Chinese diplomat Liu Jianchao taken in for questioning, WSJ reports
Liu was taken away after returning to Beijing in late July from a work trip overseas, WSJ reported, citing the people familiar with the matter.
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
China ‘expels' US destroyer after South China Sea stand-off
The Chinese navy has confronted an American destroyer in disputed waters in the South China Sea, the most serious stand-off between the two sides in the area for years. The USS Higgins was sailing with a smaller combat ship, the USS Cincinnati, near the Scarborough Shoal, a group of atolls off the coast of the Philippines where two Chinese warships collided while chasing a Philippine vessel earlier in the week. Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea as falling under its sovereignty for historical reasons, something disputed not only by the Philippines but other countries that border it. 'The US move seriously violated China's sovereignty and security, severely undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea,' the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) southern command said. Scarborough Shoal, known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines and Huangyan Dao to the Chinese, is one of a number of regular flashpoints in the region. Clashes have become more common as the PLA attempts to 'break out' of Chinese coastal areas to establish itself as the dominant navy in the western Pacific. Asserting its disputed rights to islands, shoals and open sea is a key part of the strategy, which is fiercely resisted by the Philippines, a close US ally. On Monday, the Philippine coastguard released a video it said showed Chinese vessels chasing and firing water cannon at one of its own ships, which was protecting fishermen in the area. They then collided with each other. China said it took measures 'in accordance with international law' to drive the Philippine ship away, but made no mention of the collision. It insists it will try to block all Philippine naval activity in the area. • US threats to Aukus pact put united front against China at risk The Trump administration has given mixed signals over the strength of its commitment to the protection of allies in the Pacific as China increasingly flexes its muscles, particularly over Taiwan. But the US navy itself has been hawkish about the threat from China, and actively attempts to assert free movement for its own and its allies' warships in the South China Sea. 'The United States is defending its right to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Higgins did here,' it said. 'Nothing China says otherwise will deter us.' The PLA claimed to have 'expelled' the Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, from the area. The incident is the first of its type since 2022, when a PLA warship confronted a similar US destroyer, the USS Benfold, near the Paracels, another disputed island chain, and the first near the Scarborough Shoal for six years. Later on Wednesday, a Chinese fighter jet buzzed a Philippine coastguard plane that was carrying journalists as it conducted a surveillance flight over the shoal. • Trump extends deadline for higher tariffs on China by 90 days Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine coastguard spokesman, said the collision, in which one of the Chinese vessels appeared to be damaged, should be a 'learning experience' for Beijing. 'For so many years, we have been reminding them to stop dangerous manoeuvres, to stop risky blockings, to adhere to the collision regulations because if there is a very high chance of miscalculation, this kind of collision incident would happen,' he said.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Tulip Siddiq brands corruption trial in Bangladesh a ‘farce' as case opens
A former Government minister has labelled a trial into her alleged corruption a 'farce' as it got under way in Bangladesh. Tulip Siddiq, who resigned in January as Treasury minister, said the case being heard in Dhaka was 'built on fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta'. Ms Siddiq is the niece of the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheika Hasina, who fled the country in August last year after ruling for 15 years. Ms Hasina had previously held the post for five years and she is the daughter of Bangladesh's founding president. She was ousted amid student-led protests that were met with violence by government forces, which saw nearly 300 people killed. She is now exiled in India. In April, it was reported that Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission had sought an arrest warrant for Ms Siddiq over allegations the MP for Hampstead and Highgate illegally received a 7,200sq ft plot of land in the country's capital. Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials gave evidence in court on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. Ms Siddiq has claimed she has not had any official communication about the trial. In a post on X on Wednesday as the case got under way, Ms Siddiq said: 'The so-called trial now under way in Dhaka is nothing more than a farce – built on fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta. 'Over the past year, the allegations against me have repeatedly shifted, yet I have never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities once. 'I have never received a court summons, no official communication, and no evidence. 'If this were a genuine legal process, the authorities would have engaged with me or my legal team, responded to our formal correspondence, and presented the evidence they claim to hold. 'Instead, they have peddled false and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but never formally put to me by investigators. 'Even my offer to meet Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus during his recent visit to London was refused. Such conduct is wholly incompatible with the principles of a fair trial that we uphold in the UK. 'I have been clear from the outset that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence that is presented to me. Continuing to smear my name to score political points is both baseless and damaging.' The MP had resigned in January after six months in Government after an investigation by the Prime Minister's ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus into her links to Ms Hasina's regime. She came under scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt's allies. She stepped down and said she had become 'a distraction' from Labour's agenda. Campaigners from her aunt's party, the Awami League, had campaigned and canvassed for her during previous general elections. In an interview with the Guardian before the trial began, Ms Siddiq said she had been 'collateral damage' in the long-standing feud between Mr Yunus and Ms Hasina. She said: 'These are wider forces that I'm battling against… There's no doubt people have done wrong things in Bangladesh, and they should be punished for it. It's just I'm not one of them.' After an outcry over the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people demonstrating against what they said was an increasingly autocratic and cruel administration, Ms Hasina and Siddiq's mother, Sheikh Rehana, who was in the country at the time, fled the Bangladeshi capital in a military helicopter to India. It was, Ms Siddiq admits, a scary time. Ms Hasina's entire family, apart from her husband, children and sister, were murdered during the August 15 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'etat in which Ms Siddiq's grandfather, the first president of Bangladesh, was assassinated.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Tulip Siddiq: Trial of Labour MP begins in Bangladesh
The trial of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq over corruption allegations has formally begun in former minister did not attend the hearing, where investigators from the country's corruption watchdog set out the case against her and 20 other individuals, including her aunt, her mother, her brother and her is accused of influencing her aunt Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted as Bangladesh's prime minister last year, to secure a plot of land in a suburb of the capital Dhaka for her family MP for Hampstead and Highgate, who denies the allegations, said the "so-called trial" was "a farce" built on "fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta". Hasina fled Bangladesh for India last August after being ousted amid a crackdown by government forces on student-led protests which saw hundreds killed. A copy of the case alleges that whilst she was a serving MP Ms Siddiq "forced and influenced her aunt and the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina using her special power to secure [a plot of land] for her mother Rehana Siddiq, sister Azmina Siddiq and brother Radwan Siddiq".As per Bangladeshi law, if an individual has any plot or flat in or around Dhaka, they are not permitted to receive any plot in the lucrative Purbachal project, prosecutors found guilty, the maximum sentence would be a lifetime imprisonment, according to prosecutor for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Tariqul Islam, said Ms Siddiq was being tried as a Bangladeshi citizen as the ACC found her Bangladeshi passport, national ID, and tax identity number. Ms Siddiq's lawyers previously told the Financial Times: "Tulip has never had a Bangladesh national identity card or voter ID and has not held a passport since she was a child." In a statement on X, Ms Siddiq said: "Over the past year, the allegations against me have repeatedly shifted, yet I have never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities once."I have never received a court summons, no official communication, and no evidence."If this were a genuine legal process, the authorities would have engaged with me or my legal team, responded to our formal correspondence, and presented the evidence they claim to hold."Instead, they have peddled false and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but never formally put to me by investigators."She added: "I have been clear from the outset that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence that is presented to me. Continuing to smear my name to score political points is both baseless and damaging."The Bangladeshi authorities issued an arrest warrant for Ms Siddiq earlier this next hearing in the case has been scheduled for 28 August. Ms Siddiq resigned as Treasury minister in Sir Keir Starmer's government in January, saying continuing in her role would be a "distraction", although she insisted she had done nothing followed an investigation into the allegations against her by the prime minister's standards adviser, Sir Laurie his report, Sir Laurie said he had "not identified evidence of improprieties".But he said it was "regrettable" that Siddiq had not been more alert to the "potential reputational risks" of her ties to her trial in Bangladesh relates to three charges, while Ms Siddiq also faces another charge of allegedly illegally acquiring a flat in the Gulshan area of ACC is also investigating a separate case against Siddiq and her family over allegations of embezzlement of £3.9bn connected to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant deal with Bangladesh in has denied any involvement in the investigation is based on a series of allegations made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of authorities estimate that about $234bn (£174bn) was siphoned off from Bangladesh through corrupt means while Hasina was in power. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
