Clearnet test…
Beijing to Canberra, Washington: don’t ‘blackmail China’
WILL GLASGOW - MARCH 24, 2021
Beijing has accused Canberra and Washington of trying to “blackmail China” after the Biden administration raised the economic coercion of Australia at a tense meeting in Alaska.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing after the combustible first face-to-face meeting between the new US administration and China, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the Morrison government should stop co-ordinating with its ally.
“The attempt to form a clique to pressure and blackmail China, even intimidate China by virtue of someone else won‘t work,” Ms Hua said.
“There are direct flights between Australia and China. Taking a detour via the US is only counter-productive,” she said.
Since last April, Beijing has launched trade strikes on more than $20 billion of Australian exports to China, including black-listing coal, banning timber, crippling wine and barley with tariffs, and halting the lobster trade by threatening Chinese buyers.
During the almost 12 month campaign, ministers in President Xi Jinping’s government have refused to take calls or reply to letters from their Australian counterparts.
This week Trade Minister Dan Tehan told The Australian he hoped China would re-engage with Australia “sooner rather than later”.
Biden’s administration has made co-ordinating with allies and partners a key part of its China strategy.
Ahead of the first senior face-to-face meeting between US and Chinese sides in almost 9 months, Biden’s most senior Indo-Pacific official Kurt Campbell said Beijing’s relationship with Washington would not improve until the trade strikes against Australia ended.
“We have made clear that the US is not prepared to improve relations in a bilateral and separate context at the same time that a close and dear ally is being subjected to a form of economic coercion,” Mr Campbell said.
“We are not going to leave Australia alone on the field.”
At the testy meeting in Alaska, Xi’s most senior diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi bristled at the Biden administration’s public defence of its allies.
“To accuse China of coercion even before sharing the relevant views with China, is this the right act to do? Of course not,” said Minister Wang in a stern address delivered in front of a pool of TV cameras.
Earlier, Director Yang delivered a more than 15 minute tirade, attacking the U.S. and praising the Chinese Communist Party’s achievements.
“The United States is not in a position to speak to China from a position of superiority. The Chinese people don’t take this crap,” he said in comments that were widely cheered in China.
Despite the sweeping trade sanctions, Australia’s total exports to China hit a record high in January and February, as the elevated price of iron ore has more than offset the retaliation campaign.
The state-controlled Global Times on Monday evening said it hoped a recent drop in the iron ore price would correct Australia’s “smug” attitude.
“It would probably be a good thing if after the fall in iron ore prices, the China-Australia trade data could more accurately reflect the true problems with Australia‘s economy,” the nationalistic tabloid wrote.
“Only when real pain is felt by the Australian economy will Canberra be motivated to seek structural changes to its economy, creating a better environment for trade.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/beijing-to-canberra-washington-dont-blackmail-china/news-story/48774050c56d809a8dbfe9c8206ebeea
Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on March 22, 2021
China Daily: During the China-US high-level strategic dialogue, the United States mentioned multiple times China's economic and military coercion against US allies. Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan thanked the US for having come out and said that it has got Australia's back and the US won't leave it alone on the playing field. In the meantime, we also see reports saying that regional countries should be prudent about US attempt to form an "anti-China coalition", adding that catering to the US strategic goals while ignoring China's concerns is not a balanced approach. For example, Republic of Korea said that it will not see China as a threat, but will step up practical cooperation with the country. What's your comment?
Hua Chunying: Director Yang Jiechi and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made strong responses to the so-called issues of "allies" and "coercion" in their opening remarks at the high-level strategic dialogue. Here, I would like to add a few things:
First, the US and some so-called allies of it cannot represent the international community. The fact is, the overwhelming majority of countries don't take the US as the international community, its values as international values, or its opinion as international opinion. They don't recognize rules made by a small number of countries as international rules.
Second, there are problems and different positions between China and the US and its allies including Australia respectively, and the ins and outs of those problems are crystal clear. The attempt to form a clique to pressure and blackmail China, even intimidate China by virtue of someone else won't work. There are direct flights between Australia and China. Taking a detour via the US is only counterproductive.
Third, the international community know too well who is wielding the sticks of sanctions, pursing long-arm jurisdiction and coercing other countries. China doesn't seek a trade war, illegal detention of foreign citizens or wanton suppression against foreign enterprises. The label of "diplomacy of coercion" is more suitable for the US, not China.
In conclusion, both the two peoples and the overwhelming majority of countries, including people in US ally countries, hope to see peaceful co-existence of China and the US. The two countries can have more mutual friends. We hope the US can show the confidence and demeanor of a major country, and stop coercing other countries into choosing sides and into interfering in China's internal affairs and undermining China's interests.
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1863166.shtml
Aussie motion apes US claims
Canberra blindfolded maneuver on Xinjiang to prove loyalty to US at cost of own national interest
Xu Keyue - Mar 22, 2021
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Australia, a member of the Five Eyes Alliance, has allowed debate on a motion to condemn "systematic breaches" of human rights over Uygurs by Chinese government, a move that Chinese experts view as a part of Washington's strategy in collusion with allies to contain China.
The current farce over China's Xinjiang in the Australian parliament once again shows that Canberra apes Washington's groundless allegations to prove its loyalty to the US alliance, without any sensible regard for its own national interest, experts noted.
Australian media reported on Monday the Australian government has allowed debate on the motion put forward by veteran Members of Parliament, Liberal Party's Kevin Andrews and Labor MP Chris Hayes, which would mark the "strongest ever" condemnation by the Australian Parliament of the Chinese government's treatment of Uygurs.
The motion, introduced on Monday, urges the United Nations to investigate Beijing for setting vocational education and training centers in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and calls on the Australian government to ensure it's not profiting off "forced labor" in Xinjiang, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Analysts said there are international and domestic factors driving this motion.
Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the research center for Pacific island countries of Liaocheng University, told the Global Times on Monday the motion is a joint effort led by the US to form an "ideological alliance" to contain China with the "human rights" banner.
The parliaments and governments of other countries - including the UK, the Netherlands, the US and Canada - recently smeared China for committing"genocide" in Xinjiang under international law.
The US is no longer able to contain China on its own, so the Biden administration is repairing the Western alliance to jointly suppress China's development, Yu said.
Australia previously followed the US to call for an investigation of the COVID-19 origin, which sparked tensions between China and Australia. "As the country realized that their attempt to smear China over the coronavirus failed, Australian politicians turned to join the new campaign led by the US over the so-called human rights issues to again defame China," Yu noted.
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Canberra's two motions about Xinjiang - including last week's blocked motion by Rex Patrick - are part of Washington's strategy in collusion with a small number of US allies to insidiously use Xinjiang as a red herring to defame China and stoke anti-China sentiment in the international community, Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times.
The Australian government blocked an attempt by Patrick last week to push through a Senate motion that would have recognized the Chinese government's treatment of the Muslim minority in Xinjiang as "genocide," Australian media reported.
The Chinese government has denied accusations of "human rights abuses" and the groundless and preposterous accusation of "genocide" in Xinjiang. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in early March said the claim of "genocide" in Xinjiang is pure political manipulation.
"Some of the politicians in Australia have been used as puppets by Washington to viciously carp at Beijing, turning a blind eye to the truth and reality about Xinjiang," Chen said.
Experts said major political parties in Australia have close relations with the US government and military, so they have to follow the US containment strategy against China. "Otherwise, the parties will not get support from the US, and the politicians will be criticized and abandoned by the US," Yu said.
Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on Monday that the US is adopting "coercion diplomacy" and hopes the US shows its confidence and poise as a major country and stops coercing other countries into taking sides or following its lead in interfering in China's internal affairs.
Hua was responding to a question regarding US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who rebuked China for using "economic coercion" against American allies during the first face-to-face meeting between senior officials in Alaska since US President Joe Biden took office.
Australia has continued its blindfolded maneuver to follow every step of the US, without any sensible regard of its own national interest, Chen noted.
Chen said China-Australia relations are in an unprecedentedly critical moment, and Australia cannot afford to sustain further damage. He warned that Canberra needs to come back to its senses to make level-headed decisions to steer the bilateral relations to the right track.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1219131.shtml
Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail in Manhattan court, judge cites 'experience evading detection'
AP / abc.net.au - 23 March 2021
For a third time, a judge rejected a bail package aimed at freeing Ghislaine Maxwell, as the ex-girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein awaits trial on charges that she recruited teenage girls for him to sexually abuse.
US District Judge Alison J. Nathan in Manhattan said in a written decision that nothing had changed since her previous two rulings in the matter.
Lawyers for the 59-year-old Ms Maxwell, whose trial is set for July, argued that defence motions to dismiss the charges against her and an offer to renounce her UK and France citizenships were significant enough to assure the court she would show up for trial.
They also said she would have a retired federal judge provide oversight authority over her financial affairs. A lawyer for Ms Maxwell did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
"The court's assessment of the defendant's history and characteristics has not changed," the judge wrote.
"The defendant continues to have substantial international ties, familial and personal connections abroad, substantial financial resources, and experience evading detection."
As to the offer to renounce citizenships, the judge said "considerable uncertainty regarding the enforceability and practical impact of the renunciations cloud whatever relevance they might otherwise have to the court's assessment of whether the defendant poses a risk of flight."
She added: "And that same uncertainty — and the possibility that she will be able to successfully resist, or at least delay, extradition — incentivises flight, particularly because of the Defendant's substantial international ties."
The judge noted that Maxwell, who is a US citizen, wanted to retain control over US$450,000 ($580,000) of her assets to cover living expenses, along with other assets, including jewellery and other personal property potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"While those amounts may be a small percentage of the defendant's total assets, they represent a still-substantial amount that could easily facilitate flight," Judge Nathan said.
The judge also said she continued to have concerns that Ms Maxwell exhibited a "lack of candour regarding her assets when she was first arrested".
Several weeks ago, the judge rejected a bail package in which lawyers for Maxwell offered to pledge US$28.5 million ($33.3 million) toward bail, including $22.5 million ($29 million) belonging to Maxwell and her husband.
The lawyers also said Ms Maxwell could remain in a New York City dwelling with armed guards who would ensure she would not flee.
Judge Nathan noted that the sex abuse charges against Ms Maxwell carried a presumption of detention that was unlike other cases in which bail was presumed to be a more likely outcome.
Last July, Ms Maxwell was arrested at an estate in the state of New Hampshire where prosecutors claimed she was attempting to hide from law enforcement.
Ms Maxwell's lawyers have insisted that she went there to protect her family and herself against threats and to evade the scrutiny of the media.
Prosecutors claim Ms Maxwell recruited at least three teenage girls in the 1990s for Epstein to sexually abuse and sometimes joined in the abuse. She has pleaded not guilty.
Epstein killed himself in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-23/for-a-third-time-judge-rejects-bail-for-ghislaine-maxwell/100022728
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.169.0_4.pdf
ASIO calls for more extremists on terror list after Sonnenkrieg Division becomes first on list in Australia
BEN PACKHAM - MARCH 22, 2021
ASIO has revealed it wants more ideologically motivated extremist groups to be designated as terrorist organisations, in addition to the newly listed Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD).
The listing of SKD under the Criminal Code, announced by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on Monday, marks the first designation of a far-right extremist group as a terrorist organisation.
“It is not the only (ideologically motivated) group we have proposed,” ASIO director-general Mike Burgess told Senate estimates.
“Obviously, how that happened, and whether or not they meet the legal threshold, is a matter for others.”
The SKD is a UK-based neo-Nazi group which was last year outlawed in Britain, where its members have been convicted of encouraging terrorism, disseminating terror material, and preparations for a terrorist act.
Mr Burgess told Senate estimates on Monday: “This is a group that actually does have reach here. Some Australians do connect with this group.”
He said other ideologically motivated groups listed as terrorist organisations overseas “also have reach here”.
But said he believed SKD’s US counterpart, the Atomwaffen Division, was “defunct”, along with the far-right UK group National Action.
Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells welcomed Mr Burgess’ decision, announced this week, to refer to “ideologically motivated extremism”, rather than far-right extremism, saying Nazism wasn’t a right-wing ideology.
However, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi objected to the new naming convention, saying right-wing extremists should be called out as such by the government.
Mr Burgess said some extremist groups and individuals did not fit into the left-right spectrum, such as those describing themselves as the Incels, or Involuntary Celibate; and the “strange” ideology of QAnon conspiracists.
Mr Dutton said the decision to list reflected the government’s commitment to stamping out violence and extremism of all kinds, regardless of ideology or motivation.
“SKD adheres to an abhorrent, violent ideology that encourages lone-wolf terrorist actors who would seek to cause significant harm to our way of life and our country,” he said.
“Members of SKD have already been convicted of terrorist offences in the United Kingdom, including encouraging terrorism, preparing for a terrorist attack and possession and dissemination of terrorist material.”
Offences relating to terrorist organisations attract penalties of up to 25 years’ imprisonment.
A total of 26 terrorist organisations are listed under the Criminal Code.
The move comes as the parliament’s intelligence and security committee conducts an inquiry into violent extremism, including by far-right groups.
In his annual threat assessment last week, Mr Burgess said “so-called right-wing extremism” had grown from about one-third of ASIO’s priority counter-terrorism caseload to about 40 per cent over the past year.
Islamist extremism will now be referred to by ASIO as “religiously motivated violent extremism”.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/neonazi-group-sonnenkrieg-division-first-rightwing-terrorist-operation-listed-in-australia/news-story/bf5d84e44e3b7e2b8fc98b9d5a7e4f8a
Warren Entsch contradicts Peta Credlin, claiming he sacked staffer accused of solo sex act
Exclusive: former chief whip says he dismissed the man in 2012 for leaking to Credlin when she was Tony Abbott’s chief of staff
Paul Karp - 25 Mar 2021
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The federal Liberal MP Warren Entsch has emphatically rejected Peta Credlin’s claim that several years ago she was responsible for sacking a Coalition aide dismissed again this week for allegedly masturbating over a female MP’s desk.
Entsch, the member for Leichhardt and former chief opposition whip, told Guardian Australia that not only did Credlin have no input into his decision to sack the staffer in 2012, but in fact he dismissed the aide for an alleged unauthorised leak from his office to Credlin who was then Tony Abbott’s chief of staff.
Alex Somlyay, the chief whip before Entsch, has backed Entsch’s account and added that he had originally hired the staffer on Credlin’s suggestion.
Guardian Australia revealed on Tuesday the man had been employed on and off for more than a decade working for senior Liberal figures. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, later confirmed his employers included the former chief whip Nola Marino in whose office the masturbation incident allegedly took place.
On Wednesday evening, Credlin used her Sky News program to claim that unnamed Liberal staffers held gay orgies in parliament and, separately, that she had sacked the man who lost his job this week several years before.
Credlin alleged: “The man sacked by the Morrison government this week for his disgusting acts on an MP’s desk and its distribution on a little chat group … that bloke – I demanded to be sacked years earlier for disloyalty, for lying, for leaking against his boss.
“Now that bloke, he’s not the same as the man I told you about in the orgies, but the bloke that was sacked this week was someone I sacked many years earlier.”
Credlin claimed she had vowed the man would never be re-employed while she was in the building but he later returned to parliament when Malcolm Turnbull replaced Abbott as prime minister.
Entsch and Somlyay told Guardian Australia the man was hired by Somlyay, then continued his employment in Entsch’s office when Entsch replaced him as whip in 2010.
“Credlin said to try out [the staffer],” Somlyay claimed. “She didn’t sack him, she appointed him … no one else was considered.” Despite describing the alleged masturbation incident as “bloody stupid”, Somlyay recalled that in his employment the staffer was “excellent”.
Entsch said he sacked the man in 2012 claiming “the reason was he leaked information from the whip’s office to the prime minister’s office, to Credlin, and to [the manager of opposition business] Christopher Pyne’s office.”
Entsch said that Labor had requested a pair for Craig Thomson in line with an earlier agreement to automatically grant pairs for family reasons. According to Entsch, the staffer told Abbott and Pyne’s office but not him. The Coalition decided to refuse the pair.
“I was livid,” Entsch said. “That was the reason – the integrity of the whip’s office had been compromised. She did not instruct me. It is fanciful to suggest I would take instruction from anyone, not from the prime minister, let alone from a staff member.”
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Entsch said he took “no pride” in the decision – because the staffer was a “very good” aide – but let him go because he had already been warned.
“He was not sacked by [Credlin] – he was sacked because of her,” Entsch claimed, describing Credlin’s comments as “totally unfair on [the staffer]”.
“It’s easy for the vultures to come in and claim the higher ground. But sometimes history then bites you on the arse.”
Somlyay backed Entsch’s version of events, recalling that the staffer had told him he was sacked by Entsch. Entsch said he gave the aide a reference for a job outside Canberra “because he was good at what he did”.
Network Ten on Monday reported allegations that a group of at least four Coalition men shared images and videos of sex acts via Facebook Messenger over a two-year period ending last year. The allegations were based on the account of a whistleblower who admitted to some of the alleged conduct he was detailing on the condition of anonymity.
In question time on Tuesday, Morrison dealt with a question about another claim in the program – that staffers allegedly brought sex workers to parliament “for the pleasure of Coalition MPs” – by revealing it had “referred to a former minister not a current minister”.
Other than the one dismissal, no other disciplinary action has yet been taken against the men because they have not been identified by the government.
On Wednesday evening, Credlin warned the other three staffers in the message group she knew who they were. “I see you,” she said, a warning she repeated to the former minister who allegedly frequented sex workers.
Labor asked in question time on Thursday if Morrison had contacted Credlin to identify the other Coalition staffers.
Morrison replied: “These are very serious matters, and the government is taking it very seriously, and where matters such as this can be pursued, we will, but I don’t think it is helpful to provide a running commentary on such sensitive matters.”
Guardian Australia contacted Credlin for comment about this story. She subsequently responded on Sky News, stating on air that although Entsch might argue he “technically” sacked the aide, in fact, all staffer positions were “vested in the leader”.
“If some of these MPs try to say I didn’t tell them to sack the staffer, that [I didn’t say] he needed to go – they’re kidding themselves.”
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
https://www.lifeline.org.au
http://www.1800respect.org.au
http://www.befrienders.org
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/25/warren-entsch-contradicts-peta-credlin-claiming-he-sacked-staffer-accused-of-solo-sex-act-for-leaking-to-her
New sex trafficking crimes brought against Jeffrey Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell
Reuters / abc.net.au - 30 March 2021
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US prosecutors have expanded their criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell, saying the British socialite helped procure a fourth underage girl for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.
An amended indictment against Ms Maxwell now covers alleged crimes stretching from 1994 to 2004 in New York and Florida.
It includes accusations that she paid the girl, known as Minor Victim-4, hundreds of dollars for each sexual act with Epstein.
The girl was 14 when the grooming began, the indictment said.
Ms Maxwell, who was Epstein's long-time associate and former girlfriend, faces new charges of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor in the eight-count indictment, as well as earlier charges that include perjury.
She had previously pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom three teenage girls for sex between 1994 and 1997 in New York.
Ms Maxwell has been held in a jail in Brooklyn since her arrest last July.
Lawyers for Ms Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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It is unclear whether the new charges could lead to a postponement of Ms Maxwell's scheduled July 12 trial in Manhattan, though prosecutors said Ms Maxwell should have "ample time" to prepare.
In a letter to the judge, prosecutors said they have given Ms Maxwell's lawyers the month and year when the fourth victim was born and key evidence about her.
They also said they plan to turn over large amounts of other evidence, including statements from more than 250 witnesses related to their investigation of Epstein and his associates.
Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
His estate was used to create a fund expected to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution to victims of his sexual abuses.
The fund has received more than 175 claims.
Indictment alleges Maxwell sent lingerie to victim
According to the amended indictment, Ms Maxwell and Epstein recruited the fourth victim to engage in sex acts with Epstein at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, and successfully encouraged her to recruit other girls to do the same.
The indictment said Epstein's employees, including Ms Maxwell, also sent gifts such as lingerie to the girl's Florida home from New York.
That townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side was sold this month for $USD 51 million ($66.8 million).
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In late January and early February, Ms Maxwell filed 12 motions seeking to dismiss all or part of the government case, or at least make it more difficult to win a conviction.
Ms Maxwell has said the government targeted her only because Epstein killed himself and prosecutors wanted someone else to blame, and that she was covered by Epstein's own non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida.
She has also said the perjury charges, based on depositions from 2016 in a civil lawsuit, should be tossed because her answers were true, and the grand jury in suburban White Plains, New York, that indicted her had too few non-white jurors.
Last week, another federal judge in Manhattan refused to dismiss espionage charges against a former CIA employee indicted in White Plains early in the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting the defendant's argument that the jury was not diverse enough.
That ruling may foreshadow the outcome of Ms Maxwell's dismissal request.
On March 22, Judge Nathan rejected Maxwell's third request for bail, saying Maxwell remained a significant flight risk.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-30/new-sex-trafficking-charges-against-ghislaine-maxwell/100037308
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.187.0_6.pdf