China and US swap accusations of genocide, but does it make any sense?
By Jan van der Made - RFI LISTEN
AP - Andy Wong
The last official act of out-going US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was to accuse China of perpetrating genocide against its Uyghur population. China was quick to point to the US s treatment of its own indigenous people, to the American history of slavery and discrimination. The increasingly vitriolic war of words adds to the ongoing deterioration of ties between Beijing and Washington.
In a strongly worded press release published on 19 January - a day before Pompeo left office - the US State Department accused China of crimes against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, including arbitrary imprisonment . of more than one million civilians, forced sterilisation, torture, forced labour and other humen rights violations, which, according to Pompeo, add up to genocide .
IFJ 21 December 2020
China: Bloomberg journalist remains detained as Beijing pushes back
China has warned against foreign interference in what it calls an ‘internal affair’ after foreign parties expressed concerns over the detention of Haze Fan, a Bloomberg staff member in Beijing. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) rejects this is an internal matter and says international calls for information on Fan’s condition and the charges against her do not constitute as interference. Bloomberg journalist Haze Fan. Credit: AsiaNews
Haze Fan, a Chinese citizen who has worked for the Bloomberg News Beijing bureau since 2017, has been under detention by Chinese authorities on suspicion of endangering national security since December 7. She was last seen being escorted out of her apartment by plain clothes officials, according to the news organization.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has confirmed the detention of Haze Fan, a Chinese citizen working for Bloomberg News as a news assistant, on suspicion of endangering national security.
“As far as I know, Chinese national Fan is suspected of engaging in criminal activities that endanger the national security of China, and has recently been taken under compulsory measures by the Beijing National Security Bureau according to law,” [Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin] told reporters at a daily briefing.
“The case is currently under investigation in accordance with law,” Wang said. [
The European Union issued a statementcalling on Chinese authorities to release Fan and other journalists who have been detained this year. From the statement: