SOLOMON HUGHES highlights a 1995 Sunday Times story about the disappearance of ‘defecting Iraqi nuclear scientist.’ Even though the story was debunked, it was widely repeated across the mainstream press, creating the false – and deadly – narrative of Iraqi WMD that eventually led to war
Are the Uighurs ‘slave labourers’?
A new report has cast doubt on the claims of the Nato-funded Australian Strategic Policy Institute that the Chinese government is orchestrating a forced Uighur labour programme, writes JENNY CLEGG

THE issue of Uighur forced labour is held up as a particularly pernicious abuse of human rights in China.
Prominent here has been the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (Aspi) 2020 report, Uyghurs For Sale, claiming that the Chinese government is orchestrating a forced Uighur labour programme.
Aspi counts the US Department of State, Nato, and a number of arms dealers among its largest donors — why an organisation oriented towards strategy and defence should take up the issue of forced labour is anybody’s guess.
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Western media dismisses the National People’s Congress while ignoring its extensive consultation processes, massive public participation mechanisms, and a tiered structure involving millions of deputies, explains JENNY CLEGG

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JENNY CLEGG pays tribute to a remarkable woman who was a pioneer in bringing about greater understanding between China and the West

The US does not have a plan for peace in the Middle East — nor is it in their interests. China does have a plan — and it is in the interests of the rest of the world that it is listened to and supported, explains JENNY CLEGG
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