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☆ China is cracking down on weather stations it says are spying for foreign countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —China is cracking down on weather stations it says are spying for foreign countries, the latest measure in a broad counter-espionage campaign under leader Xi Jinping amid intensifying geopolitical tensions. Some stations were set up around sensitive sites such as military bases and defense companies to locate altitude and GPS data, the spy agency said. The authorities made the discovery after investigating more than 10 overseas meteorological equipment agents and inspecting more than 3,000 foreign-linked meteorological stations nationwide. “Meteorological data… is an integral part of data security and resource security. It’s closely linked to military, food, and ecological security, climate change, and public interests,” the Ministry of State Security said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, William Burns, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Ministry of State Security, Embassy, Twitter, United, China’s Ministry of State Security, CIA Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, United States, Washington

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday he will raise the plight of a detained democracy blogger with Chinese leaders during a state visit to China. Albanese said he had approved a draft letter to the sons of Yang Hengjun, who has been detained in China since 2019. Political Cartoons View All 1227 ImagesThey said they had just last week received the first letter Yang had been allowed to send from detention. Feng said Albanese becoming the first Australian prime minister in seven years to visit China created an opportunity for Yang. They hoped Australian authorities could “achieve a second miracle by saving our father.”Asked about Cheng’s case, Albanese told reporters: “Every case is ... different.”

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Albanese, Yang Hengjun, “, ” Albanese, Yang, ” Yang, Feng Chongyi, Feng, “ It’s, ” Feng, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Cheng Lei, Xi, Cheng, Yang’s, ” Organizations: —, China’s Ministry of State Security, China Locations: CANBERRA, Australia, China, Beijing, Shanghai, Indonesia

CNN —Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei has been released by China and returned home to her family, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Wednesday, more than three years after she was detained on opaque espionage charges. “We are pleased to confirm that Australian citizen Ms Cheng Lei has arrived safely home in Australia and has been reunited with her family,” Albanese said in a statement. Cheng had been on her way to work on the morning of August 13, 2020, when she was taken by China’s Ministry of State Security, according to her partner Nick Coyle. Her release follows the completion of legal process in China, according to the Australian statement. Shortly afterwards, China’s Ministry of State Security said in a statement that Cheng was deported Wednesday after completing her sentence.

Persons: Cheng Lei, Anthony Albanese, Ms Cheng Lei, ” Albanese, “, Cheng, CGTN, Nick Coyle, –, Wang Wenbin, Wang, ” Wang, Coyle, Cheng “, ”, ” “ Organizations: CNN, China’s Ministry of State Security, ”, China’s Foreign, Tullamarine, of Foreign Affairs, Trade Australian, Canberra, Observers, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Sky News Locations: China, Australia, Beijing, Melbourne, Australian, Sky News Australia, FreeChengLei

☆ Huawei wants to go all in on AI in first strategy update in a decade, says Meng Wanzhou
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s rotating chairwoman and chief financial officer, made the announcement in Shanghai during a company event. Huawei’s decision follows a similar move by fellow Chinese tech giant Alibaba (BABA), announced earlier this month, to prioritize AI. Hacking allegationsNews of Huawei’s strategic update came the same day the company was mentioned in allegations lodged by China against the United States. In 2019, Huawei was added to the US “entity list,” which restricts exports to select organizations without a US government license. In recent weeks, Huawei has added to US-China tensions again after launching a new smartphone that represents an apparent technological breakthrough.

Persons: Meng Wanzhou, Meng, “, China —, Ren Zhengfei, Mengchen Zhang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Huawei, Intelligence, Iran, US Department of Justice, China’s Ministry of State Security, United, US National Security Agency, NSA Locations: China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Canada, United States

☆ China to Its People: Spies Are Everywhere, Help Us Catch Them
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Vivian Wang | More About Vivian Wang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Beijing sees forces bent on weakening it everywhere: embedded in multinational companies, infiltrating social media, circling naïve students. Chinese universities require faculty to take courses on protecting state secrets, even in departments like veterinary medicine. A kindergarten in the eastern city of Tianjin organized a meeting to teach staffers how to “understand and use” China’s anti-espionage law. Its first post: a call for a “whole of society mobilization” against espionage. The country’s economy is facing its worst slowdown in years, but China’s authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping, appears more fixated on national security and preventing threats to the party’s control.

Persons: China’s, Xi Jinping Organizations: China’s Ministry of State Security, Communist Party Locations: Beijing, Tianjin

CNN —China’s civilian spy agency has exposed a Chinese national for allegedly providing sensitive military information to the CIA, the latest in a string of highly public espionage accusations between Washington and Beijing. Zeng was allegedly offered “a huge amount” of money and immigration to the US for his family, in exchange for sensitive information about the Chinese military, the statement said. China’s announcement about the alleged CIA spy came a week after two US Navy sailors in California were arrested for allegedly providing sensitive US military information to Chinese intelligence officers. China’s Ministry of State Security is a civilian agency that oversees intelligence and counterintelligence both within China and overseas. China’s military also has its own intelligence agency.

Persons: CNN —, Zeng, ”, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, CIA, China’s Ministry of State Security, US, FBI, China’s Communist Party, The New York Times Locations: Washington, Beijing, Italy, China, California, United States, Russia

CNN —Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei, who will have spent three years in detention in China as of Sunday, said in a rare message that she misses her family and life in Australia. Coyle told CNN the message had been dictated to diplomatic officers and shared with him. “I can’t believe I used to avoid the sun when I was living back in Australia,” Cheng’s message said. In her letter released Thursday, Cheng spoke fondly of her life in Australia, writing “I miss the Australian people.”“I remember camping for the first time with my family,” she writes. Coyle told CNN that he is only able to hear from Cheng after her consular visits, which happen once a month.

Persons: Cheng Lei, “, ”, Nick Coyle, FreeChengLei, Coyle, Cheng, ” Cheng, CGTN, ” Coyle Organizations: CNN, China’s Ministry of State Security, Australian Locations: China, Australia

☆ Cheng Lei: Family urges China to release Australian TV anchor detained for 1,000 days
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Friends and family of Australian television anchor Cheng Lei on Monday renewed calls for her release from detention in China, 1,000 days after she was held by authorities on espionage charges. Australian authorities have expressed concern about her detention amid suggestions from analysts that strained ties between Canberra and Beijing may have provided impetus for the opaque case against her. While there were still some Australian journalists working in China, all are employed by non-Australian media companies. Cheng’s two children are being cared for by their grandmother in Melbourne, Australian public broadcaster ABC reported at the time of her original detention. “For a mother not to see her children for 1000 days is excruciating.

When I first started investigating China’s top spy agency in 2020 for my book, “Spies and Lies: How China’s Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World,” I thought espionage was its main game. In October, the Justice Department charged 13 people with plotting to covertly advance China’s interests in the United States. Several of those charged are allegedly officers of China’s Ministry of State Security. I soon realized that the Ministry of State Security’s covert influence operations have been at the forefront of its work to shape the world. Many countries, including the United States, are working to combat espionage but lack laws suited to tackling covert influence operations.

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