Maybe, but Canadians would be fair game around the planet if we let her go to get our hostages back.
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The Chinese are Monsters
- Thread starter deevah
- Start date
Maybe, but Canadians would be fair game around the planet if we let her go to get our hostages back.
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Hong Kong is gone. RIP.
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
China’s threats on behalf of Huawei are becoming desperate
Opinion: China’s threats on behalf of Huawei are becoming desperate
Opinion: China’s threats on behalf of Huawei are becoming desperate
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
China is lashing out at Canada once again, this time over measures taken by Ottawa last week in response to a new national-security law imposed on Hong Kong. On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “China condemns that and reserves the right to make further responses. All consequences shall be borne by the Canadian side.”
But as The Globe’s Nathan VanderkKlippe reports‚ the threats and insults the country’s foreign ministry has made in recent months have come with such frequency that it’s difficult to tell which are real.
The law, signed into effect last week by President Xi Jinping, gives Chinese central authorities sweeping new powers over Hong Kong. (Hong Kong today released additional details of the law’s reach, which include the power to stop people from leaving the city.)
Meanwhile, an outspoken Chinese scholar was arrested today by Beijing police, an outcome he predicted months ago. Xu Zhangrun, a legal scholar at Tsinghua University, is the author of a series of essays questioning China’s direction under President Xi Jinping – some of the most trenchant domestic criticism of his leadership in years.
Prof. Xu’s arrest less than a week after the imposition of the new law in Hong Kong has only served to elevate concern among that city’s scholars. The government’s message is clear, says Shanghai-born artist Badiucao: “No matter where you are – mainlander or Hong Konger – no matter who you are – famous academic or civilian – we will arrest you and destroy your reputation.”
But as The Globe’s Nathan VanderkKlippe reports‚ the threats and insults the country’s foreign ministry has made in recent months have come with such frequency that it’s difficult to tell which are real.
The law, signed into effect last week by President Xi Jinping, gives Chinese central authorities sweeping new powers over Hong Kong. (Hong Kong today released additional details of the law’s reach, which include the power to stop people from leaving the city.)
Meanwhile, an outspoken Chinese scholar was arrested today by Beijing police, an outcome he predicted months ago. Xu Zhangrun, a legal scholar at Tsinghua University, is the author of a series of essays questioning China’s direction under President Xi Jinping – some of the most trenchant domestic criticism of his leadership in years.
Prof. Xu’s arrest less than a week after the imposition of the new law in Hong Kong has only served to elevate concern among that city’s scholars. The government’s message is clear, says Shanghai-born artist Badiucao: “No matter where you are – mainlander or Hong Konger – no matter who you are – famous academic or civilian – we will arrest you and destroy your reputation.”
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
China and Iran have negotiated a deal that would see massive investments flow into Iran, oil flow out, and collaboration increase on defense and intelligence.
Why it matters: If the proposals become reality, Chinese cash, telecom infrastructure, railways and ports could offer new life to Iran’s sanctions-choked economy — or, critics fear, leave it inescapably beholden to Beijing.
Flashback: Tuesday marks the five-year anniversary of the Iran nuclear deal. While President Trump is nowhere near replacing it with a broader deal, a potential President Biden would also struggle to wind the clock back to 2015 and put a deal back together again.
Why it matters: If the proposals become reality, Chinese cash, telecom infrastructure, railways and ports could offer new life to Iran’s sanctions-choked economy — or, critics fear, leave it inescapably beholden to Beijing.
- The deal has not yet been finalized, but both sides acknowledge it’s in the works (though China has been more circumspect).
- A leaked draft envisions Chinese-built "airports, high-speed railways and subways," as well as "free-trade zones" in regions of Iran, per the NYT. The deal extends to cyberspace — with China offering "greater control over what circulates" — as well as to defense.
- The projects total an eye-watering $400 billion over 25 years.
- “This sounds like a wish list of all the projects that could conceivably be in play, rather than a realistic estimate of anything that China’s been able to do anywhere,” says Andrew Small of the German Marshall Fund’s Asia Program.
- China is already “running into problems in innumerable locations trying to do project clusters on a much smaller scale than this,” Small says, referring to elements of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
- But such a dramatic bet from Beijing would be a surprise. It's been dialing back on controversial Belt and Road mega-deals, has historically been careful to balance its relationships in the Middle East (including with Saudi Arabia), and may see uncomfortable parallels with Venezuela, which can't pump enough oil to cover its debts to China.
- Meanwhile, while Iran does need Chinese cash, Tehran has found recent reliance on China "a painful experience" and "they absolutely don’t want to have the economy so beholden to the Chinese over that kind of time frame," Small says.
- Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif defended the deal, while denying that Iran would offer discounted oil or sell Kish Island, as some critics had claimed.
Flashback: Tuesday marks the five-year anniversary of the Iran nuclear deal. While President Trump is nowhere near replacing it with a broader deal, a potential President Biden would also struggle to wind the clock back to 2015 and put a deal back together again.
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
U.S.-China tensions: "Distrust and verify"
Pompeo aimed directly for Xi Jinping in a speech tonight, calling the Chinese leader "a true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology" and a would-be global hegemon.
The backstory: Pompeo's was the last in a quartet of speeches from top Trump administration officials laying out what they portray as a battle for the survival of the free world against Beijing and its enablers — including more dovish allies and major U.S. companies.
Pompeo spoke at the Nixon Library, symbolically slamming the door on five decades of U.S. engagement with China that began with Nixon.
Excerpts:
Pompeo aimed directly for Xi Jinping in a speech tonight, calling the Chinese leader "a true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology" and a would-be global hegemon.
The backstory: Pompeo's was the last in a quartet of speeches from top Trump administration officials laying out what they portray as a battle for the survival of the free world against Beijing and its enablers — including more dovish allies and major U.S. companies.
Pompeo spoke at the Nixon Library, symbolically slamming the door on five decades of U.S. engagement with China that began with Nixon.
Excerpts:
- “If we want to have a free 21st century — and not the Chinese century of which Xi Jinping dreams — the whole paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won’t get it done."
- “We must induce China to change in more creative and assertive ways because Beijing’s actions threaten our people and our prosperity.”
- "General Secretary Xi is not destined to tyrannize inside and outside China forever unless we allow it."
- “We’re all still wearing masks and watching the body count rise because the [Chinese Communist Party] failed in its promises to the world."
- Historians of the future may ultimately pay the speeches more heed than most media today.
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
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Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Ottawa urged to set up hotline for reporting Chinese state-sponsored harassment: Chinese Canadian groups are calling on the federal government to set up a national hotline where they can report intimidation or harassment by agents of the Chinese government. This follows a Globe and Mail story earlier this week that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service is warning that undercover Chinese state security officials and “trusted agents” are targeting critics of Xi Jinping in Canada.
Canada needs to sanction China over treatment of Uighurs, MPs say - National | Globalnews.ca
Members of Parliament are continuing to push for Ottawa to impose sanctions on Chinese officials following their study into the country’s treatment of its Uighur population.
globalnews.ca
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Mondieu
TRIBE Member
Where do these polls come from? Nobody ever asks me.
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig to face separate Chinese trials starting Friday
China is starting trials within days for the two Canadians it locked up in apparent retaliation for the 2018 arrest at Vancouver’s airport of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of U.S. authorities.
Michael Spavor’s trial is set to begin on March 19, while Michael Kovrig’s is slated for March 22. China alleges they are spies. “We believe these detentions are arbitrary, and remain deeply troubled ...,” Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement.
The court dates coincide with high-level meetings between the United States and China tomorrow. Ottawa is counting on President Joe Biden’s proposed reset of U.S.-China relations to open the door for the release of the Canadians, senior federal officials told The Globe and Mail.
Separately, B.C. court proceedings in Meng’s extradition case continued today, with her lawyer accusing officials involved in her arrest of negligence, arguing there was a “deliberate and flagrant” disregard for her rights
China is starting trials within days for the two Canadians it locked up in apparent retaliation for the 2018 arrest at Vancouver’s airport of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of U.S. authorities.
Michael Spavor’s trial is set to begin on March 19, while Michael Kovrig’s is slated for March 22. China alleges they are spies. “We believe these detentions are arbitrary, and remain deeply troubled ...,” Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement.
The court dates coincide with high-level meetings between the United States and China tomorrow. Ottawa is counting on President Joe Biden’s proposed reset of U.S.-China relations to open the door for the release of the Canadians, senior federal officials told The Globe and Mail.
Separately, B.C. court proceedings in Meng’s extradition case continued today, with her lawyer accusing officials involved in her arrest of negligence, arguing there was a “deliberate and flagrant” disregard for her rights
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Quoted:
“Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested.”
— From Franz Kafka’s "The Trial," which Michael Kovrig requested in prison.
“Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested.”
— From Franz Kafka’s "The Trial," which Michael Kovrig requested in prison.
Meng needs to be put in a real jail right now and access cut off to Chinese diplomats.
Watch how fast this matter is resolved.
in my view she is worth more to China and they value this. if this turns into an eye for an eye China will 100% blink first. they want Meng back and any risk to her will result in them backing off their hostile position
Watch how fast this matter is resolved.
in my view she is worth more to China and they value this. if this turns into an eye for an eye China will 100% blink first. they want Meng back and any risk to her will result in them backing off their hostile position
China-based hackers used Facebook to target Uighurs abroad with malware
Company says hackers used malware to infect devices and enable surveillance after setting up fake profiles to build trust
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
China launches musical in bid to counter Uyghur abuse allegations
Beijing is attempting to draw attention away from reports it is holding at least one million in Xinjiang internment camps
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
ACCESS SOUGHT TO XINJIANG - More than 40 countries urged China on Tuesday to allow the U.N. human rights chief immediate access to Xinjiang region to look into reports that more than a million people have been unlawfully detained there, some subjected to torture or forced labour. The joint statement on China was read out by Canadian Ambassador Leslie Norton on behalf of countries including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States to the UN Human Rights Council.
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
Trudeau challenges China to probe its mistreatment of Uyghurs as Beijing attacks Canada’s Indigenous record
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau challenged China to publicly probe its mistreatment of Muslim minorities as Beijing and its allies call for an independent investigation into the remains of Indigenous children buried at residential schools in Canada.
“In Canada, we had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Where is China’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission?” Trudeau said at a press conference today.
The commission ran for more than seven years until 2015, documented the history and impact of the residential school system on Indigenous students and their families, and made its findings public. By comparison, China has refused to allow observers into the Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of conducting crimes against humanity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau challenged China to publicly probe its mistreatment of Muslim minorities as Beijing and its allies call for an independent investigation into the remains of Indigenous children buried at residential schools in Canada.
“In Canada, we had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Where is China’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission?” Trudeau said at a press conference today.
The commission ran for more than seven years until 2015, documented the history and impact of the residential school system on Indigenous students and their families, and made its findings public. By comparison, China has refused to allow observers into the Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of conducting crimes against humanity.
Bernnie Federko
TRIBE Member
The CCP's propaganda apparatus was out in full force for months leading up to today, blanketing the country with "patriotic" imagery and media as it faces record unfavorable views abroad, according to new polling from Pew Research.
"A lot of people around the world, per those surveys, don't think the CCP is very 'lovable,'" Cook tells Axios, a reference to Xi's recent request for his "wolf warrior" diplomats to tone down their confrontational rhetoric.
"[W]hen you're talking about the messaging and the propaganda, they need to do it because they need to whitewash over a very harsh reality," she adds.
Why it matters: President Biden is seeking to rally a global coalition to challenge Beijing over its abuses, including its genocide in Xinjiang, crackdown in Hong Kong, saber-rattling toward Taiwan, and coercive economic practices all over the world.
By the numbers: In 15 of the 17 advanced economies polled by Pew, more than 80% of respondents said China does not respect the personal freedoms of its people.
Negative views of China hit historic highs in 10 of those advanced economies in either 2020 or 2021, as fallout spread from Beijing's early cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak.
The majority of people in 15 of 16 countries would prefer a closer economic relationship with the U.S., rather than with China. Singapore is the one exception.
Between the lines: China has few friends in the West these days, but it continues to command loyalty and influence in the developing world. It's there, where China views itself as a leader and success story, that the CCP's propaganda is especially valuable.
China relies on governments with whom it shares deep economic ties for support at forums like the UN Human Rights Council, where members routinely sign dueling statements condemning or defending Beijing's human rights abuses.
A prime example is Pakistan, where Prime Minister Imran Khan has railed against Islamophobia in the West while refusing to condemn China's detention of 1 million Muslim minorities.
"Without that electoral democracy, [China] has actually fared much better," Khan told China's state-run media recently. "For me, it is probably more remarkable than any electoral democracy."
"A lot of people around the world, per those surveys, don't think the CCP is very 'lovable,'" Cook tells Axios, a reference to Xi's recent request for his "wolf warrior" diplomats to tone down their confrontational rhetoric.
"[W]hen you're talking about the messaging and the propaganda, they need to do it because they need to whitewash over a very harsh reality," she adds.
Why it matters: President Biden is seeking to rally a global coalition to challenge Beijing over its abuses, including its genocide in Xinjiang, crackdown in Hong Kong, saber-rattling toward Taiwan, and coercive economic practices all over the world.
By the numbers: In 15 of the 17 advanced economies polled by Pew, more than 80% of respondents said China does not respect the personal freedoms of its people.
Negative views of China hit historic highs in 10 of those advanced economies in either 2020 or 2021, as fallout spread from Beijing's early cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak.
The majority of people in 15 of 16 countries would prefer a closer economic relationship with the U.S., rather than with China. Singapore is the one exception.
Between the lines: China has few friends in the West these days, but it continues to command loyalty and influence in the developing world. It's there, where China views itself as a leader and success story, that the CCP's propaganda is especially valuable.
China relies on governments with whom it shares deep economic ties for support at forums like the UN Human Rights Council, where members routinely sign dueling statements condemning or defending Beijing's human rights abuses.
A prime example is Pakistan, where Prime Minister Imran Khan has railed against Islamophobia in the West while refusing to condemn China's detention of 1 million Muslim minorities.
"Without that electoral democracy, [China] has actually fared much better," Khan told China's state-run media recently. "For me, it is probably more remarkable than any electoral democracy."