dialogue, Ottawa and Beijing — which had been without representation for months — nominated new ambassadors.

The latest foreigner to be held by China was Australian academic Yang Jun, who also goes by his pen name Yang Hengjun.

He was detained in January shortly after making a rare return to China from the United States, and Beijing announced last week that he had been formally arrested on suspicion of spying.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the suggestion that Yang acted as a spy for Australia was “absolutely untrue” and Canberra expects “his human rights to be respected.”

Hong Kong Free Press relies on direct reader support. Help safeguard independent journalism and press freedom as we invest more in freelancers, overtime, safety gear & insurance during this summer’s protests. 10 ways toPresident Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met at the White House on Monday to map out the future relationship between the two countries now that American combat troops will be out of Iraq by the end of this month.

Indeed, the Washington Post editorial board took the president to task for drawing a “too rosy” picture of Iraq in his remarks following the meeting with Maliki. During those remarks, the president stated no less than 5 times that the war was over, as if he was reminding voters that he kept his “promise” to end the conflict.

Beyond that, there was a strange disconnect between the president’s words and the reality on the ground in Iraq. For example, Obama described Iraq as “sovereign, self-reliant, and democratic” despite