Author: Heather Zeiger | Page 5

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Heather Zeiger
Date
December 6, 2020

Categorized
Religion, Technocracy

Tagged
China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Christianity, Falun Gong, Featured, Jesus, Massimo Introvigne, Xi Jinping}

China’s Door-to-Door Census Now Identifies Religious Believers

_{Census takers are urged to keep their eyes open for evidence of religious activity} _{Heather Zeiger
December 6, 2020

7

Religion, Technocracy}

China will complete its seventh census, begun on November 1, on December 10. New features that have prompted concern include: Residents must indicate whether they have family members in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan or if they have any family members outside of the country and those who are over sixty must indicate their state of health (Reuters, November 2, 2020). Some have resisted answering census takers’ questions for fear of losing rights and privileges under the new Social Credit System. But more than that, some seven million census takers go door-to-door, interviewing residents and entering information that goes directly to the government via mobile apps. Bitter Winter talked to several census takers who said they were instructed to pay Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
November 25, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
Africa, Belt and Road, China, Cyber espionage, Featured, Huawei, Zimbabwe}

China’s Eyes Are Watching Africa Closely

_{In exchange for help with high-tech communication systems, China gets to install mass surveillance technology} _{Heather Zeiger
November 25, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance}

Depending on who you talk to, the twenty-year relationship between China and several countries in the African Union has been described as everything from mutually beneficial to asymmetric and dysfunctional right down to exploitative and neo-colonialist. Recent pre-COVID-19 surveys indicate that citizens of several African nations see their country’s interaction with China as largely positive. But if some African science fiction writers are any indicator, others see a dystopian future. The current onslaught of high-tech surveillance technologies from China provides a chance to compare the two views. Recently, I have written about racial tensions between African nationals and local government in Guangzhou amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and about how the pandemic has worsened African countries’ debt crisis, particularly due to Read More ›

Rolled Yuan bill on the map of Africa. Chinese investment in African economy

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Heather Zeiger
Date
November 13, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Africa, Belt and Road, China, COVID-19, Debt, Kenya}

China and Africa: Debt-Trap Diplomacy?

_{The story of China helping Africa modernize resists simple formulas} _{Heather Zeiger
November 13, 2020

8

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

Last week, I reported on the accusations of racism on the part of the the Chinese authorities against African residents of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province. While Africa and China have enjoyed a seemingly amicable relationship since the 1970s, several African leaders have pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as highlighting unresolved underlying tensions. One of those tensions is several African countries’ debt burden. China’s response to requests for deferral in the midst of a pandemic has strained Sino-African relations. China isn’t the African countries’ only creditor. As of this writing, G20 leaders will be meeting to discuss debt-relief and extending the Debt Suspension Service Initiative (DSSI). The service has deferred debt payments by poor countries due to the Read More ›

With the global spread of the new coronavirus pneumonia, an automated line of disposable medical masks makes the masks ready for an epidemic 24 hours a day, COVID-19 outbreak

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Heather Zeiger
Date
November 5, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Surveillance

Tagged
Africa, China, COVID-19, Featured, Racism}

COVID-19 Response Exposes Racism in China, amid Harmony Claims

_{The lid blew off when African leaders broke the accustomed silence imposed by their dependence on Chinese high-tech loans} _{Heather Zeiger
November 5, 2020

8

Ethics, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Surveillance}

The coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic has exposed two longstanding ugly problems: underlying racist views of Africans living in China and the burden debt to China lays on several African countries. The key flashpoints creating tension between China and Africa are 1) Mistreatment of citizens of African countries living in China, particularly in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province (pictured) and 2) Beijing’s position on granting debt relief to countries in Africa so they can direct resources to dealing with the coronavirus. In one incident, Nigeria’s speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, posted a video of himself summoning Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian to his office where he expressed his displeasure about a Nigerian man being evicted from his home. While nobody Read More ›

Liquid Nitrogen bank containing suspension of stem cells. Cell culture for the biomedical diagnostic

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Heather Zeiger
Date
November 1, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
brain, Brain organoids, Consciousness, Featured, Materialism, mind, Naturalism, Sentience}

Can We Make Brains in a Dish? Can We Make MINDS in a Dish?

_{Experiments with brain organoids have left many wondering whether we should be concerned about creating brains-in-a-dish} _{Heather Zeiger
November 1, 2020

8

Ethics, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

In a recent report, Nature addressed several studies on disembodied brains grown in the lab. One of those studies, published last year by Alysson Muotri of the University of California, San Diego, showed that brain organoids (organized clusters of brain cells) displayed electrical signals reminiscent of a twenty-five-week-old pre-term baby. the electrical activity continued for several months until the experiment was eventually stopped. Experiments with such brain organoids have left many wondering whether we should be concerned about creating brains-in-a-dish. Organoids, such as those made of kidney or liver cells, have been used to study drug development and disease. They are made either from embryonic stem cells—an ethically problematic source because they involve the destruction of an embryo—or induced pluripotent Read More ›

China flag and praying patriot man with crossed hands. Holding cross, hoping and wishing.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
October 18, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, Atheism, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), COVID-19, Falun Gong, Featured, internet}

How China’s Technocracy Uses the Pandemic to Suppress Religion

_{The pandemic provided a pretext to install surveillance equipment in churches and surveil believers online} _{Heather Zeiger
October 18, 2020

9

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy}

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the ways that technology can lead either to greater accessibility or greater oppression. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now using the same technologies that have given many people around the world access to religious materials and church services during the pandemic to forcibly stop religious gatherings and restrict the distribution of religious materials within China. Although the CCP is officially atheist, over 60% of the population adheres to a recognized religion; 30.8% practice Chinese folk religions, 16.6% Buddhism, 7.4% Christianity, 4.2% ethnic religion, and 1.8% Islam. Authentic numbers may be higher, given the risk of punishment for practicing certain religions in China. The Chinese government has persecuted, tortured, and imprisoned Falun Gong members Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
October 12, 2020

Categorized
Global Technology, Programming, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
censorship, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), COVID-19, Fang Fang, Featured, GitHub, Li Wenliang, Microsoft, Wuhan}

China: COVID-19’s True History Finds an Unlikely Home — GitHub

_{The Chinese Communist party, rewriting the COVID-19 story with itself as the hero, must reckon with truthful techies} _{Heather Zeiger
October 12, 2020

9

Global Technology, Programming, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy}

For a brief window of time at the beginning of 2020, China’s internet censors didn’t block stories about Wuhan and COVID-19, the coronavirus. Caixin, a widely-read news magazine, published a multi-page investigative report on everything leading up to the outbreak, including the way in which the provincial authorities in Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital, suppressed knowledge of the virus. Fang Fang, an award-winning novelist, kept a Wuhan diary online on Weibo, which was recently published as a book in the U.S. (HarperCollins 2020). For that short time, comments on the coronavirus were not being censored (Wired) at WeChat. Many people were thus able to vent their frustrations and pay their respects when 32-year-old ophthalmologist and whistleblower Li Wenliang Read More ›

sunset on a yurt , in the grassland of Mongolia

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Heather Zeiger
Date
September 28, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Culture, education, Featured, Language, Xi Jinping}

High-Tech Suppression of China’s Mongol Region Provokes Protests

_{But Mongolian protesters against Chinese-dominated schools are threatened with loss of social credit, which means no jobs or loans} _{Heather Zeiger
September 28, 2020

8

Artificial Intelligence, Education, Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy}

China is removing the Mongolian language and culture from the curriculum and textbooks in Inner Mongolia (see outline map), an autonomous region in China. In August, leaked government documents showed that language and literature, civics, and history will be taught in Mandarin rather than Mongolian in schools where Mongolian is the primary language. Additionally, the new textbooks replace stories about historic Mongolian heroes with Chinese ballads and expunge a popular folk verse that expresses pride in the Mongolian culture and language. In response, many parents in Inner Mongolia (called Southern Mongolia locally) have been keeping their children from attending school on September 1. In retaliation, state authorities threaten their jobs and social credit status: Southern Mongolia has quickly become a Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
September 19, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Global Technology, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, censorship, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Disney, Featured, Uyghurs}

Mulan: Disney Talks Freedom at Home, Toes the Line in China

_{Films we see get altered in subtle and not-so-subtle ways to conform to the requirements of CCP propaganda} _{Heather Zeiger
September 19, 2020

10

Ethics, Global Technology, Technocracy}

China’s government allows only about thirty-four Hollywood movies to be shown in Chinese theaters. As a result, entertainment companies like Disney go out of their way to make sure a film appeals to both North American crowds and Chinese Communist Party’s censors. Of course, what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allows and doesn’t allow in films is vague and subject to change, which keeps foreign film-makers guessing. Mulan, Disney’s latest attempt to please both the North American and the Chinese market, has failed to do either, for a number of reasons. Financially, Disney is already hurting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Theaters in the U.S. either remain closed or permit only limited-capacity seating. In response, Disney released Mulan on its streaming Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
August 26, 2020

Categorized
Data Privacy, Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance

Tagged
___longform, bias, ByteDance, China, Featured, Intercept (publication), TikTok}

Why Some Nation States Are Banning TikTok

_{The United States is not alone in questioning the social medium’s allegiance to the Chinese government} _{Heather Zeiger
August 26, 2020

10

Data Privacy, Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance}

Why is TikTok so controversial? It’s the first Chinese technology company that has reached a billion users outside of China. Its main demographic is Generation Z—teens and twenty-somethings. If you take a look at TikTok videos, most are goofy and irreverent. They’re frenetic shorts of everything from fashion tips to pranks and, of course, (bad) dancing. TikTok’s stated mission is to “inspire creativity and bring joy.” What could go wrong? Here’s what. Working with China, as Disney and the NBA can attest, comes with certain strings attached, including acquiescing to the Chinese Communist Party’s rules for acceptable speech. Because ByteDance, which owns TikTok, is a Chinese company (although partly owned by investors from the U.S. and Japan), the Chinese Communist Read More ›

Binary code with China flag, data protection concept

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Heather Zeiger
Date
July 30, 2020

Categorized
Surveillance

Tagged
China, Christopher Wray, COVID-19, Cybercrime, Cyberespionage, Featured, hacking, Iran, Made in China 2025, Russia}

Charges Reveal Extent of China-Sponsored Hacking in the West

_{Targets have included COVID-19 labs, dissidents, and religious groups} _{Heather Zeiger
July 30, 2020

7

Surveillance}

What’s new about the most recent indictment is the acknowledgment that China is working with known cybercriminals.

iron chain and castle on the silk national flag of Hong Kong with beautiful folds, the concept of a ban on tourism, political repression, crime, violation of the rights and freedoms of citizens

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Heather Zeiger
Date
July 9, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, Apple (company), China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Facebook, Great Firewall}

Hong Kong: Tech Companies Face Serious Ethical Decisions

_{As Hong Kong is transformed into a police state, Western companies, faced with demands for snitching on users, are rethinking cozy relationships with China} _{Heather Zeiger
July 9, 2020

7

Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

The semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong is no longer semi-autonomous, at least in practice. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), circumventing Hong Kong’s parliament and courts, passed the Hong Kong National Security Law on June 30 that effectively abolishes the “one country, two systems” regime outlined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The law was passed one day before the anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China (July 1, 1997), in time to quash any pro-democracy candidates who would likely win in the September elections. Although the CCP justifies its moves from the Hong Kong Basic Law and claims that Hong Kong will maintain autonomy, in practice, it has already arrested dissidents and formed a secretive agency called the Office Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
July 2, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, Alipay, China, COVID-19}

China’s Health Code App: One More Way to Track Citizens

_{Heather Zeiger
July 2, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

For the Chinese Communist Party, SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus) has provided an opportunity to expand its massive surveillance system. The current extensive network of facial recognition cameras has left some gaps. People could avoid recognition, for example, by wearing a face covering to curb the spread of a respiratory illness. Now, China is looking to fill those gaps by keeping the Alipay Health Code app, launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a mainstay for its citizens: Compared to omnipresent facial recognition software and other surveillance systems in China, the health code mechanism covers more people and collects a broader range of personal information. The state can also impose stricter control as people now have to use health codes Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
June 18, 2020

Categorized
Global Technology, Social Media

Tagged
___longform, China, COVID-19, Featured, Twitter, Wolf Warriors}

The Age of the Wolf Warrior: China’s Post-Pandemic Strategy

_{The younger diplomats take their cue from a Chinese Rambo-style movie and the rewritten history they learned at school} _{Heather Zeiger
June 18, 2020

9

Global Technology, Social Media}

While countries around the world have been dealing with the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), China has claimed disputed areas in the South China Sea, taken over the Hong Kong government, and flown planes over Taiwan. One result was a standoff between warships from the U.S., Australia, and China. A 2016 international tribunal in The Hague ruled that China has no legal sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. China, saying that the ruling was void, claims areas that are also claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, and Japan. The Chinese Liberation Army has also increased the number of troops at its border with India (the Line of Actual Control) disputed since the Sino-Indian war in 1962 (below Read More ›

medical statistics and graphic charts with stethoscope

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Heather Zeiger
Date
May 26, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics, Medicine and Health, Social Media

Tagged
___longform, COVID-19, Featured, Statistics}

Making Sense of the Numbers Behind COVID-19

_{Media and politicians put statistics before us to sway our opinions. But what do they really mean?} _{Heather Zeiger
May 26, 2020

9

Mathematics, Medicine and Health, Social Media}

Numbers can frighten or enlighten. The secret is making them explain themselves. Here’s a quick primer.

cybercrime, hacking and technology concept - male hacker with headphones and coding on laptop computer screen wiretapping or using computer virus program for cyber attack in dark room

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Heather Zeiger
Date
May 20, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
China, COVID-19, Cyber espionage, Economic espionage, espionage, hacking, Industrial espionage, Intellectual Property, United Nations, United States, World Health Organization (WHO)}

The New Cyber Cold War with China

_{Cybersecurity strategist Peter Singer told Wired that there has never been a better time than the COVID-19 pandemic to be a government hacker} _{Heather Zeiger
May 20, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance}

The United States has formally accused China of both funding and operating cells of hackers who infiltrate research labs working on responses to COVID-19.

COVID-19 coronavirus in China, renminbi yuan money bill with face mask. COVID global stock market. World economy hit by corona virus outbreak. Financial crisis and coronavirus pandemic concept.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
April 23, 2020

Categorized
Global Technology, Medicine and Health

Tagged
___longform, China, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Featured, Journalists, Wuhan}

COVID-19: Getting to the Bottom of What Happened in China

_{China knowingly violated the terms of a World Health Organization (WHO) disclosure agreement} _{Heather Zeiger
April 23, 2020

14

Global Technology, Medicine and Health}

It is widely recognized that medical professionals and journalists in China are being silenced if they publish any information about COVID-19 that contradicts the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s official narrative. But now mainland Chinese scientists must ensure that their research publications also toe the CCP party line. If we sift carefully, however, we can uncover real information.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
April 5, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Global Technology, Social Media, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, China, COVID-19, Featured, Twitterbots}

The Dragon’s Deception: Conspiracy Theories and False Numbers

_{China’s global attempt to rewrite the history of coronavirus (COVID-19) is running up against incriminating evidence} _{Heather Zeiger
April 5, 2020

9

Ethics, Global Technology, Social Media, Technocracy}

The Chinese Communist Party has touted the superiority of an authoritarian government over a democratic one in handling the virus outbreak. But American intelligence sources say that it was the punishment that local officials might receive from the authoritarian system that led to the initial coverup of the outbreak.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
March 19, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, China, COVID-19, media}

China: Rewriting the History of COVID-19

_{Making the government the improbable hero of the tale} _{Heather Zeiger
March 19, 2020

9

Ethics, Medicine and Health, Technocracy}

Chinese scientists worked together swiftly and seamlessly to sequence the virus, (completed February 25), even as the government was downplaying the extent of the problem and silencing doctors who attempted to warn colleagues and the public. The Wuhan public erupted in anger when the government demanded a show of gratitude for its efforts rather than theirs.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
March 16, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Surveillance, Work

Tagged
China, Employees, Productivity, Slack, Students}

DingTalk: Where the “Teacher” Really Is Always Watching You

_{The COVID-19 quarantine has spiked both virtual workplaces and classrooms in China, highlighting anger at the surveillance} _{Heather Zeiger
March 16, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Education, Surveillance, Work}

Every human being, whether office worker or high school student, bucks against digital harnesses.