China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-05-08

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New rules let China's state security police check people's devices

"The documents issued by the Ministry of State Security on April 26 empower its officers to gather "electronic data" relating to an investigation including "mobile phone text messages, emails, instant messages and group chats," along with "documents, images, audio and video, apps and ... log records" from electronic devices.
Police may "make inquiries" simply by presenting their police ID card, and may "collect evidence" if at least two officers present their ID card, according to the rules on administrative cases.
"The collection and extraction of electronic data shall be carried out by two or more investigators,"
[...] Legal scholar Lu Chenyuan said the new rules mean that state security police officers can stop people and search their devices without the need for a warrant, or even an ongoing criminal investigation."

--- Well, police has checked people's phones on the streets in China for quite a while now. So, this is just another case of introducing rules & regulations that don't change much in reality.

"Anecdotal evidence from people who frequently travel in and out of China suggests that police at the borders are already carrying out spot checks of people's phones when they cross the border."

--- & that's not new, either.

Serbia to Xi Jinping: No one reveres you like we do

"“I told him that as the leader of a great power he will be met with respect all over the world, but the reverence and love he encounters in our Serbia will not be found anywhere else,” President Aleksandar Vučić said after a welcoming ceremony in front of Palata Srbije, a lavish socialist-era compound often used for state visits.
Vučić also stressed that, when it comes to cooperation with Beijing, “the sky is the limit.”"

--- Then we better not have Serbia in the EU.

‘Countries are now forced to confront it’: Rise in Chinese espionage arrests alarms Europe

"“A lot of this activity has been around a while,” said Martin Thorley, a senior analyst at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime. “Countries have now been forced confront it, despite the unpalatable nature of dealing with this at the same time as having market dependencies, supply-chain links etc in China. This has been present for a while and has been left too long.”"

--- Well, there was the occasional spy uncovered, but in general, many European countries were complacent. They usually only acted on hints by US secret services. European agencies seem to be largely dysfunctional.

"Experts say Chinese spies have three main priorities: to shape political and economic trends in line with China’s interests; gather information on sensitive industries; and to monitor the diaspora populations, particularly minority groups such as Tibetans, Uyghurs and Hongkongers."

--- These 'experts' missed one of the main interests of Chinese spies: industrial espionage.

US eyes curbs on China's access to AI software behind apps like ChatGPT

"The Commerce Department is considering a new regulatory push to restrict the export of proprietary or closed source AI models, whose software and the data it is trained on are kept under wraps, three people familiar with the matter said.
[...] Currently, nothing is stopping U.S. AI giants like Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Alphabet's Google DeepMind and rival Anthropic, which have developed some of the most powerful closed source AI models, from selling them to almost anyone in the world without government oversight.
[...] Regardless of the threshold, AI model exports will be hard to control. Many models are open source, meaning they would remain beyond the purview of export controls under consideration.
Even imposing controls on the more advanced proprietary models will prove challenging, as regulators will likely struggle to define the right criteria to determine which models should be controlled at all"

--- We will see what comes of it. I doubt that under Biden there will be effective export controls.

Chinese network behind one of world’s ‘largest online scams’

"A trove of data examined by reporters and IT experts indicates the operation is highly organised, technically savvy – and ongoing.
Operating on an industrial scale, programmers have created tens of thousands of fake web shops offering discounted goods from Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace and Prada, as well as many other premium brands.
Published in multiple languages from English to German, French, Spanish, Swedish and Italian, the websites appear to have been set up to lure shoppers into parting with money and sensitive personal data."

--- Don't understand why people fall for this bullshit. But, then again, I was never much into buying brands.

"Strangely, many who tried to shop never lost money. Either their bank blocked the payment, or the fake shop itself did not process it.
However, all of those interviewed have one thing in common: they handed over their private data."

--- Well...

Court bans protest song over 'insult' to China's national anthem

"A Hong Kong court has banned "Glory to Hong Kong," a protest song from the 2019 pro-democracy movement that has been frequently mistaken for the city's official anthem, calling it a "weapon" that could be used to bring down the government and an "insult" to China's national anthem."

--- What commies see as a weapon...
Youtube, btw., seems to have started taking down (worldwide, not just for HK) some videos with the song. Suckers.

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Nicaragua cancels Chinese plan to complete controversial canal

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INTERVIEW: Lawyer debunks China’s historical narrative of control over Xinjiang

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Students banned from speaking Tibetan in Sichuan schools

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--- China Uncensored: "China Is At War With the US"

--- WSJ: "Why China’s Land Grab in Bhutan Threatens India"

--- BBC News: China’s President Xi Jinping gets red carpet welcome on visit to Serbia

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--- DW News: China and Serbia: An 'ironclad' relationship?

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Better not get stabbed in China, because people will just let you bleed out.

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Xi und Vucic beschwören "eiserne Freundschaft"

""Wir haben Glück, dass wir in der Volksrepublik China immer einen Freund hatten", sagte Vucic anschließend. Xi bezeichnete das Verhältnis Chinas zum Gastland als "eiserne Freundschaft". In der Taiwan-Frage bekräftigte der serbische Präsident ebenfalls seine Unterstützung Pekings. "Wir haben eine klare und einfache Position in Bezug auf die territoriale Integrität Chinas", sagte er RTS unter dem Applaus von Xi. "Ja, Taiwan ist China.""

--- Mit Vucic an der Spitze hat Serbien jedenfalls nichts in der EU verloren.

s.a.: Wohlfühlprogramm für Xi

BogusBazaar: Bande in China steckt hinter zehntausenden Fake-Shops

"Eine kriminelle Organisation aus China ist für mindestens 76.000 Fake-Shops im Internet verantwortlich, mit deren Hilfe Kreditkartendaten von mehr als 850.000 Menschen entwendet wurden. Das haben verschiedene Medien anhand mehrerer Gigabyte von Daten ermittelt, die die deutsche Cybersicherheitsfirma "SR Labs" zuerst an "Die Zeit" übergeben hat. SR Labs nennt die Organisation "BogusBazaar" und erklärt, dass die Software der Kriminellen dazu benutzt wird, halbautomatisch Online-Shops unter abgelaufenen Domains anzulegen. Dort würden dann Markenartikel zu extrem günstigen Preisen angeboten. Den vorwiegend in Westeuropa und den USA lebenden Opfern würden dann zuerst Kreditkartendaten abgeknöpft und später teilweise noch Fälschungen verkauft.
[...] Da die Bande in China außerhalb der Reichweite westlicher Strafverfolgungsbehörden sitzt, ist unklar, ob die Volksrepublik nach den internationalen Medienberichten jetzt gegen deren Umtriebe vorgeht."

--- Da es sich bei den Opfern (fast?) ausschließlich um Ausländer handelt, dürfte ein Eingreifen chinesischer Behörden auf sich warten lassen.

US-Restriktionen gegen China: Intel und Qualcomm dürfen Huawei nicht mehr beliefern

"Vor allem Intel genießt bisher umfangreiche und kaum eingeschränkte Handelsrechte"

--- Während einige andere Firmen schon eine Weile nicht mehr liefern durften. Kein gutes Bild, das Biden da abgibt.

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Hongkonger Gericht verbietet Protesthymne

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TikTok klagt gegen US-Gesetz zum Verkauf

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