China Reform Monitor: No. 1045

June 26:

The hacking group Anonymous has released the names, locations, birth dates, and partial phone numbers, of thirteen “high-level North Korean military cadres” residing in China. One is identified in Hebei, another in Shanxi, three in Henan, six are in Jilin Province (which borders North Korea), and the location of two are unknown. In comments carried by The Daily NK, an anonymous member explained that the group has “tens of thousands of important North Korean documents on things like missiles and weapons,” which it plans to release on the whistle-blowers’ site Wikileaks. The member also said Anonymous is prepared to open the North Korean cyberspace to “full Internet access,” and will do so based on “North Korea’s attitude.”

June 28:

Belarus’ President Alyaksandr Lukashenka wants China’s help to counter “U.S. attempts to maintain total global surveillance and desire to establish a global digital dictatorship.” Lukashenka, in comments carried by Russia’s Interfax news agency, said: “On our own, we are unable to counteract global technologies. In this sector we must increase cooperation with our allies, in the first place with China, which has succeeded in creating an effective protection system for the national cyberspace. In the near future I will discuss this issue with China’s leader.” Meanwhile, a PLA delegation led by Jia Ting’an, deputy director of the General Political Department, arrived in Belarus for talks with Defense Minister Yuryy Zhadobin, the official People’s Daily reports.

July 1:

The Republic of China (ROC-Taiwan), which already has two battalions and three squadrons dedicated to cyber security, has commissioned a fourth, adding 200 more personnel to its 3,000-strong force. ROC National Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu said the measure was taken to counter frequent and sophisticated mainland-based cyber attacks and promised more funds for cyber warfare. This year the ROC Defense Ministry’s Communications, Electronics and Information Division’s budget is $29.8 million, excluding “secret funds,” Kyodo news agency reports. In April ROC National Security Bureau Vice Director Chang Kuang-yuan said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began building its cyber capacity in 2002 and now has about 100,000 hackers.

July 2:

China’s national petition bureau, The State Bureau of Letters and Calls, will now allow citizens to file complaints online. The new website will help reduce the crush of petitioners flooding Beijing, while still taking complaints about abuses of power. Bureau chief Shu Xiaoqin said it allows users to register and monitor the progress of petitions and promised the bureau would review and reply to each one. One rights lawyer, told the South China Morning Post: “Petitioners problems cannot be solved through face-to-face dialogue, so I’m not optimistic about the website. Their problems would be more easily fixed if the country had a legal system that could earn the people’s trust.”

[Editor’s Note: Petitioners are often intercepted by their local governments and detained. Many are forced to sneak into Beijing, where they must elude local authorities seeking to send them home, beat them, or send them off to extralegal “black jails.”]

In Brunei Chinese officials accused 10 ASEAN countries of an anti-China conspiracy over the South China Sea. China singled out the Philippines, calling Manila a provocateur and threatened war. “It was hardly a display of Chinese diplomacy at its best,” said a Bangkok Post editorial, which continued: “Starting a discussion with a threat of violence seems unhelpful and Beijing knows that abject surrender by its six disputing fellow members is no option. It is ludicrous for Beijing, after its decades of diplomatic successes to now claim there is a conspiracy against China. Only one explanation seems logical. It is that China, once again, is attempting to gin up xenophobic nationalism. Beijing refuses to accept that any other country can feel as strongly over China Sea territory as China itself. Now they are including all ASEAN countries, including Thailand, in their attacks and threats. This is unacceptable. China should tone down the anger, approach the code-of-conduct talks with an open mind, and solve problems peacefully.”