As China welcomes the Spring Festival, foreign officials and heads of international organizations extended their warm greetings to the Chinese people.
The Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the most important traditional holiday for the Chinese people, which is an occasion for family reunions and new beginnings. Chinese New Year fell on Tuesday this year, ushering in the Year of the Horse.
"On the occasion of the Spring Festival, I extend my sincerest greetings and best wishes. May the New Year bring health and prosperity. May the energy of the Year of the Horse inspire us to move forward with unwavering faith, responsibility, and a sense of mission. Happy New Year! Wishing you prosperity and good fortune!" said Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
"Happy Chinese New Year. I wish everyone a year of good health, prosperity and success. As we welcome the Year of the Horse, we are celebrating a symbol of energy, resilience and progress. These qualities feel especially meaningful in the global trade community today. Happy Chinese New Year, thank you," said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
While delivering their New Year wishes, officials also called for seizing the opportunity of deepening ties with China.
"On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the Chinese people and wish you peace, health and prosperity. Slovenia values its friendly relations with China and deeply respects the rich culture and achievements of the Chinese nation. In the spirit of the Chinese idiom, getting off to a flying start, I'm confident that China's 15th five-year plan will achieve swift and successful progress in the Year of the Horse. May the new year bring new opportunities for cooperation and further strengthen the friendship between our two nations. Happy Chinese New Year!" said Marko Lotric, president of the National Council of Slovenia.
"In this great lunar Year of the Horse, we wish to say to them getting off to a flying start, and also good luck for the Year of the Horse. We also want to seize the opportunity to foster the relationship that is between Zambia and China, that it may continue to grow from strength to strength and achieve a win-win situation between the people of China and the people of Zambia," said Thabo Kawana, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information and Media in Zambia.
Global officials send Chinese New Year greetings, call for deepening ties
Global officials send Chinese New Year greetings, call for deepening ties
The United Nations Human Rights Council has stated that the Jeffrey Epstein case may rise to the level of crimes against humanity, as justice departments in the United States, the United Kingdom and France continued pursuing separate investigations.
An independent panel of experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Monday that the documents made public in the case, or the so-called 'Epstein Files,' suggests the existence of a global criminal enterprise committing systematic and large-scale sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation of women and girls.
Many of its criminal activities have met the legal threshold of crimes against humanity and require independent, thorough, and impartial investigation, the experts noted.
"So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity," the experts noted in the statement.
The panel said it "shocked the conscience of humanity" that those implicated were able to act with impunity, stressing that resignations of implicated individuals alone are not an adequate substitute for criminal accountability, and that all allegations in the case files require independent, comprehensive, and impartial scrutiny.
On Tuesday, the New Mexico State Legislature launched an independent probe on Epstein case. Some victims have identified a ranch in the state, which was purchased by Epstein in 1993 from then-Governor Bruce King, as a site of sexual abuse like his private island.
According to a Reuters report, the Epstein Files had revealed his contact with two former New Mexico governors and a state attorney general.
In the UK, Essex Police said on Tuesday they are reviewing newly released documents referencing private flights linked to Epstein that passed through London Stansted Airport. A BBC investigation last December found that nearly 90 private flights associated with Epstein had operated through British airports, with some carrying British women who later alleged abuse.
AFP reported that Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau on Wednesday made public appeal for victims to come forward with further evidence. Following the latest disclosure of the Epstein Files, French jurisdiction have opened a broad investigation into potential offenses involving individuals in France, and the prosecutor has verified investigations into a diplomat, a modeling agent and a musician.
A disgraced former financier and one of the most notorious sex offenders in recent decades, Epstein maintained close ties with prominent figures in U.S. political and business circles. He was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor, arrested again in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, and died in jail the following month, with authorities ruling his death a suicide.
Allegations that he possessed a "client list" used to blackmail high-profile figures, and that his death may not have been a suicide, have circulated widely.
The White House has previously said that after the Department of Justice released the remaining batch of the so-called Epstein Files, totaling some 3 million pages, the United States should focus on other matters. The stance has disappointed many Americans, with multiple U.S. media reporting that the case continues to undermine public trust in government institutions.
UN calls Epstein case crimes against humanity with global investigations continue
