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Saudi Arabia's thriving startup scene driven by women
Deutsche Welle
17 Mar 2024, 17:51
A flourishing entrepreneur scene has transformed the Saudi business world. Startups contribute to the nation's branding efforts and aim to tackle unemployment, as it aims to move away from a dependence on oil revenue.
It's now almost impossible to imagine the Saudi economy without the thriving startup scene and its female entrepreneurs.
Less than a decade ago, the situation was largely different.
"There was literally no ecosystem for startup companies," Maha Shirah, one of the first female Saudi entrepreneurs in Riyadh, told DW.
For women, starting a business was particularly tough.
In 2014, when Shirah opened the country's first workspace for women, laws still restricted the participation of women in many industries.
Ten years on, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce haspublished a comprehensive list of workspaces for women, and the local startup landscape is not only thriving but is driven by women across all industries.
"When it comes to laws affecting women's decisions to work, laws affecting women's pay, constraints on women starting and running a business, and laws affecting the size of a woman's pension, Saudi Arabia gets a perfect score of 100," the recent World Bank report Women, Business and the Law 2024 concluded.
The 2021-2022 Women's Report for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stated that 95% of Saudi women listed entrepreneur as a good career choice.
Although current statistics on female labor force participation and female entrepreneurs have yet to be published, the trend is apparent.
"Between 2017 and 2021, the Saudi female labor force participation rate doubled from 17.4% to 35.6%, comfortably exceeding the 'Vision 2030' target of raising it to 30%," Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Washington-based think tank Arab Gulf States Institute, wrote in January 2024.
There is no doubt that Vision 2030 — a socioeconomic set of reforms introduced in January 2016 by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — has been the key driver of this process.
Part and parcel of the overhaul is the inclusion of women in the workforce, tackling the pressing issue of unemployment, pushing for diversification from oil revenues and opening the country for tourists.
Structuring the Saudi startup scene
"I remember well that before 2017, very few courses at school or university focused on startups or entrepreneurship at all," said Shirah.
She also recalled that starting a business was only an option for rich people, for everyone else, it "was considered a stigma."
Due to the governmental initiatives, however, nowadays "everybody with a solid idea can become an entrepreneur, obviously including women," she said.
Over time, the government has even become one of the most active investors in its local startup scene.
This March's tech summit Leap24, for example, recorded a staggering $11.9 billion investmentby the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
In Shirah's view, the Saudi startup scene is doing quite well already and growing still. She believes that from now on, more startup accelerators and incubators will be needed.
Startup incubators support early-stage startups in helping them to develop their idea into a business. Accelerators support already existing businesses with resources and mentorship.
Incubators, accelerators are the next step
For Marriam Mossalli, a Saudi entrepreneur who has been advocating for female empowerment through her nonprofit organization Under The Abaya for years, advising startups has become a new endeavor. (An abaya is a robe-like dress that covers the entire body except for head, hands and feet.)
In 2024, Mossalli launched C-Suite Advisory, an investment and business consultancy. The term C-Suite refers to a company's leadership positions like CEO (chief executive officer) and COO (chief operating officer). She also invested in several female-run startups.
"As a female entrepreneur myself, I know firsthand the challenges presented to us," she told DW, adding that for her "it was time to put my money where my mouth is."
One of the startups Mossalli advises is Sirene, a third-party e-commerce luxury fashion retailing company that was recently founded by the Saudi entrepreneur Basma Barzangi.
"I am still at the pre-seed phase and actively seek investors, so I do find myself concerned about the future," Barzangi told DW.
However, as an entrepreneur she said she has learned to embrace setbacks "as part of the journey."
"It's important to remember that even failure is just a stepping stone to success," she said.
Her view exemplifies change, too.
"For decades, the concept of failure was frowned upon in Saudi Arabia," Sebastian Sons, senior researcher with the German Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient, told DW.
"This has been changing as many young people recognize that failure can be part of their business experience and they are now willing to take this risk," he said.
Startups as a strategy toward nation branding
Fostering a lively startup scene serves its reasons, said Sons, not only for the society but also for Saudi Arabia's government.
"The focus is on economic diversification as the state is no longer able to absorb many employees in the public sector, and the private sector needs to be strengthened," he said. "The second reason is the external and internal impact of supporting startups."
On the one hand, the government signals they are promoting personal initiative via startups as part of nation branding, he said.
Son said there is another component as well: "It is also part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's power consolidation in the country."
But the situation for women rights in Saudi Arabia isn't perfect, just because more women have the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.
According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2024, "further legal reforms remain severely undermined by widespread repression under de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and a number of women's rights defenders, including Loujain al-Hathloul, remain banned from travel and under suspended prison sentences."
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Chinese authorities arrest 4 Tibetans for protest over land grab
Tibetan residents demanded compensation for land illegally seized by authorities, sources say.
Police have arrested and detained four Tibetans who protested Chinese authorities’ seizure of pasture land owned by Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region, three sources inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.
On April 10, residents of Taktsa village in Luonixiang rural township in Markham county in Chamdo, or Changdu in Chinese, clashed with authorities after they appealed against the land grab and demanded compensation, said the sources, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
In 2023, a Chinese county official illegally sold the pasture land to businessmen without the knowledge of locals and without providing them any compensation, the sources said.
The Tibetans had no knowledge that their land had been seized illegally until this April when the businessmen sent people to clear it. The Tibetans then confronted authorities, demanding payment.
Police arrested and detained four of the Tibetans, and slapped and beat many others at the scene, said one of the sources.
There were no immediate details about the status of the four or the charges against them, and it is not clear for what purpose the seized land will be used.
Despite repeated attempts, RFA did not receive any immediate response to calls to Markham county authorities and the local police station.
Chinese authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region and in Tibetan-populated areas of nearby Chinese provinces often ignore residents’ concerns about mining and land grabs by local officials, who routinely rely on force to subdue those who complain or protest, according to human rights groups.
Over the past few years, there have been several reports of similar land grabs that have taken place in Chamdo, a resource-rich area in eastern Tibet.
Most of the land grabs have been related to mining, including copper, gold and lithium, and development projects that China has undertaken in the areas. In some cases, Tibetans have been forced from their homes.
The gesture was also seen being made by Buddhist monks and Tibetans residents during February protests in Dege county, southwestern China’s Sichuan province, in an appeal to Chinese officials to stop a planned dam project on the Drichu River.
In the videos from Markham county, young and elderly Tibetans kneel before police clad in black, and wail, while others pull and tug at the authorities to heed their pleas.
The land in question is used by about 25 Tibetan families to graze their animals and for recreation purposes, the sources said.
Chinese authorities have arrested the official who had colluded with the businessmen to illegally seize the land without compensating the Tibetans, charging him with corruption, said one of the sources.
Now, the residents are demanding compensation for the land that had been occupied, he added.
Chinese police have forbidden the Tibetans from sharing information about the incident with people outside China, the sources said.
Source: rfa
130 Chinese extradited for online fraud, cybercrimes
The General Department of Immigration (GDI) of the Ministry of Interior has extradited 130 Chinese nationals for cybercrimes, online fraud and illegal gambling.
Lieutenant General Sok Somnea, Spokesman and Deputy Director General of the GDI, said yesterday, “130 Chinese nationals were extradited on April 13, for their involvement in cybercrimes, online fraud and illegal gambling.”
“We are still looking for more of those involved in these crimes and I cannot go into more detail, as it is under investigation by the Immigration Police,” he said.
Lt Gen Somnea said that the seized servers, computers, mobile phones, SIM cards and other equipment believed to have been used for criminal activity, have been sent to the provincial court as evidence.
The Cambodian authorities are working closely with their Chinese counterparts to exchange information on the investigation, crackdown and rescue of victims of cybercrime, he said.
On Sunday, China Daily reported that China’s public security authorities, in conjunction with the Cambodian police, had recently organised a joint operation to combat gambling and fraud-related crimes.
During the operation, the Cambodian police dismantled several gambling dens and fraud operations in Preah Sihanouk province, apprehended a large number of Chinese nationals suspected of criminal offences, and seized a batch of servers, computers, mobile phones and other equipment, it said.
Under the command of the Ministry of Public Security in Hubei province, a working group was dispatched to Cambodia to carry out the extradition work in conjunction with the Cambodian police, it said.
Starting from Saturday, the individuals were extradited in batches via chartered civil aviation flights to China, it added.
Anti-gambling operations by the Cambodian authorities have been active throughout the country, especially in Preah Sihanouk province.
In a two-day operation to crack down on online fraud from March 9 to 10, the provincial authorities arrested 479 people, comprising 279 Cambodians, 109 Vietnamese, 55 Thais, 28 Chinese, eight Taiwanese and one Myanmar national.
Source: KHMER Times
Africa's El Nino crises demand action and funding
El Nino is causing extreme weather events in East Africa and a crippling drought in the south of the continent. Experts say immediate action is needed to tackle famine and displacements.
The El Nino climate pattern , a phenomenon of heightened global temperatures and erratic weather conditions, wreaked havoc across African nations throughout 2023 — and continues to do so in 2024.
East Africa has been hit by torrential rains that have cost the lives of at least 58 people in Tanzania in the first half of April, and 13 people in Kenya.
This natural occurrence brings about extremes in weather, ranging from devastating floods to prolonged droughts, with Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and southern Africa among the hardest-hit.
Earlier this month, aid agency Oxfam said more than 20 million people faced hunger and malnutrition across southern Africa because of the drought.
Funding gap threatens relief efforts
While countries like Zambia grapple with their worst drought ever, seeking nearly $1 billion (more than €900 million) to provide life-saving assistance, their efforts are hampered by a significant funding gap.
Kenyan climate activist Grace Ronoh said the plight of developing nations is also burdened by debt.
"When you look at especially the developing countries, they are not able to prioritize a response to the climate crisis because for them to do this, they require financing," Ronoh said. "And at this point in time, most of the countries are debt-laden, so they will prioritize paying for debt."
While speaking at the annual meeting between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, DC, Ronoh urged for reform within these institutions to streamline access to funds for climate emergencies.
"We need to remove the bureaucracies and reform the bank to make sure that it's fair and also do away with the very complicated mechanisms that really limit increasing financing to address climate issues," Ronoh said.
A UN-led event to secure donations to address Ethiopia's humanitarian crisis last Tuesday (April 16) fell well short of its $1 billion target. It did, however, raise almost $630 million (€592 million) to assist millions of Ethiopians impacted by climate change and conflict.
Strategies for the future
The UN reported that the El Nino weather pattern has led to water scarcity, parched pastures and reduced harvests affecting millions of people.
Despite this grim outlook, Dr David Gikungu, director of the Kenya Meteorological Department, says that he remains cautiously optimistic, projecting the current season to end soon in most regions.
"We are expecting the season to end in most places around the end of May. Around the coast, we are expecting it to cease around June," Gikungu told DW.
Collaboration between meteorological departments, disaster management agencies and governments is crucial, he added, highlighting the role of the Kenyan Ministry of Environment and Climate Change in spearheading these efforts in his country.
"There are offices to track and inform. We work with others who deal with disaster management, and they are all supported by the government," Gikungu said.
However, the effectiveness of existing strategies meanwhile is also stretched by the sheer scale of the crisis, as evidenced by the high death toll from flooding in some regions.
Looking ahead
The immediate focus might therefore require a shift towards securing necessary funding to deliver life-saving assistance to affected populations.
The United States has decided to allocate nearly $154 million in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia to address pressing needs arising "from conflict, insecurity, and climate shocks," according to the US State Department, tying this aid to immediate needs rather than long-term projects.
Such immediate responses are also necessary elsewhere: For instance, in Zambia and Zimbabwe, water shortages have fueled outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases, according to the World Weather Attribution (WWA) research group.
"Whenever it floods, you can expect issues of sewage," Gikungu told DW. "(W)hen you cook using contaminated water, you are looking for trouble, (such as) cholera outbreaks. These are some of the things to expect in this region."
Massive floods threaten tens of millions in southern China
Heavy rains hammered southern China on the weekend, flooding homes, streets and farmland and threatening to upend the lives of tens of millions of people as rescuers rushed to evacuate residents trapped by rising waters.
At least 11 people are missing, six of whom are from the town of Jiangwan near Shaoguan city in the province’s mountainous north, where heavy downpours have triggered landslides that injured six people, state-run news agency Xinhua said Monday.
Days of rainstorms have lashed Guangdong province, an economic powerhouse home to 127 million people, bringing widespread floods that have forced more than 82,500 people to be relocated, state media reported, citing the local government.
Since April 16, sustained torrential rains have pounded the Pearl River Delta, China’s manufacturing heartland and one of the country’s most populated regions, with four weather stations in Guangdong registering record rainfall for April.
The Pearl River basin is subject to annual flooding from April to September, but the region has faced more intense rainstorms and severe floods in recent years as scientists warn that the climate crisis will amplify extreme weather, making it deadlier and more frequent.
Last year, China encountered “more intense and extreme” downpours during the flood season than in previous years, with 72 national weather stations registering record daily rainfall and 346 stations breaking monthly records, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
Since last week, at least 44 rivers in the Pearl River basin have swelled above the warning line, threatening to burst their banks, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
On the Bei River, which flows into the Pearl River, authorities have warned of a “once a century” flood expected to reach 5.8 meters (19 feet) above the warning limit. The tributary had already burst its banks on April 8, marking the earliest arrival of its annual flood season since records began in 1998, according to Guangdong authorities.
Aerial footage aired by CCTV on the weekend showed villages inundated by murky flood waters, with only roofs and treetops visible in some places.
In Guangning county, Zhaoqing city, footage shared by residents on short video app Douyin shows muddy brown water gushing through village streets and sweeping away cars. In Shaoguan, a man is seen pushing his scooter through shoulder-high flood waters. And in Qingyuan city, social media footage shows strong gales and rain felling trees and flipping over motorcycles.
Authorities raised the flood control emergency response for the Pearl River Delta to level 2 on Sunday – the second highest in a four-tier system.
Many cities have suspended schools and hundreds of flights have been canceled in the metropolises of Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
More than 80 houses have either collapsed or been severely damaged, resulting in a direct economic loss of nearly 140 million yuan ($20 million), Xinhua reported.
Source: CNN
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
