Pelosi's Taiwan Trip, HK Media Victory on NSL

Pelosi received a medal of honour from Tsai this morning

As expected the raging threats did not stop US Speaker Nancy Pelosi from arriving in Taiwan, meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen and even receiving a medal of honour for standing firm in safeguarding freedom, democracy and human rights.

PLA have surrounded the island doing live drills

Nevertheless, China is retaliating by holding live military drills surrounding Taiwan, more than it did in 1996. The live-fire drills will apparently continue until Thursday, though it is not clear how much longer Pelosi will be in Taiwan.

And as usual the Taiwanese people are cool as cucumbers, unmoved by the latest fiasco, but for the most part pleased to see such public support for their country.

Meanwhile a very important ruling happened yesterday in Hong Kong with regards to national security law cases.

In a landmark ruling, reporting restrictions regarding the transfer of criminal cases to the High Court must be lifted if the defendant makes such a request.

This came about after lawyer and activist Chow Hang-tung challenged a magistrate's decision to retain reporting restrictions on national security law cases.

Chow was arrested for her part in the June 4 vigil

On Tuesday, High Court Judge Alex Lee said that magistrates had no say in whether to lift reporting restrictions on committal hearings if the accused had applied to do so.

Chow is facing charges of inciting and taking part in illegal assembly of the 2020 June 4 candlelight vigil, and for organising the vigil the following year, as she is the then vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

She along with the group's other leaders, Albert Ho Chun-yan, and Lee Cheuk-yan were charged with incitement to subversion under the national security law.

She filed the judicial review in May after Principal Magistrate Peter Law's decision in April to reject her request to lift reporting restrictions.

This ruling is significant in terms of press freedom, but also in helping people understand what happens in the court proceedings for a national security law case. It also gives some transparency and accountability with regards to the judicial system.

High Court Judge Lee allows reporting NSL cases

The government will not be pleased, especially Beijing. But hey -- if they want people to know more about the national security law, watching the cases through reports from the media -- gives people a better idea of what it's all about.