#Newspaper
In Hong Kong, a Proxy Battle Over Internet Freedom Begins
//The technological Cold War between China and the United States is playing out on various fronts around the world. The trade war ensnared Chinese tech giants like #Huawei and ZTE while American companies complain of industrial policies that favor Chinese businesses. Digital controls in China have also kept companies like Google and Facebook from operating in mainland China.
//Hong Kong emerges as the front line in a global fight between the United States and China over censorship following the introduction of a draconian new security law that mandates police censorship, surveillance and can be applied to online speech across the world.
//Caught in the middle are the city’s seven million residents, online records of political debate which may now be illegal and the world’s largest internet companies which host and guard that data.
//Many big companies including #Facebook, #Google #Twitter, #Zoom, and #LinkedIn have already stated that they would temporarily stop complying with requests for user data from the Hong Kong authorities, which has amounted to over 7000 in the second half of 2019 because of protests. The police have also made numerous requests to have Google remove sensitive posts, to which Google said no.
//The Hong Kong government has responded by emphasizing the penalty for non-compliance. Based on the law, the Hong Kong authorities can dictate the way people around the world talk about the city’s politics, and employees of companies that failed to hand over user data could be arrested.
//Several local apps associated with the protest movement have already shut down. People have begun to delete their social media accounts, switched to using encrypted chat apps like Signal, and embraced coded online speech that flourishes on the heavily monitored internet of China.
//Companies, meanwhile, have the option of shifting data away from Hong Kong but it is by no means an easy task. Moving all employees out of the city would insulate firms from arrests, but it may not be feasible.
//The looming legal fights could determine whether the city falls behind China’s digital Iron Curtain or becomes a hybrid where online speech and communications are selectively policed.
The Cold War between the US and //China continues on the other hand as the US moves to ban Chinese apps that are seen as potential threats to national security.
Full Article: The New York Times
https://nyti.ms/32WaXuP
Further reading:
“Zero logs” VPN exposes millions of logs including user passwords, claims data is anonymous
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/ufo-vpn-data-exposure/
#coldwar #internetsecurity #censorship
In Hong Kong, a Proxy Battle Over Internet Freedom Begins
//The technological Cold War between China and the United States is playing out on various fronts around the world. The trade war ensnared Chinese tech giants like #Huawei and ZTE while American companies complain of industrial policies that favor Chinese businesses. Digital controls in China have also kept companies like Google and Facebook from operating in mainland China.
//Hong Kong emerges as the front line in a global fight between the United States and China over censorship following the introduction of a draconian new security law that mandates police censorship, surveillance and can be applied to online speech across the world.
//Caught in the middle are the city’s seven million residents, online records of political debate which may now be illegal and the world’s largest internet companies which host and guard that data.
//Many big companies including #Facebook, #Google #Twitter, #Zoom, and #LinkedIn have already stated that they would temporarily stop complying with requests for user data from the Hong Kong authorities, which has amounted to over 7000 in the second half of 2019 because of protests. The police have also made numerous requests to have Google remove sensitive posts, to which Google said no.
//The Hong Kong government has responded by emphasizing the penalty for non-compliance. Based on the law, the Hong Kong authorities can dictate the way people around the world talk about the city’s politics, and employees of companies that failed to hand over user data could be arrested.
//Several local apps associated with the protest movement have already shut down. People have begun to delete their social media accounts, switched to using encrypted chat apps like Signal, and embraced coded online speech that flourishes on the heavily monitored internet of China.
//Companies, meanwhile, have the option of shifting data away from Hong Kong but it is by no means an easy task. Moving all employees out of the city would insulate firms from arrests, but it may not be feasible.
//The looming legal fights could determine whether the city falls behind China’s digital Iron Curtain or becomes a hybrid where online speech and communications are selectively policed.
The Cold War between the US and //China continues on the other hand as the US moves to ban Chinese apps that are seen as potential threats to national security.
Full Article: The New York Times
https://nyti.ms/32WaXuP
Further reading:
“Zero logs” VPN exposes millions of logs including user passwords, claims data is anonymous
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/ufo-vpn-data-exposure/
#coldwar #internetsecurity #censorship
NY Times
In Hong Kong, a Proxy Battle Over Internet Freedom Begins (Published 2020)
As the city grapples with new restrictions on online speech, American tech giants are on the front line of a clash between China and the United States over the internet’s future.
#OpinionArticle
CCP’s hand has reached Singapore and US long ago
(24 Jul)No one will expect an international relation expert in Singapore is indeed a spy sent by CCP to spy on the US. The show hand of the espionage battle between China and US is only getting more and more intense. First, on researchers like Tang juan, who conceal their military studies background, the states can charge them with Visa fraud, which has a lower bar for prosecution. The merit of such charge is that no-one has to prove any state secret is stolen at all, and 10 years in jail will be given if found guilty. So people can make an example of it, so to scare the Chinese researchers.
The details of the espionage case was released today but the spy had been arrested in Nov 2019. It shows that the intelligence department has already begun tightening the net, and is no longer afraid of alerting the enemy.
Defendant Yao Jun Wei admitted to breaching the Foreign Agents registration act, section 951. This section was used against Cuba, and is then expanded to all agents who threaten the US homeland security. Combining with the Foreign agent registration act, it is being put into full use. As long as the agents are not registered and are acting in substance in their spy role, they commit a crime. In this sense, all those Chinese enterprises who expand their businesses in the US, will easily be affected under this law. Who will disclose that they are indeed working for the CCP? TikTok wishes to sell the business in a rush, and swaps all the Chinese management personnels. This is simply because they, too, fear this law.
Yao Jun Wei expanded his business in the US for the CCP, and runs a fake consultancy company, like those civilian think tanks. Intelligence, that is not publicised, is the most difficult to obtain, and is highly restricted to those in the authority. According to those mole cases disclosed by the Department of State, most were tempted with woman or money. Mostly those in financial difficulty were reached. Yet, when the Trump government arrested these moles high profile, the public servants became more careful and no longer accept gifts easily. This in turn, increases the difficulty for CCP to steal intelligence. Yao Jun Wei’s case demonstrates CCP’s move adapt to such changes.
Yao Jun Wei used Linkedin to “remodify” action of espionage into a legal business. He sent out recruitment ads en masse, and recruited target to write consultancy reports of different subjects. He lied that these reports are for research of Asian clients, and such action will be safe. Each report is priced from USD 1000 to 2000, and this scam is targeted at public servants who want quick money. The court released three examples, in which the CCP obtained three insider news from such operation, including Japan purchasing F35A, the influence of retreat of US army in Afghanistan on China and the confidential background of a cabinet official.
Source: Author
https://bit.ly/30vWdkE
Translated by: Hong Kong Echo
#ChinaInfluence #Singapore #Spy #YaoJunWei #US #China #Tiktok #EspionageBattle #Linkedin
CCP’s hand has reached Singapore and US long ago
(24 Jul)No one will expect an international relation expert in Singapore is indeed a spy sent by CCP to spy on the US. The show hand of the espionage battle between China and US is only getting more and more intense. First, on researchers like Tang juan, who conceal their military studies background, the states can charge them with Visa fraud, which has a lower bar for prosecution. The merit of such charge is that no-one has to prove any state secret is stolen at all, and 10 years in jail will be given if found guilty. So people can make an example of it, so to scare the Chinese researchers.
The details of the espionage case was released today but the spy had been arrested in Nov 2019. It shows that the intelligence department has already begun tightening the net, and is no longer afraid of alerting the enemy.
Defendant Yao Jun Wei admitted to breaching the Foreign Agents registration act, section 951. This section was used against Cuba, and is then expanded to all agents who threaten the US homeland security. Combining with the Foreign agent registration act, it is being put into full use. As long as the agents are not registered and are acting in substance in their spy role, they commit a crime. In this sense, all those Chinese enterprises who expand their businesses in the US, will easily be affected under this law. Who will disclose that they are indeed working for the CCP? TikTok wishes to sell the business in a rush, and swaps all the Chinese management personnels. This is simply because they, too, fear this law.
Yao Jun Wei expanded his business in the US for the CCP, and runs a fake consultancy company, like those civilian think tanks. Intelligence, that is not publicised, is the most difficult to obtain, and is highly restricted to those in the authority. According to those mole cases disclosed by the Department of State, most were tempted with woman or money. Mostly those in financial difficulty were reached. Yet, when the Trump government arrested these moles high profile, the public servants became more careful and no longer accept gifts easily. This in turn, increases the difficulty for CCP to steal intelligence. Yao Jun Wei’s case demonstrates CCP’s move adapt to such changes.
Yao Jun Wei used Linkedin to “remodify” action of espionage into a legal business. He sent out recruitment ads en masse, and recruited target to write consultancy reports of different subjects. He lied that these reports are for research of Asian clients, and such action will be safe. Each report is priced from USD 1000 to 2000, and this scam is targeted at public servants who want quick money. The court released three examples, in which the CCP obtained three insider news from such operation, including Japan purchasing F35A, the influence of retreat of US army in Afghanistan on China and the confidential background of a cabinet official.
Source: Author
https://bit.ly/30vWdkE
Translated by: Hong Kong Echo
#ChinaInfluence #Singapore #Spy #YaoJunWei #US #China #Tiktok #EspionageBattle #Linkedin
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作者
新加坡的國際關係專家竟是中共安插在美國的間諜，中美諜戰的攤牌階段愈來愈精彩。先是對付好像唐娟這一種隱瞞軍科背景的研究員，控以門檻較低的簽證欺詐，好處是不需要舉證證明他們竊密，便可處以10年監禁，可以殺雞儆猴，令中國學者卻步。而最新司法部公開的這一宗諜案，2019年11月拉人，等到今天才公佈案情，反映美國情報部門已經收網，不怕打草驚蛇的問題了。 被告Yao Jun...
Scholars on LinkedIn Are Being Blocked in China ‘Without Telling Them Why’
Eyck Freymann, an Oxford University doctoral student, was surprised to get a notice from LinkedIn this month telling him his account had been blocked in China. The “Experience” section of his profile, which detailed his career history, contained “prohibited” content, he was informed.
The social-networking site owned by Microsoft Corp. didn’t explain more, but Mr. Freymann said he thought it was because he had included the words “Tiananmen Square massacre” in the entry for his two-year stint as a research assistant for a book in 2015.
“LinkedIn is pulling people’s material off without telling them why,” he said. “It was surprising because I am just a graduate student. I didn’t think I would have mattered.”
Source: WSJ #Jun25
https://t.co/siV41LcuIR
#Scholars #LinkedIn #China
Eyck Freymann, an Oxford University doctoral student, was surprised to get a notice from LinkedIn this month telling him his account had been blocked in China. The “Experience” section of his profile, which detailed his career history, contained “prohibited” content, he was informed.
The social-networking site owned by Microsoft Corp. didn’t explain more, but Mr. Freymann said he thought it was because he had included the words “Tiananmen Square massacre” in the entry for his two-year stint as a research assistant for a book in 2015.
“LinkedIn is pulling people’s material off without telling them why,” he said. “It was surprising because I am just a graduate student. I didn’t think I would have mattered.”
Source: WSJ #Jun25
https://t.co/siV41LcuIR
#Scholars #LinkedIn #China
#CCPGrip #Yahoo
Second US tech firm withdraws from China in less than a month as Beijing tightens grip
Yahoo has announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market in the latest retreat by foreign technology firms responding to Beijing’s tightening control over the industry.
“In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, Yahoo’s suite of services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of November 1,” the company said on 2 November 2021.
The timing of the pullout coincided with the implementation of China’s new data protection law, which came into effect on 1 November 2021.
Yahoo’s withdrawal came less than a month after another US tech company, Microsoft’s professional networking platform #LinkedIn, announced it was shutting down operations in China. In public, the company blamed a “significantly more challenging operating environment” as well as “greater compliance requirements in China”.
Source: Stand News, Guardian; #Nov2
https://thestandnews.page.link/q4JuEyEF8tZ3ymqUA
Second US tech firm withdraws from China in less than a month as Beijing tightens grip
Yahoo has announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market in the latest retreat by foreign technology firms responding to Beijing’s tightening control over the industry.
“In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, Yahoo’s suite of services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of November 1,” the company said on 2 November 2021.
The timing of the pullout coincided with the implementation of China’s new data protection law, which came into effect on 1 November 2021.
Yahoo’s withdrawal came less than a month after another US tech company, Microsoft’s professional networking platform #LinkedIn, announced it was shutting down operations in China. In public, the company blamed a “significantly more challenging operating environment” as well as “greater compliance requirements in China”.
Source: Stand News, Guardian; #Nov2
https://thestandnews.page.link/q4JuEyEF8tZ3ymqUA