cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47813631

[Opinion piece by Di Guo, Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions at Stanford University: and Chenggang Xu, Senior Research Scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions at Stanford University.]

Archived

...

No industrial revolution has ever emerged outside advanced democratic capitalism. This is no accident. Like its predecessors, the AI-driven industrial revolution requires robust institutions to ensure secure property rights, enforceable contracts, the ability to attract and empower talent, efficient allocation of resources, and — crucially — sustained demand.

...

The People’s Republic was founded on the principle that the Communist Party of China “leads everything.” That remains true today: The CPC controls courts, markets, banks, universities, and the media, and even commands private firms. Under such powerful party-state rule, the regime can mobilize massive resources and produce shining stars like DeepSeek (or Sputnik, in the Soviet case). An industrial revolution, however, depends on more than isolated breakthroughs; there must be a series of disruptive innovations in technology, business models, and institutions that build on one another. The Soviet experience makes this clear. The USSR and its satellites in Eastern Europe could not keep up with the West during the third industrial revolution, and this failure eventually contributed to the collapse of their communist regimes.

...

China’s economy has been trapped in a vicious cycle of weak demand, overcapacity, high unemployment, and persistent deflation, which is fundamentally incompatible with any industrial revolution. AI-led automation offers no remedy for such problems, which are rooted in the country’s institutional foundations. The massive government borrowing used to finance China’s bid for AI and chip dominance has only deepened concerns about its already severe debt burden and chronic soft budget constraints — problems reminiscent of what the Soviet Union faced during the Cold War arms race.

...

Sustained innovation requires free institutions and robust demand. Breakthroughs come when entrepreneurs and scientists are empowered by independent courts, supported by risk-taking private investors, and tested through open debate and market competition. In CPC-controlled China, demand is suppressed because the state controls key resources that limit household income and entrepreneurial initiative, and capital is funneled into state-directed projects rather than open-ended discovery and innovation. While a “DeepSeek moment” may capture our attention, achieving long-term competitiveness and fostering a genuine industrial revolution is another matter entirely. After all, AI is not a remedy for deflation – and deflation itself is fundamentally incompatible with any industrial revolution.

[Opinion piece by Di Guo, Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions at Stanford University: and Chenggang Xu, Senior Research Scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions at Stanford University.]

Archived

...

No industrial revolution has ever emerged outside advanced democratic capitalism. This is no accident. Like its predecessors, the AI-driven industrial revolution requires robust institutions to ensure secure property rights, enforceable contracts, the ability to attract and empower talent, efficient allocation of resources, and — crucially — sustained demand.

...

The People’s Republic was founded on the principle that the Communist Party of China “leads everything.” That remains true today: The CPC controls courts, markets, banks, universities, and the media, and even commands private firms. Under such powerful party-state rule, the regime can mobilize massive resources and produce shining stars like DeepSeek (or Sputnik, in the Soviet case). An industrial revolution, however, depends on more than isolated breakthroughs; there must be a series of disruptive innovations in technology, business models, and institutions that build on one another. The Soviet experience makes this clear. The USSR and its satellites in Eastern Europe could not keep up with the West during the third industrial revolution, and this failure eventually contributed to the collapse of their communist regimes.

...

China’s economy has been trapped in a vicious cycle of weak demand, overcapacity, high unemployment, and persistent deflation, which is fundamentally incompatible with any industrial revolution. AI-led automation offers no remedy for such problems, which are rooted in the country’s institutional foundations. The massive government borrowing used to finance China’s bid for AI and chip dominance has only deepened concerns about its already severe debt burden and chronic soft budget constraints — problems reminiscent of what the Soviet Union faced during the Cold War arms race.

...

Sustained innovation requires free institutions and robust demand. Breakthroughs come when entrepreneurs and scientists are empowered by independent courts, supported by risk-taking private investors, and tested through open debate and market competition. In CPC-controlled China, demand is suppressed because the state controls key resources that limit household income and entrepreneurial initiative, and capital is funneled into state-directed projects rather than open-ended discovery and innovation. While a “DeepSeek moment” may capture our attention, achieving long-term competitiveness and fostering a genuine industrial revolution is another matter entirely. After all, AI is not a remedy for deflation – and deflation itself is fundamentally incompatible with any industrial revolution.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47786060

Archived

A teacher. A college student. And even a construction worker.

To the casual observer scrolling through Facebook, these profiles would look like ordinary Filipinos. A teacher posting about classroom experience, students interacting with other students, and an ordinary worker sharing glimpses of his daily grind. They had names, faces, and opinions.

The problem: they’re not real people but carefully curated masks, created by a covert unit of “dedicated keyboard warriors” paid to infiltrate the daily conversations of Filipinos, as part of sophisticated and foreign-funded operations.

Internal onboarding documents from InfinitUs Marketing Solutions, a marketing firm allegedly hired by the Chinese embassy, show what could be information operations designed to “change the overall negative perception of Filipinos about the Chinese and China,” according to its written guidelines.

[...]

InfinitUs’ alleged client is the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, which would implicate the People’s Republic of China in domestic interference. And while this is not the first time that Beijing has been linked to coordinated information operations in the Philippines, the leaked documents provide a rare and granular look at the “outsourcing” of these operations to local firms, weaponizing Filipinos against their own democracy.

[...]

The agency’s “social media army” included 300 Facebook accounts and 30 X accounts managed by a team of 11 operatives, including one team leader. Each operative was expected to “maintain and nurture” at least 20 accounts, each with different personas.

These manufactured “personas” were the backbone of the alleged P3.7-million (roughly $200,000 US dollars) operation to deploy “keyboard warriors” in Philippine social media spaces, based on the copy of the alleged service agreement contract between the embassy and the agency.

Every member of the team was expected to produce 700 to 1,000 comments and shares every month. They also monitored Facebook posts for any anti-China posts and comments.

“On a daily basis, team members should seek out public Facebook Posts that could be a potential target for hate comments against China or FB Posts that are garnering anti-China comments, then inform the team to operate on it succeedingly [sic],” the document’s instructions said.

[...]

Operatives were provided with operational guidelines and protocols, which included the creation of Facebook accounts with different identities and personalities, specifically one that would “best represent a person who would likely be objective about China, its role and presence in the country.” [The linked article provides examples for such guidelines as screenshots.]

[...]

Once the accounts were established, they were weaponized to push specific political narratives and attack critics, as shown in what was labeled as a monthly report on their issue management operations. This included “Tone and Voice” guidelines that operatives echoed in their campaign.

In one instance, the “army” was deployed to launch an “aggressive comment campaign” against Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers after he made negative comments about China. “Mahilig kayo magsupporta sa mga batas na mali at walang basehan!” one of the suggested lines said, referring to new maritime laws signed by the President to operationalize the 2016 arbitral award.

The narratives pushed by the network went beyond mere pro-China sentiments but actively sought to undermine the Philippine government’s position on the West Philippine Sea.

Responding to the enactment of the Philippine’s Maritime Zones Act and Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act in 2025, one script instructed operatives to say that “China has all the right to oppose this because it runs counter to their territorial stand.” Another suggested that “the Philippine government should not have passed these laws because they very well know that it will intensify our conflict with China and other Asian neighbours.”

[...]

Conversely, the “social media army” was tasked with praising Chinese officials. When the Chinese Ambassador or the embassy posted content, the operatives were instructed to “support the advocacies and activities.” Suggested positive comments included “China made a solemn commitment to the world to make Planet Earth a better place to live in” and “Thank you Chairman President Xi for leading the way.”

[...]

InfinitUS is not the first case study of commercialized disinformation put to light.

“What makes this case unique is that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has always denied interfering with domestic issues. They do that because they’re a country with diplomatic relations with the Philippines. It’s improper for foreign mission to be interfering with domestic issues,” said Marco*, not his real name, a national security expert who wished to remain anonymous.

“What’s unique about this case is the fact that we have documented and evidence-based studies which proves that PRC interferes with the domestic policy of the Philippines.”

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations prohibits foreign missions from meddling in domestic politics or social issues: “Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. It is also their duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”

[...]

Security experts have already talked about how modern conflict has gone beyond physical threats.

Philip Fortuno, who wrote the book Cognitive Domain: A Neoteric Space for Warfare, described the “cognitive domain” as the ultimate evolution of conflict. In traditional warfare, the objective is to degrade the enemy’s physical capacity to fight. In cognitive warfare, the objective is to “influence, disrupt, and corrupt” the decision-making of a target population without firing a single shot.

[...]

This is not the first time that Beijing has been linked to coordinated information operations in the Philippines. Rappler has been looking into Chinese information operations in the Philippines as early as 2018. A Rappler report in 2023 exposed how Chinese state media content was systematically amplified by questionable news sites and coordinated Facebook groups to drown out criticism of Beijing. That investigation found that narratives were often seeded by state actors and then artificially boosted to create an illusion of public support.

[...]

[One expert] said what is required is a whole-of-society approach. On the defensive side, [the expert] highlighted the need for a new superbody that will lead the government’s approach to responding to these threats. He noted that different agencies have approached this problem in different ways, but there needs to be a streamlining of the government’s thinking and response.

More important is the need to increase our citizens’ cognitive resilience through education. “All wars start in the mind,” [the expert] said. “We have to protect our mind — whoever you are. Our mind is what separates us from animals.”

[...]

The challenge ahead

The InfinitUs case proves that the war for the cognitive domain may not be a future threat but an ongoing operation. The “teacher” commenting on a news feed, the “student” sharing a viral post, and the “construction worker” mocking the President may not be fellow citizens exercising their freedom of speech but “dedicated keyboard warriors” on a foreign payroll, executing a script designed to destabilize a nation from within.

The war is indeed being fought on two fronts. The visible one — of coast guard cutters, supply missions, and diplomatic protests — and the invisible one, which is fought in the comment sections, group chats, and trending topics of social media.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47786060

Archived

A teacher. A college student. And even a construction worker.

To the casual observer scrolling through Facebook, these profiles would look like ordinary Filipinos. A teacher posting about classroom experience, students interacting with other students, and an ordinary worker sharing glimpses of his daily grind. They had names, faces, and opinions.

The problem: they’re not real people but carefully curated masks, created by a covert unit of “dedicated keyboard warriors” paid to infiltrate the daily conversations of Filipinos, as part of sophisticated and foreign-funded operations.

Internal onboarding documents from InfinitUs Marketing Solutions, a marketing firm allegedly hired by the Chinese embassy, show what could be information operations designed to “change the overall negative perception of Filipinos about the Chinese and China,” according to its written guidelines.

[...]

InfinitUs’ alleged client is the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, which would implicate the People’s Republic of China in domestic interference. And while this is not the first time that Beijing has been linked to coordinated information operations in the Philippines, the leaked documents provide a rare and granular look at the “outsourcing” of these operations to local firms, weaponizing Filipinos against their own democracy.

[...]

The agency’s “social media army” included 300 Facebook accounts and 30 X accounts managed by a team of 11 operatives, including one team leader. Each operative was expected to “maintain and nurture” at least 20 accounts, each with different personas.

These manufactured “personas” were the backbone of the alleged P3.7-million (roughly $200,000 US dollars) operation to deploy “keyboard warriors” in Philippine social media spaces, based on the copy of the alleged service agreement contract between the embassy and the agency.

Every member of the team was expected to produce 700 to 1,000 comments and shares every month. They also monitored Facebook posts for any anti-China posts and comments.

“On a daily basis, team members should seek out public Facebook Posts that could be a potential target for hate comments against China or FB Posts that are garnering anti-China comments, then inform the team to operate on it succeedingly [sic],” the document’s instructions said.

[...]

Operatives were provided with operational guidelines and protocols, which included the creation of Facebook accounts with different identities and personalities, specifically one that would “best represent a person who would likely be objective about China, its role and presence in the country.” [The linked article provides examples for such guidelines as screenshots.]

[...]

Once the accounts were established, they were weaponized to push specific political narratives and attack critics, as shown in what was labeled as a monthly report on their issue management operations. This included “Tone and Voice” guidelines that operatives echoed in their campaign.

In one instance, the “army” was deployed to launch an “aggressive comment campaign” against Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers after he made negative comments about China. “Mahilig kayo magsupporta sa mga batas na mali at walang basehan!” one of the suggested lines said, referring to new maritime laws signed by the President to operationalize the 2016 arbitral award.

The narratives pushed by the network went beyond mere pro-China sentiments but actively sought to undermine the Philippine government’s position on the West Philippine Sea.

Responding to the enactment of the Philippine’s Maritime Zones Act and Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act in 2025, one script instructed operatives to say that “China has all the right to oppose this because it runs counter to their territorial stand.” Another suggested that “the Philippine government should not have passed these laws because they very well know that it will intensify our conflict with China and other Asian neighbours.”

[...]

Conversely, the “social media army” was tasked with praising Chinese officials. When the Chinese Ambassador or the embassy posted content, the operatives were instructed to “support the advocacies and activities.” Suggested positive comments included “China made a solemn commitment to the world to make Planet Earth a better place to live in” and “Thank you Chairman President Xi for leading the way.”

[...]

InfinitUS is not the first case study of commercialized disinformation put to light.

“What makes this case unique is that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has always denied interfering with domestic issues. They do that because they’re a country with diplomatic relations with the Philippines. It’s improper for foreign mission to be interfering with domestic issues,” said Marco*, not his real name, a national security expert who wished to remain anonymous.

“What’s unique about this case is the fact that we have documented and evidence-based studies which proves that PRC interferes with the domestic policy of the Philippines.”

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations prohibits foreign missions from meddling in domestic politics or social issues: “Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. It is also their duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”

[...]

Security experts have already talked about how modern conflict has gone beyond physical threats.

Philip Fortuno, who wrote the book Cognitive Domain: A Neoteric Space for Warfare, described the “cognitive domain” as the ultimate evolution of conflict. In traditional warfare, the objective is to degrade the enemy’s physical capacity to fight. In cognitive warfare, the objective is to “influence, disrupt, and corrupt” the decision-making of a target population without firing a single shot.

[...]

This is not the first time that Beijing has been linked to coordinated information operations in the Philippines. Rappler has been looking into Chinese information operations in the Philippines as early as 2018. A Rappler report in 2023 exposed how Chinese state media content was systematically amplified by questionable news sites and coordinated Facebook groups to drown out criticism of Beijing. That investigation found that narratives were often seeded by state actors and then artificially boosted to create an illusion of public support.

[...]

[One expert] said what is required is a whole-of-society approach. On the defensive side, [the expert] highlighted the need for a new superbody that will lead the government’s approach to responding to these threats. He noted that different agencies have approached this problem in different ways, but there needs to be a streamlining of the government’s thinking and response.

More important is the need to increase our citizens’ cognitive resilience through education. “All wars start in the mind,” [the expert] said. “We have to protect our mind — whoever you are. Our mind is what separates us from animals.”

[...]

The challenge ahead

The InfinitUs case proves that the war for the cognitive domain may not be a future threat but an ongoing operation. The “teacher” commenting on a news feed, the “student” sharing a viral post, and the “construction worker” mocking the President may not be fellow citizens exercising their freedom of speech but “dedicated keyboard warriors” on a foreign payroll, executing a script designed to destabilize a nation from within.

The war is indeed being fought on two fronts. The visible one — of coast guard cutters, supply missions, and diplomatic protests — and the invisible one, which is fought in the comment sections, group chats, and trending topics of social media.

Archived

A teacher. A college student. And even a construction worker.

To the casual observer scrolling through Facebook, these profiles would look like ordinary Filipinos. A teacher posting about classroom experience, students interacting with other students, and an ordinary worker sharing glimpses of his daily grind. They had names, faces, and opinions.

The problem: they’re not real people but carefully curated masks, created by a covert unit of “dedicated keyboard warriors” paid to infiltrate the daily conversations of Filipinos, as part of sophisticated and foreign-funded operations.

Internal onboarding documents from InfinitUs Marketing Solutions, a marketing firm allegedly hired by the Chinese embassy, show what could be information operations designed to “change the overall negative perception of Filipinos about the Chinese and China,” according to its written guidelines.

[...]

InfinitUs’ alleged client is the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, which would implicate the People’s Republic of China in domestic interference. And while this is not the first time that Beijing has been linked to coordinated information operations in the Philippines, the leaked documents provide a rare and granular look at the “outsourcing” of these operations to local firms, weaponizing Filipinos against their own democracy.

[...]

The agency’s “social media army” included 300 Facebook accounts and 30 X accounts managed by a team of 11 operatives, including one team leader. Each operative was expected to “maintain and nurture” at least 20 accounts, each with different personas.

These manufactured “personas” were the backbone of the alleged P3.7-million (roughly $200,000 US dollars) operation to deploy “keyboard warriors” in Philippine social media spaces, based on the copy of the alleged service agreement contract between the embassy and the agency.

Every member of the team was expected to produce 700 to 1,000 comments and shares every month. They also monitored Facebook posts for any anti-China posts and comments.

“On a daily basis, team members should seek out public Facebook Posts that could be a potential target for hate comments against China or FB Posts that are garnering anti-China comments, then inform the team to operate on it succeedingly [sic],” the document’s instructions said.

[...]

Operatives were provided with operational guidelines and protocols, which included the creation of Facebook accounts with different identities and personalities, specifically one that would “best represent a person who would likely be objective about China, its role and presence in the country.” [The linked article provides examples for such guidelines as screenshots.]

[...]

Once the accounts were established, they were weaponized to push specific political narratives and attack critics, as shown in what was labeled as a monthly report on their issue management operations. This included “Tone and Voice” guidelines that operatives echoed in their campaign.

In one instance, the “army” was deployed to launch an “aggressive comment campaign” against Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers after he made negative comments about China. “Mahilig kayo magsupporta sa mga batas na mali at walang basehan!” one of the suggested lines said, referring to new maritime laws signed by the President to operationalize the 2016 arbitral award.

The narratives pushed by the network went beyond mere pro-China sentiments but actively sought to undermine the Philippine government’s position on the West Philippine Sea.

Responding to the enactment of the Philippine’s Maritime Zones Act and Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act in 2025, one script instructed operatives to say that “China has all the right to oppose this because it runs counter to their territorial stand.” Another suggested that “the Philippine government should not have passed these laws because they very well know that it will intensify our conflict with China and other Asian neighbours.”

[...]

Conversely, the “social media army” was tasked with praising Chinese officials. When the Chinese Ambassador or the embassy posted content, the operatives were instructed to “support the advocacies and activities.” Suggested positive comments included “China made a solemn commitment to the world to make Planet Earth a better place to live in” and “Thank you Chairman President Xi for leading the way.”

[...]

InfinitUS is not the first case study of commercialized disinformation put to light.

“What makes this case unique is that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has always denied interfering with domestic issues. They do that because they’re a country with diplomatic relations with the Philippines. It’s improper for foreign mission to be interfering with domestic issues,” said Marco*, not his real name, a national security expert who wished to remain anonymous.

“What’s unique about this case is the fact that we have documented and evidence-based studies which proves that PRC interferes with the domestic policy of the Philippines.”

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations prohibits foreign missions from meddling in domestic politics or social issues: “Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. It is also their duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”

[...]

Security experts have already talked about how modern conflict has gone beyond physical threats.

Philip Fortuno, who wrote the book Cognitive Domain: A Neoteric Space for Warfare, described the “cognitive domain” as the ultimate evolution of conflict. In traditional warfare, the objective is to degrade the enemy’s physical capacity to fight. In cognitive warfare, the objective is to “influence, disrupt, and corrupt” the decision-making of a target population without firing a single shot.

[...]

This is not the first time that Beijing has been linked to coordinated information operations in the Philippines. Rappler has been looking into Chinese information operations in the Philippines as early as 2018. A Rappler report in 2023 exposed how Chinese state media content was systematically amplified by questionable news sites and coordinated Facebook groups to drown out criticism of Beijing. That investigation found that narratives were often seeded by state actors and then artificially boosted to create an illusion of public support.

[...]

[One expert] said what is required is a whole-of-society approach. On the defensive side, [the expert] highlighted the need for a new superbody that will lead the government’s approach to responding to these threats. He noted that different agencies have approached this problem in different ways, but there needs to be a streamlining of the government’s thinking and response.

More important is the need to increase our citizens’ cognitive resilience through education. “All wars start in the mind,” [the expert] said. “We have to protect our mind — whoever you are. Our mind is what separates us from animals.”

[...]

The challenge ahead

The InfinitUs case proves that the war for the cognitive domain may not be a future threat but an ongoing operation. The “teacher” commenting on a news feed, the “student” sharing a viral post, and the “construction worker” mocking the President may not be fellow citizens exercising their freedom of speech but “dedicated keyboard warriors” on a foreign payroll, executing a script designed to destabilize a nation from within.

The war is indeed being fought on two fronts. The visible one — of coast guard cutters, supply missions, and diplomatic protests — and the invisible one, which is fought in the comment sections, group chats, and trending topics of social media.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47730619

A record number of Japanese nationals are working for United Nations agencies around the world.

This growth is the outcome of a five-year plan to install experts in key positions in the sprawling international organization and to counter what Tokyo perceives as China using the UN to exert greater influence over other nations.

While the experts, analysts and bureaucrats who work for the UN are meant to be non-partisan in their decision-making, Japan is among the nations that have become concerned that instead of remaining neutral, China is utilizing the UN to further its own geopolitical aims.

Some Japanese observers say that while Beijing uses vast amounts of aid to woo developing nations and is rapidly expanding its military capabilities, diplomacy through a multilateral organization such as the UN gives it another tool with which to sway other nations.

[...]

A record number of Japanese nationals are working for United Nations agencies around the world.

This growth is the outcome of a five-year plan to install experts in key positions in the sprawling international organization and to counter what Tokyo perceives as China using the UN to exert greater influence over other nations.

While the experts, analysts and bureaucrats who work for the UN are meant to be non-partisan in their decision-making, Japan is among the nations that have become concerned that instead of remaining neutral, China is utilizing the UN to further its own geopolitical aims.

Some Japanese observers say that while Beijing uses vast amounts of aid to woo developing nations and is rapidly expanding its military capabilities, diplomacy through a multilateral organization such as the UN gives it another tool with which to sway other nations.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47730024

Archived

[...]

The government has even expanded its influence to elections abroad, including races in New York City, to try to quash criticism of the Chinese state in places where people are more free to speak out than they are in China.

China is not alone in seeking to silence critics abroad.

Russia does it. Iran does it. Saudi Arabia does, too, according to Roman Rozhavsky, the assistant director of the F.B.I.’s counterintelligence division in Washington.

But China, he said, is the most prolific, devoting substantial resources to the effort in the United States. Suppressing dissent is a priority for China’s president, Mr. Rozhavsky said.

“We are seeing more of these cases and we’re seeing the Chinese government be more aggressive in going after people on U.S. soil,” Mr. Rozhavsky said.

The cases involving the artists share a common thread: They were targeted for criticizing President Xi, the Chinese Communist Party, or the workings of the Chinese government.

[...]

Mr. Rozhavsky said that critics of China have had relatives living in the country threatened by the Chinese government, or that China has hired a person in the United States to intimidate or physically hurt them.

“Their job is to silence people and, unfortunately, it works,” Mr. Rozhavsky said. “It creates this Orwellian climate of fear where people are afraid to speak their mind even though they’re on U.S. soil and they’re just exercising their right to freedom of speech.”

[...]

Maya Wang, an associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said [recent] cases underscore how far the Chinese government will go. “The use of transnational repression demonstrates a symptom of the underlying structure of the Chinese government’s influence operations around the world,” Ms. Wang said. “It has marginalized voices critical of Beijing and elevated those who are friendly to it.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47729827

Many Tibetans have been detained in Kashi (Ch: Gayi) township, Sershul (Shiqu) County in eastern Tibet following their protest in early November against gold-mining operations at their traditional grazing site known as Serkhok.

According to delayed information from the region received by the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Policy Institute, around 80 of the Tibetan protestors were detained with many suffering torture during interrogation, some of whom have yet to be released. When contacted by international media for their reaction, Chinese authorities did not comment but also did not deny any such a protest having taken place. Following the protests, authorities also initiated a communication blackout in the region, making it difficult to further verify these reports.

[...]

On 5 November 2025, local Tibetan residents discovered active gold-mining operations at the traditional grazing site for their cattle in Serkhok. They confronted the miners and immediately notified township authorities. According to residents’ accounts, township officials dismissed community concerns and asserted absolute government ownership of the land, stating: “You have no right to interfere. The complete ownership of this land belongs to the government. We will investigate and make decisions.”

Officials characterized the villagers’ attempts to halt mining activities as illegal interference.

[...]

“The Chinese authorities’ ongoing enforced disappearances, surveillance, and treatment of protestors warrant urgent international attention and investigation,” said International Campaign for Tibet President Tencho Gyatso. “Those courageous Tibetans who opposed the mining activities in Serkhok and remain detained should be released immediately. Chinese authorities should be actively consulting Tibetan communities, not threatening and arresting them, before they approve mining activities which could threaten Tibetans’ environment and traditional economic livelihoods.”

[...]

Detained individuals were transported to Sershul County facilities for interrogation, according to TPI. Sources reported that that those detained suffered torture, including sleep deprivation and aggressive interrogation leading to physical injuries such as broken ribs and kidney damage.

Detainees were compelled to sign multiple documents pledging to refrain from sharing information about the developments and committing not to protest mining activities in the future. The authorities also fabricated witness statements claiming that Tibetans assaulted Chinese officials without justification, according to TPI.

While most of them were released following interrogations, around seven Tibetans remained in detention as of 16 November, TPI said. Their whereabouts remain unknown at the time of this report. Under China’s own Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), the family of a detained person has the right to be informed of the reasons for and location of custody within 24 hours. Thus, their continued detention constitutes enforced disappearance under international human rights law.

[...]

Many Tibetans have been detained in Kashi (Ch: Gayi) township, Sershul (Shiqu) County in eastern Tibet following their protest in early November against gold-mining operations at their traditional grazing site known as Serkhok.

According to delayed information from the region received by the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Policy Institute, around 80 of the Tibetan protestors were detained with many suffering torture during interrogation, some of whom have yet to be released. When contacted by international media for their reaction, Chinese authorities did not comment but also did not deny any such a protest having taken place. Following the protests, authorities also initiated a communication blackout in the region, making it difficult to further verify these reports.

[...]

On 5 November 2025, local Tibetan residents discovered active gold-mining operations at the traditional grazing site for their cattle in Serkhok. They confronted the miners and immediately notified township authorities. According to residents’ accounts, township officials dismissed community concerns and asserted absolute government ownership of the land, stating: “You have no right to interfere. The complete ownership of this land belongs to the government. We will investigate and make decisions.”

Officials characterized the villagers’ attempts to halt mining activities as illegal interference.

[...]

“The Chinese authorities’ ongoing enforced disappearances, surveillance, and treatment of protestors warrant urgent international attention and investigation,” said International Campaign for Tibet President Tencho Gyatso. “Those courageous Tibetans who opposed the mining activities in Serkhok and remain detained should be released immediately. Chinese authorities should be actively consulting Tibetan communities, not threatening and arresting them, before they approve mining activities which could threaten Tibetans’ environment and traditional economic livelihoods.”

[...]

Detained individuals were transported to Sershul County facilities for interrogation, according to TPI. Sources reported that that those detained suffered torture, including sleep deprivation and aggressive interrogation leading to physical injuries such as broken ribs and kidney damage.

Detainees were compelled to sign multiple documents pledging to refrain from sharing information about the developments and committing not to protest mining activities in the future. The authorities also fabricated witness statements claiming that Tibetans assaulted Chinese officials without justification, according to TPI.

While most of them were released following interrogations, around seven Tibetans remained in detention as of 16 November, TPI said. Their whereabouts remain unknown at the time of this report. Under China’s own Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), the family of a detained person has the right to be informed of the reasons for and location of custody within 24 hours. Thus, their continued detention constitutes enforced disappearance under international human rights law.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47623628

The U.S. on Friday dropped its effort to deport a Chinese national who helped document Beijing's alleged abuses against Uyghur Muslims to Uganda.

[...]

Guan Heng, a Chinese citizen-journalist, fled the U.S. in 2021 after taking video of alleged concentration camps in China's western Xinjiang region. He released the video after arriving in the U.S., where he applied for asylum.

[...]

Guan was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in August for illegally entering the country, part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. He remains in a New York state detention center.

His detention and threatened deportation to Uganda has stirred controversy, not least because he helped document abuses in China that the U.S. government during Trump's first term deemed "genocide."

His supporters and lawyer say Guan faced almost certain persecution if deported to Uganda. The East African country, where Beijing has considerable political and economic clout, this year entered into an agreement with the U.S. to take in nationals from third countries. "We just got a letter informing that DHS (Department of Homeland Security) will not seek to remove Mr. Guan to Uganda," his lawyer Allen Chen [said].

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The U.S. on Friday dropped its effort to deport a Chinese national who helped document Beijing's alleged abuses against Uyghur Muslims to Uganda.

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Guan Heng, a Chinese citizen-journalist, fled the U.S. in 2021 after taking video of alleged concentration camps in China's western Xinjiang region. He released the video after arriving in the U.S., where he applied for asylum.

[...]

Guan was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in August for illegally entering the country, part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. He remains in a New York state detention center.

His detention and threatened deportation to Uganda has stirred controversy, not least because he helped document abuses in China that the U.S. government during Trump's first term deemed "genocide."

His supporters and lawyer say Guan faced almost certain persecution if deported to Uganda. The East African country, where Beijing has considerable political and economic clout, this year entered into an agreement with the U.S. to take in nationals from third countries. "We just got a letter informing that DHS (Department of Homeland Security) will not seek to remove Mr. Guan to Uganda," his lawyer Allen Chen [said].

[...]