kodak Black — whose real names are Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. and Bill Kapri, respectively — have been convicted on weapons-related charges.

    Although there were questions raised as to whether or not Trump would pardon himself or his family members on the way out the door, sources told Fox News that he was not expected to do so and did not before President Biden was sworn in on Wednesday afternoon.

    Joe Exotic 

    Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic” from Netflix’s “Tiger King” documentary series, did not receive a pardon, though his team had reported on Monday they were “confident” one would be forthcoming.

    “We will be standing by waiting for President Trump’s confirmation of the Tiger King Joe Exotic,” private investigator Eric Love, who is part of Exotic’s legal team, said Tuesday. “Much love to the fans. Thank you so much for all the support. God bless. We’ll see you as soon as we get the pardon.”

    Love had been waiting inside a limousine to pick Maldonado-Passage up from a Texas prison if he was pardoned, according to KFOR-TV. He said that they had brought supplies for “hair, makeup, wardrobes” in addition to a doctor and mental health expert in the event of his release.

    Maldonado-Passage, 57, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot that targeted his rival, Carole Baskin. 

    This file photo provided by the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Fla., shows Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic.” Maldonado-Passage was convicted in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue, who he has repeatedly accused of killing her husband Jack “Don” Lewis. Lewis’ unsolved 1997 disappearance and Maldonado-Passage’s accusations are the subject of new Netflix series “Tiger King.” (Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File)

    Julian Assange

    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, 49, was also not on the list, though both “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson and whistleblower Edward Snowden appealed to Trump.

    The jailed publisher is being held in London following his eviction from the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had been living in 2019.

    Earlier this month, U.K. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled against a request to extradite Assange to the U.S. where he faces espionage charges after publishing classified intelligence more than a decade ago. 

    The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

    The judge cited Assange’s mental health in the decision.

    “We are enormously gratified by the U.K. court’s decision denying extradition,” Barry Pollack — a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer for Assange, told Fox News in a statement. “The effort by the United States to prosecute Julian Assange and seek his extradition was ill-advised from the start.”

    The U.S. Government has since lodged an appeal against the decision to block his extradition.

    Assange’s mother, Christine Assange, said she was “not shocked, just disappointed” by Trump’s decision.

    “Courage is not always contagious,” she tweeted.

    Edward Snowden

    NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden also faces a sentence of up to 175 years in prison if convicted on charges of violating the Espionage Act, conspiring to hack government computers, and “unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defense.”

    The 37-year-old fled the U.S. after leaking agency files in 2013 and was later given asylum in Russia.

    In November, Snowden announced that he and his wife would apply for Russian citizenship for the sake of their family and ahead of the birth of their child.

    Although many were opposed to a pardon for Snowden, Trump said he was considering granting clemency in August.

    Following the White House’s release of the list of pardons, Snowden tweeted that he was “not at all disappointed to go unpardoned by a man who has never known a love he had not paid for.”

    “But what supporters of his remain must never forgive that this simpering creature failed to pardon truth-tellers in far more desperate circumstances,” he said.

    Ross Ulbricht

    Ross Ulbricht, the founder of darknet website Silk Road, was reportedly considered for a pardon last month but also absent from Trump’s list. 

    Silk Road reportedly enabled users to mask their identities while purchasing illegal goods. 

    Rep. Thomas Massie, R-W.Va., has been a vocal advocate for pardoning both Ulbricht and Snowden.

    Supporters of President Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. An Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob wearing a fur hat with horns was also charged Saturday in Wednesday’s chaos. Jacob Anthony Chansley, who also goes by the name Jake Angeli, was taken into custody Saturday, Jan. 9. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

    ‘QAnon Shaman’

    Jacob Anthony Chansley, who goes by Jake Angeli, was also not pardoned this week — though his attorney Albert Watkins said that it would be “appropriate and honorable” to do so.

    Chansley, 33, was nicknamed “QAnon Shaman” after he was pictured in viral photos storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 wearing face paint and a bearskin headdress with horns.

    Last week, Chansley was charged in a federal court with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, demonstrating in a Capitol building, entering a restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

    In a previous statement, Watkins said that his client had not participated in violence and had “accepted President Trump’s invitation to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol.”

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    Chansley is currently being held in a federal facility in Phoenix.

    No one in connection with the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol received a pardon.

    “No one was holding their breath on the request and, as such, there is no need to exhale,” Watkins said, according to KMOV.

    Fox News’ Brie Stimson, Greg Norman and Sam Dorman contributed to this report.

    NBA pulls custom gear from online store following ‘Free Hong Kong’ controversy

    Customers can no longer order personalized apparel from the NBA‘s online store following major backlash the league received for not allowing “Free Hong Kong” to be printed on its gear.

    On Monday, the NBA was swept into controversy after a viral video showed that the online store could not process orders that used the text “FreeHongKong.” Hours later, the store’s operator Fanatics reversed what it suggested was a technical error that prompted the phrase to be “inadvertently prohibited.”

    However, days after the incident, customers cannot find customizable apparel on both Fanatics and the NBA’s online stores. And returning to pages of specific jerseys showed that the products had been “discontinued.”

    An NBA spokesperson confirmed to Fox News that ordering personalized apparel has been “disabled.”

    “Based on attempts to include violent, abusive and hateful messages on personalized NBA jerseys, the personalization feature has been disabled on NBAStore.com,” the spokesperson said. “Fanatics, the operator of our online store, is conducting a further review to establish appropriate safeguards and ensure that this feature is not used to promote violence, hate or abuse of any kind.”

    NBA REVERSES, ALLOWS ‘FREEHONGKONG’ TO BE PRINTED ON CUSTOM GEAR FOLLOWING BACKLASH

    Some of the league’s critics previously pointed out amid the “FreeHongKong” uproar that customers were able to order gear with the text “Kill Cops” without any problem.

    However, customized gear from other leagues like the NFL and MLB is still available from Fanatics and it appears customers are blocked from printing hateful messages as the page notifies “We are unable to customize this item with the text you have entered” when typing in “Kill Cops.”

    The NBA did not immediately respond to Fox News’ additional request for comment.

    A video shared by a Twitter user named Vince on Sunday evening went viral showing his attempt to order a custom T-shirt with text that reads “FreeHongKong” on the site Fanatics.com, which has direct ties to all major sports leagues including the NBA.

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    “We are unable to customize this item with the text you have entered. Please try a different entry,” the error message reads at the bottom.

    However, Vince was able to successfully request “FreeHongKonu,” changing the last letter to a “u” from a “g.”

    “Whatsup @NBA @Fanatics,” Vince asked.

    Fox News was able to confirm on both Fanatics and NBA’s own online store that “FreeHongKong” was not able be printed on the shirt. The custom gear only allowed 12 characters and the site did allow “Hong Kong” and “HongKongFree” to be printed.

    As The Daily Caller’s Peter J. Hasson pointed out, “FreeAmerica,” “FreeCanada,” “FreeMexico,” and “FreeTaiwan” were also allowed to be printed on the gear.

    The apparent ban received swift condemnation from high-profile Republicans like Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rick Scott of Florida as well as Donald Trump Jr., all accusing the league of being too cozy with China.

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    The subject of the NBA’s close ties to China was renewed last week after ESPN’s prominent NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski sent Sen. Hawley a profane response to the lawmaker’s criticism of the league’s decision of “pre-approved, social justice slogans” while “censoring support” for law enforcement and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.

    Wojnarowski apologized to Hawley, and ESPN later suspended the reporter.

    Bradley Whitford slams NBA over lack of action in China-Hong Kong unrest

    Bradley Whitford is holding the NBA accountable amid the continuing civil unrest in Hong Kong.

    Last fall, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed support for protesters in Hong Kong who were demonstrating opposition to a proposed law that could see citizens extradited to mainland China despite maintaining a degree of autonomy from the country at large.

    The tweet caught backlash from China, where basketball is very popular, and various sponsors, leagues, partners and streaming services cut ties with the Rockets and the NBA over the message.

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    In the following days, the NBA released a statement in which they noted that the tweet “deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable,” seemingly condemning Morey’s message.

    Now, Whitford, 60, has condemned the NBA’s recent silence on the matter.

    “Hey @NBA. Do you care about what’s happening in Hong Kong? Or the fact that the Chinese are building concentration camps for the Uighurs?” the Emmy winner tweeted on Monday. “Or do you only take principled stands if they won’t hurt your bottom line?”

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    Whitford’s comments come as Hong Kong has once again entered the global spotlight after China passed a new security law with consequences similar to the previously proposed bill. The new law has been critiqued for its limitations on Hong Kong’s previously promised autonomy.

    Many followers expressed support for Whitford’s sentiments in their comments on his post.

    Protesters against the new national security law gesture with five fingers, signifying the “Five demands – not one less” on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China from Britain in Hong Kong, Wednesday, July. 1, 2020. Hong Kong marked the 23rd anniversary of its handover to China in 1997, and just one day after China enacted a national security law that cracks down on protests in the territory. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

    “They only care for the money, not the human rights,” wrote one Twitter user. “That should have been clear when they threw Rockets GM Morey under the bus for supporting the HK protests last year.”

    “Let’s be real, they don’t care and don’t want to be involved,” stated another.

    A third added: “Thank you. I amazed that no one speaks on the fact that they are being enslaved, raped, reprogrammed all the while companies like @nike, @Apple and the @nba turn a blind eye. It’s always about the bottom line. I stopped supporting the NBA last year when they defended China.

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    Reports recently surfaced stating that the NBA’s relationship with China’s state-run TV is still on the rocks.

    Reps for the NBA did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

    Coronavirus lockdown measures should not be lifted until vaccine found, study says

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    A new study says that despite stay-at-home measures being successful in flattening the curve of the coronavirus pandemic, any easing of restrictions could be counterintuitive prior to a vaccine being discovered.

    “The first wave of COVID-19 outside of Hubei has abated because of aggressive non-pharmaceutical interventions,” the researchers wrote in the study. “However, given the substantial risk of viral reintroduction, particularly from overseas importation, close monitoring of [reproduction number] and [confirmed case-fatality risk] is needed to inform strategies against a potential second wave to achieve an optimal balance between health and economic protection.”

    The research was published in the scientific journal The Lancet.

    A passenger wearing a face mask and protective suit, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, talks on his phone in the arrivals hall at Hong Kong International Airport on April 4, 2020. (Photo by DALE DE LA REY/AFP via Getty Images)

    BLOOD OF RECOVERED CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS COULD BE USED TO HELP ‘CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS,’ STUDY SUGGESTS

    The reproduction number is the number of people that one person can infect, which the authors found has dropped from between two and three to “below [one].”

    The confirmed case-fatality risk, also known as the case-fatality risk, is defined as the “proportion of deaths within a defined population of interest,” measuring “the severity of the disease that causes death.”

    A similar study published last month said a “second wave” could come in China if social distancing was ended too soon in Wuhan.

    The research, also published in The Lancet, notes that keeping the social distancing measures in place until early April could delay the “second wave” until early October. If the ban were lifted too soon, it could happen as soon as August.

    China lifted the lockdown on Wuhan, a city with more than 11 million residents, on Wednesday. Fox News previously reported that travel restrictions were relaxed in the city.

    Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently told Fox News the decline in deaths can be attributed to social distancing, but that “you don’t want to let up at a time that’s premature.”

    He added that progress for a “safe” COVID-19 vaccine would take over one year. “The vaccine as I’ve been saying over the past several weeks, we got into a clinician trial faster than ever,” Fauci said, adding a couple of other candidates are in phase 1 trials.

    “It’s going to take about a year to a year and a half,” Fauci added. “In general, if you want to do it correctly, it takes about a year to a year and a half.”

    CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE  CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

    Currently, there is no known scientific cure for the disease known as COVID-19 that is ravaging the globe. There are, however, a multitude of different attempts to treat it, including various vaccines in different stages of testing.

    Othe experimental measures, including drugs approved for other use cases and plasma transfusion from recovered COVID-19 patients, are also being researched.

    As of Thursday morning, more than 1.49 million coronavirus cases had been diagnosed worldwide, including more than 432,000 in the U.S., the most impacted country in the world.

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    Hong Kong coronavirus battle includes banning all tourist arrivals, halting alcohol sales at bars, restaurants

    All tourist arrivals to the global financial center of Hong Kong will be banned from entering for two weeks amid a spike of imported cases of coronavirus as officials took additional steps Monday to contain the spread of the virus.

    The semi-autonomous Chinese territory announced Monday that foreign non-residents will be barred from entering for 14 days, starting on Wednesday.

    The Asian financial hub will also ban travelers from mainland China, along with the nearby Chinese region of Macao and the self-governing island of Taiwan that is claimed by Beijing, if they have visited foreign countries over the past two weeks.

    WHAT COUNTRIES HAVE NOT DECLARED ANY KNOWN CASES OF CORONAVIRUS?

    As of Monday morning, Hong Kong had 356 confirmed COVID-19 cases and four deaths according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of the 356 cases, 252 are still active while some 100 people have recovered, according to the tally.

    Passengers wear protective suits and face masks as they arrive at the Hong Kong airport, Monday, March 23, 2020.
    (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who pledged to “fight the battle seriously and have confidence to win one day,” also said the government would amend the law to suspend the sale of alcohol in licensed bars and restaurants in the city.

    Passengers wear protective suits and face masks to protect themselves from possibly contracting the coronavirus after arriving at the Hong Kong airport, Monday, March 23, 2020.
    (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    “In restaurants, meals can still be served [without alcohol] … But in bars, people sometimes get intimate after drinking, and this will raise the risk of cross-infection,” Lam said Monday, according to the South China Morning Post.

    People wearing face masks walk at a downtown street in Hong Kong Monday, March 16, 2020.
    (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

    Lam’s did not have a specific date when the new regulations would be implemented, but health officials told the Morning Post that nine of the COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong were known to have visited bars and restaurants in the city’s nightlife district.

    CORONAVIRUS IN ITALY SPURS HARDEST-HIT REGION TO SET STRICT DISTANCE LIMIT ON DOG WALKING

    Hong Kong is not the only place in the region to enact travel restrictions as the coronavirus outbreak has spread to Europe and the U.S.

    Taiwan said on Monday it will ban airline passenger transits through the country starting Tuesday through April 7.

    Taiwan confirmed 26 more COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the island to 195.

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    With the crisis easing in China, where it began late last year, only the area around the city of Wuhan was still considered high-risk, with people asked to stay inside.


     


    Worldwide, nearly 350,000 people have been infected and 15,000 have died from the virus. Over 100,000 people have recovered, mostly in China.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.