Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Newsline: Clashes erupt after pro-Palestinian march to Israeli embassy in Athens
Greek police clashed with protesters after a pro-Palestinian march to the Israeli embassy in Athens on Wednesday, Reuters witnesses and police officials said. (https://neuters.de/world/brief-clashes-erupt-after-pro-palestinian-march-israeli-embassy-athens-2024-05-15/) More than 2,500 people marched through the streets of Athens to the embassy carrying Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine!” A group of protesters broke off the march, which was largely peaceful, and hurled stones at police who had formed a security cordon outside the embassy. Police fired tear gas to disperse them. Three people were detained during the brief clashes, a police official said.
Newsline: Diplomatic tensions grow over UK arrest of Hong Kong trade office official
Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday called for full information from British authorities on the arrests of three men, including a manager at a Hong Kong government office in the UK, who were charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service. Speaking to reporters a day after the men appeared in a British court, Lee confirmed that one of the men, Bill Yuen, was a university classmate who was photographed with Lee in a group graduation photograph in 2002. Lee cited a statement from the Chinese Embassy in London rejecting what it called “the UK’s fabrication” of the case and its “unwarranted accusation” against the Hong Kong government. (https://neuters.de/world/hong-kong-pressures-uk-over-national-security-arrest-trade-office-official-2024-05-14/) The three men are charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service between December 2023 and May 2024 by “agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception” in Britain. Britain’s foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador to say that espionage and cyber attacks weren’t acceptable. The Chinese Embassy earlier said the case could jeopardise China-UK relations amid lingering tensions over a sweeping national security crackdown in Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The three are also charged with conducting “foreign interference” by forcing entry into a residential home. All the offences fall under the UK’s National Security Act, which introduced new measures last year against foreign threats, including espionage and interference. The charges do not name the specific Hong Kong intelligence service.
Newsline: Britain summons Chinese ambassador over Hong Kong spying charges
Britain’s foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday to state that espionage and cyber attacks were not acceptable on UK soil after three men were charged with spying for Hong Kong. David Cameron, Britain’s foreign minister, instructed his officials to call Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang for a meeting to condemn what the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said was Chinese-backed activity in Britain. “The FCDO was unequivocal in setting out that the recent pattern of behaviour directed by China against the UK including cyber attacks, reports of espionage links and the issuing of bounties is not acceptable,” the statement said. (https://neuters.de/world/uk/britain-summons-chinese-ambassador-over-hong-kong-spying-charges-telegraph-2024-05-14/) The FCDO said the ambassador was summoned after three men appeared in a London court on Monday charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service in Britain – offences under the UK’s National Security Act. In the U.S. and across Europe there has been increasing anxiety about China’s alleged cyber and espionage activity.
Newsline: Argentina ramps up pressure on Venezuela over opposition embassy refugees
Argentina’s government is set to ramp up pressure on Venezuela to grant safe passage to six opposition aides who had sought refuge in its embassy in Caracas, official sources said, adding they were at physical risk if they didn’t leave the country. Two senior Argentine officials told Reuters that the administration of President Nicolas Maduro, who has looked to head off political rivals ahead of July presidential elections, had reneged on promises to allow the six to safely leave the country. (https://neuters.de/world/americas/argentina-ramps-up-pressure-venezuela-over-opposition-embassy-refugees-2024-05-13/) In March, aides to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado requested asylum at the Argentine embassy in Caracas, after a local prosecutor issued arrest warrants against them for conspiracy. Machado, who has denied any allegations of misconduct by her team, was blocked from being a candidate in the upcoming election despite being the front-runner in polls. Maduro’s government has been going after political opposition candidates, including Machado, despite electoral commitments signed last year, a trend that saw Washington reimpose broad oil sanctions in April. In April, Reuters reported, citing a Venezuelan official source, that Maduro’s socialist government would allow the six aides to leave safely, in order to travel to Buenos Aires. However, senior Argentine sources from the government of right-wing libertarian Javier Milei, told Reuters no such concession was ever granted. “Venezuela is not issuing safe-conduct passes, it is not complying with what was agreed upon or with the (1954) Convention on Diplomatic Asylum”, said one of the sources, an official from Argentina’s foreign ministry. “In the official Argentine residence in Caracas is the entire Machado campaign office, who are politically persecuted,” the person added, asking not to be named. “They have to leave Caracas because their physical integrity is in danger.” Venezuela’s Ministry of Information did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Argentine comments, previously unreported, mark an important hardening of tone on the embassy issue from the country against Maduro, putting diplomatic pressure on him just months before the oil-rich country’s controversial election.
Newsline: Israel’s United Nations ambassador shreds ‘copy of UN charter’
Israel’s ambassador to the UN used a paper shredder to shred the UN charter on stage at the UN General Assembly – ahead of a vote in which the assembly opted to open the door for Palestine to be given full membership. (https://news.sky.com/video/israeli-ambassador-to-united-nations-shreds-copy-of-un-charter-13133017) Israel’s United Nations ambassador physically fed a mock copy of the U.N. charter into a shredder to illustrate what he said was the General Assembly’s disregard for the document as delegates voted to advance Palestinian membership to the world body. A furious Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan, invoking the Holocaust, World War Two and the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, ripped his colleagues for wanting to “advance the establishment of a Palestinian terror state led by the Hitler of our time.” The stunt came just before the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for a resolution asking the Security Council to make Palestine, which has U.N. observer status, into a full member.
Newsline: Australia’s top diplomat backs Palestinian UN membership
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday the country’s support for a Palestinian bid to become a full United Nations member was part of building momentum to secure peace in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Australia voted on Friday with the overwhelming majority of the U.N. General Assembly in backing the resolution that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state. It recommended the Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably”. The United States had vetoed a recommendation that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership” in a Security Council vote last month. The question of Palestinian membership is one of the few diplomatic issues where close allies Washington and Canberra differ. “Much of our region and many of our partners also voted yes,” Wong told a press conference in Adelaide. “We all know one vote on its own won’t end this conflict – it has spanned our entire lifetimes – but we all have to do what we can to build momentum towards peace.” (https://neuters.de/world/australia-says-palestinian-un-membership-bid-builds-peace-momentum-2024-05-11/) Friday’s General Assembly vote – 143 in favour, nine including the U.S. and Israel against, and 25 abstaining – was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid. The Palestinians are a non-member observer state.
Newsline: Philippines calls for expelling Chinese diplomats
The Philippines’ national security adviser called on Friday for Chinese diplomats to be expelled over an alleged leak of a phone conversation with a Filipino admiral in a significant escalation of a bitter row over the South China Sea. China’s embassy in Manila had orchestrated “repeated acts of engaging and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation”, with the objective of sowing discord, division and disunity, Eduardo Ano said in a statement. Those actions “should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned without serious penalty”, he said. (https://neuters.de/world/asia-pacific/philippine-calls-chinese-diplomats-be-expelled-disinformation-2024-05-10/) Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian called the comments provocative and said Chinese diplomats in the Philippines had to be allowed to do their job. “China solemnly requests the Philippine side to effectively safeguard the normal performance of duties by Chinese diplomatic personnel, stop infringing and provoking, and refrain from denying the facts,” Lin said at a regular press briefing in Beijing. The office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and the foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The two countries have been embroiled in a series of heated standoffs this past year in disputed areas of the South China Sea as the Philippines, emboldened by support from the United States and other allies, steps up activities in waters occupied by China’s vast coast guard.
Newsline: Vietnam’s foreign ministry delays EU meeting
Vietnam’s foreign affairs ministry has annoyed the European Union by postponing a meeting next week with the EU’s top official on Russian sanctions, ahead of a possible visit to Hanoi by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Special envoy for the implementation of EU sanctions, David O’Sullivan, is visiting Southeast Asia next week and had planned to meet Vietnamese officials on May 13-14, but Hanoi asked to delay the meeting “as leaders were too busy to meet with him,” one diplomat with direct knowledge of the situation said. (https://neuters.de/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-delays-meeting-with-eu-sanctions-chief-ahead-possible-putin-visit-2024-05-09/) Three other diplomats confirmed the postponement of the visit, with one saying Vietnam had suggested July as an alternative date. Two of the diplomats and another person familiar with the discussions linked the delay to preparations for a possible visit by Putin to Vietnam. One source said the Russian leader’s visit could be “spoiled” by any talks with the EU envoy. Shortly after Reuters reported on the matter, the EU diplomatic delegation in Hanoi issued a statement describing the postponement of the meeting as “disappointing” and said it was discussing a new date with the Vietnamese authorities. A spokeswoman for Vietnam’s foreign ministry told a regular press conference later on Thursday that Hanoi was discussing with the EU a date for the meeting. Asked about Putin’s possible visit, she said information would be shared “at a suitable time”. Russia’s embassy in Hanoi did not reply to a request for comment.
Newsline: Malaysia eyes ‘orangutan diplomacy’ with nations that import palm oil
Malaysia plans to introduce “orangutan diplomacy” in its relations with major palm oil-importing countries, offering the animals as trading gifts in an effort to allay concerns about the environmental effects of growing the commodity. The plan, likened to China’s “panda diplomacy” by the commodities minister, comes after the European Union approved a ban last year on imports of commodities linked to deforestation, which could hurt palm oil, used in everything from lipstick to pizza. Malaysia, the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia, has said the law is discriminatory and aimed at protecting the EU’s oilseeds market. As part of a diplomatic strategy, Malaysia will offer gifts of orangutans to trading partners, particularly major importers such as the EU, India and China, Plantations and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said. “This will prove to the global community that Malaysia is committed to biodiversity conservation,” Johari said on social media platform X late on Tuesday. “Malaysia cannot take a defensive approach to the issue of palm oil,” he added. “Instead we need to show the countries of the world that Malaysia is a sustainable oil palm producer and is committed to protecting forests and environmental sustainability.” (https://neuters.de/world/asia-pacific/malaysia-eyes-orangutan-diplomacy-with-nations-that-import-palm-oil-2024-05-08/) No further details of the plan were immediately available.
Newsline: Chinese diplomat says Ukraine peace talks should include Russia
Beijing supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said in an interview with Russia’s RIA state news agency in remarks published on Tuesday. “China supports a timely convening of an international peace conference, approved by the Russian and Ukrainian sides, with equal participation of all parties and fair discussion of all options for peace,” RIA cited the ambassador as saying. (https://neuters.de/world/europe/ukraine-peace-talks-should-include-russia-chinese-diplomat-says-2024-05-07/) Switzerland will host talks during a two-day high-level conference on June 15-16 aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, to which Moscow has not been invited. On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a visit to France, appeared to be lukewarm on the Swiss conference. Moscow has said it sees no point in Ukraine peace talks in Switzerland, while Kyiv has said it sees no place at the summit, held near the Swiss city of Lucerne, for Russia. Beijing put forward a 12-point paper more than a year ago that set out general principles for ending the war but did not get into specifics.
Diplomatic Briefing 