Tom Burgis

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Maeve McClenaghan |Tom Burgis

The Chinese regime enlisted Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of Alibaba, in an intimidation campaign to press a businessman to help in the purge of a top official, documents seen by the Guardian suggest. The businessman, who can be named only as “H” for fear of reprisals against his family still in China, faced a series of threats from the Chinese state, in an attempt to get him to return home from France, where he was living.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Tom Burgis |Maeve McClenaghan

One morning last August, a troubling message appeared in a social media group for Hongkongers in the UK. It was already a tense time to be an immigrant. Rioters, propelled by false claims online that the man who had murdered children in Southport was an asylum seeker, were descending on hotels housing refugees, trying to burn them alive. The message alerted the Hongkongers to posts on far-right channels suggesting some new targets.

Feb 12, 2025 | msn.com | Lucy Osborne |Tom Burgis

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Feb 12, 2025 | theguardian.com | Lucy Osborne |Tom Burgis

A leading barrister who cleared the University of Buckingham’s vice-chancellor of wrongdoing over his relationship with a young Indian woman did not have access to evidence relevant to the investigation. The university commissioned Joseph O’Brien KC to investigate James Tooley over allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with the woman.

Feb 12, 2025 | theguardian.com | Tom Burgis |Eleni Courea |Rob Evans

Peter Mandelson’s face appeared at the top of the screen. Below him was Li Keqiang, then the Chinese premier. Ringed around them in the online “Europe-China business dialogue” meeting were top executives from some of the biggest European multinationals. Covid was still rife so the February 2021 gathering took place online, with the British Labour peer in the chair.