China

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29488879

Ahead of the highly anticipated visit from China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is due to visit Britain today (Thursday 13 February) to hold talks with his British counterpart David Lammy in what is being seen as a sign that relations between the countries are ‘normalising’, said Felix Jakens, Amnesty’s UK Head of Campaigns.

“David Lammy should be drawing serious red lines, rather than rolling out the red carpet when Wang Yi visits this week," Jakens adds.

“We need to hear a public and strong condemnation of the brutal suppression of human rights activists, which is not only limited to mainland China or Hong Kong but has also spread to the UK through the transnational targeting of students and activists who speak out here. Hong Kong’s recent issuing of ‘Wild West’-style bounties on activists’ heads in the UK indicates the authorities believe they can intimidate and silence their critics overseas with impunity. It is completely unacceptable to see this sort of international witch hunt on UK soil and the most high-level visit in years must be a time to publicly vocalise UK Government outrage."

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29450615

Australia's defence ministry said it "expressed concerns" to its Chinese counterparts over the "unsafe and unprofessional interaction".

No one was injured and there was no damage to Australia's P-8A surveillance jet after Tuesday's incident, the ministry said.

But China said the Australian aircraft "intentionally intruded" into its airspace and that the Chinese fighter jet responded in a "legitimate, lawful, professional, and restrained" manner.

This is the latest in a string of encounters between the two countries' militaries in the region, where China's vast claims over islands and outcrops overlap with those of its neighbours.

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In May last year, Australia accused a Chinese fighter plane of dropping flares close to an Australian navy helicopter that was part of a UN Security Council mission on the Yellow Sea.

In November 2023, Canberra accused Beijing's navy of using sonar pulses in international waters off Japan, resulting in Australian divers suffering injuries.

In a separate statement on Thursday, Canberra said it was monitoring three Chinese navy vessels operating to the north-east of Australia.

These vessels had travelled through South East Asia before entering Australia's maritime approaches, with one of the vessels transiting into waters in the country's north, the defence department said.

"Australia respects the rights of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, just as we expect others to respect Australia's right to do the same," it said.

Archived

In the beginning of February 2020, Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan heard rumours that an unidentified disease was killing citizens in the city of Wuhan. Despite the risk of contagion, she travelled 850 km to cover the situation on the ground, working in the epicentre of what turned out to be one of the deadliest pandemics in modern history. For this, she was sentenced to four years in prison as the Chinese regime tried to cover up news about the outbreak and their responsibility for the spread of the disease.

Five years later — after completing her first, unjust prison sentence — Zhang Zhan is in detention once again, arrested just a few weeks after sharing information about the harassment of human rights activists on social media. She has now been behind bars since August 2024 and recently started a hunger strike in protest of her mistreatment by the regime. According to RSF information, Zhang Zhan — who was already very weak prior herpast six months of detention — is being force-fed by prison authorities.

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Throughout her imprisonment, RSF campaigned for her release and warned about the mistreatment she was subjected to in prison. During her early months of detention, Zhang Zhan — laureate of the 2021 RSF Press Freedom Award — nearly died after going on a total hunger strike to protest her mistreatment. Prison officials forcibly fed her through a nasal tube and sometimes left her handcuffed for days.

China, the world’s biggest prison for journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 124 media workers currently behind bars, is ranked 172nd out of 180 countries in the RSF 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

Public anger in China over concerns raised by doctors that generic drugs used in public hospitals are increasingly ineffective has led to a rare response from the government.

Doctors say they believe the country's drug procurement system, which incentivises the use of cheap generic drugs over original brand-name pharmaceuticals, has led to costs being cut at the expense of people's safety.

But officials, quoted by multiple state media outlets on Sunday, say the issue is one of perception rather than reality.

One report said different people simply had different reactions to medicines and that claims about them being ineffective had "mostly come from people's anecdotes and subjective feelings".

The official response has done little to allay public fears over the reputation of drugs in public hospitals and pharmacies. It is the latest challenge to a healthcare system that is already under enormous strain because of a rapidly ageing population.

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Archived

China last year began construction on projects with the greatest combined coal power capacity since 2015, jeopardising the country’s goal to peak carbon emissions by 2030, according to a report [...] from the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) in the United States, China began construction on 94.5 gigawatts of coal power projects in 2024 — 93 percent of the global total.

Although the country also added a record 356 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity — 4.5 times the European Union’s additions — the uptick in coal power risks solidifying its role in China’s energy mix, the report said.

“China’s rapid expansion of renewable energy has the potential to reshape its power system, but this opportunity is being undermined by the simultaneous large-scale expansion of coal power,” said Qi Qin, lead author of the report and China analyst at CREA.

The rise comes despite a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2021 to “strictly control” coal power projects and increases in coal consumption before “phasing it down” between 2026 and 2030.

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Coal prioritised

New permits for coal power projects fell 83 percent in the first half of 2024, prompting optimism that China’s clean energy transition was gathering pace.

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But coal power surged in the latter months of 2024, despite the country adding enough power from clean energy sources to cover its growth in electricity demand.

That suggested coal power was being prioritised over renewable sources in some regions, the report said.

“Chinese coal power and mining companies are sponsoring and building new coal plants beyond what is needed,” said Christine Shearer, research analyst at GEM.

“The continued pursuit of coal is crowding out the country’s use of lower-cost clean energy.”

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cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/32684736

Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father's panicked voice: The brakes don't work! Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into an SUV and a sedan and crashing into a large concrete barrier.

Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the car's brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than $23,000 in damages and publicly apologize to the $1.1 trillion company.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1935086

China is helping Russia's military drone production by becoming a hub for the smuggling of critical Western components for Moscow's armed forces, Estonia's foreign intelligence said in its annual national security report published on Wednesday.

Some 80% of such components reaching Russia now come from China, it said. Previous Ukrainian reports have suggested that roughly 60% of foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine have come via China.

China is Russia's "primary hub" for importing high-tech and dual-use goods, evading Western sanctions, according to the report.

"Chinese interests here lie in preventing Russia from losing the war in Ukraine as such an outcome would represent a victory for the United States, which is the main rival for China," Kaupo Rosin, director general of the service, told reporters in a video call.

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NATO member Estonia closely tracks Russian military capabilities as it regards Moscow as the major threat to its security, especially since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022.

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Russia is "in principle willing" to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine but only "to catch breath" because President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his "imperial ambitions", Rosin said.

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Here is the link to the study.

A quarter of the world’s countries have engaged in transnational repression – targeting political exiles abroad to silence dissent – in the past decade, new research reveals.

The Washington DC-based non-profit organisation Freedom House has documented 1,219 incidents carried out by 48 governments across 103 countries, from 2014 to 2024.

However, a smaller number of countries account for the vast majority of all documented physical attacks on dissidents, with China the most frequent offender, responsible for 272 incidents, or 22% of recorded cases. Russia, Turkey and Egypt also rank among the worst perpetrators.

High-profile incidents of transnational repression include the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a hit squad at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has targeted his foes in the UK, including the 2006 radiation poisoning of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko. This was followed by a string of more than a dozen other suspicious deaths of Russians on British soil that are also suspected of being tied to the Kremlin.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29380375

Archived

On Wednesday, 12 February, China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, will meet British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in London when the two co-chair the China-UK Strategic Dialogue, the first such strategy dialogue between the two countries since 2018. The London meeting follows British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ January mission to China to resume the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue, stalled since 2019. The concluding policy paper made only two weak references to human rights. The resumption of such strategic dialogues between the UK and China sends a concerning message, in particular at a time of deteriorating human rights in China and mounting transnational repression in the UK. ARTICLE 19 reiterates calls for the UK to prioritise human rights in its engagement with China.

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Demand an immediate end to the arbitrary detention of British citizens

First detained under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law in August 2020, media magnate and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, 77, who is a British citizen, has remained in solitary confinement for over 1,400 days. He faces trial for serious charges under the NSL, which carry a potential maximum life sentence, yet Hong Kong has denied him consular support.

In 2015 British citizen Lee Bo vanished along with several Hong Kong bookseller colleagues in a coordinated attack for selling titles critical of Chinese Communist Party elites. He was ‘involuntarily removed to the mainland without any due process’ in December of that year in a ‘serious breach’ of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, as stated by the UK government at the time. In late February 2016, he on Chinese state-owned Phoenix Television claiming to have returned to China of his own accord and renouncing his British citizenship. It has all the hallmarks of a forced confession. Throughout the ordeal, Lee Bo was also denied consular access. reappeared on Chinese state-owned Phoenix Television claiming to have returned to China of his own accord and renouncing his British citizenship. The appearance had all the hallmarks of a forced confession. Throughout the ordeal, Lee Bo was also denied consular access.

In meeting with Wang Yi, the UK should call for the immediate and unconditional release of Jimmy Lai and other British citizens and dual nationals arbitrarily detained in China and Hong Kong. Recognising the right under international law, David Lammy should furthermore demand full consular access for Jimmy Lai and other detained British citizens.

Transnational repression in the UK must end

David Lammy has an obligation to speak for the estimated 150,000 Hong Kongers and other minority and Chinese groups living in the UK, many of whom increasingly live in fear of transnational repression.

For example, on 16 October 2022 when a group of Hong Kongers gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manchester to protest China’s human rights abuses, the demonstration quickly turned violent as consulate officials attacked the protesters. Bob Chan, one of the protesters and a British National Overseas (BNO) passport holder, was violently dragged by masked men into the consulate grounds and beaten up. He was pulled out to safety by British police. Chan was later treated at a hospital for his injuries.

China’s Consul General in Manchester, Zheng Xiyuan, the second highest diplomat in the UK, later admitted to participating in the attack, telling Sky News that Chan ‘was abusing my country, my leader, I think it’s my duty’. There is no record of Wang Yi having expressed disapproval of these actions.

Bob Chan is one of several hundred thousand British National Overseas passport holders. The BNO was created as part of the 1997 British handover of Hong Kong, but applications surged following the imposition of the National Security Law in 2020. In January 2021 China and Hong Kong announced they were refusing to recognise BNO passports, which prevents BNO passport holders residing in the UK from accessing their retirement savings in Hong Kong.

Perhaps starkest of China’s transnational repression against Hong Kongers residing in the UK has been the Hong Kong National Security Police issuing international arrest warrants and $1 million HKD ($128,361 USD) bounties on nine Hong Kongers in the UK in July and December 2023 and December 2024.

This transnational repression of dissidents abroad has been compounded by the harassment and targeting of their family members still in China, such as London-based member of Hong Kong Democracy Council Carmen Lau.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29379966

Archived

In the background of the EU’s potential mood shift toward China, President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association Ola Kallenius made a suggestion last month. Speaking to the Financial Times, he said the tariffs the EU imposed on China’s electric vehicles, or EVs, last October could be replaced by encouraging Chinese carmakers to open more plants inside the EU.

For anyone concerned about climate change, that might seem like good news, given the EU’s current stance nakedly prioritizes economic competitiveness over the fast rollout of vehicles that can reduce catastrophic carbon emissions.

But even if the idea came to fruition, there’s a catch. Around 85% of China’s total lithium reserves, which power both the batteries and the entertainment systems in the EVs, are thought to sit in Tibet. And even Chinese factories located in Europe would source their lithium from there — as BYD (比亞迪) and non-Chinese Tesla currently do.

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Mining lithium involves salt-rich brine being pumped to the Earth’s surface and allowed to evaporate. This process consumes large amounts of water, can make water undrinkable and can destroy traditional farmlands and nature reserves. In 2016, the Liqi River was contaminated, destroying the local water supply and killing livestock and fish. The process can also pollute sacred grasslands.

“Tibetans actually don’t benefit from the mining. They experience negative effects of mining including environmental degradation, loss of land and displacement,” renowned Tibet researcher Gabriel Lafitte told a recent Institute for Security and Development Policy online event.

“Mining is often very bad for local water resources,” Martin Mills, chair in anthropology and director of the Scottish Centre for Himalayan Research at the University of Aberdeen explained. “Mines involve the release of and use of a wide variety of very nasty chemicals that … often render areas infertile and create high cancer rates, poisoning rates. Animals can’t live there so that’s a local problem [too.]”

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The effects are not only localized, though. The Tibetan Plateau (sometimes known as the Earth’s “Third Pole”) is home to permafrost which stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide. Alongside existing climate change and increased solar radiation, which are the dominant factors, mining of the mountains around the permafrost, and damming of the Tibetan rivers, exacerbate the thawing of permafrost.

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“The world seems to have opted for the rather simplistic assumption that anything and everything that reduces our carbon emissions is the magical solution,” Gabriel Lafitte said.

“[A] lot of environmentalists actually argue that China is the key and maybe now that we have a President Trump they may even more strongly embrace China as the world’s great hope for a simplistic tech solution to the climate crisis … and so [they believe] if Tibet is to be sacrificed well you know that’s very unfortunate but it may be necessary.”

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Treating places like Tibet as places to grab resources and ignore the consequences.

“We’re moving into a political domain in which people understand you need to grab resources — food resources, mineral resources — and you need to create a hinterland and you need to control those hinterlands and Tibet is part of that,” Mills explained.

[...]

“The truth of the matter is the shift to green technologies is going to damage the environment just as much as fossil fuels will do because the question is not what technology we’re using, it’s how much energy and resource we are consuming across the board,” Mills summarized.

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Archived

As China aggressively expands its economic footprint across the globe, the recent scandal at BYD's Brazilian factory construction site has exposed the darker side of Chinese overseas investment. The discovery of 163 Chinese workers living in "slavery-like conditions" in Camaçari, Brazil, reveals how China's corporations are exporting not just their products and services, but also their oppressive labor practices beyond their borders. The details that emerged from the Brazilian labor inspector's investigation paint a disturbing picture of systematic exploitation. Workers building BYD's electric vehicle factory were forced to surrender their passports, which is a classic indicator of forced labor and submit to contracts laden with draconian conditions. These included an $890 deposit that could only be retrieved after six months of work, effectively trapping workers in their positions, and arbitrary fines for infractions as minor as walking shirtless or engaging in arguments.

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More revealing still are the discussions that emerged on Chinese social media platform Weibo, where some users noted that the conditions found in Brazil mirror those faced by construction workers within China itself. This acknowledgment hints at how China's domestic labor practices, characterized by the notorious "996" work culture (9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week), are being internationalized through its corporate expansion. The BYD Brazil scandal serves as a warning about the hidden costs of Chinese investment. While countries like Brazil eagerly court Chinese capital as part of their industrialization strategies, they must be vigilant about the potential for labor exploitation. The incident has already prompted Brazilian authorities to suspend temporary work visas for BYD, but more systematic safeguards are needed.

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This case also highlights the tension between economic development and worker rights. The BYD factory, built on the site of a former Ford plant, was supposed to symbolize Brazil's reindustrialization. Instead, it has become a symbol of how Chinese investment can undermine rather than enhance labor standards.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29334076

Archived

The political landscape in Serbia was upended on January 28, when Prime Minister Miloš Vučević announced his resignation, bringing an abrupt end to his government’s term. The resignation came nearly three months after student-led protests erupted across the country, demanding accountability for a disaster that claimed 15 lives – the collapse of the newly renovated railway station rooftop in Novi Sad.

The station’s modernization was a key component of a high-profile infrastructure project aimed at upgrading the railway link between Belgrade and Budapest, which has itself become a symbol of Serbia’s growing cooperation with China. Completed in the summer of 2024, the $1.5 billion project – funded through a loan agreement between the Serbian government, China’s Exim Bank, and the Russian government under the China-CEEC cooperation framework – was hailed as a milestone in regional connectivity.

It is thus not surprising that the collapse sent shockwaves through Serbian society.

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At the heart of the matter was the way the project was handled from the start. Critics argue that the collapse was not merely an accident but the consequence of a deeply flawed process in which public transparency was sidelined, international agreements were leveraged to bypass national regulations, and political interests were prioritized over safety. What’s more, in order to showcase progress, officials allegedly inaugurated the station before reconstruction work was complete.

The crisis has also provided an unprecedented look into the inner workings of Serbia’s infrastructure deals with China. From high-level government-to-government agreements to contracts between Chinese firms and local subcontractors, the controversy has exposed largely opaque processes. Thanks to relentless pressure from student protesters, key documents were finally made public, offering a rare opportunity for citizens to scrutinize a partnership that has long operated behind closed doors.

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International agreements signed between the Serbian government and China’s Exim Bank in May 2017 and April 2019 revealed that the modernization of two key railway sections was awarded to a Chinese consortium consisting of China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company. These agreements, adopted by the Serbian parliament, were publicly available. What remained inaccessible, however, were the commercial contracts between Serbian authorities – including the Ministry of Construction and Serbian Railways – and the Chinese consortium. One such agreement, covering the section that included the Novi Sad railway station, was signed in July 2018, revealing a critical detail: the selection of Chinese firms for the project was predetermined before the loan agreements were finalized.

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Facilitating Disaster: The Role of Chinese Companies

Chinese companies played a critical role in the modernization project, yet they have largely escaped the level of scrutiny faced by domestic actors. Public outrage over the Novi Sad station collapse was overwhelmingly directed at the Serbian government and its officials. Many saw domestic actors as the primary culprits, accusing them of implementing a project riddled with secrecy and mismanagement. Protesters demanded the publication of all project-related documents, accountability for those responsible, and a transparent investigation – especially after government officials issued conflicting statements, even attempting to downplay the incident by claiming that no work had been done on the station’s rooftop. But as public pressure intensified, nearly 800 documents were released, shedding new light on the project’s many layers.

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For years, Serbian leaders have championed cooperation with China as a pillar of the country’s economic and infrastructure development. The partnership has often been framed as “no-strings-attached” – a model where Chinese investment flows without the pressures of regulatory oversight or strict compliance with international standards. But the tragedy in Novi Sad underscores a dangerous flaw in this approach. When accountability is absent and safeguards are ignored, the consequences can be catastrophic, putting human lives at stake.

To prevent further disasters, Serbia must rethink its approach to foreign-backed projects. Transparency, legality, and accountability must become non-negotiable principles, regardless of the partner involved. This means ensuring that all agreements – whether with China or any other foreign investor – are subject to public scrutiny, adhere to the highest safety and labor standards, and uphold the rule of law. Only through such reforms can Serbia rebuild public trust and prevent similar tragedies in the future.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29331548

Archived

[The article shows very good examples I can't paraphrase here, but they are very illuminating.]

Is Taiwan an independent country? When pointing out DeepSeek’s propaganda problems, journalists and China watchers have tended to prompt the LLM with questions like these about the “Three T’s” (Tiananmen, Taiwan, and Tibet) — obvious political red lines that are bound to meet a stony wall of hedging and silence. “Let’s talk about something else,” DeepSeek tends to respond. Alternatively, questions of safety regarding DeepSeek tend to focus on whether data will be sent to China.

Experts say this is all easily fixable. Kevin Xu has pointed out that the earlier V3 version, released in December, will discuss topics such as Tiananmen and Xi Jinping when it is hosted on local computers — beyond the grasp of DeepSeek’s cloud software and servers.

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But do coders and Silicon Valley denizens know what they should be looking for? As we have written at CMP, Chinese state propaganda is not about censorship per se, but about what the Party terms “guiding public opinion” (舆论导向). “Guidance,” which emerged in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989, is a more comprehensive approach to narrative control that goes beyond simple censorship. While outright removal of unwanted information is one tactic, “guidance” involves a wide spectrum of methods to shape public discourse in the Party’s favor. These can include restricting journalists’ access to events, ordering media to emphasize certain facts and interpretations, deploying directed narrative campaigns, and drowning out unfavorable information with preferred content.

Those testing DeepSeek for propaganda shouldn’t simply be prompting the LLM to cross simple red lines or say things regarded as “sensitive.” They should be mindful of the full range of possible tactics to achieve “guidance.”

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We tested DeepSeek R1 in three environments: locally on our computers — using “uncensored” versions downloaded from Hugging Face — on servers hosted by Hugging Face, and on the interface most people are using DeepSeek through: the app connected to Chinese servers. The DeepSeek models were not the same (R1 was too big to test locally, so we used a smaller version), but across all three categories, we identified tactics frequently used in Chinese public opinion guidance.

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The “uncensored” version of DeepSeek’s software [...] puts official messaging first, treating the government as the sole source of accurate information on anything related to China. When we asked it in Chinese for the Wenchuan earthquake death toll and other politically sensitive data, the model searched exclusively for “official data” (官方统计数据) to obtain “accurate information.” As such, it could not find “accurate” statistics for Taiwanese identity — something that is regularly and extensively polled by a variety of institutions in Taiwan. All we got is boilerplate: Taiwan “has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times” and any move toward independent nationhood is illegal.

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Tailored Propaganda?

DeepSeek R1 seems to modify its answers depending on what language is used and the location of the user’s device. DeepSeek R1 acted like a completely different model in English. It provided sources based in Western countries for facts about the Wenchuan earthquake and Taiwanese identity and addressed criticisms of the Chinese government.

Chinese academics are aware that AI has this potential. In a journal under the CCP’s Propaganda Department last month, a journalism professor at China’s prestigious Fudan University made the case that China “needs to think about how the generative artificial intelligence that is sweeping the world can provide an alternative narrative that is different from ‘Western-centrism’” — namely, by providing answers tailored to different foreign audiences.

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DeepSeek’s answers have been subtly adapted to different languages and trained to reflect [Chinese] state-approved views.

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Archived version

China seems to be gearing up to further ensnare Sri Lanka in its debt trap. This became evident when Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake undertook a four-day visit to China in mid-January this year. During the visit, China sealed several agreements with Sri Lanka, including a $3.7 billion deal for setting up an oil refinery in Hambantota with Sinopec [China Petrochemical Corporation].

Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing agreed to invest in Sri Lanka’s infrastructure development. However, this comes despite the fact [several projects built under China’s initiative] have already proven to be white elephants, contributing to Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in 2022 and 2023.

Chinese loans have piled up for Sri Lanka, accounting for 52% of the island nation’s total foreign debt of $46.9 billion. Between 2000 and 2020 alone, China extended close to $12 billion in loans to Sri Lanka, funding major infrastructure projects. The interest rates on these [Chinese] loans were significantly higher compared to those from the IMF, the World Bank, Japan, and other countries.

China provided loans at a 4% interest rate, with a shorter repayment period of around 10 years, compared to 24 to 28 years for loans from Japan and other Western countries. The interest rate on commercial borrowings from Chinese banks was even more staggering: Sri Lanka took loans from Chinese banks at an exorbitant 6% interest rate.

Moreover, when crisis-hit Sri Lanka was moving from pillar to post in 2022 to restructure its debt with China and secure loans from the IMF to overcome the shortage of foreign exchange that left Colombo unable to finance even essential imports like food and fuel, Beijing simply dithered.

In April 2023, China did not join talks held by Sri Lanka’s other major creditors to restructure the island nation’s debt. Only after constant appeals from the IMF and other countries did Beijing, the largest creditor of Colombo, agree to restructure its loans.

Following this, the IMF provided the first tranche of $330 million out of a $3 billion rescue package approved for crisis-stricken Sri Lanka in 2023. However, for the subsequent tranche of loans from the IMF, China once again delayed the restructuring of its loans. In November 2023, Sri Lanka reached an agreement with China to restructure $4.2 billion of debt. These developments, however, left a deep mark on Sri Lankans’ psyche, as China appeared to be a partner who reluctantly came forward to relieve the island nation of its economic pains.

Despite this, when Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently visited China, he was overwhelmed by President Xi Jinping’s warmth and the red-carpet welcome. In his opening remarks, as per the Associated Press, President Xi said: “I am willing to work with you, Mr. President, to chart a new vision for the development of bilateral relations and promote new and greater achievements in China-Sri Lanka friendly cooperation.”

These sugar-coated words from the Chinese President, coupled with Beijing’s intent to deepen its influence in Sri Lanka, a strategically important nation in the Indian Ocean Region, led to the creation of pro-Colombo atmospherics. This ultimately resulted in the two countries signing a series of agreements, including advancing BRI projects such as Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port [both in Sri Lanka].

[...]

More concerning is the question raised by some strategists and foreign experts: whether Sri Lanka, already submerged in huge external debt, will be able to afford further investments under the BRI. They fear that any future financial meltdown in Sri Lanka could allow China to take control of the island nation’s assets, as seen in the case of the Hambantota Port.

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Marriages in China plummeted by a fifth last year, the biggest drop on record, despite manifold efforts by authorities to encourage young couples to wed and have children to boost the country's declining population.

Declining interest in getting married and starting a family has long been blamed on the high cost of childcare and education in China. On top of that, sputtering economic growth over the past few years has made it difficult for university graduates to find work and those that do have jobs feel insecure about their long-term prospects.

More than 6.1 million couples registered for marriage last year, down from 7.68 million a year earlier, figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed.

"Unprecedented! Even in 2020, due to Covid-2019, marriages only decreased by 12.2%," said Yi Fuxian, a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He noted that the number of marriages in China last year was less than half of the 13.47 million in 2013.

If this trend continues, "the Chinese government's political and economic ambitions will be ruined by its demographic Achilles' heel," he added.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1896513

Here is the full report (pdf).

TLDR:

• Beijing is dedicating more and more resources to counter democratic attribution statements through disinformation
• When targeting Taiwan, China aims to undermine Taipei’s economic power and induce fear through disruptive and destructive cyber operations
• In Japan, China gathers information that could be of use in a future conflict, e.g. defense industrial base, information on politician

China has emerged as a major cyber threat, particularly targeting Taiwan and Japan with sophisticated cyber operations. Against Taiwan, these attacks have included espionage, financial manipulation, intellectual property theft, and infrastructure sabotage, while those against Japan have focused on intelligence gathering on defense and political activities.

From 2013-2023, China has refined its cyber tactics, shifting operations to private proxies, exploiting supply chain vulnerabilities, and using disinformation to obscure its involvement. In response to increasing attribution, China has denied accusations and engaged in counter-narratives, particularly after the Volt Typhoon exposure in 2023. To counter these threats, the report recommends enhanced intelligence sharing, joint attributions, industry-led security standards, and global cooperation to combat disinformation.

Archived

Avaaz is backing the call to the UN human rights chief from a coalition of activists fighting for Tibetan rights led by:

• International Tibet Network
• Students for a Free Tibet
• Tibet Action Institute
• Tibet Justice Center
• Tibetan Youth Association Europe

Three out of four.

That’s how many children China is forcing into boarding schools in Tibet, where they face abuse and are indoctrinated until they no longer speak the same language as their parents.

Many of these children often spend weeks or even months without seeing their parents, who say they’re simply not allowed to visit. Cut off from home, Tibetan children are only taught Mandarin and the love of the Chinese Communist Party, until their culture and religion is erased.

Now China is trying to cover it up while rooting out Tibetan culture for 1 million children. That’s where we come in.

Reporters just exposed the scandal thanks to brave Tibetan experts and teachers – and a UN investigation could force the truth of China’s indoctrination schools into broad daylight. Tibetan activists want to bring this call to the UN rights chief in days, before he addresses the Human Rights Council – and a big petition will get his attention! Sign and share now.

The Chinese authorities, as part of their suppression of Tibetans’ basic rights, have taken aim at privately run educational institutions that promote Tibetan language and culture.

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Several vocational schools in eastern Tibet have been closed down since 2021, apparently without specific reasons being given.

Authorities have insisted that all students attend state schools. There, Tibetan children are now taught only in Chinese from primary to high school levels; such language policy has even been introduced in pre-primary schools. While Tibetan is still taught, it is now a stand-alone subject, much like a foreign language. This is contrary to the Chinese Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which guarantee the right to mother-tongue education.

Tibetan children in state schools are also subjected to a high degree of political education and, according to recent reports, military training. In January 2023, four United Nations special rapporteurs issued a statement of serious concern over China’s language and education policies in Tibet. The Chinese government has yet to provide a meaningful response.

Archived

Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) and ARTICLE 19 issued an analysis of the proposed Internet ID Measure in China. Although not yet adopted, if enacted, the measure will further restrict online freedom of expression and access to information, hinder the work of human rights defenders, breach international human rights standards, and risk adding to increasingly repressive internet governance norms internationally.

On 26 July, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) jointly released a draft provision, the Management Measure on National Network Identity Authentication Public Service (‘Internet ID Measure’). The Internet ID measures would require internet users to register through the MPS-developed National Network Identity Authentication Pilot Edition App (‘Internet ID App’) using their national identification card and facial recognition. Over 80 apps began trialing the new authentication system within days of the draft’s release, including 10 public service platforms and 71 commercial applications. Major platforms such as WeChat, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Taobao, and Zhaopin were among the early adopters.

‘Just like a frog in slowly heating water, citizens in China – including human rights defenders – face gradually tightening restrictions in the online space. The proposed Internet ID Measure represents another turn of the heat, expanding state control over user identity and making it easier than ever to silence dissent. UN bodies and civil society must act now and urge Beijing to abandon this and other rights-eroding internet laws,’ said Shane Yi, researcher for CHRD.

‘We have already witnessed how China’s Cybersecurity Law has influenced rising digital authoritarianism around the world, in the creeping adoption of cyber sovereignty data regulations and pro-surveillance real name registration requirements, among others. The adoption of this centralised approach to identity verification risks further emulation of repressive digital norms as China pushes to remold internet governance in its own repressive image,’ said Michael Caster, ARTICLE 19’s Head of Global China Programme.

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The new Internet ID Measure extends centralised control over the digital spaces from the point of internet connection. When users register on the Internet ID App and use the web number and certificate to access other apps and services, they grant the government access to their entire digital trail. This centralised identity verification system effectively provides the MPS and CAC with enhanced capability to monitor China’s 1.1 billion internet users, as well as people from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other foreign nationals once they register on the Internet ID App.

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An analysis by the China Labour Bulletin (CLB) 2024 labour data reveals a persistent disregard for workers' rights by employers, corporations, and government authorities, even as China's economic landscape shifts under the pressures of changing overseas investment, domestic demand, and evolving market structures across various sectors. Meanwhile, workers agitations in the manufacturing sector have surged to their highest levels in nearly a decade, despite a broader trend toward smaller-scale disputes, reflecting the transition to high-tech factories with fewer workers.

As companies prioritise cost-cutting measures and profitability strategies, workers' wages, social insurance, compensation, and living subsidies remain at the bottom of the list—if they are addressed at all. This growing tension underscores the widening gap between corporate interests and the basic rights of the labour force, painting a stark picture of the challenges facing workers in 2024.

In this report, CLB broadly analyses the raw data collected in our Strike Map and conducts a sector-by-sector analysis of issues affecting China’s workers and their rights.

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Workers in the construction industry continued to see their wages remain unpaid in 2024, with residential projects being the main targets of protests. Although the Strike Map recorded fewer incidents in the construction industry in 2024 (733 incidents) than in 2023 (945 incidents), the sector continued to have the highest proportion of protests among industries. Across the country, Guangdong (134 incidents), Shandong (78) and Henan (46) – provinces that have seen significant investments in real estate and infrastructure in recent years – recorded the highest numbers of protests, a proportion similar to that in 2023 with Shanxi dropping out of the top 3. Among the types of projects targeted that CLB could identify, 50 percent were related to residential projects, around 30 percent in infrastructure projects followed by 20 percent in commercial projects.

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CLB's Strike Map gathered information about 452 incidents in the manufacturing industry in 2024 – an increase from the previous year (438 cases) – at a time when international companies were eager to diversify their investments despite flat domestic demand. The incidents occurred mainly in the best-performing manufacturing provinces, with Guangdong witnessing a total of 166 incidents, followed by Zhejiang (63) and Jiangsu (39). While boasting of possessing the world’s biggest manufacturing economy, China’s manufacturing industry experienced another frustrating year in 2024.

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Last year, the Strike Map recorded 148 incidents in the services industry. Protests occurred predominantly in Guangdong (29 incidents) and Henan (13) followed by Sichuan (9) and Beijing (8). Three sectors that accounted for the most cases were catering (25.8 percent; 33 incidents), sanitation (24.2 percent; 31 incidents) and retail (14.1% percent; 18 incidents). Large-scale protests staged by hundreds of workers mainly occurred in the sanitation and medical sectors.

In the catering sector, protestors targeted big and small companies including restaurants and hotels, despite the backdrop of the national economy appearing to have improved slightly [while unemployment rates have risen].

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Of the 21 incidents recorded in the heavy industry, most occurred in the steel and metal sector (11 incidents), followed by the chemical sector (5). China recorded the highest steel exports in 2024 since 2015 but total output fell 1.7%. With the trend of urbanisation slowing down, the demand for steel for construction and infrastructure has fallen. The oversupply from steel mills as reflected in falling steel prices means competitive pressure in the sector. Market pressures along with bad management leaves workers in limbo as happened in the case of Xiangfen County XinJinShan Special Steel in Linfen. After being laid off by the steel company in late August, workers protested twice in September (13th and 27th) to demand their wages and a decent compensation plan. After financial scandals such as funds being transferred out from the company, it said it was owing debts and salaries to over 2,000 workers, according to a notice in early September.

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Conclusion:

First, trade unions must prioritise accountability to workers. CLB’s research highlights that union chairpersons, in many instances, are corporate executives, creating a conflict of interest that prevents unions from truly representing workers. To address this, unions must actively engage with workers to understand their concerns and proactively communicate with enterprises to anticipate workplace changes that may affect workers' rights. CLB has long advocated for unions to reform their structures and practices to genuinely serve as representatives of workers, rather than reacting only after labour rights abuses occur.

Second, multinational corporations must be held accountable for labour rights violations in their supply chains. The enactment of new supply chain due diligence laws, such as Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (2023) and the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (2024), provides a framework for greater corporate responsibility. At the United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in September 2024, CLB presented its approach, demonstrating how workers in China use social media to share grievances and document labour rights violations, even in the face of internet censorship. This wealth of worker-generated information can hopefully enable companies to conduct due diligence and prevent human rights abuses in their supply chains.

The Chinese government is maintaining severe restrictions, conditions, and controls on Uyghurs who seek to travel abroad in violation of their internationally protected right to leave the country, Human Right Watch said today. The government has permitted Uyghurs in the diaspora to make restricted visits to Xinjiang, but with the apparent aim of presenting a public image of normalcy in the region.

Since the start of the Chinese government’s abusive Strike Hard Campaign in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 2016, Chinese authorities have arbitrarily confiscated passports of Uyghurs in the region and imprisoned Uyghurs for contacting people abroad. While the authorities are now allowing some Uyghurs to apply for or are returning passports for travel internationally, they exert tight control over those who travel.

“The modest thaw in China’s travel restrictions has allowed some Uyghurs to briefly reunite with loved ones abroad after having no news for years, but the Chinese government’s travel restrictions are still used to oppress Uyghurs in Xinjiang and in the diaspora,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government continues to deny Uyghurs their right to leave the country, restrict their speech and associations when abroad, and punish them for having foreign ties.”

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A Chinese company is facing backlash after it sent staff members to photograph other employees using the toilet and later posting the compromising images on the wall of the restroom. Shenzen-based Lixun Electro-Acoustic admitted it was creepily monitoring the employees, whilst explaining the rationale behind its decision, according to a report in South China Morning Post.

The company said it undertook the surveillance to warn employees against using the bathroom for too long with few spending time smoking while others played video games.

"The staff were spending too much time in the bathroom smoking or playing games, which made other staff uncomfortable," the company said.

"Smoking in the bathroom is prohibited and the purpose is to prevent people from staying in the bathroom for long periods of time due to video games and other activities."

Notably, when the worker would not open the bathroom door for long, the other staffer would stand on the ladder and use the phone to click the pictures.

As the controversy snowballed, the company said it had taken down the photos a few hours later because "they do not look good".

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1867860

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A new study published in Frontiers in Social Psychology suggests that the popular social media platform TikTok may be manipulated to conceal content critical of the Chinese government while amplifying narratives aligned with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The research, which involved three separate studies, found that TikTok users were exposed to significantly less content critical of China compared to users of other platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Additionally, the study found that heavier TikTok users tended to have more positive views of China’s human rights record and were more likely to consider China a desirable travel destination.

Authoritarian regimes such as those in Russia and Iran have increasingly used social media to manipulate information and advance their strategic interests. China, in particular, has developed sophisticated strategies to control narratives and influence public opinion through digital platforms. This phenomenon, often referred to as “networked authoritarianism,” involves state actors using subtle tactics like algorithmic manipulation and strategic content curation to shape narratives on popular social media platforms.

These tactics are particularly effective because they are often invisible to users, making overt censorship or manipulation difficult to detect. Given that TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, concerns have been raised that it may be susceptible to influence from the CCP, either directly or through algorithmic adjustments. The study aimed to assess whether TikTok’s content curation patterns differed from those of other social media platforms and, if so, whether these differences aligned with Chinese government interests.

“China is a communist country. The CCP has a vast propaganda apparatus and a long record of enforcing conformity to its preferences,” said study author Lee Jussim, a distinguished professor of psychology at Rutgers University and author of The Poisoning of the American Mind. “Many before us have raised concerns about whether the CCP exerts undue influence on TikTok to further its goals. We decided to empirically assess whether this was the case regarding issues about which the CCP was likely to be sensitive.”

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