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Sierra Leone presidential election marred by delays, chaos
Deutsche Welle
25 Jun 2023, 09:56
Some polling stations opened several hours late, with local media reporting confusion among crowds of voters. A two-horse race for president emerged between incumbent Julius Maada Bio and opposition leader Samur Kamara.
Sierra Leoneans voted on Saturday in a presidential election to decide whether to give incumbent Julius Maada Bio a second term.
Local media and opposition figures said that several stations had opened later than the scheduled 7:00 a.m local time (0700 GMT), leading to chaotic scenes among voters in some areas. Voting was scheduled to close at 5 p.m.
The AFP news agency's correspondents also said that they witnessed some polling stations in the capital Freetown opening later than scheduled.
Amid a crippling economic crisis that sparked deadly riots last year, Bio faced a dozen challengers — 12 men and one woman — though experts predicted a two-horse race between the president and his main rival, Samura Kamara, the head of the All People's Congress party.
A poll last week by the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR), a partner of the pan-African survey group Afrobarometer, forecast that Bio, from the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), would win 56% of the vote, with 43% for Kamara.
Another poll, by the Sierra Eye magazine and two local research groups, forecast 38% for the incumbent and 25% for his main challenger.
The winner must secure 55% of the vote to avoid a runoff. If a second round is called, it will be the second time that the pair have faced off in a runoff, after a similar battle in 2018.
In Siera Leone, many people vote based on regional allegiances, with those in the south and east usually picking the ruling SLPP while most people from the north and west normally vote for the opposition APC.
During Saturday's poll, voters also elected members of parliament and local councils.
What happened on polling day?
Polling stations opened much later than the scheduled time of 7:00 am in the capital Freetown, AFP journalists said.
Local media said some stations were still yet to open four hours later, describing agitation among some voters, but no reports of violence.
The Cocorioko online newspaper said voting papers were also late to arrive in other areas of the country, especially the northwest.
It published videos showing alleged election malpractices, including ballot stuffing, and said several people were arrested.
SLPP lawmaker Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah complained on Twitter that some voters were being refused a chance to vote, despite carrying valid voter cards.
National Election Watch, a coalition of civil society groups, said in a statement that 84% of polling stations it observed had opened by 8:00 am. However, only 59% of stations in the Freetown area had opened by that time.
Election campaign turned ugly
The election campaign was marred by tensions that led to the cancellation of rallies in the final stages and clashes at an opposition gathering on Wednesday.
Bio and Kamara reported small-scale attacks on their supporters ahead of polling day, with both candidates urging calm.
A group of foreign ambassadors on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for peace.
There are concerns the tensions could worsen, particularly if no candidate secures a clear majority.
On Friday, 72-year-old Kamara told the Reuters news agency he was concerned about the possibility of vote rigging.
Asked if he would accept the outcome of the vote, he said: "It's not me. The acceptance has to come from the people ... so it is the people we will listen to."
In the previous election, 59-year-old Bio beat Kamara in the runoff by a margin of less than five percentage points.
Crippled economy top of voters' minds
Bio has faced increasing criticism over the country's longstanding economic crisis, which his opponent is pledging to fix.
Nearly 60% of Sierra Leone's population of more than 7 million are facing poverty, with youth unemployment being one of the highest in West Africa.
Multiple deadly anti-government protests have rocked the country during Bio's term.
Fueled by a rise in cost of living, the latest protests last August left dozens dead, including security forces.
Inflation soared to its highest level in over 20 years last year, while the national Leone currency slumped 60% in value against the US dollar.
Bio's supporters say the president has invested in improving education and taken steps to fight rampant corruption.
The president's camp blames the economic malaise on external factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Sierra Leone was also battered by a brutal 1991-2002 civil war and the Ebola epidemic a decade later.
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Iraq: 4 killed in drone attack on gas field
Authorities say that foreign workers have been killed in the autonomous Kurdistan region. It is currently unclear where the drones came from.
A drone attack at the Khor Mor gas field in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region has killed at least four people said to be foreigners according to a local official.
"Four Yemeni workers were killed and the field was severely damaged," the AFP news agency quoted Kurdistan regional government spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani as saying.
Hawramani said there would be "power shortages" and called on the federal government in Baghdad "to find the perpetrators of this terrorist act."
AFP also cited Ramak Ramadan, the district chief of Chamchamal where the Khor Mor complex is located, as saying that the drone struck the site at approximately 6.45 p.m. local time (1545 GMT/UTC).
United Arab Emirates energy firm Dana Gas (DANA.AD), and affiliate, Crescent Petroleum, have the rights to exploit Khor Mor and Chemchemal, two of Iraq's largest gas fields.
The site has been targeted in recent years by Katyusha rocket attacks without causing significant damage.
South China Sea: Is China finding itself in the US and its allies’ crosshairs?
The US and the Philippines will conduct joint naval exercise in the area near the South China Sea and Taiwan next week--taking place only a few days after the first trilateral summit between Japan, America and the Philippines in Washington DC and the March 7 joint naval and air drills.
The US and the Philippines will conduct joint naval exercise in the area near the South China Sea and Taiwan next week–taking place only a few days after the first trilateral summit between Japan, America and the Philippines in Washington DC and the March 7 joint naval and air drills by the troops of Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the US in the South China Sea.
According to Barron’s, a US-based news outlet, more than 16,700 Filipino and American naval personnel will participate in the annual Balikatan “shoulder to shoulder” joint military exercise, which will go on from April 22 to May 10.
The US-Philippines joint naval drills will take place in the Southeast Asian country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which has been in the news in the recent past owing to regular clashes between the Philippines and China over their competing claims on this part of the South China Sea. Analysts say the choice of location for the joint naval drills show that it is targeted at China.
“The Philippines needs to be fully aware that when countries outside the region are brought into the South China Sea to flex muscles and stoke confrontation, tensions could get worse and the region will only become less stable. To hand over one’s security to forces outside the region will only lead to greater insecurity and turn oneself into someone else’s chess piece,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said.
However, the US and its allies have vowed to “resolutely respond” to any attempts by Beijing to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China Seas. In fact, China has of late intensified military activities in the East and South China Seas and the Taiwan Strait. This has generated a profound sense of fear among members of the international community as they feel that the region could turn into a major flashpoint, impacting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.
Even Japan’s annual diplomatic Bluebook, which was released by the country’s Foreign Ministry on April 16, has expressed its concern about the “complex” situation in its neighbourhood.
“China is attempting to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and South China Sea, including the Senkaku Islands, and is continuing and strengthening military activities in the area, making the security environment around Japan the most severe and complex in the post-war era,” Japan’s Bluebook said in its report.
Calling China’s military build-up in the region “unprecedented,” Japan’s annual diplomatic policy paper has stressed on strengthening of cooperation among Tokyo’s allies and like-minded countries such as the G-7, the Quad and trilateral relationship with the US and South Korea.
“Japan has resorted to the same old false accusations against China and hype of “China threat” in its 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook. We firmly oppose this and Japan’s meddling in China’s domestic affairs. We urge Japan to change its wrong course of actions, stop stocking bloc confrontation, truly commit itself to advancing a strategic relationship of mutual benefit with China and work to build a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship fit for the new era,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said.
Overall view of Japan towards China, presented through the Bluebook, is not optimistic. Instead, it acknowledges several “challenges and concerns” in its relationship with China which has in turn expressed its worries over Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force’s (MSDF) announcement of dispatching a special security unit to the Indo-Pacific region to offer capacity building support to Coast Guards of the Philippines and other countries of the region.
As per the Japanese news outlet NHK, the MSDF will dispatch its special security unit in May or later to help regional Coast Guards in enhancing their capabilities in conducting inspections of suspicious ships and other skills. This will be the first time when the MSDF’s special unit, formed in 2001, will be providing capacity building support to Coast Guards of foreign countries.
Global Times said the move is aimed at deterring China’s influence in the region. The Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece further said that by sending its special security unit to different countries, Japan wants to widen its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region and “it must be met with high vigilance by the international community.”
These moves are being adopted by Japan in the region following Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to the US where he participated in the trilateral summit with America and the Philippines.
In the recent past, Japan has introduced several changes in its defence policy in view of the security situation in the Korean Peninsula, East and South China Seas and the Taiwan Strait. But what has created a flutter in China’s strategic circle is Japan’s upgrading of its helicopter carrier into an aircraft carrier—the first since World War II.
Japan plans to deploy the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter on the upgraded carrier, said The South China Morning Post. The upgraded Japanese carrier’s name is Kaga, a name that still rankles Chinese people as a former Japanese ship with the same name was involved in the bombing of Shanghai in the 1930s.
“I don’t understand why the Japanese always prefer to use the names that were used by the Japanese army in World War II,” Wu Qian, a Spokesperson for China’s Defence Ministry was quoted by the Hong Kong-based English daily newspaper as saying.
However, Japan seems to be resolute in its deterrence plan against China. Its Self-Defence Forces have started training to operate US-made land-based Tomahawk cruise missiles that the country plans to deploy from 2025. According to Kyodo News, Japan plans to purchase 400 Tomahawk missiles from the US over three years from 2025. The move is in consonance with Japan’s National Security Strategy which calls for obtaining counter strike capabilities for hitting military targets in an adversary’s territory in cases of emergency.
In nutshell, the US, Japan, the Philippines, and like-minded countries are gearing up to counter China’s challenges in the Indo-Pacific region—all by joining several strategic and security dot lines in the region. Yet the question is: Will China mend its expansionist behaviour? No international powers want Beijing to escalate tension in the region by raising irredentist claims on territories and resources of its neighbours on one pretext or another.
Source: Source: Mekong News Myanmar
CCIA releases report 'US Threats and Sabotage to the Security and Development of Global Cyberspace'
The internet is a shared home for mankind. In order to maintain its global hegemony, the United States has abused its information technology and resource advantages, engaging in wiretapping and espionage, creating public opinion, manipulating public sentiment, undermining rules, decoupling supply chains. These actions run counter to the global digitization process and have made the US the world's largest perpetrator of cyberattacks, producer of cyber weapons, and disruptor of cyberspace order.
To expose the hegemony and bullying behavior of the United States in cyberspace, the China Cybersecurity Industry Alliance (CCIA) has organized the compilation of the report "US Threats and Sabotage to the Security and Development of Global Cyberspace" (both Chinese and English versions) (hereinafter referred to as the "Report").
The Report, from the perspective of cybersecurity expertise, employs empirical analysis to closely track the specific actions of the United States that threaten and undermine global cyberspace security and development.
Drawing on reports and articles published by government departments, global cybersecurity companies, research institutions, and news media in recent years, it integrates various analytical processes and research results to systematically analyze the serious threats and damages caused by the United States to global cyberspace security and development, as well as to world peace and stability, and the civilization and progress of human society.
The Report is divided into six sections based on behaviors and timeline, mainly covering the US infiltrates and subverts foreign governments via the Internet, performs indiscriminate cyber surveillance and espionage, attacks and deters against other countries in the cyberspace, triggers a cyber arms race, abuses political measures to disrupt the global industry and supply chain, and sabotages cyberspace rules and order.
The following is the full text of the Report:
US Threats and Sabotage to the Security and Development of Global Cyberspace
Preface
Cyberspace is the home of mankind. But to maintain hegemony, the US abuses its IT and resource advantages and extended hegemony to the cyberspace. It conducts cyber espionage and theft, shapes and manipulates public opinion, breaks rules and seeks decoupling and disrupts supply chains. It has been the biggest cyber attacker, cyber weapon maker, and cyber order breaker in the world. It is seriously threatening the development and security of the global cyberspace, the peace and stability of the world, and the civilization and progress of human society.
1.Infiltrating and subverting foreign governments via the Internet
The US uses the Internet as a subversion instrument. Against the target countries, it performs ideological infiltration and control, spreads fake news, smears their governments, incites the people, misleads public opinion, interferes with their internal affairs and subverts their state power via the Internet.
Since 2003, many abnormal regime changes have happened in the Eurasian region. As shown in Georgia's "Rose Revolution", Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" and Kyrgyzstan's "Tulip Revolution", protests and riots happened in elections and evolved into overall political crises. Dubbed as the "second CIA", the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is long funded by Congress and the White House. On March 29, 2022, Damon Wilson, president and CEO of NED, acknowledged the US had planned "color revolutions" in the region via the Internet.
In 2011, the so-called "Arab Spring" originated from Tunisia, overwhelmed West Asia and North Africa, and caused social turmoil, tens of thousands of casualties and a loss of one trillion dollars. Based on Twitter, Facebook and other social media, the US shaped public opinion, incited people, and advocated Western values. It incited people to take to the streets to trigger social turmoil and regime changes. On February 25, 2022, the former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that "We did some of that in the Arab Spring" in an interview with MSNBC when talking about interfering with other countries via the Internet.
In August, 2022, Stanford Internet Observatory and the research company Graphika jointly published a report Unheard Voice: Evaluating five years of pro-Western covert influence operations. The report showed popular social media outlets like Twitter, Meta and Instagram had a number of interconnected sham accounts funded by the US government. The accounts used deceptive tactics to cover covert campaigns for almost five years to support the US and its allies and oppose countries including Russia, China and Iran.
2. Performing indiscriminate cyber surveillance and espionage
The US takes "national interests" as an excuse, and abuses its IT and industrial advantages to spy on the world in cyberspace massively, systemically and indiscriminately. From civilians to national leaders, politicians to international organizations, diplomatic missions to firms, no one can be exempt from the US intelligence agencies even including the US allies. The US data theft has breached global Internet users' privacy, trampled on human rights and infringed upon the sovereignty of other countries.
In 2007, the National Security Agency(NSA) started a top-secret surveillance program PRISM to monitor global communication, including that of the US citizens, from the servers of nine such Internet giants as Google, Facebook and AOL. In June, 2013, the former defense employee and subcontractor Edward Snowden disclosed to The Guardian and The Washington Post secret files of PRISM. The files showed the US government had been tracking real time data including emails, live chats, videos, audios, files and photos and monitoring everything about the targets. On June 7, 2013, the then US President Obama acknowledged the program. The Washington Post later noted that the NSA's surveillance was covert and might be illegal.
In 2015, WikiLeaks published that the US spied on 35 Japanese targets including Japanese cabinet members and Mitsubishi. In February, 2020, The Washington Post, ZDF and SRF published a joint investigation report and revealed the CIA and the German Federal Intelligence Service used a Swiss communications encryption firm Crypto AG to spy on governments and firms by covertly controlling Crypto's encryption products sold to 120 countries.
In May, 2021, DR reported the NSA and the Danish Intelligence Service wiretapped leaders of EU countries including then German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On May 31, 2021, President Macron and Chancellor Merkel attended a virtual Franco-German Council of Ministers meeting and requested the US and Denmark to explain. "This is unacceptable among allies", said President Macron.
In early April, 2023, The Washington Post and many media outlets reported a leak of many US military intelligence documents on the Ukraine crisis. The leaked documents showed the US eavesdropped on the UN Secretary-General Guterres and leaders of other countries such as the Republic of Korea and Israel. On April 18, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN had officially expressed to the US its concern on the above mentioned media reports.
3. Attacking and deterring other countries in the cyberspace
Based on its cyber advantages, the US uses cyber deterrence as a major instrument of its hegemony. Cyber deterrence is increasingly becoming its preference in international relations. The US frequently attacks other countries in cyberspace, uses cyberspace as a main battlefield of a new Cold War, and adopts a "defend forward" tactic based on all its state power including politics, economy, diplomacy and the military. In particular, the US takes civilian critical infrastructure cyber attacks as a new method to maintain hegemony and achieve political, economic and military objectives. This greatly harms the security, development and social stability of other countries.
In December 2010, the Stuxnet virus was used to attacked the Iranian Natanz Nuclear Power Plant. It destroyed a number of centrifuges and delayed related nuclear projects. On June 1, 2012, New York Times reported Stuxnet originated from a program "Olympic Games" of the US government around 2006. This was the first cyber weapon attack in the real world. The US was so excited to find the cyber warfare cost much lower than the traditional warfare that it soon established cyber forces. It has been the initiator and source of global cyber warfare.
"Equation Group" is a cyberattack group with notorious track records. But the US supports it in cyber attacks globally. On August 13, 2016, a famous hacking group "The Shadow Brokers" revealed in social media that the leaked data showed the "Equation Group" had hit over 45 countries in over ten years. The attack manual and string of malware program were exactly the same with those of PRISM. The evidence indicated the link between the "Equation Group" and the US NSA.
In 2018, the US published the DoD Cyber Strategy, which initiated the "hunt forward" principle of cyber warfare, and extended its cyber defense line to other countries. In the mid of October, 2022, the US Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) published policy documents on cyber warfare. Based on the documents, the objective of the US cyber operations was to "own the domain"; the US cyber forces put critical infrastructure as legitimate targets during times of cyber conflicts; and pursued preemptive strike as an offensive strategy. This showed the US militaristic ambition to seek hegemony in cyberspace. Since 2018, CYBERCOM has conducted over 40 operations in over 20 countries including Estonia, Lithuania and Ukraine. It used the so-called "situational awareness" and the "defend forward" methods to uncover, locate and expose adversaries' cyber operations to conduct cyber deterrence and strikes. In December, 2022, French COMCYBER commander Aymeric Bonnemaison told the parliament that the US CYBERCOM's hunt forward operations in Europe were "quite aggressive". Hunt forward operations were only excuses of the US cyber espionage and attacks and had made its European allies very uneasy.
On June 1, 2022, Sky News reported that Paul Nakasone, Commander of US CYBERCOM and Director of National Security Agency, acknowledged in an interview that in December, 2021, the US sent a cyber force to Ukraine and stayed there for about three months. In the Ukraine crisis, the US also "conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum; offensive, defensive,(and) information operations." This was the first time that a senior US official confirmed the US cyber attacks against another country.
On September 5, 2022, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd published a Report on the Cyber Attacks of NSA on China's Northwester Polytechnical University (NPU). The report showed NPU's network had been repeatedly attacked by overseas hackers attributed to Office of Tailored Access Operation(TAO) under NSA for years. TAO infiltrated and controlled NPU's critical information infrastructure with over 41 dedicated cyber weapons to steal key network equipment configuration, network management data, and operation and maintenance data.
On July, 26, 2023, Wuhan Municipal Emergency Management Bureau published a statement that CVERC and Qihoo 360 detected a cyber attack from overseas organization on its earthquake monitoring center. Some front-end station collection points of earthquake reporting data had been implanted with backdoor programs. The media later reported that the recent investigation found very complex backdoor malware that fit the characteristics of US intelligence agencies. This was the latest example of the US cyber attack on China's critical Chinese infrastructure with a clear military reconnaissance purpose.
4. Triggering a cyber arms race
The US is the culprit of cyber arms race. It viewed cyberspace as a new battlefield, introduced new combat concepts, and conspired to dominate this new battlefield. Early in 2009, the US founded the first cyber command in the world and continued to strengthen cyber forces. It had built dozens of large intelligence-gathering systems and developed a huge armory of cyber weapons. Instigated by the US, its allies soon followed suit and the cyber arms race is getting white-hot globally.
By 2015, the US had developed over 2,000 cyber weapons including worms, Trojans, logic bombs and trapdoors. EternalBlue was a tool accidentally leaked from the NSA's cyber armory. It was later changed into the WannaCry virus. On May 12, 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attack erupted, hit about 300,000 computers in over 150 countries, and caused a loss of up to 8 billion dollars.
On August 18, 2017, CYBERCOM was elevated to the US 10th combatant command as equal to the US Central Command. Until September, 2018, the US Cyber Mission Force(CMF) had had 133 cyber teams, including 13 Cyber National Mission Teams, 68 Cyber Protection Teams, 27 Cyber Combat Mission Teams and 25 Combat Support Teams.
5. Abusing political measures to disrupt the global industry and supply chain
The US government uses political security and ideology as an excuse, overstretches the "national security" concept and hypes up the "China threat narrative". It ignores China's adherence to the independent foreign policy of peace over the decades, smears China's great contribution to the global cyberspace and voice of justice, and forces its allies to take sides. It ignores the international order after WW2, the basic principles of cyberspace, and the UN consensus on "developing and implementing globally interoperable common rules and standards for supply-chain security". It abuses its export control measures, oppresses foreign firms or entities with political, economic and financial measures, and creates "exclusive small cliques". It has disrupted global trade, violated market laws, undermined market rules and trade order, and destabilized global industry and supply chain.
The US Department of Commerce has put a number of firms and entities on the "Entity List" of export control and caused chaos in the global supply chain. Taking China as an example, more than 1400 Chinese entities were on the list spanning industries including telecommunication, finance, and transportation before September, 2023. The list included technology firms like Huawei and SMIC, and research and education entities like Harbin Institute of Technology and the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In May, 2019, the US gathered 32 countries for the "Prague 5G Security Conference" in Czech Republic, jointly published the "Prague Proposals", and conspired to ban China's 5G products from the policy, security, technological and economic aspects. The US also pressed European, Asian and African countries to ban Huawei's 5G products. Globally, many media and industrial experts argued that banning Chinese companies from 5G was an embarrassing request against global digitalization and its future development.
In September, 2021, the US used "increasing supply chain transparency" as an excuse and forced hundreds of major firms throughout the semiconductor supply chain including Apple, Microsoft, Intel, TSMC and Samsung to submit their confidential information including customer information, sales data, chip inventories and expansion plans. The request put their confidential corporate information at the risk of leakage, cut their advantages in price negotiations with the US firms, eroded the trust and confidence of global customers and undermined the semiconductor supply chain in the world.
In August, 2022, US President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act and forced international firms to side with the US. Based on the Act, the US government requested foreign firms like TSMC and Samsung who would benefit from the American chip industry subsidies to set up chip plants in the US. In this way, the US could dominate the industry chain of high-end chips and harass the chip industry of other countries.
In April, 2024, US President Biden signed a package of "Foreign aid bills", which included forcing ByteDance to divest its TikTok US business within nine months, or it would banned in United States. This regulation fully reflects the United States' double standard to maintain its cyber hegemony of controlling and manipulating international public opinion platforms. On one hand, it advocates freedom and democracy internationally while selling social media platforms it controls to nearly all countries worldwide. On the other hand, it broadens the notion of national security, exploiting legal measures for coercive and predatory actions.
6. Sabotaging cyberspace rules and order
The US deems itself the "leader" of cyberspace and makes most of the defects of cyberspace like unsound regulations and imbalanced development to strengthen its "superpower hegemony". It puts its own interests over the interests of the world and puts the global cyberspace into a "security dilemma", "promise-breaking deadlock" and "trust-breaching panic".
On September 23, 2019, the US and another 27 countries published a Joint Statement on Advancing Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace. This statement distorted and tampered with the framework of responsible state behavior and deviated from the consensus the US and its cohorts had agreed with. This fully illustrated the US all-time principle of applying international law in a selective and utilitarian way. The US deliberately ignored the aspiration of the international society to build a "peaceful cyberspace" and divided the cyberspace into "peacetime" and non-peacetime. Its intention was to legalize its offensive military operations in cyberspace and make the cyberspace a new battlefield. Such behavior maliciously aggravated cyber conflict risks among countries and was detrimental to cyberspace peace and security.
On April 28, 2022, the US gathered over 50 countries and jointly published a Declaration for the Future of the Internet. It openly affirmed "to promote and sustain an Internet that is global and interoperable". In reality, it discarded multilateral platforms like the UN, created "small cliques" based on ideology, and undermined the international order and rules with "gang rules" of blocs. The so-called declaration was a latest example of US intention to divide the cyberspace and trigger cyber confrontation.
Conclusion
Cyberspace is a shared space of mankind. Every country has shared interest and future in cyberspace, and aspires to a peaceful, secure, open, cooperative and orderly cyberspace. But the US recklessly maintains its cyber hegemony, pursues "absolute security" of itself at the cost of other countries, and even pursues a way of undermining and splitting the cyberspace. The US vicious deeds impede global digitalization, run against the history, and must be denounced by the world. For the interest of mankind, governments of conscience, firms, social organizations, scholars and netizens aspiring to fairness, justice and freedom should strengthen dialogues and cooperation, promote development, maintain security, pursue joint governance and shared benefits, build a community with a shared future in cyberspace, and work for a brighter future for mankind.
Source: China Daily
Champions League: Bayern Munich held to draw by Real Madrid
The Champions League semifinal first leg between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid ended all-square. Leroy Sané and Harry Kane scored for Bayern in between strikes from Real's Vinicius Junior.
Bayern Munich was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw in their Champions League semifinal first leg against Real Madrid after a late Vinicius Juniorpenalty canceled out goals from Leroy Sané and Harry Kane which had put Bayern ahead.
Having at least avoided defeat in Munich, Bayern will head to Madrid for the return leg next Wednesday confident that they are very much in the tie.
Freshly-crowned Spanish champions Real took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half when recently recalled German international Toni Kroos found Vinicius Junior with a pinpoint pass from midfield, and the Brazilian striker slotted home past Manuel Neuer.
But Bayern came flying out of the blocks after halftime and drew level through Sané, the German winger driving inside from the right wing before firing home emphatically at the near post.
Just three minutes later, Bayern were awarded a penalty when Jamal Musiala was brought down in the box, and Kane converted to put them ahead.
A 2-1 win would have been a dream result for Bayern to take to Spain, but Real was awarded a penalty of their own seven minutes from time when Bayern defender Min-jae Kim brought down Rodrygo, and Vinicius Junior stepped up to score his second as the game ended all-square.
Thomas Tuchel: 'They scored two goals from two chances'
"They did to us what they do to everyone: they have two chances and score two goals," said Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchelat full time.
"But the situation is now clear. We don't need to think any more. Whether in 90 minutes, 120 minutes or on penalties, we need a victory in Madrid and then onwards to Wembley."
The first of those Madrid chances came after Bayern had dominated the opening fifteen minutes, backed by home support whose pre-match display had called on their team to honor the recently deceased club legend Franz Beckenbauer.
But they didn't expect the best tribute to "Kaiser Franz" to come from an opposition player as Toni Kroos threaded a perfect pass through to Vinicius Junior to give Real the lead.
"We're pretty convinced that we'll go through at home," said the 34-year-old, looking ahead to the second leg.
Kroos' pass may have been pinpoint but it was aided by poor positioning from Kim, starting ahead of the injured Matthijs de Ligt. It was a night to forget for Bayern's South Korean central defender, who later conceded the penalty from which Vinicius equalized.
"He was too greedy," criticized Tuchel, describing the first goal in particular as "too easy, just one move in the opposite direction."
Carlo Ancelotti hails 'good result'
For Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, a 2-2 draw was also an acceptable result with the second leg at home still to come.
"It's a good result," he said. "I think in terms of the performance we could have done better. Our best moment was at the start of the second half and that's exactly when they scored two against us."
Real goalscorer Vinicius said: "I'm very happy that I was able score two goals, and now we need to have a magical night at home. We have to continue with cool heads, rest until next week, and we will give everything to leave the Bernabeu qualified for [the final in] London."
Brazil floods: State of emergency in Rio Grande do Sul
The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil's southernmost state is rising, and more downpours are expected. President Lula flew over the area and promised government resources to assist.
Authorities in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul declared a state of emergency on Thursday after floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains left at least 29 people dead and 60 missing.
Storm damage has affected nearly 150 municipalities, forcing over 10,000 people from their homes.
Governor Eduardo Leite said the southern state was dealing with "the worst climate disaster that our state ever faced."
Lula promises help to 'minimize the suffering'
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flew over the affected areas and held emergency talks with Governor Leite in Santa Maria.
Lula promised "there will be no lack of human or material resources" to "minimize the suffering this extreme event... is causing in the state."
In some areas, the flooding is so severe entire communities have been completely cut off.
The downpours have inundated many parts of Rio Grande do Sul, destroying bridges, blocking roads, and leaving towns without telephone or internet services.
On Thursday, a dam at a small hydroelectric plant burst, leaving over 300,000 people without electricity, according to the state's main utility company.
More rain predicted
Meteorologists predict more rain in the region and warned levels of the main Guaiba River, which has overflowed its banks in some areas, will continue to rise through Friday.
The downpour started Monday, and in some areas, more than 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours on the first day alone.
The National Weather Institute said the region was reeling from the effects of a natural weather phenomenon called El Nino.
In Brazil, El Nino has historically caused droughts in the north and intense rainfall in the south.
China trying to develop world ‘built on censorship and surveillance’
Rights group warns the Digital Silk Road is enabling China to export its brand of digital authoritarianism across the world.
China is exporting its model of digital authoritarianism abroad with the help of its far-reaching tech industry and massive infrastructure projects, offering a blueprint of “best practices” to neighbours including Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam, a human rights watchdog has warned.
In 2015, two years after kicking off its massive Belt and Road initiative, China launched its “Digital Silk Road” project to expand access to digital infrastructure such as submarine cables, satellites, 5G connectivity and more.
Article 19, a United Kingdom-based human rights group, argues that the project has been about more than just expanding access to WiFi or e-commerce.
The Digital Silk Road “has been just as much about promoting China’s tech industry and developing digital infrastructure as it has about reshaping standards and internet governance norms away from a free, open, and interoperable internet in favour of a fragmented digital ecosystem, built on censorship and surveillance, where China and other networked autocracies can prosper”, the watchdog said in a report released in April.
The 80-page report describes how the Chinese state is inextricably linked to its tech industry, a key player in the Digital Silk Road project, as private companies like Huawei, ZTE, and Alibaba serve as “proxies” for the Communist Party.
China has signed dozens of technical standard agreements with 49 countries participating in the Belt and Road, while other countries in the region including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand have agreed on further communiques with Beijing on digital infrastructure.
The Asia Pacific region is particularly important to Beijing, Article 19 said, as it holds a “strategic significance for China as it rolls out next-generation technologies and seeks global partners in normalising its authoritarian approach to internet governance”.
Some countries, like Cambodia, have modelled their digital governance on China, according to Article 2019. Since 2021, the Southeast Asian country has been working to build a “National Internet Gateway” in the style of China’s “Great Firewall” that limits access to many Western media outlets, Wikipedia, and social media sites like Facebook and X.
Others have also expressed concern about the project.
“The Cambodian government says this will bolster national security and help crack down on tax fraud. But the impact on Cambodian network connections will affect anyone who connects with those networks, which could have serious consequences for social and economic life, as well as potentially endanger free expression,” the Internet Society warned in December.
Nepal and Thailand are both reportedly interested in building a similar firewall, according to Article 19, and have played an active role in monitoring ethnic minority Tibetans and Uighurs living abroad on behalf of Beijing.
Under President Xi Jinping, the line between the Communist Party and the Chinese state has blurred considerably. The Party has also extended its influence deep into the private sector, with cells established in more than 90 percent of China’s top 500 companies, according to Article 19.
These companies, including tech giants, have been drafted into Beijing’s “united front” influence campaign to improve China’s image abroad and expand its global influence, Article 19 said, despite promises that they are independent of the state.
Concerns about data, privacy and potential influence campaigns have helped energise a push in the United States to ban TikTok, the wildly popular China-owned video app. Those behind the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act argue the app could allow the Chinese government to access user data and influence Americans.
Security concerns have also affected the businesses of companies like Huawei and ZTE not only in the US but in other democracies including Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the UK. In the US, the two firms have been designated “national security threats” and banned from the construction of critical infrastructure.
Beyond China’s borders, the closer ties between the state and tech companies have also raised questions about how issues like data privacy or censorship will be handled abroad by Chinese tech companies, who operate undersea cables that grant them de facto control of huge swaths of global internet traffic.
Article 19 said it was “plausible that China would share such data with allied authoritarian governments or exploit it as part of its influence operations over others. Without greater transparency and oversight, it is impossible to rule out these concerns.”
Source: Aljazeera
World Uyghur Congress praises UN effort for release of 43 Uyghurs
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) on Wednesday released a statement appreciating the voice raised by the United Nations for the release of 43 Uyghur refugees held in Thailand, a statement by the WUC stated.
The UN letter urged the Thai government to provide information on the decade-long arbitrary detention of the Uyghur men, their access to medical care, and the detention conditions where they are being held while expressing their concerns about the held Uyghur prisoners. Additionally, the letter seeks information from the Thai authorities on their prolonged incommunicado detention and asks if measures are being taken to facilitate communication and visitation rights with families and legal representatives.
According to the letter written in February this year, the detention conditions of 43 Uyghur migrant individuals may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or even torture which has reportedly caused the deaths of five Uyghur migrant detainees, including two minors.
The UN experts also expressed "serious concern" regarding the forcible return of 109 Uyghurs in 2015 "without an assessment of their protection needs under international human rights and refugee laws" They also urged the Royal Thai government to safeguard the human rights of migrants, ensuring full adherence to the principle of non-refoulement.
"There needs to be an end to the indefinite and arbitrary detention of the Uyghur men in Thailand. they should not be detained for fleeing from a repressive environment out of fear of the genocidal policies in East Turkistan." Dolkun Isa the president of World Uyghur Congress stated regarding the matter.
The same press statement in by the WUC mentioned that, Uyghurs are increasingly recognized as a persecuted group in East Turkistan, who face arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, separation of families, torture, forced labour and other human rights atrocities. Those residing outside China continue to face state-led repression abroad. Uyghurs living in third countries without firm settlement status are particularly vulnerable to detention and forced return, with many experiencing harassment and intimidation from local authorities, often acting on behalf of Chinese authorities.
Additionally, since March 2014, at least 43 Uyghur men have been held at the IDC Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok, Thailand under inhumane and overcrowded conditions. The men were part of a larger group of 350 Uyghur refugees who fled China in 2014, attempting to reach Turkey through Thailand to escape persecution in East Turkistan.
In July 2015, 173 Uyghur women and children were transferred to Turkey, while 109 men, women, and children were forcibly returned to China, where their current whereabouts are unknown. Since 2014, a reported number of five Uyghurs, including two children, have died within the Thai Immigration Centres due to catastrophic conditions. Detainees are confined indoors 24 hours a day in overcrowded, unsanitary cells without access to adequate food,physical exercise, or appropriate medical treatment, according to WUC press statement.
The WUC conclusively urged the Thai authorities and Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to immediately release the detained Uyghurs and to resolutely avoid refoulement, while enabling resettlement options as soon as possible.
Source: Beijing Bulletin
