Syria troops quit Druze heartland after violence leaves nearly 600 dead
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HKFP
2 days ago
- HKFP
China confirms US bank employee banned from leaving over ‘criminal case'
Beijing confirmed Monday that an employee of US bank Wells Fargo was barred from leaving China, following reports last week that Shanghai-born managing director Chenyue Mao was under an exit ban. After multiple media reports, Wells Fargo confirmed last week that it was providing assistance to the Atlanta-based Mao, who entered China in recent weeks but is now unable to leave. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday that Mao was 'involved in a criminal case currently being investigated by the Chinese authorities'. 'The Chinese law enforcement agencies have imposed exit restrictions in accordance with the law,' Guo said. He did not give details of Mao's alleged offences, and Wells Fargo has not provided more information on her case. But the San Francisco-based bank is now restricting its employees from visiting China following this case, according to reports. It said in a statement to AFP on Friday that it was 'closely tracking this situation and working through the appropriate channels so our employee can return to the United States as soon as possible'. Guo said Mao 'cannot leave the country while the case is ongoing, and has an obligation to cooperate with the work of investigators'. He stressed that it was an 'individual case' and that China would 'continue as ever to welcome people from every country to travel and do business here'. 'No matter whether you are Chinese or not, you must follow Chinese laws while in China,' he said. Tensions and detentions Industry groups say multinational firms have faced an increasingly difficult business environment in recent years, citing a lack of transparency on data laws and prolonged detentions of employees in the country. The trend has coincided with growing tensions between Beijing and certain Western nations, particularly the United States but also regional competitors. The Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four unnamed sources, that an employee at the US Commerce Department was being prevented from leaving China after failing to declare on his visa application that he worked for the American government. The unnamed Chinese American man, who works for the Patent and Trademark Office, had travelled to China several months ago to visit family, the newspaper reported. Asked about the report on Monday, Guo said he was not familiar with the case. On Wednesday, a Chinese court sentenced a Japanese businessman from pharmaceutical company Astellas to three and a half years in prison for spying. Another pharma giant, UK-headquartered AstraZeneca, said in November that the head of its China operations, Leon Wang, had been detained, after reports that the firm was under investigation for potentially illegal data collection and drug imports. And in 2023, a senior executive at US risk advisory firm Kroll was prohibited from leaving China, according to the Wall Street Journal.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Syria's armed Bedouin say they have withdrawn from Druze-majority city of Sweida
Syria's armed Bedouin clans announced on Sunday they had withdrawn from the Druze-majority city of Sweida following weeklong clashes and a US-brokered ceasefire, as humanitarian aid convoys started to enter the battered southern city. The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's already fragile post-war transition. Israel also launched dozens of air strikes in the Druze-majority Sweida province, targeting government forces who had effectively sided with the Bedouin. The clashes also led to a series of targeted sectarian attacks against the Druze community, followed by revenge attacks against the Bedouin. A series of tit-for-tat kidnappings sparked the clashes in various towns and villages in the province, which later spread to Sweida city, the provincial capital. Government forces were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted on before withdrawing again. Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who has been perceived as more sympathetic to the Bedouin, had tried to appeal to the Druze community while remaining critical of the militias. He later urged the Bedouin to leave the city, saying that they 'cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country's affairs and restoring security'. 'We thank the Bedouin for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceasefire and comply with the state's orders,' he said in an address broadcast on Saturday.
RTHK
3 days ago
- RTHK
Sectarian clashes continue in Syria's Sweida region
Sectarian clashes continue in Syria's Sweida region The government says security forces are deploying in the southern region. Photo: Reuters Sectarian clashes escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida on Saturday, with machinegun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggled to implement a ceasefire. Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Late on Saturday, the interior ministry said clashes in Sweida city had been halted and the area cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters following the deployment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said clashes since last week around Sweida had killed at least 940 people. Reuters could not independently verify the toll. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for airstrikes during the week. The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's Islamist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. Saturday's violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighbouring Israel, which carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the defence ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel says it is protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and Washington differ over Syria. The US supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel says the government is dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority, to which much of Assad's elite belonged. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession, or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sharaa was siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority — Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell, and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon, and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," said Omar Obeid, director of the hospital. (Reuters)
