UNITED STATES
Conspiracy given 40 months
A diplomat on Tuesday was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to investigators about money she received from Chinese intelligence agents in exchange for US documents. Candace Marie Claiborne, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US in one of several high-profile cases involving Beijing spies’ recruitment of US officials, the Department of Justice said. She would also be fined US$40,000. Claiborne was a Department of State office management specialist based in Beijing and Shanghai who in 2007 became involved with two men the justice department said she knew were agents of the Chinese Ministry of State Security. They gave her “tens of thousands” of US dollars in exchange for documents and information, it said.
THAILAND
Detention power retained
The new civilian government is to retain the power to arbitrarily detain critics, despite the imminent easing of junta-era security controls, prompting warnings from rights groups of enduring “martial law.” Nearly 2,000 people have been tried in military courts since Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power in 2014. The junta last year eased a ban on political activities in the run-up to national elections and Prayuth on Tuesday phased out dozens of additional junta-enacted orders, transferring military cases to civilian courts. However, the government retained more than 100 orders, including the right for police to detain suspects for seven days on national security grounds. Political analyst Titipol Phakdeewanich said the continuing restrictions showed that full democracy remains a distant prospect.
CHINA
Rare ‘terrorism’ charge
A Chinese advocate against corruption who had urged officials to disclose their wealth was arrested for allegedly “promoting terrorism.” Zhang Baocheng (張寶成), 60, was a member of the now-defunct New Citizens Movement, which campaigned for democracy and government transparency. It is unusual for members of civil society or human rights advocates to be accused of terrorism, and his wife said that she fears it suggests Zhang might receive a heavy prison sentence. What led to his latest arrest is unclear. Zhang on Thursday last week was arrested by Beijing police, suspected of “picking quarrels, promoting terrorism, extremism and inciting terrorism,” according to an arrest warrant shared by his wife.
VANUATU
Suspects extradited to China
The nation has denied bowing to pressure from Beijing by allowing Chinese police to extract six criminal suspects without them facing a local court. Critics have accused the government of bypassing due process to please China. Plainclothes police officers from both countries flanked five men and one woman — all reportedly Chinese nationals — as they were escorted onto a privately chartered plane on Friday last week. Four of the six reportedly had Vanuatuan passports obtained under a scheme allowing wealthy foreigners to get citizenship in return for substantial fees or investments. Minister of Internal Affairs Andrew Napuat told Radio New Zealand there was nothing unusual about the operation, and said that foreign criminals should not obtain citizenship in an attempt to hide from the law. “To those other foreigners who have obtained Vanuatu passports through the citizenship program, you must understand that the government can revoke your passports at any time if you are caught in illegal acts,” he told the Daily Post.
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
‘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
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