"China is undermining human
rights in #HongKong through it’s
oppressive national security law and
committing genocide against #Uyghurs
in Xinjiang. I have repeatedly
called for the @MayorofLondon to use
City Hall’s influence to stand up to
China"
"City Hall’s extensive links to Beijing means that this is an action well within the Mayor’s remit. I will implement City Hall sanctions on China. I will end the twinning arrangement between London and Beijing"/
He promises to "halt all Mayoral delegations to China, close the 3 offices in China .... refuse hospitality from Chinese Government and introduce an obligation for TfL pension fund trustees to consider issues of human rights when investing in companies"/
Thank you @ShaunBaileyUK for taking this stand - for speaking out and standing up for #HongKongers, #Uyghurs and everyone suffering under the repressive Chinese Communist Party regime
Most governments have made mistakes in handling #COVID19
A few - especially #Taiwan - have been exemplary. We should learn from them
But there's one which more than any other is responsible for unleashing this pandemic upon us all: the Chinese Communist Party regime
First, they tried to cover up the truth
They repressed the whistleblowers - the doctors and citizen journalists who were trying to alert the world
Then, they failed to inform the WHO & the world in a timely way
Then, they refused offers of help from the United States
Then, they insisted #Taiwan - which was one of first to warn of danger & has handled the pandemic in exemplary way - be excluded from the WHO for petty political reasons
Why are we buying PPE, ventilators, from Chinese Communist Party which gave the world the pandemic in the first place?
First they send us the disease to kill us
Then they sell us - at high price - equipment to protect us?
We need to make masks, ventilators, PPE, food, other sources of daily survival ourselves
But also we need to invest in and trade with countries that don't commit mass atrocities, breach international treaties or inflict pandemics on the world
THREAD: As the Vatican prepares to renew its ridiculous deal with the Chinese Communist Party regime, which has delivered precisely zero for the Church & only entrenched the regime's repression, I remind you what I've been saying for past few years:
THREAD: I want to say some things about China, Chinese people, the brutal, mendacious Chinese Communist Party regime, & what we should do about it all.
I am conscious that I tweet a lot. But bear with me and follow this thread if you have time.
First: I love China & its people
Second, I first went to China aged 18
I began my exploration of the world by teaching English in Qingdao
Third, for the first 3 decades of my adult life, I went in & out of China regularly - I have lost count, but I have probably visited China more than 50 times
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Qingdao, Dali, Guilin, Yangshuo are places I love :)