China has asked Madrid to take steps to ensure that a Spanish court drops its probe into a crackdown on unrest that erupted in Tibet against Chinese rule in March last year, a court document showed on Monday.
In a document sent by Chinese authorities to the Spanish National Court, which was released on Monday, Beijing officials turned down a request by a judge to question eight Chinese leaders, including Defense Minister Liang Guanglie (梁光烈), as part of the probe.
In the document, the Chinese authorities called on the Spanish government to take “immediate and effective steps to prevent any abusive use of a mutual justice cooperation agreement and close as soon as possible this inquiry.”
A Tibetan rights group, the Tibet Support Committee, filed the suit against the Chinese leaders last July, calling the crackdown on the unrest “crimes against humanity.”
It was accepted by the National Court the following month, just days before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.
Unrest in Tibet erupted on March 14 last year after four days of peaceful protests against Chinese rule.
The Tibetan government-in-exile says 203 Tibetans were killed and about 1,000 hurt in China’s crackdown. Beijing insists that only one Tibetan was killed and has accused “rioters” of killing 21 people.
The crackdown sparked international protests that dogged the month-long global journey of the Olympic torch in April.
Spain has since 2005 operated under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” a doctrine that allows courts to reach beyond national borders in cases of torture, terrorism or war crimes.
Last week the National Court closed a probe targeting Israeli officials for alleged crimes against humanity over a deadly 2002 air raid in Gaza that was accepted under this principle.
In that case the court said it was following the recommendations of prosecutors in deciding to close the case.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese