Tag: Americas

Retired Canadian Police Officer Charged with Illegally Helping China

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OTTAWA, Ontario —  OTTAWA, Ontario — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said a retired police officer had been charged on Friday with foreign interference, alleging he helped China “identify and intimidate someone outside the scope of Canadian law.” Canada has accused China of trying to interfere in its affairs through various schemes, including illegal police stations and the targeting of lawmakers. Beijing has strongly denied all such allegations. In a statement, the RCMP said William Majcher, 60, “allegedly used his knowledge and his extensive network of contacts in Canada to…

Retired Canada police officer charged with foreign interference for China

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A retired police officer in Canada has been arrested and is facing rare charges under the country’s national security laws, police said on Friday. William Majcher, 60, “allegedly used his knowledge and his extensive network of contacts in Canada to obtain intelligence or services to benefit the People’s Republic of China”, the Royal Canadian Mounted police said in a news release. Majcher is alleged to have “contributed to the Chinese government’s efforts to identify and intimidate an individual outside the scope of Canadian law”. Majcher is head of EMIDR, a…

Canada Investigates Two Companies Over Alleged Forced Labor in China

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ottawa —  Canada’s corporate ethics watchdog on Tuesday launched separate investigations into Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold over allegations that they used or benefited from forced Uyghur labor in their supply chains and operations in China. The investigations were launched after an initial assessment of complaints about the overseas operations of 13 Canadian companies filed by a coalition of 28 civil society organizations in June 2022. Complaints against the other 11 companies were still being assessed, with reports expected in the coming weeks, according to a statement from the Canadian…

Chinese, Russian Firms to Build Lithium Plants in Bolivia

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LA PAZ, BOLIVIA – Chinese and Russian companies will invest more than $1.4 billion in the extraction of lithium in Bolivia, one of the countries with the largest reserves of the mineral used in electric car batteries, the government in La Paz said Friday. China’s Citic Guoan and Russia’s Uranium One Group — both with a major government stake — will partner with Bolivia’s state-owned YLB to build two lithium carbonate processing plants, Bolivian President Luis Arce said at a public event. Lithium is often described as the “white gold”…

Analysts: China’s Plans for Cuba May Go Beyond Spy Base

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washington —  WASHINGTON — Top U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to brief Congress on the spy station China is allegedly building in Cuba, but American analysts fear that China’s plans for America’s backyard may go beyond intelligence gathering. If a war over Taiwan were to break out, these analysts warn, the Chinese military could operate in Latin America and the Caribbean to disrupt U.S. military operations or even strike the continental U.S. In a June 22 letter to CIA chief William Burns and Secretary of State Antony…

China Rejects Allegation of Running Spy Base in Cuba

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China on Monday rejected U.S. allegations that it was operating a spy base in Cuba. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news briefing that the allegations were false and that the United States was giving inconsistent and contradictory information. Wang’s comments came days after a Biden administration official said China had been conducting spy operations out of Cuba, located about 200 kilometers from the U.S. state of Florida, for some time. In a Twitter post Saturday, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío called the allegation…

Honduras Opens Embassy in China After Breaking Off Ties With Taiwan

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Beijing —  Honduras opened an embassy in Beijing on Sunday, Chinese state media reported, months after the Central American nation broke off relations with Taiwan to establish diplomatic ties with China. China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Honduran counterpart Enrique Reina took part in the inauguration of the embassy on Sunday morning, China’s official CCTV said. The report said Honduras still needed to determine the embassy’s permanent location and would increase its number of staff. Qin pledged that China would establish a new model with Honduras of “friendly cooperation”…

China has used Cuba as spy base for years, US official says

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China has been spying from Cuba for some time and upgraded its intelligence collection facilities there in 2019, a Biden administration official said on Saturday, following a report about a new spying effort underway on the island. China had reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday but the US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report. The Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the…

Canadian Investigator Probing Alleged Election Meddling by China to Quit

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ottawa, ontario —  A special investigator named by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to probe alleged election interference by China on Friday said he would quit, citing widespread opposition to his appointment and work. David Johnston, 81, said he would leave his post by the end of June, or as soon as he has delivered a brief final report. Last month, he said Trudeau’s government had not ignored evidence of Chinese meddling and recommended against an official public inquest. Johnston was appointed in March after media reports based on leaked…