Ban Chinese firm from working on UK nuclear power stations, ministers told

Cross-party China hawks have called on the government to slap an “outright” ban on a Chinese state-owned firm’s involvement in all UK nuclear power plants.

Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Labour peer Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, co-chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), on Tuesday welcomed reports that ministers propose curbing Beijing’s links with future assets planned for Britain’s nuclear fleet.

However, the senior parliamentarians urged Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to go further and reconsider the role of China general Nuclear (CGN) in the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset, where construction is already significantly advanced.

Source: The Guardian #Jul27

https://t.co/3UTKL6wcfz

#Chinese #UK #University #Nuclear #CGN

Press groups raise alarm over threats to foreign media in China

Press groups have expressed alarm at the worsening intimidation of foreign media in China, often driven by government officials and organisations.

As recovery and rescue efforts continue in Henan province after last week’s deadly floods, groups including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) have condemned recent harassment and threats towards journalists covering the disaster.

Reporters from international outlets – including the BBC, Los Angeles Times, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, CNN, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press – have been harassed or threatened over their coverage.

Source: The Guardian #Jul27

https://bit.ly/3zHwLYy
 
#China #Media #Press #Alarm #FCCC

Johnson may block Chinese takeover of UK’s largest computer chip maker

Boris Johnson may block a Chinese-owned company from purchasing the UK’s largest producer of semiconductors, a senior government adviser has suggested, as they warned Beijing was on the brink of initiating a new “cold war”.

Tony Abbott, the former prime minister of Australia recruited by Johnson to advise on post-Brexit trade, said he was heartened by a review being launched into the takeover of Welsh microchip manufacturer Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia and suggested it meant the process could be paused.

Johnson had asked his national security adviser, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, to look into the sale after previously being accused of acquiescing to the deal by not scrutinising it more closely, particularly given the semiconductor industry’s geopolitical prominence.

Source: The Guardian #Jul27

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/27/chinese-takeover-of-uks-largest-computer-chip-maker-may-be-blocked

#Johnson #UK #Chip #ColdWar

US says China’s claims in the South China Sea have ‘no basis’ in international law

"Beijing's claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea has no basis in international law," Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said. "That assertion treads on the sovereignty of the states in the region."

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea have “no basis in international law”, taking aim at China’s growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters.

Austin’s broadside came at the start of his first trip to Southeast Asia as US defence secretary, as he seeks to rally allies in the region as a bulwark to China.

Source : HKFP #Jul27

https://t.co/kZdPQJSHqP

#US #China #SouthChinaSea #Beijing

Oversea activists working on a Hong Kong Parliament

A group of oversea Hong Kong activists announced the Election Committee for the Hong Kong Parliament has been successfully formed on 27 July. They planned to organise a Hong Kong parliament member election, and all Hong Kong citizens, whether they are abroad or not, can vote.

Organizers Victor Ho and Elmer Yuen hope to achieve universal suffrage with this committee, and elect representatives truly belong to the people.

Source：HongKonger Unity Square #Jul27

#HongKongParliament #UniversalSuffrage #OverseasHKers #Election #HongKongActivists

Studies point to China's #HuananMarket as #epicenter of #Covid19, wildlife trade associated

The following is excerpted from a statement released by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (#AAAS), which is the publisher of the peer-reviewed journal "Science", on July 26, 2022:

//Two studies published in #Science by #MichaelWorobey et al. and #JonathanPekar et al. use complementary approaches – involving spatial and environmental analyses, as well as molecular analyses – to provide evidence that the Huanan market in #Wuhan, China, was the early epicenter for the COVID-19 #pandemic.

The scientists concluded that SARS-CoV-2 was very likely present in live mammals sold at this market in late 2019 and suggest the virus spilled over into people working or shopping there ... //

Read more:
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/959879

Source: AAAS; Canada TV #Jul27

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/studies-suggest-covid-19-likely-emerged-from-wuhan-market-1.6003139

#WuhanPneumonia

#Report: Security concerns over compulsory app launched by Hong Kong government

Source: Open Tech Fund #Jul27

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#Report: Security concerns over compulsory app launched by Hong Kong government

This is part of a report published by #TechOpenFund on July 27, 2022. The investigation was conducted by #7ASecurity and #OTFRedTeamLab in 2022:

//...This exercise involved both a privacy audit and a security audit of the #LeaveHomeSafe #Android and #iOS apps.

The privacy audit could not conclusively prove malicious intent or unauthorized tracking of Hong Kong citizens. However, the security audit demonstrated that these applications have not been professionally audited by any competent security firm before, and that significant flaws exist in the current software security development lifecycle.

This is particularly concerning given that the app was originally introduced more than a year and a half ago, was made mandatory in some fashion for 9 months and recently began requesting real name registration and tracking user’s movements.

While no clear privacy violation could be conclusively proven during the audit at runtime, a number of application artifacts, likely inherited from underlying dependencies or simply security vulnerabilities introduced by mistake, were found during this exercise.//

Read the full article:
https://www.opentech.fund/news/7asecurity-otf-red-team-lab-partner-completes-blackbox-pentest-and-privacy-audit-of-leavehomesafe-app/

Source: Open Tech Fund #Jul27

#MassSurveillance #Track #Privacy #App #PoliceState #Pandemic

#Surveillance
Portable charger in China Turned into Eavesdropping Device and GPS Locator

Source: RFA #Jul27

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#Surveillance
Portable charger in China Turned into Eavesdropping Device and GPS Locator

In China, a portable charger can become an eavesdropping device and a GPS locator. Acoording to Chinese media, with the installation of SIM card, such portable charger can eavesdrop a long distance away and locate the user accurately.

These devices come in various colours and models, but most have the functionality of "remote monitoring recording" and "precise positioning".

They cost from RMB300 to RMB600 and can be bought on some online platforms.

In China, a journalist from #Banyuetan (#半月談) successfully modifies a portable charger from a store with RMB300. He downloads a "#GPS365" app onto his phone. After logging in with the username and password given by the seller, the screen shows the device location, tracking record, contact list, messages etc.

The journalist puts "location" in trial and finds out that the activity tracking of the user can be seen clearly with the portable charger. Even places like underground and car parks can still be accurately shown on the system.

The staff told the journalist that the charger could record sound from the surroundings and automatically send the recording to the phone once the environment noise exceeds 50dB with "Sound Control Convo (#聲控語聊到)" installed in the app. The portable charger can also pick up phone calls automatically.

Source: RFA #Jul27
https://www.facebook.com/454004001340790/posts

#GPS #SoundControl #Tracking #Taobao #Privacy #Security #PrecisePositioning #MadeinChina

#HKParliment
"Gravely Concerning": Canadian MPs Urge Ottawa to Condemn Hong Kong Government Naming Vancouver Editor on "Wanted List"

In a letter to the government, two Canadian MPs asked Foreign Minister Melanie Joly to publicly oppose Hong Kong government’s action of putting Victor Ho, a former newspaper editor living in Vancouver, on a “wanted list” for suspected subversion of state power.

“We find this gravely concerning. Mr. Ho is a Canadian citizen, living in Canada. This is an intrusion on Mr. Ho’s legal rights, and any application of the National Security Law is a direct attack on this fundamental freedom of thought, belief, opinion, expression and assembly as protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” wrote #HeatherMcPherson, MP for Edmonton-Strathcona, and #JennyKwan, MP for Vancouver-East.

On July 27, Ho joined other activists at a news conference in Toronto to announce the formation of an electoral organizing committee for a Hong Kong “parliament in exile” that would oppose Beijing’s continued clampdown on political freedoms.

Read more:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/33055

A week later, the Hong Kong government’s security bureau said on its website that it “severely condemns” Ho and two others from the news conference, and that, on the basis of Hong Kong’s #NationalSecurityLaw, “police shall spare no efforts in pursuing the cases in … order to bring the offenders to justice.”

Source: Sing Tao Canada; #Aug16
https://www.singtao.ca/5969146/2022-08-16/post-shorten/&refer=toronto#.YwQAldBbbxk.link

#AntiELAB #VictorHo #GovernmentInExile

TikTok Pushed Chinese Propaganda Ads To Millions Across Europe

Source: Forbes #Jul27

#Tiktok #EuropeanUnion #DigitalServicesAct #CCP #Propaganda #Xinjiang

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TikTok Pushed Chinese Propaganda Ads To Millions Across Europe

TikTok has served up a flood of ads from Chinese state propaganda outlets to millions of Europeans in recent months, according to a new ad library published by the company on July 20. The promotions range in topic from defenses of Chinese Covid-19 lockdowns to adorable cats playing on the Great Wall of China to efforts to recast the country's Xinjiang region — where it has persecuted and detained more than one million mostly Muslim Uyghurs — as a spectacular tourist destination.

An analysis of the ad library conducted by Forbes showed that as of Wednesday, July 26, more than 1,000 ads from Chinese state media outlets like People’s Daily and CGTN have run on the platform since October 2022. They have been served to millions of users across Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom. The ad library does not yet display data on ads presented to users in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries outside of Europe.

Much of the content advertised by China state media on TikTok focused on frequent talking points from its TV, radio and print outlets that tout China’s economy, technology and cultural heritage. References to Xinjiang, where the U.S. government have branded the Chinese government’s campaign of mass repression, imprisonment and “reeducation” as a genocide, appeared in 92 of the 124 adverts promoted by one state media account.

Full article from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2023/07/26/tiktok-chinese-propaganda-ads-europe/

#Jul27 #Tiktok #EuropeanUnion #DigitalServicesAct #CCP #Propaganda #Xinjiang