China

Palau would not cave to diplomatic pressure from China and would remain an ally of Taiwan “until death do us part,” Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr said yesterday.

As one of the few nations that recognize Taiwan’s statehood, Palau has repeatedly risked China’s ire over the years by refusing to reverse its stance.

“China has one goal, and that is for us to renounce Taiwan,” Whipps said during a speech at Australian think tank Lowy Institute. “But we hope that they understand — that decision is a sovereign decision and no country tells us who we should be friends with.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32482982

The videos are across Chinese social media. Some are slickly produced Russian propaganda about being “tough” men; some sound more like influencer advertisements for a working holiday. Others are cobbled-together screenshots by regular citizens about to leave China. But they all have one thing in common: selling the benefits of becoming a Chinese mercenary for Russia.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced that two Chinese nationals had been captured in the eastern Donetsk region and accused Moscow of trying to involve China “directly or indirectly” in the conflict. A day later, he said the men were among at least 155 other Chinese members of Russia’s armed forces. Then again, on Thursday, he accused Russia of conducting “systemic work” in China to recruit fighters.

[...]

China says it is a neutral party to the conflict, although its leader, Xi Jinping, and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, are public allies, with a “no limits” partnership between their two nations.

Zelenskyy demanded answers from Beijing, accusing it of turning a blind eye to Russia’s recruitment of its citizens.

[...]

Numerous recruitment clips are easily found on Chinese social media. All of them emphasise the pay on offer, ranging from 60,000 to 200,000 RMB (£6,000 to £21,000) as a sign-on bonus and monthly salaries of about 18,000 RMB (£1,900).

One video, which has had hundreds of thousands of views across different platforms, appears to be a Russian recruitment ad with Chinese subtitles overlaid. It shows Caucasian men leaving their day jobs to fight and asks viewers: “Do you want to show strength here? Is this the path that you long for? You are a tough man, be like them!”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32511699

Archived

Strategic cooperation in defence, economic security and diplomacy is no longer optional; it’s essential to shaping, not just surviving, the new global order

[...]

the possibility of a transactional US-China “sectoral deal”—in which Washington and Beijing strike limited agreements on trade, technology or security—as speculated by Japanese analysts poses serious risks for Japan and Europe alike. It could sideline democratic allies in favour of short-term geopolitical gains. For Japan, it recalls the trauma of Nixon’s rapprochement with Beijing, which came at Tokyo’s strategic expense. For Europe, it risks marginalisation as global rules would be shaped without its input, undermining its efforts to build coherent European defence architecture.

[...]

Japan and the EU already collaborate on digital governance, climate policy and infrastructure connectivity, but defence cooperation remains underdeveloped. The ongoing joint fighter jet project is promising, but hampered by gaps in defence procurement frameworks and technology interoperability. Japan’s rapidly evolving security posture—underscored by a rising defence budget and acquisition of counterstrike capabilities—creates a window of opportunity for deeper EU-Japan defence and industrial ties. Germany’s move to exclude defence spending from its debt brake signals a similar readiness to scale up. Both actors face shared needs in long-range strike systems, cybersecurity, and space-based assets. Europe can benefit from Japan’s experience in building resilient ammunition and weapons supply chains, while Japan could draw from European innovation, particularly from the UK, France, Germany and Sweden in emerging defence technologies.

[...]

A joint [Japan-EU] initiative on critical raw materials, open to other like-minded partners such as Canada and India, along with deeper cooperation in the field of semiconductors, would signal strategic maturity. Including small and medium businesses in shared resilience frameworks through security clearance mechanisms would also boost innovation and diversify supply chains. Brussels and Tokyo could coordinate their green industrial policies to avoid duplicative dependencies on Chinese technology while ensuring WTO compliance. Lastly, Japan and the EU should reconsider the strategic value of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), including the possibility of the EU joining the agreement.

[...]

[Diplomatic cooperation] becomes even more critical as both Japan and the EU face growing challenges in defending international norms amid increasingly unilateral moves by the US. Their credibility when calling out China’s coercive behaviour, for example, risks being undermined when Washington itself deviates from the principles it once championed. Yet, it is precisely in this environment of strategic ambiguity that Tokyo and Brussels must double down on their commitment to the rules-based international order—not in opposition to the US, but to preserve the very framework that ensures their long-term interests.

[...]

As the US reorients its global commitments and China tests the fault lines of Western unity, Brussels and Tokyo must show that liberal democracies can still adapt, cooperate and lead. The goal is not simply to respond to uncertainty, but to shape it. Europe and Japan do not need to reinvent the wheel—they just need to start driving it.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2411873

Archived version

China and the European Union are unlikely to become close allies quickly, analysts say, even as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs sour relations between the world's largest economy and both its transatlantic allies and Beijing.

"I don't see the EU and China uniting against the US," Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said.

...

"I think there will be interest on both sides but deep practical constraints for both. Unless China is willing to make some big concessions, I struggle to see the EU uniting behind a strategy of deeper engagement."

...

The EU and China have a fractious relationship. While China is one of the EU's biggest trading partners besides the U.S., economic relations between the two have also historically been characterized by investigations and tit-for-tat measures linked to trade.

The EU has long alleged that Beijing subsidizes key sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and steel and aluminum in a way that is harmful to global markets and competitiveness. Last year, the EU hit China with tariffs on electric vehicles, as a result.

... And it is not only trade that is causing tensions in the EU-China relationship, Carsten Nickel, managing director at Teneo, [said].

He added that there are "fundamental differences" between the two "regardless of what is going on with the U.S."

...

"That has to do with unresolved questions around overcapacity in China. It has to do with ongoing misgivings in the European Parliament, especially regarding the human rights situation, and it has to do with concerns over China's support for for Russia and Ukraine," he explained.

Ian Bremmer, founder and president of the Eurasia group, also pointed out that there is a "deep" European mistrust toward China in areas like intellectual property and technological surveillance, as well as industrial policy.

This "doesn't go away with the United States becoming an adversary."

...

"I think it's pretty clear that that that doesn't that that doesn't mean that the the the underlying challenges in the European relationship with China are gone overnight," he added.

...

Eurasia Group's Emre Peker and Mujtaba Rahman echoed this idea in a Thursday note.

"Trade diversions as the US-China tariff fight escalates will prompt the European Commission to swiftly deploy safeguard measures to prevent China—and other countries—from dumping their goods on the EU market," they said.

...

European policymakers will use "softer rhetoric" towards China to avoid triggering a trade war on two fronts. "But this is highly unlikely to translate into Brussels-Beijing cooperation against Washington," they concluded.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32482359

Archived

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has filed a legal complaint in Paris against Dahua Technology France, Hikvision France, and Huawei France. The submission, made by prominent French human rights lawyer William Bourdon of Bourdon & Associés, accuses the three Chinese companies of complicity in crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Uyghur people in East Turkistan.

“This submission is an important reminder to all companies complicit in the Chinese government’s genocide that they bear legal responsibility,” said WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun. “We are confident that the French judiciary will take this matter seriously.”

The legal complaint outlines four serious charges:

• Concealment of complicity in the crime of aggravated servitude
• Concealment of complicity in the crime of trafficking in human beings as part of an organized gang
• Concealment of complicity in genocide
• Concealment of complicity in crimes against humanity

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32443864

Hong Kong national security police have taken away the parents of wanted US-based activist Frances Hui Wing-ting for questioning, the Post has learned, after Washington imposed a new round of sanctions on local officials for what it called "transnational repression".

A source said that Hui's mother and father were escorted to two police stations in Sha Tin on Thursday.

Hui, who left the city in 2020 and is now based in the United States, is among 19 activists with HKcopy million bounties on their heads for allegedly violating the Beijing-imposed national security law in Hong Kong.

[...]

In 2022, Hui was granted political asylum in the US. She now serves as a policy and advocacy coordinator at the Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, which is considered "anti-China" by city authorities.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32460743

Archived

[...]

Kaja Kallas, the EU's head of diplomacy, confirmed that the EU had discussed the news about the capture of Chinese nationals by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, she emphasized that this does not mean the Chinese military is directly involved in the war. She pointed out that China could share relevant information regarding the situation.

Kallas also stated that without China's support, Russia would not be able to conduct the war on such a large scale, noting that 80% of dual-use goods reach Russia through China.

She added that if China truly wanted to stop supporting the war, it would have an impact.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32374201

Archived

The original article in German is here.

• Victor Gao, ex-interpreter to politician Deng Xiaoping and now Beijing's mouthpiece, promotes China's line in the West.
• In the midst of economic problems, China is trying to win back Europe as a partner - on the condition that it does not criticize Beijing.

Where other Chinese experts remain silent because the new anti-espionage law forces them to be cautious, Victor Gao [once Deng Xiaoping's interpreter, now vice president of a government-affiliated think tank and figurehead for China's propaganda] talks. And how. Whether CNN, BBC or al-Jazeera - everyone gets it from him, the party line, eloquently packaged and charmingly served.

[...]

His current mission: to woo Europe, while relations with the West are crumbling under the weight of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, corona and closing ranks with Russia.

[...]

Victor Gao demands: "Wake up from your American nightmare." And immediately delivers the Chinese offer: less morality, more market. China as a "resource", not a rival.

[...]

But behind the smile lurks geopolitical calculation.

After all, NATO has long been seen as the enemy, and Western democracies are described in China's state media as decadent, refugee-ridden orders. At the same time, Gao preaches closing ranks in interviews - as long as Europe refrains from any criticism of Beijing.

[...]

Victor Gao, who translated Deng's words into the international arena in the 1980s, embodies China's transformation: from an aspiring reformist state to an autocratically controlled superpower under Xi Jinping.

What used to be openness is now demarcation - and yet: economic hardship is forcing China back towards rapprochement.

With the economic downturn in its own country, youth unemployment, the real estate crisis, demographic decline and mountains of debt, it now wants Europe back as a partner. Or at least as a market.

[...]

Gao describes Europe as a continent on the brink of collapse: "You have no more money at all," he says. China, on the other hand? Ready to help. With experience, technology and growth. A kind of development aid - made in China.

But the price is high: no criticism. No geopolitics. No questions asked.

Human rights? Tibet? Xinjiang? Are elegantly omitted. Anyone who raises them is either a "gangster" financed by the USA or a naïve idealist. Gao prefers to sell the high-speed train network, the next 6G expansion and the bubbling growth figures.

Problems? "Of course there are," he says - and immediately changes the subject.

[...]

Victor Gao says that Europe is too small to be an adversary.

But perhaps this is precisely Europe's underestimated strength: not wanting to dominate, but to mediate between the extremes - without selling out.

Because Gao is right about one thing: the world as we know it is changing rapidly. But whether China's charm offensive is more than just a tactical smile will be measured by whether Beijing wants genuine partnership - or just a Europe that shuts up and pays up.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32433092

Archived

[...]

Some tactical cooperation makes sense for both sides — just don't expect any grand bargain.

The Xinhua news agency account didn't include any mention of Ukraine [in their coverage on the phone call between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week].

But the EU's readout did. Von der Leyen "reaffirmed the EU's steadfast support for a just and lasting peace" in the three-year-old war and emphasized that any conditions for peace "must be determined by Ukraine." She invited China to intensify its efforts to "contribute meaningfully" to the peace process, according to the statement.

[...]

Coincidentally (perhaps), President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops captured two Chinese citizens fighting for Russia, the first time the country's nationals have been taken prisoner during the war. That furnished a reminder of where China's default sympathies lie, on the same day as Li's call with von der Leyen.

[...]

This near-term necessity [to collaborate and seek allies] must be balanced against the recognition that China's ruling Communist Party stands on the side of forces that present an existential threat to Europe's security.

[...]

Under [Chinese President] Xi, it has become clear that China hasn't come to join the postwar global order designed by the US, but to reshape it in its own image. The Ukraine invasion is the most tangible demonstration of that.

Three weeks before Russian troops started crossing the border, Xi and Putin signed an agreement that said there would be "no limits" to their cooperation. It is a remarkably candid document that can fairly be described as a blueprint for a new world order — one that is more comfortable for autocracies. China professed neutrality after the Ukraine war started, but its diplomatic actions and expanding trade and investment with Russia are evidence of de facto support.

[...]

Expediency dictates there will be some cooperation between Europe and China, but don't mistake it for anything more profound or longer lasting. Some things are worth more than an extra battery plant or two.

[...]

In related news, Australia turns down China's offer to 'join hands' to fight US tariffs, says it would build its economic resilience by strengthening trade ties with the European Union, Indonesia, India, Britain and the Middle East.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32430092

Archived

[...]

"There are 155 Chinese citizens who are fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this information to journalists on April 9.

"We are collecting information, we believe that there are many more."

"For these 155 there is passport data, where they are from, their Chinese documents, age, etc," Zelensky added.

According to Zelensky, Chinese soldiers had been serving with Russia's 70th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the 255th Rifle Division, and others.

A day before, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the capture of two Chinese citizens fighting for Russia in eastern Donetsk Oblast. The group of six Chinese nationals clashed with Ukrainian forces, and two are now being held by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), he said.

The documents, obtained by the Kyiv Independent, list the names, personal data, place of service and position in the Russian army of other Chinese nationals.

[...]

One of the captured soldiers claimed he paid 300,000 rubles (roughly $3,000) to a middleman in China to join the Russian military in exchange for the promise of citizenship, Ukraine's Luhansk military unit press service told Ukrainian Pravda earlier in the day.

"Beijing knows about this. Russians distribute advertising videos about recruitment through Chinese social networks," Zelensky said.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32432051

[...]

"We are not going to be holding hands with China in respect of any contest that is going on in the world," Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Sky News, referring to the Chinese ambassador's proposal for countries to "join hands" on trade.

"We are not doing that. What we are doing is pursuing Australia's national interests and diversifying our trade around the world."

He said Australia would build its economic resilience by strengthening trade ties with the European Union, Indonesia, India, Britain and the Middle East.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32431077

Two spyware variants are targeting Uyghur, Taiwanese and Tibetan groups and individuals, the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre warned in a joint alert (opens pdf) Wednesday with Western allies.

[...]

Cybersecurity researchers have previously linked the BADBAZAAR and MOONSHINE spyware to the Chinese government. The variants mentioned in Wednesday’s alert trojanize apps that are of interest to the target communities, such as a Uyghur language Quran app, and have appeared in official app stores.

“BADBAZAAR and MOONSHINE collect data which would almost certainly be of value to the Chinese state,” the alert reads. Agencies in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United States, namely the FBI and National Security Agency, collaborated on it.

Groups most at risk include those focused on Taiwanese independence, Tibetan rights, Uyghur Muslims, democracy advocacy and Falun Gong, according to the alert. The espionage tools can access and download information like location data or messages and photos, and can access microphones and cameras on a phone.

BADBAZAAR is mobile malware with both iOS and Android variants, while MOONSHINE is Android-only. MOONSHINE has been shared through Telegram channels and links sent via WhatsApp.

[...]

Beyond official app stores, BADBAZAAR also spreads through social media platforms. It’s been drawing its own attention from cybersecurity researchers since at least 2022 when Lookout identified it.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32394921

A Swedish court on Wednesday ordered the detention of a man suspected of spying on ethnic Uyghurs for China, Sweden's prosecution authority said on Wednesday.

The prosecution authority declined to give more detail on the case or whether it concerned the small population of Uyghurs living in Sweden or groups elsewhere.

[...]

The man, whose nationality was also not disclosed, is in custody in the Swedish capital, court documents showed.

"The man is suspected of having illegally collected information and intelligence on people in the Uyghur environment on behalf of the Chinese intelligence service," Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement earlier on Wednesday.

[...]

Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority group of about 10 million people who live in China's far western Xinjiang region.

Beijing denies any abuse and has accused Western countries of interference and peddling lies.

In 2022, a landmark United Nations report said that China's "arbitrary and discriminatory detention" of Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32335303

Ukrainian forces have captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting for the Russian army in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The Ukrainian president said intelligence suggested the number of Chinese soldiers in Russia's army is "much higher than two".

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Chinese troops fighting on Ukrainian territory "puts into question China's declared stance for peace" and added that their envoy in Kyiv has been summoned for an explanation.

It marks the first official allegation that China is supplying Russia with manpower for its war in Ukraine. There has been no immediate response to the claims from Moscow or Beijing.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32330798

[...]

“China is supporting Russia's efforts. China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters as he wrapped up his visit to the Japanese navy port of Yokosuka. “We cannot be naive, and we really have to work together, assess what is happening.”

Rutte said NATO is worried about China's military exercises near Taiwan and “we follow them very closely.”

Japan considers China as a threat in the region and has in recent years accelerated military buildup, including preparing to acquire strikeback capability with long-range cruise missiles.

Japan, in addition to the United States, has expanded its defense ties with other friendly nations in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, as well as NATO, saying Russia's war on Ukraine underscores that security risks in Europe and Asia are inseparable.

[...]

The Chinese authorities should urgently quash the conviction and free the Taiwan publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀), known by his pen name Fu Cha (富察), Human Rights Watch said today. Fu Cha, who has been detained in China since 2023, was secretly sentenced in February 2025 to three years in prison on charges of “inciting secession.” The government has provided little information about his trial or his condition in detention.

Fu Cha, 54, is editor-in-chief of the Taiwanese firm Gūsa Publishing, which has published translated works on global affairs, politics, and history, including some critical of the Chinese government.

[...]

“The Chinese authorities have imprisoned Fu Cha for daring to publish books on China that they don’t like,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The groundless case against Fu Cha is an apparent attempt to muffle freedom of expression outside its borders and intimidate Taiwan’s vibrant publishing industry.”

[...]

[...]

Indonesia is home to the world’s largest nickel reserve, totaling 5.2 billion tons of ore and 57 million tons of metal, equivalent to 42 percent of the world’s nickel reserves. These resources are scattered mostly in Sulawesi and Maluku, in the eastern part of Indonesia. One of the richest mines is located in Joko’s hometown, Bahodopi district in Sulawesi.

[...]

Nickel mining in Sulawesi began in the early 2000s, but it took off in the last decade after a surge in the global demand for nickel, a critical component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The worldwide transition to EVs is fueled by the pressing demand for eco-friendly transportation and a decreased reliance on fossil fuels. Capitalizing on its vast nickel reserves, Indonesia set its sights on becoming a major player in the global market by 2027.

In 2013, Indonesia-based mining conglomerates PT Bintang Delapan Investment and PT Sulawesi Mining Investment joined forces with a Chinese mining company called Tsingshan Holding Group Company Limited (青山控股集团有限公司) to build the largest nickel-processing center in Southeast Asia, the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP). The project received blessings from political leaders in both countries. In October of that year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono oversaw the signing of a cooperation agreement for the industrial park.

[...]

The seawater around his village has now turned brown, depleting the fish in the bay. With no income from fishing, Lapola decided to work for the mine. Polluted water has forced many of the villages’ young people to switch from fishing to mining.

[...]

Katsaing, Chairman of the Prosperous Indonesian Workers Union, stated that many workers have been complaining about poor work conditions: lack of safety measures, long hours of work, unfair work agreements, and low salaries. Katsaing mentioned that many work agreements only last for three months, leaving workers, who are mostly only high school graduates, in precarious positions

[...]

Ani, a young mother of two from Fatufia village, suffered because the dust and air pollution made her second child sick with acute respiratory problems that forced her to regularly visit health facilities for almost two years. Rest of the World reported that, according to the community health center of Bahodopi, since 2018, upper respiratory infections have been the most prevalent disease in the district, totaling nearly 7,000 cases. Health workers attribute this to dust from the industrial complex.

[...]

Environmental issues are still unresolved in Morowali. Aside from the damage caused by the mining itself, IMIP’s smelters [Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, IMIP, is the largest nickel-processing center in Southeast Asia operated by in Indonesia and China] are powered by a coal-fired power plant that creates significant carbon emissions. According to the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, each 1 GW coal-fired power plant produces 5 million tons of CO2. Residents have also long been complaining about water and air pollution, health issues, and deforestation in their community.

[...]

A report by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS) (pdf), a German policy lobby group, stated that nickel-processing plants at IMIP release pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and coal ash — all of which pose serious health risks when inhaled. Inhabitants suffer from respiratory problems because of the dust and itchy skin caused by polluted water. Worse, many can’t afford to access health facilities.

After a decade of operating, IMIP is now home to more than 50 smelters and around 84,000 workers, including 10 percent from China. Spanning ​​more than 4,000 hectares, the complex features its own airport, seaport, high-end hotels, staff dormitories, and other essential facilities. IMIP produces a total of 4.76 million tons of Nickel Pig Iron (NPI), with the majority exported to China.

Its iron grip over nickel resources helped China dominate the global EV manufacturing industry and isn't poised to loosen any time soon.

If someone picks up a newspaper in China, there's a good chance it contains some government propaganda masquerading as news, according to a new study co-led by a University of Oregon expert.

Hannah Waight, an assistant professor of sociology at the UO, and her collaborators found that the use of state-planted propaganda is on the rise in China. And it's not just a tool for spreading ideological content. It's also used to control and constrain other kinds of information beyond political ideals, including natural disaster and public health reporting in China, according to the researchers' findings.

[...]

The researchers developed an approach that could identify instances where newspapers followed propaganda "scripts" from the government or were coerced into covering something in a specific way. The research team applied this formula to millions of newspaper articles over the course of the decade from 2012–22, which is aligned with President Xi Jinping's authoritarian consolidation of power.

They validated their method by comparing their findings to leaked documents, which they obtained from China Digital Times, a U.S.-based nonprofit media organization. The leaked documents contained directives from the government about what newspapers should print. Their side-by-side analysis confirmed that their approach was accurately identifying propaganda.

[...]

Here is the study The decade-long growth of government-authored news media in China under Xi Jinping

TLDR:

• Scripted propaganda -the coerced reprinting of lightly adapted government-authored articles in newspapers- is a daily phenomenon: on 90% of days from 2012 to 2022, the vast majority of Chinese Communist Party newspapers include at least some scripted propaganda at the direction of a central directive.

• On particular sensitive days, the amount of scripted propaganda can spike to 30% of the articles appearing in major newspapers.

• Scripted propaganda has strengthened under President Xi Jinping. In the last decade, the front page of party newspapers has evolved from 5% scripted articles to approximately 20% scripted.

• The government-authored content throughout the paper is increasingly homogeneous—fewer and fewer adaptations are done by individual newspapers.

• In contrast to popular speculation, we show that scripted content is not only on ideological topics (although it is increasingly ideological) and is also very prevalent in commercial papers. Using a case study of domestic coverage of COVID-19, we demonstrate how the regime uses scripting to shape, constrain, and delay information during crises.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32260694

Wang Yan vividly recalls the last time she heard her husband’s voice, more than five years ago.

It was Dec. 13, 2019, and Canadian citizen Li Yonghui had gone to a public square in Shijiazhuang, in China’s Hebei province, to exercise as he spoke to his wife in Canada by mobile phone.

“Suddenly, the call ended, like someone was grabbing his phone. And I called other family (in China) and no one knew what happened,” Wang recalled.

Li had been seized by city police, who accused him in a social media post of “allegedly gathering public funds illegally” through his company Qingyidai, a platform for person-to-person lending.

Li has been in detention ever since, without ever being tried or sentenced.

Now, his family is taking the rare step of speaking out publicly to seek a resolution to his case.

[...]

Archived

The Central Tibetan Administration has confirmed reports that well-respected Tulku Hungkar Dorje, the throne holder of Lungngon Monastery in Gade County, Golog, in Tibet’s traditional province of Amdo, has passed away after going missing for a prolonged period. According to reliable sources, Chinese officials have notified senior religious figures at Lungngon Monastery of his death on 2 April 2025 but have refused to return his body or provide details about the circumstances of his death.

Tulku Hungkar Dorje, a widely respected religious leader and philanthropist, was reportedly detained by Chinese authorities in early 2024. In August 2024, Chinese officials claimed he had “gone missing” shortly after he gave a public teaching on 21 July 2024. Subsequently, conflicting reports emerged about his whereabouts. The confirmation of his suspicious demise represents the latest case in China’s ongoing campaign of repression against Tibetan religious and cultural leaders.

[...]

Sources indicate that Chinese authorities targeted Tulku Hungkar Dorje on fabricated charges after he declined to arrange an elaborate reception for the Chinese government-appointed Panchen Lama during his visit to the Golog region. Additional accusations included “disobeying higher authorities” for his philanthropic work of establishing monasteries and schools, and “causing disturbances” for advocating for the rights and freedom of marginalized Tibetans under the repressive Chinese rule.

The death of a well-respected Tibetan religious figure follows a disturbing pattern of Chinese authorities targeting influential Tibetan figures who promote Tibetan culture, language, and identity. The detention, torture, and killing of respected leaders like Tulku Hungkar Dorje is a deliberate strategy to silence those who advocate for Tibetans’ fundamental rights.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32116772

Archived

The tragic collapse of a skyscraper in Bangkok [which was the only building that collapsed during the recent earthquake in Thailand], behind the same Chinese contractors associated with the works on Novi Sad railway station, has opened new questions about the security of Chinese projects around the world. While CNN and the Telegraph are investigating the responsibility of Chinese companies in detail, Serbia has reason to follow the developments related to this case with special attention.

While the safety of the Novi Sad railway station and the responsibility of the Chinese contractors from the CRIC-CCCC consortium, led by the China Railway International Company, are still being investigated in Serbia, the new tragedy has once again raised an avalanche of questions about the safety and reliability of projects implemented by Chinese construction companies around the world. In question is the collapse of a skyscraper in Bangkok, the construction of which, according to international media, was entrusted to the company China Railway Number 10 Engineering Group - a related entity of the state corporation that also operates in Serbia.

[...]

The project worth more than two billion Thai baht (about 45 million pounds), built for three years, was led by a company whose actors are known to the public in Serbia - the Italian-Thai corporation Italian-Thai Development Plc and the company China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Ltd. The latter is the local branch of the Chinese giant China Railway Number 10 Engineering Group, with a share of 49 percent, which is the maximum share of foreign companies in Thai companies, according to the Telegraph, referring to local source The Nation.

[...]

The investigation by the Thai Ministry of Industry is focused on the possible reasons for this disaster, among which are issues of the quality of the steel used, a poor construction project, as well as the possible inadequacy of the specific construction method - the so-called "flat slab" slabs, i.e. flat slabs that lie directly on the pillars, without classic supporting beams. In addition, experts point out the problem of the ground on which Bangkok rests: the soft and unstable ground could significantly increase the effects of the earthquake.

[...]

What further strengthened the suspicion of omissions in the construction process was the deletion of all posts by China Railway Number 10 Group on Chinese social networks related to this project.

[...]

The lack of responses to media inquiries also points to possible attempts to cover up responsibility, which is of particular concern in partner countries around the world, including Serbia, where Chinese contractors have already faced safety issues in the tragic collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad railway station.

[...]

Archived

As a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand last Friday, the temblor rattled buildings across the sprawling Thai capital of Bangkok, home to an incredible 142 skyscrapers. When the shaking ceased all were standing strong — with one very notable exception. The State Audit Office (SAO) building in Chatuchak district, a 30-story skyscraper still under construction by a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned enterprise, collapsed into a heap of rubble, trapping nearly 100 people inside.

As of this week, 15 have been confirmed dead in the collapse, and a further 72 remain missing. Thailand announced over the weekend that it was launching an investigation to determine the cause of the collapse, and the prime minister said the tragedy had seriously damaged the country’s image.

As emergency teams sifted through the wreckage in the immediate aftermath, the building’s primary contractor, China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group, came under intense public anger and scrutiny. Anger was further fueled by clear efforts by the company, and by Chinese authorities, to sweep the project and the tragedy under the rug.

Shortly after the collapse, the China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group removed a post from its WeChat account that had celebrated the recent capping of the building, praising the project as the company’s first “super high-rise building overseas,” and “a calling card for CR No. 10’s development in Thailand.” Archived versions of this and other posts were shared by Thais on social media, including one academic who re-posted a deleted promo video to his Facebook account — noting with bitter irony that it boasted of the building’s tensile strength and earthquake resistance.

Trying to access news of the building collapse inside China [...] queries on domestic search engines returned only deleted articles from Shanghai-based outlets such as The Paper (澎湃新闻) and Guancha (观察网). In a post to Weibo, former Global Times editor Hu Xijin (胡锡进) confessed that the building “probably had quality issues.” Even this post was rapidly deleted, making clear that the authorities were coming down hard on the story.

Meanwhile, the machinery of propaganda continued to turn out feel-good news on China’s response to the quake. The Global Times reported that emergency assistance for Myanmar embodied Xi Jinping’s foreign policy vision of a “community of shared future for mankind.” In Hong Kong, the Ta Kung Pao (大公報) newspaper, run by the Liaison Office of China’s central government, twisted the knife into the United States as it reported on the earthquake response, noting the absence of USAID, recently dismantled by the Trump administration. Behind the news, the paper declared, “China’s selfless response demonstrates the responsibility of a great power.”

Beijing’s cross-border crackdown on Taiwanese independence supporters is expected to escalate, extending beyond China and its territories to “China-friendy” countries and those with Chinese police stations, a Taiwanese national security officials said yesterday.

Following the conclusion of China’s annual parliamentary meetings last month, China’s cross-border repression is expected to expand, the officials said.

Beijing’s annual work conference on Taiwan affairs was held on Feb. 25 and 26, followed by the “two sessions” — the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — from March 5 to 11, they said.

Those perceived to support Taiwanese or Tibetan independence face increased risks of police interrogation, arbitrary arrest and indictment on false charges when they visit mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and certain “China-friendly” countries, they said.

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The caution not only extends to China — countries that maintain good relations with Beijing might also pose a risk, as local police may exercise pressure and intimidation, the officials said.

In countries with Chinese overseas police stations, Taiwanese might be questioned or falsely accused of crimes, they added.

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Archived

[This is an op-ed by Salih Hudayar who is serving as the Foreign Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. He is also the leader of the East Turkistan National Movement and has been a prominent voice for the rights and self-determination of the East Turkistani people.]

For over a decade, the world has witnessed mounting evidence of internment camps, forced sterilizations, family separations, religious and cultural persecution, organ harvesting, forced labor, and high-tech surveillance emerging from East Turkistan—an occupied nation China refers to as the “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.” These atrocities, targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples, have led multiple governments, including the United States, to designate China’s actions as genocide, while the United Nations has identified them as crimes against humanity. The genocide of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Turkic peoples is routinely framed as mere human rights violation or a symptom of authoritarian overreach. Such framing obscures the root cause: the illegal occupation and ongoing colonization of East Turkistan by China.

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East Turkistan, home to the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples, has a long and distinct sovereign history, culture, and identity separate from that of China. While the Manchu Qing Empire occupied the nation in 1759, Qing occupation over East Turkistan has never been continuous or consensual. The people of East Turkistan persistently resisted, launching 42 uprisings between 1759 and 1864, and regained independence as the State of Yette Sheher (1864–1877), before being re-occupied by the Qing Empire in December 1877.

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The ongoing Uyghur genocide is the latest phase in [a] decades-long campaign. It has moved beyond political repression into a full-fledged effort to destroy the East Turkistani nation physically, culturally, and psychologically. Millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples have been arbitrarily detained in concentration camps, where they are subjected to indoctrination, torture, sexual violence, and forced labor. Furthermore, experts estimate that at least 25,000 to 50,000 Uyghurs are being killed annually solely for their organs. Uyghur and other Turkic women are forcibly sterilized or forced to undergo abortions to prevent the birth of future generations. Over a million Uyghur and other Turkic children are separated from their families and placed in state-run boarding schools designed to sever their cultural and linguistic ties. Over 16,000 Mosques, cemeteries, and historic sites have been demolished, while Uyghur and other Turkic language instruction has been eliminated from public education.

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What makes this genocide even more insidious is its bureaucratic and technological sophistication. The CCP uses AI surveillance, biometric data collection, and big data policing to monitor and control every aspect of East Turkistani life. Genocide in East Turkistan is not committed with bombs or mass graves—it is executed with facial recognition cameras, QR codes, “predictive policing” apps, forced sterilizations, forced abortions, organ harvesting, and crematoriums to hide the evidence.

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Chinese strategists have long seen East Turkistan as a buffer protecting the Chinese state from perceived threats to its west and north. This logic continues to shape Beijing’s approach today: the occupation of East Turkistan is central to advancing China’s geopolitical ambitions, including control over critical infrastructure, access to Central Asia, and the stability of its broader colonial system. The erasure of East Turkistan is not about internal security—it is about imperial consolidation and expansion.

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International legal mechanisms must be pursued with urgency. This includes supporting East Turkistan’s case at the International Criminal Court and filing additional cases at the International Court of Justice, sanctioning Chinese officials and entities involved in the genocide, and supporting investigations under universal jurisdiction laws in national courts.

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