Day: February 8, 2023

US Two-Way Trade Rose in 2022, New Data Show

Chin@Strategy

The United States’ two-way trade with other nations spiked in 2022, new federal data show, including trade with China despite increasing friction between the world’s two largest economies. Even while posting record-high exports to 73 countries in 2022, the U.S. still ran a trade deficit of $1.19 trillion, up $101 billion from 2021, the U.S. Commerce Department said this week. The deficit reflected the fact that the U.S. also recorded record-high imports from 90 countries. U.S. imports from China reached $537 billion in 2022 compared with $505 billion the previous…

Not Just Balloons: How US Sees China Spying as Major Worry

Chin@Strategy

Washington —  The Chinese balloon that traversed the United States before being shot down last weekend captivated public attention and drew sharp denunciations as a brazen spying effort. But if the vehicle for espionage seemed novel, the concept was anything but. In ways that are far less public, but often more worrisome, U.S. officials say, the Chinese government has been targeting U.S. industry and government agencies with spy operations designed to collect troves of commercial secrets and sensitive personal data — and to generally give the global superpower a competitive…

US, States Weigh Farmland Restrictions After Chinese Balloon Incident

Chin@Strategy

HARLOWTON, Montana —  Near the banks of Montana’s Musselshell River, cattle rancher Michael Miller saw a large, white orb above the town of Harlowton last week, a day before U.S. officials revealed they were tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the state. The balloon caused a stir in the 900-person town surrounded by cattle ranches, wind farms and scattered nuclear missile silos behind chain link fences. Miller worries about China as a rising threat to the U.S. but questioned how much intelligence could be gained from a balloon. China’s…

Australia to Review Chinese-Made Cameras in Defense Offices

Chin@Strategy

SYDNEY —  The Australian government will examine surveillance technology used in offices of the defense department, Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday, amid reports the Chinese-made cameras installed there raised security risks. The move comes after Britain in November asked its departments to stop installing Chinese-linked surveillance cameras at sensitive buildings. Some U.S. states have banned vendors and products from several Chinese technology companies. “This is an issue and … we’re doing an assessment of all the technology for surveillance within the defense (department) and where those particular cameras are…

N.I.H. Leader Rebuts Covid Lab Leak Theory at House Hearing

Chin@Strategy

The suspicions revolve around $8 million in grants to EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that was collaborating on coronavirus research with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in the city where the pandemic began. Late last month, an internal federal watchdog agency found that the N.I.H. had made significant errors in its oversight of those grants. In a 64-page report, the Office of Inspector General at the federal Department of Health and Human Services outlined missed deadlines, confusing protocols and misspent funds — raising and reinforcing concerns about the government’s…

Chinese-made security cameras to be removed from Australian government buildings

Chin@Strategy

The federal government has committed to removing Chinese-made security cameras at government buildings across Australia, admitting there is a potential security problem that needs to be addressed. An audit of surveillance equipment, conducted by the shadow cybersecurity minister, James Paterson, has confirmed that more than 900 products built by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are installed at government locations. The US and the UK have already banned these products at government locations, with the US Federal Communications Commission warning of an “unacceptable risk to national security” due to possible espionage…

Downed balloon one of a ‘fleet’ of Chinese surveillance devices, US alleges

Chin@Strategy

China has a “fleet” of surveillance balloons of different shapes and sizes, which it has deployed over five continents, US officials have claimed. The allegations on Wednesday came as salvage work continued off the South Carolina coast for the debris from a high-altitude Chinese balloon a US jet fighter downed on Saturday after it had crossed the whole of the continental US. “We’re not alone in this,” said the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken. “We’ve already shared information with dozens of countries around the world both from Washington and…

US says downed Chinese balloon is part of surveillance plan developed over ‘several years’

Chin@Strategy

The unmanned balloon flying above American skies pointed to a “concerted effort” by China to develop its capability for additional surveillance assets over countries without their permission and knowledge, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “This is a programme that the Chinese have been working on for several years. They have been trying to improve it, and grow it, and increase it and to gain intelligence insight from it,” Kirby said at a press conference on Wednesday. [embedded content] “And the United States is not the only nation that…

Myanmar junta opens ‘nuclear information center’ in Yangon with Russia’s Rosatom

Chin@Strategy

Myanmar’s junta has established a “Nuclear Technology and Information Center” in cooperation with Russian energy firm Rosatom State Corp. in the country’s commercial capital Yangon, as part of what observers say is the regime’s long-running dream of obtaining nuclear weapons. The opening of the information center follows an agreement signed in September between the junta and Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation to jointly assess building a small reactor in Myanmar.  The junta announced at the time that it would use nuclear energy for civilian purposes, but Myanmar’s political opposition and…