Latest news with #separatism
National Post
5 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
'Albertans know that they have options': Alberta Tory MPs warn Carney not to ignore threat of separatism
OTTAWA — With the House of Commons back in full swing, Conservative MPs from Alberta are sounding the alarm on rising separatist tensions in the province, warning Prime Minister Mark Carney to tackle the problem or reckon with a fractured country. Article content Calgary MP Shuvaloy Majumdar blasted Carney on Tuesday for leaving the first ministers' meeting in Saskatoon without giving Alberta a firm commitment on oil and gas pipelines and other energy infrastructure. Article content Article content Article content 'Yesterday, the prime minister committed to more rhetoric, more lofty words, and no actual (oil and gas) project,' said Majumdar in Tuesday's question period. Article content 'Alberta's heard all this before. We don't need headlines, we need results.' Article content Majumdar told the National Post it's time for Carney to back up his words with actions, after campaigning on an implicit promise to repair the rift between Ottawa and Alberta created by his Liberal predecessor Justin Trudeau. Article content 'This is all about the pressure of resentment that has built up after (Trudeau spent) 10 years attacking the energy industry in Alberta,' said Majumdar. Article content 'The prime minister ran on addressing those issues, lifting things from the Conservative playbook… The solution here is for (him) to deliver what he's promising, lest he risk a constitutional crisis.' Article content Newly elected rural Alberta MP David Bexte said in his maiden speech last week that 'Alberta separatism is no longer a fringe idea.' Article content 'I heard (separatist talk) at the doors more times than I can count, and I'll tell you plainly… Albertans know that they have options,' said Bexte. Article content 'If this House continues to insult, neglect and abuse Alberta… than the future of this country is not guaranteed.' Article content Bexte declined a request to be interviewed for this story. Article content Departing Battle River—Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek sounded the same warning in his farewell speech to Parliament, imploring all members of the House to 'fight for Canada.' Article content 'We face a national unity crisis. It is not something that can be flippantly dismissed by those in other parts of the country that would suggest that Alberta, for example, should simply pay up and shut up,' said Kurek. Article content 'Alberta deserves a fair voice in the federation, just like every province.' Article content Kurek announced shortly after April's election that he would vacate his seat to give Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who lost his own Ottawa-area seat, an opportunity to run in a byelection.
Free Malaysia Today
28-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Taiwan says China being provocative, ignoring olive branches
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is accused of being a dangerous 'separatist' by China. (AFP pic) TAIPEI : China is being provocative with an 'extreme pressure' campaign against Taiwan and is intentionally ignoring the island's olive branches and goodwill, its top China policymaker told Reuters, as Beijing ratchets up its tactics against Taipei. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory despite the rejection of that position by the democratic and separately governed island, has stepped up military and political pressure on it, calling president Lai Ching-te a dangerous 'separatist'. Since Lai took office in May last year, China has held at least three rounds of major war games around Taiwan, while also threatening the death penalty for 'diehard' supporters of its independence, and setting up hotlines to report such activity. Mainland affairs council minister Chiu Chui-cheng said Beijing should own up to its responsibility for stoking tension by exerting 'extreme pressure' which includes almost daily military incursions near Taiwan and public influence campaigns. 'It's true that we don't see any sincerity from mainland China,' Chiu said this week, speaking in his office in central Taipei. He repeated the government's offer for talks with China based on equality and respect, but without Beijing's political preconditions. 'We have made a lot of effort and offered many olive branches,' Chiu added. 'We are a democratic country and it is impossible for us to accept your political premise of eliminating the Republic of China, belittling Taiwan or treating Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China.' The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, and that remains the island's formal name. No peace treaty has ever been signed, and neither government recognises the other. Asked today about Taiwan saying it was showing goodwill towards China, a spokesman for China's Taiwan affairs office said it was an 'objective fact' the island was part of China. 'Scheming for Taiwan's independence and secession means there is no way to talk about cross-strait dialogue and consultations,' spokesman Chen Binhua told reporters in Beijing. 'It will only undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.' China a 'hostile force' In March, Lai called China a 'foreign hostile force', saying it had deepened its influence campaigns and infiltration tactics against the island, while pledging measures to tackle Beijing's efforts to 'absorb' Taiwan. An angry China responded with a new round of war games. 'We were just explaining the facts to everyone,' Chiu said of Lai's description of China. 'The serious threat level to Taiwan from mainland China, the Beijing authorities, can be described as extreme pressure pressing ever closer.' Chiu said China's hotlines to report supposed separatist activity, which Beijing says generated 6,000 reports, had only served to sow fear amongst Taiwan's sizeable business community in China, spurring some to leave. He compared such 'indiscriminate reporting' to actions during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 in China, referring to the decade of chaos and violence unleashed after Mao declared class war, turning neighbours and families against each other. 'I myself have heard many of our Taiwanese business people say, 'We have been in mainland China for 30 to 40 years, and we are willing to stay here even if the economy is bad, but living in an environment where we are on edge and worried about being reported day and night, that's why I decided to leave.''
CBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Carney talks U.S. relations, his government's ambitions in exclusive interview
Prime Minister Mark Carney sat down for a wide-ranging one-on-one interview with CBC's Power & Politics host David Cochrane on Tuesday. Carney addressed Canada's current relationship with the U.S. along with the challenges ahead for his new government, including housing affordability and separatist sentiment in Alberta.
CBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Carney says ‘more will be done' on energy, but conversation isn't all about pipelines
Asked by CBC's Power & Politics host David Cochrane about the separatist sentiment in Alberta, Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government is 'committed' to working with Canadians across the country.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'Nowhere dey safe' - Cameroonians wey trap between separatists and sojas
Ngabi Dora Tue, no fit stand by herself as she dey grief seriously. Her husband, Johnson Mabia, coffin siddon for di middle of one crowd of sad mourners for Limbe for Cameroon South-West region - one area wey don witness tins like dis many times bifor. Armed separatists bin capture Oga Johnson and five of im colleagues as dem dey go work. Oga Johnson na civil servant and e sabi speak English. Di militants still dey fight for di independence of Cameroon two anglophone regions for area wey be mainly francophone kontri. Di almost ten years long conflict don lead to thousands of deaths and affect development for di area. Wen dem kidnap am four years ago, Dora bin struggle to reach Johnson. Wen she later hear from separatist militants, dem ask her to pay ransom of ova $55,000 (£41,500) within 24 hours to secure im release. Dora later receive anoda call from one of Johnson relatives. "E say… make I take care of di children, say my husband don die. I know even no wetin to do, as I shock. E bin travel on Tuesday, wen dem kidnap am. By Friday, dem kill am," Dora tok. Di separatists wey dey responsible no just kill Johnson, dem cut-cut am, and leave im body for road. Di root of di separatist struggle lie for one long-standing grievance wey go back to full independence for 1961, and di formation of one single Cameroonian state for 1972 from former British and French territories. Since den di English-speaking minority no happy for wetin dem feel say be erosion of rights by di central government. Johnson na just one innocent by-stander, wey be victim of di increasingly brutal fight for self-determination and di goment desperate attempts to end di kasala. Dis current wave of violence start almost ten years ago. For late 2016, peaceful protests bin start against wetin dem reason to be di creeping use of di francophone legal system for di region courtrooms. Di French- and English-speaking parts of Cameroon dey use different judicial systems. Di protests quickly spread, and e lead to a call for di closing of shops and institutions. Di response of di security forces bin dey very severe – dem beat pipo, intimidate dem and dem carry out mass arrests. Di African Union call am "a deadly and disproportionate use of violence". Cameroon defence ministry no respond to requests for comment on dis or oda issues for dis article. Armed groups bin dey set up. And, for late 2017, as tensions rise, anglophone separatist leaders declare independence for wetin dem call di Federal Republic of Ambazonia. To date, dem don drag five million anglophone Cameroonians inside di conflict – wey dey equivalent to one-fifth of di total population. Dis one mean say at least 6,000 pipo don die, and hundreds of thousands dey forced from dia homes. "We dey always wake up for morning to see dead bodies for streets," Blaise Eyong, one journalist from Kumba for di English-speaking South-West region of Cameroon tok. E don produce and present one documentary on di crisis for BBC Africa Eye, e bin dey forced from im hometown wit im family for 2019. "You fit hear say dem don burn one pesin house. Or dem don kidnap pesin. You go see how dem cut-cut pipo body put for roadside. How you wan take live for city, wia every single morning you dey worry if your relatives dey safe?" Some national and international attempts don dey to resolve di crisis, wey include wetin di goment call "a major national dialogue" for 2019. Although di discussions bin establish one special status for di kontri two anglophone regions wey acknowledge dia unique history, but na very little dem resolve in practical terms. Felix Agbor Nkongho – one barrister wey be one of di leaders of di 2016 protests, wey dem later arrest – tok say as both sides dey act anyhow, di moral high ground don disappear. "E get one time… wey most pipo feel say if dem need security, dem go go meet di separatists," e tell BBC Africa Eye. "But ova di last two years, I no tink say any reasonable pesin go tink say separatists go be di ones to protect them. So make everybody die bicos we dey find independence, and I ask di question: who you go govern?" But no be only di separatists chop accuse of abuses. Organisations like Human Rights Watch bin record di brutal response of security forces to di anglophone independence movement. Dem bin document di burning of village, di torture, unlawful arrests and extrajudicial killings of pipo for war, wey pipo for outside no even see. Examples of state-sponsored brutality no dey difficult to find. Cameroonian military forces bin arrest John (no be im real name) and one of im close friend, dem dey accused of buying weapons for a separatist group. John tok say afta dem put dem for prison, di sojas bin give dem one document to sign, and dem no give dem di chance to read di contents. Wen dem refuse, dem begin torture dem. "Dat na wen dem separate us into different rooms," John tok. "Dem torture [my friend]. You fit hear di sound of flogging everywhere. I dey feel am for my own body [too]. Dem beat me everywhere. Later, dem tell me say e don accept and sign, and dem allow am to go." But na lie. One month afta di arrest, anoda man land for John cell. E tell am say im friend bin die for di room wey dem hold and torture am. Months later, dem drop John case and later release am without charge. "I just dey live in fear bicos I really no know wia to start from, wia dey safe and how to start," John tok. Part of di separatists strategy to make di state and dia security forces weak, na to push for ban on education, wey dem claim say na di tool wey goment take dey spread propaganda. For October 2020, dem attack one school for Kumba. No-one claim responsibility for di attack bit di goment blame di separatists. Men wey dey armed wit machetes and guns bin kill at least seven children. Di incident spark international outrage and condemnation. "Dem don close nearly half of di schools for dis region," journalist Eyong tok. "A whole generation of kids dey miss out on education. Imagine di impact dis go get on our communities and also for our kontri" As if di violence between di goment forces plus di various separatist groups no dey enough, one additional front don open up for di war. Militant groups for di separatist areas don rise to fight di Ambazonians inside effort to keep Cameroon united. Di leader of one of these groups, John Ewome (wey dey known as Moja Moja), bin regularly lead patrols for di town of Buea in search of separatists until dem arrest am for May 2024. E too chop accuse of human rights violations, public humiliation and torturing of unarmed civilians dem reason say be separatist sympathisers. E deny di accusations. "I no ever lay my hands on any civilian. Just di Ambazonians. And I believe say di gods of dis land dey wit me," e tell BBC. Meanwhile, di cycle of abductions and killings still dey go on. One separatist group also arrest Joe (no be im real name) di way dem take arrest Johnson, just bicos say dem wan maintain control through fear - and to cash in. "I waka inside di house and see my children and my wife for floor while di commander siddon for my kitchen wit im gun very close. Dem don carry my neighbour and my landlord. As I see dem, I know say na my turn," Joe tok. Dem carry am enta forest alongside 15 oda pipo wia e witness di execution of two of im fellow captives. But dem later free am afta di military discover di camp. Johnson bin no dey dat lucky, about two years afta im funeral, dem receive news say none of di five colleagues wey dem kidnapped wit am make am out alive. More families now go dey try to come to terms wit dia enormous loss. For Ngabi Dora Tue, her future no sure. "I get debts to settle, I no even know how I go clear di am," she tok. "I don tink to sell my body for money. And I reason di shame wey go come afta, I go just need to swallow di difficulty and push forward. I still dey very young to become a widow." BBC don ask for response from di Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF), wey claim to be di largest separatist force. E respond say e get multiple separatist fighters now wey dey operate for di anglophone region. Di ADF say e dey operate within international law and no dey attack government workers, schools, journalists or civilians. Instead, e don blame individuals and some oda entities wey dey act on dia own accord wey no be members of di ADF for dis attacks. Di group also accuse government infiltrators of committing atrocities while claiming to be Ambazonian fighters to turn di local population against di liberation struggle.
