August 14:
Zimbabwe has failed to begin repaying $1.5 billon in loans to China, Zimbabwe’sIndependent reports. China, wary that Zimbabwe is not implementing deals signed between the two countries last year, has sent a team of experts from its National Development and Reform Commission to evaluate the "mega-deals" signed last August in Beijing. “The Chinese are worried about the leakages in government caused by lack of controls and bad corporate governance, hence their reluctance to release funds without instituting measures to protect their investment.” The Office of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is receiving “training” because of a “lack of competence," a Presidential spokesperson confirmed. Last year China’s Eximbank Bank provided the Harare City Council with $144.4 million for waterworks, but part of the money was used to purchase 50 top-of-the-line vehicles or “was misused and could not be accounted for.”
August 16:
Washington has warned Beijing against using secret agents in the United States to pressure Chinese expatriates wanted for corruption, the New York Times reports. The program, codenamed Operation Fox Hunt, is Beijing’s global campaign to find and repatriate Chinese fugitives and recover ill-gotten gains. Washington, angry about the use of intimidation tactics on U.S. soil, has demanded a halt to the activities. Since 2014, according to China’s Ministry of Public Security, scores of undercover agents have been dispatched around the globe and more than 930 suspects have been repatriated. The agents, who enter the U.S. on tourist or trade visas, and strong-arm fugitives to return to China, use threats against family members in China. Liu Dong, the director of Operation Fox Hunt, has said: “Our principle is thus: Whether or not there is an agreement in place, as long as there is information that there is a criminal suspect, we will chase them over there, we will take our work to them, anywhere.”
At a meeting on “ethnic work” Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has announced expanded “efforts to boost ethnic minority education,” the official Xinhua reports. Yu called on local governments in ethnic minority areas to stress education on “patriotism, ethnic unity and ‘socialist core values.’” During the meeting, Vice Premier Liu Yandong called for expanding its longstanding program of relocating Tibetan and Uighur students into boarding schools in predominantly Han areas.
August 18:
At least six Chinese nationals, including two from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, had been confirmed dead in a Bangkok explosion, the officialPLA Daily reports. The explosion rocked Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination in downtown Bangkok, leaving 20 people dead and more than 120 others injured. TheSydney Morning Herald reports that according to “police sources” “a revenge attack for the deportation of Uighur Muslims from Thailand to China has emerged as a key focus of investigations.”
At a meeting on “ethnic work” Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has announced expanded “efforts to boost ethnic minority education,” the official Xinhua reports. Yu called on local governments in ethnic minority areas to stress education on “patriotism, ethnic unity and ‘socialist core values.’” During the meeting, Vice Premier Liu Yandong called for expanding its longstanding program of relocating Tibetan and Uighur students into boarding schools in predominantly Han areas.
August 22:
For at least four years Chinese hackers have targeted Tibetan exile groups in India that Beijing views as a threat. The hackers sent phishing emails with attachments to over 100 victims, containing a script that when opened allowed them to infect and access computers. Hacks were detected in the run-up to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first state visit to China in April. They "also targeted Tibetan activists and others in Southeast Asia, with a focus on governmental, diplomatic, scientific and educational organizations," the South China Morning Post reports. "Malware attacks against ethnic minority groups in China including Tibetans and Uygurs, and religious groups such as Falun Gong, go back to at least 2002, and possibly earlier," according to the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab.