The United Nations has urged China to release a citizen journalist jailed for her coverage of the country’s Covid-19 response and who her family say is close to death after a hunger strike. The UN rights office voiced alarm at reports that 38-year-old Zhang Zhan’s health was deteriorating rapidly and that her life was at serious risk from the hunger strike. “We call on the Chinese authorities to consider Zhang’s immediate and unconditional release, at the very least, on humanitarian grounds, and to make urgent life-saving medical care available, respecting…
Month: November 2021
Concern and Anger Build Over Peng Shuai’s Sexual Assault Allegations
There has never been a case like this in China: a prominent athlete making such significant allegations against one of the country’s major political figures. Though Simon received an email from Peng this week, Simon has cast doubt on its authenticity and insisted that the tour wants verifiable proof that Peng is safe. He has said that no one in the tennis community has been able to contact her directly. Simon has called for a full investigation into Peng’s allegations of sexual assault, an inquiry free of censorship. That could…
Work on ‘Chinese military base’ in UAE abandoned after US intervenes – report
US intelligence agencies found evidence this year of construction work on what they believed was a secret Chinese military facility in the United Arab Emirates, which was stopped after Washington’s intervention, according to a report on Friday. The Wall Street Journal reported that satellite imagery of the port of Khalifa had revealed suspicious construction work inside a container terminal built and operated by a Chinese shipping corporation, Cosco. The evidence included huge excavations apparently for a multi-storey building and the fact that the site was covered in an apparent attempt…
China and U.S. Quietly Released Captive Citizens Before Summit
Shortly before President Biden and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, met for a virtual summit this week, the United States sent seven Chinese nationals who had been convicted of crimes back to China, and Beijing lifted an exit ban on an American citizen who had been blocked from leaving for four years. One of the Chinese nationals who was repatriated was a woman who had been convicted in 2019 of trespassing after she had entered former President Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort with a cache of electronics, according to a senior…
The Question the I.O.C. Is Too Weak to Ask
Where is Peng Shuai? That’s the question the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, should be shouting right now — loud, demanding, and aimed squarely at the leadership in China, set to host the Beijing Games in February. But instead of firm demands, we’re hearing not much more than faint, servile whispers from Olympic leadership. Peng, 35, a Chinese tennis star and three-time Olympian, has been missing since Nov. 2, when she used social media to accuse Zhang Gaoli, 75, a former vice premier of China, of sexually…
Peng Shuai: WTA prepared to pull out of China over tennis star’s disappearance
The Women’s Tennis Association is prepared to pull its tournaments out of China if there isn’t an adequate response to Peng Shuai’s allegation that she was sexually assaulted by China’s former vice premier, chief executive Steve Simon has told US media. Peng, Chinese tennis star and former doubles world No.1, has not been seen in public since she accused the former high-ranking official, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault in a Weibo post that was deleted half an hour later. In the lengthy 2 November post, Peng alleged that Zhang had…
The Sixth Plenum and the Rise of Traditional Chinese Culture in Socialist Ideology
Advertisement After much anticipation from China observers, the Sixth Plenum of the 19th Party Congress was held in Beijing during the second week of November. During the plenum, the CCP passed the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century. One of the most significant changes in the resolution is that it elevates the importance of Chinese culture and values. The Resolution moves beyond the conventional “socialism with Chinese characteristic as the adoption…
Doubts Over Email Raise Concerns for Peng Shuai’s Safety
Advertisement A Chinese professional tennis player not seen in public since she accused a former top government official of sexual assault purportedly sent an email claiming she was safe and that the allegation was false, a message that only amplified concerns about her safety and demands for information about her well-being and whereabouts. So far, those calls have been met by silence. Chinese officials have said nothing publicly since the accusation about two weeks ago by Grand Slam doubles champion Peng Shuai that she was sexually assaulted. The first #MeToo…
Peng Shuai: Doubt cast on email from Chinese tennis star
Earlier this week, world number one male tennis player Novak Djokovic said he hoped Ms Peng was OK, adding that he was shocked, while Naomi Osaka also voiced concerns about her whereabouts. More tennis players and social media users have since posted under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai. BBC
‘Naughty guy’: top Chinese diplomat accuses Australia of ‘sabre wielding’ with nuclear submarine deal
A top Chinese diplomat has likened Australia to “a naughty guy” over the Aukus nuclear submarine deal, saying it jeopardises Australia’s peace-loving reputation and the Australian people “should be more worried”. China’s acting ambassador to Australia, Wang Xining, said Australia would be branded as a “sabre wielder” rather than a “peace defender” as a result of the plan to acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, which would also affect the nuclear non-proliferation system. “There’s zero nuclear capacity, technologically, in Australia, that would guarantee you will be trouble free, you will…