 UK parliament bars China envoy after MPs sanctioned London (AFP) Sept 14, 2021 - Leaders in the UK parliament on Tuesday barred a visit by China's new ambassador after Beijing slapped sanctions against critical British MPs. Envoy Zheng Zeguang was due Wednesday to address a group of members drawn from both the houses of Commons and Lords who work on promoting UK-China relations. But Iain Duncan Smith -- one of nine UK MPs and individuals sanctioned by China for opposing Communist Party policies, particularly those affecting Uyghurs in the northwest region of Xinjiang -- had said the visit would be "reprehensible". Among the sanctions imposed on the parliamentarians and their family members in March were a travel ban prohibiting them from entering mainland China or the former UK colony of Hong Kong. China's sanctions against the MPs came shortly after Britain -- along with the United States, Canada and European Union -- placed sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Duncan Smith and others on the sanctions list wrote to Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, demanding he bar Zheng from speaking on parliamentary premises. In a statement, Hoyle responded by noting he regularly met with ambassadors from around the world to further ties with MPs. "But I do not feel it's appropriate for the ambassador for China to meet on the Commons estate and in our place of work when his country has imposed sanctions against some of our members," he said. "If those sanctions were lifted, then of course this would not be an issue. "I am not saying the meeting cannot go ahead -- I am just saying it cannot take place here while those sanctions remain in place." Speaker of the House of Lords John McFall issued similar language. - 'Despicable and cowardly action' - A Chinese embassy spokesperson said it was up to the UK sponsors of the event in parliament to decide on a date and venue. More broadly, the spokesperson attacked the "despicable and cowardly action of certain individuals of the UK parliament to obstruct normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the UK". But Duncan Smith and some of his sanctioned colleagues welcomed the "strong principled stand" taken by the speakers, arguing that allowing the visit would have been "an insult to parliament". Zheng's predecessor Liu Xiaoming, one of a new breed of "wolf warrior" diplomats deployed by Beijing, was noted for inflammatory language on social media attacking UK critics of Chinese policies. Richard Graham, Conservative chairman of the UK all-party parliamentary group on China, had expressed hope that Zheng would take a "slightly more nuanced approach to his role than his predecessor". He expressed "regret" at Hoyle's decision and said the group would make new arrangements to hear from the ambassador.
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The top US general was so worried in early January that Donald Trump was out of control that he took secret action to prevent the outgoing president from sparking a war with China, according to a new book.
Joint Chiefs Chair General Mark Milley ordered aides to not act immediately on any move by Trump to use US nuclear forces, and he called a Chinese general to reassure Beijing, presidential chronicler Bob Woodward and co-author Robert Costa wrote in their soon-to-be-released book.
The Washington Post -- Woodward's and Costa's employer -- and other media on Tuesday reported excerpts from the book "Peril," depicting Milley as organizing the Pentagon and intelligence community to resist any move by Trump to ratchet up tensions with China or Iran after he lost the November 2020 presidential election.
Milley called Chinese counterpart General Li Zuocheng twice, on October 30 just before Trump's election defeat, and on January 8, two days after Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol, to reassure him that the Republican president's anti-China rhetoric could not translate into military action.
"General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay," Milley told Li in the October call, Woodward and Costa write.
"We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you," Milley said.
- Nuclear strike worries -
Two months later, Milley used the secret back-channel with Li again after the US Capitol riot, amid concerns both in Beijing and Washington that Trump was unstable.
"We are 100 percent steady. Everything's fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes," Milley told Li, according to the book.
To reassure the Chinese, Milley went so far as to have the Pentagon's Indo-Pacific Command postpone military exercises that Beijing might have viewed as a possible threat.
Separately, Milley told his top staff that if Trump sought to exercise his power to order a nuclear strike, that they had to inform him first.
And Milley discussed with other top officials, including CIA director Gina Haspel and National Security Agency head Paul Nakasone, the need to be vigilant amid concerns Trump could act irrationally.
Haspel said they were in a "highly dangerous situation."
"Some might contend that Milley had overstepped his authority and taken extraordinary power for himself," the authors wrote.
But he believed he was acting correctly "to ensure there was no historic rupture in the international order, no accidental war with China or others, and no use of nuclear weapons," they said.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the book's claims.
Trump lashed out on Tuesday, calling Milley a crude epithet and blaming him for the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August.
"I assume that he would be tried for treason in that he would have been dealing with his Chinese counterpart behind the president's back," Trump said in a statement.
- 'He's crazy' -
Milley's second Li call came after the top lawmaker in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, phoned Milley about Trump's state of mind and his rejection -- held to this day -- of President Joe Biden's election victory.
Two days earlier, goaded on by Trump, hundreds of supporters violently stormed Congress, forcing lawmakers to cancel a session meant to certify Biden's victory and causing lawmakers of both parties to flee.
Woodward and Costa obtained a transcript of the Pelosi call.
"What precautions are available to prevent an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or from accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike?" Pelosi asked.
"If they couldn't even stop him from an assault on the Capitol, who even knows what else he may do?" she said.
"He's crazy. You know he's crazy... and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness."
The system had "a lot of checks" to forestall extreme behavior by the president, Milley responded.
Nevertheless, he said, "I agree with you on everything."
Republican lawmakers quickly used the reports to attack Milley, with senior Senator Marco Rubio calling for Biden to fire the general.
Rubio, a defender of Trump, alleged Milley "worked to actively undermine the sitting Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces and contemplated a treasonous leak of classified information to the Chinese Communist Party."
"These actions by General Milley demonstrate a clear lack of sound judgement, and I urge you to dismiss him immediately," he said in a letter to Biden.
"Peril" will go on sale on September 21.
Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
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