While the proceedings of Defender 23 Nato drills are rather smoothly going on, here are US voices from Germany where Nato operations should simulate a situation of war in an allied country. The imagined situation: Germany being already partly invaded by an unnamed enemy is trying to defend an East German port from being taken over by that enemy.
I decided to quote an article from ABC News (June 7) where US Ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutman, and the director of the U.S. Air National Guard, Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, are putting things more bluntly than German sources usually would do. Here is what they are saying, together with a raw translation of their words into Chinese:
First a diplomatic view:
“This is an exercise that would be absolutely impressive to anybody who’s watching, and we don’t make anybody watch it,” U.S. Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann said.
“It will demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt the agility and the swiftness of our allied force in NATO as a first responder,” she told reporters in Berlin.
“I would be pretty surprised if any world leader was not taking note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, which means the strength of this alliance," Gutmann said.
"And that includes Mr. Putin,” she added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The director of the U.S. Air National Guard, Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, said the exercise goes beyond deterrence.
“It's about the readiness of our force. It’s about coordination, not just within NATO, but with our other allies and partners outside of NATO,” he said.
Loh said the exercise would be an opportunity for younger U.S. airmen, many of whom have mainly gotten experience serving in the Middle East, to build relationships with allies in Europe and prepare for a different military scenario.
“So this is about now establishing what it means to go against a great power, in a great power competition,” he said.
美国空军国民警卫队主任迈克尔·A·罗（Michael A. Loh）中将表示，这次演习超越了威慑。
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"这是关于我们部队的准备情况。这是关于协调，不仅在北约内部，而且与北约以外的其他盟国和伙伴，"他说。
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卢说，这次演习将为年轻的美国飞行员提供一个机会，其中许多人主要在中东服役，与欧洲盟国建立关系并为不同的军事场景做准备。
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"所以这是关于现在确定在大国竞争中对抗大国意味着什么，"他说。
June 14: German National Radio DW on the presentation of Germany's first
National Security Concept by Chancellor Scholz and four of his ministers.
德国第一件国家安全提纲（德国国家广播电台DW）
Based on the attack of Russian territory at Belgorod on June 2, some Chinese media comment, published June 10, comes to the following conclusion : It is not looking too good for Russia.
That evaluation is founded on the idea that the Belgorod incident, even though restricted to one single region, is revealing essential shortcomings of both, Russia's military forces and Russia's politics. It therefore comes to the conclusion that Russia's position should not be looked at with any optimism.
Title: Russia's Belgorod region was attacked 107 times in 24 hours.
One: Russia's desire to completely defeat Ukraine is nowhere in sight. It is said that there is no hope, no possibility. I'm afraid it cannot be said to be realistic. After fighting for more than a year, [Russia] not only failed to achieve a repressive victory, but also experienced its own territory being attacked by the Ukrainian side. [phrase based on a Chinese proverb]
Second: [Only consider that] Russian attacks on Ukraine were allowed to go unchecked, comprising 107 attacks within 24 hours. Then just imagine the Ukrainian side launching a [similar] attack and the Russian side failed to suppress it in time while the Ukrainian side was only allowed to attack with artillery fire. Such a situation is really not optimistic.
Third: The Russian border is in a severe state of emptiness. Belgorod is a border city of Russia, and the Ukrainian side used artillery and mortars to attack the [Russian] state. In other words, it was a close range attack. To put it bluntly, it was an attack launched from the Ukrainian border city adjacent to Russian territory. To compare the border forces of both sides, the Ukrainian side could make 107 attacks within 24 hours. The Russian side let them go and was beaten passively. It can be seen that Russia's military strength on the border is severely lacking.
Based on the above told facts, the Chinese commentator draws a rather gloomy picture of Russia's position in its war on Ukraine. However, this is only a single person's opinion.
Editor's opinion: Speaking of myself as somebody who already encountered different Chinese opinions regarding Putin's war on Ukraine, I came to think that such pluralistic treatment of the subject is rather unusual in an evironment lacking the total freedom of press. This should only be possible, if China's leadership had their own problems of coming to terms with Putin's war policy. And there is much at stake for China in the frame of its 'road and belt' policies in Central and Western Asia.
According to China's CCTV news, on June 9 local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first evaluation of the Ukrainian army's counterattack in Sochi. Putin said the Ukrainian army had launched a counteroffensive and that the Ukrainian army had used its strategic reserves, but it failed to achieve any of its intended goals.
On the eve of the counter-attack [i.e. June 8], some 'military editor' from Shandong province wrote that Russia has deployed thousands of FPV suicide-drones named 'Warrior 40' at the front-line during the last days.
The 'Warrior 40' drone seeems to be a modified civilian four-axis drone being able to drop a bomb. It has a flight distance of about 12 kilometers, a battery life of 35 minutes, and can carry 2.5 kilograms of ammunition. In terms of weight alone, it is heavier than a 60 mm mortar shell. From the perspective of charge, the charge of the Warrior 40's high-explosive warhead is estimated to be at least 2 kg, which is heavier than that of some 80 mm mortar shells. But in general, its power should be equivalent to an 80 mm mortar shell.
Above: Russian 'Warrior 40' drones approaching their targets. Below: Similar war drones deployed by the Ukrainian army.
The IISS Shangri-la Dialogue is Asia's premier defence summit. It’s a unique meeting where ministers debate the region’s most pressing security challenges, engage in important bilateral talks and come up with fresh approaches together. The 2023 event took place in Singapore on 2–4 June. Here is a brandnew report from the meeting by China's People's Daily 人民日报 :
People's Daily, June 5, 2023 – Yesterday, June 4, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu delivered a speech at the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue on the topic of "China's New Security Initiative".
Li Shangfu stressed: Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and how to resolve the Taiwan issue is the Chinese people's own affair, and no outside forces should be allowed to interfere. The DPP [i.e. Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party] authorities' "coercion of foreigners to seek independence" and external forces "using Taiwan to contain China" are the biggest troublemakers in changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will not hesitate in the slightest, will not be afraid of any opponent, and will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity no matter what the cost.
This comes shortly after a new incident in the Taiwan Strait when a US navy ship was blocked by some Chinese warship and which led to a dangerous encounter between both vessels.
After the incident, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin surprisingly approached China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu at the Shangri-la meeting and shook hands with him. However, there was no subsequent discussion of the naval incident between both sides.
To begin with the essential facts. Here is what everybody should know about the BRICS Alliance :
The BRICS countries are a cooperation mechanism composed of China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. These five countries have 25.24% of the global GDP, 42% of the foreign exchange reserves, 26.46% of the total territory, and nearly 42% of the population. One of their projected purposes is to replace the incumbent US$ currency standard by an adequate alternative, thus reducing economic dependencies of developing nations from the USA. While Russia is being occupied with waging war on Ukraine and struggling with Western sanctions, China seems to be the true global power behind BRICS and which is pulling the strings by now.
As the BRICS countries begin to play an increasingly important role on the international stage, capacity expansion has become a hot topic among the five BRICS countries. According to South African officials, currently 13 countries have formally submitted applications for membership, and 6 countries have informally expressed their intention to join. That process of expansion, however, is going to be tedious and time-consuming.
Here is what Tencent Network 腾讯网 wrote today (June 3) about expected development and basic intentions of the BRICS Alliance, as seen from a Chinese point of view :
Faced with the rapid development of the BRICS countries, some countries began to panic. According to Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun", 19 countries line up to join the BRICS countries. The BRICS countries will absorb more and more developing countries to join, and gradually gain the strength to compete with the Group of Seven (G7).
Japanese media lamented that for developed countries, the BRICS countries may become a "difficult existence" in the future. Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey and other countries were invited to participate in the Hiroshima G7 summit not long ago, but now they all intend to become a member of the BRICS.
The United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other oil-producing countries have also applied to join the BRICS countries, which means that the BRICS countries will control more than half of the world's natural gas and oil. The BRICS mechanism will play an increasingly important role in the global energy sector.
Moreover, the BRICS countries will likely absorb many Asian, African and Latin American countries that have been marginalized by the Western world. Brazil has always wanted South American countries to join the BRICS. Brazilian President Lula met with Venezuelan President Maduro a few days ago and made it clear that he would support Venezuela in becoming a member of the BRICS.
In addition, Brazil regards Argentina, the second largest country in South America, as a "strategic neighbor" and pushes it to join the BRICS. If Argentina and other South American countries become members of the BRICS, other countries in the region will also have the idea of joining the BRICS.
India - A Swaggering Candidate ....
India seems to have some difficulties with BRICS expansion. It fears a loss of importance in the presence of other developing nations owing a similar potential.
Bloomberg reported that India hopes to reach an agreement on the BRICS expansion process, so as to obtain assurances that China and its allies will not "squeeze" India to a secondary position.
In fact, our country [i.e. China] has always sought to carry out practical cooperation with other countries, and has never excluded any country. However, if India will only delay the formation of decision-making in the BRICS mechanism and interfere with the cooperation of other countries, more and more countries will take the initiative to put India aside.
US Decay Led to the Rise of BRICS
Instead of naming it a confrontation between the West and BRICS, the Chinese source is stressing that BRICS came into being as an alternative for nations on the rise to a Western dominated alliance, already weakened by US decay.
The American media saw the decline of the United States from the development and growth of the BRICS countries. Some American media believe that since so many countries want to join the BRICS mechanism, this may reflect a trend in the current international situation. Emerging economic forces are launching a "challenge" to the original economic forces.
According to a report released by Gallup, the international leadership of the United States is weakening, and China has surpassed the United States in many aspects. Moreover, from a long-term perspective, the world no longer trusts the United States, and does not expect the United States to regain the trust of other countries by changing its own image.
In this general environment, many countries have begun to seek broader resources, markets, and global governance solutions by joining cooperative organizations such as the BRICS mechanism. Therefore, the BRICS can strengthen leadership in regional and global governance through expansion.
Editor's Comment
US decay partly enabled the unprecedented economic and political rise of China, as well as Russia's imperialism in its regions of interest. In addition, US politics, namely under president Trump, fostered a dangerous development in Iran and North Korea. As a result, even long-standing partners in Europe are showing their disappointment of what is happening in the States now.
Seeing itself at the center of a democratic alliance, at times referred to as the "Community of Democracies" or a "Concert of Democracies", US leaders forgot the necessity to attract other countries by alternatives rather than exclude them by sanctions.
National interests, not ideology, should therefore be the guiding compass for US policy. Some US source I recently encountered put it like this: Instead of simply relying on an alliance of hand-picked democracies, there should be a coalition of open and resilient economies (CORE).
Looking at BRICS that's just what China and Russia have in mind as far as it concerns the unhampered economic development of BRICS member countries. The BRICS concept, however, wilfully excludes all those aspects related to democratic development and human rights. This could become the critical point of decision for developing nations as soon as Western alliances were able to realize the CORE concept. - Ulysses -
BREAKING NEWS on May 25: In today's evening news, the Arabic news center AL-Jazeera الجزيرة reported on a nuclear deal signed between Russia and Belarus. It's about the urgent transfer of nuclear weapons from Russia to Belarus. That transfer should have already been in progress.
This morning the Chinese news center ZaoBao 早报 in Singapore came up with their evaluation of the Belgorod incident. It can be seen as a warning to all those who believe in the success of border-crossing attacks on Russia's military by allegedly independent Russian militias and without direct involvement of the Ukrainian army.
Today, the United States seems to have made the judgment that "the nuclear threat is just a paper tiger". This can be seen from Biden's decision to quickly change his position at the G7 summit for more than a year and agree to help export fighter jets to Ukraine. The U.S. State Department has successively stated that "this is the decision of the Ukrainians" for Ukraine's attacks on the Russian border, and it seems to have given the green light to such attacks.
After the U.S. gave the looming green light, further cross-border attacks by Ukraine are expected to come one after another, and the scale will gradually escalate. If this is the case, people can probably only hope that this war can end as soon as possible before Ukraine activates the "paper tiger".
The stance "the nuclear threat is just a paper tiger" is referring to Mao ZeDong who in 1946 made fun of America's atomic bomb as a ’paper tiger’, because he originally saw China's struggle for security only in terms of conventional warfare. Much later he changed his mind, and China's first atomic bomb was one of the rare projects fully realized in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.
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Путин был воспитан страхом, насилием и пропагандой.
Putin was raised by fear, violence and propaganda.
It was the experience of fear and violence, and the mendacious propaganda of
a totalitarian state that shaped Putin in the formation of his beliefs and goals.
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Warning: The following video link might include disturbing pictures of only indicated violence. Please protect your children anyway.
A branch of Russia's defense ministry released a pop song celebrating its vast nuclear arsenal, namely the power of the "Sarmat" missile, also known as the "Son of Satan". As its conventional invasion of Ukraine faltered, Russia has repeatedly stressed its nuclear power. In the video, it is Vladimir Putin who finally gives the order to launch Sarmat against an alleged agressor. - But in the end, it's only a bad joke.
The official text for the above video:
Especially for the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces, Honored Artist of Russia Denis Maidanov and the company "Park Patriot Media" - general producer Sergey Bazhenov, prepared a gift - a video for the song "Sarmatushka" (music by D. Maidanov).
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On visitor statistics to blueprint news:
Maximum number of views that day (May 31) was 184, including 140 related to Singapore. The independent Chinese community of Singapore is an important hub in the submarine networks for connections from East Asia to South Asia, Persian Gulf, Mediterranean, and Europe regions, and vice versa. There are 7 cable landing stations on Singapore island. The South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) is an optical fibre submarine communications cable system and provides the primary Internet backbone between these regions.
According to China's Net Ease 網易 news platform on May 23, Russia should have urgently removed nuclear weapons stored at a Belgorod facility. Belgorod (Белгород) is a Russian community near the border to Ukraine where anti-Russian insurgents from Ukraine have been reportedly beaten back according to official Russian media. Russia speaks of terrorism and has allegedly captured two armoured vehicles of US origin. => Latest: US distances itself from incursion into Russia. (BBC, 5 hours ago)
Andriy Yusov from the Ukrainian intelligence service said:
The Russians started removing nuclear warheads from a storage facility in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.
"There's even more information about evacuation activities. The Belgorod-22 facility, a nuclear munitions storage facility, is being evacuated urgently; the Russians are also being evacuated from the area around Grevoron," he said.
Net Ease 網易 is registered with Guangdong Communications Administration 广东省通信管理局 and marks that article as "stored by user" which seems to be the usual procedure. The user quoted seems to be an elderly person from Guangxi province and describes him/herself as a "well-known NetEase creator in the military field".
The UPDATE of May 24, 2023, offers
a brandnew article by NET Ease 網易:
The Ukrainian side claimed that the attack was not initiated by the Ukrainian army, but by domestic forces in Russia that oppose Putin, such as the "Russian Idealists' Army [Russian Volunteer Corps]" and the "[Russian Freedom Legion]". Andrei Yusov, representative of the Ukrainian Intelligence Service, said that the Russian Army Unit 25624 stationed in the Grevoron District of the Belgorod Region is part of the Russian Federation's Strategic Missile Forces, which is actually the Russian Federation's central nuclear weapons storage base. Yusov believes that the recent surprise attack in Belgorod should be initiated by anti-Putin forces.
A semi-official German source described
these Russian insurgent groups as follows:
There has been awareness of the Freedom of Russia Legion since at least the beginning of April 2022. It was apparently formed by captured Russian soldiers who switched over to the Ukrainian side, but also of volunteers with Russian passports.
It is made up of about 500 men, according to Ilya Ponomarev, a former member of the Russian State Duma who represents the unit. He was the only Russian lawmaker to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and went into exile in 2016.
The Russian Volunteer Corps has existed since August 2022 but the number of men is not known. However, a fighter who goes by the name "Cardinal," whose military ID was presented to [the news service], said it had the same tasks as a company -- which can have 30 to 150 men.
One of the co-founders, Denis Kapustin, a businessman who is known as being part of Russia's far-right movement and uses the pseudonym Denis Nikitin, said late last year that the Russian Volunteer Corps had been working with the Ukrainian army since the fall.
On social networks, the Russian Volunteer Corps says that all its members hold right-wing conservative views. "Cardinal" sees Russia's future in a "true nation-state of Russians in the original Russian territories -- taking into account the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as neighboring countries."
On May 16/17 Chinese media reports [腾讯网] dealt with a scenario observed during Russia's bombing of a Ukrainian ammunition depot, followed by an unexpected increase in radioactive radiation in the Ukrainian region which is neighboring Poland.
What is particularly striking is that several videos have recently appeared on social media, showing a violent explosion at an ammunition depot west of the Ukrainian city of Khmelnytsky (Хмельницький), and a huge fireball rising from the suburbs of Khmelnytsky like that of an atomic bomb explosion.
In the aftermath, there has been an evaluation of what observers could describe as a 'nuclear explosion'. Photos taken before and after the explosion, however, are not necessarily showing more than what could be expected after a huge conventional explosion.
The Chinese source is relating a subsequent increase in radiation to depleted uranium which is present in the material of bunker-breaking grenades, let alone dirty radioactive material eventually stored at this site. The Chinese are therefore using the expression of 'self-inflicted consequences 自食恶果'.
It is worth mentioning that the data published by the Ukrainian side show that after the explosion, the local radiation increased significantly. Russian experts said that the contaminated area may be comparable to the Chernobyl incident. Under normal circumstances, the gamma radiation dose of depleted uranium is very small, but under the influence of high temperature the situation has changed, and harmful substances in the contaminated area are spreading with the wind. Once inhaled, they will cause internal radiation, bringing more diseases.
Editor's Opinion:
There might be a dirty Russian bomb as well at the origin of the explosion. - Who knows ?
To find out the source of radioactivity, it needs to analyze the radiation with the help of a multichannel analyzer (2^12 or better). This would provide the spectrum of radioactive elements responsible for the radiation released. If there were any deposits of radioactive waste material already stored at the ammunition site or delivered by a 'dirty bomb', individual hints at the origin of such material might be found. Of course, this will not be easy, as most of the radioactive material present at the scene might turn out to be of Russian origin and/or dating back to Soviet times. However, such research could deliver interesting results. No matter if published or kept secret for some reason, the outcome will be an important data base for scientists. - Ulysses
Ukrainian air force already used 'Storm Shadow' cruise missiles to attack Luhansk (Lugansk) in the Russian-held Donbass region. There are two foreign press reports from Al-Jazeera الجزيرة (Qatar) and Hangzhou Network 杭州网 (China) coming in this morning. In the afternoon of May 14, the independent European newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung NZZ came with a more complete report of this weekend's military proceedings in Eastern Ukraine. Latest is a news video launched by Al-Jazeera and covering this weekend's political and military developments.
All interpretation of latest proceedings has to take into consideration the tense and confused situation in Eastern Ukraine and, as well, 'the need of the culprits to lie .....'
Al-Jazeera الجزيرة (Chinese language service):
....., the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday [May 13] that Ukrainian aircraft bombed two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine using long-range 'Storm Shadow' cruise missiles acquired from the United Kingdom. .....
..... The Russian Ministry of Defense said that on Friday, the missiles hit a 'polymer materials production plant' and a 'processed meat factory' in Luhansk. .....
..... "The Storm Shadow air-to-[air?] missiles supplied by the UK to the Kiev regime were used in air strikes, contrary to London's statement that the weapons would not be used on civilian targets," the ministry added.
Hangzhou Network 杭州网:
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on May 13 that the Ukrainian Air Force used the 'Storm Shadow' cruise missiles provided by the United Kingdom to attack local civilian facilities in Luhansk on the 12th, causing civilian casualties including six children. This is contrary to the British side's previous statement that "[Ukraine] will not use the missile to attack civilian facilities". The Russian Ministry of Defense also stated that the Russian Air Force has shot down the Su-24 fighter jet and the MiG-29 fighter jet that provided cover for the Ukrainian air strike mission. .....
Neue Zürcher Zeitung NZZ:
A Black Weekend for Russia
On the unprecedented downing of four Russian military planes in the border area:
Most likely, the Ukrainians brought one of their anti-aircraft systems – possibly even a recently supplied Western Patriot battery – near the border without being detected and fired from there into Russian airspace. The crashes took place about 35 to 50 kilometers behind the border, so the Ukrainian air defense is likely to have taken up position somewhere in the Chernihiv area for a short time.
So far, there has been no official reaction from Moscow; there, too, they are apparently still struggling to find an explanation for this unprecedented attack. But the crashes are well documented by eyewitness videos. In addition to the two Sukhoi fighter jets of the types Su-34 and Su-35, a military helicopter of the type Mi-8 converted for electronic warfare is also said to have been destroyed, i.e. a particularly valuable, rare aircraft. All crews, a total of nine men, were killed, according to Russian media reports.
On the guided missile attack on industrial facilities in Luhansk:
This time, confirmation came from Moscow where the Ministry of Defense presented debris from Storm Shadow guided missiles and made serious accusations against the British. However, the claim that civilian factories were hit is not very credible. The cruise missiles, equipped with a triple guidance system, are considered very precise, and Luhansk is known as the location of important command and logistics centers of the occupiers. President Vladimir Putin recently visited an underground facility there and held a council of war with his generals from the Donbass Front.
Chinese news release on Twitter (May 14) reporting Ukraine's downing of four Russian military planes: Asia Finance is comparing Putin to Saddam Hussein who lost Iraq to a US alliance in 2003. Their report is accompanied by what looks like the private video of a downed plane in flames. Some Chinese person who retweeted that information compared Putin even to Hitler.
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The original news report of May 13:
Yesterday, May 12, SOHU 搜狐 network reported: According to Reuters press agency, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace should have confirmed to parliament on May 11 that the United Kingdom has begun to supply Ukraine with 'Storm Shadow' cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers, making the United Kingdom the first country to supply long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine. .....
The same day, TENCENT 腾讯 network added:
据称，英国收到了乌克兰的保证，这些导弹只会在乌克兰领土内使用，不会在俄罗斯境内使用。暴风影导弹这种导弹售价约为220万英镑，可以打击硬化掩体和关键设施，并有超过155英里（250公里）的射程。
The UK is said to have received assurances from Ukraine that the missiles will only be used on Ukrainian territory and not on Russian territory. The Storm Shadow missile, which costs around £2.2 million, can hit hardened bunkers and key installations and has a range of more than 155 miles (250km).
Today, May 13, TENCENT quoted White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby:
白宫重申：美方不会提供远程导弹
White House is stressing: U.S. will not provide long-range missiles.
Maybe the US have not finally made up their minds up to now.
..... Now Putin denies the historical existence of Ukraine while ignoring the Ukrainian people's overwhelming patriotism and their firm will to fight for their country. It seems that territorial claims cannot be based on some interpretable historical context alone. Broad acceptance provided by a majority of the people affected is needed as well, unless much effort has to be made to subdue new enemies who will strike back at the first opportunity.
Arbitrary bombing of the enemy's civil installations and dwellings, together with the terror of a mercenary army committing war crimes in captured regions, have already led to an international condemnation of Putin's war policies under the false pretext of fighting a „Nazi regime“.
The Stalinist system of the former Soviet Union might have successfully overcome the invasion of Adolf Hitler's militant horde, however only with the generous help of its US ally and which was based on a sound US economy at that time. Not to speak of lots and lots of Russian soldiers and other Soviet nationalities who had to give their lifes because of Stalin's misjudgement and unpreparedness and indiscriminate purge of Russia's elites. - Putin should therefore watch out to avoid a similar fate like that of his predecessor.
Cameras by Hikvision and drones from DJI are being used to thoroughly survey most citizens of mainland China. But cameras and surveillance systems from Huawei and ZTE can be found outside China as well. Reportedly, there are still up to one hundred countries using Chinese equipment and software. Even after US president Trump announced his ban on Chinese technology, many rural communities in the USA are still relying on hardware from Huawei and which is the only way to guarantee their desperately needed highspeed broadband connection.
However there seems to be one poblem with the cameras and which has been recently discovered by experts: They are vulnerable to hacking which could enable illegal remote access to their video data. Reports came from Pakistan where lots of Hikvision cameras were being installed especially in the capital of Islamabad to make it a "safe city". It is not quite clear whether such vulnerability has been "overlooked" intentionally, even though Pakistan is being regarded as one of China's most important partners in the frame of some kind of alternative connection with Africa via sea cable from Pakistan to Djibouti (former French Somalia) where China maintains its only foreign naval base. Here is a video dealing with the problem:
By the way, there is a German song for children dating back to the years of my own childhood. It deals with three Chinese persons and their double bass sitting in the street and talking to each other, quite a strange scene at that time. Therefore police immediately rushed in to have a look. I gave the scene a fresh look when I transferred it to modern China where a security drone detected the group and advised them to comply with public behaviour by returning home as quickly as possible.
30-days visitor statistics (including global distribution of internet nodes)
In the frame of PR China's encirclement of Taiwan, the air forces of both countries recently met at close distance.
On the occasion, Taiwanese pilots operating their home-made JingGuo fighters wore badges on their uniform that are showing the symbols of the conflict: A Taiwanese black bear holding the flag of the Republic of China in his left hand, and Winnie the Pooh's honey pot expressing five stars that symbolize PR China's flag. The word "Scramble (= emergency lift-off)" is written in English below.
It should be added that Winnie the Pooh has become the inofficial symbol of Communist China's leader Xi JinPing.
To read the related article, you need to click to the above picture.
Wie kann man die Denkweise einer Gruppe beschreiben ohne eine unübersichtliche Sammlung von persönlichen Aussagen aufzulisten ? Das Filtern einzelner Aussagen ist dabei mühselig und wird von der persönlichen Einschätzung des Auswerters beeinflusst, seiner Lebenserfahrung und seinen persönlichen Werten, aber auch von Vorgaben eines möglichen Auftraggebers.
Warum nicht stattdessen die psychologische Disposition dieser Gruppe auf der Grundlage ihrer konkreten Situation beschreiben ? Eine solche elementare Disposition ließe sich in erster Näherung nach dem von Karl Marx vorgestellten materialistischen Prinzip ermitteln, das wir mit der Aussage 'Das Sein bestimmt das Bewusstsein' verbinden. Wichtig ist dabei zunächst nur die gründliche Kenntnis von Fakten zu den einheitlichen Lebensumständen dieses Personenkreises.
In Verbindung mit weiteren Fakten, die den Rahmen für die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines ganz bestimmten Handelns festlegen, läßt sich dann mit deutlich weniger Aufwand bereits eine verläßliche Aussage über eine etwa vorhandene kollektive Einstellung formulieren.
Wem das jetzt zu hoch ist, der möge sich diese Vorgehensweise ungefähr so vorstellen, dass hier eine Abschätzung von Denk- und Verhaltensweisen erfolgt, die zwar nicht wissenschaftlich exakt, aber trotzdem insoweit aussagekräftig ist, als sie in den meisten Fällen zutreffen wird. Man muss sich nur darüber im klaren sein, wo die Grenzen dieser Methode liegen.
Wie so etwas aussehen kann, habe ich mit meiner Betrachtung DDR Nostalgie - Die "Fünfte Kolonne" und ihre Denkweise einmal auf unterhalsame Art zusammengestellt. Sie könnte auch bei der Lösung aktueller gesellschaftlicher Probleme hilfreich sein .....
