Belarus Bans 50 News Websites, Lukashenko Inspects Border and Accuses NATO of Splitting up the Country

As anti-government protests in Belarus continue, more than 50 news media websites have been blocked by the local authority. On the other hand, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, donning military fatigues, inspected Grodno, a town near Belarus's borders with Poland, and accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of attempts to split up Belarus. NATO refuted his claim and said that it served only to divert the people’s attention from their discontent. US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit Lithuania and Russia shortly to discuss issues related to Belarus.

Lukashenko claimed that NATO attempted to split up Belarus and replace him with a new president. He also said that as Poland and Lithuania were ready to take action, he had to deploy troops to the western border and order his defence minister to take "the most stringent measures to protect the territorial integrity of the country.”

NATO denied the allegations, stating that "NATO poses no threat to Belarus or any other country and has no military buildup in the region" and that "Our posture is strictly defensive". It accused Lukashenko's government of employing a fictitious narrative of foreign threat to shift the public's attention away from its discontent towards the government and the election.

Source: Stand News #Aug23

#Belarus #NATO #Lukashenko #Poland #Lithuania

NATO Senior Officer Calls Upon the USA to Repair Relationship Against China's Diplomatic Bullying

Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) calls upon the USA and the European Union to repair the relationship as soon as possible to respond to the “more aggressive” and “threatening” risk.

Stoltenberg attended the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, emphasizing that NATO needs to co-operate with partners in the Asia-Pacific Regions. He pointed out that the rise of China and the following changes of global power balance have brought new threats and challenges to North America, Europe, and the whole world.

He believes that China has become more aggressive in the recent few years and engages in bullying behaviors. He specifically mentions China's aggression is threatening Taiwan and other countries. He criticizes the behavior of China destroys the Rule of Law and the international order. Stoltenberg emphasizes, “This is the reason why NATO alliances should unite and co-operate with partners.” Meantime, he pointed out, “If you worry about the rise of China and the enhancing military and economic power of China, then our unity is more important”.

Source from: The Stand News #Mar16

https://bit.ly/3sA1QtC

#NATO #JenStoltenberg #USA #China #Taiwan

Shifting Focus, NATO Views China as a Global Security Challenge

Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy spoke for many when he connected this summit with the Group of 7 summit meeting just concluded in Britain and compared them unfavorably with the period of Mr. Trump. “This summit is part of the process of reaffirming, rebuilding the fundamental alliances of the United States,” which were “weakened by the previous administration,” Mr. Draghi said.

And he pointed to Mr. Biden’s similarly important meetings on Tuesday with the leaders of the European Union, which Mr. Trump considered an economic competitor and even a foe. “We are here to reaffirm these alliances, but also to reaffirm the importance of the European Union,” Mr. Draghi said.

Source: NYTimes #Jun14

https://t.co/DquI7YvXqP

#NATO #China #MarioDraghi #Italy

Accusing Beijing for Suppressing Hong Kong Democratic Protest, NATO Secretary General Emphasizes Collective Policy Against China

US president Joe Biden arrived Brussels on Sunday night (13 June) to prepare the NATO Summit after the G7 Summit. The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltelberg said before the meeting that NATO member states need to strengthen their collective policy on China.

Jens Stoltelberg told Canada CBC in an interview that China has the second biggest defense budget, the biggest navy in the world, and is investing heavily in new military equipment, “that affect our security”. “China does not share our values,” he said. “We see that in the way they crack down on democratic protests in Hong Kong, how they oppress minorities like the Uyghurs and also how they use modern technology, social media and facial recognition, to monitor, to do surveillance of their own population.”

“All of this makes it important for NATO to develop a policy, to strengthen our policy, when it comes to China,” he added.

Stoltelberg said the world still have to engage with China on issues such as arms control and climate change, but China's arrest and ongoing detention of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig is “absolutely unacceptable”.

Source: Stand News #Jun14

https://bit.ly/3dfBTKm

#NATO #suppress #democracy #michaelkrovig #michaelspavor #China #joebiden

NATO Got It Wrong: China Is a Bigger Threat Than Russia

NATO finally addressed China in a half-serious way. The U.S.-led alliance system described the country as a “challenge” in a communiqué. But NATO continues to plod along, way behind the curve. While NATO rightly recognizes Russia as an aggressive threat (the country did invade Ukraine in 2014, and is still there), history’s most powerful democratic alliance system continues to downplay history’s biggest totalitarian threat: China.

Source: The Epoch Times #Jun17

https://t.co/djHAqF8M7A

#NATO #China #Russia

U.S. and allies accuse China of global hacking spree

The United States and its allies accused China on Monday of a global cyberespionage campaign, mustering an unusually broad coalition of countries for an initiative angrily rejected by Beijing.

The United States was joined by NATO, the European Union, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan and New Zealand in condemning the spying, which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said posed "a major threat to our economic and national security".

Simultaneously, the U.S. Department of Justice charged four Chinese nationals - three security officials and one contract hacker - with targeting dozens of companies, universities and government agencies in the United States and abroad

Source: Reuters #Jul20

https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-allies-accuse-china-global-cyber-hacking-campaign-2021-07-19/

#China #US #Hacking #NATO

USA and NATO Condemn China's Malicious Cyberattack

The Guardian reported that the USA and NATO along with the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand condemned Malicious Cyberattacks by China. The attack includes the invasion of 250,000 Microsoft Exchange email servers, affecting at least 30,000 US governmental and non-governmental organizations. It is the first cyber behaviour condemn by NATO since its establishment in 1949. Antony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, indicates that the systemic cyberattack from China is irresponsible, destructive and brings instability, seriously threatening the economy and national security of the USA.

On the same day, the US Department of Justice prosecuted four China citizens, including three security department officials and one criminal hacker contractor, accusing them of extorting and endangering the USA national security. Between 2011 and 2018, they invaded the computer system of various organizations, universities and government institutions, asking for trade secrets of aeronautics, national defence, education, government, medical, biopharmaceutical and maritime.

Source: Stand News #Jul20

https://bit.ly/2ViBmkW

#USA #NATO #China #Blinken #Hacker #MicrosoftExchange #CyberAttack

#CCP #Hypocracy
China-Russian hails ties and scorns international sanctions against Moscow's invasion in Ukraine calling them "illegal" and "counter-productive"

At a time when Russia is being condemned by the international community for its all-out invasion in Ukraine, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on March 30, 2022 that the desire of China and Russia to develop bilateral relations has become even "stronger" so has the confidence to promote cooperation in various directions.

#WangYi and his Russian counterpart #SergeiLavrov emerged from their meetings with a show of unity, appearing to reaffirm their countries' friendship and criticising economic sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow for invading Ukraine as "illegal" and "counter-productive."

"China-Russia relations have withstood the new test of changing international landscape," Wang said after the meeting. "China is ready to work with Russia to take China-Russia relations to a higher level in the new era."

China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion outright, and it abstained from voting on United Nations resolutions demanding Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine.

Instead, Beijing has accused the United States of intensifying tensions, while highlighting Moscow’s “legitimate security concerns” regarding the eastward expansion of #Nato.

#WangYi #SergeiLavrov #CCP #Moscow #StoptheWar #StandwithUkraine

Source: Voice of America Chinese; #Mar30
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-russia-more-determined-to-boost-ties-beijing-says-20220330/6507885.html

#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

#WarOnUkraine
China Messaging On Ukraine Shows Support For Russia’s Invasion: U.S. State Department

//China’s uncritical amplification of Kremlin views on #Moscow’s invasion of the #Ukraine demonstrates #Beijing’s support for Russia in the war, the #USStateDepartment said in a statement on May 2, 2022.

“Government officials and state and party media from the People’s Republic of China (#PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) routinely amplify Kremlin propaganda, conspiracy theories, and disinformation,” the statement said.

“This amplification rationalizes President Putin’s unjustified and unprovoked war against Ukraine while undermining trust in the United States and other countries, democratic institutions, and independent media,” the State Department said.

“Using social media platforms banned within the PRC, PRC and CCP media and PRC ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats convey biased Kremlin talking points to audiences in multiple languages and regions across the world. Meanwhile, within the PRC, CCP and state-backed entities censor credible reporting on Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine while blaming #NATO and the United States for #Putin’s brutal war of choice,” the statement said.

“PRC and CCP media and officials’ further uncritical amplification of Moscow’s messaging demonstrates Beijing’s support for Russia,” even though China hasn’t offered its explicit public endorsement or condemnation of Russia’s invasion, the State Department said.//

Read the official statement:
https://www.state.gov/disarming-disinformation/prc-efforts-to-amplify-the-kremlins-voice-on-ukraine/

Source: Forbes #May2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2022/05/02/china-messaging-on-ukraine-shows-support-for-russias-invasion-us-state-department/