GetUp, Activist Groups Distort Senator’s Tough Stance on CCP as Racism, Call for Condemnation
Grassroots activist group GetUp has filed a petition for the prime minister to denounce Liberal Senator Eric Abetz for asking three Chinese Australians whether they were willing to condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The petition has allegedly garnered over 25,000 signatures and was delivered to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official residence Kirribilli House last week by representatives from GetUp, the Asian Australian Alliance, and Per Capita. The latter two organisations also sent a joint letter to Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge calling for Senator Abetz to apologise for his questions. The Australian Values Alliance, a pro-democracy group comprised of Chinese Australians (many who have suffered at the hands of the CCP) has hit back, sending an open letter to the prime minister, criticising the campaign against Abetz as “unfounded”…
LONDON鈥擝ritain will likely follow the United States in reducing troop levels in Afghanistan but it will continue to work with its government and the U.S. to protect the country’s security, Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Thursday.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday President Donald Trump would sharply reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-January.
Wallace said the Americans were not totally pulling out at this stage, and neither was Britain.
But he said: “I expect if they (the U.S.) are reducing at some stage, we will come down.”
Wallace said Britain had limited scope to act independently of its largest ally, but an increased funding settlement he had agreed with the finance ministry would in the future give the country greater options.
“Part of this defence review is how can Britain be more independent,” he told Sky News. “How can we complement each other around the world. If one power or another pulls out and we … decide we want to stay longer, we could do so.”
“At the moment if the United States unilaterally pulls out of some of these countries we have a challenge.”
Focus News: UK Will Likely Follow the US in Cutting Afghanistan Troops, Minister Says
MPs Press Officials on Beijing-Linked Nuctech Bid to Supply Security Equipment to Canada’s Embassies
Opposition MPs pressed government officials on Wednesday to explain why a Chinese state-owned company embroiled in alleged bribery scandals was awarded a standing offer to supply security equipment to Canada’s embassies. In July, high-tech Chinese company Nuctech was awarded a $6.8 million contract with the federal government to install X-ray security equipment for 170 Canadian embassies, consulates, and high commissions around the world. But the deal raised immediate concerns related to security due to Nuctech’s connection to the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), having been founded by the son of former CCP leader Hu Jintao, as well as its links to the Chinese military. “My problem is still that the Government of Canada accepted to go forward with a request for standing offer with Nuctech,” Conservative MP…
