1/ European Union summoned the Chinese ambassador following an incident in which China's military allegedly targeted a German aircraft with a laser during an EU security mission. China has denied the accusation.
2/ According to Germany, a Chinese warship used a laser to target a German patrol aircraft taking part in Operation ASPIDES, the EU-led mission tasked with protecting commercial vessels from Houthi rebel attacks. The incident reportedly occurred in early July during a routine flight, with no prior warning or communication from the Chinese vessel.
3/ While German officials have reported multiple encounters with the same Chinese warship in the region, Beijing has rejected the claim, saying there is no evidence of hostile action.
China has previously denied accusations of firing or pointing lasers at U.S. planes. Incidents involving a European NATO member and China are more unusual.
—Perhaps another issue to discuss during the EU China Summit 🧐
“Massive ‘Typhoon’ cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure and telecoms sought to lay groundwork for potential conflict with Beijing, as intruders gathered data and got in position to impede response and sow chaos” 1/
“The message from President Biden’s national security adviser was startling.
Chinese hackers had gained the ability to shut down dozens of U.S. ports, power grids and other infrastructure targets at will, Jake Sullivan told telecommunications and technology executives at a secret meeting at the White House in the fall of 2023.” 2/
“What no one at the briefing knew, including Sullivan: China’s hackers were already working their way deep inside U.S. telecom networks, too.
The two massive hacking operations have upended the West’s understanding of what Beijing wants, while revealing the astonishing skill level and stealth of its keyboard warriors—once seen as the cyber equivalent of noisy, drunken burglars.” 3/
A Chinese man in🇫🇷posts a video online criticizing Xi-it only had 80 views.Nevertheless,same day he received a call from🇨🇳Embassy & they want to forcibly…francetvinfo.fr/replay-magazin…
2/ send him back to🇨🇳. He contacted a journalist for help who filmed the incident at the airport.🇨🇳diplomat refused to return passport.Dissident’s family in🇨🇳. Will Xi get cooperation from Macron to return man?
3/ The French documentary described Beijing's illegal extradition efforts.Documentary tracked down this photo from a secret🇨🇳police station in France (1 of 6 identified by Safeguard Defend) of a celebration of🇨🇳 police in🇫🇷.This must be an embarrassment for🇫🇷security officials.
The guided weapons are commonly referred to as “glide bombs”& consist of decades-old projectiles that would typically be dropped from Su-34 & Su-35 warplanes directly over targets. By adding cheap pop-out wings & a satellite navigation system,these former “dumb bombs” can… 1/
2/ …these former “dumb bombs” can now be launched by Russian bombers deep behind the front line and out of reach of Ukraine’s air-defence systems.
3/ “For them, it is much cheaper than using hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, when one of these bombs will demolish several buildings,” said Vlad, a 27-year-old soldier serving in the eastern Donetsk region.
‘Insane’: Xi’s call for ethnic Chinese to tell Beijing’s story stirs anger.
"Chan encouraged ethnic Chinese from across the world to unite, and with the help of Chinese officials, to work together to spread positive messages about communist-ruled China."
via @AJEnglishaje.io/6f96r7
2/ Telling the Chinese Communist Party's story well has long been the work of United Front Groups:
"In 2023, Chan attended Beijing’s annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in and said that “we should put more effort in mobilising righteous individuals overseas” and “expose the hypocrisy of fake news from the West”.
3/ “As he openly called on overseas Chinese to tell China’s story well, he also attempted to blur the distinction between Chinese nationals and non-China nationals of Chinese descent,” Loh said.
“And I think that most countries will find it unacceptable to have its own citizens working for a foreign actor to exert influence that might work against the interests of your country.”
Hmm, wonder why these documents were leaked now? 🤔
“Criteria for a potential nuclear response range from an enemy incursion on Russian territory to more specific triggers, such as the destruction of 20% of Russia’s strategic ballistic missile submarines.”
2/ “The cache consists of 29 secret Russian military files drawn up between 2008 and 2014, including scenarios for war-gaming and presentations for naval officers, which discuss operating principles for the use of nuclear weapons.”
3/ There is a bit of a reach here as all countries need to have scenario planning. This also highlights the Marriage of Distrust between Russia and China.
“The defensive plans expose deeply held suspicions of China among Moscow’s security elite even as Putin began forging an alliance w/ Beijing, which as early as 2001 included a nuclear no-first-strike agreement.”