But we do anyway:
Activists concerned about forced labour have lost a court bid for a general ban on the Canadian importation of all goods from the Xinjiang region of China.
The Federal Court has rejected their application to overturn a Canada Border Services Agency decision that said the agency had no authority to enact such a ban.
The court case was led by individuals including former cabinet minister David Kilgour, who died this month, and humanitarian group Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need.
They wanted the border agency to generally prohibit the importation of goods from Xinjiang on the basis that they have been mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part by forced labour, unless there is clear evidence no coercion was involved.
The activists accused the Chinese state of oppressing the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities who are enlisted for involuntary labour in large work camps.
We know who works for China, don't we?
**
China said Monday its military planes delivered “regular military supplies” to Serbia, in its first comments on an unusual operation in which six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed in Belgrade early Saturday.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters the operation was part of the two countries’ annual cooperation plan, does not target any third parties and “has nothing to do with the current situation.”
Zhao gave no further details.
The planes’ arrival prompted heavy speculation they were carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missiles under the terms of a previous deal signed between the sides. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic all but confirmed the delivery of the medium-range systems that was agreed to in 2019, saying on Saturday that he will present “the newest pride” of the Serbian military on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The veiled operation this weekend came amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the same time as war is raging in Ukraine could threaten the region.
**
Oh, brother, you are wasting your time:
Lawyers for Hong Kong media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai are asking the United Nations to investigate his imprisonment and multiple criminal charges as “legal harassment” that punish him for speaking out.
The publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper was one of the most prominent activists arrested in Hong Kong's crackdown on virtually all political criticism since mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The crackdown continued early Monday with the arrest of another veteran journalist, Allan Au Ka-lun, a teaching consultant who'd worked for a number of Hong Kong media outlets.
The actions by Lai's lawyers in Britain followed that country's announcement last month it would withdraw its judges from Hong Kong’s top court because keeping them there would “legitimize oppression” in the former British colony.
Lai, 74, has been charged under Hong Kong's sweeping national security law and is serving 20 months in prison. His assets have been frozen and the raft of legal cases against him include four separate criminal prosecutions related to attending and joining various protests, his legal team at Doughty Street Chambers in the U.K. said in a statement.
Lai faces “the risk of spending the rest of his life in prison simply for speaking out, and for seeking to defend freedom of the press, democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong," Lai's counsel, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, said in the statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment