27, July 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Paul Biya Stadium contractor Magil stands by for an $89m lifeline ⁰

Initially led by the Italian Gruppo Piccini, the construction of the Paul Biya Stadium is now being handled by Magil construction.

The Canadian company Magil has been drawing on its own funds to carry out work on the Paul Biya Stadium, which is due to welcome the Africa Cup of Nations in January and February 2022. Now, it desperately wants to be paid.

The Biya criminal gang in Yaoundé recently pleaded for a suspension of interest payments on its sovereign debt with the right hand and with the left hand the regime called on the banks to loan it more money to enable it to complete construction of the Paul Biya Stadium.

All what the so-called CPDM barons claimed to have done with the money received for the Africa Cup of Nations project ranges from plain fiction to the absurd.

Correspondingly, Franck Mathière, the vice-president of the group building stadiums for the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime returned to the country in April after obtaining a suspension of the Interpol Red Notice against him. The Frenchman was detained in Ukraine after Nigeria issued the warrant.

The appearance in Yaoundé on 15 April of the vice-president of Canadian group Magil Construction, Franck Mathière, alongside sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi raised eyebrows both in Yaoundé and Abuja.

How could the Frenchman have returned when only a few weeks earlier, he was banned from leaving Ukraine due to an Interpol Red Notice issued against him? His case has set tongues wagging in Nigeria – which issued the international arrest warrant in 2018, accusing him of corruption – but in Cameroon, where Magil is leading the construction of the Olembe stadium he is seen as a messiah.

While his country is struggling to pay contractors who are laboring to build a football stadium in his honour, Mr Paul Biya returned to his Swiss Intercontinental Hotel last week and reportedly had a brain surgery in Geneva.

Herbert Schott, the former general manager of the Intercontinental Hotel wrote in his book L’Hôtelier published in 2007 that the 88-year-old President Biya’s loyalty to the 5-star Intercontinental hotel borders on obsession. Since his accession to the presidency until 2017, the estimated cost of his stays amounted to $ 65 million (FCFA 36 116 697 500).

To be sure, the man who has engineered the worst corruption machinery in Cameroon’s history spends $ 40 000 (FCFA 22 168 161) per night for the entire Biya delegation.

By Rita Akana with files from Africa Intelligence

26, July 2021

France Afrique: Equatorial Guinea closes its UK embassy ⁰

Equatorial Guinea announced on Monday it was closing its embassy in London after the United Kingdom imposed sanctions against Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the vice president and son of the country’s veteran president, over for allegedly syphoning state assets into his own bank accounts.

Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono told national TV that he did not “accept interference” in the central African state’s “domestic affairs,” and said the sanctions were “breaching the principle of international law”.

“The first decision that the government has taken is the total closure of our diplomatic mission in London,” Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono told state broadcaster TVGE.

He gave no details as to when the decision would take effect.

Equatorial Guinea on Saturday lashed the sanctions as “unilateral and illegal”.

“The baseless sanctions imposed by the British government find their justification in manipulation, in lies… that certain non-governmental organisations are fomenting against the good image of Equatorial Guinea,” it said.

The younger Obiang “has not made any investment in the United Kingdom”, the government added.

This reaction from Equatorial Guinea comes days after British government decided to freeze Obiang’s assets and bar him entry to the United Kingdom.

According to British autorities, the president’s son would have concluded corrupt contracting arrangements and solicited bribes to support his jet-setting lifestyle.

They claim he has splurged $500 million on mansions around the world, luxury cars and a collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia including a $275,000 crystal-covered glove that the singer wore on his 1987-89 “Bad” tour.

Allegations that resonate with charges brought against him in France, where he is accused of money laudering.

The junior Obiang is already entangled in a dispute with France over a 107-million-euro mansion on Paris’s swanky Avenue Foch that was seized along with a fleet of luxury cars in a probe into so-called “ill-gotten gains.”

In February 2020, a French court handed him a three-year suspended sentence, a 30-million-euro fine and confiscation of his assets in France.

A final ruling by the Court of Cassation, the paramount tribunal in France’s judicial system, is expected on Wednesday.

“A step in the right direction”

The only Spanish-speaking country in sub-Saharan Africa, Equatorial Guinea is one of the most enclosed nations on the continent, and many of its people live in deep poverty despite oil wealth.

Its ruler Obiang, 79, is the world’s longest-serving sitting president and is frequently accused by rights groups of abuses.

In 1979, he ousted his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema, who had ruled the country since independence from Spain in 1968, and had him shot by firing squad.

His son Teodorin, 53, is vice president with responsibility for defence and security and has long been considered as his likely successor.

Tutu Alicante, head of EG Justice, a group that campaigns for human rights in Equatorian Guinea, said the sanctions were, “a step in the right direction, which shows that corruption is not victimless crime.”

Most of the country’s 1.4 million citizens have no access to running water or decent education, said Alicante, who lives in exile.

The economy has been badly hit since a slump in oil prices in 2014 crimped government revenue.

In its 2020 budget, Equatorial Guinea allocated 95 billion CFA francs, the equivalent of $170 million to defence spendings, compared to 59 billion francs to education.

Source: Africa News

26, July 2021

At least 57 Europe-bound migrants drown after boat capsizes off coast of Libya ⁰

At least 57 migrants drowned after their boat sank off Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday, the latest tragedy on the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing to Europe.

“Horrified by yet another painful loss of life off the Libyan coast,” Federico Soda, the IOM’s Libya mission chief, said on Twitter. “At least 57 people drowned today in the latest tragedy… Silence and inaction are inexcusable.”

The ship sank off the Libyan port of Khoms, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, the IOM added.

Libya is a key gateway for Europe-bound migrants.

It was not immediately clear what caused the boat to sink, but vessels leaving the North African coast for Europe are often heavily overloaded makeshift crafts, departing at night even in rough weather to avoid detection by the coastguard.

“Survivors who spoke to our staff said 20 women and two children were among those who lost their lives,” the IOM said, adding the latest tragedy “highlights the immediate need” for “state-led SaR (search and rescue) capacity” on the dangerous route.

The Libyan coast guard picked up more than 13,000 people in the first half of this year, exceeding the total figure for 2020, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Earlier this month, the IOM said that the number of people who have died trying to cross the Mediterranean nearly doubled in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year.

The European Union has for several years supported Libyan forces to try to stem migration, despite often grim conditions in detention centres in Libya.

International agencies have repeatedly denounced the return to Libya of migrants intercepted at sea.

Oil-rich Libya was torn by conflict after toppling and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

But last October, rival groups signed a truce, setting in motion a UN-led process that saw a new transitional government installed.

Source: AFP

26, July 2021

Biya’s deep coma: The silence is deafening in Yaoundé ⁰

The announcement that Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, will not be returning to the country anytime soon, has sent many of his ardent supporters into a deep depression.

The supporters, many of whom are crooks and criminals being supported by a system designed to engineer and sustain corruption of the highest order in the country, are concerned about what will become of them in case Mr. Biya does not come out of his deep coma after a complicated surgery that has left Swiss medical experts doubting their own ability.

The crooks and criminals in the system had begun chunning out long press releases on the president’s return following announcements by well-informed media organizations that the Yaoundé strong man was in a deep coma and could be out of the country a lot longer than expected.

In their usual deceptive manner, the crooks who have hijacked the ruling party, the CPDM, had to invent ways of making more money by transporting hungry supporters from Yaoundé, Obala and other towns to the airport to welcome a president who is completely out of touch with his own people.

Some of these supporters lined up the streets of Yaoundé, singing and provoking other citizens who do not share their perspective of life.

The ruling party has held many Cameroonians by the balls by impoverishing them and letting them know that salvation can only come if they join the large crowd of beggars and criminals who have made the stealing of state funds a way of life.

The pseudo-demonstration of support to the president was simply to prove that the man who has ruined the country and the lives of the country’s youth was still popular.

But their singing and dancing were cut short when instructions from the Secretary General at the Presidency to the organizers of such unpalatable drama urged them to take their comedy to somewhere else as the president will not becoming home anytime soon.

Fame Ndongo and his team of “agents provocateurs” are still licking their infested wounds. Their bloated egos have been deflated. Their pseudo-champion has been pinned down by a bunch of diseases in a Swiss hospital and after a month or so, he could be declared incapacitated and incapable of leading the country.

The supporters who showed up yesterday where actually there to end their CFAF 2,000, but now that Mr. Biya has not got any plans to return to Cameroon anytime soon, all of them have been sent home without a salary.

There are huge fights as to how those from distant towns will return to their homes. The cars hired to transport the desperate singers and dancers were not paid and the owners are screaming at the top of their lungs for their money to be paid. They have simply refused to do the return trip and like Paul Biya, the hungry supporters will not be heading home anytime soon.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Yaoundé, a source at the Presidency said that the silence at the State House was deafening, with many officials just avoiding to have a long face, though everybody now knows that the news from Geneva is not good.

A CPDM militant who has spoken to our London-based correspondent via phone has indicated that the uncertain and unsettling quiet is killing senior officials of the party and government.

“Though no clear message has been put out there, the uncertainty triggered by the news that Biya will not be coming home anytime soon is killing many people,” the CPDM stalwart said on condition of anonymity.

“The silence is deafening and many people are genuinely concerned. This is the first time that the country will be going through such challenging times. Our institutions have been weakened by long years of political erosion and we really doubt if they will stand this stress test,” he stressed.

“Though the constitution clearly spells out who will take over, the next of kin is as sick as the president himself. Even the Speaker of the National Assembly is really struggling with massive diseases which can terminate his life at any time. These people seem to have chosen the same time to be sick,” he regretted.

“Everything seems to be at a standstill. The country is frozen. Not many government officials are answering calls. Nobody wants to talk and this is only fueling the rumor. For how long are we going to live in this deafening silence? Somebody has to talk. Cameroonians should be updated on their president’s health. It is now clear that the short private visit to Europe is morphing into a long unsettling health tourism,” the desperate CPDM militant said.

“There is nothing wrong being sick. We all will be sick some day. We cannot continue arguing that the president is out of the country on a private stay in Europe. This prank belongs to the past. Cameroonians cannot be fools forever. The cat is out of the bag,” he concluded.

From every indication, the ruling crime syndicate is working behind the scenes, trying to come up with another bunch of lies that will prepare the minds of the citizens.

Dark clouds are gathering over the country and the rain that will fall will surely trigger chaos and a bloodbath. The country has been misled for decades and Mr. Biya’s slow and painful slide to the world beyond is troubling and it is likely to bring out the worst in many Cameroonians.

Ethnic tensions have been on the rise for years and even within the government, there are huge divisions which, if not properly managed, could transform the country into another Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

If Mr. Biya exits the stage unceremoniously, he will be leaving behind a fractured country with many conflicts threatening to balkanize the nation.

Southern Cameroonians are fighting very hard to walk away from a hastily stitched union with a dictatorial East Cameroon. The high-level insurgency fully funded by the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora has already claimed the lives of more than 2,000 soldiers while some 5,000 civilians have been sent to an early grave.

Northerners, for their part, are looking forward to reclaiming power, arguing that the south has had it for almost forty years.

On their agenda, is a huge revenge project against the Betis who orchestrated a massive massacre of Northerners after the 1984 coup d’etat.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram is stepping up its attacks on soldiers. The religious sect wants to gain more grounds, especially at this time when the country is deeply divided.

Cameroon is facing tough headwinds. If care is not taken, the country might implode with the disappearance of the man who has engineered the worst corruption machinery in the country’s history.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

26, July 2021

Football: Terry quits as Aston Villa assistant manager ⁰

John Terry has left his position as an assistant to Aston Villa boss Dean Smith with the aim of becoming a manager in his own right, the Premier League club announced Monday.

Terry, a 40-year-old former Chelsea and England captain, joined Villa ahead of the 2017/18 season and became the skipper of his new side.

One of the outstanding English central defenders of his generation, he played 32 games for the Birmingham club before becoming an assistant to Villa manager Smith.

Terry, speaking to Villa’s website, said: “It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to have spent these last three years at Aston Villa, but I feel now is the right time to make the extremely difficult decision to move on.

“I want to be as respectful to the manager and everyone at Aston Villa as I can and, having given my future serious consideration over the summer, I genuinely don’t feel it is fair to move into a new season without being certain of seeing that through.”

He added: “My immediate plan is to spend some quality time with my family and, thereafter, hopefully take up some invitations to visit clubs and managers around Europe to develop my aim and objective of becoming a manager.

“It has always been my ambition to move into football management and, providing the right opportunity presents itself, I feel ready to take up such a challenge.”

Source: AFP

26, July 2021

Clashes erupt outside parliament after Tunisian president ousts PM, suspends legislature ⁰

Street clashes erupted on Monday outside Tunisia’s army-barricaded parliament, a day after President Kais Saied ousted the prime minister and suspended the legislature, plunging the young democracy into a constitutional crisis.

Saied sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and ordered parliament closed for 30 days, a move the biggest political party Ennahdha decried as a “coup”, following a day of angry street protests against the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic.

Soldiers from early Monday blockaded the assembly in Tunis while, outside, the president’s supporters hurled volleys and stones at backers of Ennahdha, whose leader staged a sit-in to protest being barred entry.

Saied’s dramatic move – a decade on from Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, often held up as the Arab Spring’s sole success story – comes even though the constitution enshrines a parliamentary democracy and largely limits presidential powers to security and diplomacy.

It “is a coup d’etat against the revolution and against the constitution,” Ennahdha, which was the biggest party in Tunisia’s ruling coalition, charged in a Facebook post, warning that its members “will defend the revolution”.

The crisis follows prolonged deadlock between the president, the premier and Ennahdha chief Rached Ghannouchi, which has crippled the Covid response as deaths have surged to one of the world’s highest per capita rates.

“I have taken the necessary decisions to save Tunisia, the state and the Tunisian people,” Saied declared in a statement on Sunday, a day that had seen angry Covid street protests in multiple cities.

The president’s announcement sparked jubilant rallies by his supporters. Large crowds took to the streets of the capital late Sunday to celebrate and wave the national flag, as car horns sounded through the night and fireworks lit up the sky.

“Finally some good decisions!” said one Tunis protester, Maher, celebrating in defiance of a coronavirus curfew. Others held up signs with a simple message to the sacked government: “Game Over”.

‘Most delicate moments’

Before the president’s announcement, thousands had marched in several cities protesting against Ennahdha, criticising the largest party in Tunisia’s fractious government for failures in tackling the pandemic.

A senior Ennahdha official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, alleged that the protests before the president’s announcement, and the subsequent celebrations, had all been choreographed by Saied.

“We are also capable of organising large demonstrations to show the number of Tunisians who are opposed to these decisions,” this official said.

Since Saied was elected president in 2019, he has been locked in a showdown with Mechichi and Ghannouchi, who is also house speaker. The rivalry has blocked ministerial appointments and diverted resources from tackling Tunisia’s many economic and social problems.

“We are navigating the most delicate moments in the history of Tunisia,” Saied said Sunday.

He said the constitution did not allow for the dissolution of parliament, but did allow him to suspend it, citing Article 80 which permits it in case of “imminent danger”.

In a later Facebook post, he clarified that the suspension would be for 30 days.

Saied said he would take over executive power “with the help” of a government, whose new chief will be appointed by the president himself.

He also said that parliamentary immunity would be lifted for deputies.

‘Birth of a dictator’

In the 10 years since the revolution which toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has had nine governments, some of which have lasted only a few months, hindering the reforms necessary to revamp its struggling economy and poor public services.

Tunisia has recently been overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases which have raised the death toll to more than 18,000.

Last week, Mechichi fired his health minister over his handling of the pandemic as cases skyrocketed – the latest in a string of health ministers to be sacked.

In Sunday’s Covid protests, hundreds rallied in front of parliament, shouting slogans against Ennahdha and premier Mechichi.

Demonstrations were also reported in the towns of Gafsa, Kairouan, Monastir, Sousse and Tozeur.

Several protesters were arrested and a journalist was injured when people hurled stones and police fired tear gas canisters, an AFP reporter said.

“The people want the dissolution of parliament,” the crowd had chanted.

After Saied’s announcement, many Tunisians expressed relief.

Nahla, brandishing a Tunisian flag, was jubilant and told AFP: “These are courageous decisions – Saied is unblocking Tunisia. This is the president we love!”

But one man, aged in his forties, watched on without enthusiasm and said: “These fools are celebrating the birth of a new dictator.”

(AFP)

26, July 2021

Malaysian doctors stage walkout amid worsening Covid outbreak ⁰

Hundreds of junior doctors at state-run Malaysian hospitals staged walkouts Monday demanding better conditions as the country faces its worst coronavirus outbreak yet.

Dressed in black and holding signs with slogans including “equal pay, equal rights, equal opportunity” and “we are your future specialists”, they protested at medical facilities nationwide.

The doctors are on contracts for a set period and say their treatment is worse than that of permanent government staff, even as they have found themselves on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19.

They complain of a lack of job security, poor benefits and that very few are eventually offered permanent positions.

We want “equal rights, to be a permanent doctor,” said a medic at a government hospital that treats virus patients outside Kuala Lumpur.

“We would definitely not be here if we were treated fairly… we should be appreciated for what we do,” the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

The medic was among dozens who took part in the action at the hospital, which lasted around half an hour.

Local media reported that several hundred participated across the country, but some doctors complained they were threatened by police and senior hospital staff in a bid to halt the protests.

Those involved said senior doctors took over their duties before they walked out, to ensure that patient care was not jeopardised.

Malaysia is currently battling its most serious outbreak, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant. Officials have reported over one million cases and about 8,000 deaths.

There are over 23,000 doctors on these contracts in Malaysia — about 45 percent of the total medical doctors in the public healthcare system, according to official estimates.

Last week, the government said it would extend junior doctors’ contracts for up to four years in a bid to forestall the protests.

But they stopped short of offering permanent jobs, and the organisers of Monday’s walkout criticised the move as “short-sighted”.

AFP

25, July 2021

Yaoundé: Biya’s return postponed indefinitely and no explanation provided ⁰

The much-sung Biya’s return to Cameroon today July 25, 2021, has been postponed indefinitely and no explanation was provided by the country’s authorities.

Mr. Biya was expected to return today after a so-called private visit abroad which many skeptics say is more of a medical visit than a private visit.

A source close to the Cameroonian dictator who has ruled the country for almost 40 years has disclosed that the ailing Biya cannot sit for seven hours on the airplane after a major brain surgery.

The source added that Mr. Biya was slowly coming out of his deep coma, but he was too weak to do anything on his own.

The Cameroon Concord News Group’s Paris Correspondent who is currently in Geneva has reported that there is panic within the ailing president’s entourage, something which underscores that there are dark clouds gathering over the country.

He added that though most of them were tight-lipped, it could be deciphered from their silence that there was something ominous in the offing.

A hospital source in Geneva also told our correspondent that given his age, the chances of Mr. Biya recovering were as slim as the chances of a real national dialogue taking place in Cameroon.

The source, which spoke on condition of anonymity, insisted that at his age and given the number of illnesses he was harboring, it would be a miracle for him to live for a long time.

He stressed that within government circles, the issue they were facing was how to get Mr. Biya back home safely to demonstrate that he could still run the show.

Now that he cannot conveniently sit on an airplane, his next option will be to get him on a train to the nearest port city for him to get a cruise ship back home, but that will take a few days and the news about his failing health will be spreading like wildfire.

Supporters of the corrupt leader are hugely disappointed. They had donned their party uniforms today to welcome him, but to their greatest dismay, they were advised to head home with no clear and convincing news about their corrupt hero.

A source in Yaoundé has informed the Cameroon Concord News Group that many people will lose sleep today. The indefinite postponement of the dictator’s return has left many wondering and dejected.

“We are finally accepting that there is something brewing in Geneva. This is the first time Mr. Biya’s return to his native land has been postponed,” the source said.

“I have tonnes of butterflies in my stomach and many of our party members are really worried. We have been told in strict confidence that the president might not be in good shape to undertake such a long journey. How is he therefore going to return?” the stressed out CPDM stalwart quipped.

“I pray he does not return in a coffin. He has been sick lately and many of us have been scared. I know many of my party members are sincerely sympathizing with our national president, but the crooks among us are simply thinking of their fate if things go the wrong way,” he said.

“Some of these fellows have robbed the nation blind and they know that if things go the wrong way, they will either be fleeing the country or heading to jail. This is not a good situation,” he added.

Cameroon is heading in the wrong direction. Mr. Biya’s demise will surely trigger an orgy of killing as all the other ethnic groups are clearly pitted against the Betis who have run the country’s economy aground.

Another source close to the French embassy advised the Cameroon Concord News Group that applications for French visas have gone up ever since news of Mr. Biya’s failing health made the headlines.

According to the source, government officials are asking for visas to prepare themselves just in case the architect of the massive corruption in Cameroon exits unceremoniously.

Under Mr. Biya, Cameroon has earned the unpopular tag as one of the most corrupt countries on the face of the earth and the country has once earned the humiliating distinction as the most corrupt country in the world for two years in a row.

Mr. Biya’s declining health is a real torture to many who have willingly participated in the corruption that has become the country’s hallmark.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Geneva and Yaounde

25, July 2021

As it happened: Mama Mercy Bessem Tataw laid to rest in Hendon Cemetery ⁰

Nearly everything about the funeral was not familiar with the Cameroonian community in the UK. It was not about first Holy Communion or christenings or a wedding. It was a funeral. But this time around for a Manyu Princess-Mama Bessem Tataw!

During Saturday’s funeral service for Mama Mercy Bessem Tataw, her daughter Vivian Mambo remained steadfast as ever supported by her husband Charles Mambo both of whom were socially distanced from the sparse Cameroonian congregation.

Until Saturday 24 July 2021, Cameroonian funerals in the UK were simply to move around with a begging bowl. Correspondingly, the long months of the Covid-19 crisis have made virtual send-offs horribly commonplace. Funerals were all moved to Zoom and Facebook. But this was not the case of Saturday’s event attended by a sell-out crowd including ex-students of Saker Baptist College.

Watching the progress of Mama Mercy Tataw’s coffin, the fact is that there was everything: consolations of hugs and belted-out hymns, a scrum of shoulders to weep on and old faces to recognize.

As it happened: Mama Mercy Bessem Tataw laid to rest in Hendon Cemetery

The United Kingdom Sakerrettes alumni group acting as ambassadors and trusted advocates for Saker Baptist College receiving the horse-drawn hearse that grazed the streets of Mill Hill, London befitting of Royalty. And inside the white casket drawn by white horses to the land of Manyu ancestors laid a Queen-Mama Mercy Bessem Tataw

Mrs. Vivian Mambo and Charles Mambo led the Cameroonian community in one minute of silence in memory of late Mama Mercy Bessem Tataw before her funeral and burial at Hendon Cemetery.

Members of the Cameroonian community in the UK pay tribute to the late Mama Bessem Tataw

24, July 2021

China imposes sanctions on US citizens, rights groups under new law ⁰

China said on Friday that it has imposed counter-sanctions on U.S. individuals including former U.S. commerce secretary Wilbur Ross in response to recent U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials in Hong Kong.

The sanctions are the first imposed by China under its new anti-foreign sanction law, passed in June, and come days before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is due to visit China amid deeply strained ties.

China also imposed unspecified “reciprocal counter-sanctions” on current and former representatives of a range of organisations, including the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Other institutions named included the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC).

“The U.S. side concocted the so-called Hong Kong business advisory, baselessly smeared Hong Kong’s commercial environment, and illegally sanctioned Chinese officials in Hong Kong,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“These actions seriously violated international law and the basic principles of international relations, and seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs,” the ministry said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told a regular news briefing that the United States was “undeterred” by China’s move, which came after Washington last week issued its business advisory for Hong Kong and imposed sanctions on more Chinese officials over Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in the former British colony.

“These actions are the latest examples of how Beijing punishes private citizens, companies and civil society organizations as a way to send political signals,” Psaki said, adding that they illustrated the very risks about which the U.S. government had warned.

Ross could not be immediately reached for comment.

It was the second time this year that China has imposed sanctions on officials who served under former President Donald Trump, who adopted a tough line on Beijing and confronted it over trade, business practices, human rights and other issues.

Around the time Biden was sworn in as president in January, China announced sanctions against outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and 27 other top Trump officials.

The Biden administration called that move “unproductive and cynical.”

Biden has sought to rally allies and partners to help counter what the White House says are China’s increasingly coercive economic and foreign policies.

But U.S. officials say Sherman’s trip over the weekend to China, where she is due to meet Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, is an effort to ensure that competition between the two powers does not spill over into conflict.

Some of the groups hit by Beijing largely dismissed any negative impact of the sanctions. The HKDC said on Twitter that being targeted by China’s ruling Communist Party was the “best validation” of its fight for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

“HKDC and Six Individuals in the US Recognized by PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights Advocacy”

Human Rights Watch’s China director Sophie Richardson, who was sanctioned by China by name on Friday, called the move “hollow.”

“These are diplomatic tantrums that are designed to distract attention away from Beijing’s complicity in crimes against humanity,” she said, referring to China’s alleged human rights abuses in its western region of Xinjiang. China has dismissed the accusations.

(REUTERS)