Jul 21, 2020 - World

Hong Kong protestors adapt signage to defy new national security law

Photo: Vincent Yu/AP

Hong Kong protesters are adapting their signs and slogans to skirt the repressive new security law, AP reports.

What's happening: A national security law enacted by China has set harsh penalties for a wide-sweeping number of political crimes. Prior to the law, stores supporting the movement put up artwork and notes filled with encouragement. Those have been taken down out of fear of authorities.

Now, Hong Kong cafés known as "yellow shops" because owners sympathize with pro-democracy protesters, have shown support through walls decorated with blank sticky notes instead.

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Rashaan Ayesh

Jul 20, 2020 - World

U.K. suspends extradition treaty with Hong Kong

U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

The United Kingdom announced Monday it will be suspending its extradition treaty and blocking arms sales with Hong Kong as a result of China's draconian new national security law.

Why it matters: The U.K. fears that the extradition treaty, which has been in place for more than 30 years, could be used to extradite individuals to Hong Kong and then have them sent to China, where they could be punished by the authoritarian central government.

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Scott Rosenberg

4 mins ago - Technology

The U.S. is now playing by China's internet rules

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

President Trump's crackdown on TikTok suggests that the U.S. government is starting to see the internet more like China does — as a network that countries can and should control within their borders.

The big picture: Today's global internet has split into three zones, according to many observers: The EU's privacy-focused network; China's government-dominated network; and the U.S.-led network dominated by a handful of American companies. TikTok's fate suggests China's model has U.S. fans as well.

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Alayna Treene

13 mins ago - Politics & Policy

GOP plans "nightly surprise" for revamped convention

President Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Photo: Bill Clark/Getty Images

The reworked Republican National Convention will be a four-night spectacle including still-under-wraps venues, a 10 p.m. "nightly surprise" and guests and themes playing to "the forgotten men and women of America," two senior Trump campaign officials involved tell Axios.

Driving the news: The messaging will focus heavily on "very granular details" of what a second term for President Trump would look like — answering a question Trump left hanging in a Fox News event earlier this summer — and attack cancel culture, "radical elements" of society and threats to public safety.