#Newspaper

U.S. Charges Chinese Military Officers in 2017 Equifax Hacking

(10-Feb) Hackers stole names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of nearly 145 million Americans through an attack on Equifax in 2017.

The Justice Department announced charges on Monday against four members of China’s military on suspicion of hacking into Equifax to facilitate development of artificial intelligence tools. The FBI blamed China has “pioneered an expansive approach to stealing innovation. "


Full Article: New York Times
https://nyti.ms/2UQvm0j

#Cybersecurity #AI #ChinaThreat

#Newspaper

Taiwan Rejected by WHO. Taiwan Affairs Office: Pretext for Independence Won’t Work

(6 Feb) As the Wuhan coronavirus spreads across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) finally declared the epidemic to be a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” or PHEIC. In the meantime, Taiwan has been actively seeking to participate in the WHO meeting but has been rejected. Japan and Canada have successively voiced their support for Taiwan to participate as an observer. Taiwan Affairs Office, an administrative agency under mainland China, stated that Taiwan, as part of China, had no right to join the WHO. It also denounced the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to “use the epidemic as a pretext to seek independence.”

The Taiwan Affairs Office today stated that, while the people of China are fighting the epidemic, the DPP and “Taiwan independence” groups are seizing the opportunity to agitate Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, in an attempt to take advantage of the epidemic and expand the so-called “international space.” He also said that the DPP insisted on “Taiwan independence” after being in power, refused to recognize the “1992 Consensus,” and constantly challenged the One-China Principle. These ideas destroyed the political basis for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO. And the responsibility lies entirely with the DPP. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has also emphasized that China cares about the health and well-being of Taiwan compatriots. China ensures that Taiwan has unimpeded access to public health incident information, and properly arranges Taiwan’s participation in global health affairs. Therefore, there is no obstacle to technical cooperation between Taiwan and the WHO.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council spokesman CHIU Chui-cheng later responded that the Chinese Communist Party’s exclusion of Taiwan experts from WHO’s coronavirus emergency meeting deprived rights and interests of 23 million Taiwanese. The pretension that proper arrangements had been made for Taiwan, which was completely inconsistent with the facts, could lead to a global vaccination gap and public health risks. Chiu pointed out that Taiwan had long advocated its participation in the WHO, but has been repeatedly and unreasonably suppressed by China. He emphasized that Taiwan is a sovereign state, that Taiwan has never been a part of the People’s Republic of China, and that the Chinese Communist regime cannot represent Taiwan. Chiu also pointed out that the WHO is a non-political organization pursuing the highest level of human health and should not just cater to Beijing’s political will.

Source: Standard News (06-Feb)
http://bit.ly/2Uu2E4Z

Further reading:
U.S. clashes with China over Taiwan's place at the WHO table
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/16844
Trump Seeks to Halve U.S. Funding for WHO as Coronavirus Rages
https://bit.ly/2SBsjWL

#Taiwan #WHO #ChinaThreat
#CoronavirusOutbreak

Danish authorities have defended the erection of a statue outside the parliament in Copenhagen depicting Hong Kong protesters, despite complaints from Chinese officials

Officials from the Chinese Embassy in Denmark had attempted to pressure authorities into removing the statue, warning that it would damage relations between the two countries, offend Chinese tourists and pose a security risk as a “potential site of conflict.”

They even warned “the pace of the Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation is unstoppable. The conspiracy of a few people and anti-China organisation in Denmark is doomed to fail, " after the Copenhagen authorities said the artwork complied with health and safety regulations.

Artist Jens Galschiøt, Danish parliament member and an US Ambassador to Denmark said it was unprecedented and absurd to call for the removal of political artwork.

HK Free Press (11-Feb)
https://bit.ly/3brD8n7

#GlobalSupport #FreedomOfSpeech #WithChineseCharacteristics #ChinaThreat

Read: Pillar of Shame Honoring Hong Kong Protesters
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/15725

Pelosi warns US allies: 'Don't go near Huawei'

#newspaper

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday warned nations against doing business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei and called on other nations to work with the U.S. as the globe races to develop 5G networks.

“This is the most insidious form of aggression, to have that line of communication, 5G, dominated by an autocratic government that does not share our values,” Pelosi told an audience at the Munich Security Conference.

“If you want to build a collective conscience of values and respect for human rights and the rest, don’t go near Huawei and instead, let’s internationalize and build something together that will be about freedom of information. ”

“I’ve been tracking China for 30 years on trade, intellectual property and the rest of it, and I tell you unequivocally, without any hesitation: Be very careful ... unless you want to end up with a society like China or an economy like China, which is not in the free enterprise mode,” she added.

Pelosi’s hard stance against Huawei represents one of her few areas of agreement with President Donald Trump. Her comments come as the Trump administration works to isolate Huawei from developing a larger foothold in U.S. partner countries.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/14/pelosi-warns-us-allies-dont-go-near-huawei.html

Further reading:
Huawei will be allowed to build parts of Britain’s 5G network
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/01/28/huawei-will-allowed-build-parts-britains-5g-network/

#ChinaThreat #Huawei #GlobalEspionage #5G

#OpinionArticle #ChipTsao

How to play this poker game

(15 Mar) The Wuhan pneumonia is globalized. Even the epidemic may subside when warm weather returns, the world will still be disconnected with China and enter an era of "Post Made in China".

It is not the epidemic that is scary, but the habit of how the Chinese government and the Chinese conceal and lie about everything. The Chinese government and its people think they are always right - all faults are on the U.S. side which is the leader of the West. The world has experienced this, and the global pandemic has been confirmed and declared. Where will all the people, except the Chinese, go? This is a very serious problem.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/How-to-play-this-poker-game-03-22

Image: 地瓜熊老六
Source: Apple Daily
https://bit.ly/2U8Ln0K

#Coronavirus #Mulan #ChinaThreat #VirusOrigin

#LettersToEditor #TheGuardian

Letter to Ms Boseley, The Guardian

Editor’s note: This is a letter from a subscriber of our channel.

Dear Ms Boseley,

I would like to provide some feedback on your article "Test and trace: lessons from Hong Kong on avoiding a coronavirus lockdown" published on 17 April 2020.

There is nothing you can learn from Hong Kong unless you want your country to degenerate into a failed state. The reasons why we could cope with the coronavirus better than other places are simply that (1) Hongkongers have lost all trust and confidence in our government; (2) we know by instinct that Chinese figures are fake. We know in our hearts that the Hong Kong government is ignorant, incompetent and totally untrustworthy, that it has been blind and deaf for many months, that it would never put the interests of Hongkongers in any priority. To survive, we must rely on ourselves solely.

The terrible experience of SARS in 2003 definitely helps raise the awareness of personal and public hygiene. You are quite right to point it out. When we heard about the outbreak in China in late January, we knew instantly what we needed and which items of personal protective equipment (PPE) were the most essential. Everyone rushed to buy face masks and alcohol hand gel between late January and the entire February. And I must remind you that WHO said wearing masks had little to no effect in preventing the coronavirus infection. Ordinary Hongkongers have done all we can to find PPE from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, North America, South America and the whole Europe.

I need to emphasise it is "ordinary Hongkongers" because our government has never assisted the people of Hong Kong to acquire any PPE. Frontline health workers repeatedly said they did not have sufficient masks (doctors and nurses had to reuse their masks all day long). It was "ordinary Hongkongers", many of whom donated a few boxes each time to the medics. When we learnt that elderly people and low-income families could not afford to buy masks as prices went up more than 10 times, residents and shop owners in the neighbourhoods volunteered to provide free resources, such as masks, gloves, alcohol, liquid bleach, etc. In the time of coronavirus we have created an economy and a culture of mutual self-help. The solidarity of Hongkongers, the spirit and willingness to fight for the benefits of our fellows (by acquiring PPE from around the world and sharing it with others), the determination and sense of urgency to protect this place that is our home, these have nothing to do with WHO guidelines.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/Letter-to-Ms-Boseley-The-Guardian-04-22

#SelfHelp #HongKong #Epidemic #Coronavirus #MedicalStaffStrike #TravelBan #WHO #Taiwan #ChinaThreat #ChinesePropaganda

#Analysis
Geopolitics Unmasked: How COVID-19 became China’s Chernobyl

(30 Mar) Chinese diplomacy often uses giving plums in exchange for peaches. Today the CCP offers European countries plums in the form of masks, but at the same time, Xi Jinping has a well-prepared plan of how and when to ask for peaches for alleged help in the epidemic. Some may be told that since Beijing offered gifts, it is now time for Huawei to build a 5G network. The others may be asked to provide access to their wealth or to use the Chinese Yuan in the trade so that the currency will play a greater role in world transactions and replace the dollar. This alleged aid, without identifying China as responsible for the worldwide spread of the pandemic and agreeing to the CCP propaganda presenting China not as the source of the crisis, but as a solution to this crisis in other countries of the world, in the future, may translate into economic and political dependence of other countries and is simply a fraud.

Full Article: The Warsaw Institute Review
https://bit.ly/3bzJu3o

#ChinaInfluence #ChinaExpansionism #ChinaThreat #SharpPower #CCP #5G #Mask #Huawei #ChinesePropaganda #Pandemic

#Newspaper

Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says

While China claimed to be suffering from equally arid conditions in response to one of the worst droughts that was happening in Southeast Asian countries, new research from American climatologists show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam while securing their own supplies. The report has been creating a lot of noise as the hashtag #StopMekongDam trends on twitter.

Alan Basist, one of the co-writers of the report, remarked that while countries like Cambodia and Thailand were suffering from serious droughts, there was plenty of water near the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting that a huge volume of water was being held back in China. The report also suggested that China’s dams might have held back more than 410 feet of river height based on data collected over the course of 28 years.

While China, with growing geopolitical power, has always claimed that they value win-win relationships with other nations, a backlash is currently growing among Southeast Asian countries. In this particular case concerning water supply, while China did propose development plans that allegedly will benefit Southeast Asian countries, Beijing has control of the upstream Mekong, which provides as much as 70% of water to downstream nations in the dry season, leading to speculations that China is simply another “imperial power” that seeks to control natural resources regardless of needs of the local populace.

The Chinese section of the river is currently punctuated by 11 major dams, providing more power that is needed by the region as well as blocking a large proportion of sediment that should have flowed to the river’s mouth in Vietnam. Conservationists worry that such actions will “kill the river” while China’s participation in regional groups dedicated to the river’s health remain minimal.

Full Articles: The New York Times, Reuters, (Apr 2020)
https://nyti.ms/3dtbAOl
https://reut.rs/2LdOnnf
https://reut.rs/2WfeuAs

#StopMekongDam #ChinaThreat #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam

Petition to Stop China to build dam on the upstream Mekong River

(16 Apr) According to new research from American climatologists, China, where the headwaters of the Mekong spring forth from the Tibetan Plateau, was not experiencing the same hardship at all. Instead, Beijing's engineers appeared to have directly caused the record low water levels by limiting the river's flow. This has caused droughts in Southeast Asian Countries and therefore a petition is created for this issue. Currently more than 67000 signatures are received.

#StopMekongDam #Petition #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam #ChinaThreat

Further reading:
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20588

Source: Petition White House

#Newspaper

Containing China Will Be Complicated
Expect Beijing to grow more assertive as the West rethinks its economic attachments after the coronavirus

//The Covid-19 pandemic has convinced many that the U.S. must fundamentally change its policy toward China ...the pandemic’s political and economic effects are bringing about a more assertive Chinese grand strategy...China has grown rich and strong with the West’s permission. China’s rise has been welcomed rather than balanced, let alone contained.

In the postpandemic world...
Beijing will now see a need for action to ensure continued economic growth, which underpins the Communist Party’s legitimacy and underwrites China’s bid for regional hegemony.

This is a consequential moment and China’s leaders have critical choices to make. History is replete with examples of rising powers that grew more aggressive after losing the ability to glide to dominance.

...The signs are ominous that China may choose a similar path (A newly unified.Germany in the early 20th century) today.

...The best way for an established power like the U.S. to meet a challenge from a rising, ambitious state like China is to demonstrate as quickly as possible the inadvisability of doing what Germany did.

...This means jettisoning the old policy of hoping growth and enmeshment will turn China into a country that plays by established rules. Rather, the U.S. should align with countries that share its interests in Asia, Europe and beyond.

...The U.S. must reduce its economic exposure to China by addressing the vulnerabilities that have accumulated in important U.S. industries, artificial intelligence and the defense supply chain. But America can’t go it alone.

...One is the development of a stronger force posture in the Western Pacific to dissuade Chinese aggression toward Taiwan or other U.S. allies. This requires a credible forward defense, as outlined in the National Defense Strategy, built on the ability of countries like Japan, Australia, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam to blunt any Chinese aggression.

...Ultimately, Europeans need to be able to handle more of their own defense—with abiding American support—while Washington turns its attention to the Pacific. An expanded commitment to free trade among free countries will make the turn away from China-heavy supply chains an easier adjustment and ensure the West remains competitive in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

...Prioritizing the central threat posed by China means America’s postpandemic grand strategy will need to be attuned to opportunities for downshift or détente elsewhere. In the Middle East, an economy-of-force strategy should be implemented featuring a lighter, smaller and cheaper U.S. military footprint.

...The U.S. and its allies can’t protect their interests without confronting China. But confrontation will change Beijing’s incentives, making it more likely to assert itself sooner rather than later. Great-power competition may have lain dormant during the era of unfettered globalization, but the pandemic has brought it roaring back.

...The West must recognize that it will either pay now or pay later to contain China. Paying now is likely to produce a more tolerable bill.//

Source: The Wall Street Jounal, (07-May)

#China #Coronavirus #US #ChinaThreat #Foreignpolicy #InternationRelations

PLA Performs Military Drill at the Taiwan Strait in Response to U.S. Under Secretary of State Krach’s Visit to Taiwan. Office of the President of Taiwan Says China’s Provocations Will Not Improve Its International Image

The U.S. Under Secretary of State Keith Krach, who is responsible for economic affairs, continued his visit in Taiwan today (Sep 18). His schedule was not disclosed, but Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Jaushieh Joseph Wu, Vice Premier of the Executive Yuan Shen Jong-Chin, and Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-Hua arrived at the hotel where the U.S. delegation was staying this morning. They met behind closed doors with Krach and Ian Steff, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, to discuss economic cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. and other issues. Krach was to attend a dinner at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s residence in the evening as well.

China responded with military action as the Ministry of National Defense announced this morning that the PLA Eastern Theater Command would organize a “scenario-based” military drills near the Taiwan Strait. 18 Chinese jets flew over the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait today and entered the airspace southwest of Taiwan. The Taiwan Air Force took off in emergency and sent air patrols in response. The office of the President of Taiwan responded that China's provocations would not help improve its international image and called on China to exercise self-restraint.

Source: Stand News #Sep18

#ChinaThreat #China #PLA #MilitaryDrill #USTaiwanRelation #Taiwan #TsaiIngwen #Krach #KeithKrach #Steff #IanSteff #TaiwanStrait

https://bit.ly/2SOwrDf

#HKLivesMatter #BringThemBack
Detainee's Sister Shoots Video, Calling International Community to #Save12HKYouths

Beatrice Li, the sister of Andy Li, one of the Hongkongers detained in China, went public demanding the release of all 12 Hongkongers.

Activists in exile Sunny Cheung and Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Benedict Rogers of Hong Kong Watch spoke in the video, condemning China for the humanitarian crisis and reiterating the demands of the detainees' families:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=799913507242689

Cartoonist Badiucao, Australian lawmakers Tim Wilson and Andrew Hastie, UK's Arise Foundation director Luke de Pulford, Radicali Italiani's member Patrizia de Grazia were also present in the video. They all said together: "Save the 12 Hong Kong Youths, and bring them home".

They also want to send a clear message to countries around the world that how China is treating Hongkongers right now can also happen to anyone living in other parts of the world.

Source: Stand News #Nov1
#ChinaThreat

Japanese Minister Criticises China's Attempts to Change the Status Quo. It hopes to join Five Eyes intelligence Alliance to Counter Chinese Threat.

Taro Kono, Japanese Minister of State for Regulatory Reform and Administrative Reform, attended a U.S.-Japan symposium on Friday (23 October). He stated that China's growing military power and making attempts to alter the status quo unilaterally, including East and South China sea, China-India border and Hong Kong, have led Japan interested in joining Five Eyes.

Nikkei, alongside Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, D.C. think tank, co-hosted the 17th symposium on "The era of growing U.S.-China rivalry and new administrations in the U.S. and Japan" in Tokyo. Former Japan Defense Minister Taro Kono participated in the meeting through video.

"China's military spending has increased 44 times in the last 30 years... Number of fighter jets, submarines, cruise and missile there's a wide gap between Japan and China," he said. With China's increasingly security load over Hong Kong, "the one country two systems, which had been the current state in Hong Kong, has been brutally destroyed... the international community has to get united and face with this issue.". Kono further said, "although Japan is not an Anglo Saxon nation, and yet Japan shares values with these nations 100%. Therefore Japan should work with the Five Eyes and I hope it will become the Sixth Eye in due course."

#Japan #FiveEyes #TaroKono #CSIS #Nikkei #ChinaThreat

Source: Apple Daily #Oct24

https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20201024/JQL4RHEV75DLTFNE6YW4MWZOVM/

[Note: Some wordings modified according to the speech of Taro Kono. For details please refer to:
https://channel.nikkei.co.jp/d/?p=csis2020e&s=2468
]

#InternationalRelations
#SouthKorea’s Intelligence Agency Has Joined NATO’s Cyber Defense Unit; #China Isn’t Happy

//On Thursday, May 5, 2022, South Korea’s spy agency became the first in Asia to join #NATO’s Cyber Defense Group in a move that risks inflaming tensions with regional superpower China.

In response, #HuXiJin, the strident editor of Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) mouthpiece The #GlobalTimes, tweeted that the move was an affront to Beijing and even lays the groundwork for war in Asia. “If South Korea takes a path of turning hostile against its neighbors, the end of this path could be a #Ukraine,” he wrote.

Despite hosting some of the world’s top tech companies, like #LG and #Samsung, South Korea has been a surprising laggard regarding cybercrime and only launched a National Cybersecurity Strategy under the #MoonJaeIn administration in 2018.

This is despite South Korea being the principle target of increasingly frequent cyberattacks from across the DMZ. A crack squad of 6,800 North Korean agents are engaged in fraud, blackmail and online gambling that together generate some $860 million annually, according to the Korea Institute of Liberal Democracy in Seoul. Many attacks originate from inside China.//

Source: Time #May6

#Cyberattack #Seoul #Beijing #ChinaThreat

FBI investigation determined Chinese-made #Huawei equipment could disrupt US nuclear arsenal communications

//In 2017, the Chinese government was offering to spend $100 million to build an ornate Chinese garden at the #NationalArboretum in Washington DC. Complete with temples, pavilions and a 70-foot white pagoda, the project thrilled local officials, who hoped it would attract thousands of tourists every year.      

But when US counterintelligence officials began digging into the details, they found numerous red flags. The pagoda, they noted, would have been strategically placed on one of the highest points in #WashingtonDC, just two miles from the #USCapitol, a perfect spot for signals intelligence collection, multiple sources familiar with the episode told CNN.  

Also alarming was that Chinese officials wanted to build the pagoda with materials shipped to the US in diplomatic pouches, which #USCustoms officials are barred from examining, the sources said...

Among the most alarming things the #FBI uncovered pertains to Chinese-made Huawei equipment atop cell towers near US military bases in the rural Midwest. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the FBI determined the equipment was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department communications, including those used by US Strategic Command, which oversees the country's nuclear weapons....//

Read the full article:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/23/politics/fbi-investigation-huawei-china-defense-department-communications-nuclear/index.html

Source: CNN #Jul23

#CNNExclusive
#ChinaThreat #MadeinChina #Security #Espionage #ChineseGarden