Veteran dissident Hu Jia hospitalized for acute illness under watch of China’s state security police.
International lawyers, judges call on Beijing to release detained rights lawyer Xie Yang
“Lawyers in China like Xie Yang are indispensable in ensuring human rights protection and upholding the rule of law in China” reads a statement issued by the International Commission of Jurists calling on Beijing to release Xie, who has reported torture during his incarceration.
China tightens its grip over which journalists can report news online
It’s World Press Freedom Day and in China that means more restrictions have been announced.
The U.S. keeps a list of trade beefs with Canada – and booze, property rights and Can-con are all on it
There is a hefty document published each year listing foreign trade policies the U.S. either doesn’t like, or that could pose a problem for U.S. exporters. So that begs the question: What Canadian trade policies annoy the U.S.?
What rivers with rights mean for the Mekong
What does the decision to recognize the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers as living entities mean for the construction of the controversial Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams on the Mekong River?
They’re watching you
Canadian leading cyber sleuth, Ron Deibert, discusses the use of technology to censor, hack and spy. Trevor Cole for The Globe & Mail.
Rights lawyer Xie Yang’s trial postponed
The trial of Chinese rights lawyer, Xie Yang, who is facing charges for inciting subversion and disrupting court order, was postponed this week after a crowd of supporters, including diplomats, gathered outside the courtroom. China Digital Times reports on Xie’s case – a case which drew international attention after Xie’s account of torture was circulated via worldwide news outlets.
China pressures Trump to keep Obama’s global warming pledge
China has a good reason for pushing compliance with the Paris agreement — they don’t have to make any emissions cuts. The Daily Caller quotes Probe International’s Patricia Adams for this report on China’s new “leader” stance in the fight against global warming.
Why overthrowing Assad won’t solve Syria’s crisis
The Western goal of keeping Syria whole, with its devout Muslims harmoniously living side by side with Alawite tribes they consider heretical, as well as with Syria’s pro-Assad Christian minority, is delusional and guaranteed to fail.
Leaked records show Shell’s complicity in massive oil corruption scandal
On the heels of the U.S. reversing an anti-corruption “resource extraction rule,” new revelations concerning Shell’s complicity in one of the largest corruption scandals in Big Oil’s history illustrate how resource-rich countries fall victim to the “resource curse” – corrupt officials making off with the revenue from sales of natural resources at the expense of the masses. Foreign Policy reports.
The knee-jerk reaction against protectionism isn’t justified, just look at the military
Where do the benefits of free trade and free markets begin? These questions are — in our ideologically driven world — too rarely asked.
Green groups condemn UN plan to use $136m from climate fund for large dams
An alliance of green groups have called out plans for UN-backed hydro projects in Nepal, Tajikistan and the Solomon Islands, saying they will have “tremendous negative impacts” on ecosystems and indigenous people. Touted as a renewable energy source, large dams account for up to a billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year due to rotting vegetation in the water, say critics. The Guardian U.K. reports.
Why Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal has India asserting itself to China
While guest of honour at the Namami Brahmaputra river festival, the Dalai Lama spoke of the spiritual link to the Brahmaputra, which originates in his homeland Tibet. China’s blocking of a tributary of the Brahmaputra for the construction of a hydropower project has long been a sore spot in India-China relations. CNN-News18 reports.
Canada deports hundreds to China each year with no treatment guarantee
The lack of a formal extradition treaty has not stopped Canada from expelling people to China without assurances they will not be tortured or otherwise mistreated, according to statistics obtained by The Globe and Mail. Former Canadian ambassador to China, David Mulroney, told the newspaper that the “murky and worrisome” justice system people were returning to meant that Canada might be enabling unfair prosecutions.
All options are on the table with North Korea. But for China and the U.S., all the options are bad
Trump’s demand that China squeeze North Korea into submission won’t work on Kim Jong-un.
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