NewzIntel.com

Category: China

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Kaspersky identifies SideWinder Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) expanding attacks with new espionage tool

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —

    The Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) has detected that the SideWinder APT group is expanding its attack operations into the Middle East and Africa, utilising a previously unknown espionage toolkit called ‘StealerBot’. As part of its ongoing monitoring of APT activities, Kaspersky (www.Kaspersky.co.za) discovered that recent campaigns by the SideWinder APT group were targeting high-profile entities and strategic infrastructures in various countries in the Middle East, Turkiye, as well as in Morocco and Djibouti in Africa. The campaign in general remains active and may target other victims.

    SideWinder, also known as T-APT-04 or RattleSnake, is one of the most prolific APT groups that started operations in 2012. Over the years, it has primarily targeted military and government entities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, and Nepal, as well as other sectors and countries in South and Southeast Asia. Recently, Kaspersky observed new waves of attacks, which have expanded to impact high-profile entities and strategic infrastructure in the Middle East and Africa.

    Besides the geographical expansion, Kaspersky discovered that SideWinder is using a previously unknown post-exploitation toolkit called ‘StealerBot’. This is an advanced modular implant designed specifically for espionage activities, and currently used by the group as the main post-exploitation tool.

    “In essence, StealerBot is a stealthy espionage tool that allows threat actors to spy on systems while avoiding easy detection. It operates through a modular structure, with each component designed to perform a specific function. Notably, these modules never appear as files on the system’s hard drive, making them difficult to trace. Instead, they are loaded directly into the memory. At the core of StealerBot is the ‘Orchestrator’, which oversees the entire operation, communicating with the threat actor’s command-and-control server, and coordinating the execution of its various modules”, says Giampaolo Dedola, lead security researcher at Kaspersky’s GReAT.

    During its latest investigation, Kaspersky observed that StealerBot is performing a range of malicious activities, such as installing additional malware, capturing screenshots, logging keystrokes, stealing passwords from browsers, intercepting RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) credentials, exfiltrating files, and more.

    Kaspersky first reported on the group’s activities in 2018. This actor is known to rely on spear-phishing emails as its main infection method, containing malicious documents exploiting Office vulnerabilities and occasionally making use of LNK, HTML and HTA files that are contained in archives. The documents often contain information obtained from public websites, which is used to lure the victim into opening the file and believing it to be legitimate. Kaspersky observed several malware families being used within parallel campaigns, including both custom-made and modified, publicly available RATs.

    To mitigate threats related to APT activities, Kaspersky experts recommend equipping your organisation’s information security experts with the latest insights and technical details, such as from Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Portal (https://apo-opa.co/4h4twjX); use robust solutions for endpoints and to detect advanced threats on the network, such as Kaspersky Next and Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack Platform; educate employees to recognise cybersecurity threats such as phishing letters.

    Read more on Securelist (https://apo-opa.co/4h5gQJA).

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI China: Any attempt to disrupt, undermine China-Pakistan cooperation bound to fail: joint statement

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Any attempt to disrupt, undermine China-Pakistan cooperation bound to fail: joint statement

    ISLAMABAD, Oct. 16 — The China-Pakistan relationship is of strategic significance, and any attempt to disrupt or undermine China-Pakistan cooperation is bound to fail, said a joint statement issued here on Tuesday during Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s official visit to Pakistan.

    China and Pakistan enjoy an all-level, across-the-board and high-quality relationship, said the statement.

    The Chinese side reiterated that the China-Pakistan relationship is a priority in its foreign relations. The Pakistani side underscored that the Pakistan-China relationship is the cornerstone of its foreign policy while the Chinese side highlighted that the China-Pakistan relationship is of special significance in China’s foreign policy.

    The two sides agreed to continue to deepen cooperation in various fields and accelerate efforts to build an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China, Pakistan to strengthen communication, coordination on Afghanistan issue

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    ISLAMABAD, Oct. 16 — China and Pakistan will strengthen communication and coordination on the issue of Afghanistan, said a joint statement issued here on Tuesday during Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s official visit to Pakistan.

    In the statement, both sides urged concerted efforts of the international community to encourage the Interim Afghan Government to build an inclusive political framework, adopt moderate policies and pursue good-neighborliness.

    The two sides also called for strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels to support Afghanistan in taking comprehensive measures to eradicate terrorism and called on the Interim Afghan Government to take visible and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist groups based in Afghanistan which continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global security, and to prevent the use of Afghan territory against its neighbors, the region, and beyond.

    They also agreed to play a constructive role in helping Afghanistan achieve stable development and integrate into the international community.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Xi visits Gu Wenchang memorial hall

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    FUZHOU, Oct. 16 — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Tuesday afternoon visited the Gu Wenchang memorial hall in Dongshan County during an inspection tour to Zhangzhou City, east China’s Fujian Province.

    Xi learnt about the inspiring deeds of Gu, a former Party chief of Dongshan, hailing him as an exemplary representative of the countless outstanding leading officials of the CPC.

    Xi urged officials to emulate his example in both personal conduct and governance, and work towards promoting local development during their time in office.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s countryside to have brighter prospect: Xi

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    FUZHOU, Oct. 16 — China’s countryside will surely have a brighter prospect and farmers will live a more prosperous life on the new journey in the new era, said Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

    Xi made the remarks Tuesday afternoon while inspecting Aojiao Village of Dongshan County in Zhangzhou City, east China’s Fujian Province.

    At the village pier, Xi looked over dried seafood and fishing harvest, and learned about local efforts to advance rural revitalization.

    Xi was here in 2001 when he worked in Fujian, and was delighted to see tremendous changes that had taken place in the village over the past 23 years.

    To promote rural revitalization, it is necessary to capitalize on advantages and make good use of local marine resources, he said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese premier calls for deepening SCO cooperation

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    ISLAMABAD, Oct. 16 — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday called for deepening and expanding cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

    He also urged the SCO member states to strengthen strategic alignment, actively respond to major risks, and expand personnel exchanges.

    Li made the remarks during the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the SCO.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Global travel and tourism deal activity down by 11% YoY during Q1-Q3 2024, finds GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Global travel and tourism deal activity down by 11% YoY during Q1-Q3 2024, finds GlobalData

    Posted in Business Fundamentals

    A total of 519 deals (comprising mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, and venture financing deals) were announced in the travel and tourism sector globally during January to September (Q1-Q3) 2024, which was a year-on-year (YoY) decline of 11% over 583 deals announced during the same period in the previous year, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database also revealed that the volume of M&A deals decreased by 6.8% during Q1-Q3 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, while the number of venture financing deals was down by 25.2% YoY. Meanwhile, private equity deals volume remained unchanged.

    Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The decline in global travel and tourism deal activity was mostly driven by a significant fall  in deals volume in some regions and countries, while deal activity remained relatively better for some other regions and countries. In fact, some regions and countries even showcased double-digit growth in deal volume, which seems to be an indication of improving deal-making sentiments.”

    North America, Asia-Pacific, and South and Central American regions experienced decline in deal volume by 36%, 7.7%, and 20% during Q1-Q3 2024 compared to Q1-Q3 2023. In contrast, Europe registered 10.3% YoY improvement in deal activity. Meanwhile, deal volume for the Middle East and African region mostly remained at the same level.

    Similarly, the trend across different countries also remained a mixed bag. The US, China, and France witnessed YoY decline in deal volume by 36.3%, 38.5%, and 42.9%, respectively, during Q1-Q3 2024, whereas India and Japan experienced respective deal volume improve by 24.3% and 38.1% YoY. Meanwhile, deal volume for the UK, South Korea, and Australia mostly remained at the same level.

    Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Autocratic nations are reaching across borders to silence critics – and so far nothing seems to stop them

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Francesca Lessa, Associate Professor in International Relations of the Americas, UCL

    Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati survived an assassination attempt outside his home in Wimbledon, south London, in late March 2024. Eighteen months earlier, the London-based independent television channel Iran International, for which Zeraati worked, had temporarily relocated to Washington DC over threats that they believe come from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

    Both incidents are examples of how it seems that a government can target an individual or organisation based outside their borders, with terrifying results.

    According to the latest research from the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenberg, 71% of the world’s population lived in autocracies in 2023 – ten years ago it was 48%. But what’s also new is that autocracies – as well as some other nations – are increasingly reaching across their borders to target people living abroad, enforcing the idea that they can reach their critics wherever they live.

    This kind of state action, taken outside national borders, is known as transnational repression, and is becoming more widespread. The Chinese government is seen as the biggest perpetrator, sometimes using violence to close down criticism or protests against its regime, held in other countries.

    Countries reaching across borders

    More than 20% of the world’s governments are believed to have taken this kind of action outside their borders in the past ten years. These included assassinations, abductions, assaults, detentions and unlawful deportations, according to the NGO Freedom House. These are aimed at forcibly silencing exiled political activists, journalists, former regime insiders and members of ethnic or religious minorities.
    In 2023, 125 such incidents were committed by 25 countries.

    While the majority of countries committing such practices tend to be autocracies, a number of democracies have also taken action across borders, including Israel, Hungary, India and Turkey, according to the report. In 2023, six countries engaged in these practices for the first time, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador and Yemen.



    Read more:
    Why the growing number of foreign agent laws around the world is bad for democracy

    Freedom House recorded 1,034 physical attacks between 2014 and 2023, committed by 44 governments in 100 target countries. China, Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia and Egypt are the most prolific perpetrators, with China accounting for a quarter of all incidents.

    This type of terror tactic can take many forms. Freedom House has noted that governments increasingly cooperated to help target exiled dissidents. In 74% of the incidents of transnational repression that took place in 2021, both the origin and the host countries were rated “not free” by Freedom House.

    Awareness of this type of cross-border action is growing. Both human rights groups and academics are now systematically tracking attacks. And several governments, including the US and Australia, have committed to taking action to combat these practices. A bill was introduced in the US Senate in 2023 to specifically tackle transnational repression by foreign governments in the US and abroad.

    I studied the increasing levels of cooperation in transnational repression by different nations in a recent article published in International Studies Quarterly. We look at why states, which are normally reluctant to collaborate, do so when it comes to silencing dissidents abroad.



    Read more:
    Continuing crackdown on churches and NGOs moves Nicaragua further from democracy to authoritarianism

    Historical lessons?

    There are historical parallels between what happened during Operation Condor in South America and what’s happening today. Operation Condor was a system that Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay started using in late 1975 with the backing of the US. It was aimed at persecuting exiles. Operation Condor was the most sophisticated, institutionalised and coordinated scheme ever established to persecute citizens who had been forced to flee their homeland.

    Journalist Pouria Zeraati was attacked.

    Three factors were found to explain why this form of repression was able to be used at the time and why countries agreed to cooperate.

    First, politically active exiled dissidents constituted a threat to the reputation and survival of South America’s ruling juntas. They successfully named and shamed the region’s military regimes, discrediting their international public images given the human rights violations perpetrated and resulting in the US cutting funding to Uruguay in 1976 and Argentina in 1977.

    Second, these autocracies, which came to power between 1964 and 1976, drew inspiration from the US National Security Doctrine and the French School of Counterinsurgency. In both, security was considered more important than human rights.

    The history of Operation Condor.

    Finally, two countries catalysed efforts to cooperate in this kind of action. Chile pushed for the formal creation of Operation Condor in 1975. Argentina then expanded it to include Brazil, Peru and Ecuador between 1976 and 1978. This significantly widened Operation Condor’s scope for action to most of South America.

    Why Operation Condor is relevant?

    Operation Condor was the only regional organisation to be created to hunt down political opponents across borders. Lessons from this historical experience are relevant today.

    Cooperation in transnational repression in the last few years also occurs in regional clusters, as shown by research by academics and human rights groups. These groups of nations include, for instance, Belarus, Russia and Tajikistan, as well as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

    In recent years these south-east Asian countries have closely collaborated to persecute, arbitrarily arrest and forcibly repatriate exiled activists and refugees, according to the media, the UN and international human rights NGOs.

    Second, one or more countries, predominantly Russia and Turkey, have worked together on efforts to repress critics over a significant period.

    Third, some regional organisations, of authoritarian nature, often enable cooperation in transnational repression, or at least create unsafe environments for migrating dissidents.

    The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Gulf Cooperation Council are examples, since they “have expanded their collective efforts against exiles”, according to some sources. SCO member states, especially Russia, China and Uzbekistan, have repeatedly used the organisation to pursue political opponents abroad and persecute them as criminals. This shows the organisation’s role as a platform for the diffusion and consolidation of authoritarian principles.

    Countries engaging in this kind of political repression today often wish to silence dissent wherever it occurs.

    These countries are acting in complete disregard of established principles of international law and international relations, such as sovereignty and the protection of refugees, and seem to be expanding their operations. It remains to be seen if there’s anything that the rest of the international community can do to reverse this terrifying trend, but at least it has started trying.

    Francesca Lessa’s projects “Operation Condor” and “Plancondor.org” received funding from the University of Oxford John Fell Fund, The British Academy/Leverhulme Trust, the University of Oxford ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, the European Commission under Horizon 2020, the Open Society Foundations, and UCL Public Policy through Research England’s QR-PSF funding. Lessa is also the Honorary President of the Observatorio Luz Ibarburu, a network of human rights NGOs in Uruguay.

    – ref. Autocratic nations are reaching across borders to silence critics – and so far nothing seems to stop them – https://theconversation.com/autocratic-nations-are-reaching-across-borders-to-silence-critics-and-so-far-nothing-seems-to-stop-them-233037

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Huawei Launches Fully-Upgraded Xinghe Intelligent Network Offerings for Markets Outside China to Accelerate Industrial Digitalization and Intelligence Oct 16, 2024

    Source: Huawei

    Headline: Huawei Launches Fully-Upgraded Xinghe Intelligent Network Offerings for Markets Outside China to Accelerate Industrial Digitalization and Intelligence
    Oct 16, 2024

    [Dubai, UAE, October 16, 2024] During GITEX GLOBAL 2024, Huawei announced its fully-upgraded Xinghe Intelligent Network Solution and more than 20 all-new AI network products for markets outside China at the IP Club Carnival themed “Xinghe Intelligent Network, Accelerate Industrial Digitalization and Intelligence”. These purpose-built offerings help enterprise customers of all sizes to accelerate their digital and intelligent transformation.
    In the opening address, Leon Wang, President of Huawei Data Communication Product Line, Huawei, said, “Nowadays, AI is becoming a key driver of digital economic growth, bringing huge opportunities for new value creation. The global digital and intelligent wave drives networks to further innovate and take on four unique features, namely, providing ubiquitous connections, unleashing computing power potential, transmitting massive data efficiently and securely, and assuring application experience. Let’s explore how to accelerate innovation and work together to advance intelligence.”
    Leon Wang, President of Data Communication Product Line, Huawei, delivering a speech

    Yury Yin, Vice President of Data Communication Product Line, Huawei, said, “All industries ramp up intelligent transformation, driving network evolution towards the AI ecosystem. As such, Huawei Xinghe Intelligent Network focuses on intelligent innovation and lays a next-generation foundation featuring optimal application experience assurance, automatic precise traffic scheduling, ultra-high resilience and stability, and high-security ubiquitous protection. All of these help enterprises worldwide to seize new development opportunities and amplify industrial intelligence.”
    Yury Yin, Vice President of Data Communication Product Line, Huawei, giving a speech

    Leon Wang, President of Data Communication Product Line, Huawei; Vincent Liu, President of Global Enterprise Network Marketing & Solution Sales Department, Huawei, Charles Shen, Vice President of Middle East & Central Asia ICT Marketing & Solution Sales Department, Huawei, and Naveed Tahir, CTO of Pakistan Higher Education Commission, then jointly launched Huawei’s fully-graded Xinghe Intelligent Network Solution and all-new products.
    Featured offerings include:
    Xinghe Intelligent Campus: Huawei’s full range of Wi-Fi 7 APs enable no rate limiting for terminals and full wireless coverage without blind spots on the campus network. Furthermore, AI-enabled, experience-centric campus network construction ensures zero freezing for audio and video applications and zero degradation on services.
    Xinghe Intelligent Fabric: The network digital map enables converged management of network and security devices and accelerates service rollout on the current day. Moreover, AI algorithms are used to model the quality of application experience, proactively identify deteriorating application experience, and demarcate faults in minutes. Moreover, superfast switchovers at three levels (link, device, and network levels), unique in the industry, ensure ultra-reliable and ultra-stable network services.
    Xinghe Intelligent WAN: Intelligent technologies are introduced to accurately identify applications, intelligently schedule millions of flows, and precisely optimize experience. Beyond this, intelligent O&M agents draw on the massive historical experience database to proactively analyze and predict potential network risks and automatically rectify 90% faults in minutes.
    Xinghe Intelligent Network Security: AI is integrated into network security detection. Specifically, 18 small AI models are used to identify threats accurately and quickly, achieving as high as 91% accuracy in detecting unknown threats. Additionally, AI models are embedded into security devices to achieve AI inference in microseconds, ensuring robust security and ultimate experience.
    Industry-specific solutions: Huawei’s tailor-made solutions are ideal for diverse industries, such as public services, finance, energy, education, transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare, to meet their differentiated needs and stride towards the intelligent era.
    As all industries accelerate their digital and intelligent transformation, Huawei and the IEEE UAE Section jointly kicked off the “Imagine Wi-Fi 7” program. As announced at this IP Club Carnival, the “Imagine Wi-Fi 7” Program (Season 2) was successfully concluded. Prof. Hussain Al Ahmad, Chair of the IEEE UAE Section, Jason He, President of Huawei Global Enterprise Data Communication Marketing & Solution Sales Department, and Shawn Zhao, President of the Campus Network Domain at Huawei Data Communication Product Line, presented awards to outstanding winners.
    Another notable announcement was the “Discover Huawei SASE” Program for the Middle East and Central Asia Region. Moreover, industry pioneers from the security sector shared their first experience with Huawei Xinghe Intelligent SASE Solution. While experiencing real-world use cases, they also earned plenty of IP Club bonus points.
    Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to innovate and help customers build leading network infrastructure needed to accelerate their digital and intelligent journey. Doing so will help customers around the world stride into the digital–intelligence era and reap greater business value.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group Returns to San Diego After 9-month Deployment

    Source: United States Navy

    TRCSG is a multiplatform team of ships, aircraft, and more than 6,000 Sailors, capable of carrying out a wide variety of missions around the globe. Deploying units of the strike group include Theodore Roosevelt, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 23, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11, and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70). While the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Russell (DDG 59), USS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) also returned to their respective home ports, Lake Erie and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) remain deployed in the 7th Fleet area of operations supporting global maritime security operations.

    TRCSG deployed to the Indo-Pacific region to support regional security and stability, keep sea lanes open, and to reassure our allies and partners of the U.S. Navy’s unwavering commitment to the region. The strike group was later ordered to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to strengthen U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.

    “The strike group’s ability to quickly adjust from operations in 7th Fleet to 5th Fleet is a testament to both the flexibility of our naval forces as well as the strength and training of our Navy Sailors,” said Commander, Carrier Strike Group 9, Rear Adm. Christopher Alexander. “We had the distinct honor to strengthen our skills and relationships with 10 allied and partner nations, demonstrating our nation’s commitment to the freedom of navigation.”

    The TRCSG strengthened interoperability through dual carrier operations with the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, participation in exercise Valiant Shield 2024, and numerous bilateral and multilateral maritime exercises in the Philippine and South China seas as well as in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

    Notable key leader engagements and visits aboard Theodore Roosevelt included the president of the Republic of Korea, chief of naval operations for the Republic of Korea Navy, lieutenant governor of Guam, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, U.S. 7th Fleet commander, Republic of Singapore Navy fleet commander, U.S. ambassadors to the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Qatar, and senior officers from the armed forces of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Republic of Korea and Royal Thai Navy, among others.

    The deployed Sailors from the TRCSG demonstrated their proficiency in enhanced maritime security operations through more than 9,000 sorties including 21,000 flight hours, 28 replenishments-at-sea, and more than 71,000 nautical miles traveled.

    Ships of the TRCSG conducted routine port visits to Bahrain, Diego Garcia, Guam, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

    “The crew worked incredibly hard and maintained mission focus this entire deployment,” said Capt. Brian Schrum, commanding officer, Theodore Roosevelt. “I am extremely proud of our Sailors and the work accomplished across the world’s oceans to keep our nation safe at home.”

    CVW 11 consisted of nine squadrons: the “Blue Blasters” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 34, the “Fist of the Fleet” of VFA-25, the “Flying Checkmates” of VFA-211, the “Black Knights” of VFA-154, the “Liberty Bells” of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 115, the “Rooks” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 137, the “Wolf Pack” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75, the “Eightballers” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 and the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40.

    As an integral part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet operates naval forces in the Indo-Pacific and provides the realistic and relevant training necessary to execute the U.S. Navy’s timeless role across the full spectrum of military operations—from combat missions to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. U.S. 3rd Fleet works in close coordination with other numbered fleets to provide commanders with capable, ready forces to deploy forward and win in day-to-day competition, in crisis, and in conflict.

    For more information about Carrier Strike Group 9 and USS Theodore Roosevelt visit https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/ccsg9/ and https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/COMCARSTRKGRU-9; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usstheodoreroosevelt

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI China: China intensifies emergency food supply amid increasing extreme weather events

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    BEIJING, Oct. 16 — China has reinforced its emergency food supply in response to increasing extreme weather events and natural disasters, an official said Wednesday.

    With over 1,200 grain market information monitoring stations established nationwide, the country is tracking changes in grain inventories, prices and sales to ensure that risks are promptly identified, Liu Huanxin, head of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, said during an interview with Xinhua.

    All food authorities at the provincial, municipal and county levels have developed contingency plans, while over 59,000 emergency food supply outlets have been put into use nationwide, Liu said.

    He noted that despite global food market fluctuations in recent years, China’s food prices have remained relatively stable thanks to consecutive bumper harvests, sufficient inventories and effective market regulatory measures.

    The country will continue to improve its minimum grain purchase price policy and make full use of its grain reserves to guarantee adequate supply and stable prices, Liu added.

    With a population of over 1.4 billion, China has made food security one of its top priorities. Its annual grain output has maintained above 650 million tonnes for nine consecutive years. The country is now fully self-sufficient in wheat and rice, its two staple grains.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: 6 killed, 43 injured in Israeli airstrike on municipal building in S. Lebanon

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    Six people, including the mayor, were killed, and 43 others wounded on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting the buildings of the Nabatieh Municipality in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese medical and military sources.

    The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that an Israeli warplane fired four air-to-ground missiles at the Nabatieh Municipality building and the building of the Union of Municipalities, killing the mayor, Ahmad Kahil, and a number of municipality members, injuring several others, and destroying the infrastructure.

    The Civil Defense teams, the Lebanese Red Cross, and the Islamic Health Authority are working to remove the rubble of the two buildings and search for missing persons, the sources said.

    Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack, saying it deliberately targeted a meeting of the municipal council discussing the city’s service and relief situation.

    The new “aggression” conveys the message that “the international community should act immediately instead of remaining silent about Israeli crimes,” Mikati said.

    Meanwhile, Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants announced on Wednesday that it had filed a new complaint with the UN Security Council regarding the Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the period Oct. 3-14.

    This is part of the periodic complaints submitted by the ministry through the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN headquarters in New York to document the Israeli offensive and pressure the international community and the Security Council to act to stop it.

    Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been conducting intensive airstrikes on Lebanon in a sharp escalation with Hezbollah.

    The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict on Oct. 8, 2023 has reached 2,350, while injuries went up to 10,906, Health Ministry figures showed on Tuesday.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China to work with all parties to achieve goal of nuclear weapon-free world: spokesperson

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said China is willing to work with all parties to continue efforts towards the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons and achieving the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

    On Oct. 16, 1964, China successfully detonated its atomic bomb and announced on the same day that it would pursue the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances.

    In response to a related query, spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing that “history and reality have proven that the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons helps to enhance strategic trust, promote the process of nuclear disarmament, effectively reduce strategic risks, and foster global strategic balance and stability.”

    Over the past 60 years, the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons is increasingly becoming an important consensus and priority in the field of international arms control, Mao noted, adding that this year, China submitted a working paper on the No-first-use of Nuclear Weapons Initiative to the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the Eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Over 1.4 mln DPRK youngsters apply to join army following drone incursion incident: report

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    More than 1.4 million youngsters in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) applied to join or rejoin the military earlier this week, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.

    More than 1.4 million youth league officials and youth and students across the country volunteered to join or rejoin the army on Oct. 14 and 15, said the KCNA, following an alleged South Korean drone infiltration into Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK.

    The DPRK called the drone incident “a serious provocation of violating its sovereignty.”

    The DPRK’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement late last Friday accusing South Korea of sending drones over Pyongyang. The South Korean military has denied the accusation.

    In the latest sign of the heightened tensions between the two countries, the DPRK military blew up parts of the Gyeongui and Donghae lines north of the Military Demarcation Line on Tuesday, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

    The DPRK has yet to respond to the road explosion claim.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China reports home appliance sales surge under trade-in program

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China’s ongoing trade-in program for home appliances has led to a surge in sales revenues which topped 69.09 billion yuan (9.7 billion U.S. dollars) since August, the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed Wednesday.

    As of Oct. 15, around 10.13 million consumers have benefited from the program for which the central government has provided more than 13.17 billion yuan in subsidies for consumers, the MOC said.

    MOC data showed that green and smart home appliances are favored by consumers, with products labeled with top-level energy efficiency accounting for more than 90 percent of the sales revenues during the period.

    Regions such as Hubei Province, Chongqing and Shanghai municipalities, and the city of Shenzhen have expanded the categories of home appliances eligible for subsidies according to local conditions, incorporating green and intelligent products such as sweeping robots, dishwashers, air purifiers, and unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry said.

    In the next step, the ministry will continue to encourage various regions to speed up the implementation of subsidy policies and guide home appliance manufacturers as well as distribution companies to seize the consumption boom periods such as the Double Eleven online shopping festival to boost consumption under the trade-in program, it said.

    The Double Eleven online shopping festival, also known as the Singles’ Day shopping festival, is a Chinese version of Black Friday when discounts and sales promotions are usually offered for consumers in the month of November.

    In a significant push to stimulate consumer spending, China has rolled out an expansive trade-in policy across multiple sectors since August.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: FACT SHEET: U.S. Achievements in the Global Fight Against  Corruption

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Corruption poses a grave and enduring threat to U.S. national interests and those of our partners. When officials abuse their entrusted power for personal or political gain, the interests of authoritarians and corrupt actors win – at the expense of citizens, honest businesses, and healthy societies. As the Biden-Harris Administration took office, this longstanding challenge had metastasized. In some countries, oligarchs were teaming up with foreign kleptocrats to warp policy and procurement decisions in exchange for kickbacks – with no accountability. Corrupt officials were laundering stolen assets through the U.S. and global financial systems, while local investigators were ill-equipped to follow the money. Reformers in countries saddled with corruption had scarce public resources to actually address development needs. The Biden-Harris Administration tacked these challenges starting Day One, to ensure democracy delivers and corrupt actors are held to account.
    The first National Security Study Memorandum of the Biden-Harris Administration established countering corruption as a “core U.S. national security interest,” leading to the issuance in December 2021 of the first United States Strategy on Countering Corruption. Since then, the United States has taken action at home and around the world to curb illicit finance, hold corrupt actors accountable, forge multilateral partnerships, and equip frontline leaders to take on transnational corruption. The result has been historic progress in protecting the U.S. financial system from money-laundering, including in the residential real estate sector, while enhancing corporate transparency. This Administration has mobilized record levels of foreign assistance dedicated to anti-corruption, including $339 million in Fiscal Year 2023 alone – almost double the yearly average during the previous four years. This new assistance has unlocked support for anti-corruption institutions, leveled the playing field for law-abiding businesses, enabled journalists to team up across borders, and more. Expanded law enforcement cooperation and capacity-building have generated convictions of corrupt actors as well as the seizure, forfeiture, and return of criminal proceeds, while new anti-corruption offices at the Department of State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) energized diplomatic and stakeholder engagement. The United States imposed sanctions on more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, and established – for the first time in any jurisdiction globally – a new visa restriction for those who enable corrupt activity.
    U.S. progress on anti-corruption has produced concrete benefits for the American people and stakeholders around the world – enhancing prosperity, economic security, safety, and democracy, as outlined below. To bolster and sustain this work, the U.S. government has also modernized its approach to addressing corruption as a cross-cutting priority. Today, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh will highlight the benefits of this work to American businesses and workers at a White House anti-corruption roundtable with leaders from 15 major U.S. companies.
    Advancing economic opportunity abroad
    Improving the business enabling environment: U.S. assistance advanced governments’ capacity to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute corruption, while encouraging anti-bribery compliance. State expanded its Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund – to help willing partners improve budget transparency – while holding countries to account for progress in its Fiscal Transparency Report. In the past two years alone, a newly expanded State-Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) program facilitated U.S. collaboration with foreign counterparts on more than 50 transnational corruption and money laundering cases with a U.S. nexus. In coordination with State, experienced legal advisors from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) assisted foreign justice partners around the world in investigating and prosecuting corruption and money laundering cases, and recovering assets. And DOJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, in partnership with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, has recovered more than $1.7 billion and returned or assisted in returning more than $1.6 billion for the benefit of the people harmed by the corruption.
    Enforcing our bans on foreign bribery and money-laundering – and pressing other countries to do the same: To enable honest companies to compete overseas, the United States upheld its commitments under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention by enforcing its foreign bribery and related laws and working with partners to monitor other countries’ progress in implementing the Convention, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024. Since the start of the Administration, DOJ has imposed more than $3.5 billion in total monetary sanctions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) in 16 corporate resolutions, and announced charges against more than 70 individuals. For instance, this April the former Comptroller General of Ecuador was convicted of money laundering relating to his receipt of over $10 million in bribes from, among others, the Brazil-based construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. The Securities and Exchange Commission continued civil enforcement of the FCPA, with approximately $1 billion in total monetary sanctions in 22 corporate resolutions, spanning conduct in 24 countries, since the start of the Administration. DOJ is also enforcing the recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, which criminalizes demands for bribes by foreign officials from U.S. companies and others. In addition, this August DOJ announced a new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to uncover and prosecute corporate crime – with a particular focus on foreign and domestic corruption, as well as violations by financial institutions of their obligations to take steps to detect and deter money laundering.
    Seizing windows of opportunity: U.S. assistance has become more agile via the establishment of USAID’s Anti-Corruption Response Fund (providing flexible support to countries experiencing new opportunities or backsliding), the State-DOJ Global Anti-Corruption Rapid Response Fund (providing assistance and case mentoring to foreign partners on short notice), and USAID’s Democracy Delivers initiative (which has marshalled $500 million in funding from the United States and others to help reformers deliver, including on their anti-corruption commitments). These innovations, informed by USAID’s Dekleptification Guide, are enabling the U.S. government to more nimbly pivot toward environments where local momentum can be bolstered by outside assistance.
    Bolstering integrity in high-risk sectors: In April 2024, the United States and its partners launched the Blue Dot Network – a mechanism to certify infrastructure projects that have met global standards for quality and sustainability, including transparency in procurement and provisions to limit opportunities for corruption. The United States also supported the launch of PROTECT, a collective action project to address corruption risk in the supply chain for critical minerals.
    Strengthening corruption safeguards in the Indo-Pacific: In June, the United States and thirteen other partners held a signing ceremony, after concluding eight rounds of negotiations in record time, for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Fair Economy Agreement. The Agreement aims to create a more transparent, predictable trade and investment environment across IPEF partners’ markets, including through binding obligations to prevent and combat corruption. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) and State are accelerating implementation by offering new anti-corruption technical assistance to IPEF partners, including workshops on procurement corruption.
    Dialoguing with the private sector: In 2021, State launched the Galvanizing the Private Sector as Partners in Combatting Corruption initiative, which connects companies and governments to strengthen business integrity and encourage governance reform. Commerce’s International Trade Administration organized the 2024 forum of the Business Ethics for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises Initiative – the world’s largest public-private partnership on ethical business conduct – at which stakeholders formalized policy recommendations on business integrity in public procurement.
    Protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse
    Expanding corporate transparency: To deter kleptocrats and criminals from laundering money through anonymous shell companies, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) operationalized a new filing system for certain companies operating in the United States to report their beneficial owners – the real people who own or control them – pursuant to the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act. Treasury held hundreds of outreach events across all states and territories, reaching thousands of stakeholders, to enable companies to quickly and easily comply with this reporting requirement.
    Closing loopholes for money-laundering: Treasury finalized rules to close two major loopholes in the U.S. financial system: (1) to increase transparency in the U.S. residential real estate sector, to ensure that law-abiding homebuyers are not disadvantaged by individuals laundering their ill-gotten gains, and (2) to safeguard the investment adviser industry from illicit finance. Treasury also proposed a rule to modernize financial institutions’ anti-money-laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs, to make them more effective and risk-based. Together, these rulemakings represent historic advances for the U.S. AML/CFT regime, in line with international standards, that will help the United States urge other countries to undertake similar reforms to curb illicit finance. The Biden-Harris Administration has also called on Congress to close even more loopholes that facilitate money-laundering by passing the ENABLERS Act.
    Blocking assets and denying entry to corrupt actors: Since the start of the Administration, Treasury has designated more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, across six continents. That includes blocking the assets of 20 individuals and 48 companies in Fiscal Year 2024 for corruption in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Guyana, Paraguay, Western Balkans, and Zimbabwe. In tandem, State publicly issued corruption-related visa restrictions for 76 foreign officials and family members in Fiscal Year 2024, and 292 over the course of the Administration. These actions have protected the U.S. financial system from corrupt actors and promoted accountability in domestic jurisdictions. For example, just one week after the U.S. issuance of a public visa restriction on former Director of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Intelligence Services Osman Mehmedagic for significant corruption, he was arrested by BiH authorities for abuse of office.
    Taking aim at enablers of corruption: In December 2023, President Biden issued an historic Presidential Proclamation establishing a visa restriction for those who facilitate and enable significant corruption and their immediate family members. This new visa restriction complements existing commitments to use sanction and law enforcement capabilities to target private enablers of public corruption. Earlier this year, the FBI and DOJ secured a guilty plea and a criminal penalty of $661 million from Gunvor – one of the largest commodities trading firms in the world – for facilitating bribery of Ecuadorian officials and laundering those bribes through U.S. banks. In addition, USAID launched new activities to incentivize integrity within professions that serve as gatekeepers to the international financial system.
    Upholding international standards: The United States has helped lead efforts to expand anti-corruption work at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), including improving assessment tools, mitigating risks associated with “golden passport” programs, and highlighting how non-financial sectors can be abused by corrupt actors.
    Keeping America and our partners safe
    Addressing corruption risk in the security sector: Security sector corruption can divert essential supplies, empower malign actors, threaten the safety of U.S. service members, and undermine U.S. military missions writ large. In the past year, the Department of Defense (DOD) incorporated corruption risk into its security cooperation planning – subjecting certain proposals to further scrutiny and identifying risk mitigation measures as needed. State also created new resources to weigh corruption risk as part of security sector assistance decision-making. In addition, State’s Global Defense Reform Program and DOD’s institutional capacity building programs advanced more transparent, accountable, and professional defense institutions. DOD continued running a training course on combatting corruption for partner military commanders and civilian leaders.
    Tackling organized crime and corruption: Transnational criminal organizations often rely on corruption to enable their criminal activities and evade accountability – which fuels narcotrafficking into the United States, human smuggling, cybercrimes, and more. The U.S. government is deploying anti-corruption tools to target criminal networks and their financial enablers, in line with the 2023 White House Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.
    Standing up to Russia’s aggression: The United States has adapted to address the wartime needs of Ukraine’s anti-corruption stakeholders, as they close off a key vector for Russian dominance and advance Ukraine’s democratic future. In 2023, Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators and prosecutors achieved an 80 percent increase in prosecutions and a 50 percent increase in convictions, plus opened cases against high-ranking officials including the former head of the Ukrainian Supreme Court.  With U.S. support, Ukraine has advanced significant reforms on asset disclosure, launched a whistleblower portal, strengthened the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and enhanced transparency and integrity in reconstruction.
    Securing a greener future: The United States has integrated an anti-corruption lens across sectors, with particular emphasis on addressing corruption vulnerabilities that threaten a secure, just energy transition for all. This includes USAID support to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), increased mining transparency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and innovations that address transnational corruption in green energy mineral supply chains across 15 countries.
    Protecting global health: Corruption curtails the ability of states to respond to pandemics and undercuts access to basic healthcare. USAID is tackling this challenge by releasing cutting-edge guidance on anti-corruption in the health sector and launching integrated programming. For example, in Liberia the United States is working with the government to curb theft of pharmaceuticals through civil society monitoring, law enforcement trainings, and public awareness campaigns.
    Addressing the root causes of migration: Combating corruption is a core component of improving conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – so people do not feel compelled to leave their homes, in line with the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America. Recent U.S. actions have included training up to 27,000 justice sector stakeholders in those countries to more effectively address corruption.
    Defending democracy by rooting out corruption
    Tackling electoral corruption: When candidates can be bankrolled by foreign adversaries and institutions captured by kleptocrats, citizens lose faith in their governments—or even in democracy itself. In response, USAID has launched new programs to bolster electoral integrity, strengthen independent media, and increase the transparency of political finance in high-risk locations.
    Lifting up civil society and independent media: The U.S. government has substantially expanded support to frontline activists and journalists, including through the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium. In addition, a new State Department initiative is training hundreds of journalists in transnational corruption investigations, while USAID’s new investigative journalist networks in Asia and Southern Africa are building capacity to track corruption across sectors and across borders. The Secretary of State established a new award for Anti-Corruption Champions, which has honored dozens of courageous civil society leaders and embattled reformers. In 2022, the United States also hosted the largest regular gathering of civil society activists fighting corruption – the International Anti-Corruption Conference – in Washington, DC, with keynote remarks from APNSA Jake Sullivan.
    Protecting sovereignty: Authoritarian actors like Russia and the PRC use bribery to interfere in the policy, procurement, debt, and electoral processes of other countries – undermining both sovereignty and democracy. The United States is standing up to this tactic by building the resilience of frontline actors to detect and deflect foreign-backed strategic corruption, educating partners about the kleptocrats’ playbook, harnessing sanction tools to deter threats, and increasing collaboration between practitioners working on anti-corruption and those addressing foreign malign influence – both within the USG and with likeminded partners. For example, in June the United States joined with Canada and the UK to expose Russia’s use of corruption and covert financing, among other tactics, to undermine democratic processes in Moldova.
    Restoring trust in American democracy: The Biden-Harris Administration has established the strongest ethics standards of any U.S. presidency. On his first day in office, the President signed an Executive Order requiring administration officials to take a stringent ethics pledge, which extends lobbying bans, limits shadow lobbying, and makes ethics waivers more transparent. The Administration also restored longstanding democratic norms by protecting DOJ cases from political interference, releasing the President’s and Vice-President’s taxes, and voluntarily disclosing White House visitor logs. And in the last year, the Office of Government Ethics finalized rules updating the standards for ethical conduct and legal expense funds for executive branch employees.
    Protecting American democracy from malign finance: Just as we defend democracy around the world, the U.S. government is working to keep American democracy safe from foreign adversaries. Actions to curb money laundering in the United States can help reduce the ability of foreign and domestic actors to make illegal campaign contributions and evade U.S. election laws. President Biden has called on Congress to go even further by passing the DISCLOSE Act, which would curb the ability of foreign entities and special interests to use dark money loopholes to influence our elections.
    Revitalizing participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP): The United States rejoined the Steering Committee of OGP – a platform for civil society and governments to forge joint commitments and learn from each other– and provided assistance for OGP’s work on anti-corruption. Domestically, the United States has turbocharged OGP implementation by creating the U.S. Open Government Secretariat at the General Services Administration, an Open Government Federal Advisory Committee, an Interagency Community of Practice – spanning federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and engaged with hundreds of stakeholders to exchange lessons and expand transparency, accountability, and public participation. The United States also launched the first-ever Request for Information to feed into the 6th U.S. OGP National Action Plan and announced development of a toolkit to help federal agencies more meaningfully engage with the public.
    Modernizing and coordinating U.S. government efforts to fight corruption
    Institutionalizing anti-corruption as an enduring priority: Over the past four years, Departments and Agencies have made substantial organizational improvements to elevate corruption concerns. For example:
    The State Department’s new Office of the Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption leads the integration of anti-corruption priorities into bilateral and other policy processes, conducts targeted diplomatic engagements, and drives strategic planning, including through the Department’s senior-level Anti-Corruption Policy Board. In the past year, the Office jumpstarted implementation of the Combating Global Corruption Act and completed an analysis of anti-corruption assistance to inform future State Department decision-making.
    USAID’s new Anti-Corruption Center, within the newly established Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, serves as a hub of technical expertise and thought leadership – driving the integration of corruption considerations across USAID’s portfolio, supporting USAID Missions in developing localized approaches, managing a suite of programming focused on transnational corruption, and using its convening power and policy insights to forge strategic partnerships. Since 2022, USAID has released its first-ever Anti-Corruption Policy, which outlines a cross-sectoral approach to constraining opportunities for corruption, raising the costs of corruption, and incentivizing integrity – plus a host of tools to drive uptake across USAID.
    FBI’s International Corruption Unit expanded an agreement with the State Department to deploy six regional anti-corruption advisors to strategic locations around the world, where they organize regional working groups with local law enforcement officials, provide case-base mentorship, and facilitate coordination with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre.

    Expanded interagency capacity has been complemented by the National Security Council’s establishment of a dedicated Director for Anti-Corruption position, for the first time, to ensure whole-of-government coordination and advance anti-corruption within key policy processes.
    Leading in multilateral fora: The United States has regained its leadership role in the international bodies that shape anti-corruption norms globally and can sustain momentum across time. In particular, the United States stepped into the presidency of the UN Convention against Corruption Conference of States Parties (UNCAC COSP), proudly hosting in December 2023 thousands of stakeholders in Atlanta, Georgia, led by the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. As part of its commitment to championing the role of non-governmental actors in the fight against corruption, the United States facilitated record civil society participation in UNCAC working group meetings, hosted the first UNCAC Private Sector Forum, and supported inclusive implementation of UNCAC commitments in Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. The United States also participated in several peer reviews of our own anti-corruption practices over the last three years, and proudly made these results public. Alongside these multilateral fora, we convened the Global Forum on Asset Recovery action series to accelerate practitioner cooperation across the United States, Algeria, Honduras, Iraq, Moldova, Nigeria, Seychelles, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Zambia.
    Understanding corruption dynamics: The Intelligence Community developed and disseminated new resources to bolster intelligence prioritization, collection and analysis on corrupt actors and their networks. USAID commissioned research on topics like countering corruption through social and behavioral change and State initiated an interagency anti-corruption learning agenda and a small grants program to support it.
    Deepening external partnerships: The United States convened a series of coordination meetings with other bilateral donors and philanthropies in order to harmonize our anti-corruption approaches and galvanized anti-corruption resources across the donor community through the Integrity for Development campaign. USAID’s Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development brought together technologists, businesses, activists, and others to collaboratively address concrete corruption challenges.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s Hainan sees robust foreign trade in first three quarters

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China’s Hainan Province posted imports and exports of goods totalling 205.95 billion yuan (about 28.93 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of this year, a record high in the same period and up 20.2 percent year on year, customs statistics showed Wednesday.

    It is the first time that the province’s trade in goods has exceeded the 200 billion yuan mark in the same period, according to information revealed at a press conference held by the Haikou Customs.

    The province’s trade in goods with Belt and Road partner countries reached 117.25 billion yuan in the first three quarters, up 43.9 percent year on year and accounting for 56.9 percent of the province’s total. Meanwhile, Hainan’s goods trade with ASEAN countries surged 70 percent year on year.

    The export of the province’s industrial finished products grew rapidly during the period, accounting for over 70 percent of the total export value, becoming a strong factor in driving the overall growth of its foreign trade, said Haikou Customs.

    Notably, with the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the number of newly registered foreign trade companies in Hainan has exceeded 70,000 since June 2020, bringing significant increment to the development of the province’s foreign trade.

    During the first three quarters of this year, the general trade with longer industrial chains and higher added value accounted for more than 70 percent of Hainan’s total foreign trade, according to the customs.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Two Weeks Later: Action Needed from Governor Whitmer Following CCP Spying

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Moolenaar (4th District of Michigan)

    Headline: Two Weeks Later: Action Needed from Governor Whitmer Following CCP Spying

    Two weeks after five Chinese nationals who were studying at the University of Michigan were charged with spying on Michigan National Guard (MNG) assets at Camp Grayling more action is needed from Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the commander-in-chief of the MNG, to secure Camp Grayling and prevent espionage in Michigan.   

    Governor Whitmer needs to:

    • Cancel the millions of dollars in state funding for CCP-affiliated Gotion to bring 20-50 Chinese nationals to build and operate a battery component facility that is less than 100 miles from Camp Grayling. 
    • Issue a statement regarding the CCP espionage incident at Michigan’s largest military base.
    • Answer questions about why the Michigan National Guard failed to stop the espionage from occurring.
    • Call on the University of Michigan to end its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). The U-M students charged with spying were studying at U-M as part of U-M’s partnership with SJTU. SJTU is linked to the cyber-spying unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
    • Call on the legislature to bar U-M from using state funding to support its joint institute with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

    After federal charges were announced against the U-M students on October 2, Congressman John Moolenaar again called on Whitmer to end state funding for Gotion. He also called for the University of Michigan to shut down its joint institute with SJTU. 

    This is the second time during Whitmer’s governorship that Chinese nationals at U-M have been caught spying on U.S. military installations.  

    Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported the FBI is aware of over 100 incidents of Chinese nationals gate crashing at sensitive sites across the US in the past three years. When asked if the CCP would utilize the Gotion plant for this kind of espionage, Bill Evanina, the former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center responded, “100%.” 

    Additionally, earlier this year, Obama Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified to Congress that the planned Gotion site would be used for espionage by the CCP. He said, “I don’t think there’s any question that they are going to take advantage of that situation and I think we have to be very vigilant about what the hell is going on.” 

    In January 2024, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to Congress that allowing CCP-affiliated businesses to operate in the United States “can still raise national security concerns because it provides a vehicle for [the CCP] to, if they want to leverage that access, to conduct surveillance or other operations that undermine our national security, and we’ve seen time and time again, where they have used that access, leveraged that access, to do that.”

    Finally, the Department of Defense is prohibited from purchasing products from Gotion because of Gotion High-Tech’s partnerships with China’s People’s Liberation Army.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese peacekeepers to Lebanon strengthen camp security deployment 2024-10-15 18:30:45 Recently, Lebanon and Israel have had frequent fire exchanges, damaging several United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon camps, and even injuring some peacekeepers.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – Ministry of National Defense

      By Wang Ren and Zhuang Xiaohao

      BEIJING, Oct. 15 — Recently, Lebanon and Israel have had frequent fire exchanges, damaging several United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) camps, and even injuring some peacekeepers. To address the current complex situation in a steady and prudent manner, the Chinese Peacekeeping Construction Engineering Company to UNIFIL upgraded and renovated the camp defense fortifications, replaced all protective equipment, and also added remote control alarms, optimizing the security protection and alert system.

      Focusing on the long-term reality of working and living in underground bunkers, over 1,000 protective and support items in six categories, such as emergency food supplies, medical materials, communication equipment and daily necessities, have been added to air-raid shelters. Continuous efforts have been made to improve living conditions in the shelters, including the installation of iron mesh at shelter exits to prevent drone attacks and the construction of double-layer bunks in the passages to enhance long-term habitation conditions.

    loading…

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese peacekeepers to South Sudan (Wau) pass UN assessment 2024-10-10 17:22:08 Recently, an assessment team from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) conducted the combat readiness capability assessment for the second half of 2024.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – Ministry of National Defense

      BEIJING, Oct. 10 — Recently, an assessment team from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) conducted the combat readiness capability assessment for the second half of 2024. The 14th Chinese Peacekeeping Horizontal Engineering Company to the UNMISS, which is stationed in Wau, South Sudan,  passed the assessment with excellent performance.

    loading…

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Three ways the upcoming UN biodiversity summit could make a difference

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Harriet Bulkeley, Professor of Geography, Durham University

    Projects on the Indus River in Pakistan are helping to tackle biodiversity loss. Salik Javed/Shutterstock

    When negotiations at Cop15 – the UN’s biodiversity conference – ended in December 2022, many delegates breathed a sigh of relief.

    Threatening snowstorms outside the convention centre in Montreal, Canada seemed to lift just as the political weather changed and the long-awaited Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework was agreed. It’s mission: to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a society living in harmony with nature by 2050.

    Fast forward two years and governments, businesses, representatives of Indigenous people and local communities, experts from environmental groups such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and scientists will gather for the follow-up Cop16 meeting in Cali, Colombia, from October 21. Many due to attend, including myself, wonder whether the promise made to “halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030” is achievable.

    Initial signs are not promising. For starters, no international targets for biodiversity have ever been met.

    Only a handful of countries, including China, Canada and France, have submitted new national biodiversity plans demonstrating how they will implement the promises made two years ago. Most countries, including the UK, (that’s more than 80% in total) haven’t submitted their full plans.

    Countries can also submit updates for the 23 targets listed in the framework. The UK and others have submitted targets such as promising to reduce the impact of pollution on nature and ensuring that 30% of land is effectively protected in line with the framework.

    But crucial questions remain about how those goals will be reached. To make Cop16 effective, three things need to happen.

    1. Decide on a plan

    When delegates gather in Cali, questions of implementation will be front and centre of the negotiations. The first challenge is that the approach for monitoring progress on all 23 targets – including issues such as improving access to nature in cities, reducing harmful subsidies and restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems – is yet to be agreed.

    For some, the approach that has been developed so far lacks ambition in crucial areas. Indicators suggested for monitoring progress on reducing the impacts of consumption on nature remain very weak for example. For others, it may prove too challenging.

    For example, countries with limited access to data might not be able to track alien species or assess how critical services provided by nature to make societies more resilient might be affected by climate change. Getting agreement at the Cop16 negotiations will be vital in order to hold countries to account as the 2030 deadline set to achieve all of the targets approaches.

    2. Find the funds

    Another crucial issue is funding: who will pay for the action required? The global biodiversity framework fund (GBFF) was established in 2023 to provide financial support.

    Yet so far, it has only attracted contributions of around US$230 billion (£176 billion) from a small group of countries including Canada, the UK, Germany, Japan and Spain. Leaders gathering in Cali, and especially those from developing countries, are calling for more funding and for greater control over how it is allocated.

    The next UN biodiversity conference will be held in Cali, Columbia from October 21 to November 1.
    Tudoran Andrei/Shutterstock

    3. Make biodiversity matter

    A third debate will decide how best to ensure that biodiversity action is mainstreamed across governments, businesses and communities.

    In Montreal, countries agreed to make sure that the impacts on nature were considered across different policy areas (such as building new roads or developing new energy sources) and in economic sectors, from fishing to agriculture and mining to tech.

    They agreed that groups most likely to be affected by the loss of nature, including Indigenous people and local communities, women and youth, should help make key decisions. While targets such as protecting 30% of the land and sea for nature are crucial, progress will only happen if nature is put on everyone’s bottom line.

    Delivering real change

    The urgent need for action is not lost on delegates gathering in Cali. There is a real risk that the promise countries made in Montreal to deliver “transformative action by governments, and regional and local authorities, with the involvement of all of society” won’t be met.

    But there are some hopeful signs of transformative change to conserve and restore nature and ensure its sustainable use.

    Take, for example, the Tree Equity Partnership in Detroit, US. This partnership between the city, US-based charity American Forests and the local non-profit charity Greening of Detroit aims to plant 75,000 trees. This will create places of beauty, biodiversity and climate resilience in underserved neighbourhoods and generate 300 new jobs in the city.

    In Pakistan, the Living Indus initiative is an umbrella organisation that has identified 25 projects involving local and regional governments, businesses and communities working together to restore the ecological health of the Indus river.

    Businesses are also calling for real change. More than 170 investors have signed a pledge developed by a coalition of financial institutions called the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation to take action for nature across their portfolios.

    New science-based standards are being developed to drive the mainstreaming of biodiversity action through their companies and associated supply chains. Cop16 is expected to see increased interest from the private sector and a focus on tackling climate change and biodiversity together.

    These projects are successfully tackling the root causes of global biodiversity loss. They integrate solutions and deal with social and environmental issues – poverty and exploitation, climate risks and land use change. Tackling these problems is just as vital as the need for sustainable production and consumption plus investment that works for, not against, nature.

    Projects such as these are the ones that give scientists and conservationists like me – and organisations like WWF that I work with – hope. We want to see more projects that take action on nature, climate and social justice together. If Cop16 can make even a small step in this direction, the world will be travelling towards making real progress by the end of this decade.


    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 35,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Harriet Bulkeley receives funding from the European Commission and currently serves as an advisor to the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

    – ref. Three ways the upcoming UN biodiversity summit could make a difference – https://theconversation.com/three-ways-the-upcoming-un-biodiversity-summit-could-make-a-difference-240225

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: This year’s Nobel prize exposes economics’ problem with colonialism

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jostein Hauge, Assistant Professor in Development Studies, University of Cambridge

    Bumble Dee / Shutterstock

    Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson have been awarded the 2024 Nobel memorial prize in economics for their influential work on how institutions shape economic development. Some would say the decision to award these scholars the Nobel was long overdue.

    The paper that formed the basis of their work is one of the most cited in economics. Acemoglu and Robinson’s subsequent book, Why Nations Fail, has also been hugely influential.

    These works have inspired a rich debate on the relationship between societal institutions and economic development – so in that sense, congratulations are in order. But they have also been the subject of substantial criticism. In the aftermath of the award, it is fitting to highlight the blind spots in their analysis.

    The most important piece of criticism concerns the connection between the quality of a country’s societal institutions and its level of economic development. Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s work divides institutions into two categories: “inclusive” and “extractive”.

    Inclusive institutions – such as those that enforce property rights, protect democracy and limit corruption – foster economic development, according to the laureates. In contrast, extractive institutions, which give rise to a high concentration of power and limited political freedom, seek to concentrate resources in the hands of a small elite and thus stifle economic development.

    The laureates claim the introduction of inclusive institutions has had a positive long-term effect on economic prosperity. Indeed, these institutions are today found primarily in high-income countries in the west.

    A huge problem with this analysis, however, is the claim that certain institutions are a precondition for economic development.

    Mushtaq Khan, a professor of economics at Soas, University of London, has analysed Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s work extensively. He argues that it mainly shows today’s high-income countries score higher on western-based institution indexes, and not that economic development was achieved because states first established inclusive institutions.

    In fact, history is rife with examples of countries that grew rapidly without having these inclusive institutions in place as a precondition for growth. East Asian states such as Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are good examples. Most recently, so too is China.

    Yuen Yuen Ang’s award-winning books on China’s development process have laid out in detail how China was riddled with corruption during its growth process. In the wake of this year’s Nobel award, Ang went as far as saying that the laureates’ theory not only fails to explain growth in China, but also growth in the west. She points out that institutions in the US were smeared with corruption during the country’s development process.

    Ignoring the brutality of colonialism

    Nations are not wrong to pursue some of the inclusive institutions outlined in Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s work. But another worrying part of their analysis is that it legitimises the supremacy of western institutions – and, at worst, processes of imperialism and colonialism.

    Their work has, indeed, been criticised for not paying attention to the brutality of colonialism. We need to dig a bit deeper into their methods to understand this criticism.

    The laureates establish their claim by looking at long-term development in settler colonies versus non-settler colonies. In settler colonies, such as the US, Canada and Australia, Europeans established inclusive institutions. But in non-settler colonies, which include large parts of Africa and Latin America, Europeans established extractive institutions.

    Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson point out that, over time, settler colonies perform better. European institutions are thus better for development, they argue.

    But, considering that the process of colonisation is a central method of their paper, it’s a mystery that the laureates do not discuss the costs of colonialism more broadly.

    Even in settler colonies, where inclusive institutions were eventually developed, years of violence – in many cases verging on the genocide of native populations – predated the development of such institutions. Should this not be factored into the development process?

    According to this year’s laureates, Europeans settled in the poorest and most sparsely populated places, and introduced institutions that contributed to long-term prosperity.
    Johan Jarnestad / Nobel Prize Outreach

    After receiving the award, Acemoglu said that normative questions of colonialism didn’t concern them: “Rather than asking whether colonialism is good or bad, we note that different colonial strategies have led to different institutional patterns that have persisted over time.”

    This statement might come a shock to some people – why is Acemoglu not concerned about whether colonialism is good or bad? But for those familiar with the inner workings of the economics discipline, this statement doesn’t come as a surprise.

    It has, sadly, become a badge of honour in mainstream economics to analyse the world without a normative lens or value judgments. This is a broader issue with the discipline and, in part, explains why economics has become increasingly insular and distant from other social sciences.

    The Nobel prize in economics, which actually wasn’t among the five original Nobel prizes, also illustrates this problem. The list of past winners is narrow in geographical and institutional scope, mainly consisting of economists based at economics faculties in a small number of elite universities in the US.

    Furthermore, a recent study found the institutional and geographic concentration of awards in economics is much higher than in other academic fields. Almost all the winners of major awards have had to journey through one of the top US universities (limited to less than ten) in their career.

    This year’s Nobel prize in economics is no exception. Perhaps this is why it feels like every year, the prize goes to someone who asks “how does a change in variable X affect variable Y”, rather than asking difficult questions about colonialism, imperialism or capitalism – and daring to question the supremacy of western institutions.

    Jostein Hauge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. This year’s Nobel prize exposes economics’ problem with colonialism – https://theconversation.com/this-years-nobel-prize-exposes-economics-problem-with-colonialism-241400

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese vice premier stresses strengthening industrial resilience, vitality

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    CHANGSHA, Oct. 16 — Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing has stressed boosting industrial resilience and vitality, and advancing the high-quality development in the manufacturing industry to better support the sustained economic recovery and growth.

    Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in Hunan Province.

    During the tour from Monday to Wednesday, he visited several enterprises in the cities of Zhuzhou and Changsha, and learned about their technological innovation, digital transformation, production and operation, as well as industrial development.

    Noting that a strong and resilient manufacturing sector serves as a “ballast stone” for China’s high-quality economic development, he stressed the need to solidify the foundation of traditional industries and strive to maintain the stable operation of key sectors.

    Zhang also urged accelerating equipment renewal, actively promoting digital and green technologies, and supporting enterprises in their transformation and upgrading efforts to continuously improve their added value.

    He called for advancing the innovative development and open cooperation of advantageous industries, including the railway transportation equipment and construction machinery sectors, while accelerating the growth of emerging industries to foster new drivers of industrial development.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Nigerian president confirms over 100 killed in gasoline tanker explosion

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    The death toll of a gasoline tanker explosion in Nigeria’s northern state of Jigawa early this week exceeded 100, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s spokesman said Wednesday.

    A statement issued Wednesday evening by Bayo Onanuga, a senior presidential spokesman, on behalf of Tinubu, described as “devastating” the night inferno in Majiya, a town in the Taura local government area of Jigawa late Tuesday.

    According to the statement, the Nigerian leader directed a delegation of senior officials to condole with the families of the deceased, assess the situation at the scene of the incident, and visit scores of injured people in the hospital. He also directed that emergency aid, including medical supplies, food, and shelter, be extended to the victims receiving treatment and others affected by the tanker fire.

    While assuring the citizens of the government’s better commitment to the swift and comprehensive review of fuel transportation safety protocols across the country, Tinubu further directed the road safety police to strengthen night travel measures, such as increased patrols, stricter enforcement of safety regulations, and other highway safety mechanisms to prevent recurrences of the incident.

    Earlier the police had confirmed at least 90 people killed and 50 others injured following the explosion. The victims were mostly people who had rushed to the scene to collect gasoline after the tanker lost control and overturned, a police spokesman earlier told Xinhua.

    A mass burial for the deceased was held Wednesday morning, said Shi’isu Lawan Adam, the spokesman for the police in Jigawa. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China, Pakistan renew currency swap agreement

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    BEIJING, Oct. 16 — China’s central bank on Wednesday said that it has renewed a bilateral currency swap agreement with the State Bank of Pakistan.

    The total value of the agreement is 30 billion yuan (about 4.21 billion U.S. dollars), or 1.18 trillion Pakistani rupees, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website.

    The agreement is valid for three years and can be renewed upon mutual consent, according to the statement.

    The currency swap arrangement will strengthen financial cooperation between China and Pakistan, expand the use of the two currencies, and promote and facilitate bilateral trade and investment, the statement said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Vocational skills competition kicks off in Xi’an, NW China

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Vocational skills competition kicks off in Xi’an, NW China

    Updated: October 17, 2024 08:17 Xinhua
    Participants compete in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. The competition kicked off Wednesday in Xi’an, featuring 20 categories like mobile robots, internet marketing, and intelligent technology of NEVs. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A participant competes in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Participants compete in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A participant competes in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Participants compete in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Participants compete in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A participant competes in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A participant competes in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A participant competes in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Participants compete in a vocational skills competition in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Senior CPC official meets Vanuatu official

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Johnny Koanapo, president of Vanuatu’s Vanuaaku Party and the country’s minister of finance.

    The two sides exchanged views on jointly implementing the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthening inter-party exchanges, deepening exchanges of experience in state governance, and promoting the construction of a China-Vanuatu community with a shared future in the new era. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China, CEEC pledge to deepen cooperation at local level

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) on Wednesday expressed their willingness to deepen cooperation at the local level to promote steady and long-term cooperation between China and CEEC.

    Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, addressed the opening ceremony of the 6th Local Leaders’ Meeting of China and CEEC held in Yantai, east China’s Shandong Province.

    Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that since the establishment of the cooperation mechanism between China and CEEC 12 years ago, the two sides have jointly promoted the continuous development of the mechanism, achieved positive results, and set a model of trans-regional cooperation in the context of globalization.

    China-CEEC cooperation has not only put relevant practical cooperation on the fast track, but also injected more positive energy into the development of China-Europe relations, Li noted.

    He called on the two sides to synergize their development strategies, improve the mechanism of sub-national cooperation, and strengthen exchanges and mutual learning on governance experience, to make local level cooperation more fruitful and promote steady and long-term cooperation between China and CEEC.

    More than 300 people from CEEC attended the meeting. They spoke highly of the positive role played by China-CEEC cooperation in promoting bilateral relations, local development and China-Europe cooperation, expressing the hope to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese localities, consolidate traditional friendship and seek common development. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: DPRK confirms complete block of road, railway connections to S. Korea

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Thursday that the roads and railways connecting South Korea in the eastern and western parts of the DPRK southern border have been completely blocked, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

    “Under an order of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) on Oct. 15th took a measure to physically cut off the DPRK’s roads and railways which lead to the ROK through the east and west sections of the southern border of the DPRK as part of the phased complete separation of its territory, where its sovereignty is exercised, from the ROK’s territory,” the KCNA said, referring to South Korea by using the acronym of its official name, the Republic of Korea.

    “In the daytime of October 15th, the 60-metre-long sections of the roads and railways in Kamho-ri, Kosong County, Kangwon Province and the 60-metre-long sections of the roads and railways in Tongnae-ri, Panmun District, Kaesong Municipality have been completely blocked through blasting,” a spokesman for the DPRK Ministry of National Defence was quoted by the KCNA as saying.

    “This is an inevitable and legitimate measure taken in keeping with the requirement of the DPRK Constitution which clearly defines the ROK as a hostile state, and due to the serious security circumstances running to the unpredictable brink of war owing to the grave political and military provocations of the hostile forces,” according to the KCNA report.

    A spokesman for the DPRK Ministry of Land and Environment Protection confirmed that the blasting had no negative effect on the surrounding ecological environment and that the routes linking the DPRK to the ROK have been completely separated, the KCNA said.

    The Ministry of National Defence said that the DPRK will continue to take measures to “permanently fortify the closed southern border”, the KCNA added.

    The KPA General Staff said on Oct. 9 that the DPRK will completely cut off roads and railways connecting South Korea amid the precarious situation on the Korean Peninsula, according to a previous KCNA report. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: 3 dead, 4 injured after bridge collapse in US Mississippi

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    At least three people died and four others were injured after a bridge collapsed in the southern U.S. state of Mississippi on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said, calling it “a work site accident.”

    The deaths and injuries were confirmed by Simpson County Sheriff Paul Mullins, local media outlet WLBT reported.

    The bridge over the Strong River on Highway 149, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Jackson, had been closed to traffic since Sept. 18 as part of a bridge replacement project, the Mississippi Department of Transportation said in a news release.

    The department said it “would share more information with the public as it becomes available.” 

    MIL OSI China News –