News About Cyber Warfare

Washington (AFP) May 8, 2024 – The United States has revoked some export licenses that allowed companies such as US chip firm Qualcomm to supply Chinese tech giant Huawei, the Commerce Department confirmed on Wednesday. The move adds pressure on Huawei, which has long been caught in an intense technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington over US fears it could be used for Chinese espionage operations. It came after Republican lawmakers urged President Joe Biden’s administration to block all export licenses to the company following the release of a new computer powered by a chipset by US chip giant Intel. “We continuously assess how our controls can best protect our national security and foreign policy interests, taking into consideration a constantly changing threat environment and technological landscape,” said a Commerce Department spokesperson. “We are not commenting on any specific licenses, but we can confirm that we have revoked certain licenses for exports to Huawei,” the spokesperson added in a statement to AFP. Sanctions in 2019 restricting Huawei’s access to US-made components dealt a major blow to its production of smartphones — and meant that suppliers need a license before shipping to the company. Qualcomm confirmed Wednesday that the Commerce Department “revoked certain export licenses for Huawei in our industry, including one of our licenses.” “We will continue to comply with all applicable export control regulations,” the company said. A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said Beijing “firmly opposes” the move. “China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese firms,” the spokesperson added, calling US export restrictions “economic coercion.” – Huawei ‘making a comeback’? – The announcement of a new Huawei computer recently, powered by Intel technology with AI capabilities, drew fire from Republican lawmakers in the United States. A letter by policymakers Marco Rubio and Elise Stefanik charged that “licenses issued in 2020, at least some of which are active to this day, have allowed Huawei to collaborate with Intel and Qualcomm to keep its PC and smartphone segments alive.” It criticized the allowance of US tech into Huawei’s new product. The letter added that it was clear that “Huawei, a blacklisted company that was on the ropes just a few years ago, is making a comeback.” Intel did not respond to queries. Its shares closed 2.2 percent lower. Qualcomm shares were up 0.2 percent. In financial results released this month, Qualcomm said it had US export licenses allowing it to sell 4G and other integrated circuit products to Huawei. But it added that it did not “expect to receive product revenues from Huawei beyond the current calendar year.” The company cited factors including reports that the Commerce Department is considering not granting new licenses for more sales to Huawei, as well as Huawei’s own efforts in launching devices with its own chip products. In a letter last year, Michael McCaul, Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called for the Commerce Department’s export controls on Huawei to be “strengthened significantly.” “The company can still buy significant amounts of U.S. technology,” McCaul wrote.

London (AFP) May 10, 2024 – Two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, will face trial in London next year on charges of spying for China, a judge said on Friday. Christopher Cash, 29, and Christopher Berry, 32, were charged last month under the UK’s counter-espionage Official Secrets Act. They made their first appearance at the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London on Friday, where judge Jeremy Baker told them they would go on trial “in the spring or summer of next year”. No firm date was set for the case. Neither man entered a plea and both spoke only to confirm their personal details. They were released on conditional bail and a further preliminary hearing will take place at the same court on October 4. Cash previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher, where he had contact with senior Conservative members of parliament. He is accused of having “obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”. He is alleged to have committed the offence between January 2022 and February last year. Berry, who held various teaching posts in China from 2015, is accused of the same offence between December 2021 and February 2023. The charges were announced on the same day that prosecutors in Germany arrested three German nationals on suspicion of sharing information on maritime technology with Beijing. The authorities in Beijing have dismissed both as an attempt to “smear and suppress” China. US calls for Hong Kong assurances on internet freedomWashington (AFP) May 9, 2024 – Hong Kong should provide assurances that it will preserve internet freedom if it wants to remain a major economic hub, the top US diplomat in the city said Thursday. The Chinese city, which was promised autonomy when Britain handed it back in 1997, on Wednesday demanded that online platforms take down an anthem of pro-democracy protesters after a court banned the song. “Hong Kong authorities have stepped onto that slippery slope of trying to censor some content on the internet and it begs the question — where is this going to end?” Consul General Gregory May told an online event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. May said that an open internet was a major advantage of Hong Kong over mainland China, whose tight online controls “make life very difficult for foreign companies.” “I do believe companies and individuals would very much appreciate a stronger and clearer assurance by Hong Kong authorities that the internet is going to remain basically free and open,” May said. “I believe that Hong Kong wants to remain a very competitive place and maintain a very competitive environment. But I think they could say more explicitly what their plans in this space are.” Since authorities cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2019, the United States has revoked a special trading status for Hong Kong and imposed sanctions on its officials. May said the top concern for Washington was growing “transnational repression” by Hong Kong police against critics based in the United States. But he said the United States was willing to respond to improvements. “If we see a change of course, we’re very open to doing what we can to try to get on a better footing and a better relationship with Hong Kong,” he said.

Washington (AFP) May 9, 2024 – Hong Kong should provide assurances that it will preserve internet freedom if it wants to remain a major economic hub, the top US diplomat in the city said Thursday. The Chinese city, which was promised autonomy when Britain handed it back in 1997, on Wednesday demanded that online platforms take down an anthem of pro-democracy protesters after a court banned the song. “Hong Kong authorities have stepped onto that slippery slope of trying to censor some content on the internet and it begs the question — where is this going to end?” Consul General Gregory May told an online event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. May said that an open internet was a major advantage of Hong Kong over mainland China, whose tight online controls “make life very difficult for foreign companies.” “I do believe companies and individuals would very much appreciate a stronger and clearer assurance by Hong Kong authorities that the internet is going to remain basically free and open,” May said. “I believe that Hong Kong wants to remain a very competitive place and maintain a very competitive environment. But I think they could say more explicitly what their plans in this space are.” Since authorities cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2019, the United States has revoked a special trading status for Hong Kong and imposed sanctions on its officials. May said the top concern for Washington was growing “transnational repression” by Hong Kong police against critics based in the United States. But he said the United States was willing to respond to improvements. “If we see a change of course, we’re very open to doing what we can to try to get on a better footing and a better relationship with Hong Kong,” he said.

London (AFP) May 13, 2024 – UK police said Monday that they had charged three men for allegedly assisting Hong Kong intelligence services, with the suspects due to appear in court later in the day. “A number of arrests were made and searches carried out across England as part of this investigation,” said Dominic Murphy, Head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command. The three men were charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and also with foreign interference, in violation of the 2023 National Security Act. “The foreign intelligence service to which the above charges relate is that of Hong Kong,” police said. The three men charged were named as Chi Leung Wai, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, all from south east England. They were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London later Monday. As part of the investigation, 11 people were taken into police custody. Counter terrorism officers arrested eight men and a woman in Yorkshire, northern England, on Wednesday. Two more men were arrested on Thursday. The seven men and one woman who were not charged were released from custody on or before Friday, police added.

Rio De Janeiro (AFP) May 11, 2024 – The climate catastrophe that has struck southern Brazil, killing more than a hundred people and displacing nearly two million, has also spawned a spate of bizarre conspiracy theories, some involving jets’ vapor trails and weather antennas in faraway Alaska. As often happens at times of disaster and great uncertainty, several of these theories have gone viral on social media. “What’s happening in Rio Grande do Sul is definitely not natural,” one woman said on the platform known as X. “Let’s open our eyes!” She blamed something called HAARP — the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program — a US project that studies the ionosphere using huge antennas in Alaska. Other people have posted images of airplanes crisscrossing the skies over Brazil’s hard-hit state of Rio Grande do Sul, saying the trails of condensation left by jets contain toxic chemicals as part of a secret and nefarious governmental program. Taken together, the theories paint an ominous picture that somehow denies climate change while blaming governments and scientific institutions that supposedly are orchestrating “planned tragedies” for murky motives. These theories ignore the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is almost certainly behind a global increase in extreme weather events. – What scientists say – Carlos Nobre, who heads Brazil’s National Institute of Science and Technology for Climate Change (INCT), listed what scientists believe is behind the disastrous rainfalls of late: a low-pressure system has been blocked by a high-pressure system in the center-west and southeast of the country, causing cold fronts to linger over the region even as water vapor coming flowing in from the Amazon contributed to historic levels of rainfall. Global warming aggravated this situation, Nobre said, adding, “The warmer atmosphere can store much more water vapor, fueling more frequent and intense episodes of rainfall that lead to disasters like this.” Brazil’s government agrees: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared the tragedy an “alert” for the planet. In contrast, his predecessor — far-right president Jair Bolsonaro — weakened environmental enforcement and played down the impact of climate change. A recent survey by the Quaest polling institute, however, found that virtually all Brazilians believe climate change is at least partly responsible for the disaster in Rio Grande do Sul. – ‘No physical sense’ – Still, conspiracy theories that might once have been brushed aside have gained new life amid the enormous environmental disaster hitting the region. Social media users are sharing theories discredited years ago in the United States that link extreme weather to “chemtrails” from jets and an alleged covert program at the HAARP project. One claim is that the government uses jets to spread toxic chemicals which are then activated by the powerful antennas in Alaska, altering the climate and provoking weather disasters. Yet the process behind jets’ “chemtrails” has long been understood: jet engines leave visible trails of condensed water vapor — plus small amounts of soot and pollutants. And the HAARP project, originally funded in part by the US military, is now operated by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where scientists use the antennas for high-power radio transmissions to study the ionosphere, with no ability to manipulate weather. Nobre, like many other scientists, says the theories about HAARP “make absolutely no physical sense.” “There’s no way an instrument in the ionosphere could make weather events more extreme,” he said. – ‘What is true’ – Raquel Recuero, who specializes in social communications at the Federal University of Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul, said the conspiracy theories were likely being spread by organized groups “in search of an audience, monetization and influence.” Such theories find fertile ground when people are desperate for explanations — however unlikely — for some deeply worrying phenomenon. The ideas take root, she added, when they are melded with issues of importance to people, like “political and religious discourse.” But she said that while they tend to reinforce conservative and extremist beliefs, they can’t be linked to a single political movement. Recuero said people’s trust in fundamental pillars of democracy is being undercut by these attacks on governmental authorities, scientists and the press, all of them accused of manipulating the truth. The challenge, she said, is to raise public awareness about what is happening, and help people understand “what is true and what is false.”

London (AFP) May 13, 2024 – China is targeting citizens studying abroad for their political activism, rights group Amnesty International said on Monday, with some students reporting harassment of family members back home. China does not tolerate political dissent and has used sophisticated tech tools and intimidation to crack down on domestic protesters and activists. And Beijing’s curbs on political activism are increasingly expanding abroad in the form of “transnational repression”, Amnesty International said in a report, citing interviews with dozens of students in eight European and North American countries. Overseas students reported that family members in China received threats after they attended events abroad, including commemorations of the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to the group. “Threats made to family members in mainland China included to revoke their passports, get them fired from their jobs, prevent them from receiving promotions and retirement benefits, or even limiting their physical freedom,” it said. Students also said they had been blocked from posting and surveilled on Chinese social apps — often the only way to communicate with family members due to Beijing’s internet firewall. One student told Amnesty International that police showed his parents “transcripts of his online WeChat conversations with family members”. – ‘Climate of fear’ – Students said they actively self-censored during classes and social interactions and complained of mental health problems caused by the feeling of pervasive surveillance, “ranging from stress and trauma to paranoia and depression”. “I would really want to publish my thesis… but I’m worried, so I chose not to,” one student told Amnesty. Asked about the Amnesty report on Monday, Beijing’s foreign ministry dismissed it as “purely malicious smears”. “Any objective media outlet would find that the vast majority of Chinese citizens living abroad feel proud of the motherland’s development and strength,” spokesman Wang Wenbin said. But it has previously rejected claims that it targets citizens living abroad, insisting that it respects other countries’ sovereignty and that any policing operations are conducted in accordance with the law. A report last year by US research group Freedom House found that China was responsible for hundreds of cases of “transnational repression” since 2014, including attempts to pressure other nations to forcibly return members of the Uyghur minority. Amnesty International on Monday said Beijing’s targeting of students has “engendered a ‘climate of fear’ on university campuses across Western Europe and North America, negatively impacting upon students’ human rights.” “The impact of China’s transnational repression poses a serious threat to the free exchange of ideas that is at the heart of academic freedom,” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, said.

Washington DC (UPI) May 13, 2024 – North Korea is already one of the most repressive regimes in the world but is steadily adding a slate of digital surveillance tools to further control its citizens, a U.S.-based North Korea expert said Monday. From smartphones to streaming set-top boxes to traffic cameras, technology is growing more common in everyday North Korean life, Stimson Center senior fellow Marty Williams told reporters at a briefing in Seoul. And the regime of Kim Jong Un is using these new digital tools to spy on its citizens more effectively than ever before. “[Digital] surveillance can be used against all levels of society, to make sure that they’re all doing the jobs that they’re meant to,” Williams said. Williams co-authored a report last month for Stimson’s 38 North website that drew on interviews with North Korean escapees, footage from state-run media and public research from universities. The report found that North Korea has long been developing facial recognition software and is building out a database of its citizens’ biometric data. Video cameras have also become increasingly widespread in schools, workplaces and border areas. Williams said cameras at the borders, which have been tightly closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, may not only detect people escaping but can also be used to stop guards from taking bribes to let people cross. “Now, the security services themselves are being monitored from somewhere far away,” he said. While North Korea is developing its own software for digital surveillance, it has turned to China — its neighbor and closest ally — for hardware such as smartphones and digital cameras. But Pyongyang still faces technical hurdles to implementing a system as pervasive as Beijing’s surveillance state, from lack of funds to spotty electricity supply to slow cellular networks. “North Korea has a human analog surveillance that far surpasses that of any other country in the world, but digitally they’re nowhere near the same level that China is at the moment,” Williams said. However, North Korea started installing a 4G network in 2023 and looks likely to continue to develop its digital surveillance capabilities, Williams said. The new tools come as Pyongyang has clamped down more tightly on its citizens’ rights in recent years, passing laws banning the smuggling or viewing of foreign content and even outlawing South Korean slang. “[North Korea] has done a scarily effective job with analog human networks,” Williams said. “And with the advent of digital technology, why wouldn’t this [also] be adopted? So we think it’s something that we’re going to see more and more in the coming years.”

London, UK (SPX) May 13, 2024 – The UK has successfully completed commercial flight trials of a new quantum-based navigation system, designed to be immune to jamming or spoofing by external threats. These trials mark a significant advancement in navigation technology that could enhance global aviation security and reliability. The tests, conducted at MoD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, involved the collaboration of QinetiQ with Infleqtion and BAE Systems. The final test flight, which took place on Thursday, May 9, included Science Minister Andrew Griffith, demonstrating the system’s capabilities in real-time. “From passenger flights to shipping, we all depend on navigation systems that are accurate, safe, and secure,” stated Griffith. “The scientific research we are supporting here could well provide the resilience to protect our interests. The fact that this technology has flown for the first time in British skies, is further proof of the UK as one of the world leaders on quantum.” During the trials, two quantum technologies were showcased: the Tiqker optical atomic clock and an ultra-cold-atom-based quantum system. These technologies were tested aboard QinetiQ’s RJ100 Airborne Technology Demonstrator, a specially modified aircraft. These systems are part of a broader effort under the UK’s National Quantum Strategy, which, along with the National Quantum Technologies Programme, aims to bolster the UK’s position as a quantum-enabled economy. The government has invested nearly Pounds 8 million in this project, further supported by a Pounds 2.5 billion funding initiative for quantum research. The quantum inertial navigation system (Q-INS), highlighted during these trials, offers potential revolutionary benefits in Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) by providing unparalleled accuracy and resilience, independent of GPS satellites. The series of tests aligns with Mission 4 of the UK’s National Quantum Strategy, aiming to deploy quantum navigation systems on aircraft by 2030 to provide next-generation accuracy and resilience independent of satellite signals.

Hong Kong (AFP) May 14, 2024 – Hong Kong’s leader on Tuesday defended its foreign trade offices and said he had little recollection of a man accused by Britain of spying for the Chinese city, after a photograph emerged seeming to show the two together. British authorities charged three men on Monday with foreign interference and assisting Hong Kong’s intelligence service, under the UK’s 2023 National Security Act. Among the accused was an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in London, the Hong Kong government confirmed. The Chinese finance hub has its own trade policies distinct from mainland China and does not operate consulates abroad. Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday defended the work of ETOs as crucial for promoting economic and cultural exchanges, adding that he urged all governments to respect the “rightful duties of our ETO officers in their economies”. A photograph of a group of university graduates published by the South China Morning Post newspaper in 2002 included a man with the same name as the accused ETO office manager, Chung Biu Yuen, appearing alongside Lee. Lee confirmed on Tuesday that he was one of the graduates in the picture, which has circulated online. The accused man “is reportedly in the photo as well. My recollection of this person is limited to this photo,” Lee told reporters. The photo showed eight Hong Kong police officers who graduated from a management programme at Charles Sturt University in Australia, according to a 2002 South China Morning Post article. Lee holds a master’s degree of public policy and administration from Charles Sturt University, according to his official biography. China’s top diplomat in Hong Kong strongly condemned Britain on Monday for “trumping up charges, arbitrarily arresting Chinese citizens and slandering the Hong Kong government”. Lee, a former police officer and security chief, said Tuesday he is awaiting reply after demanding further details about the case from the British consulate general in Hong Kong. “Any attempt to make unwarranted allegation against the (Hong Kong) government is unacceptable,” he said. Britain has repeatedly denounced the treatment of pro-democracy campaigners in its former colony, and launched a visa scheme to allow Hong Kong residents to come to the UK. As a result, it has become a refuge for dissidents, including veteran unionist Christopher Mung and pro-democracy activist Finn Lau. Hong Kong police last year issued a wanted list of eight overseas activists that included Mung and Lau. China slams UK arrests over Hong Kong spy caseLondon (AFP) May 13, 2024 – China accused Britain of “cooking up” charges after three suspects on Monday appeared before a UK court accused of assisting Hong Kong’s intelligence services, in the latest Chinese-linked alleged espionage case in Europe. The three men, dressed in grey tracksuits, spoke only to confirm their names and addresses during the short hearing, after being arrested last week in Britain. Chi Leung Wai, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, all from southeast England, were released on bail, with the next hearing due to take place on May 24. Police announced earlier on Monday that they had charged three men with assisting a foreign intelligence service and also with foreign interference, in violation of the 2023 National Security Act. The act came into force in December and is designed to bolster UK national security against so-called “hostile activity” targeting the country’s democratic institutions, economy and values. “A number of arrests were made and searches carried out across England as part of this investigation,” said Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command. Police said the “foreign intelligence service” in question was Hong Kong’s. China’s foreign affairs commissioner in its territory of Hong Kong “strongly condemned” Britain for “cooking up charges” and accused it of a “vicious intention to interfere” in Hong Kong’s affairs. The office warned that Britain would receive “China’s firm and strong retaliation”. The UK has been outspoken about the Hong Kong government’s new national security law, which it views as eroding the territory’s rights and freedoms. Britain has repeatedly denounced the treatment of pro-democracy campaigners in its former colony, and launched a visa scheme to allow Hong Kong residents to come to the UK. As a result, it has become a refuge for dissidents, including pro-democracy politician Nathan Law. Hong Kong police last year issued a wanted list of eight overseas activists that included Law. As part of the Met police’s investigation, 11 people were taken into custody last week. Counter terrorism officers arrested eight men and a woman in Yorkshire, northern England, on Wednesday. Two more men were arrested on Thursday. Eight people — seven men and a woman — were not charged and were released from custody on or before Friday, police added. The Hong Kong government said in a statement that one of the three men charged was the office manager of its trade office in London. – ‘Pathetic’ – The case comes after two men, one of whom works in the UK parliament, were last month charged with spying for China. They are due to be tried next year. Former prime minister David Cameron, now foreign minister, in 2015 hailed a “Golden Age” between London and Beijing, but relations have deteriorated significantly in recent years. As well as Hong Kong, the two countries have clashed over the fate of the Uighur Muslim minority in China’s Xinjiang region and over human rights in Tibet. The last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, called Cameron’s “Golden Age” proclamation “absolutely pathetic”. “David Cameron introducing Xi Jinping to his pub near Chequers with a warm pint of beer — for what?” Patten told a new BBC Radio 4 programme called “Shadow War: China and the West”. Patten, who was Hong Kong governor from 1992 to 1997, accepted that “we want to do business with” China, but added that “the idea that you can only do this on your knees, I find demeaning and ludicrous”. Amnesty International said in a report published on Monday that China was targeting citizens studying abroad for their political activism, with some students reporting harassment of family members back home. Asked about the Amnesty report on Monday, Beijing’s foreign ministry dismissed it as “purely malicious smears”.

London (AFP) May 13, 2024 – China is targeting citizens studying abroad for their political activism, rights group Amnesty International said Monday, with some students reporting harassment of family members back home. China does not tolerate political dissent and has used sophisticated tech tools as well as intimidation to crack down on domestic protesters and activists. And Beijing’s curbs on political activism are increasingly expanding abroad in the form of “transnational repression”, Amnesty International said in a report, citing interviews with dozens of students in eight European and North American countries. Overseas students reported that family members in China received threats after they attended events abroad including commemorations of the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to the group. “Threats made to family members in mainland China included to revoke their passports, get them fired from their jobs, prevent them from receiving promotions and retirement benefits, or even limiting their physical freedom,” it said. Students also said they had been blocked from posting and surveilled on Chinese social apps — often the only way to communicate with family members due to Beijing’s internet firewall. One student told Amnesty International that police showed his parents “transcripts of his online WeChat conversations with family members”. – ‘Climate of fear’ – Students said they actively self-censored during classes and social interactions and complained of mental health problems caused by the feeling of pervasive surveillance, “ranging from stress and trauma to paranoia and depression”. “I would really want to publish my thesis… but I’m worried, so I chose not to,” one student told Amnesty. Beijing has not yet responded to Monday’s report. But it has previously rejected claims that it targets citizens living abroad, insisting that it respects other countries’ sovereignty and that any policing operations are conducted in accordance with the law. A report last year by US research group Freedom House found that China was responsible for hundreds of cases of “transnational repression” since 2014, including attempts to pressure other nations to forcibly return members of the Uyghur minority. Amnesty International on Monday said Beijing’s targeting of students has “engendered a ‘climate of fear’ on university campuses across Western Europe and North America, negatively impacting upon students’ human rights.” “The impact of China’s transnational repression poses a serious threat to the free exchange of ideas that is at the heart of academic freedom,” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, said.