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[Scoops Novel]

I'll put up his interview with the South China Morning Post here in a moment. I doubt that will last for long Sir Finkus, he said he had more information coming and i doubt that's it.

Edit: Here. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1259422/edward-snowden-let-hong-kong-people-decide-my-fate, http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1259335/exclusive-whistle-blower-edward-snowden-talks-south-china-morning, http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1259508/edward-snowden-us-government-has-been-hacking-hong-kong-and-china,
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1259490/washington-bullying-hong-kong-extradite-me-says-edward-snowden,
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1259508/edward-snowden-us-government-has-been-hacking-hong-kong-and-china.

It doesn't give the letter of the interview. They also stated they did not verify the document (I'm getting that from the Guardian) and have yet released the information.

[misko27]

It is right around now that the one guy who was pitching the idea to his boss in one of the Intelligence agencies to have this guy killed, (and fetching a "are you fucking with me Johnson" look) is re-drawing his slide-show frantically.



This guy makes me wonder. What else does he know, what could he be keeping in reserve? Or did he just run through it all and is shooting blanks?

As for now, well, It depends entirely on the diplomatic meetings of China and the US. Its quite possible they know, given they are China. If they know as much they've possibly been hiding it. If they don't, well, they're likely rather pissed. So this guys is now in the hands of Chinese officials, who don't want to piss of the US, but are simultaneously pissed off themselves (possibly), and in possession of a possible treasure-trove of info (Seriously, this guy is most likely not entirely aware of Hong Kong being in China.) Now, Hong Kong, in terms of Refugees, is dubious for him. They protect refugees, but depending on the Charge's from the US they might have a difficult time arguing otherwise.

"I have had many opportunities to flee Hong Kong, but I would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts, because I have faith in Hong Kong's rule of law,"

Yes, this man pretty much defected from the United Frying Pan into the Peoples Republic of Fire (my metaphors, man). Assuming he avoids extra-legal detaining from either the US or China, he faces a nasty battle in the courts.

In short, welcome to another Media side-show.

[alway]

I guess his choice of Hong Kong makes more sense now.  Trouble is that he's going to be labeled as a Chinese spy now.

Na, they can't do that.

It would look even worse for them than all the rest combined. Case in point: "Hey, uh, you know that guy with access to all our top-secret info that US citizens aren't entitled to knowing? Well, China knows all of it. Also we allowed them sit in the driver's seat of our top-secret intelligence programs."

[Max White]

I guess his choice of Hong Kong makes more sense now.  Trouble is that he's going to be labeled as a Chinese spy now.

Do they want to label him a Chinese spy?
That entitles a certain level of diplomatic strain, something I'm under the impression we all want to avoid.

At least everybody here wants to avoid it. The corner stone of Australias defense strategy is "Cross fingers. Hope US and China play nice." and I for one see it as a perfectly valid plan.

[Sheb]

Him being a Chinese spy doesn't make any fucking sense. If China had a mole in the NSA, they wouldn't have him blow his cover like that.

Labeling him a Chinese spy would make the US government look positively ridiculous.

[Max White]

Do you mean to imply that looking ridiculous has ever stopped the US government in the past?

[Sheb]

Right. But looking ridiculous and pissing off China at the same time? This makes no sense.

[SalmonGod]

Him being a Chinese spy doesn't make any fucking sense. If China had a mole in the NSA, they wouldn't have him blow his cover like that.

Labeling him a Chinese spy would make the US government look positively ridiculous.

That hasn't stopped them in the past.  They prosecute whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, which seems like legal classification as a spy to me.  I'm pretty sure Assange was labeled a traitor by some officials, despite not being a U.S. citizen.  It doesn't get much more ridiculous then that.  I wouldn't try to predict the behavior of the U.S. government based on how ridiculous it might make them look.

Ninja'd by a more concise statement.

[Sheb]

Well, you can prosecute them as spy, or for "aiding the ennemy" in vague terms. But we were talking about branding him a Chinese spy. The Chinese would immediately go like "Hell no!" and feel really insulted. At this point, either the US government continue saying he's a Chinese spy and wreck relations with the second most powerful country on Earth, or step back and loose face.

So it's simpler to say the government won't brand him a Chinese spy.

[Mech#4]

Him being a Chinese spy doesn't make any fucking sense. If China had a mole in the NSA, they wouldn't have him blow his cover like that.

Labeling him a Chinese spy would make the US government look positively ridiculous.

That hasn't stopped them in the past.  They prosecute whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, which seems like legal classification as a spy to me.  I'm pretty sure Assange was labeled a traitor by some officials, despite not being a U.S. citizen.  It doesn't get much more ridiculous then that.  I wouldn't try to predict the behavior of the U.S. government based on how ridiculous it might make them look.

Ninja'd by a more concise statement.

I think in this context US relations with China are a bit more strenuous then Us relations with Australia.

Assange was trying to gain popularity in our government system about a month or three ago. I don't think he was that successful, but I digress.

[Max White]

Assange was an Aussie, and we still have the ANZUS treaty that ties our military forces together. I guess fucking with that treaty would be traitorous? Although under those terms it would make more sense to trial him in an Australian court for not complying with our side of a treaty, but then we don't send guys to Guantanamo so I'm sure there are many who would over look such a detail. Nobody in politics would raise a fuss to see his rights ground into a fine dust to be snorted at the discretion of NSA higher ups.

To my understanding China has no such agreement...

[Morrigi]

Snowden needs a freaking medal for his sacrifice in the name of the people. The only reason the government would hate him in this situation would be that they do not have the peoples' best interests at heart.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

What if Snowden is a CIA operative acting like a leaker and diverting the attention from something?
/Conspiracy

[Tarqiup Inua]

What if Snowden is a CIA operative acting like a leaker and diverting the attention from something?
/Conspiracy

You want crazy conspiracy stuff? Snowden has been dead/captive for over 24 hours and his supposed actions in HK are made by a double that was sent by agency to discredit him!

On a more serious note, I wonder where is this going... I need a popcorn...

And it amazes me British citizens are not outraged more! There is no limit on spying British people that NSA has to abide... and it shares information with British intelligence, so British intelligence might have unlimited access to private data of British citizens - that could be bad if it is the case.

[misko27]

It seems likely he'll be charged with releasing Official secrets, which is a crime in Hong-Kong, and as such he can be extradited.


Argue against that. It's what he did.