Konflikti Kiinan merellä

[ctg]

India has revealed the identities of companies that have applied to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities on its soil under a $10 billion subsidy scheme – and none are substantial chipmakers.

As The Register reported last week, a consortium of Taiwan's Foxconn and Indian firm Vedanta committed to build a plant under the scheme, despite neither company having any previous experience in the field. Now India's government has announced another two bidders: Singapore's IGSS Ventures and an outfit called ISMC.

IGSS operates an eight-inch CMOS foundry through its CompoundTek brand, which focuses on silicon photonics. ISMC is backed by a company called Next Orbit Ventures, and already had plans to build a fab in India.

The government says the three applications it has received will build product on processes ranging from 28nm to 65nm, and have collective output of 120,00 wafers each month.

That's not state of the art and it's not high volume. Leading players like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC make their most advanced products at 10nm or below, while global semiconductor 200mm wafer capacity currently exceeds 6.6 million a month. Even if all of India's investments come off, it will add around two per cent to global current capacity – a decent entry to the global market from a standing start. But the 28nm kit India hopes to make is one of the few markets currently not experiencing product shortages. And 120,000 wafers a month is not a big addition to supply by current standards: Intel already has more than a million wafers a month of new capacity either under construction or on the drawing board. Samsung, TSMC, and others have also revealed plans to add capacity. By the time India's efforts come online, they may be less significant.

Top chipmakers ignore India’s semiconductor subsidies

Maybe they've been spooked by new government scheme to expose VPN users' IP addresses?

www.theregister.com

2 prosenttia maailman markkinoista on aloitus, ei markkinoiden valtaus, mutta samalla Intia varmistaa komponenttien tuotannon ainakin osittain.

 

[ctg]

Taiwan's government has denounced one of its Olympic flagbearers after the speed skater was seen in an online video wearing the suit of the Chinese national team, with one lawmaker calling her attire the "uniform of the enemy".

China and Taiwan have been at odds for decades as Beijing regards the island as its territory, vowing to seize it one day -- by force if necessary.

Self-ruled, democratic Taiwan is often held up as a bastion of liberalism but authorities have said Olympian Huang Yu-ting could be punished after she hit a nerve in January when she posted a clip of herself in the Chinese suit.

She removed the video following a barrage of criticism, explaining later that a Chinese friend had given her the uniform and she wore it "for friendship".

As the Beijing Winter Olympics drew to a close over the weekend, an official said Huang will be investigated and faces "appropriate punishment" at the orders of Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang.

Su on Monday reiterated that a probe into Huang's conduct was underway.

"Athletes on the national team... should maintain our national dignity and honour," the premier told reporters.

"Her conduct was extremely improper and failed to meet public expectations."

The 33-year-old was among four Taiwanese athletes competing at the Olympics over the last two weeks.

She drew more ire during the Games when she said in an interview with Chinese media that she felt "at home" competing in Beijing.

Huang defended herself on her Facebook page -- which she has since deleted.

"Let sports be sports. In sports, we do not distinguish nationalities," she had written.

"We are all good friends in private."

A lawmaker from Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party on Sunday said Huang had worn "the uniform of the enemy".

"Huang doesn't give a damn about Taiwan where she was born and raised -- she embraces China," lawmaker Chiu Chih-wei said on Facebook.

Hints also cropped up of Taiwan and China's political tussle in the lead-up to the Olympics.

Taiwanese Olympian faces punishment for wearing China uniform

METATEXT

www.sinodaily.com

Beijing on Monday denied Australian allegations that a Chinese naval vessel shone a laser at one of the country's surveillance aircraft in an incident that Prime Minister Scott Morrison termed an "act of intimidation".

A Chinese ship sailing off Australia's northern coast last week illuminated the plane, Canberra's defence department said Sunday, adding that the act had "the potential to endanger lives."

However, Beijing said the laser accusation was "not true" and defended the Chinese ship's movements as "normal navigation ... in line with relevant international law."

"We urge Australia to respect the legitimate rights of Chinese ships in relevant sea areas in accordance with international law and stop spreading false information related to China," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a routine press briefing.

A spokesman for China's defence ministry later said an Australian P-8 patrol aircraft had come within four kilometres (2.5 miles) of the vessel and engaged in "malicious provocations" that "posed a threat" to safety.

The ministry released photos it said showed sonar buoys dropped by the plane into the surrounding waters. AFP was unable to independently verify the images.

"I think the Chinese government is hoping that nobody talks about these aggressive bullying acts," Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said previously, calling the incident "very aggressive".

China also was accused of targeting Australian aircraft using military-grade lasers in 2019, when Australian Defence Force helicopters were illuminated over the South China Sea.

China denies Australia's ship laser 'intimidation' claim

METATEXT

www.sinodaily.com

 

[Raveni]

USA on vähän puun ja kuoren välissä. Pitäisikö sitä varmistaa euroopan turvallisuus vai pitäisikö keskittyä varmistamaan turvallisuutta Kiinan suunnalla jossa voisi käytännössä sanoa Kiinan laajentumispyrkimysten vuoksi olevan jo käynnissä konflikti Kiinan ja USA:n välillä. Sotia voi muutenkin kuin vaihtamalla lyijyä.

 

[Sako]

USA on vähän puun ja kuoren välissä. Pitäisikö sitä varmistaa euroopan turvallisuus vai pitäisikö keskittyä varmistamaan turvallisuutta Kiinan suunnalla jossa voisi käytännössä sanoa Kiinan laajentumispyrkimysten vuoksi olevan jo käynnissä konflikti Kiinan ja USA:n välillä.

USA tarvitsee Eurooppaa Kiinaa vastaan.

 

[KymJP2K]

USA on vähän puun ja kuoren välissä. Pitäisikö sitä varmistaa euroopan turvallisuus vai pitäisikö keskittyä varmistamaan turvallisuutta Kiinan suunnalla jossa voisi käytännössä sanoa Kiinan laajentumispyrkimysten vuoksi olevan jo käynnissä konflikti Kiinan ja USA:n välillä. Sotia voi muutenkin kuin vaihtamalla lyijyä.

USA pärjää tässä vaiheessa Kiinaa vastaan Taiwanin 200 lentokoneen tukemana. Relevanttia lisäapua voisi toivoa australialta. 5 vuoden päästä tilanne voi olla eri.

 

[ctg]

Reporting conditions for journalists covering the Beijing Winter Olympics fell short of international standards despite assurances from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCCC) of China has said.

The club said it was “dismayed” that at a time when global attention was trained on China more than ever the government and Olympic officials still failed to uphold their own rules on accredited foreign media. Instead “government interference occurred regularly during the Games”, both inside and outside venues, when journalists tried to interview athletes and local residents.

The FCCC also highlighted significant online trolling and abuse of journalists who had covered Olympic events and related stories. “In some cases these attacks were fuelled by Chinese state media accounts and Chinese diplomats,” it said, describing an observed aspect of state-backed online harassment and propaganda campaigns.

The FCCC statement listed a number of claims of intimidation, obstruction and harassment, including some that the IOC – widely criticised for granting the Games to a government accused of crimes against humanity – had dismissed as “isolated incidents”.

“After an Olympic ski event, a foreign reporter was prevented by a Beijing Olympic official from interviewing a Hong Kong athlete in the Games’ mixed zone, a space supposedly governed by international Olympic rules,” the statement said. “Most visibly, a reporter with the Dutch national broadcaster NOS was hauled off camera during a live TV broadcast by plainclothes security men, despite the fact that he had been standing in a spot police directed him to only minutes earlier.”

During the opening ceremony, the NOS’s Sjoerd den Daas was reporting live from outside the Olympic “bubble” in Beijing when he was grabbed and dragged away by security officials.

“Unfortunately, this is increasingly the daily reality for journalists in China,” the Dutch outlet later tweeted, adding that Den Daas “is fine and could fortunately finish his story a few minutes later”.

Journalists’ group ‘dismayed’ by treatment at Beijing Winter Olympics

Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China says reporters tailed and manhandled by security despite assurances from Games officials

www.theguardian.com

 

[ctg]

The European Union (EU) brought accusations against China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday (Feb. 18), alleging Beijing stopped European tech firms from pursuing recourse in foreign courts to defend their own patents.

“It is part of a global power grab by the Chinese government by legal means,” said a European Commission official, Financial Times reported. “It is a means to push Europe out.”

China’s Supreme People’s Court decided in August 2020 that Chinese courts can impose “anti-suit injunctions” that stop a country from taking its case to court outside of China.

Tensions between the EU and China have been growing, and this latest move by the EU follows a separate case opened by Brussels at the WTO. Brussels has alleged that Beijing is taking its frustrations out on EU member state Lithuania over Taiwan. China has blocked all imports from Lithuania over a dispute regarding its relationship with Taiwan, according to reports.

EU Brings Legal Fight to WTO Over China’s Alleged Patent Infringement

The EU brought accusations against China to the World Trade Organization, alleging Beijing stopped European tech firms from defending their own patents.

www.pymnts.com

 

[ctg]

UN Security Council members China and Russia, as well as Serbia have continued supplying Myanmar's junta with weapons used to attack civilians since last year's coup, a UN rights expert said Tuesday.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, urged the Security Council to convene an emergency session "to debate and vote on a resolution to, at a minimum, ban those arms transfers that the Myanmar military are known to use to attack and kill Myanmar civilians."
He released a long-awaited report Tuesday detailing where the junta is getting its weapons from, highlighting that two permanent members of the Security Council itself, who hold veto power over its decisions, remain among the main suppliers.
"Despite the evidence of the military junta's atrocity crimes being committed with impunity since launching a coup last year, UN Security Council members Russia and China continue to provide the Myanmar military junta with numerous fighter jets, armoured vehicles, and in the case of Russia, the promise of further arms," Andrews said in a statement.
"During this same period, Serbia has authorised rockets and artillery for export to the Myanmar military," said Andrews, who is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but who does not speak on behalf of the world body.

China, Russia arming Myanmar junta: UN rights expert

METATEXT

www.sinodaily.com

A prominent anti-China activist has been arrested in Mongolia, part of what campaigners have said is a wider effort to "clean up" Beijing's critics in the country.
Landlocked Mongolia is dependent on mineral exports to its giant neighbours, Russia and China, but there have also been protests in the capital Ulaanbaatar over Beijing's language policy in Inner Mongolia.
Critics of the policy in the Chinese border region -- home to an estimated 4.5 million ethnic Mongolians -- say it mirrors moves in other areas such as Xinjiang and Tibet to assimilate local minorities into the dominant Han culture and eradicate minority languages.
Munkhbayar Chuluundorj was arrested Friday in Ulaanbaatar on suspicion of "receiving instructions and funds from a foreign intelligence group", the country's spy agency said.
The General Intelligence Agency (GIA) said he had "engaged in illegal cooperation activities" but gave no more details.
Campaigners said they suspected Munkhbayar's comments on China had brought him under official scrutiny.
In Facebook posts, he recently called for the Mongolian prime minister to resign over his close relationship with Beijing, saying "our nation's independence will be lost and all citizens of Mongolia will become slaves of China".
Footage of the arrest published by Mongolian outlet Eguur News showed a man being led away by armed police down a shop-lined road.
Visits from relatives are being denied and a closed-door trial is being held, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre, an overseas NGO that advocates for ethnic Mongols, quoted his brother Munkh-erdene as saying.
The NGO said Munkhbayar is "one of the most vocal critics of the Mongolian government's cosy relationship with China".
Munkhbayar has "defended Inner Mongolian human rights, culture, history and land rights", according to Baljinima Bai, a language rights advocate originally from Inner Mongolia.
"Mongolia has started to 'clean up' these people... who oppose China," he told AFP.
Bai said he had also been summoned for questioning by the GIA in relation to Munkhbayar's case.
Inner Mongolian activists in Mongolia say they have faced threats and intimidation from authorities after a widespread protest movement against Chinese-language curriculum reforms across the border was met with a harsh police crackdown.
Activists also say China has pressured Mongolia to deport Inner Mongolian political refugees back to the country.

Prominent anti-China activist arrested in Mongolia

METATEXT

www.sinodaily.com

 

[ctg]

A large number of China's "little blue men," the irregular maritime militia forces that receive support and training from the Chinese government, have gone dark on traditional maritime tracking systems thanks to a new law. The inability to track these ships is worrisome given the role many Chinese fishing and commercial vessels play in Beijing’s plans to assert itself in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, some of the most hotly contested areas of the Pacific.

A new report underscores the safety and intelligence gaps caused by a cybersecurity and data privacy law passed by China last year which caused a large number of Chinese vessels operating in or near the country’s territorial waters to disappear from global tracking systems. The new data detailing the scope of China’s fleet was published by commercial satellite firm Unseen Labs, which specializes in tracking and identifying radiofrequency (RF) transmissions from space.

In a February 18 press release, the company writes that “most ships are not visible from traditional surveillance systems once they get close to Chinese shores” and that “more than 60% of ships in the area have disappeared” from the automatic identification system, or AIS, the global standard for tracking and identifying ships at sea.

Scores Of 'Dark Vessels' Belonging To China's Maritime Militias Are Operating In Contested Waters

A new Chinese law allows for vessels to turn off their transponders in some of the world's most densely trafficked and tense waterways.

www.thedrive.com

 

[ctg]

The CM11, which first appeared in 1990, combines the turret from older U.S.-supplied M48A3 Pattons with the M60A3 chassis. This tank also features a fire-control system derived from that found on the M1A1 Abrams, making it more accurate, including on the move. Taiwan also obtained a significant number of additional fire-control upgrade kits and installed them on some of their remaining M48A3s, resulting in the CM12.

Taiwan Is Giving Up Its M41A3 Walker Bulldog Tanks After More Than Six Decades Of Service

The Republic of China Army has set its sights on the M1 Abrams as a far more capable successor to the veteran light tanks.

www.thedrive.com

Tilalle 100+ M1A2sepV3 Taiwan modilla.

 

[SJ]

Taiwan Is Giving Up Its M41A3 Walker Bulldog Tanks After More Than Six Decades Of Service

The Republic of China Army has set its sights on the M1 Abrams as a far more capable successor to the veteran light tanks.

www.thedrive.com

Tilalle 100+ M1A2sepV3 Taiwan modilla.

Mikäs se oli se nimimerkki joka oli kovasti sitä mieltä, että T-72:t olisi pitänyt ehdottomasti säilyttää, jotta olisi tankkeja joilla hyökätä esim. vihollisen sivustoja vastaan? Idea oli se, että se puoli jolla on tankkeja kykenee hyökkäykseen, kun taas ilman tankkeja hyökkäävä pysähtyy jos vastassa on esim. Sergei, MT-LB tai suorasuuntaukseen kykenevä tykistöase. Taiwanin tapauksessa ymmärrän hänen pointin, mutta meidän tapauksessa olen hieman skeptinen siitä että pääsisikö T-72 tekemään mitään odotettua vastustajaa vastaan. Juuri maihin noussut jalkaväki ei oikein tee eroa sen kanssa, että minkä mallinen tankki heitä ampuu.

 

[ctg]

China's state-sponsored snoops conducted a two-month campaign against Taiwanese financial services firms, according to CyCraft, a security consultancy from the island nation.

CyCraft's analysis of the incident alleges that the attack run started in November 2021, when the malicious actors – named as the Beijing-run APT10 crew – used supply chain attacks to target software used by Taiwanese financial institutions. The cyber-spies installed backdoors using QuasarRAT, a widely available remote access trojan that targets Windows.

The security firm's post states that the application targeted is used by 80 per cent of Taiwan's financial institutions.

The visible effect of the attacks was a number of unusual orders to acquire financial instruments, but CyCraft suggests that attackers were also trying to steal financial information.

Whatever the motive of the attacks, they were sophisticated – attackers breached systems using a web service vulnerability present in security software, then deployed QuasarRAT and used it to download other malware payloads. Some of that malware was stored at Chinese cloud storage service Uncle Wen – a resource chosen as it is aimed at consumers, not state-sponsored criminal masterminds.

Payloads were masked to evade anti-virus software. Attackers also established remote control of target systems.

CyCraft's post suggests defenses that, if deployed, should alert organisations to future use of this attack by APT10 or other actors.

Chinese cyber-attackers 'targeted Taiwanese financial firms'

Operation Cache Panda went after software used by majority of industry players

www.theregister.com

 

[ctg]

China said Monday it will impose new sanctions on U.S. defense contractors Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin due to their arms sales to Taiwan, stepping up a feud with Washington over security and Beijing’s strategic ambitions.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the move at a daily press briefing, citing a newly passed Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law that took effect in 2021. It was in response to a $100 million deal approved by the U.S. for maintenance of Taiwan’s missile defense systems by the two companies.

“China once again urges the U.S. government and relevant parties to ... stop arms sales to Taiwan and sever military ties with Taiwan,” Wang said.

“China will continue to take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and security interests in accordance with the development of the situation,” he said without giving any details.

China sanctions Raytheon, Lockheed over Taiwan deal

The move is in response to a $100 million deal approved by the U.S. for maintenance of Taiwan’s missile defense systems by the two companies.

www.defensenews.com

 

[ctg]

 

[Merkava]

Several Chinese warships are reported to have crossed the Median Line in the Taiwan Strait.
#Ukraine #Ukraina #UkraineRussiaCrisis #UkraineConflict #Ukrain

 

[Vääpeli]

Several Chinese warships are reported to have crossed the Median Line in the Taiwan Strait.
#Ukraine #Ukraina #UkraineRussiaCrisis #UkraineConflict #Ukrain

Meinaakohan Kiina tehdä Japani luokan virheen ja käydä härkkimässä Taiwania, varsinkin kun siellä on 3 jenkkien tukialusosastoa parkissa.

 

[Sako]

Aika riskipeli Xiltä, jos lähtee Taiwaniin. Sen sisämarkkinat ei ole vielä tarpeeksi vahvat omaksi talousveturiksi.

 

[nöksy]

Jotenkin luulen että nyt kun peli on virallisesti avattu Venäjän toimesta niin Kiinalla on kova polte lähteä Taiwaniin sörkkimään koska kerta yksi on jo aloittanut.

 

[Sako]

Jotenkin luulen että nyt kun peli on virallisesti avattu Venäjän toimesta niin Kiinalla on kova polte lähteä Taiwaniin sörkkimään koska kerta yksi on jo aloittanut.

Kiina haluaa katsoa, että länsi heikentyy ja härkkii vasta sitten.

 

[ctg]

The US justice department is scrapping the name of a Trump-era initiative that was intended to crack down on economic espionage by China but has been criticised as unfairly targeting Chinese professors at American colleges because of their ethnicity.

The decision to abandon the “China Initiative” and to impose a higher bar for prosecution of professors was announced on Wednesday by the department’s top national security official.

It follows a months-long review undertaken after complaints that the programme chilled academic collaboration and contributed to anti-Asian bias. The department has also endured high-profile setbacks in individual prosecutions, resulting in the dismissal of multiple criminal cases against academic researchers in the last year.

‘China Initiative’: US ends Trump-era targeting of Chinese professors

Justice department said it would drop ‘China Initiative’ label, in part out of recognition of threats from other countries

www.theguardian.com

The initiative has resulted in convictions, including of Charles Lieber, a Harvard University professor who was found guilty in December of hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program.

But its pursuit of professors, including those accused of concealing ties to the Chinese government on applications for federal research grants, hit snags. The department in the last year dismissed multiple cases against researchers or had them thrown out by judges.
https://www.theguardian.com/educati...loseness-to-china-poses-risks-says-jo-johnson
Federal prosecutors are still expected to pursue grant fraud cases against researchers when there is evidence of malicious intent, serious fraud and a connection to economic and national security. In some cases, prosecutors may opt for civil or administrative solutions instead of criminal charges, Olsen said.

The FBI director, Christopher Wray, said in a speech in January that the threat from China was “more brazen” than ever, with the FBI opening new cases to counter Chinese intelligence operations every 12 hours or so. Olsen said he agreed.

“I’m not taking any tools off the table here,” Olsen said. “I do not think that there is a reason to step back from that threat, and we will not step back from that threat.”