For a few days in April, news sites across Latin America were running Instagram photos of a glamorous blond woman enjoying trips around the world. There were pictures of Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea, 32, posing in a blue dress and Yves Saint Laurent handbag outside San Miguel de Allende, ice skating in a miniskirt in Central Park and laughing in the Forbidden City. The social media images were then followed by more recent photos: Rubio, in a sweatshirt and jeans, flanked by officers from the national civil police of Guatemala,…
Tag: Americas
There May Be More ‘Chinese Police Stations’ in Canada, Minister Says
Toronto — There may be more “Chinese police stations” operating in Canada, the Public Safety Minister told a Canadian TV station on Sunday, months after police said they were investigating whether two community centers in Montreal were being used to intimidate or harass Canadians of Chinese origin. “I am confident that the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] have taken concrete action to disrupt any foreign interference in relationship to those so-called police stations, and that if new police stations are popping up and so on, that they will continue to take…
Honduras Will ‘Soon’ Launch Trade Talks with China as Ties Deepen
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS — Honduras will soon begin talks toward a trade deal with China, the Central American country’s top diplomat said Friday, marking the latest step toward stronger bilateral ties between the two nations after Honduras broke off relations with Taiwan. Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told reporters at a press conference that the goal is to launch talks “soon” and eventually ink a “free trade” agreement with the Asian giant, the world’s second-largest economy. “It will be good news and [offer] opportunities for access to our products to…
Some of the first humans in the Americas came from China, study finds
Some of the first humans to arrive in the Americas included people from what is now China, who arrived in two distinct migrations during and after the last ice age, a new genetics study has found. “Our findings indicate that besides the previously indicated ancestral sources of Native Americans in Siberia, the northern coastal China also served as a genetic reservoir contributing to the gene pool,” said Yu-Chun Li, one of the report authors. Li added that during the second migration, the same lineage of people settled in Japan, which…
Canada Expels Chinese Diplomat
Canada has expelled a Chinese diplomat accused of attempting to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker who has been critical of Beijing. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly issued a statement Monday saying Zhao Wei had been declared “persona non grata” in response to a series of reports in Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper that Zhou sought information about Conservative Party lawmaker Michael Chong, who sponsored a motion to declare China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority as genocide. The reports said Canada’s intelligence agency had uncovered information that China planned to target…
Beijing to expel Canadian consul in tit for tat move after Ottawa expels Chinese diplomat
Beijing will expel a Canadian diplomat from Shanghai in a retaliatory move after Canada expelled a Chinese official over allegations he tried to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker who was critical of China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. China’s ministry of foreign affairs made the announcement on Tuesday after it had vociferously objected to Ottawa’s expulsion of Zhao Wei, who Canadian intelligence accused of targeting lawmaker Michael Chong and his family. Chong, a Conservative MP, has been critical of Beijing’s human rights abuses. Zhao had been declared “persona non grata”…
Canada Expels Chinese Diplomat Accused of Targeting Lawmaker
ottawa, ontario — Canada on Monday expelled Toronto-based Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target a Canadian lawmaker critical of China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. “We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Monday. The expulsion escalates already tense Sino-Canadian relations and is likely to prompt China, Canada’s second-largest trading partner, to respond. China’s embassy in Ottawa said it condemns the expulsion and that it has formally protested the move to the government.…
Canada expels Chinese diplomat for alleged intimidation of lawmaker
Canada has expelled a Chinese diplomat after an intelligence report accused him of trying to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. “Canada has decided to declare persona non grata Mr Zhao Wei,” the Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, said in a statement on Monday. “The decision has been taken after careful consideration of all factors at play.” The rare decision to remove an accredited diplomat comes only days after Joly’s office summoned the Chinese ambassador, Cong Peiwu, to express frustration over attempts to…
Canada Accuses China of Intimidating Politician, Summons Ambassador
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday angrily protested a Canadian intelligence report that asserted Chinese diplomats tried to intimidate a Canadian member of parliament for his criticism of Bejing. China’s strong comments come after Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Thursday summoned China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, and said she was considering expelling the diplomat. FILE – China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, speaks at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, Nov. 22, 2019. The 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, first surfaced in an article…
Canada summons Chinese ambassador after MP and his family harassed
Canada has summoned China’s ambassador as Justin Trudeau’s government considers expelling a Chinese diplomat accused of involvement in a harassment campaign against a MP lawmaker and his family in retaliation for the lawmaker’s criticisms of Beijing. The foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, told a parliamentary committee on Thursday that her office had summoned Chinese ambassador Cong Peiwu to express frustration over attempts to meddle in Canada’s domestic politics. “We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference,” she said, adding that “all options are on the table”. Joly, who is…