KINSHASA: Belgium will return a tooth taken from the remains of assassinated Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba to his family by the end of June, President Felix Tshisekedi said Monday.
The tooth had been seized from a Belgian policeman who by his own account took it while helping to dispose of Lumumba’s body after the charismatic leader was murdered in 1961.
Tshisekedi, in a state of the nation address before parliament, said the tooth would be returned in time for independence anniversary celebrations on June 30.
“On the sidelines of the 61st anniversary of our independence, the country will demonstrate its gratitude to prime minister Patrice Lumumba,” he said.
A pan-Africanist who played a key part in steering Belgian Congo toward independence, Lumumba was appointed the newly decolonized country’s first premier at the age of just 34.
In the presence of the then-king Baudouin, he used the moment of independence to lash Belgium for racist persecution and forcing “humiliating slavery” on the Congolese people.
Historians say millions were killed, mutilated or died of disease as they worked on rubber plantations belonging to the rapacious 19th-century king Leopold II.
Lumumba was overthrown, then jailed, tortured and finally killed by firing squad in January 1961. Forty years later, Belgium acknowledged it bore “moral responsibility” for his death.
His body was never found.
A Belgian judge ruled in September that the tooth should be returned to Lumumba’s family.
A spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office described the return as a symbolic gesture, since there was no “absolute certainty” that the tooth was Lumumba’s.
“No DNA test has been carried out, it would have destroyed it,” he said.
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Belgium to return slain DR Congo leader’s tooth by June
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Belgium to return slain DR Congo leader’s tooth by June
- The tooth had been seized from a Belgian policeman who by his own account took it while helping to dispose of Lumumba’s body after the charismatic leader was murdered in 1961
- President Felix Tshisekedi, in a state of the nation address before parliament, said the tooth would be returned in time for independence anniversary celebrations on June 30
Taiwan to send team to assess US rare earth deposits
TAIPEI: Taiwan plans to send officials to assess US rare earths deposits with a goal to have such minerals refined on the island, Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin said on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to secure US supplies of critical minerals after China rattled senior officials and global markets last year by withholding rare earths required by American automakers and other industrial manufacturers.
Trump last week launched a US strategic stockpile of critical minerals, called Project Vault, backed by $10 billion in seed funding from the US Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private funding.
While semiconductor powerhouse Taiwan is not formally part of that scheme, it has previously held talks with the United States on how it can help, given Taipei’s concerns about over-reliance on a China-centric supply chain.
China views Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up its military threats.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Kung said the ministry’s Geological Survey and Mining Management Agency would go to the United States to assess rare earths deposits there.
“Specifically, what rare-earth elements they contain and whether they are suitable. In other words, whether those are the rare earths we actually need. So we still need to investigate,” he said.
Given Taiwan does not mine such elements itself, it can instead play a role in refining the materials from other countries, Kung added.
“The technology is not an issue; the next step is scaling up,” he said.
Taiwan consumes 1,500 metric tons of rare earth annually, a figure projected to rise to 2,000 metric tons given economic growth, Kung added.
“Our goal is to expand production capacity to meet half of our demand by then, strengthening the supply chain.
President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to secure US supplies of critical minerals after China rattled senior officials and global markets last year by withholding rare earths required by American automakers and other industrial manufacturers.
Trump last week launched a US strategic stockpile of critical minerals, called Project Vault, backed by $10 billion in seed funding from the US Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private funding.
While semiconductor powerhouse Taiwan is not formally part of that scheme, it has previously held talks with the United States on how it can help, given Taipei’s concerns about over-reliance on a China-centric supply chain.
China views Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up its military threats.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Kung said the ministry’s Geological Survey and Mining Management Agency would go to the United States to assess rare earths deposits there.
“Specifically, what rare-earth elements they contain and whether they are suitable. In other words, whether those are the rare earths we actually need. So we still need to investigate,” he said.
Given Taiwan does not mine such elements itself, it can instead play a role in refining the materials from other countries, Kung added.
“The technology is not an issue; the next step is scaling up,” he said.
Taiwan consumes 1,500 metric tons of rare earth annually, a figure projected to rise to 2,000 metric tons given economic growth, Kung added.
“Our goal is to expand production capacity to meet half of our demand by then, strengthening the supply chain.
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