ISU launch probe after Korean skater injured by American rival

Alastair HIMMER
Lim Eun-soo was hurt in a collision with US skater Mariah Bell during a warm-up at the world championships in Saitama

Figure skating's ruling body is set to investigate claims America's Mariah Bell deliberately injured South Korean rival Lim Eun-soo during a warm-up at the world championships in Japan. Korean officials told AFP on Thursday that they had lodged a formal complaint following the incident, in which Lim's management agency alleged Bell kicked their skater, causing a cut to her leg, while limbering up for the women's short programme on Wednesday night. The officials refused to speculate what action, if any, the International Skating Union (ISU) might take, admitting it was "difficult to prove" intent on Bell's part. "At this stage we can't conclude Bell caused the injury on purpose," a Korea Skating Union official said, adding that Lim's parents also brought the clash to the body's attention. "It is hard to tell just by watching the video footage of the incident." The 16-year-old Lim, skating in her first senior world championships, was patched up before scoring a personal-best 72.91 points to place fifth in the short skate at Saitama, just ahead of Bell. As social media lit up in South Korea in condemnation of Bell, 22, the ISU was set to meet later Thursday to discuss the claims, said media and communications manager Selina Vanier. American skate officials were not immediately available for comment. Lim's All That Sports agency said there was reason to believe Bell's act was deliberate, claiming Lim was skating close to the rink wall away from her rivals and the American collided with her from behind. Lim and Bell both train under coach Rafael Arutyunyan and the Korean skater's management also alleged Bell had been "bullying Lim for months" leading up to the world championships, according to local media. The management company also claimed Bell failed to apologise after the incident, a point many on social media jumped on. "The problem with Mariah Bell was that she was skating too close to the edge and her blade stabbed into Eunsoo's leg," tweeted one fan. "Putting all bullying rumors aside, shouldn't she have apologized?" The glitzy world of figure skating is more commonly associated with frilly skirts and hairspray but is no stranger to controversy, most notably when American Tonya Harding's ex-husband and bodyguard arranged an attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan in the run-up to the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. Plenty of skating fans came out in support of Bell, while others called for calm. "First of all people need to CALM DOWN and analyze," suggested one Twitter user. "Why would a veteran skater like Bell injure someone during a PUBLIC PRACTICE in front of hundreds of fans? None of the fans, who were taking notes, said ANYTHING about a collision." Olympic champion Alina Zagitova leads the standings heading into Friday's free skate at the world championships in Saitama.

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Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Canadian government lawyers, representing US interests in the case, cried foul. “Two and a half years from the start of these proceedings, countless hours spent fashioning a schedule agreed by both sides, and mere days from reaching the finishing line, the applicant asks this court to take a several month pause,” they said in a written response. “Her request should be denied.” In court, the Canadian Department of Justice’s top lawyer, Robert Frater, said: “There is literally no basis for this request … they are asking once again to have this court turn itself into a trial court.” It was only Meng’s “unlimited resources” that allowed her to file the application, he said. 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Canadian government lawyer Robert Frater Meng, who is Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, is accused by US authorities of defrauding HSBC by lying to the bank about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran, thus putting the bank at risk of breaching US sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. She was arrested at Vancouver’s airport on December 1, 2018 and has been fighting a US request to have her extradited to face trial in New York ever since. In their application, Meng’s lawyers separately argue that a delay is also needed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying “rising and critical health concerns” about the virus in BC made a three week hearing starting next week “unadvisable and potentially dangerous”. BC has recently been averaging about 1,000 new Covid-19 cases per day. Canada had to arrest Meng Wanzhou and it was not arbitrary, but detention is now unlawful, her lawyer says The Canadian government lawyers’ response says there is no evidence that the new material would be either admissible or relevant. The request “is the latest in a series of attempts to turn these proceedings into a trial that should properly take place in the requesting state”, they wrote. Material related to the Hong Kong court’s consent order was provided to Holmes in a sealed envelope. But some terms of the order seemed to prevent it being seen by anyone except the Hong Kong court, Meng and HSBC, Holmes said. The sealed envelope “puts the [BC] court in a very awkward position … one doesn’t go into a sealed envelope to find the authority to open it”, said Holmes. After receiving agreement from both sides, Holmes said the material – which has already been redacted – should be put on the record but subjected to a publication ban. The forthcoming material, which Peck called “likely highly relevant”, would relate to the relationship between Huawei and HSBC and two subsidiaries – Skycom, through which Huawei did business in Iran, and a shell company called Canicula – he said. Meng Wanzhou’s extradition judge should not decide on US jurisdiction, Canadian government lawyer says “This could be of great value to the final decision in this case,” Peck added. The material would be “copious” but it would be reviewed by his team in a “focused and expeditious manner”, Peck promised. “No one here desires to adjourn this case for an adjournment’s sake,” said Peck, calling the requested three-month delay “short in the context of this case” and noting that Meng’s behaviour forming the basis of the charges had occurred in 2013. That was a reference to a meeting between Meng and a HSBC banker in a Hong Kong teahouse, at which she delivered a PowerPoint presentation about Huawei’s Iran business. Peck said his team had already received a first batch of the HSBC documents, with another batch due on Tuesday and more within six weeks. Holmes asked if Peck had considered proceeding with the existing April 26-May 14 court dates, then asking to reopen the hearings if demanded by the new documents. The judge said she had not planned to issue any decisions immediately upon the conclusion of the three weeks in question. But Peck said there was a risk of “throwing away time” on arguments that would need significant amendment later. Government lawyer Frater told Holmes the eleventh-hour delay request was unacceptable. “My lady, this process must come to a conclusion. Extradition hearings are supposed to be expeditious,” he said. He told Holmes that she had no way of knowing what was in the HSBC material, and only the word of Meng’s and Huawei’s lawyers that it would be relevant and delivered soon. Xinjiang: will the West’s sanctions on China force the issue or unravel? “They do not know what is in these documents and they do not know when they are going to get them,” Frater said. As for the Hong Kong settlement, Frater said it was “inexplicable” that HSBC had agreed to provide the material, considering that the bank had “won on every point” in a prior attempt to secure the material through the British courts. But in Hong Kong, HSBC had acquiesced to Huawei “for reasons known only to themselves”. Regarding the risk posed by Covid-19, Frater said his team was willing to take whatever steps the court deemed necessary, such as by conducting them entirely remotely. In reply, Peck denied seeking to protract the case unreasonably. “It’s not a runaway train by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. 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    China conducted a large-scale aerial bombardment exercise over the weekend as tensions escalated over Taiwan, prompted by a joint statement about the island from the United States and Japan.The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command, which oversees the Taiwan Strait, deployed dozens of H-6K strategic bombers in a nine-hour live-fire drill, according to state television. The bombers took off in groups from a military airport in eastern China in combat formations amid low-visibility conditions and headed towards an “unknown shooting range”, the CCTV report said.During their flights the H-6Ks, which have a maximum load capacity of 15 tonnes, also practised electronic countermeasures with air-defence missile units. Once they reached their target airspace, they dropped free-fall aerial bombs from different altitudes, the report said. After returning to base, the planes repeated the exercise during the night, it added.“The long hours, high-intensity, day-night training has quickly increased the [air force’s] assault abilities and improved actual combat capabilities,” CCTV said. The report did not state where the shooting range was, but a Chinese military insider said the H-6Ks were dropping bombs somewhere in remote northwestern Qinghai province instead of their designated battlefield on the southeast coast facing Taiwan.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Is Biden set to end the guessing game about what US will do if Taiwan is invaded? “It’s a large-scale drill, with many bombs being dropped. There are no big shooting ranges in the eastern and southern theatre commands,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.“The PLA doesn’t want to make undue provocations against Taiwan just yet, because peaceful means are still the best way to solve the Taiwan problem,” the source added.The exercise came after the US and Japanese leaders mentioned Taiwan in a joint statement, a first since 1969. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden angered Beijing on Friday by saying they “underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues”.China said such comments were harmful to regional peace and stability and vowed to resolutely defend its national sovereignty, security and development interests. Taiwan ‘in the process’ of seeking long-range cruise missiles from US Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought under mainland Chinese control, by force if necessary. The PLA has ramped up military activity near the self-ruled island as tensions escalate between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan, including sending warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on an almost daily basis in recent months. Additional reporting by Minnie ChanMore from South China Morning Post:Beijing’s ‘combat drills’ near Taiwan seen as a message to US militaryBiden emissary tells Tsai Ing-wen the US is ‘a reliable and trusted friend’ of TaiwanTaiwan reports largest ever incursion by Chinese air forceChinese military in South China Sea landing drill as Taiwan tension persistsChinese military micro drone unveiled at Abu Dhabi weapons showThis article China conducts aerial bombing drill after US-Japan statement on Taiwan first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.

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