World News and Trends: China breaks Hong Kong agreement
A foreign affairs journalist, John Simpson, wrote: "Last Monday the convenient fiction on which Britain handed over Hong Kong to China ('one country, two systems') came to an end.
The Standing
Committee of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, declared that the inhabitants of Hong Kong could not elect their chief executive in 2007 [clearly allowed in Hong Kong's current constitution], nor vote for more than half the seats in the territory's legislature in 2008."
This decision came in spite of assurances in the original 1997 agreement and the fact that opinion polls show that two thirds of Hong Kong's population wants to elect their own leader.
The Hong Kong situation is closely related to the dangers facing Taiwan. Mr. Simpson reported that "the commander of the flotilla in the Hong Kong harbour, Vice Admiral Yao Xingyuan, was straight-spoken when someone asked him about Taiwan. 'We are ready for the call from our country,' he snapped, 'We have the capability to maintain the political stability of Taiwan.'
"In other words, China is showing that it exerts a potential control over Taiwan to match its actual control over Hong Kong. If the United States and Britain don't like it, too bad; China has the military strength to do the job if necessary."
What surprised Mr. Simpson was the almost total lack of British and Western outrage about China ripping up the Hong Kong agreement. This shows that many do not really comprehend the historic significance of former British control of this key outpost and the prophetic legacy underlying it. To understand more about this, request our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph, The Independent [both London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: July - August 2004
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
