Page 28 - bon-dia-aruba-20200605

A28 WORLD NEWS
Friday 5 June 2020
China easing airline access amid conflict with Washington

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese U.S. airlines from competing
regulators said Thursday fairly against Chinese carri-
more foreign airlines will be ers.
allowed to fly to China as The four airlines affected
anti-coronavirus controls by the order are Air China,
ease, but it was unclear China Eastern Airlines, Chi-
whether the change will na Southern Airlines and
defuse a fresh conflict with Xiamen Airlines.
the Trump administration The Chinese ministries of
over air travel. commerce and transpor-
The announcement came tation didn't immediately
after Washington said respond to questions about
Wednesday it would bar how Beijing might react.
four Chinese airlines from Before the pandemic, there
the United States because were about 325 passenger
Beijing was failing to allow flights a week between the
United Airlines and Delta United States and China, in-
Air Lines to resume flights to cluding ones operated by
China. United, Delta and Ameri-
Airlines that were flying to can Airlines. While U.S. carri-
China when controls were ers stopped flying, Chinese
imposed in March were airlines made 20 weekly
allowed to keep making flights in mid-February and
one flight per week. United In this March 18, 2020 file photo, a Southern China Airlines flight from Guangzhou, China passes 34 by mid-March.
in front of the sun as it arrives at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia,
and Delta had suspended Canada. The Transportation Depart-
their flights before that and Associated Press ment said it objected to
asked permission to re- China's March limit but Bei-
sume. Chinese regulators about ment of Transportation. of passengers who test pos- jing responded last week
Airlines that aren't on the its status, United said in a "Some progress has already itive reaches five. that it was not violating the
March list can make one statement, "We look for- been made in the arrange- Ahead of the Chinese an- air-travel treaty because
flight per week starting ward to resuming passen- ments. China has also an- nouncement, the Trans- the same one-flight limit
Monday, the Civil Aviation ger service between the nounced adjustments of portation Department ac- applies to Chinese airlines.
Administration of China United States and China its policies," said a ministry cused Beijing of violating United and Delta an-
said on its website. when the regulatory envi- spokesman, Zhao Lijian. a 1980 agreement on air nounced last month that
The announcement ap- ronment allows us to do so." "We hope the United States travel. It said in response, they hoped to resume
peared to open the door The dispute adds to U.S.- will not create obstacles for Chinese carriers would be flights to China in June,
to United and Delta but Chinese strains over trade, solving the problem." allowed the same number as air travel has begun to
CAAC gave no indication technology, Taiwan, hu- Foreign carriers will be al- of flights as Beijing permit- recover recently. United
which carriers were af- man rights and the status of lowed to increase flights ted U.S. airlines. wants to fly from San Fran-
fected. An employee who Hong Kong. to two per week if they go The department said Presi- cisco to Shanghai and Bei-
answered the phone at The Chinese foreign ministry three weeks with no pas- dent Donald Trump could jing and from Newark, New
CAAC said she had no de- expressed regret at the U.S. sengers testing positive for put the order into effect Jersey, to Shanghai. Delta
tails. She would give only announcement and said the virus, CAAC said. It said before June 16. The depart- seeks to resume flights via
her surname, Yan. CAAC was "making solemn a route will be suspended ment protested last month Seoul to Shanghai from Se-
Asked what it heard from complaints" to the Depart- for one week if the number that Beijing was preventing attle and Detroit. q

U.N. rights official: Philippine anti-terror bill worrying

lation passed by the Philip- replace a 2007 anti-terror principle of legality under
pine Congress that allows law called the Human Se- international law."
the detention of suspects curity Act which was rarely "You add to this the context
for up to 24 days without used, largely because law in the Philippines where a
warrants and relaxes hu- enforcers can be fined lot of human rights orga-
man rights safeguards is 500,000 pesos ($9,800) for nizations are routinely la-
"very worrying," a U.N. rights each day they wrongfully beled as terrorists, this is
official said Thursday. detain a terrorism suspect. very worrying," Shamdasani
The House of Representa- Lawmakers removed such said in an online news con-
tives passed the Anti-Terror- safeguards in the new leg- ference on a new U.N. Hu-
ism Act of 2020 on Wednes- islation, which increases man Rights Office report
day night after President the number of days that about threats to human
Rodrigo Duterte urgently suspects can be detained rights in the Philippines.
endorsed the legisla- without warrants from three The report said the legisla-
tion, despite fears it could to 24. tion was among proposed
In this May 28, 2020, file photo provided by the Malacanang threaten human rights and Ravina Shamdasani of the new laws and amend-
Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo be used against his politi- U.N. Human Rights office ments "with the stated aim
Duterte, talks during his speech at the Malacanang presidential
palace in Manila, Philippines. cal opponents. The Senate said the legislation defines of strengthening public or-
Associated Press passed its version in Febru- terrorism broadly and al- der and countering terror-
ary. lows officials to designate ism," but "which risk eroding
By JIM GOMEZ MANILA, Philippines (AP) Once signed into law by people as terrorists in provi- constitutional and other le-
Associated Press — New anti-terrorism legis- Duterte, the legislation will sions that "may violate the gal protections."q