onsdag 17. juni 2020

Karm Gilespie's death sentence labelled diplomatic leverage 'deliberately created' by China

The Australian man Karm Gilespie’s death sentence is diplomatic leverage deliberately created by China, a former investigator who was detained in China for two years has said. Peter Humphrey, a former fraud investigator and foreign correspondent who was detained in China with his wife from 2013 to 2015, said it was inconceivable that the death sentence was unrelated to diplomatic tensions with Australia, and the sentence had “nothing to do with the original case against him”.

China denies Gilespie’s sentence has anything to do with the bilateral relationship, but the timing of it at a particularly low point for the two countries has prompted widespread speculation about political motivations. On Tuesday Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, took aim at China for spreading disinformation, citing Beijing’s warnings that tourists and students should reconsider coming to Australia because of the risk of racism.