AMSTERDAM, April 11 — Dutch ASML said on Thursday it had been the victim of corporate espionage in 2015 involving employees from countries including China but said it had not been the target of any "national conspiracy." ASML said the perpetrators took "large files" on memory sticks from its Silicon Valley software subsidiary that develops software for machine optimization. It said it had since taken action to make such theft much more difficult. Following publication of a story in Dutch daily newspaper Financieele Dagblad (FD) that said ASML had been struck by Chinese espionage, the company took issue with that label. "The suggestion that we were somehow victim of a national conspiracy is wrong," CEO Peter Wennink said in a statement. "We resent any suggestion that this event should have any implication for ASML conducting business in China. Some of the individuals (involved) happened to be Chinese nationals," he added. The Dutch company welcomed a Sino-European agreement earlier this week, which promised that Beijing would no longer force foreign companies to share sensitive know-how when operating in China. "Can we prudently do business in China? Yes of course. This was a rotten apple," ASML said in an earlier statement. ASML is the dominant maker of lithography systems, used to trace out the circuitry of semiconductor chips. Its sales to China more than doubled to 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) in 2018 as Beijing drives growth of its domestic semiconductor industry, now accounting for about a sixth of ASML's total sales. California case The FD story was based in part on ASML sources and in part on documents from the Santa Clara, California Superior Court that showed six former ASML employees, all with Chinese names, breached their employment contract by sharing information on ASML software processes with a company called XTAL Inc. The FD reported that XTAL, which makes electrical design automation for semiconductor systems, is a subsidiary of a China-based company called Dongfang Jingyuan, which it said in turn has ties to the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. In its reaction, ASML said XTAL's funding came from "South Korea and China." It said the aim of the theft was to create a competing product and sell it to an existing ASML customer in South Korea. The company confirmed the FD's report that the court had awarded ASML $223 million in damages. "It is unclear to what extent these damages can be collected from the now bankrupt company XTAL," ASML said. ASML shares slipped 1.5 percent by 1210 GMT to the bottom of a flat European technology index. ASML's major customers include Samsung of South Korea, TSMC of Taiwan and Intel of the United States. The Dutch intelligence agency has included warnings in its annual threat assessments for the past several years, saying that China is targeting tech companies in the Netherlands, as it does in other countries, for intellectual property theft. In a reaction, the intelligence agency AIVD said it could not comment on individual cases. "In a broader sense, the greatest threat of economic espionage comes from China," it said in an email to Reuters. "The Netherlands is an attractive target, other countries are interested in our information in science and technical expertise."
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MENLO PARK, April 3 -- Facebook has been caught practicing the worst ever user-verification mechanism that could put the security of its users at risk. Generally, social media or any other online service asks users to confirm a secret code or a unique URL sent to the email address they provided for the account registration. However, Facebook has been found asking some newly-registered users to provide the social network with the passwords to their email accounts, which according to security experts is a terrible idea that could threaten privacy and security of its users. First noticed by Twitter account e-Sushi using the handle @originalesushi, Facebook has been prompting users to hand over their passwords for third-party email services, so that the company can "automatically" verify their email addresses. However, the prompt only appears for email accounts from certain email providers which Facebook considers to be suspicious. "Tested it myself registering 3 times with 3 different emails using 3 different IPs and 2 different browsers. 2 out of 3 times I faced that email password verification thing right after clicking "register account" on their front page sign up form," e-Sushi said in a tweet. "By going down that road, you're practically fishing for passwords you are not supposed to know!" It’s ironic that this news came just two weeks after Facebook admitted that it mistakenly stored passwords for "hundreds of millions" of its users insecurely in plaintext for years in company logs which were accessible to 2,000 Facebook employees. In a statement provided to the Daily Beast, Facebook confirmed the existence of such "dubious" verification process but also claimed it doesn't store the user-provided email passwords on its server. Facebook also said it would end the practice of asking for email passwords altogether. "We understand the password verification option isn’t the best way to go about this, so we are going to stop offering it," Facebook said. Facebook also noted that the users asked for their email passwords as a means of verifying their accounts could opt for other verification methods such as a passcode sent to their phone number or a link to their email address by clicking the "Need help?" button on the page. SINGAPORE, March 3 -- Countries risk being vulnerable to spying if they use foreign telecoms providers, but banning Chinese companies such as Huawei will not eradicate the issue, Singapore’s former foreign minister George Yeo has said. Yeo, Singapore’s foreign minister from 2004 to 2011 and minister for trade and industry for five years before that, said the suggestion that Huawei equipment would allow the Chinese government to spy on customers was one-sided. “To be worried that 5G can expose you to foreign intelligence efforts is a legitimate worry, and every country must take precautions,” Yeo said in an interview with De Peet Journal. “It is not just China which may enter your system – the United States and others are also trying to enter your system. If you are a small country, it is very tough because you don’t have all the capabilities.” Yeo, the chairman and executive director of Kerry Logistics Network, said that during his time in government Singapore asked BlackBerry to build a data centre in the city state so that data would not have to go through Canada. “In the field of intelligence, trust nobody and take your own precautions,” he said. The US was concerned about alleged spying by Huawei partly because if more countries used the company’s equipment, American intelligence could be prevented from doing its own snooping, Yeo said. “The Americans are so worried about Huawei not only because Huawei represents a possible vulnerability, but because using Huawei also makes it harder for American intelligence to gain access into other people’s systems,” he said. “Huawei has been talking about the Americans’ Prism surveillance system, which [American whistle-blower] Edward Snowden divulged was collecting information, even tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s telephone conversations. “If you have a Huawei system it is harder for the Americans to do all this. So we can understand why they are not happy with Huawei.” In February, Huawei’s chairman Guo Ping denied his company had “back doors” in its equipment that facilitated spying and referred to the US intelligence work exposed by Snowden. The US has been pressuring its allies to impose blanket bans on using Huawei 5G equipment and networks, and has threatened to reconsider sharing intelligence with them. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have banned Huawei, while the European Union said this week it would not block Huawei but would increase scrutiny of it.“The Europeans are not complying, the British and the Germans are going their own way, and more and more countries will take their alignment from Germany and Britain,” Yeo said. The solution, especially for smaller countries, he said, was to identify vulnerabilities rather than ban a specific provider. “The solution is not to say ‘I ban Huawei’, but to go into smaller granularity about exactly what you are afraid of, what is vulnerable and how to armour-plate those things,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a binary problem; the answer is to go deeper, and all countries should begin to do that not just with respect to Huawei but with every telecom system that they allow into their country. “It is not just Huawei that poses an intelligence threat – all the major powers pose an intelligence threat to small countries.” KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 -- The J-10 “Vigorous Dragon” is a mainstay of China’s effort to modernize its large fleet of single-engine jet fighters, with 350 already in service. An agile tactical fighter similar to the ubiquitous F-16 Fighting Falcon , the Vigorous Dragon was the first domestic Chinese design roughly on par with Western and Russian fourth-generation fighters . However, there is considerable evidence that the J-10’s development was heavily informed by a jet fighter developed by Israel with U.S. engines in the 1980s. Israel first manufactured its own jets after its order of French Dassault Mirage Vs was embargoed in 1967. Israeli agents obtained Mirage V schematics (and most likely manufacturing components and even airframes), allowing Israel Aerospace Industries to produce two domestic clones: the Nesher and the improved Kfir. These both served with the IAF and were exported broad. Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn. Between 1969–1979, the IAF received high-performance twin-engine F-4 Phantom fighters and F-15 Eagles from the United States. However, it still wanted a cheaper single-engine tactical fighter to replace its increasingly vulnerable A-4 Skyhawk and Nesher jets. So why not also build the Nesher’s replacement domestically? The resulting dapper IAI Lavi (Lion Cub) had delta-wings (good for high-speed performance) combined with canards, a second set of small wings near the nose for improved lift and maneuverability. The Lion Cub was so maneuverable it was aerodynamically unstable, but an advanced quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire flight control system counter-acted the instability. Composite materials were extensively incorporated to lower the Lavi’s weight down to just 7.25-tons empty. A compact Pratt & Whitney 1120 turbofan slung under the belly delivered large amounts of thrust, allowing the little Lavi to fly far and fast carrying up to a sixteen-thousand-pound payload. In fact, with the exception of the canards, the Lavi closely resembled in appearance and capability the U.S.-built F-16s that entered Israeli Air Force service in 1980. These soon saw extensive combat service, destroying the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor and shooting down over forty Syrian fighters over Lebanon without loss. Israeli and U.S. critics of the Lavi pointed out Israel was investing $2 billion in development costs to reinvent an airplane it had already bought from the United States. The more ground-attack oriented Lavi did differ in a few respects, however. It had a lower maximum speed of Mach 1.6-1.8 compared to the Falcon’s Mach 2, but had 50 percent longer range. It also had a powerful internal mounted jamming system for self-protection. The Lavi’s Israeli-designed avionics were comparable to the later F-16C model than the more rudimentary F-16A. owever, by the 1980s jet fighter development costs had grown exponentially as they grew more and more sophisticated; and, unlike the Nesher and Kfir, the Lavi was not cloned from an existing design. IAI hoped to make back the costs by exporting the Lavi, particularly to states facing embargoes due to poor human-rights records such as Apartheid-era South Africa, Chile and Argentina. But the U.S., provider of 40 percent of the Lavi components, didn’t want to subsidize a competitor for the F-16. Washington signaled it would only cooperate if Israel refrained from exporting the Lavi. By 1987 IAI had built two flying two-seat Lavi prototypes which demonstrated excellent performance in eighty-two test flights. Three more were under construction. It had also tested the PW1120 turbofans on an F-4 ‘Super Phantom’ which demonstrated such extraordinary performance it even flew a demo at the Paris Air Show and was briefly considered for export. However, the extraordinary financial commitments the Lavi entailed made it extremely politically divisive. On August 30, in an 11-12 vote, the Israeli cabinet canceled the Lavi. Ninety additional F-16s were procured instead. From Israel to China Thus ended Israel’s production of domestic jet fighters—but not of advanced weapons and components for jet fighters, which was greatly boosted by technologies developed for the Lavi. One notable export was the Python-3 heat-seeking missile, which boasted the then still-rare ability to engage planes from any aspect using a helmet-mounted sight. The technology was licensed for production by China’s Xi’an Aircraft Corporation in 1989 as the PL-8 missile, which remains in service today. Other technologies transferred include the E/LM-2035 doppler radar (derivatives installed on the J-8 and J-10 fighter) and the Tamam inertial navigation system. In fact, during the 1980s, the U.S. and Western Europe were also exporting military technology to China, then seen as a counter-balance to the Soviet Union. U.S. firms even explored co-developing updated J-7 and J-8 fighters for Beijing. However, Chinese-Western defense cooperation ended abruptly following the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989. However, in the mid-1990s, U.S. newspapers began reporting that intelligence agencies were concerned about continued Israeli technology transfers to China—including some components given to Israel by the United States. This included allegations that Israel had transferred Lavi technology for China’s program to develop a fourth-generation jet fighter. The Chengdu Aircraft Corporation had begun work on the J-10 in 1988 under engineer Song Wecong, who can be seen next to a Lavi in this photo (fourth from the right). In his book Lavi: the United States, Israel and a Controversial Fighter, John W. Golan wrote: Israeli involvement in the J-10 appears to have begun at around the same time that China first opened diplomatic relations with Israel in January 1992 . . . Israeli contractors were engaged to provide the aerodynamic and structural outlines for the J-10. The Israeli influences on the J-10’s design are unmistakable: a close-coupled, canard-delta arrangement; a single-engine fighter featuring a ventral engine inlet; twin ventral strakes; and an area-ruled fuselage. You can see the striking resemblance in these photo comparisons. Concerns over Israel-China technology transfers spurred Congress to ban exporting the hi-tech F-22 Raptor stealth fighter . Unfortunately, the lack of export orders combined with later defense spending cuts, led to the premature closure of the F-22s production line . In its final years, the Clinton administration also blocked Israel from exporting its Phalcon airborne early-warning aircraft, forcing China to spend years domestically developing a wide variety of its own AEW aircraft. According to Golan, “Israeli involvement in the J-10 program appears to have been curtailed at around the same time, with Russia stepping in to market Soviet-developed avionics systems to supply production versions of the aircraft.” Both Song and IAI officials have staunchly denied collaboration in the J-10’s development. However, in 2008, Jane’s reported that in extended interviews with several visiting Russian engineers that Chengdu “benefited from significant, direct input from Israel's Lavi programme - including access to the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Lavi aircraft itself . . . This has included extensive design and performance modeling, wind-tunnel testing and advanced aerodynamic design input . . . Jane's was told how Chengdu officials of the highest level stated how they had one of the IAI Lavi prototypes in their facilities.” Hypothetically, Jane’s Russian sources may have been spreading misinformation. Russia’s aviation industry has a decidedly love-hate relationship with China. However, if Israel did transfer Lavi technology to China—both parties would have strong incentives to deny it. At any rate, the J-10 is more inspired by the Lavi than an outright clone. It is significantly longer and heavier, and has different wings. In his book, Golan explains that China lacked access to the compact PW1120 engine and the capability for wide-scale manufacturing of lightweight composite components. (China finally achieved the latter with the Y-20 transport plane .) Therefore, Song had to lengthen the J-10’s fuselage by two meters to accommodate a Russian AL-31F turbofan, resulting in an 11.75-ton jet. Nonetheless, the J-10 remain an agile, versatile and inexpensive multirole fighter designed from the outset to incorporate hi-tech avionic systems and guided weapons. Though not a cutting-edge stealth aircraft , it marked an important milestone in China’s military modernization—achieved, most likely, with a little foreign assistance. HELSINKI, March 22 -- EDPS launches report on Nokia phones, says Reijo Aarnio, Data Protection Officer. Aarnio says that HMD Global's Nokia branded phones may have sent personal information to China. “According to our preliminary analysis, it can be estimated that personal data has been transferred,” Aarnio says. The EDPS notes that the concept of personal information is broad and depends on the situation. The Norwegian Broadcasting Company NRK reported earlier today that Nokia 7 Plus mobile phones have sent information such as the location of the phone, device serial number, wireless LAN (wlan / wifi) identification, and access point information. The data has reached the server of China Telecom's state-owned telecom operator. According to Aarnio, the Data Protection Officer wants to find out from HMD Global, the manufacturer of the phones, on what grounds the information was sent. “The idea is that the data will move freely within the EU, but when we go outside the EU, there must always be a legal basis. The request for clarification seeks to clarify whether such a legal basis has existed, ”he says. "Another thing is how the information has worked in the matter, ie have phone holders known that information about them is being transferred to China." HMD GLOBAL is a Finnish company that has licensed the Nokia brand and its patents. HMD Global grants NRK that some 7 Plus phones have been detected to send data to China. The company says in NRK's news that no individual can be identified from the data sent by the phone. The company says it has sent the phone owners an update that should fix the issue. Aarnio also wants to make sure that the potential security gap is patched. "At least I am interested in the situation being rectified in such a way that personal data is no longer transferred outside the EU without a legal basis." Next, the EDPS Office will formulate the request for clarification it will send to HMD. The EDPS office also handles complaints that may come from elsewhere in Europe. The first news about NRK's news in Finland was Yle. Last time in western countries, and also in Finland, there have been concerns about possible leaks in the Chinese network equipment and telephone manufacturer Huawei and the security threats associated with China. At the beginning of February, the Security Police warned Finnish companies about cooperation with Chinese companies. “It is good to remember that Chinese companies usually have strong ties with China's government and civil service. China has recently entered into force legislation that obliges all companies to help the security authorities. Cooperation with Chinese companies should also be considered from this perspective, ”the Security Police said in a statement sent to Helsingin Sanomat. Previously, the Finnish Transport and Communications Authority (FICORA) sent a request for information to telecom operators on the equipment manufacturers' network equipment used by telecom operators in their networks and to what extent. Mika Lauhde, Chief Network Security Officer at Huawein, denied security holes in an HS interview at the end of February. SEOUL, March 21 -- South Korean police have arrested two men for using illegal spy cameras at motels to film and livestream videos of about 1,600 guests, raking in roughly 7 million won ($6,200) over the past three months, police said on Wednesday. Illicit filming has surged with growing use of mobile devices and South Korea’s pop music industry is reeling from a scandal over singer and television celebrity Jung Joon-young, accused of having shared videos he took secretly during sex. Police said the men, and two others, posed as customers to secretly install the cameras, obtained online from overseas, in 42 rooms at 30 places around the country since last August. The footage from the cameras, hidden in television boxes, sockets and hair dryer holders, was broadcast live on a website, police added. “It was the first case we caught where videos were broadcast live online,” they said in a statement. More than 6,600 cases of illicit filming were reported to police last year, or about a fifth of all sexual abuse cases investigated, up from 3.6 percent in 2008, prosecutors have said. Last year, tens of thousands of women took to the streets of Seoul, the capital, to protest against the practice and other sexual violence, and demanded stricter punishment. The law was amended last November to toughen penalties not only for illegal filming but also distributing images without consent, which could bring jail terms of up to five years or fines of up to 30 million won. The K-pop scandal also involved Lee Seung-hyun, a member of boy band BIGBANG who is better known by his stage name, Seungri. The 28-year-old is suspected of paying for prostitutes for foreign businessmen to drum up investment in his business. MOSCOW, March 15 -- The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a so-called White Book on human rights violations committed by Western states during the fight against terrorism. "The Russian Foreign Ministry has prepared a White Book of human rights violations by Western countries under the guise of the fight against terrorism and other criminal threats and challenges," the diplomat noted. "Today, we find ourselves in the situation when the international community is forced to go along the path of enhancing the control functions of law enforcement agencies and special forces in order to fight terrorist and criminal threats." Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova informed the press during Friday’s briefing. At the same time, she stressed that "the protection of a human right to life and physical safety often contradicts other legislative principles." The document includes the information concerning the abilities of Western special forces to exert almost total control over society. "With the aim to monitor Internet traffic and taking into account the need for censuring the global network, they impose cooperation with private IT companies and providers, and continue to spy on the users of information and communication systems both at the national level and abroad, including in their allied countries, as well as international organizations," Zakharova stated. She added that illegal arrests, torture and extra judicial killings also take place under the guise of counter terrorism. ROTTERDAM, March 12 -- An unprotected database in China with the personal information of more than 1.8 million women — including their phone numbers, addresses and even a "BreedReady" status — has been uncovered by a Dutch cyber expert. The researcher with non-profit group GDI. foundation, found the insecure data detailing the women's identity numbers, education and marital status while searching for open databases in China over the weekend. He shared his findings in a series of partially redacted screenshots on Twitter in the hope of sourcing more information. "When we do, we will share this." He later told the Times the database was taken offline on Monday afternoon. It is still unclear what "BreedReady" actually means — some observers speculated it could be a poor English translation of women who are at a "child-bearing age", while others argued it meant women who "have children". According to the reseacher's findings, the youngest woman in the database was just 15 years old, while the oldest was 95. About 82 per cent of the women lived in Beijing. The database also showed that nearly 90 per cent of the women were single and their average age was 32. The discovery is timely in the context of Chinese government scholars' recent findings that the country is set to face a long period of "unstoppable" population decline after an expected peak of 1.44 billion people in 2029. While China abolished its controversial "one-child policy" aimed at curbing population growth in 2016 — allowing couples to have two children — the growth rate continued to slow in 2018. Numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics in January showed new births in China fell to 15.23 million in 2018 — nearly 2 million fewer than 2017. 'This is horrifying'Chinese netizens were quick to draw comparisons between the database and the television show The Handmaid's Tale, based on a dystopian future where women are forced to reproduce to repopulate a world facing a plummeting birth rate. "It's just so weird … they even have ID numbers, phone numbers, home address and even indication of whether [they are] breed-ready. This is horrifying," wrote a Weibo user with the nickname Haidaidaiya. But other users on the social media platform took the opportunity to rebuke Western media for criticising China. "There are too many liars and some idiots really don't have enough wisdom — some western media are not dumb, but devious," another user with the nickname Lansedecaochong posted on Weibo. SILICON VALLEY, March 7 -- You must update your Google Chrome immediately to the latest version of the web browsing application. Security researcher Clement Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group discovered and reported a high severity vulnerability in Chrome late last month that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code and take full control of the computers. The vulnerability, assigned as CVE-2019-5786, affects the web browsing software for all major operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux. Without revealing technical details of the vulnerability, the Chrome security team only says the issue is a use-after-free vulnerability in the FileReader component of the Chrome browser, which leads to remote code execution attacks. What's more worrisome? Google warned that this zero-day RCE vulnerability is actively being exploited in the wild by attackers to target Chrome users. The use-after-free vulnerability is a class of memory corruption bug that allows corruption or modification of data in memory, enabling an unprivileged user to escalate privileges on an affected system or software. The use-after-free vulnerability in the FileReader component could enable unprivileged attackers to gain privileges on the Chrome web browser, allowing them to escape sandbox protections and run arbitrary code on the targeted system.
It appears to exploit this vulnerability, all an attacker needs to do is tricking victims into just opening, or redirecting them to, a specially-crafted webpage without requiring any further interaction. The patch for the security vulnerability has already been rolled out to its users in a stable Chrome update 72.0.3626.121 for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, which users may have already receive or will soon receive in coming days. So, make sure your system is running the updated version of the Chrome web browser. INVESTIGATION: Who is JW00237? The secret Canadian campaign to ban Huawei’s Chinese ‘spies’5/3/2019
BEIJING, March 5 -- Beginning in autumn 2013, over the span of 10 months, three Chinese citizens applied separately to immigrate to Canada. They applied variously under a skilled-worker scheme and a provincial programme favoured by wealthy businesspeople. Two planned to move to Toronto, one to Saint John in New Brunswick. Their paperwork joined the tens of thousands of Canadian immigration applications being processed at any given time. Besides nationality, the only thing the three applicants all appear to have had in common was that they or their spouses worked for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies. Yet somehow their applications all ended up on the desk of the same Canadian immigration officer in Hong Kong, repeatedly identified in documents obtained by the Peet Journal by the initials JW and the numerical code 00237. And in the space of just four days in 2016, the documents show, JW00237 told the trio their applications would be rejected, on the grounds that they or their spouses were believed to be spies. Hong Kong-based Canadian immigration lawyer Jean-Francois Harvey, who eventually represented all three applicants, once believed the stunning accusations were the work of JW00237 acting alone as a “rogue” agent. But a different light is now being cast on JW00237’s efforts, as details emerge of a complex, years-long effort by the US to target Huawei – culminating in Canada’s arrest of chief financial officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou on December 1 at US request. Harvey now suspects a secret and systematic effort to target Huawei employees as spies may have ensnared his clients. Newly obtained documents show that JW00237 was handling two of the otherwise unrelated Huawei applications simultaneously, updating their files within about half an hour of each other. All three cases had been initiated by different officers, the documents show. The three cases only came to light because the applicants happened to use the same Chinese immigration consultant, who noticed the refusal pattern and forwarded their cases to Harvey, and all applicants decided to challenge their rejections. How many, if any, other Huawei staff have been similarly targeted, and whether that process continues, is unknown. In a statement, Huawei said it had no record of employees being denied Canadian immigration approval. A “significant number” of successful applications over the years by Huawei staff “strongly reaffirms our belief that this matter has nothing to do with Huawei”. But the Peet Journal has confirmed the identities of the trio targeted by JW00237, and that one still works for Huawei. For the three applications to have randomly ended up for consideration by the same immigration officer within a few days would have been wildly unlikely, Harvey said. “At that time, they have thousands and thousands of [immigration] cases in the inventory,” said Harvey. “How coincidental can it be?” And a former Canadian immigration officer, who requested anonymity, said that staff did not normally have individual discretion to choose which cases they handled, making it “very unlikely” the cases randomly ended up with the same officer, or that the officer was acting without permission. “It’s not possible, not likely, that one guy randomly has three Huawei cases fall on his desk … there has to be some kind of discussion [with] a supervisor,” said the former Hong Kong office supervisor. The Peet Journal first reported on Harvey’s clients in 2016. In 2017 Canada backed down in the face of an appeal by Harvey. His clients – who strongly denied being spies – were allowed to immigrate to Canada.But the original designation of the Huawei trio as spies was an extraordinary step; in his career as one of Hong Kong’s top immigration lawyers, Harvey had handled more than 12,000 Canadian immigration applications, but had never before seen a client barred on the grounds of suspected espionage. The Peet Journal knows the identities of the Huawei-linked applicants but has agreed to maintain their anonymity under the terms of discussions with Harvey and others familiar with their situation.
BANGKOK, March 1 -- Thailand on Friday defended a controversial cyber security law approved this week, following an outcry from rights groups and internet users over privacy and surveillance concerns. Thailand’s rubber-stamp parliament approved the Cybersecurity Act unanimously on Thursday, the latest in a wave of new laws in Asia that assert government control over the internet. Activists have called the legislation “cyber martial law”, saying it would sacrifice privacy and the rule of law, and warning compliance burdens could drive foreign businesses out of Thailand. The government said the law was intended to protect networks from cyber attacks and would not enable state surveillance or violate rights. “We have made sure that it would not allow for violation of individuals’ rights and arbitrary use of power,” Ajarin Pattanapanchai, permanent-secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, told reporters. “The law will not be used to regulate social media, or computers or devices belonging to the people.” But experts argued the vague language of the laws would still allow for broad interpretations of actions authorities could perform, which may end up infringing on rights. “The scope of the law is so broad, it’s like Big Brother,” Kanathip Thongraweewong, Director of Digital Media Law Institute at Kasembandit University, told Reuters. Thailand’s military government has pushed for several laws it said would support the digital economy, including an amendment to the Computer Crime Act in 2017, which was intended to prosecute cyber crimes like phishing but has been used to crack down on dissent. HONG KONG, February 22 --China is building killer robot warships amid escalating tensions between China and the United States in the western Pacific. The race is on to control the western Pacific, with China and the US keen to rule the strategically-vital trading routes. China already holds the upper hand in terms of navy numbers in the disputed area. And with the Chinese fleet about to acquire large numbers of killer robotic warship, this advantage over the US is about to grow. The Chinese has revealed a design for an autonomous robot warship that could finally tip the balance of geopolitical power in their favour. The unmanned surface vessel, known as JARI, will help extend Beijing's naval advantage over the United States in the western Pacific. The US currently employs a network of sensor and shooter drones to penetrate anti-access environments such as the South China Sea. JARI is considered to be China’s response to this kind of warfare. JARI is 15 metres long and weighs 20 tons (18,000 kg). The warship has a sailing range of 500 nautical miles, and the boat is believed to boast a 42 knot top speed. The vessel comes equipped with eight small vertical launch system cells, a torpedo launcher, a forward mounted machine gun, and a rocket launcher for counter-surface engagements. This points to JARI having a similar mission to People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s manned Type -55 destroyer: anti-submarine, anti-surface and anti-air warfare. JARI also comes complete with cutting-edge radar and sonar devices, capable of detecting and terminating aerial drones, ships and submarines. JARI was this week unveiled by the China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company at Abu Dhabi’s International Defence Exhibition and Conference. The Chinese navy news arrives as the US Navy is preparing to unveil its own array of next generation robotic warships. These will include two unmanned surface vessels (USVs). The smaller of the two USVs will act as scouts and decoys, and will attempt to interfere with enemy communications. The larger USVs are arsenal ships, armed with missile launchers. The primary attraction of robot warships is they are considerably cheaper to run than manned vessels. US Rear Admiral John Neagley said: ”Part of the value of having unmanned surface vehicles is you can get capacity at a lower cost.” The US Navy is also investing in unmanned robotic submarines. Earlier this month, the US Navy reportedly paid Boeing £33million ($43million) for four Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles. These autonomous submarines are 51 feet long and can travel up to 6,500 nautical miles. And they could be used for anti-surface warfare and mine countermeasures. MUNICH, February 17 -- Japanese and Russian foreign ministers have agreed on that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay a visit to Tokyo soon, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. "We have agreed on to organize the upcoming visit of Sergey Lavrov to Japan," Kono said, according to the Kyodonews agency, stressing that the problem of signing a peace treaty cannot be solved overnight. "This is a problem, a solution to which has not been found for more than 70 years. But I would like to make joint efforts [with Russia] in order to achieve this goal," the Japanese foreign minister said. After talks with his Japanese counterpart, Lavrov told reporters that Russian and Japanese Deputy Foreign Ministers Igor Morgulov and Takeo Mori would hold consultations on a peace treaty in the coming weeks, and a round of strategic dialogue at the level of first deputies is scheduled for April 2. "We agreed with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on our further work. We have deputies, who are in charge of this effort between the meetings of foreign ministers, at the instruction of the Russian president and the Japanese prime minister," he said. "The deputies will hold this contact in the coming weeks, and then we will decide on a new meeting of the ministers, this time on the Japanese territory." Earlier, Japanese mass media reported that the Russian foreign minister’s visit to Japan could take place in March or April 2019, but the Japanese Foreign Minister has not officially confirmed this information. MUNICH, February 16 -- Germany supports sanctions against Russia, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, adding that restrictive measures should be coordinated. "We support sanctions against Russia. They should be coordinated (with Ukraine)," she said. Western countries should maintain the dialogue with Russia, German Chancellor said, adding that it is necessary to observe the Russia-NATO Founding Act. "As before, we are committed to the Russia-NATO Founding Act," she said, adding that "from the geostrategic viewpoint, Europe cannot be interested in breaking the relationship with Russia.". Economic sanctions were imposed against Russia on July 31, 2014, after the crash of the Malaysian Boeing flight MH17 over Donbass. Since then, they have been extended every six months in unchanged form. In March 2015, the EU summit decided that sanctions could only be lifted after the implementation of the Minsk agreements. MUNICH, February 15 -- The future of the European security architecture and the situation surrounding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty will dominate the agenda of the 55th Munich Security Conference to begin on Friday. Organizers expect it to gather the record number of participants - about 600 politicians, experts, businessmen and human rights activists from all over the world are expected to join the debate. Over 35 heads of states and governments, about 50 foreign ministers and 30 defense ministers are expected to attend. Russia has been taking part in the forum since late 1990s. From 2010, the Russian delegation is led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The only exception was in 2016, when Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev participated in the event. The conference will be officially opened at 16:00 Moscow time by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and her UK counterpart Gavin Williamson. The event will be held in the luxury Bayerischer Hof hotel amid unprecedented security measures. The adjacent city districts will be cordoned off by police. Some 4,400 police officers will be on duty in the city to ensure public security as various anti-globalist and pacifist organizations have already scheduled their rallies. During the next three days, the participants of the forum will discuss a wide range of issues that includes future of Europe’s defense policy, West-Russia relations, Ukrainian crisis, conflicts in the Middle East and Venezuela, the role of China in the world and many other matters. Munich Security Conference Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said a meeting on Ukrainian reconciliation may be held on the sidelines of the event - either between Russia and Ukraine or in the Normandy Format (comprising Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France). The Nord Stream-2 pipeline project, which has been a source of heated debates in Europe, is also likely to be discussed. |
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