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 .....
A recent evaluation published by The Intercept, a US journal, says that George W. Bush's Iraq War Lies had already created a blueprint for Donald Trump. The author James Risen comes to the conclusion that the officially sanctioned conspiracy theory, hinting at Saddam Hussein for being behind the 9/11 set of attacks, was a dangerous precedent of what followed under Donald Trump.
Nobody would have imagined that just some years later a brandnew Republican President of the United States could beat all standards. It's almost unbelievable but the Washington Post fact check can prove that Donald Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years in office.
As to Vladimir Putin things are not really better. After having silenced Russia's once pluralistic press, he is now in control of the media and keen to promote there his own crude nationalist stance derived from the times of Stalinism while running amuck in Ukraine.
As a result of such development in Russia and the USA, the collection of authentic news has become more difficult for the honest type of a journalist. The invasion of junk news that we recognize as a giant fake news attack meanwhile even swapped into Europe targeting people of low as well as of high education, thus sowing uncertainty on all levels of society.
Recent news from Germany came along with a decision of German authorities to check older handy chips and functional devices from China that have already been in use for some time. As to brandnew chips from China that check and security survey already came into force. New regulations are intended to shield the German 5G network from possible Chinese government access by means of feared government pressure on China based manufacturers. This latest decision has caused some official irritation in China.
As to the recent visit of US President Biden in Central Asia, China fears an increase of US influence due to US mistrust in China's activities in the area. What looks specially suspicious to the Biden administration are two railway connections between China and Iran.
Recent news on Belarus are raising US suspicion of a planned cooperation between Belarus, China and Russia to achieve the strategic goal of an 'Eurasian Integration' that would leave Western Europe apart and weaken the global position of the United States.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian war, here is a rare evaluation of Russia in the view of a Chinese commentator working for a majority state-owned Chinese medium.
Update on latest development
included on 7 January 2023.
One year ago, on 28 January 2022, some Chinese comment discussed the feasability of a joint Iranian-Afghan-Chinese oil pipeline project intended to connect Iranian oil fields with China's western province of Xinjiang via northern Afghanistan.
In March 2021, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Tehran and signed a 25-year joint comprehensive political, economic and cultural cooperation agreement with Iran. In January this year [i.e. 2022], the foreign minister of the new Iranian government paid a return visit to China, and the 25-year cooperation agreement was officially implemented. In other words, the Lehi government, which came to power in August 2021, continued the Rouhani government's China policy, and even went a little further. Energy issues are particularly prominent within the framework of cooperation. In the context of the withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan and the Taliban being on friendly terms with China, and under the premise of Afghan society being stabilized, the connection of Iran’s Persian Gulf (outlet to the sea) to China’s Xinjiang oil pipelines running through Afghanistan would greatly reduce the possibility of China’s energy source being blocked. The agreement solves the problem of Iran's energy guarantee to China. At the same time, taking into account the long-term nature of Afghanistan's construction, the time is set at 25 years, giving China sufficient time for construction.
Today now, on 6 January 2023, German National Radio 'Deutschlandfunk' quoted an external source on China having signed a contract with the Taliban government in Afghanistan for the exploitation of an oil field.
Hours later, some Chinese source confirmed the fact of negotiations on exploitation rights between China and the Taliban. The location of a certain oil field in question was specially mentioned. It should be lying in the Amudarya region where crude oil and natural gas reserves had already been known to exist, at the time US military engaged in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 'September 11 incidents' of 2001.
However, up to now the security problem is still an issue in Afghanistan, even though Taliban authorities are doing their best to please their friendly Chinese partners. The prove is a recent attack of terrorists on a Kabul hotel that is being regularly frequented by Chinese visitors to Afghanistan.
Around 2:30 pm on 12 December 2022, local time, several terrorists suddenly broke into a hotel in the center of Kabul. According to foreign media, this is a "hotel very popular with Chinese people". Taliban security forces rushed in immediately and killed three armed men on the spot.
Looking at the picture, there are Chinese characters written on the outer wall of the hotel: Kabul Guiyuan Hotel.
Days before, Chinese diplomats had allegedly contacted the deputy minister for security of the Taliban to ensure enforcement of security for the Chinese embassy.
The day after the incident some Chinese source reported:
阿富汗传来一个坏消息 与我们中国人有关
Title: Bad news from Afghanistan are related to our Chinese.
Who did it ?
"Islamic State" fighting the Taliban. Just on the morning of the 13th [December] Beijing time, I saw the latest news that the "Islamic State" had declared responsibility for the attack on the Guiyuan Hotel.
Many people think that the Taliban is extreme, but the real extreme is actually the "Islamic State".
After news about an Afghan-Chinese oil deal recently spread on the internet, latest Chinese publications stressed the humanitarian character of China's cooperation with the Taliban, even mentioning the goal of promoting woman rights in Afghanistan. One report made it clear that about 3.000 Afghan workers could be employed in the frame of the Chinese oil exploitation program. However, China doesn't seem to be fully satisfied with support provided by the Taliban.
Above: What looks like the signing of a contract, should be
the delivery of aid materials to the Taliban authorities.
....................
On the contrary, things between China and Iran are running rather smoothly since 2022.
Above: Iran's Chabahar port soon open to Chinese ships [04-01-2023].
Above: Chinese article on the history of Iranian-Chinese relations [05-01-2023].
Today, the Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida is going to officially launch a major change in Japan's military strategy, thus switching from a mere defensive attitude of its military to the enforcement of its first responder abilities including the means of a direct attack on foreign missile launch sites. The reasons of that change of policy are recent North Korean missile tests that were harming Japan's zone of military defense, leaving Japan only minutes to react in times of war. According to recent news, this goes side by side with an alleged intrusion of Chinese and Russian war planes into Japan's zone of military defense and China's policy in the South China Sea and towards Taiwan.
For the purpose of shaking-up its military abilities, Japan is expected to up its security spending to two percent of GDP by 2027, reshape its military command, and acquire new missiles that can strike far-flung enemy launch sites.
China's news center CHINA.COM 中华网 immediately answered to Japan's decision to promote an essential change in its military strategy in order to respond to an increasing danger from China. They are saying that China's policy of opening up to its neighbours has triggered an increase of Chinese tourists visiting Japan, thus promoting Japanese earnings from tourism. Furthermore, China's splendid economic development offers a chance for Japanese business as well of investing in China.
On [May] 17, a comprehensive report from Pyongyang informed that North Korea's coronavirus epidemic continues to spread. On Wednesday [May 18], the North Korean Central News Agency reported 232,800 new cases of 'fever' having emerged the day before. Six more people died, bringing the total to more than 1.71 million cases [of infections], with 62 deaths and about 690,000 people still receiving treatment.
.....
Official reports also stated that nearly 3,000 soldiers are stationed in hundreds of pharmacies in Pyongyang, reporting every 24-hours, in order to assist life saving measures with medical supplies and [direct] response.
Nearly 500 mobile epidemic prevention teams and treatment teams are carrying out diagnosis and treatment work as well across the country.
[星洲网 A Chinese language news center from Malaysia on May 18]
Here is an unusual obituary for battleship 'Moscow', flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Even though modernized, it should have served the Russian navy during the last 40 years. Now it sank due to an 'explosion of ammunition', probably incited by Ukrainian forces using cutting edge anti-ship missiles.
As to the destruction of the Ukrainian Antonov AN-225, the biggest aircraft ever built, here is a video footage showing the damage inflicted by Russian military and which is mentioned in the above 'obituary':
[An official Ukrainian source stated on April 13:] The Ukrainian army used the 'Neptun' missile to seriously damage missile cruiser 'Moscow', the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The R-360 Neptun missile system is the latest Ukrainian version of a Russian system. It was pre-produced in small series in 2021 and planned to enter military service by 2022.
Yesterday, April 11, the news agency American Press AP quoted the Polish Press Agency PAP as follows:
The latest of the commission’s reports, released Monday, alleges that an intentional detonation of planted explosives caused the April 10, 2010 crash of Soviet-made Tu-154M plane that killed [Poland's president Lech] Kaczynski, the first lady and 94 other government and armed forces figures as well as many prominent Poles.
Their deaths were the result of an “act of unlawful interference by the Russian side,” the commission's head Antoni Macierewicz told a news conference.
"The main and indisputable proof of the interference was an explosion in the left wing ... followed by an explosion in the plane's center," said Macierewicz, who in 2015-2018 served as defense minister in Poland's right-wing government.
He denied that any mistakes were made by the Polish pilots or crew members, despite bad weather at the time of the crash. [The crash took place on a military airfield near Smolensk, Russia.]
Editor's Note:
The above quoted Polish sub-committee report has an official status, and PAP is a government financed press agency. However, political development in EU member state Poland has become complicated in recent years. As American Press AP put it: The latest report once again drums up hostility toward Russia among some Poles, chiefly supporters of the nationalist government, in what seems to be an effort to consolidate the voter base of the Law and Justice party, which was founded by the Kaczynski twins in 2001.
Yesterday, April 6, semi-official People's Network published a statement given by the spokesman for the Chinese Mission to the European Union. That statement rejects EU accusations of China spreading unacceptable Russian conspiracy theories on the issue of the Ukrainian war, blaming the United States and NATO.
The Chinese statement indirectly hints at America's foreign policy under former US presidents like George W. Bush and which had led to the destabilization of Afghanistan and Iraq, yet without directly naming anybody. Published by China's semi-official online voice, that statement revives the idea of what the Chinese people got to know as 'US imperialism', allegedly representing a hegemonial attitude based on wrong accusations and tactical lies and which doesn't even refrain from the use of military force.
The statement, however, doesn't show any shift of position on the Chinese side. It only reiterates what is already known about China's verbal intention to recognize basic norms of international relations while acting in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and its commitment to promote peace talks and efforts to cool down the situation.
The spokesperson [for the Chinese Mission to the European Union] reiterated that China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent, clear, objective and fair. The relevant article deliberately distorts China's position and proposition. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this. We remind those concerned not to be selectively blind. In the past few decades, who has spread false information and launched wars to violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries? Who is constantly expanding regional influence and disrupting regional stability? Who provoked the conflict and caused the massive humanitarian disaster? Does such responsibility still need to be "blamed"? Double standards cannot deceive the eyes of the world, and the alliance of the old Cold War era can never represent fairness and justice.
AFP [on a regular press conference]: EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell said that Chinese officials were reluctant to talk about Ukraine during the China-EU leaders' meeting last week. How do you respond to this?
Zhao Lijian [spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs]: A few days ago, the leaders of China and the EU held a very successful meeting. The remarks of the relevant European officials you just mentioned are not in line with the facts. What the relevant EU officials should do is to advance the bilateral relations between China and the EU in accordance with the consensus and spirit reached at the China-EU leaders' meeting, instead of making irresponsible remarks.
Only one day after the official statement was made by China's EU Mission, immediately confirmed by a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a more popular and less diplomatic version of China's stance appeared as 'personal view' in China's Defense Journal.
