An international judge who ruled against Britain on the Chagos Islands used to be a Chinese government official who supported Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
While she served as vice president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Xue Hangin ruled in 2019 that Britain should hand over the archipelago to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible”.
In the written document submitted to the ICJ, China declared that it backed the “decolonisation” of the territory. Her support for such a stance was considered controversial given her previous support for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
She supported the majority verdict that led the UK to start up negotiations over the islands, which is home to a joint base shared between the UK and US.
Last October, Labour announced that it would “surrender” the territory to Mauritius and has drafted a handover deal.
China has consistently supported Mauritius’ claim over the islands and those slamming Starmer’s deal have suggested that Beijing is hoping to gain a foothold in the region.
Xue used to work as a Chinese Communist Party official and was director general of the department of treaty and law in the nation’s foreign ministry.
The judge later became China’s ambassador to the Netherlands and to the Association of South-east Asian Nations further on in her career.
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Sinn Fein leader rejects King’s offer to stay at Windsor
Sinn Fein’s First Minister of Northern Ireland has snubbed the King as she rejected a formal invitation to stay the night at Windsor Castle.
Keir Starmer – along with the leaders of the devolved nations – was invited for a “sleepover” at the historic location after a private dinner on Wednesday night.
Michelle O’Neill was the only one to reject the offer, while the first ministers of Scotland and Wales and the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland accepted to stay the night.