Outgoing US Ambassador to China Gary Locke yesterday urged Beijing to respect the rights of peaceful political activists and said Washington was deeply concerned about the fate of a minority academic charged with separatism.
At his final news conference as ambassador, Locke said that Washington is “very concerned” about the case of Ilham Tohti, as well as a recent increase in the arrests of social and legal activists and journalists.
Tohti is an economics professor and advocate for the Uighur Muslim minority who was formally arrested and charged with separatism on Tuesday after being taken from his home one month ago.
Photo: Reuters
China should value not just the economic welfare of its people, but also their freedom of speech, assembly and religion, Locke said.
“We believe that freedom of expression is a universal right and we very much are concerned about the arrest and detentions of people who are engaged in peaceful advocacy,” Locke, accompanied by his wife, Mona, told journalists at the US embassy in Beijing.
US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Wednesday also expressed deep concern for Tohti and called for his release.
China’s authoritarian communist government brooks no political opposition and routinely rejects such remarks. Beijing says it must take harsh measures against what it calls Islamic radical terrorists fighting for the independence of the northwestern China Uighur homeland of Xinjiang.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) defended Beijing’s record at a regular briefing on Wednesday and accused the country’s critics of political bias.
Chinese citizens enjoy “unprecedented rights and liberty,” Hua said. “We strongly oppose irresponsible comments made by anybody, regardless of which country he comes from.”
Locke also repeated the US’ calls for restraint in China’s maritime territorial disputes with Japan and its Southeast Asian neighbors. He also urged China to accord foreign journalists working in the country the same equitable treatment that Chinese journalists receive in the West, a reference to Beijing’s denial of visas to reporters from the New York Times and other news outlets.
A former US commerce secretary and two-term governor of Washington state, Locke, 63, was the first Chinese-American to serve as ambassador to Beijing. Known for his affable, non-confrontational style, Locke placed a high priority on improving embassy efficiency and facilitating bilateral trade during his two-and-a-half years in Beijing at a time when exchanges are growing rapidly.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS