MI5 had gradually received new information suggesting money was flowing into the UK political system with its true origins in China hidden. Specifically, they believed it was linked to the United Front Works Department (UFWD). The UFWD has been referred to by the Chinese Communist Party as a “magic weapon” – not a secret intelligence agency so much as an influence agency. It is one of the organisations that the head of MI5, Ken McCallum, named in his 6 July speech as “mounting patient, well-funded, deceptive campaigns to buy and…
Day: July 18, 2022
Chinese scientists simulate hypersonic flight to US after devising BeiDou satellite-switching system
The BeiDou navigation satellite system, with its more than 50 positioning satellites equipped with microwave and laser communication devices, is the only one in China that could support an intercontinental flight in near space between any two locations on Earth, according to Chinese researchers. Photo: AP Photo South China Morning Post
The 1992 Consensus: Why It Worked and Why It Fell Apart
Advertisement In 1986, a pilot from China Airlines – then the national airline of the Republic of China (ROC) – defected to Communist China by landing his plane in Guangzhou instead of Hong Kong. Ending 40 years of silence between the two sides, the ROC’s Kuomintang (KMT) government reneged on its “no contact” policy with the mainland to negotiate the return of the plane. The rest is history. In the years following the incident, both sides set up semi-official organizations to regulate the growing numbers of exchanges across the Taiwan…
‘Abusing China’s restraint’: Beijing accuses Australia of provocation at sea
China has accused Australia of provocation in the South China Sea and said Australia – along with the United States and Canada – must “refrain from abusing China’s restraint”. Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was responding to a question about recent military encounters in the South China Sea, including reports in Politico that a Chinese fighter jet had an “unsafe” and “unprofessional” interaction with an American C-130 aircraft. Politico reported that the interaction came amid more aggressive military actions by Chinese pilots involving Australian and Canadian planes. Just after the…
China banks told to bail out property developers as mortgage boycotts threaten economy
Chinese banks have been told to bail out struggling property developers to help them complete unfinished housing projects and head off the growing mortgage strike that threatens to seriously damage the economy. With thousands of homebuyers banding together to refuse to keep up with mortgage instalments on unfinished apartments bought off the plan, regulators have stepped up efforts to encourage lenders to extend loans to qualified real estate projects. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) told the official industry newspaper on Sunday that banks should meet developers’ financing…