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Global campaign under Xi Jinping to exploit extradition treaties

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A new report documents hundreds of cases of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) international harassment campaign against Taiwanese nationals via deportations and extraditions.

The report by Safeguard Defenders presents the fullest picture to date of this alarming trend. “This international persecution of Taiwan nationals amounts to an assault on Taiwanese sovereignty, and is part of the larger global campaign under Xi Jinping to exploit extradition treaties, mutual law enforcement agreements, and other multilateral institutions for the Chinese Communist Party’s political objectives,” it said.

China has increasingly shown that it has no regard for the rule of law, and will violate international norms without hesitation in pursuit of its opponents around the world. Through transnational repression and formal extraditions, China is pursuing economic fugitives, Uyghur refugees, human rights defenders, and fleeing Hong Kongers. But one group that has received far less attention to date: hundreds of Taiwanese nationals have been detained and forcibly extradited to mainland China from around the world, the report said.

International extradition and human rights norms set out clear conditions on acceptable extraditions and grounds for automatic rejections. At the core of these international norms is the principle of non-refoulement, which simply dictates that no country is to send anyone to another country where they are at risk of persecution or gross human rights abuses.

Conditions in China are such that fundamental human rights are wantonly denied, with impunity. These human rights abuses are both widespread and systematic as Safeguard Defenders has reported elsewhere.

The extradition of Taiwanese nationals to the PRC under pressure from Beijing should very much be seen as a violation of their human right to a fair trial, and their right to be free from torture, the report said.

Safeguard Defenders has documented over 600 cases between 2016 and 2019 of Taiwan nationals abroad who have been extradited or deported from countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe. However, they have not been returned to Taiwan.

Under increasing pressure from Beijing, foreign governments are instead forcibly sending them to China where they have no roots and no families. These forcible transfers are also often taking place following the denial of access to Taiwanese consular support or communication in the sending country, and sometimes followed by ongoing denial of contact with Taiwanese officials or family members once they are in China.

These forced transfers put Taiwanese nationals at risk of severe human rights abuses. This pressure from Beijing is furthermore a direct refutation of China’s obligations under the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement. Just as much as it is being used to bolster Beijing’s influence abroad, it is being used as a tool to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Business

PM Modi meets Keir Starmer in Mumbai for strengthening India-UK ties

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Mumbai, Oct 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed UK Prime Minister Keri Starmer at Raj Bhavan and held a meeting as part of the process to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The Ministry of External Affairs shared photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“Together for stronger India-UK ties…,” posted Randhir Jaiswal, the MEA spokesperson, on X.

Earlier, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said his meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer here further deepened trade and economic partnership for mutual prosperity between the two nations.

Starmer arrived in India for a two-day visit on Wednesday, accompanied by the biggest-ever trade delegation from the country to India.

“Delighted to call on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Discussed avenues to further deepen India-UK trade and economic partnership for mutual prosperity,” Goyal posted on X social media platform.

Goyal earlier met Peter Kyle, the UK’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with a view to moving forward with the operationalisation of the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and doubling the bilateral trade by 2030.

“The meeting marked a significant step towards operationalising the India-UK CETA, with both Ministers agreeing to reposition the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to oversee its implementation and delivery,” according to the Commerce Ministry statement.

Both sides underlined their commitment to ensuring swift, coordinated, and results-oriented implementation of the Agreement, aimed at realising its full potential for businesses and consumers in both countries. The ministers reaffirmed their shared ambition to double bilateral trade by 2030, leveraging the complementarities between the two economies in areas such as advanced manufacturing, digital trade, clean energy, and services.

Emphasising the transformative scope of CETA, they discussed ways to maximise its benefits through regulatory cooperation, addressing non-tariff barriers, and promoting supply chain integration. The highly productive Commerce Secretary and Director General-level meeting set the tone for the Ministerial meeting, which laid a strong foundation for a full day of engaging and forward-looking discussions.

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Business

World Bank flags rising poverty levels in Pakistan

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New Delhi, Oct 8: The World Bank has expressed serious concern over Pakistan’s economy as the country has failed to reduce poverty despite massive loans injected by the IMF.

The current model of growth has failed to ameliorate the conditions of the poor, and the headcount ratio (HCR) has surged to its highest level of 25.3 per cent in the last eight years, which is a 7 per cent increase in HCR since 2023, the World Bank report states.

Instead of concentrating on rural development to reduce poverty, the Pakistan government has been focused more on increasing defence expenditure.

The World Bank report titled “Reclaiming Momentum Towards Prosperity: Pakistan’s Poverty, Equity and Resilience Assessment” released on September 23, mentions that even the country’s aspiring middle class (constituting 42.7 per cent of its population) is “struggling to achieve full economic security”.

Pakistan’s once-promising poverty reduction trajectory has come to a troubling halt, reversing years of hard-fought gains.

After dramatically reducing poverty from 64.3 per cent in 2001 to 21.9 per cent in 2018 — declining by 3 percentage points annually until 2015 before slowing to less than 1 percentage point per year — recent compounding shocks have pushed poverty rates back up to a projected 25.3 per cent by 2023-24, the report states.

The economic model that delivered early wins has reached its limits, with 14 per cent of the population in 2018 remaining vulnerable to falling back into poverty when faced with shocks.

Compounding crises — Covid-19, economic instability, devastating floods, and record-high inflation—have further exposed systemic weaknesses, leaving many in low-productivity activities and unable to cope with these challenges, the report points out.

Bold policy reforms are now essential to address structural imbalances, prevent sliding back into poverty during shocks, and tackle the persistent challenges in remote areas. In this context, this Poverty, Equity, and Resilience Assessment , the first since the early 2000s, looks at how poverty has evolved in Pakistan by combining traditional and non-traditional data, offering detailed analysis and strategic direction on the country’s efforts and challenges to reduce poverty and promote equity.

This comprehensive assessment aims to provide a roadmap for policymakers and stakeholders to address poverty and equity challenges in Pakistan effectively, the report added.

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International News

Rahul Gandhi begins 4-nation South American visit

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New Delhi, Sep 27: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has embarked on a South American tour, during which he is scheduled to interact with political leaders, university students, and members of the business community across four nations.

The Congress media and publicity department, incharge, Pawan Khera, announced the development on Saturday but refrained from disclosing the names of the countries LoP Gandhi will be visiting.

In a post on X, Khera wrote, “Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Shri Rahul Gandhi, has embarked on a visit to South America. He is scheduled to engage with political leaders, university students, and members of the business community across four countries.”

According to the party, this marks LoP Gandhi’s first overseas visit in September and will deepen democratic, trade, and strategic ties, building on historical India–South America cooperation and Global South solidarity.

During his visit to Brazil and Colombia, LoP Gandhi is expected to interact with university students, hold meetings with presidents and senior leaders across multiple countries, strengthening democratic and strategic ties, the party said.

He is also expected to engage with business leaders to explore opportunities as India seeks to diversify trade and partnerships in the wake of US tariffs, it also said.

Earlier this month, he travelled to Malaysia, although the Congress had not issued an official statement regarding that trip. The visit sparked several questions and also drew criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP took a dig at his foreign trips and BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared a photograph of Gandhi, claiming that he was vacationing in Malaysia.

Taking to X, Malviya posted, “Rahul Gandhi has slipped away yet again — this time on a clandestine vacation in Langkawi, Malaysia. Looks like the heat and dust of Bihar’s politics was too much for the Congress ‘Yuvraj’, who had to rush off for a break. Or is it another one of those secret meetings that no one is supposed to know about?”

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