Page 6 - aruba-today-20210121

A6 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 21 January 2021

China labels Pompeo ‘doomsday clown’ over genocide claims

BEIJING (AP) — China’s are ethnically and cultur-
Foreign Ministry described ally distinct from the Han
outgoing U.S. Secretary Chinese majority.
of State Mike Pompeo on The Associated Press re-
Wednesday as a “dooms- ported on widespread
day clown” and said his forced birth control among
designation of China as a the Uighurs last year, includ-
perpetrator of genocide ing the mass sterilization of
and crimes against human- Muslim women, even while
ity was merely “a piece of family planning restrictions
wastepaper.” are loosened on members
The allegations of abuses of China’s dominant Han
against Muslim minority ethnic group.
groups in China’s Xinjiang China has denied all the
region are “outright sensa- charges, but Uighur forced
tional pseudo-propositions labor has been linked by
and a malicious farce con- reporting by the AP to vari-
cocted by individual anti- ous products imported to
China and anti-Commu- the U.S., including clothing
nist forces represented by and electronic goods such
Pompeo,” spokesperson as cameras and computer
Hua Chunying told report- monitors.
ers at a daily briefing. James Leibold, a special-
“In our view, Pompeo’s In this file photo taken Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, a protester from the Uighur community living in ist in Chinese ethnic policy
so-called designation is a Turkey, holds an anti-China placard during a protest in Istanbul, , against what they allege is at La Trobe in Melbourne,
piece of wastepaper. This oppression by the Chinese government to Muslim Uighurs in far-western Xinjiang province. Australia, said international
Associated Press
American politician, who is pressure appears to have
notorious for lying and de- ken out and taken action with forced labor. Sea. China has responded had some effect on Chi-
ceiving, is turning himself on Xinjiang, implement- Many of the Chinese of- with its own sanctions and nese policies in Xinjiang,
into a doomsday clown ing a range of sanctions ficials accused of having tough rhetoric. particularly in prompting
and joke of the century against senior Chinese taken part in repression China has imprisoned more the government to release
with his last madness and Communist Party leaders are already under U.S. than 1 million people, in- information about the
lies of the century,” Hua and state-run enterprises sanctions. The “genocide” cluding Uighurs and oth- camps and possibly reduc-
said. that fund repressive poli- designation means new er mostly Muslim ethnic ing mass detentions.
Pompeo’s announcement cies in the vast, resource- measures will be easier to groups, in a vast network of “So hopefully we’ll see a
Tuesday doesn’t require rich region. impose. prison-like political indoctri- continued continuity with
any immediate actions, al- Last week, the Trump ad- Tuesday’s move is the lat- nation camps, according regards to the new (Joe
though the U.S. must take ministration announced it est in a series of steps the to U.S. officials and human Biden) administration on
the designation into ac- would halt imports of cot- outgoing Trump administra- rights groups. People have holding China to account,”
count in formulating policy ton and tomatoes from tion has taken to ramp up been subjected to torture, Leibold said in an interview.
toward China. China says Xinjiang, with Customs and pressure on China over is- sterilization and political in- “And hopefully the Biden
its policies in Xinjiang aim Border Protection officials sues from human rights and doctrination in addition to administration can bring its
only to promote economic saying they would block the coronavirus pandemic forced labor as part of an allies along to continue to
growth and social stability. products from there sus- to Taiwan, Tibet, Hong assimilation campaign in a put pressure on the Chinese
The U.S. has previously spo- pected of being produced Kong and the South China region whose inhabitants government,” he said.q

American who enthused Bali was queer-friendly being deported

island of Bali over her viral and Human Rights. a follow-up consultation
tweets that celebrated it as A statement from the of- about becoming an expa-
a low-cost, queer-friendly fice cited her descriptions triate in Bali for $50. “She is
place for foreigners to live. of Bali providing comfort suspected of carrying out
Kristen Antoinette Gray for LGBT and being easily business activities by selling
arrived in Bali in January accessible during the pan- e-books and put a rate for
2020 and wound up stay- demic. It also referenced consulting (about) Bali tour-
ing through the coronavi- tweets with links to her e- ism,” Manihuruk said.
rus pandemic. Her posts on book, which had direct Many Indonesian social
Twitter, including compari- links to agents who could media users were furious
sons between Bali and Los help foreigners move to the that she was showing off liv-
Angeles and links to buy island. ing and working in Bali with-
her e-book, began going “She stated that she could out a proper business visa.
viral in Indonesia on Sun- provide easy access to Bali “I am not guilty. I have not
day. through the recommend- overstayed my (tourist) visa.
American graphic designer Kristen Antoinette Gray, left, walks Gray’s posts were consid- ed agency and offered I am not making money in
with her partner Saundra Michelle Alexander, right, to be tested ered to have “disseminat- the low living costs in Bali, Indonesian rupiah. I put out
for the coronavirus at a hospital in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on ed information disturbing to that it is comfortable and a statement about LGBT
Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. the public,” which was the LGBTQ-friendly,” Manihuruk and I am deported be-
Associated Press basis for her deportation, said at a news conference cause of LGBT,” Gray told
By FIRDIA LISNAWATI — An American graphic said Jamaruli Manihuruk, Tuesday. reporters after Immigration
Associated Press designer is being deported chief of the Bali regional of- Her tweets also referenced officials announced the
DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) from the Indonesian resort fice for the Ministry of Law her e-book costing $30 and deportation.q