LONDON: Some of London’s busiest streets re-opened Monday for the first time in a week as climate change protesters regrouped and plotted a new course after police made over 1,000 arrests.
The so-called Extinction Rebellion took over the heart of the UK capital in a bid to focus global attention on rising temperatures and sea levels caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
The grassroots group was established last year in Britain by academics and has used social media to become one of the fastest-growing environmental movements in the world.
But it abandoned four of the five main protests sites over the weekend in response to a more forceful police approach and an outcry from local businesses that claimed a heavy loss in sales.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also warned Sunday that protests were starting to overstretch the police and limiting their ability to respond to daily crime.
“It simply isn’t right to put Londoners’ safety at risk like this,” Khan said.
Extinction Rebellion organizers retreated by Monday to Marble Arch — a monument on the edge of Hyde Park that allows limited protests to continue without disrupting traffic.
The site has been sanctioned by the police.
“After leaving four of five locations in good order, rebels will meet at Marble Arch on Monday to decide where they go next,” the group said in a statement.
It added that its seven-day campaign has helped it raise nearly £300,000 ($390,000, 345,000 euros) and gain 30,000 new members.
The police said they had made 1,065 arrests and charged 53 people since the first protests took over a bridge and renowned London intersections such as Piccadilly and Oxford Circus.
“We remain in frequent contact with the organizers to ensure that the serious disruption to Londoners is brought to a close as soon as possible and that only lawful and peaceful protests continue,” the police said in a statement.
The London campaign has no formal leaders and its immediate plan of action remains unclean.
Some of the organizers said Sunday they wanted formal talks with the London mayor and the UK government.
The group’s list of demands includes a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to a net level of zero by 2025 and a halt to biodiversity loss.
The group has previously said that it wants the UK government to “create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.”
But it said Monday that its strategy was still under discussion — and that it may yet decide to resume the street blockades.
“A proposal has been circulated for entering a ‘negotiations’ phase,” it said in a statement.
“Despite being presented otherwise in the media, this idea remains only a proposal,” it added.
“Where we go with Phase Two is up to us.”
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Climate change protesters halt London street blockade
Climate change protesters halt London street blockade
- Extinction Rebellion took over the heart of the UK capital in a bid to focus global attention on rising temperatures and sea levels
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that protests were starting to overstretch the police
China foreign minister blasts Middle East war, urges US to manage ties
- Wang Yi: ‘A strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle’
BEIJING: China’s top diplomat condemned on Sunday the war in the Middle East and urged the United States to iron out its differences with Beijing.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference in the Chinese capital that the war, which was sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran, “should never have happened.”
“A strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle,” he told reporters.
He was speaking during China’s annual political gathering, which began this week, known as the “Two Sessions.”
The parallel meetings of China’s parliament and political consultative body are closely watched for clues as to the priorities of top leaders, in the face of a precarious geopolitical landscape
Wang addressed a range of issues, including a trade war with the United States, regional tensions in the South China Sea, as well as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
“This year is indeed a big year for Sino-US relations,” Wang said.
‘Manage differences’
Ties between China and the United States have been strained since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, followed by a trade war that saw the two countries impose tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s products.
“We observe certain country erecting tariff barriers and pursuing decoupling and supply chain disruption,” Wang said on Sunday.
“These actions are akin to trying to extinguish a fire with fuel. Ultimately, they will backfire and harm itself.”
While China and the United States “cannot change each other,” he said, “we can change the way we interact with each other.”
Wang urged both sides to “create a suitable environment, manage existing differences, and eliminate unnecessary interference.”
But a wide range of disagreements remain.
Beijing has blasted US and Israeli military strikes on Iran, with which it has diplomatic and trade ties.
It has in particular condemned the killing of the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Wang also maintained that China’s relations with Moscow, which have been criticized by Western countries for sustaining the war in Ukraine, remained “steadfast and unshakeable.”
China ‘gym’
China has sought to profit off Trump’s volatile foreign policies, positioning itself as a reliable alternative to once traditional US allies.
Leaders from France, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom, among others, have flocked to Beijing, recoiling from Trump’s bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against fellow NATO members.
Wang welcomed the visits on Sunday, saying “we have noticed that more and more insightful Europeans agree that China is not a competitor, but a global partner.”
“We welcome our European friends to step out of the ‘small attic’ of protectionism and come to the ‘gym’ of the Chinese market, where they can strengthen their muscles and enhance their competitiveness,” he said.
In the spirit of warming relations, China has doled out visa-free travel agreements to around 50 countries including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Beijing has also agreed to reduced tariffs with Ottawa and London in their exports to China.
Wang also addressed relations between China and Japan, which have been locked in a spat after comments by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on self-ruled Taiwan.
Takaichi’s comments enraged Beijing, which views Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking by force.
Wang emphasized on Sunday that Beijing “will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan … from China once again.”
He warned Japan against “repeating the same disastrous mistakes,” adding that China “will never allow anyone to stand up for colonialism,” in an apparent reference to Tokyo’s actions during World War II.
The issue of Taiwan, he insisted, is “at the heart of China’s core interests” and “a red line that must not be crossed or trampled on.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference in the Chinese capital that the war, which was sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran, “should never have happened.”
“A strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle,” he told reporters.
He was speaking during China’s annual political gathering, which began this week, known as the “Two Sessions.”
The parallel meetings of China’s parliament and political consultative body are closely watched for clues as to the priorities of top leaders, in the face of a precarious geopolitical landscape
Wang addressed a range of issues, including a trade war with the United States, regional tensions in the South China Sea, as well as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
“This year is indeed a big year for Sino-US relations,” Wang said.
‘Manage differences’
Ties between China and the United States have been strained since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, followed by a trade war that saw the two countries impose tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s products.
“We observe certain country erecting tariff barriers and pursuing decoupling and supply chain disruption,” Wang said on Sunday.
“These actions are akin to trying to extinguish a fire with fuel. Ultimately, they will backfire and harm itself.”
While China and the United States “cannot change each other,” he said, “we can change the way we interact with each other.”
Wang urged both sides to “create a suitable environment, manage existing differences, and eliminate unnecessary interference.”
But a wide range of disagreements remain.
Beijing has blasted US and Israeli military strikes on Iran, with which it has diplomatic and trade ties.
It has in particular condemned the killing of the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Wang also maintained that China’s relations with Moscow, which have been criticized by Western countries for sustaining the war in Ukraine, remained “steadfast and unshakeable.”
China ‘gym’
China has sought to profit off Trump’s volatile foreign policies, positioning itself as a reliable alternative to once traditional US allies.
Leaders from France, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom, among others, have flocked to Beijing, recoiling from Trump’s bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against fellow NATO members.
Wang welcomed the visits on Sunday, saying “we have noticed that more and more insightful Europeans agree that China is not a competitor, but a global partner.”
“We welcome our European friends to step out of the ‘small attic’ of protectionism and come to the ‘gym’ of the Chinese market, where they can strengthen their muscles and enhance their competitiveness,” he said.
In the spirit of warming relations, China has doled out visa-free travel agreements to around 50 countries including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Beijing has also agreed to reduced tariffs with Ottawa and London in their exports to China.
Wang also addressed relations between China and Japan, which have been locked in a spat after comments by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on self-ruled Taiwan.
Takaichi’s comments enraged Beijing, which views Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking by force.
Wang emphasized on Sunday that Beijing “will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan … from China once again.”
He warned Japan against “repeating the same disastrous mistakes,” adding that China “will never allow anyone to stand up for colonialism,” in an apparent reference to Tokyo’s actions during World War II.
The issue of Taiwan, he insisted, is “at the heart of China’s core interests” and “a red line that must not be crossed or trampled on.”
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