Reports surface days before UN summit on Afghanistan that will exclude Afghan women and debate on women’s rights

• In more than one case the arrests and sexual abuse that young women faced while in custody earlier this year led to suicide and attempted suicide.

• In one case, a woman’s body was allegedly found in a canal a few weeks after she had been taken into custody by Taliban militants, with a source close to her family saying she had been sexually abused before her death.

• Girls and women also say they had been subjected to beatings and intimidation while in detention.

Amina*, a 22-year-old medical student, said she spent three nights in a Taliban prison after being arrested in January 2024. She said she was interrogated by an older man who asked her about her menstruation and whether she was married or not.

“I fell at his feet and begged him, ‘Please, kill me but don’t harass me’,” she said. “He said: ‘Since you are keen to die, I will kill you, but before that, let us have fun with you.’

“Then he started touching my private parts,” Amina said. “I fainted twice during the interrogation, but every time, he poured cold water over my head.”

Amina said what happened to her happened to every girl taken to that interrogation room and left alone with the man.

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• The Chinese government’s rejection of recommendations to end its deepening human rights crisis reflects its disdain for international human rights reviews at the United Nations, human rights nongovernmental organizations said in a joint statement released on June 25, 2024.
• In a disingenuous effort to paper over its refusal to engage to improve its appalling record made clear by latest Universal Periodical Review (UPR) in January 2024, the Chinese government said it would accept 290 of the 428 recommendations, partially accept 8, note 32, and reject 98 of the recommendations made. The 290 accepted ones include those the government said it “accepted and being implemented” and those “accepted and already implemented.”
• However, none of the “accepted” recommendations address concerns raised by UN member states about crimes against humanity, torture, forced disappearance, persecution of human rights defenders and journalists, or other grave and well-documented violations.
• In this context, the numerous acceptances by the Chinese government does not mean actual intention to improve its rights record. No one should confuse a high number of accepted recommendations with any real commitment by Beijing on human rights.
• Beijing’s responses to UPR recommendations also include hostility towards the process and towards UN human rights mechanisms. The government has challenged the authority of the UPR to address topics Beijing insists are a matter of “sovereignty,” and disparaged the professionalism of UN human rights experts.
• The Chinese government also falsely proclaimed the August 2022 OHCHR report on human rights abuses in Xinjiang, which that office alleged may constitute crimes against humanity, as “completely illegal and void.”

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Russia's exiled chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt was speaking after gunmen killed 19 people in the mainly Muslim region of Dagestan in southern Russia in attacks on churches, synagogues and the police.

"The Russian authorities during the last years have used the law enforcement authorities to repress any kind of opposition to the Kremlin, opposition to the war and any movements like the LGBT movement which was declared as extremist. People are sent to prison for criticising the war," Goldschmidt said in a video interview from Berlin.

"So instead of using law enforcement and the interior ministry and FSB (security service) to provide security for Russian citizens, it's being used to eradicate any opposition to the regime. And here we see the results, that such terrorists like ISIS are able to again and again mount successful attacks against houses of worship, against cultural events." [...]

Putin offers condolences

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin expressed his deep condolences over Sunday's attacks, but it has not commented on who was to blame or why authorities failed to stop them.

[...]

Goldschmidt himself left Russia soon after the start of the war and has encouraged more Jews to follow his example rather than stay on in what he called a "semi-totalitarian" country.

"Tens of thousands of Jews left, and I'm happy they left," he said. "We are worried for all of those who are still there."

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The Russian division of the Bank of China has suspended operations with Russian lenders sanctioned by the United States in order to avoid being hit with secondary sanctions, the Kommersant business newspaper reported Monday, citing industry insiders.

The Bank of China’s Russian division — which specializes in yuan payments between Russia and China — is the second-largest Chinese banking subsidiary in the country [...]

Experts [said that this] would likely increase fraud risks given the subsequent shift to opaque intermediaries to process payments between Russian and Chinese entities.

“This is not very good news for the Russian market,” an anonymous industry insider was quoted [...]. “There will be additional costs both in time and the price of processing payments.”

"But the most important problem is that payments go beyond the banking sector, resulting in the state having less control,” the source added.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.crimedad.work/post/98778

JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE

Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stanstead airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.

This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations. This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised. We will provide more information as soon as possible.

After more than five years in a 2x3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars.

WikiLeaks published groundbreaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles,and for the people's right to know.

As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.

Julian's freedom is our freedom.

[More details to follow]

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Lai Ching-te once again called on China to accept the existence of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that is claimed by Beijing but where its courts have no jurisdiction.

Democracy is not a crime and autocracy is the real “evil,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said Monday after China threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for “diehard” Taiwan independence separatists.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has made no secret of its dislike of Lai, who took office last month, saying he is a “separatist,” and staged war games shortly after his inauguration.

On Friday, China ramped up its pressure on Taiwan by issuing new legal guidelines to punish those it says support the island’s formal independence, though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the democratically governed island.

Asked about China’s move at a news conference at the presidential office in Taipei, Lai first reiterated his sympathy for recent flooding in southern China before responding.

“I want to stress: Democracy is not a crime; it’s autocracy that is the real evil. China has absolutely no right to sanction Taiwan’s people just because of the positions they hold. What’s more, China has no right to go after Taiwan people’s rights across borders,” he said.

According to China, anyone who does not uphold “reunification” is therefore a Taiwan independence supporter, Lai added.

“I also want to call on China to face up to the existence of the Republic of China and have exchanges and dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected, legitimate government,” he said, using Taiwan’s formal name. “If this is not done, relations between Taiwan and China will only become more and more estranged.”

Taiwan said that since Thursday, there has been a sharp increase in Chinese military flights as Beijing carried out a “joint combat readiness patrol” near the island.

From Thursday to Sunday, Taiwan says it detected 115 Chinese military aircraft operating nearby, getting as close as 31 nautical miles from the southern tip of the island.

Taiwan has said that for the past four years China has carried out regular military activity around the island as part of a “gray zone” pressure campaign.

Lai rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future. He has repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed.

China says any move by Taiwan to declare formal independence would be grounds to attack the island.

The government in Taipei says Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China, and that it does not plan to change that. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war against Mao Zedong’s Communists.

Lai also faces domestic challenges, as his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in parliament in the same election in January that brought him to power.

Speaking at the same news conference, Lai said he would ask the constitutional court to stay a package of contested parliament reforms the opposition has passed and consider whether they comply with the constitution.

The opposition says the reforms, which among other things criminalize contempt of parliament by government officials, are needed to bring more accountability, but the DPP says they were forced through without proper discussion.

Investigations by nonprofit news outlet ProPublica have found links between Chinese diplomats, Chinese Communist Party-affiliated organizations, local Chinese criminal syndicates and some marijuana operations in the United States.

In the operations reported on in this story, NPR found no signs of Chinese state or Asian organized crime involvement. The businesses did attract small-scale, individual investors from China who were eager to invest abroad.

Canada's ambassador to Beijing visited the region of Xinjiang last week and expressed concerns about human rights violations directly to local leaders, the Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

A 2022 report by the then U.N. human rights chief said China's treatment of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority in Xinjiang, in the country's far west, could constitute crimes against humanity. Beijing denies the allegations.

Ambassador Jennifer May visited Xinjiang from June 19-22, the first such visit by a Canadian envoy in a decade. "(This) served as an opportunity to communicate Canadian concerns about the human rights situation directly to the leadership of Xinjiang," the ministry statement said.

"Ambassador May raised concerns over credible reports of systematic violations of human rights occurring in Xinjiang affecting Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities, including those raised by U.N. experts," it continued.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa was not immediately available for comment. May visited Xinjiang a few weeks after Canada said it had warned China against meddling in its elections. In April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Beijing had tried to interfere in the last two national votes, a charge China dismissed.

Campaign groups on Saturday urged U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk to take more action over what they said were documented abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslims.

May also reiterated Canada's calls for China to allow U.N. independent experts unfettered access to all regions of China, the statement said. Canada, like the United States, has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities over alleged rights abuses in Xinjiang.

A pet donkey that escaped his owners five years ago in California has been found "living his best life" with a herd of wild elk.

Terrie and Dave Drewry, of Auburn, are convinced the animal, filmed by a hiker earlier in June, is their pet "Diesel".

The couple say they are relieved the animal is safe - and have decided to let him wander free with a new family as a "wild burro" .

Diesel was spooked and took off during a hiking trip with Mr Drewry near Clear Lake, California in 2019.

Weeks of volunteer searches proved fruitless, and a trail camera image a few months later was the last time he was seen.

"We finally kind of gave up," Mrs Drewry told BBC's news partner, CBS. "Just no signs of him."

Then hiker Max Fennell spotted the herd earlier this month, describing the donkey as "happy and healthy", and posted his film on social media.

"It was amazing. It was like, oh my gosh. Finally, we saw him. Finally, we know he's good. He's living his best life. He's happy. He's healthy, and it was just a relief," Mrs Drewry said.

The elk herd is a few miles away from where Diesel first went missing and in an area where there are no wild donkeys.

"Two completely different creatures, but they learn to get along and be each other's family," Mrs Drewry said.

The Drewrys have adopted new donkeys since Diesel's disappearance and do not plan on trying to capture their missing pet.

"To catch him would be next to impossible," Mrs Drewry said. "He is truly a wild burro now. He's out there doing what he's raised to do."

She said Diesel is about eight years old and donkeys can live for up to 40 years.

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Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday evening denounced a new guideline issued by the Chinese authorities threatening to punish "diehard" advocates of Taiwan independence with the death penalty, calling the move detrimental to bilateral people-to-people exchanges.

In a press release, the MAC called the guideline laid out by Chinese officials earlier the same day "regrettable" and described it as provocative and detrimental to exchanges between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

"The Beijing authorities have no jurisdiction over Taiwan," said the MAC, the top government agency handling cross-strait affairs, adding that China's "so-called laws and regulations have no binding force on our people."

However, the MAC also urged Taiwanese living in China or considering travel there to exercise caution.

At a press conference in Beijing, Chinese officials unveiled the guidelines on punishing "Taiwan independence diehards" convicted of "inciting secession," under which those involved in serious cases against the country could receive the death penalty.

The guideline, drafted in accordance with existing Chinese laws, such as the 2005 Anti-Secession Law, detail the offences of splitting the country and inciting secession and the penalties those found guilty of such offences can face.

An unspecified technical problem forced the Rio-bound Boeing aircraft to turn back shortly after takeoff from Amsterdam. A spokesperson for Dutch air traffic control said the plane requested to land as a precaution and turned around over Belgium some 40 minutes after takeoff.

• Russian authorities are imposing the Russian curriculum and Kremlin propaganda in Ukrainian schools in occupied areas of Ukraine and have retaliated against school workers if they refuse to implement the imposed Russian curriculum, a report published by Human Rights Watch days.
• Any criticism of the invasion in schools is subject to retaliation by occupying authorities. For exampke, Russian proxies in occupied Melitopol punished a student who spoke Ukrainian in school by driving him dozens of kilometers with a bag over his head to a remote area and abandoning him to walk back home alone.
• Occupying authorities have beaten school children who expressed peaceful opposition to the occupation. In Melitopol, Hanna Bout, a teacher at the Professional Agricultural Lyceum who was an awardee as one the best teachers in Ukraine in 2021, said, “They changed the flags to Russia’s on February 25 [2022]. We protested against the occupation until March 18, when they beat demonstrators harshly. They beat a girl under 18 and broke her ribs for having a Ukrainian flag painted on her cheek.”
• The report documents the week-long detention, in dire conditions, of a school principal from Borivske village in Kharkivska region, whom security officers beat repeatedly for refusing to hand over information about his school.
• Russian authorities have [illegally] introduced textbooks and lessons in schools in occupied areas of Ukraine that falsify history to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the authorities have also introduced military training, and require secondary schools to send them lists of students aged 18 and older who are eligible for conscription into the Russian armed forces.
• Among others, the Russian curriculum in Ukraine falsely claim that Russian forces do their utmost of protect civilians and do not under any circumstances attack “residential areas” while alleging that Ukrainian forces routinely use “their own citizens… as a human shield.”
• In the 2024-25 school year, Russia’s education ministry will also introduce compulsory lessons for 15- to 18-year-olds in occupied Ukrainian territories and in Russia, “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland,” using another new textbook that includes false claims, such as that after 2014 "Russian books were burned” in Ukraine, “the Russian language [was] banned... [and] 'Russian blood' cocktails were served in restaurants".
• Russia’s Defense Ministry that prepares children to join the military, disseminates anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and is active in occupied Ukrainian territories as well as in Russia.
• According to a UN report published in March 2024, Russian authorities also inducted Ukrainian children in Zaporizhzhia into the “Youth South” movement where they participate in “maintaining public order” and “interact directly” with frontline Russian soldiers, according to an occupation official.

After Vladimir Putin’s troops surged over the Ukrainian border in February 2022, the Coca-Cola Co. was among the first multinationals to pledge it would quit Russia in protest. Aiming to avoid the inevitable headaches of complying with expected Western sanctions on the Kremlin, Coke asked its partners there to pull its cans and bottles from stores, cease deliveries of syrup to soda fountains and stop producing its drinks.

Two years later, Coke’s distinctive red logo is still easy to find in supermarkets and restaurants across the country. And taking into account a newcomer called Dobry Cola—sold in cans with a remarkably familiar red tint and a taste few would be able to distinguish from the original—Coke by some meas­ures remains Russia’s leading fizzy drink maker.

That’s because Multon Partners, the Coke bottler in the country, is owned by a separate, London-listed company called Coca-Cola HBC in which the US mother ship owns a 21% stake. When HBC stopped making Coke after the invasion, Multon introduced Dobry Cola. It’s become the country’s most popular soda, with 13% of the market, according to researcher Prodazhi.rf. “The profits from selling Coca-Cola in Russia have merely shifted to Coca-Cola HBC, which has taken market share through the success of Dobry,” says Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA Research.

And Coca-Cola itself is still widely available, imported from neighbors such as Georgia and Kazakhstan. Following the invasion, Russia passed a law allowing branded goods to be sold without the trademark owner’s consent. With trucks hauling countless cases across the border, Russians with a hankering for “the real thing” can still get it. Those imports alone have made Coke Russia’s No. 3 soda, with 6% of the market, according to Prodazhi.

That’s not to say Coke hasn’t suffered. HBC says its volumes in Russia grew 12% last year, but they remained almost a third below their level in 2021, when Coke was the top-selling soft drink, with 26% of the market. And while Coke does profit from Dobry’s popularity and Multon’s market-­leading juice business, the Atlanta company says it has recused itself from management of the operation.

Coke is far from alone in making a less-than-complete exit from Russia. PepsiCo Inc. in September 2022 said it had stopped producing and selling Pepsi, Mountain Dew and 7Up there, and its market share collapsed. But Pepsi soon added a new cola, Evervess, and boosted output of Frustyle (similar to fruity Mirinda) at its half-dozen plants in the country. Last year the Russian unit’s beverage sales jumped 12%, to 209 billion rubles ($2.3 billion), its reports to local tax authorities show. And revenue at its baby food and dairy business last year expanded 10%, to 129 billion rubles. PepsiCo declined to comment.

Since 2022 more than 1,000 multinationals have said they’re scaling back Russian operations, according to research from the Yale School of Management. But many have remained. Unilever Plc and Nestlé SA, with large production facilities there, were reluctant to sell at the massive discount the Kremlin demanded as an exit tax. Danish brewer Carlsberg AS and yogurt giant Danone SA saw their assets seized as they sought to leave, though Danone eventually negotiated a sale to a company the government favored. French supermarket operator Auchan, clothing retailer Benetton Group and restaurant chains Subway and TGI Fridays continue operating in Russia with no apparent plans to cut back.

For companies still in the country, repatriating earnings is tough, as they require hard-to-get permission to take out money. But the profits are substantial. Lifted by war spending, the Russian economy expanded 3.6% last year, helping drive ­unemployment to an historic low of 2.6% and sharply boosting wages. “There’s loose fiscal policy pumping record amounts of money into the public sector,” says Tatiana Orlova of Oxford Economics. “And Russia’s labor market is extremely tight.”

united kingdom.

Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have been systematically changing hundreds of village names with religious, historical, or cultural meaning for Uyghurs into names reflecting recent Chinese Communist Party ideology, Human Rights Watch said.

"The Chinese authorities have been changing hundreds of village names in Xinjiang from those rich in meaning for Uyghurs to those that reflect government propaganda,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. “These name changes appear part of Chinese government efforts to erase the cultural and religious expressions of Uyghurs.”

In joint research, Human Rights Watch and Norway-based organization Uyghur Hjelp (“Uyghur help”) scraped names of villages in Xinjiang from the website of the National Bureau of Statistics of China between 2009 and 2023.

The names of about 3,600 of the 25,000 villages in Xinjiang were changed during this period. About four-fifths of these changes appear mundane, such as number changes, or corrections to names previously written incorrectly. But the 630, about a fifth, involve changes of a religious, cultural, or historical nature.

The changes fall into three broad categories. Any mentions of religion, including Islamic terms, such as Hoja (霍加), a title for a Sufi religious teacher, and haniqa (哈尼喀), a type of Sufi religious building, have been removed, along with mentions of shamanism, such as baxshi (巴合希), a shaman.

Any mentions of Uyghur history, including the names of its kingdoms, republics, and local leaders prior to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and words such as orda (欧尔达), which means “palace,” sultan (苏里坦), and beg (博克), which are political or honorific titles, have also been changed. The authorities also removed terms in village names that denote Uyghur cultural practices, such as mazar (麻扎), shrine, and dutar (都塔尔), a two-stringed lute at the heart of Uyghur musical culture.

Philippines soldiers used their "bare hands" to fight off Chinese coast guard personnel armed with swords, spears and knives in the disputed South China Sea, the country's top military commander has said.

General Romeo Brawner accused Chinese vessels of ramming Philippine boats, then boarding them and seizing weapons.

One Filipino soldier lost a thumb when his vessel was rammed, the general said. China denied its personnel were to blame, saying they had been "restrained".

There have been a string of dangerous encounters as the two sides seek to enforce their claims on disputed reefs and outcrops - this appears to be an escalation.

The skirmish happened as the Philippine navy and coast guard were delivering supplies to Filipino troops stationed in the Second Thomas Shoal.

Gen Brawner said soldiers reported seeing the Chinese coast guard armed with knives, spears and bolos, Filipino for sword. He said it's the first time Filipino troops had seen the Chinese using this type of weapon in the area.

"We saw in the video how the Chinese even threatened our personnel by pointing their knives at our personnel," Gen Brawner said.

Chinese personnel also seized a number of guns and destroyed items - including motors - and punctured inflatable vessels.

The incident, he added, amounted to "piracy".

"They have no right or legal authority to hijack our operations and destroy Philippine vessels operating within our exclusive economic zone," Gen Brawner told reporters.

But Beijing dismissed the allegations, saying its personnel were aiming to block an "illegal transportation" of supplies. "No direct measures" were taken against the Filipino soldiers, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing.

"Law enforcement measures taken by the China Coast Guard at the site were professional and restrained," he added.

In an earlier statement, the Chinese coast guard said the Philippines was "entirely responsible" for the incident, as troops “ignored China’s repeated solemn warnings... and dangerously approached a Chinese vessel in normal navigation in an unprofessional manner, resulting in a collision”.

China has routinely attempted to block re-supply missions to the shoal. Filipino officials say the Chinese employ "dangerous manoeuvres" such as shadowing, blocking, firing water cannons and shining lasers to temporarily blind Filipino crews.

Monday's confrontation took part in an area at the heart of the sea encounters: the Filipino outpost in Second Thomas Shoal, where the country grounded a decrepit navy ship to enforce its claim.

A handful of soldiers are stationed there and require regular rations.

Analysts say choking the flow of supplies to the outpost, which could lead to its collapse into the sea, would allow Beijing to take full control of the area.

Observers fear any escalation in the South China Sea could spark a conflict between China and the US as it is treaty-bound to come to the Philippines' defence, should it come under attack.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos warned security forum in Singapore last month that if a Filipino died as a result of China’s wilful actions, Manila would consider it as close to “an act of war” and would respond accordingly.

But Gen Brawner said the Philippines military did not want to spark a war.

"Our objective is that while we want to bring supplies to our troops following international law, our objective is to prevent war," he said.

By Kuan-Wei Chen, Researcher, Air and Space Law, McGill University

Taiwan recently saw yet another peaceful transition of power with the inauguration of President Lai Ching-Te, who was elected to office in January.

In his inaugural speech, Lai called on neighbouring China to cease its acts of intimidation and to “choose dialogue over confrontation.”

China responded by launching a simulated blockade of Taiwan. The People’s Liberation Army released images boasting its ability to rain missiles on one of the most densely populated countries in the world as “strong punishment.”

Democracy under threat

Beijing’s standard reaction to the democratic voting rights of 24 million people is to threaten to “break skulls and let blood flow.” For China, Taiwan as a renegade province that must “return to the embrace of the motherland” despite the fact China does not have any authority over Taiwan.

In recent years, China has been trying to use its diplomatic clout and influence at the United Nations to rewrite history and legitimize its claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.

While Taiwan ranks highly on the Human Freedom Index (just one spot ahead of Canada), China is a techno-authoritarian state that has regressed even further under the reign of Xi Jinping.

Millions of Uyghur Muslims remain in re-education and forced labour camps, while Tibetans are forced to “Sinicize” and lose their cultural and religious heritage. Reaching beyond borders

Political dissidents, journalists and foreign nationals are not immune from intimidation or imprisonment.

In what has been termed transnational oppression, aided through Chinese so-called police stations operating with impunity overseas, the Chinese government targets and threatens Chinese nationals and critics of China wherever they are.

Reaching beyond borders

Political dissidents, journalists and foreign nationals are not immune from intimidation or imprisonment.

In what has been termed transnational oppression, aided through Chinese so-called police stations operating with impunity overseas, the Chinese government targets and threatens Chinese nationals and critics of China wherever they are.

Many governments, including Canada’s, caution against travel to China and Hong Kong due to the “risk of arbitrary enforcement” of laws prohibiting activities or speech critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

China’s censorship, surveillance and arbitrary arrests are widespread, and such tactics and technologies are alarmingly being exported worldwide.

While the Chinese government condemns the forced divestment of TikTok, the app — together with Facebook, WhatsApp and Google — are all banned within the great firewall of China.

War games

When former United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, China conducted similar war games.

Known as “grey-zone” tactics, they fall short of the use of force, which is prohibited under international law. Also referred to as “salami slicing,” grey-zone tactics that are not strictly attacks make it hard for others to respond without potentially escalating a situation to a conflict.

But not responding to threats of force or military intimidation risks normalizing such aggressive behaviour and emboldening China to further destabilize international peace and stability.

Such acts of harassment and threats can happen not just on Earth but in cyberspace and outer space, all of which can have severe repercussions on civilian life and infrastructure.

Pattern of reckless behaviour

Closely allying with Russia, and actively supplying weapons to sustain its war in Ukraine, China has not concealed its desire to reshape the world order.

Taiwan is not alone suffering China’s increasingly brazen naval and aerial military operations. Canadian and Australian aircraft enforcing United Nations sanctions against North Korea have also been repeatedly harassed on international waters, where states supposedly enjoy the freedom of navigation.

Meanwhile, China is continuously engaged in violent border clashes with India, is challenging the sovereignty of islands that belong to Japan and militarizing islands in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

Deliberate jamming of navigation and emergency distress signals in the Asia-Pacific, which threatens the safety of international aviation, has also been attributed to China.

Why Taiwan matters

Tech executives around the world were recently in Taiwan to talk about the future of AI and innovative technologies. With Taiwan’s prowess in computing technologies and chip production, Jensen Huang — the Taiwanese-born NVIDIA CEO — described his homeland as “the unsung hero, a steadfast pillar of the world.”

But Taiwan is also on the front lines of an increasingly aggressive and assertive China. On a daily basis, Taiwan experiences the highest rate of cyberattacks in the world originating from China, all aimed at disrupting government services and sowing social distrust.

Taiwan has much to share with the world on how to enhance citizen participation in the digital age, counter foreign influence and dispel misinformation and disinformation that undermine trust in democratic institutions and processes.

The latest war games surrounding Taiwan are just another reminder of the various ways China tries to undermine liberal democracies and international peace and security. Today it may be a simulated attack. But the world must stand together and prevent it ever becoming reality.

Japan and Canada on Tuesday, June 18, joined the Philippines’ treaty-ally the United States and strategic partner Australia in expressing support for Manila following the latest – and worst, thus far – incident between Chinese and Filipino personnel and vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

“Japan reiterates serious concern over repeated actions which obstruct freedom of navigation and increase regional tensions including recent dangerous actions that resulted in damage to the Filipino vessel and injuries to Filipinos onboard,” the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement late June 18.

On June 17, a Philippine military mission to bring supplies for and rotate troops assigned to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal was disrupted by Chinese maritime personnel.

The Philippines’ National Security Council (NSC) said China used “dangerous maneuvers, including ramming and towing” in disrupting the mission. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), a day after the incident, confirmed that a soldier was “severely injured” because of China’s “intentional ramming.”

Japan and Canada are the latest countries to issue statements in support of the Philippines after the June 17 incident in Ayungin Shoal. The US State Department and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also earlier released statements from Washington and Canberra, respectively.

In its statement, Japan said that issues in the South China Sea are “directly related to the peace and stability of the region and is a legitimate concern of the international community.”

“Japan opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force as well as any actions that increase tensions in the South China Sea,” said the MOFA.

Japan also reiterated its concern over “unlawful maritime claims and steadfastly opposes the dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea.” A similar statement was made following the historic trilateral meeting between United States President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in April 2024.

Tokyo said it “appreciates” Manila “for having consistently complied with the [2016] Arbitral Tribunal’s award,” and for its “commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea.”

Japan and the Philippines enjoy close economic, political, diplomatic, and security ties. Japan has helped the modernize the Philippine Coast Guard, among the units in the frontlines of the Philippines’ push to defend its sovereign rights and claims in the West Philippine Sea.

The two countries are also in the process of concluding a Reciprocal Access Agreement, a deal that would set terms for visits and deployment of troops to each others’ territories.

Canada also scored China for its “dangerous and destabilizing actions” against Philippine vessels during the June 17 resupply mission.

“The PRC’s use of water cannons, dangerous maneuvers and ramming of Philippine vessels is inconsistent with the PRC’s obligations under international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS],” said Global Affairs Canada in a statement on its website.

“Canada opposes escalatory and coercive actions, including the unilateral declaration of authority over disputed features. Disputes must be resolved through dialogue rather than through force or coercion,” added the North American nation.

“We call upon the PRC to comply with its obligations, including implementation of the 2016 UNCLOS arbitral tribunal ruling, which is binding on the parties.”

Ayungin Shoal is among a flashpoint in tensions between China and the Philippines. The June 17 incident is the first confrontation between the two since China unilaterally imposed a new “regulation” for its coast guard that allows it to detain for up to 60 days persons they deem as “trespassers” in waters they consider theirs.

Canada is among a growing list of countries that have been eager to further improve ties – particularly covering defense and security – with the Philippines. It recently gave Philippine maritime agencies access to its dark vessel detection system.

Ottawa is also keen on forging a visiting forces-like agreement with Manila, following the signing of a defense cooperation memorandum in January 2024.

Russia has turned increasingly to blackmail and financial incentives to hire Germans to spy for it after the blow dealt to its intelligence services by Europe's expulsion of some 600 Russian diplomats, Germany's domestic security service said.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said Russian intelligence services were spending big to recruit agents in Germany despite Western attempts to limit their operations since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "Russia is working hard to compensate for the German government's reduction in the number of Russian agents in Germany," BfV chief Thomas Haldenwang told a news conference upon presenting the agency's annual report.

Two German citizens who were charged last August with high treason for spying for Russia had each been paid an estimated 400,000 euros ($428,560) for their services, the BfV said.

"The agent fees show that Russia's services continue to have enormous financial resources with which to pursue their intelligence goals," it added in the report.

Particularly at risk of being targeted by Russian security services were Germans who lived in Russia or regularly travelled there, including German diplomats, who could easily be made vulnerable to blackmail attempts.

"As soon as they have compromising information about their targets, these services are not shy about employing aggressive recruitment techniques," they added.

NATO reaffirmed this month its concerns about Russian espionage and called for tougher action in response to what it said was a campaign of hostile activities, including sabotage and cyber attacks. Germany is one of 32 NATO states.

Far right

Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, was a rude awakening for many in Germany's security establishment after years in which Berlin had attempted to bind Moscow into the international legal order through a web of trade and especially energy links.

A recent surge in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the authoritarian-left BSW party has also helped trigger a major rethink. Both parties often echo Kremlin talking points on the war, including in their opposition to providing Ukraine with arms to defend itself.

The number of right-wing and left-wing extremists rose once more last year by 4.6% and 1.4% respectively to 40,600 and 37,000, according to the BfV report, contributing to public discourse moving away from factual debate towards "aggressive confrontation".

Russia has proved adaptable in finding ways of influencing events in Germany even after its media channels were banned and 600 of its diplomats stationed around Europe were expelled, the BfV said.

Some of those influencing efforts have shifted to the social media platform Telegram, which is difficult to police, while spies are now being attached to international organisations. Russian officers tasked with handling informants are now travelling to do so rather than being based in Germany.

Far-right groups are also a receptive audience for Russian influence operations. These include the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) conspiracy theorists, some of whom are now on trial for plotting a coup against the German democratic order for which they had sought Russian support.

Among new conspiracies circulating in far-right circles, the BfV said, is a groundless belief that the war in Ukraine is intended to create a depopulated wasteland in the country's east to which the population of Israel could be relocated. It said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, being Jewish, was falsely presented as being one of the conspirators.

China's commerce ministry said on Wednesday that it had urged Britain to stop sanctioning Chinese firms after the country sanctioned five Chinese companies over their links to Russia.

In a statement, the ministry said China "firmly opposes Britain's actions on the grounds that the Chinese companies are "related to Russia."

Britain last week imposed its first sanctions targeting vessels in Russian President Vladimir Putin's "shadow fleet" that it said was used to circumvent Western sanctions on the trade in Russian oil.

The action, part of 50 new sanctions and coordinated with G7 partners, also targeted suppliers of munitions, machine tools, microelectronics, and logistics to Russia's military, including entities based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, the British government said.

Britain's approach has ignored China's representations and the momentum and had a negative impact on economic and trade relations between China and the UK, China's commerce ministry said.

"Britain's approach is a unilateral sanction that has no basis in international law," it added. "We urge Britain to immediately correct its erroneous practices."