Latest news with #MuslimUyghurs
Politico
5 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Academic with history of incendiary remarks to lead US Institute of Peace
'We look forward to seeing him advance President Trump's America First agenda in this new role,' the statement said. USIP has been in turmoil in recent months as the administration and its Department of Government Efficiency sought to close the organization and withhold funding. The State Department said the institute has in recent decades 'slipped in its mission' to provide research, analysis and training in diplomacy. In February, several dozen Democratic House members signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio opposing Beattie's appointment to his current role. They cited his 'white nationalist loyalties and public glorification of our adversaries' authoritarian systems,' which included praise of the Chinese Communist Party and dismissal of its campaign against the largely Muslim Uyghurs. Beattie also drew widespread condemnation for a 2024 social media post on X in which he wrote 'competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work.' Beattie, who previously served as a visiting instructor at Duke University, has since been at the forefront of the Trump administration's efforts to overhaul the State Department's Fulbright Program and shutter its Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub. Trump signed an executive order firing USIP President George Moose and most of USIP's board in February. The remaining board members, including Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, subsequently installed Department of Government Efficiency staffer Kenneth Jackson, as acting president. DOGE staffer Nate Cavanaugh later took over as acting president. The Trump administration laid off most of the embattled institute's staff in March following a tense standoff between USIP staffers and DOGE employees at the institute's headquarters. A federal judge subsequently blocked the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the organization, which was founded in 1984.
AsiaOne
01-07-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
China appoints ethnic affairs head as Xinjiang Communist Party chief
BEIJING — China's ruling Communist Party has appointed the head of an ethnic affairs panel as its new party secretary in the vast northwestern region of Xinjiang, the official news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday (July 1). Chen Xiaojiang has also held a vice ministerial role since 2020 in the party's United Front Work Department, his profile on China's Wikipedia equivalent, Baidu's Baike, shows. The department runs influence operations related to ethnic minorities, religious groups and on the Taiwan issue at home and abroad. In 2020, he also became the first individual with an ethnic Han majority background to be appointed director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission since it was re-established in 1978, the Caixin business outlet said. Xinhua did not say when Chen will officially take up the role. In 2022, the United Nations reported finding "serious human rights violations" against mainly Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang under China's national security and counter-terrorism policies, as well as forced labour accusations. China has repeatedly countered that the rights of all ethnic groups in the region were protected, while denying forced labour. It has dismissed the report as "groundless" and a part of the West's attempts to contain China. [[nid:719579]]
Straits Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
China appoints ethnic affairs head as Xinjiang Communist Party chief
FILE PHOTO: A Chinese pagoda overlooks the old city in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, May 4, 2021. Picture taken May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File photo BEIJING - China's ruling Communist Party has appointed the head of an ethnic affairs panel as its new party secretary in the vast northwestern region of Xinjiang, the official news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday. Chen Xiaojiang has also held a vice ministerial role since 2020 in the party's United Front Work Department, his profile on China's Wikipedia equivalent, Baidu's Baike, shows. The department runs influence operations related to ethnic minorities, religious groups and on the Taiwan issue at home and abroad. In 2020, he also became the first individual with an ethnic Han majority background to be appointed director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission since it was re-established in 1978, the Caixin business outlet said. Xinhua did not say when Chen will officially take up the role. In 2022, the United Nations reported finding "serious human rights violations" against mainly Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang under China's national security and counter-terrorism policies, as well as forced labour accusations. China has repeatedly countered that the rights of all ethnic groups in the region were protected, while denying forced labour. It has dismissed the report as "groundless" and a part of the West's attempts to contain China. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Boston Globe
11-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Trump says US gets rare earth minerals from China and tariffs on Chinese goods will total 55 percent
What Trump described as a 'deal' actually is a framework to help the U.S. and China eventually negotiate a sought-after trade agreement, which Trump intends to do with numerous countries but so far has been unable to execute on as quickly as he promised the public he'd be able to. Advertisement So far, Trump only has announced the terms of a deal with the United Kingdom. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A White House official, who was not authorized to discuss the terms publicly and insisted on anonymity to describe them, said the 55% was not an increase on the previous 30% tariff on China because Trump was including other pre-existing import taxes. 'OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME.,' Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media site. He said full magnets and any necessary rare earths will be supplied up front by China. 'WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!' Trump wrote. A Chinese statement on the talks did not reveal any details or concrete steps. Advertisement In a follow-up social media post, Trump said he and Xi 'are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade. This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!' Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators announced late Tuesday in London that they had agreed on a framework to get their trade negotiations back on track after a series of disputes that threatened to derail them. The announcement came at the end of two days of talks in the British capital that wrapped up late Tuesday. It also came as an international rights group said that several global brands are among dozens of companies at risk of using forced labor through their Chinese supply chains because they use critical minerals or buy minerals-based products sourced from the far-western Xinjiang region of China. The report by the Netherlands-based Global Rights Compliance says companies including Avon, Walmart, Nescafe, Coca-Cola and Sherwin-Williams may be linked to titanium sourced from Xinjiang, where rights groups allege the Chinese government runs coercive labor practices targeting predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The report found 77 Chinese suppliers in the titanium, lithium, beryllium and magnesium industries operating in Xinjiang. It said the suppliers are at risk of participating in the Chinese government's 'labor transfer programs,' in which Uyghurs are forced to work in factories as part of a long-standing campaign of assimilation and mass detention. Asked about the report, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that 'no one has ever been forcibly transferred in China's Xinjiang under work programs.' The named companies didn't immediately comment on the report. Trump's announcement showed that his tariff rates continue to be a moving target, rather than a transparent policy tool used to both raise revenues and clearly extract better terms in trade. Advertisement The U.S. president continues to take a mercurial approach to tariffs, threatening to change the rates in ways that trading partners find to be random. He recently doubled his steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%, possibly increasing costs for U.S. manufacturers and construction companies that rely on the metals as raw materials. He threatened a 50% tariff on the European Union under the belief that it would jumpstart talks, only to back down as his self-imposed 90-day negotiating period is set to expire around July 9. A separate 90-day negotiating period with China is set to end in mid-August. But Trump could change those dates and tariff rates as he has stressed the importance of flexibility over certainty. The president next week will attend the Group of 7 summit in Canada with other leading trade partners he has kept in limbo over his trade policies. On Tuesday night, Trump won what he said was a 'great and important' win when a federal appeals court ruled that the government can continue to collect his sweeping import taxes while challenges to his trade policy work their way through the courts. There are still lingering tensions between China and the U.S. on overarching economic goals. The Trump administration wants more manufacturing to occur domestically while using tariff revenues to fund its income tax cuts, while China wants to continue its technological ascent and move beyond its advancements in electric vehicles to developing artificial intelligence. The Trump administration has played down the risk of tariffs worsening inflation. Shortly after Trump announced the framework with China, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 2.4%, with the cost of autos and apparel falling on a monthly basis in a sign that any economy-wide inflation from the tariffs has yet to appear. Advertisement Associated Press writer Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Latest: Federal appeals court to hear arguments in Trump's bid to erase hush money conviction
Federal appellate judges will hear President Donald Trump's quest to erase his criminal conviction on Wednesday — one of the ways he's trying to get last year's hush money verdict overturned. A three-judge panel is set to consider Trump's efforts to get the New York case moved from state court to federal court, where he could then try to have the verdict thrown out on presidential immunity grounds. Billionaire Elon Musk stepped back from his explosive feud with Trump, writing on X that he regrets that some of his posts went 'too far.' An appeals court is allowing Trump tariffs to continue pending court challenges, extending a similar ruling made after another federal court ruled that he overstepped his presidential authority. And the Justice Department says Trump he has the authority to abolish national monuments meant to protect historical and archaeological sites across broad landscapes, including two in California created by his predecessor at the request of Native American tribes. Here's the latest: Chinese rare earth minerals produced through forced labor, rights group says The Netherlands-based Global Rights Compliance says Avon, Walmart, Nescafe, Coca-Cola and paint supplier Sherwin-Williams may be among companies linked to titanium sourced from Xinjiang, where rights groups allege the Chinese government runs coercive labor practices targeting predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The report found 77 Chinese suppliers in the titanium, lithium, beryllium and magnesium industries operating in Xinjiang are at risk of participating in China's 'labor transfer programs,' in which Uyghur are forced to work in factories as part of a long-standing campaign of assimilation and mass detention. The named companies didn't immediately comment. A U.N. report from 2022 found China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million Uyghurs are estimated to have been arbitrarily detained as China targets terrorism and separatism. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the forced labor allegations are 'nothing but a lie.' President Joe Biden signed a law blocking imports from Xinjiang unless businesses can prove they were made without forced labor. Trump announces that US-China trade deal is 'done' Trump says US will get magnets and rare earth minerals from China in a deal imposing 55% tariffs on Chinese goods — up sharply from the 30% set in Switzerland during talks in May. In return, Trump said the U.S. will provide China 'what was agreed to,' including allowing Chinese students to attend American colleges and universities. Trump recently had begun to clamp down on Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. Inflation up slightly, costing Americans more for food U.S. inflation picked up a bit last month as food costs rose, though overall inflation remained mostly tame. Consumer prices increased 2.4% last month compared to a year ago, according to a Labor Department report released Wednesday. That is up from a 2.3% yearly increase in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% for the third straight month. Economists pay close attention to core prices because they generally provide a better sense of where inflation is headed. The figures suggest inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, which would make it less likely that the Fed will cut its key short-term interest rate. Trump has repeatedly urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs. Last week, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles the inflation data, said it is reducing the amount of data it collects for each inflation report. Economists have expressed concern about the cutback, and while it isn't clear how sharp the reduction is, most analysts say it is likely to have a minor impact. Still, any reduction in data collection could make the figures more volatile. ▶ Read more about the inflation report Trump hails appeals court ruling in favor of his tariffs as a 'great' win for the US Trump commented on the ruling on Wednesday on his social media site, saying, 'A Federal Appeals Court has just ruled that the United States can use TARIFFS to protect itself against other countries. A great and important win for the U.S.,' he wrote. Veterans are divided over the Army's big parade, being held on Trump's birthday Until recently, the Army's long-planned birthday celebration did not include a big parade. Trump's addition, featuring hundreds of military vehicles and aircraft and thousands of soldiers, has divided veterans. Some liken it to the military chest-pounding commonly seen in North Korea, a step toward authoritarianism or a perverse birthday party for Trump. Others see it as a once-in-a-lifetime accounting of the Army's achievements and the military service of millions of soldiers over centuries. The parade is not about Trump, they say, but the public seeing the faces of soldiers when so few Americans serve. The Army expects up to 200,000 people could attend and says the parade will cost an estimated $25 million to $45 million. Trump, speaking at Fort Bragg this week, said Saturday would be 'a big day' and noted 'we want to show off a little bit.' ▶ Read more about veteran reactions to Saturday's parade Appeals court lets Trump administration keep collecting tariffs while challenges continue The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit extends a similar ruling it made after another federal court struck down the tariffs May 28, saying Trump had overstepped his authority. The case involves 10% tariffs the president imposed on almost every country in April and bigger ones he imposed and then suspended on countries with which the United States runs trade deficits. It also involves tariffs Trump plastered on imports from China, Canada and Mexico to pressure them to do more to stop the illegal flow of immigrants and synthetic opioids across the U.S. border. In declaring the tariffs, Trump had invoked emergency powers under a 1977 law. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled he had exceeded his power. The tariffs upended global trade, paralyzed businesses and spooked financial markets. Elon Musk backs off from feud with Trump, saying he regrets social media posts that 'went too far' Early Wednesday morning, he posted 'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.' Musk's break with a president whom he spent hundreds of millions of dollars to elect appeared to put an end to his influence in the White House and prompted concerns about effects on his companies. As a major government contractor, Musk's businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution, and Trump has already threatened to cut Musk's contracts. Musk earlier deleted a post in which he claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president's association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Meanwhile, other posts that irritated Trump, including ones in which Musk called the spending bill an 'abomination' and claimed credit for Trump's election victory, remained live. On Sunday, Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warned that Musk could face ' serious consequences ' if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections. A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in Trump's bid to erase his hush money conviction Trump's quest to erase his criminal conviction heads to a federal appeals court Wednesday. It's one way he's trying to get last year's hush money verdict overturned. A three-judge panel is set to hear arguments in Trump's long-running fight to get the New York case moved from state court to federal court, where he could then try to have the verdict thrown out on presidential immunity grounds. The Republican is asking the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene after a lower-court judge twice rejected the move. As part of the request, Trump wants the federal appeals court to seize control of the criminal case and then ultimately decide his appeal of the verdict, which is now pending in a state appellate court. The Manhattan district attorney's office, which prosecuted Trump's case, wants it to stay in state court. ▶ Read more about Trump's bid to erase his conviction
