A great case study in situational ethics today, wrapped up in this tortured logic from the Premier:
Premier Ewart Brown called the comments a "strange development"."Normally, one would expect such a story to come from a certified journalist at the conference. The fact that Mr. Simons authored the story renders it at least suspect. I suggest that you get a quote from the Chinese Ambassador.
"You may recall that we hosted Chinese businessmen some weeks ago. Not one of them raised the issue or said that the Chinese government had a problem. Please note that if the Chinese Government wishes to communicate to the Bermuda Government, it should be done through the UK Government."
A couple obvious issues here:
1) One would expect a story to come from a certified journalist rather than being 'authored' by a politician?
What exactly is the role of a press secretary and Department of Communication if it isn't to 'author' stories to pass on to 'certified journalists. What Cole Simons did is what the Premier does every day when he issues a statement about his meeting with some US politician.
2) The Chinese Government should communicate through the UK Government?
Low hanging fruit here. Dr. Brown is now taking the position that the UK is responsible for external affairs, when he pretended that the Uighur issue was an immigration issue.
Dr. Brown didn't apply the same standards when he communicated with the US government, explicitly withholding material information from the UK Government.
That's situation ethics for you if you've ever seen it.
Now, let's hope though that Cole isn't naive enough to accept this statement from the Chinese Ambassador:
Madame Ying said the Chinese Government would be happy to have the Uighurs in Bermuda returned to China if they have committed no crimes...
