^TagChina

Tennis ball in net on flag China background.

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
December 23, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Global Technology, Sports

Tagged
#WhereIsPengShuai, China, Peng Shuai, Steve Simon, Weibo}

Peng Shuai Backtracks Her Accusations

_{This comes as no surprise to anyone who knows how China's propaganda works} _{Heather Zeiger

December 23, 2021

9

Censorship, Global Technology, Sports}

On December 19, Peng Shuai was stopped by a journalist with Singaporean Chinese-language state-owned newspaper Lianhe Zaobao while she was in Shanghai for the International Ski Federation’s Cross-Country Skiing China City Tour. The Wall Street Journal reports that journalist Chen Qingqing, of the Chinese state media mouthpiece Global Times, posted a short video on Twitter of Peng with former NBA and CBA basketball player and current chairman of the China Basketball Association, Yao Ming hours before the Lianhe Zaobao interview was posted. In the interview Peng said that she never said or wrote about anyone sexually assaulting her. The Wall Street Journal reports: “There’s been a lot of misunderstanding,” Ms. Peng said in an interview, describing the situation as touching on “my personal privacy.” “There shouldn’t be any distorted interpretations,” she Read More ›

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
December 1, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Global Technology

Tagged
#WhereIsPengShuai, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China, China Open, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), International Olympic Committee (IOC), Peng Shuai, Steve Simon, Thomas Bach, Weibo, Women's Tennis Association (WTA), Zhang Gaoli}

#WhereIsPengShuai: China’s Star Tennis Player Went Missing

_{Peng re-appeared after two weeks, but her disappearance sparked a global outcry against human rights violations under the Chinese Communist Party} _{Heather Zeiger

December 1, 2021

9

Arts & Culture, Censorship, Global Technology}

On November 2, two-time tennis doubles champion, singles semifinalist, and three-time Olympian Peng Shuai posted on her Weibo account an essay accusing the former vice premier of China, Zhang Gaoli, of rape and coercion. They had an on-and-off relationship that began ten years ago and, reportedly, had a fight several days before her post. (A partial translation of her post can be found here.) In 2014 Peng was the number one tennis doubles champion, having won two Grand Slams, and has toured with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She has also appeared in three Olympics for China. Zhang is a retired vice premier of the highest governing body in China, the Politburo Standing Committee, and unlike other government officials who have Read More ›

一个人漫步在故宫中，你能感觉到自己内心的宁静，倾听历史的声音。历史中的记忆，我们无法完全的复刻，但是建筑带给我们的震撼，却历久弥新。

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
October 29, 2021

Categorized
Global Technology

Tagged
"Fragile" (song), Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), common prosperity, Kimberly Chen, Namewee, Xi Jinping}

China Brief: Xi Jinping Is a Techno-Utopian

_{Is his optimism in fix-all technological solutions actually a weakness?} _{Heather Zeiger

October 29, 2021

5

Global Technology}

I attended a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies on Xi Jinping’s New Policy Framework. Jude Blanchette and Andrew Polk of CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies laid out their take on Xi Jinping’s governance model, the goal of which is to make China into a “great socialist nation” by 2035. This is a change from the Deng Xiaoping goal of making China into a “moderately prosperous society” and includes his common prosperity initiative. For those interested in some of the ins-and-outs of macro-economic policy, you can read the CSIS report, “Chinese State Capitalism: Diagnosis and Prognosis” here. Two key takeaways from the webinar are 1) Xi Jinping’s model is not a rehash of Mao or Lenin, although both Read More ›

Planet Earth from Space, People's Republic of China warm glow highlighted state borders and counties animation, city lights, 3d illustration

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
October 20, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Global Technology

Tagged
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, censorship, China, Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), LinkedIn}

LinkedIn Says Goodbye to China

_{If the blasé business world of LinkedIn cannot pass the Cyberspace Administration of China’s rules, then what platform can?} _{Heather Zeiger

October 20, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Censorship, Global Technology}

LinkedIn announced that it will no longer host social media and content sharing in China. Instead, it’s China-only app will be a job-board site. This comes after LinkedIn received criticism for blocking certain researcher profiles in China as well as human rights advocates and journalists who write on China. LinkedIn, which was bought by Microsoft in 2016, was one of the only U.S.-based social media outlets still operating within China. Twitter, Facebook (including Instagram, WhatsApp), and YouTube (owned by Alphabet, Inc.) are banned. Google (also owned by Alphabet, Inc.) left in 2010. Signal and Clubhouse were banned in 2021. Other apps, such as TikTok (owned by ByteDance, Inc.) have their own Chinese version that complies with censors and data regulators. Read More ›

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podcast

Author
George Gilder
Date
October 14, 2021

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, bitcoin, China, China (competitiveness in AI), COSM, education, Facebook, Facebook (as near monopoly), Facebook monopoly, George Gilder, Google, human condition, improved education, Monopoly, Peter Thiel, Peter Thiel (at COSM 2021), Robert J. Marks, Social media monopoly}

COSM Speaker Peter Thiel: The Failures and “Self-Hatred” of Big Tech

_{George Gilder

October 14, 2021

1}

Listen to maverick entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s talk from last year’s COSM conference. Thiel discusses his views of artificial intelligence, Big Tech’s monopoly, China, and the future of technology with legendary tech guru George Gilder. You can register now to hear Peter Thiel and George Gilder at this year’s COSM conference in November. Show Notes 00:50 | Introducing Peter Thiel 01:12 Read More ›

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
October 12, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), common prosperity, Jack Ma, Kai Strittmatter, Lingling Wei, Marxism, Massimo Introvigne, New Economic Policy, Soviet Union, We Have Been Harmonized (book), Xi Jinping}

Xi Jinping’s Ruthless March Toward “Common Prosperity”

_{Part II: The roots of Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" vision and why he's making changes to China's technology sector now} _{Heather Zeiger

October 12, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

In my previous article we looked at the sweeping crackdown of China’s technology sector, beginning with Jack Ma and Ant Financial, and how this is part of Xi Jinping’s goal of “common prosperity.” While corruption and debt excesses needed to be reined in and people wanted better data privacy protections, Xi’s common prosperity initiative is also about concentrating power, redistributing wealth, and controlling the unpredictable market. In this article we’ll look at the roots of common prosperity and why analysts believe Xi is making these changes now. Appealing to the Working Class In his speech celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China, Xi said that the Party will make “notable and substantive progress toward achieving well-rounded human Read More ›

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
October 8, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Alibaba, Ant Group, antitrust, Baidu, ByteDance, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Didi Global Inc., Evergrande Corp., Jack Ma, Meituan, Tencent, Xi Jinping}

Will China’s Huge Tech Sector Crackdown Stifle Innovation?

_{Part I: How will the Common Prosperity program really play out in the private sector?} _{Heather Zeiger

October 8, 2021

5

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

Didi Chuxing (Didi Global, Inc.), the largest ride-hailing company in the world, was reprimanded when it opened on the New York Stock Exchange after regulators warned it needed to shore up its data security issues. Meituan, China’s massive shopping and coupon app, was recently fined $533 million for “anticompetitive behavior.” Alibaba, owned by tech billionaire Jack Ma, had to pay a $2.8 billion fine for the same reasons. Antitrust regulators dinged Tencent, Baidu (China’s Google alternative), ByteDance (parent company for TikTok), and ecommerce company JD.com Inc. The billion-dollar online private tutoring industry sank after the Chinese government declared that after-school tutoring is now non-profit only. Then the online gaming industry was hit when the Chinese government declared children are only allowed to play for a few Read More ›

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post

Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
September 9, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, China, Elon Musk, Erik J. Larson, Francois Chollet, Jack Ma, Jonathan Bartlett, Michael I. Jordan, Nikola Danaylov, Singularity Weblog, The Myth of Artificial Intelligence (book)}

Danaylov: Right on Technology, Wrong on AI

_{Danaylov's confidence in the future of AI super-intelligence is exaggerated} _{Caitlin Bassett

September 9, 2021

6

Artificial Intelligence}

Our future is determined by the stories we tell ourselves. So says futurist Nikola Danaylov in his online series exploring the years and decades to come for humanity. In our previous posts, we introduced you to Danaylov and examined his perspective on science. Now we will turn to his treatment of technology and artificial intelligence. The Technology Story Like his perspective on science, Danaylov brings a balanced understanding to technology. Technology “is not an end-in-itself,” he says. “Instead, technology is merely a means-to-an-end, a tool.” Jonathan Bartlett has also written about technology as a tool. In 2019, Elon Musk and Jack Ma shared a stage to debate the future of technology and artificial intelligence. Here’s what Bartlett had to say about it: For Ma, Read More ›

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
August 30, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Law

Tagged
Algorithms, Big Data, China, China Consumers Administration (CAC), Chinese Communist Party (CCP), consumer data laws, critical information infrastructure, Critical Information Infrastructure Security Protection Regulations, Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), data privacy laws, Data Security Law, Didi Global Inc., European Union, Facial Recognition, General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), Jack Ma, Personal Information Protection Law, Xi Jinping}

China’s Data Laws Restrict Businesses and Favor the State

_{The Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law are part of the Chinese government’s plan to steer the private sector toward State goals} _{Heather Zeiger

August 30, 2021

8

Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Law}

In previous articles, I looked at how the Chinese government is reigning in China’s tech sector first of Jack Ma and Ant Group’s initial public offering on the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock exchanges and then Didi Global, Inc. The Chinese government has since passed two data laws and released an update that clarifies the 2017 Cybersecurity Law. The result is better protections of citizens’ data from being used, exploited, or sold by private companies, and encroaching government presumption of the private sector in which the State has virtually unrestricted access to and jurisdiction over private companies’ data. Clarification of the 2017 Cybersecurity Law The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) gained oversight powers over other state agencies in 2014 under Xi Jinping. Jane Read More ›

China from space on realistic model of planet Earth with network. Concept of digital technology, connectivity and travel.

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
August 16, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
antitrust, Big Tech, Big Tech (China), China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Didi Global Inc.}

What’s Behind China’s Crackdown on Big Tech?

_{Both China and the U.S. are treating big tech with a heavy hand, but under different motivations} _{Heather Zeiger

August 16, 2021

9

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

In a previous article I looked at Chinese regulators’ crackdown on Didi Global, China’s ride-hailing service. Didi is one of several Chinese tech giants that have been tamed in the past nine months. Prior to Didi, Ant Group, Tencent, Meituan, and Pinduoduo were all quelled by regulators. After Didi, regulators targeted Full Truck Alliance and Kanzhun. They recently shut down online for-profit tutoring and have banned mining cryptocurrencies in China. Thus far, the Chinese government’s actions have resulted in almost $1 trillion net losses for the Chinese tech sector. The two big questions are, Why now? and, relatedly, Who’s next? SupChina has a well-organized explainer on China’s Big Tech Crackdown here. Another helpful resource is this video from DW, “How China is tightening control of its tech companies”: According to SupChina, China’s Read More ›

power line NP background of the sunset, a lot of supports for wires

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
August 12, 2021

Tagged
1989, academia, China, data protection, electromagnetic pulses, electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), emps, entrepreneuship, flashdrives, fried circuts, government, Information, microwaves, nuclear weapons, Power Grid, protect your data, protection power grid, Robert J. Marks, Sarah Seguin, solar flares, solar storms, Technology}

EMPs. Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

_{Robert J. Marks

August 12, 2021

1}

Sarah Seguin and Robert J. Marks discuss what might happen if someone tried to attack the United States using an EMP. What kinds of groups might use EMPs for terrorism? Are steps being taken to protect the country’s power grid? Show Notes 00:13 | 1989 Solar Storm 01:31 | HEMP Disruption 04:34 | Introducing Sarah Seguin 05:39 | The United Read More ›

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
August 10, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
Ant Group, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), data, Didi Global Inc., Jack Ma, Uber, Xi Jinping}

China’s Crackdown on Big Tech: Didi Global Inc.

_{In an authoritarian government, data is power} _{Heather Zeiger

August 10, 2021

7

Business and Finance}

The Chinese Communist Party is on a campaign to reign in the private sector and some analysts say it is just the beginning. According to Wall Street Journal: Investors, analysts and company executives believe the government is just getting started in its push to realign the relationship between private business and the state, with a goal of ensuring companies do more to serve the Communist Party’s economic, social and national-security concerns. Jing Yang, Keith Zhai, and Quentin Webb, “China’s Corporate Crackdown Is Just Getting Started. Signs Point to More Tumult Ahead” at Wall Street Journal. Last November, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reined in Ant Group, Ltd. which was poised to open on the Shanghai and Hong Kong index with Read More ›

Abstract background of science and technology

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
August 5, 2021

Tagged
academia, China, data protection, electromagnetic pulses, electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), emps, entrepreneuship, flashdrives, fried circuts, government, Information, microwaves, nuclear weapons, protect your data, Robert J. Marks, Sarah Seguin, Technology, the cloud}

Sarah Seguin on EMPs and How to Protect Your Data

_{Robert J. Marks

August 5, 2021

1}

With society’s ever-increasing dependence on technology, a growing concern is the threat of EMPs. Sarah Seguin and Robert J. Marks discuss EMPs, the physics behind such attacks, and potential ways you can protect your electronics and your data. Show Notes 00:12 | Introduction 02:12 | Electromagnetic Capability 04:18 | Defining EMPs 05:17 | The Physics behind EMPs 07:43 | EMPs Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 22, 2021

Categorized
Data Privacy, Events

Tagged
Antony Blinken, China, cybersecurity, hacking, Hafnium, Kellen Dwyer, Microsoft, Microsoft Exchange Server, NATO, Nicole Perlroth, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends (book), U.S. Department of Justice, Wall Street Journal, zero-day hack}

U.S. and Allies Formally Accuse China of Exchange Server Hack

_{This isn’t the first time the Chinese-backed hacker group has infiltrated organizations} _{Heather Zeiger

July 22, 2021

7

Data Privacy, Events}

On Monday, July 19, three cybersecurity announcements were made: In response to the massive Microsoft Exchange Server hack, the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Japan, the E.U., and NATO formally accused the Chinese government of engaging in harmful cyberactivity. The U.S. Department of Justice published its indictment of four Chinese hackers associated with the Chinese government, known as APT40. The FBI, CSIS, and the NSA published a cybersecurity advisory cataloging the fifty tactics, techniques, and procedures used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers. Then, on Tuesday, the CSIA and the FBI published a report on state-sponsored international hacking groups that included accusations that the Chinese state-backed hackers infiltrated thirteen oil and natural gas pipeline operators between 2011 and 2013. In Read More ›

Monument Of Chinese Communist Party At Tiananmen Square

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 1, 2021

Categorized
Censorship

Tagged
Andrew Nathan, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), History (rewriting history China), Kai Strittmatter, Kiwi Chow, Mao Zedong, Tienanmen Square (massacre), Wolf Warriors, Xi Jinping}

Chinese Communist Party: 100 Years of Erasing, Rewriting History

_{Tiananmen Square: Anyone born after 1980 has no idea that the People’s Liberation Army turned against the demonstrators in front of a gate whose name is “Heavenly Peace.”} _{Heather Zeiger

July 1, 2021

8

Censorship}

“The regime wants us to forget. I hope to use my camera to remember…We are resisting in our memories. We are resisting forgetfulness.” – Kiwi Chow, documentary filmmaker in Hong Kong, referring to the events in Hong Kong in 2019, “In a Scarred Hong Kong, ‘Beautiful Things Are Gone’” Reuters, June 29, 2021 The centenary commemoration of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Mao Zedong in 1921 commemorates a myth. The party was founded on July 23, but this year’s celebrations commenced July 1, which coincides with the date of the British handover of Hong Kong in 1997. According to China Digital Times, July 1 has a nice symmetry to the dates of the founding of the Read More ›

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post

Author
News
Date
June 27, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), China, Dentsu, Depression (BCI and depression), Diego Salinas, Neuralink, Psychiatry (and BCI)}

Can Implanted Computer Chips Cure Depression?

_{Brain–computer interface (BCI) is promising for paralysis and prosthetics but raises concerns in the treatment of depression} _{News

June 27, 2021

5

Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Brain computer interface (BCI) shows promise in treating paralysis or enabling prosthetics to work almost naturally. But BCI for treating depression sounds like hype: Say goodbye to pills, therapy, and all that. With such gloomy prospects, it was only a matter of time scientists realized there must be better ways to treat depression rather than pills. After all, drugs only work because they act on certain brain regions to modulate the concentration of certain neurotransmitters, like serotonin or dopamine. Therefore, in the end, the regulation of mood depends on stimulating brain signals in certain parts of the brain — that is, neurons firing — and this can be done more accurately by just zapping the neurons directly with electricity. Diego Read More ›

Total population control concept with CCTV videocam and small figures of people

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post

Author
News
Date
June 19, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Surveillance

Tagged
“Boléro” (film), China, Sarah Gross}

A One-Girl War With the Total Surveillance State —Sci-fi Saturday

_{The acting, ambience, and special effects in “Bolero” are top quality} _{News

June 19, 2021

14

Arts & Culture, Surveillance}

“Boléro” at DUST by Sarah Gross (June 13, 2021, 17:24) In a future where telepaths are used by the government to monitor the public and root out insurgents, Maya, a non-speaking teen, witnesses her father’s brutal and unjust execution. Set on a path of revenge and destruction, Maya joins the Resistance, hellbent on tracking down Reader 8, the telepath responsible for her father’s death. However, when Maya finally locates her target after years of searching, she is confronted with a choice: either capture Reader 8 and deliver essential intelligence to the Resistance or take him out and fulfill her vengeful quest. Review: “Boléro” debuted at IMDB in 2019 and has deservedly won some industry awards. The acting, ambience, and special Read More ›

accurate facial recognition software detection technology. blur people with facial scan showing digital personal data and social credit

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 15, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance

Tagged
ACLU, China, Comparitech, facial recognition technology, Portland, San Francisco}

U.S. Ranked #8 in Countries Using Facial Recognition Technology

_{7 in 10 governments widely use facial recognition technology} _{News

June 15, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance}

A new report has ranked the United States #8 among 100 countries for widespread use of facial recognition technology (FRT). The report came out of Comparitech last week. A team evaluated the 100 most populated countries to compare their use of FRT. The study analyzed the use of FRT in governments, police departments, airports, schools, banks, workplaces, and on public transportation. The U.S. scored 18 on a scale of 0-40 (0 indicating an invasive use of FRT, and 40 indicating no evidence or an outright ban on the technology), pairing it with Mexico for the eighth ranking in the top 10 list. “There is…growing use of this technology within the US, but buses don’t appear to have FRT installed as Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 6, 2021

Categorized
Economics, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
China, Demographics, Elinor Ostrom, Family structure, free will, Garrett Hardin, Michelle Nijhuis, Population, Tragedy of the Commons concept}

Is More Coercion — in Principle — an “Extension” of Morality?

_{Activist Garrett Hardin popularized government coercion to “save the planet” in 1968} _{News

June 6, 2021

5

Economics, Philosophy of Mind}

Recently, the Communist Party of China has announced permission for the three-child family, possibly because of the demographic ruin that the previous one-child family has occasioned in that country. But the basic idea that government should control everything is not new and it did not originate in China. Let’s go back to the 1960s in the United States. In 1968, Garrett Hardin (1915–2003) made a famous appeal in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s magazine, Science, for good old-fashioned coercion of human beings to stop having so many children: The abstract for his “Tragedy of the Commons” (Science, 1968), a Cool concept at the time, read simply “The population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental Read More ›

New Yuan digital currency of china on red economy graph chart

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
May 10, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Technocracy

Tagged
Alibaba Group Holdings, Alipay, Ant Group, Big Tech (China), ByteDance, China, Digital yuan, e-CNY, Fintech (China), Jack Ma, Jerry Lin, Retroactive law (China), Tencent Holdings, WeChat Pay}

China Sharply Reins in Big Tech Amid All-Digital Currency Rollout

_{Ant Group must turn over its vast customer database to the government in exchange for the easing of strict regulations} _{Heather Zeiger

May 10, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Global Technology, Technocracy}

Earlier, we looked at what China’s new digital yuan, also called Digital Currency Electronics Payment or e-CNY, will mean for Chinese citizens. The rollout may relate to billionaire e-commerce founder Jack Ma’s critiques of China’s regulators and subsequent (temporary) disappearance. Also to the subsequent denial of his Ant Group’s billion-dollar initial public offering on the Shanghai index. Since then, the Chinese government has cracked down on several Big Tech companies while promoting the digital yuan. How China is rapidly reining in its Big Tech industries Chinese media have been promoting the second annual Double Five (i.e., May 5) Shopping Festival in Shanghai. This month-long state-organized shopping festival is part of “National Consumption Promotion Month.” The first Consumption Month festival, held Read More ›