⚡️EXCLUSIVE⚡️ from @RFERL/@CurrentTimeTv
We obtained files from closed door meetings between Russian🇷🇺 & Chinese🇨🇳 officials in 2017 and 2019 that show behind-the-scenes talks on practical cooperation & sharing best practices for internet censorship

rferl.org/a/russia-china… Documents & recordings from closed door meetings in 2017 & 2019 between officials from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and Roskomnadzor show practical level cooperation underway at a pivotal time...

⚡️NEW⚡️An @RFERL investigation documented a murky operation by Serbian law enforcement during nationwide protests in 2021 that showed how officials could abuse cutting-edge Chinese surveillance tools in the future.

Here's why it's important 🧵

rferl.org/a/serbia-chine… This is a story about how this technology -- which is increasingly being sold by Chinese vendors -- can embolden democratic backsliding & help rollback dissent in a country. In this vein, Serbia is an important test case for how Chinese surveillance tools can change the game...

🚨⚡️Here's part 1 of a 2 part @RFERL series looking at Chinese surveillance tools in Serbia 🇨🇳🇷🇸

A growing political fault line forming over the expansion of Chinese-made surveillance technology in Serbia as concerns over the potential for abuse grow.

rferl.org/a/serbia-chine… Serbia's story with Chinese surveillance begins with a hit-and-run case that saw a young man die. The suspect eventually fled to China & Chinese police caught him in 3 days thanks to the country's vast surveillance powers...

I spoke with @TheStudyofWar’s @georgewbarros, who explained why counterattacks, geography, and new Western weapons will shape the next stage of the war. rferl.org/a/ukraine-russ… "a major question is whether the Ukrainians will be capable of actually conducting counteroffensives to liberate the territory that the Russians have taken since the beginning of the war."
rferl.org/a/ukraine-russ…

Yes, the threat of a full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine is a test for Beijing and Moscow's new partnership, but it's a test that China and Russia are likely to pass. My report here for @RFERL rferl.org/a/russia-china… The escalating Ukraine crisis has left China in a difficult bind, balancing its ties with Russia against its established foreign policy of defending state sovereignty and not jeopardizing its long-term strategic interests in Europe and beyond.

3 Kazakh officials (from domestic intelluigence agency and Interior Ministry) died today. One had a heart attack, another committed suicide, and a third was found dead with injuries that show he fell from a window.... This comes after Toqaev said unrest was coup attempt... This comes from press release of KNB today
meduza.io/news/2022/01/1…

China 🇨🇳thread on Kazakhstan 🇰🇿

Chinese reaction to unrest in Kazakhstan has been largely muted. State media have covered it down the middle & MFA spokesman Wang Wenbin said it was an internal affair and that Beijing hopes the situation will stabilize soon... Hu Xijin, the former editor in chief of the state-run tabloid Global Times, has weighed in with a take about alleged color revolutions and how "Russia and China won't allow the US and West to push Kazakhstan into long-term turbulence."

https://twitter.com/HuXijin_GT/status/1478970657275015168

Blackout in effect in Kazakhstan again as new operations are underway by security forces. CSTO (Russian) troops also deployed. It's a big series of events, but also has me wondering what else is ahead as things continue to spiral... One big question is what is the cost that the Kazakh government and Tokayev will pay for CSTO help, primarily from Russia. Over the years of covering Kazakhstan inside and outside the country, the Kazakhs were always clever about being able to keep some independence from Moscow..

The situation in Kazakhstan is escalating & protests don't look like they're slowing down. It's been a few years since I've been on the ground there, so follow @Torokul @aygeryma @Peter__Leonard @joannalillis @vvabramov & others. But here are some thoughts from me ... I left Kazakhstan in 2019 just after the elections that formalized Tokayev as president. It was a choreographed transfer of power, but one of the big things that stuck out to me is how the whole exercise invigorated civil society in the country...

foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/08/kaz…

🚨NEW🚨 China is building a new base in Tajikistan and documents obtained by @RFERL's Tajik Service also show that Dushanbe has proposed granting full ownership of a separate, secret base along the Afghan border to China. rferl.org/a/tajikistan-a… Let's look first at the documents and transfering ownership. Tajikistan and China have denied that the base exists, but these docs, where are communiques between the Chinese Embassy and Tajik foreign ministry put it in writing. rferl.org/a/tajikistan-a…

Serbia is the tip of the spear for China’s “vaccine diplomacy” in Europe. It trails only the UK vaccination rate for all of Europe, in large part thanks to Chinese support.

But there's more to it than that. Let's look deeper...

rferl.org/a/china-strate… The Western Balkans have been left out of wider EU plans. This happened with medical equipment back in March 2020 when the pandemic first started -- and it's happening now with vaccines. This has left a major door open for both China and Russia in the region...