The US and UK have imposed sanctions on individuals and groups that they say targeted politicians, journalists and critics of Beijing in an extensive cyber espionage campaign – allegedly operated by an arm of China’s ministry of state security. The scale of the operation was revealed on Monday, although some of the attacks have been previously reported on. On Tuesday, New Zealand blamed “state-sponsored” Chinese hackers for a 2021 cyber-attack that infiltrated sensitive government computer systems. Who is behind the cyber-attacks? Both the UK and US point the finger at…
Tag: US foreign policy
US resolution on Gaza ceasefire vetoed at UN by Russia and China
A US resolution urging a ceasefire in Gaza linked to a hostage deal has been vetoed by Russia and China in the UN security council, extending a five-month impasse in the international body over the Israel-Hamas war which has killed more than 32,000 people. Eleven council members voted for the resolution on Friday morning; Russia, China and Algeria voted against it and Guyana abstained. As permanent security council members the Russian and Chinese votes counted as vetoes. It was unclear on Friday morning whether there would be a further vote…
US faces ‘increasingly fragile world order’ amid Russia and China threat
US intelligence agencies have said the country faces an “increasingly fragile world order,” strained by great power competition, transnational challenges and regional conflicts, in a report released as agency leaders testified in the Senate. “An ambitious but anxious China, a confrontational Russia, some regional powers, such as Iran, and more capable non-state actors are challenging longstanding rules of the international system as well as US primacy within it,” the agencies said in their 2024 Annual Threat Assessment. The report largely focused on threats from China and Russia, the greatest rivals…
‘A 1939 moment’: Jim Sciutto on Russia, China and the threat of war
At CNN in Washington, Jim Sciutto’s dimly lit office is both man cave and shrine to a foreign correspondent who has reported from more than 50 countries. A typewriter he bought on Portobello Road during a decade in London. Photos he took in Afghanistan and Ukraine. A Vietnamese newspaper account of the time he rode over the South China Sea on a US spy plane. A corked bottle of water from his trip to the North Pole in a US nuclear submarine. A fragment of the Black Hawk helicopter destroyed…
China claims US ‘obsessed’ with suppressing Beijing – video
China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, has accused the US of imposing sanctions on Chinese companies to a ‘bewildering’ and ‘unfathomable’ level. Wang said the relationship between China and the US was ‘critical’ but that it was its relationship with Russia that would be deepened and strengthened in the coming months. He went on to accuse the US of failing to fulfil promises and said it was ‘obsessed’ with suppressing China as a global power. Relations between the US and China have thawed slightly since Xi Jinping met Joe Biden in…
China pledges to deepen Russia ties and criticises US ‘obsession’ with suppressing Beijing
China’s top foreign affairs official has accused the US of trying to suppress China and has vowed to deepen relations with Russia, as Beijing continues to assert the importance of what it calls a “multipolar” world order. Foreign minister Wang Yi accused the US of imposing sanctions on Chinese companies to a “bewildering” and “unfathomable” level, referencing Beijing’s opposition to “unilateralism and protectionism”, complaints that have become buzzwords in China’s official statements of late. Speaking on Thursday, Wang said the relationship between China and the US was “critical” but that…
US funding delays hurt the Pacific – but there are bigger worries | Terence Wesley-Smith and Gerard Finin
A delay by the US in providing crucial funding to Pacific Island nations is fuelling concern in the region – but questions about the competing visions held by the US and regional leaders are even more pressing. The funding is part of longstanding agreements the US has with three nations in the north Pacific, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Marshall Islands and Palau. The agreements, known as the Compacts of Free Association (Cofa), provide a range of assistance to these nations, including visa-free entry to the US, grant…
China hacking threatens US infrastructure, FBI director warns, as Volt Typhoon botnet foiled
US officials say they have disrupted a state-backed Chinese effort to plant malware that could damage civilian infrastructure, as the head of the FBI warned that Beijing was positioning itself to disrupt daily life in America were the US and China ever to go to war. The operation disrupted a botnet of hundreds of small office and home routers based in the US that were owned by private citizens and companies that had been hijacked by the Chinese hackers to cover their tracks as they sowed malware. Their ultimate targets…
Chinese and US officials meet in effort to stop flow of deadly fentanyl
American and Chinese officials met on Tuesday to discuss joint efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl into the US, a sign of cooperation as the two global powers try to manage their contentious ties. The two-day meeting was the first for a new counternarcotics working group. One focus of the talks was fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that is ravaging the US, and in particular ingredients for the drug that are made in China. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, agreed to restart cooperation in a handful of areas, including drug…
China’s human rights record criticised at UN as it faces rare scrutiny of policies
The UK, the US and several other countries criticised China’s human rights record on Tuesday as the country was subjected to rare scrutiny of its policies at the United Nations. The UK called on China to “cease the persecution and arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Tibetans and allow genuine freedom of religion or belief and cultural expression without fear of surveillance, torture, forced labour or sexual violence”, while the US said China should “release all arbitrarily detained individuals” and cease the operation of “forcible assimilation policies including boarding schools in…