SPIES HIRE CHINESE TEENS TO STEAL STATE SECRETS
The Ministry of State Security has warned that foreign agents are recruiting Chinese teens to collect sensitive information using "promising lucrative and simple part-time jobs." The agency said via social media that foreign intelligence agencies "package illegal activities and set traps" to manipulate and deceive minors into stealing state secrets. The teens were asked to take photos or collect information about military facilities. The ministry called for more "systematic education on national security" and warned teens not to expose personal details on social media. (South China Morning Post, December 6, 2024)
PARAGUAY EXPELS PRC DIPLOMAT FOR TAIWAN "INTERFERENCE"
Paraguay has canceled the visa of a low-level Chinese diplomat and ordered him to leave the country within 24 hours. Paraguay's Foreign Ministry accused Xu Wei of "interference in domestic affairs," and said he violated the terms of his visa when he used a UNESCO meeting to urge Paraguay to recognize China and cut ties with Taiwan because it would benefit the soy-producing nation. "Having diplomatic relations with China you can earn more. My purpose of this visit is to promote, accelerate the process of filling the gap in the map of Paraguay, that gap is gigantic, which is called the PRC," Xu said. (Nikkei Asia, December 6, 2024)
XI: CHINA SHOULD USE MANDARIN IN "BORDER AREAS"
Xi Jinping has called for the use of Mandarin Chinese and nationally unified textbooks in China's border regions. At a Politburo study session on the history of border governance, Xi called on party members to help ethnic minorities "continuously enhance their recognition of the Chinese nation, Chinese culture and the CPC." In recent years, authorities have stepped up efforts to promote Mandarin-language education as part of a nationwide drive to assimilate ethnic minorities into the majority Han culture. In 2020, efforts to promote the use of Mandarin rather than Mongolian in schools in Inner Mongolia sparked large-scale street protests (South China Morning Post, December 10, 2024)
CANADA SANCTIONS EIGHT PRC OFFICIALS, CITING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Canada has imposed sanctions and frozen the assets of eight senior PRC officials including Chen Quanguo, former Xinjiang party chief, and Wu Yingjie, former Tibet party chief, citing their involvement in systematic human rights violations. "Canada is deeply concerned over reports that China has arbitrarily detained more than 1 million people in Xinjiang since 2017, many of whom were held in camps and faced psychological, physical and sexual violence," the foreign ministry said. "We call on the Chinese government to put an end to this systematic campaign of repression and uphold its international human rights obligations," said Foreign Minister Melanie Joly. China said the decision "grossly" interfered in its internal affairs. (Reuters, December 11, 2024)
ACCUSED CHINESE SPIES PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN LONDON
Yuen Chung Biu and Wai Chi Leung pled not guilty to spying for Hong Kong's intelligence services at Central Criminal Court in London. They are charged with gathering information through surveillance, deception, and breaking into a UK address on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. Yuen, a former police officer in Hong Kong, had managed the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. Wai, who was a UK Border Force officer at Heathrow Airport and a constable for the London city police, is accused of searching the Home Office databases "available to him in his role as a public officer without any justification for doing so." Matthew Trickett, who also worked for the UK Border Force and was charged alongside Yuen and Wai, was found dead in a park in May while out on bail. (Nikkei Asia, December 12, 2024)
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe
