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China Calls U.S. ‘Safe Haven for Criminals’ Over Conviction in Stalking Case

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Mao Ning, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, called the United States a “safe haven for criminals” following the conviction of two Chinese nationals and a former NYPD sergeant for stalking a former Wuhan city official and his wife.

The ex-cop, Michael McMahon, was working as a private investigator with two Chinese men, Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong. Zhu hired McMahon to track down the former official, who was living in New Jersey with his wife, according to the Department of Justice. When McMahon did, Zheng tried to force himself into their home, failed, and left a note reading “If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. That’s the end of this matter!” prosecutors said.

China accused the former official, identified as Xu Jin by the Associated Press, of taking bribes. Xu and his wife deny this, and instead say that Chinese officials were going after him over disagreements with the Chinese Communist Party.

READ MORE: Warmongering GOP Congressman Declares China Spy Balloon a ‘Sputnik Moment’ for America

Xu was a target of China’s “Operation Fox Hunt,” launched in 2014. China says that the initiative is to bring criminals living overseas to justice, as it doesn’t have extradition treaties with other nations. Operation Fox Hunt is an attempt to find corrupt officials as part of the country’s efforts to stop graft.

“No matter where they have fled and how long … we must track them down and bring them to justice,” Huang Shuxian, a senior party disciplinary inspection official, told the official Xinhua News Agency when Operation Fox Hunt was first launched.

Critics, however, say it’s more about silencing dissent, and that Operation Fox Hunt works extrajudicially. Last year, a Chinese national was charged in Manhattan Federal Court over a case where a pregnant U.S. citizen was detained in China for eight months in an attempt to get her mother to face charges in China.

Speaking about Tuesday’s convictions, Mao said that Operation Fox Hunt was “fully justified.”

“The need to fight cross-border crimes, repatriate corrupt fugitives and recover illegal proceeds is widely recognized by the international community. It is a just cause,” she said. “The US, on the other hand, has chosen to ignore the facts, deliberately distorted China’s efforts as something sinister and even resorted to judicial action. China firmly opposes this.

“We urge the US to immediately right its wrongdoing, fulfill its obligations under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the UN Convention against Corruption and other international treaties, step up to its international responsibilities and stop America from turning into a safe haven for criminals,” she continued.

The three have not been sentenced yet. McMahon could get up to 20 years in prison on charges of acting as an illegal agent of China, interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking. Zheng could get 10 years following his conviction for interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking. Zhu could get 25 years for acting as an illegal Chinese agent, conspiracy to act as an illegal Chinese agent, interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking.

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INTERNATIONAL

Thailand: ‘Phoenix Rising’ For LGBT People — But Questions Remain

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Guest author Grace Poore talks with Thailand’s National Human Rights Commissioner about LGBTI Rights at ILGA-Asia Conference

BANGKOK — Three years ago the fourth ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association) Asia conference held in Surabaya, Indonesia was attacked by Muslim fundamentalists. Organizers were forced to cancel the conference just after it started. Many conference participants were left stranded, frightened, and confused by the ugly turn of events in a city not previously associated with religious intolerance.

The fifth ILGA Asia conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand March 29-31, with a markedly different atmosphere. Themed, “Phoenix Rising,” the opening ceremony of the conference, replete with graceful Thai dancers in silks and brocades and a musical score with the refrain, “Amazing Thailand,” was not only a celebration of Thailand’s openness to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people from across Asia who were gathered in Bangkok, but a celebration of transcendence, resistance, and LGBTI perseverance in the face of orchestrated violence and hate.

Among the opening speakers, Dr. Taejing Siripanich from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) began his remarks with the question, “Isn’t Thailand amazing?” The audience responded with applause.

skitched-20130414-161825The current buzz is that Thailand may become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex partnerships. I spoke with Dr. Taejing, who is the LGBTI rights point person on Thailand’s NHRC. The Commission has been criticized for being unresponsive to LGBTI concerns and weak on implementation of commitments made to Thai LGBTI people.

Dr. Taejing explained, “LGBTI people in Thailand say that they have lost faith in the Human Rights Commission? They say they cannot depend on us? I say, why don’t we talk? You are a vulnerable group in Thailand. Bring your complaints [of human rights violations] to the Commission so we can investigate.”

In March 2012, at the urging of Thai LGBTI activists, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) wrote to the Thai government about fifteen brutal murders of lesbians and “toms” (butch lesbians or transmen) in Thailand, urging the Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police to investigate the killings and release the findings at a press conference.

The letter was copied to the chair of the Thailand NHRC and to Dr. Taejing. Neither responded. Thai activist and journalist Paisarn Likhitpreechakul pursued the NHRC for answers and was told, “The incidents appear to be random. There is no pattern of hate crimes,” although the Commission had not conducted an investigation or taken up the matter with the authorities.

skitched-20130414-161956I asked Dr. Taejing why hate crimes and lack of anti-discrimination legislation were not being prioritized as same-sex marriage was. “Hate crimes as a concept is simply not acceptable,” he insisted. “But just having a hate crimes law will not give justice. You [victims] have to come to the Human Rights Commission, bring it to our attention, and we will investigate. Don’t wait for a law before reporting. Once we receive the complaints, we will find a channel.”

Regarding protections against LGBTI discrimination, he said just as emphatically, “Our Constitution already says everyone is equal. This is our highest law. So discrimination is not allowed. Even if sexual orientation and gender identity is not specifically mentioned, we have the category, “‘sex. The intention of the Constitution is clear, sexual diversity is protected.”

LGBTI activists at the conference explained that they chose the legalization of same-sex partnerships as a priority for the Thai LGBTI community after the NHRC said it lacked the capacity to get behind multiple issues and the LGBTI community had to choose one priority.

Dr. Taejing said the NHRC is advocating for a new law to be created to legalize same-sex partnerships. He said, “It was easier than changing the existing marriage law because so many other laws are linked to the marriage law. It would take too long to change everything. A new law could state that all rights given to married heterosexual couples must now also apply to same-sex married couples.” To raise public awareness and gauge public opinion about the same-sex marriage proposal, the NHRC has been holding public hearings in major cities in Thailand.

skitched-20130414-162215As I listened to Dr. Taejing promise the audience at the conference that he would use his remaining term on the National Human Rights Commission to push for same-sex marriage, I wondered if marriage equality in Thailand would expose the silence around the murders of lesbians and toms. Thus far police have dismissed the killings as “crimes of passion” because of “love gone sour.” Will legalization of same-sex marriage protect LGBTI people from domestic violence and family violence? Will marriage equality change social attitudes that would prevent lesbians and transmen from being sexually assaulted, stabbed or shot multiple times, set on fire, or decapitated by jealous boyfriends, ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands? As Paisarn asks, “Is the right to marriage more important than right to life?”

Background: Thailand’s record at the UN Human Rights Council

In 2010, Thailand was elected to a seat on the powerful United Nations Human Rights Council. Thailand had a history of abstaining from voting in favor of UN resolutions on sexual orientation and gender identity, including a resolution calling for recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for extrajudicial killings and executions. Outraged Thai LGBTI activists staged protests in front of the Foreign Ministry to drive home the point that their government should take a stand against the killing of LGBTI people. Thai media coverage further shamed the government. In response, in 2011, Thailand began voting favorably. In 2012, it joined 85 other member states of the UN to vote yes on the first ever UN resolution that condemned violence and discrimination against LGBTI people.

For more of Grace Poore’s perspective on LGBTI rights in Asia, watch The Stream: Accepting LGBTs in Asia on Al Jazeera English. Also listen to a statement on Homophobia, Transphobia and Women’s Access to Justice recently delivered at the United Nations.

All images by Grace Poore.

Guest Author Grace Poore is the Regional Program Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific Islands, at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

The IGLHRC is on Twitter and Facebook.

Grace Poore can be reached via email.

 

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