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Posts Tagged ‘China’

China denies Gmail hacking accusations

June 2, 2011 Comments off

guardian

Google China's former headquarters in Beijing

Gmail account passwords were stolen by hackers suspected to be based in Jinan, capital of Shandong province. Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters

China has rejected Google’s accusations that it is behind a wave of high-level hacking attacks and said its critics had “ulterior motives” in trying to blame the government in Beijing.

The rebuttal follows revelations that Chinese hackers have stolen the Gmail login details of hundreds of senior US and South Korean government officials as well as Chinese political activists.

Google has warned the victims of the “phishing” scam and made a public statement about the threat. The US company said it could not say for sure who was responsible, but it traced many of the attacks to Jinan, the capital of Read more…

Categories: China Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Pentagon: Cyber Attacks Can Qualify as Acts of War

May 31, 2011 Comments off
mashableThe Pentagon has finished drafting its first official “computer sabotage strategy,” determining that online cyber attacks from another country can constitute an act of war, enabling the U.S. to retaliate with military force.

“If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks,” a military official told The Wall Street Journal by way of example.

The formal strategy underlines a rising need to systematically respond to attacks on the computer systems of the U.S. and other countries. In 2009, a strain of the Microsoft Windows computer virus Stuxnex, which some believe originated from Israel with U.S. help, damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities. More recently, Google was the victim of cyber attacks that allegedly originated in China, an affair the the White House became involved in.

The 30-page document, unclassified portions of which are expected to become public next month, is also likely to spark debates about a number of unaddressed issues, including whether the U.S. can truly determine the origin of an attack and when a cyber attack is serious enough to constitute an act of war, the WSJ notes.

Categories: United States, wars and rumors of wars Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Drought worsens fears of inflation

May 31, 2011 Comments off

peopledaily.com

A rare drought that has wreaked havoc in central and southern China is expected to send grain prices soaring as experts predict the worst disaster of its kind in 50 years could offset the government’s efforts to curb inflation and threaten its annual CPI target of 4 percent.

Five provinces in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River – Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu, a major grain-producing region – have suffered the most serious drought in decades.

The drought had affected 34.8 million people, over one million livestock, and 3.7 million hectares of farmland as of Friday, causing direct economic losses of 14.9 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.

As farmers struggled to find new water sources for their crops, many fishing boats found themselves grounded as the river and lakes shrank, and residents in the region found the prices of vegetables, rice and aquatic products rising.

“Prices of some fruit and vegetables have increased to 6 yuan per kilogram on Tuesday from 3.6 yuan last week,” Jin Zhengsheng, 50, a resident of Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times.

Huang Xianyin, 41, a villager from Xinjian county, Jiangxi Province, also noticed the hikes.

“It’s not only vegetables. Read more…

Categories: Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some areas in China under martial law after protests

May 30, 2011 Comments off

cnn

More of this story was published last week.

Anti-riot police line up as a crowd gathers in northeastern China/southern Mongolia on Monday, May 23.

Anti-riot police line up as a crowd gathers in northeastern China/southern Mongolia on Monday, May 23.

(CNN) — In an apparent response to days of protests, Chinese authorities have declared martial law in parts of the northeast’s inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to Amnesty International.

The region has long been the scene of ethnic tension between Mongolians, who have lived in the area for centuries, and the Han people, who arrived in larger numbers after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Han people are the majority ethnic group in China.

In the report released Friday, Amnesty International detailed protests in and around the city of Xilinhot.

CNN contacted officials in the affected areas, but they declined to comment.

According to the human rights organization, 2,000 Mongolian students took to the streets Wednesday in Xilinhot, in a show of solidarity with an ethnic Read more…

Categories: China, Protests Tags: , , , , ,

Iran Vows To Unplug The Internet

May 28, 2011 Comments off

wsj.com

Iran Internet Unplug
Iran is taking steps toward an aggressive new form of censorship: a so-called national Internet that could, in effect, disconnect Iranian cyberspace from the rest of the world.

The leadership in Iran sees the project as a way to end the fight for control of the Internet, according to observers of Iranian policy inside and outside the country. Iran, already among the most sophisticated nations in online censoring, also promotes its national Internet as a cost-saving measure for consumers and as a way to uphold Islamic moral codes.

In February, as pro-democracy protests spread rapidly across the Middle East and Read more…

Categories: internet, Iran Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

China Seen Deploying New Ballistic Missile Unit Close to Taiwan

May 27, 2011 Comments off

globalsecuritynewswire

Here is another article of interest published in April.

Taiwan’s intelligence head on Thursday asserted China had fielded an additional ballistic missile unit not far from the self-governing island, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, April 6).

“The unit, carrying the code number 96166 and based in Guangdong province [in southern China], is indeed a new unit, probably a new ballistic missile brigade,” National Security Bureau chief Tsai Teh-sheng said, without offering further specifics.

“Over the past few years, the People’s Liberation Army has kept increasing its deployment of ballistic missile units in both quantity and quality opposite Taiwan,” Tsai said in remarks passed along by lawmaker Lin Yu-fang.

Taiwanese analysts project that Beijing at present has in excess of 1,600 missiles targeting the island that it claims as Chinese territory. The majority of those weapons are thought to be fielded in Jiangxi and Fuijan provinces in the southeastern part of the country. Experts predict that as many as 1,800 missiles could be aimed at Taiwan in 2012, AFP reported.

China’s robust rail system has allowed it to rapidly transport missiles to coastal regions when required. Some missiles can even be fired from railway trains, according to Lin, who is also a military affairs professor.

China’s top military official last week seemingly denied that any missiles were aimed at Taiwan. Beijing, though, has said it could take military action should Taipei seek full autonomy (see GSN, May 19; Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 26).

Categories: China, Taiwan Tags: , , , , , ,

China drought ignites global grain supply concerns

May 26, 2011 Comments off

reuters

A prolonged drought in China could hit grains output in key growing regions, further squeezing global supplies and putting upward pressure on prices, but plentiful domestic wheat stocks will act as a cushion and keep import volumes low.

Analysts are closely watching the weather in China, warning any further supply shocks in the grain markets would fuel a further rally in U.S. corn and wheat futures, already stoked by harsh crop weather in the United States and Europe.

“Parts of China have been too dry and if we did see crop failures in that part of the world they are going to look to the global market for supplies,” said Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

“They are going to be looking to North America and Europe and there is significant amount of concern whether those particular countries will be able to satisfy those needs.”

Chicago Board of Trade corn has climbed 80 percent since the start of May last year, while wheat has risen around 50 percent. Last week alone corn and wheat jumped more than 10 percent on expectations of a global squeeze in supplies.

CROP CONCERNS & TIGHT GLOBAL SUPPLIES

Timely corn seeding is crucial for optimal yields needed to replenish U.S. supplies that are projected at the lowest level in 15 years amid strong demand from livestock feeders, ethanol makers and exporters.

About 80 percent of the U.S. corn crop has been planted, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department, but showers this week are expected to bring the final corn seedings to Read more…

Categories: China, Droughts, world Tags: , , , , , , , ,

32 Signs That The Entire World Is Being Transformed Into A Futuristic Big Brother Prison Grid

May 26, 2011 1 comment

endoftheamericandream

Do you want your children and grandchildren to live in a futuristic “big brother” control grid where everything they do is watched, recorded, tracked and tightly controlled?  Well, that is exactly where things are headed.  We witnessed some really bad totalitarian regimes during the 20th century, but what is coming is going to be far more restrictive than any of the despots of the past ever dreamed was possible.  Today, nearly every government on earth is tightening their grip on their citizens.  Paranoia has become standard operating procedure all over the planet and nobody is to be trusted.  Global politicians will give speeches about liberty and freedom even as they undermine them at every turn.  There are very, very few nations on the planet where liberty and freedom are increasing.  Instead, almost everywhere you turn the “control grid” is getting tighter.  Governments don’t want us gathering together and interacting with one another.  Instead, they want us to work our tails off to support the system, they want us enslaved financially and constantly drowning in debt, and they want us addicted to television and other forms of entertainment.  They want us as numb and docile as possible.  Meanwhile, all over the globe they continue to construct a futuristic “big brother” control grid that will ensure that they will always be able to control us.

Sadly, this is not the plot to some post-apocalyptic science fiction movie.

This is really happening.

When you read the list below, each of the 32 signs may not seem to be all that significant individually.  However, when they are all taken together, they paint a truly frightening picture….

#1 The days of the free and open Internet are slowly coming to an end.  Many nations around the world have implemented strict Internet censorship and many other nations are moving in that direction.  With each passing year the level of freedom on the Internet diminishes.

Regulation of the Internet has even become a primary topic of discussion at G-8 meetings.  According to The New York Times, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the charge for a more “civilized Internet”…. Read more…

Categories: Big Brother, World Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thousands of Mongolians Protest to Against China For Equal Rights

May 26, 2011 2 comments

thetibetpost

Huveet_Shar_10Dharamshala: Wednesday May 25, more than 2000 ethnic Mongolian protesters marched to the Chinese government building in the North-western city of Xilinhot, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR).The protest was spurred by the killing of a Mongolian herder by a Chinese truck-driver following disputes over access to pastures which are being used as road-ways for trucks transporting coal for the growing coal-industry in Inner Mongolia.Three herders and one student were reportedly beaten severely during the protests and their whereabouts are presently unknown.

The protesters, who were mainly students, demanded they be treated equal to the growing number of ethnic Han Chinese who now make up the majority of the population in the region, with only an estimated 17 percent of Inner Mongolia’s 23 million people being of Mongolian ethnicity.

Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) write on their website that after the Chinese government announced IMAR to be the “energy base of China”, hundreds of coal mines have been opened in the Southern Mongolian grasslands, and as a result more than 250.000 Mongolian nomads have been displaced. Read more…

Categories: China, Mongolia Tags: , ,

Chinese Citizens Turn to Gold in One of Greatest Booms in Metal’s History

May 25, 2011 1 comment

mineweb

The World Gold Council (WGC) released its quarterly “Gold Demand Trends” report last week and, as always, it was filled with fascinating data on the strength of the global gold market. Gold demand grew 11 percent to 981.3 tons during the first quarter of 2011, worth $43.7 billion at quarter-end’s price levels.
The increase was driven by a significant rise in demand for gold as an investment, up 26 percent from a year ago, as emerging markets look to protect their assets from rising inflation. Demand for gold bars and coins was up 62 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
A slight pullback in prices during the middle of the quarter and “persistent high inflation levels” pushed China into the position as the world’s largest market for gold investment. Chinese citizens devoured nearly 91 tons of gold bars and coins, more than double the amount of a year ago.
This isn’t exactly a new phenomenon in China. From 2007 to 2010, investment demand grew Read more…
Categories: China, GOLD Tags: , , , , , , ,