Tag: SecState

  • Rubio Boots South African Ambassdor

    Rubio Boots South African Ambassdor

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the Ambassador to the US from South Africa, Embrahim Rasool, persona non grata.

    Rasool, 62, a South African muslim of mixed English-Javanese-Dutch-Indian heritage, called President Donald Trump a white supremacist and made disparaging comments about the US at a conference in Johannesburg last week.

    He made the comments in a speech about the current SA plans to expropriate land, farms and businesses from white Boer and Afrikaaner families to give to blacks. The ruling ANC recently changed the laws in South Africa to allow the lands to be taken without recompense.

    Rasool had been Ambassador to the US from 2010-2015. He was re-nominated by SA president Cyril Ramaphosa near the end of Bidens term and was accepted by Biden on 13 January of this year.

    For those unfamiliar with the term in diplomatic circles, declaring someone persona non grata – Latin for a person not wanted or an unwelcome person – is tantamount to expelling that person from the country.  A host country may declare any member of a diplomatic staff persona non grata at any time without any explanation.

  • Pompeo’s Parting Shot

    Pompeo’s Parting Shot

    Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hasn’t been shy about calling out other nations for misbehavior. His last day in office is no different.

    Today he issued an official statement declaring the ChiComs are committing genocide and crimes against humanity in the Xinjiang region.

    https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1351580136353705984?s=19

    The Uighurs, a muslim turkic people, have been systematically persecuted by the Chinese government for decades. In recent months, images and video have surfaced showing internment and re-education camps in the Xinjiang region. There are also reports of mass sterilization of Uighur women and of children being taken from Uighur parents to be placed in orphanages or with childless Chinese couples far from Xinjiang.

    This move is overdue as far as I’m concerned. The CCP did the same thing to the Tibetans after they invaded and conquered that country. The ChiComs have a long history of repressing non-chinese in the territories they control.

    This move also puts the Biden team in a tough spot. Joe is tied to China via his crack addict son Hunter. Allegedly. These types of designation are hard to undo, and restrict the incoming administration’s options when dealing with China.