Some 150 Chinese seeking action from their government on various grievances protested outside a UN office in Beijing yesterday while UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited China.
About 100 uniformed and plainclothes police kept the demonstrators away from the gates of the office building, which houses the UN High Commission for Refugees and other diplomatic offices. Police prevented the protesters from marching to the main UN compound two blocks away and with cajoling and mild force put most of the protesters on to a bus, ending the protest.
The protesters, many poorly dressed, are among thousands of Chinese who swarm into Beijing daily seeking help in resolving longstanding grievances with officials back home. Usually ignored, they have increasingly turned up outside UN offices and the US ambassador's residence, hoping international intervention will succeed where their government has failed.
"We come from all over China. But we have all been treated unjustly," said one protester, He Fangwu, who claimed his family in Yunshan, Hunan Province, had been subjected to fines, beatings and confiscation of property in a dispute over family planning policies.
In a sample of their disparate causes, one woman from southern Guizhou said police failed to investigate after she was beaten and abducted by a gang who sold her to a farmer as a bride. Another from southwestern Chongqing said she was poorly compensated when local authorities demolished her home.
Most of the protesters were unaware that Annan was in China. The secretary-general did not know about the protest, UN officials said. Annan, who arrived in Beijing on Friday, was traveling in the countryside yesterday.
Contacted by telephone, police at headquarters and at the district office where the protest occurred said they either did not know or refused to comment on the demonstration and if there were arrests.
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS