#no extradition to china

[the50-person]

“The records of the HKSAR Government show that the person has not entered or been refused entry by Hong Kong,” a spokesperson said, demanding an apology from the group. Amnesty told AFP in response that the group “will remain concerned for (Abuduwaili’s) safety” and that his friend is still unable to contact him.

.

The text message attributed to Abuduwaili — which AFP has not been able to independently verify — was written in simplified Chinese and told his waiting friend to leave without him. “I’m being checked, Chinese police are asking me questions, and it may take time for me to get out,” the message read.

.

According to Amnesty, Abuduwaili was on a Cathay Pacific flight from Seoul to Hong Kong that was scheduled to land at 11 pm (1500 GMT) on May 10, according to Amnesty. Airline Cathay Pacific did not respond to questions on whether he was on board.

.

Since Beijing imposed its national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, Chinese law enforcement agents have been given more leeway in operating within the city — once considered off-limits due to the city’s semi-autonomous status.

[nando161mando]

Mark Dreyfus is being called upon to intervene and allow the Australian father-of-six to remain here, after a Local Court Magistrate gave extradition the green light.

[panicinthestudio]

BBC紀錄片：香港的自由之戰 (上), December 17, 2022

2019年香港政府宣佈修訂《逃犯條例》，允許將犯罪嫌疑人由香港引渡至中國大陸。該法案在香港引發極大爭議，人們擔憂香港的自治將面臨威脅。 本片講述了四名參與城市大規模抗議，並對政府日漸失望的香港年輕人的故事。他們很快發現自己陷入了一場可能令城市四分五裂的暴力惡性循環。 片中使用了開創性的人工智能技術以保護示威者身份。 "In 2019, Hong Kong's government announced a bill amending the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, permitting criminal suspects to be extradited to the Mainland. This proposed law triggered enormous controversy, people were concerned Hong Kong's autonomy would face imminent threat. This documentary narrates the experience of four participants in the city's large scale protests, as well as a story of the progressive despair in the government among Hong Kong's youth. They quickly found themselves mired in a city deeply divided in a violent and vicious cycle. Innovative artificial intelligence techniques are employed in the film to protect the identities of demonstrators."

BBC紀錄片：香港的自由之戰 (下), January 2, 2023

2019年10月，在北京慶祝中華人民共和國成立70週年之際，香港正被暴力示威撕裂。本片使用了開創性的人工智能技術以保護示威者身份，講述了四名年輕香港人為了捍衛自己的生活方式，與當局展開了一場殘酷的鬥爭。 隨著警方的反應變得具有致命性，示威者們也以自己的暴力進行回應。���庭成員反目，城市四分五裂。但抗議者們認為他們在為自由而戰，並拒絕屈服。 警方連日包圍了一所大學校園，示威者們在沒有後援的情況下在此進行最後的抵抗。與此同時，北京正在醞釀一場即將永遠改變香港的打擊行動。 "In October 2019, as Beijing celebrated the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong was embroiled in violent protest. This film employs innovative artificial intelligence techniques to protect the identities of demonstrators, narrating the experiences of four participant Hong Kongers defending their way of life, as well as the authorities setting the stage for a brutal struggle. As the police's use of force turned deadly, demonstrators responded violence of their own. Family fell out, the city deeply divided. However protesters believe they fight for their freedom, refusing to yield. For days police surrounded a university campus, without reinforcements demonstrators were forced to make a final stand. Meanwhile, Beijing was mulling action that would change Hong Kong forever."

[papasmoke]

Mr president Xi sir please expand your targeted crackdown on online gambling and microtransactions and imprison all csgo skin investors, Mr president Biden sir please extradite all csgo gambling site owners to China to face capital punishment 🫡🇺🇲🫡🇨🇳

[apas-95]

my mother watches US tv and I keep overhearing these ads for a show where they have a scary voice go 'at 35,000 feet.... he's being extradited to CHINA. to face trial....' like wow billion dollar 'countering china' propaganda budget vs hollywood low quality out here dghdg

[txttletale]

I know I sound dumb but this is a real question. I know some other people from my country (Canada) were supposedly arrested in China without cause and I’ve always thought I would avoid visiting because the government is too dangerous. Was that really all propaganda I fell for or is there truth to it?

the two michaels, who i assume you're thinking of, were 1. credibly charged with espionage (they both had ties, whether personal or financial, to NATO government officials) and 2. were arrested in clear retaliation / hostage-taking for the canadian arrest of huawei cfo meng wanzhou.

as long as you don't either a) spy on the chinese government or at least b) have a job where you could be credibly accused of spying on the chinese goverment for political purposes (one michael worked for a NATO-funded think tank, the other operated a north korean tour agency) and are not also c) in the country at the time of of an international extradition incident involving your home country you are only as likely to be arbitrarily arrested in china as you are in any other country

tldr: you're fine you as a tourist are in no more danger from the chinese government than you are from any other government

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

On June 20, I'm keynoting the LOCUS AWARDS in OAKLAND.

#20yrsago Ian McDonald’s brilliant new novel, River of Gods: Bollywoodpunk https://memex.craphound.com/2004/06/12/ian-mcdonalds-brilliant-new-novel-river-of-gods-bollywoodpunk/

#15yrsago British cops deliver Catch 22 to photographers: you’re not allowed to know which areas you’re not allowed to photograph https://web.archive.org/web/20090616063717/http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=861650

#10yrsago Duration of WWII vs duration of movies about WWII https://what-if.xkcd.com/100/

#10yrsago George Orwell’s National Union of Journalists card https://vintageanchorbooks.tumblr.com/post/88379861562

#10yrsago Thai shrimp industry runs on brutal slavery and murder https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jun/10/supermarket-prawns-thailand-produced-slave-labour

#5yrsago It Feels Good to Be Yourself: a sweet, simple picture book about gender identity https://memex.craphound.com/2019/06/12/it-feels-good-to-be-yourself-a-sweet-simple-picture-book-about-gender-identity/

#5yrsago The latest popular uprising in Hong Kong is fighting to keep Beijing from dragging dissidents to mainland China https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/6/12/hong-kong-extradition-bill-debate-delayed-after-massive-protests

#5yrsago When you take a commercial genetic test, you opt your whole family into warrantless state genetic surveillance https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/opinion/police-dna-warrant.html

#5yrsago Mary Meeker’s 2019 Internet Trends: stalled growth, security dumpster-fires, more online education and fear of regulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_dwZB5h56E

#5yrsago A deep dive into stalkerware’s creepy marketing, illegal privacy invasions, and terrible security https://citizenlab.ca/2019/06/the-predator-in-your-pocket-a-multidisciplinary-assessment-of-the-stalkerware-application-industry/

#5yrsago Amazon unveils a new Echo Dot surveillance device for children https://www.pcmag.com/news/all-new-echo-dot-kids-edition-launches-june-26

#5yrsago Twitter’s anti-Nazi policies result bans on pictures of anti-Nazi books https://www.thedailybeast.com/journalist-david-neiwert-twitter-suspended-me-for-displaying-book-about-far-right

#5yrsago In homeless LA, the families, retirees and working people who live in their cars are desperate for overnight parking https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-homeless-safe-parking-los-angeles-20190610-story.html

#1yrago Podcasting "Ideas Lying Around" https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/12/only-a-crisis/#lets-gooooo

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The “missing” witness long-touted by Republicans in Congress as the missing link to their probe into alleged Biden family corruption was accused of being an unregistered foreign agent for China and an international arms trafficker while violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and lying to investigators, among a laundry list of other federal charges unsealed Monday.

Dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Gal Luft was originally charged on Nov. 1, 2022 and arrested in February, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

Luft had already skipped out on his bail while in Cyprus awaiting extradition to the U.S. for the case in March—though he alleges that the sprawling case against him represents political persecution and retaliation by the Biden administration against a potential witness.

The House Oversight Committee has for months touted a secret “informant” who could provide evidence of an alleged “quid pro quo” deal for foreign aid between an Obama-era Biden and an unnamed country—though details of the arrangement remain murky and unverified at best.

Those claims partially unraveled when Rep. James Comer (R-KY) in May held a much-hyped press conference in which he promised to expose the preliminary findings of four months’ worth of scrutiny into the Biden family’s business dealings—while failing to air any real evidence of corruption. He then offered a partial excuse for the failure: their star witness had up and disappeared.

The situation was memorialized in a much-publicized Fox News interview, in which a credulous Maria Bartiromo appeared shocked by the revelations.

“Well, unfortunately, we can’t track down the informant,” the Kentucky representative said. “We’re hopeful that the informant is still there. The whistleblower knows the informant. The whistleblower is very credible.”

“We’re hopeful that we can find the informant,” Comer added. “Remember, these informants are kind of in the spy business, so they don’t make a habit of being seen a lot or being high-profile or anything like that.”

Luft then came forward days later in an interview with New York Post opinion columnist Miranda Devine, alleging that he was hiding out in an undisclosed location after being arrested on charges including international arms dealing, as well as a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, among other charges.

“The chances of me getting a fair trial in Washington are virtually zero,” he told Devine as the reason he skipped out on his bail. “I had to do what I had to do.”

Despite the allegations, Comer doubled down on Friday, tweeting that Luft is a “very credible witness on Biden family corruption,” who “provided incriminating evidence to six officials from the FBI and the DOJ in a meeting in Brussels in March 2019.”

“We have no reason to believe the FBI & DOJ acted on this info,” he continued.

On Sunday, Republican Senator Ron Johnson (WI) added Luft should be granted immunity.

“Now, he’s literally fleeing for his life right now,” Johnson told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “He’s on the run. He’s an important witness. He needs to be granted immunity to be able to testify and tell his story.”

Monday’s unsealed charges add some clarity to the laundry list of alleged crimes Luft is accused of—including a 2016 scheme to “recruit and pay” a White House adviser to support China-friendly policies without first filing as a foreign agent.

According to a release from the Justice Department, Luft is also accused of brokering arms deals with Chinese businesses to sell their wares in places such as the United Arab Emirates, Kenya and Libya—all without a valid U.S. license. Federal authorities allege that they have proof Luft hawked anti-tank launchers, grenade launchers, mortar rounds, aerial bombs, rockets and even drones.

To make matters worse, Justice Department prosecutors say he lied to them during interviews about the alleged scheme.

“During a voluntary interview with U.S. law enforcement in which he was asked questions about his involvement in arms trafficking, LUFT made multiple false statements, including that he had not sought to engage in or profit from arms deals,” the department’s statement reads.

Luft is also accused of brokering deals for Iranian oil—which he falsely labeled “Brazilian”—in violation of U.S. sanctions.

In all, Luft faces 36 counts that carry a maximum of 100 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.

[the50-person]

The risk goes beyond formal arrest and extradition. The bounties on offer may encourage vigilantism, and sympathetic governments may turn a blind eye to or even facilitate extra-legal rendition of the eight exiled activists.

.

This is illustrated by the 2015 case of the five Hong Kong booksellers who disappeared from various locations, including Thailand, and later showed up in China where they “confessed” to crimes in the state media.

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 2/21/2024 | The Libertarian Institute

News Roundup 2/21/2024

by Kyle Anzalone

Assange

Assange’s Wife, Lawyer Warn He Will Die If Extradited to the US AWC

UK

UK Nuclear Missile Test Fails FT

Russia

70% of Americans Want Diplomatic Settlement to War in Ukraine RS

Biden Nearing Decision to Send Long-Range Missiles to Ukraine NBC News

Bulgaria Delays Delivery of Armored Vehicles to Ukraine Over Demand NATO Cover Transportation Costs Kyiv Ind

Lockheed Martin to Increase Production of HIMARS Rocket Launchers By 60% AWC

US to Hit Russia With New ‘Major Sanctions’ Over Navalny’s Death The Independent AWC

Hundreds of Ukrainian Soldiers Captured or Missing After Chaotic Retreat from Avdiivka NYT

Pelosi Suggests Trump ‘Beholden’ to Putin for Financial Reasons Miami Herald

China

Pentagon Developing Naval Drone Swarms for War With China The Institute

Israel

Netanyahu Boasts That He’s Blocked a Palestinian State ‘for Decades’ AWC

Israel Plans Severe Restrictions for Palestinians’ Access to al-Aqsa Mosque During Ramadan MEE

Gantz: Israel Will Launch Assault on Rafah by Ramadan If Hostages Not Released AWC

ICJ Begins Trail Against Israel for Crimes Committed During Occupation MEE

US Drafts Its Own Gaza UN Resolution After Threatening to Veto Ceasefire AWC

UN Experts Find Credible Reports that Palestinian Women and Girls Were Executed and Raped By Israeli Forces UN

Israeli Cabinet Unanimously Rejects ‘International Diktats’ on Palestinian State AWC

Israel to Limit Number of Palestinians that Can Access al-Aqsa Mosque During Ramadan AP

US Vetoes Another Gaza Ceasefire Resolution at the UN Security Council AWC

Doctors Without Border’s US Chief Issues Dire Warnings About Israeli Attack on Rafah MEE

Israel Further Limits Aid Into Gaza, Leading to More Starving Children The Institute

Israel Demolishing Buildings to Construct Road in Gaza to Cut the Strip Into Two AWC

Lebanon

Israel Carries Out Strikes Near Major Lebanese City of Sidon AWC

Yemen

Houthis Say They Shot Down US MQ-9 Reaper Drone AWC

US Confirms the Houthis Struck Two US-Owned Cargo Ships AWC

Read More

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Liberal MP Han Dong, who is at the centre of Chinese influence allegations, privately advised a senior Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that Beijing should hold off freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, according to two separate national security sources.

Both sources said Dong allegedly suggested to Han Tao, China’s consul general in Toronto, that if Beijing released the “Two Michaels,” whom China accused of espionage, the Opposition Conservatives would benefit.

At the time, the two Canadians had been in Chinese custody for over two years. However, it was widely perceived that they were jailed in retribution for Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive facing extradition to the United States.

Dong also allegedly recommended that Beijing show some progress in the Kovrig and Spavor cases, the two sources said. Such a move would help the ruling Liberal Party, which was facing an uproar over China’s inhumane treatment of Kovrig and Spavor. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.22 (after 1900)

1916 – Preparedness Day Bombing: In San Francisco, a bomb explodes on Market Street during a parade, killing ten and injuring 40. 1921 – Rif War: The Spanish Army suffers its worst military defeat in modern times to the Berbers of the Rif region of Spanish Morocco. 1933 – Aviator Wiley Post returns to Floyd Bennett Field in New York City, completing the first solo flight around the world in seven days, 18 hours and 49 minutes. 1936 – Spanish Civil War: The Popular Executive Committee of Valencia takes power in the Valencian Community. 1937 – New Deal: The United States Senate votes down President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. 1942 – The United States government begins compulsory civilian gasoline rationing due to the wartime demands. 1942 – Grossaktion Warsaw: The systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto begins. 1943 – World War II: Allied forces capture Palermo during the Allied invasion of Sicily. 1943 – World War II: Axis occupation forces violently disperse a massive protest in Athens, killing 22. 1944 – The Polish Committee of National Liberation publishes its manifesto, starting the period of Communist rule in Poland. 1946 – King David Hotel bombing: A Zionist underground organisation, the Irgun, bombs the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, site of the civil administration and military headquarters for Mandatory Palestine, resulting in 91 deaths. 1962 – Mariner program: Mariner 1 spacecraft flies erratically several minutes after launch and has to be destroyed. 1963 – Crown Colony of Sarawak gains self-governance. 1973 – Pan Am Flight 816 crashes after takeoff from Faa'a International Airport in Papeete, French Polynesia, killing 78. 1976 – Japan completes its last reparation to the Philippines for war crimes committed during imperial Japan's conquest of the country in the Second World War. 1977 – Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power. 1981 – The first game of the 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States is held in Gisborne, New Zealand. 1983 – Martial law in Poland is officially revoked. 1990 – Greg LeMond, an American road racing cyclist, wins his third Tour de France after leading the majority of the race. It was LeMond's second consecutive Tour de France victory. 1992 – Near Medellín, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from his luxury prison fearing extradition to the United States. 1993 – Great Flood of 1993: Levees near Kaskaskia, Illinois rupture, forcing the entire town to evacuate by barges operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. 1997 – The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario. 2003 – Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year-old son, and a bodyguard. 2005 – Jean Charles de Menezes is killed by police as the hunt begins for the London Bombers responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the 21 July 2005 London bombings. 2011 – Norway attacks: A bomb explodes, targeted at government buildings in central Oslo, followed by a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya. 2012 – Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) captured the cities of Serê Kaniyê and Dirbêsiyê, during clashes with pro-government forces in Al-Hasakah. 2013 – Dingxi earthquakes: A series of earthquakes in Dingxi, China, kills at least 89 people and injures more than 500 others. 2019 – Chandrayaan-2, the second lunar exploration mission developed by Indian Space Research Organisation after Chandrayaan-1 is launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in a GSLV Mark III M1. It consists of a lunar orbiter, and also included the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover.

[labbaik-ya-hussain-as]

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 - 𝙗𝙮 𝘾𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚

When Israeli president Isaac Herzog described the assault on Gaza as a war “to save Western civilization, to save the values of Western civilization,” he wasn’t really lying. He was telling the truth — just maybe not quite in the way that he meant it.

The demolition of Gaza is indeed being perpetrated in defense of western values, and is itself a perfect embodiment of western values. Not the western values they teach you about in school, but the hidden ones they don’t want you to look at. Not the attractive packaging with the advertising slogans on the label, but the product that’s actually inside the box.

For centuries western civilization has depended heavily on war, genocide, theft, colonialism and imperialism, which it has justified using narratives premised on religion, racism and ethnic supremacy — all of which we are seeing play out in the incineration of Gaza today.

What we are seeing in Gaza is a much better representation of what western civilization is really about than all the gibberish about freedom and democracy we learned about in school. A much better representation of western civilization than all the art and literature we’ve been proudly congratulating ourselves on over the centuries. A much better representation of western civilization than the love and compassion we like to pretend our Judeo-Christian values revolve around.

It’s been so surreal watching western rightists babbling about how savage and barbaric Muslim culture is amid the 2023 zombie resurrection of Bush-era Islamophobia, even while western civilization amasses a mountain of ten thousand child corpses.

That mountain of child corpses is a much better representation of western culture than anything Mozart, da Vinci or Shakespeare ever produced.

This is western civilization. This is what it looks like.

Western civilization, where Julian Assange awaits his final appeal in February against US extradition for journalism which exposed US war crimes.

Where we are fed a nonstop deluge of mass media propaganda to manufacture our consent for wars and aggression which have killed millions and displaced tens of millions in the 21st century alone.

Where we are kept distracted by vapid entertainment and artificial culture wars so we don’t think too hard about what this civilization is and who it is killing and maiming and starving and exploiting.

Where news cycles are dominated more by celebrity gossip and Donald Trump’s latest mouth farts than by the mass atrocities that are being actively facilitated by western governments.

Where liberals congratulate themselves for having progressive views on race and gender while the officials they elect help rip apart children’s bodies with military explosives.

Part 2 of 2 below:

Where Zionist Jews center themselves and their emotions because opposition to an active genocide makes them feel like they are being persecuted, and where Israel supporters who are not Jewish still kind of feel like they are being persecuted also.

Where a giant globe-spanning empire powered by militarism, imperialism, capitalism and authoritarianism devours human flesh with an insatiable appetite while we congratulate ourselves on how much better we are than nations like Iran or China.

These are western values. This is western civilization.

Ask somebody to tell you what their values are and they’ll give you a bunch of pleasant-sounding words about family and love and caring or whatever. Watch their actions to see what their actual values are and you’ll often get a very different story.

That’s us. That’s western civilization. We say we value freedom, justice, truth, peace and free expression, but our actions paint a very different picture. The real western values, the actual product inside the box underneath the attractive label, are the ones you see acted out in Gaza today.

[voskhozhdeniye]

When Israeli president Isaac Herzog described the assault on Gaza as a war “to save Western civilization, to save the values of Western civilization,” he wasn’t really lying. He was telling the truth — just maybe not quite in the way that he meant it. The demolition of Gaza is indeed being perpetrated in defense of western values, and is itself a perfect embodiment of western values. Not the western values they teach you about in school, but the hidden ones they don’t want you to look at. Not the attractive packaging with the advertising slogans on the label, but the product that’s actually inside the box. For centuries western civilization has depended heavily on war, genocide, theft, colonialism and imperialism, which it has justified using narratives premised on religion, racism and ethnic supremacy — all of which we are seeing play out in the incineration of Gaza today. What we are seeing in Gaza is a much better representation of what western civilization is really about than all the gibberish about freedom and democracy we learned about in school. A much better representation of western civilization than all the art and literature we’ve been proudly congratulating ourselves on over the centuries. A much better representation of western civilization than the love and compassion we like to pretend our Judeo-Christian values revolve around. It’s been so surreal watching western rightists babbling about how savage and barbaric Muslim culture is amid the 2023 zombie resurrection of Bush-era Islamophobia, even while western civilization amasses a mountain of ten thousand child corpses. That mountain of child corpses is a much better representation of western culture than anything Mozart, da Vinci or Shakespeare ever produced. This is western civilization. This is what it looks like. Western civilization, where Julian Assange awaits his final appeal in February against US extradition for journalism which exposed US war crimes. Where we are fed a nonstop deluge of mass media propaganda to manufacture our consent for wars and aggression which have killed millions and displaced tens of millions in the 21st century alone. Where we are kept distracted by vapid entertainment and artificial culture wars so we don’t think too hard about what this civilization is and who it is killing and maiming and starving and exploiting. Where news cycles are dominated more by celebrity gossip and Donald Trump’s latest mouth farts than by the mass atrocities that are being actively facilitated by western governments. Where liberals congratulate themselves for having progressive views on race and gender while the officials they elect help rip apart children’s bodies with military explosives. Where Zionist Jews center themselves and their emotions because opposition to an active genocide makes them feel like they are being persecuted, and where Israel supporters who are not Jewish still kind of feel like they are being persecuted also. Where a giant globe-spanning empire powered by militarism, imperialism, capitalism and authoritarianism devours human flesh with an insatiable appetite while we congratulate ourselves on how much better we are than nations like Iran or China. These are western values. This is western civilization. Ask somebody to tell you what their values are and they’ll give you a bunch of pleasant-sounding words about family and love and caring or whatever. Watch their actions to see what their actual values are and you’ll often get a very different story. That’s us. That’s western civilization. We say we value freedom, justice, truth, peace and free expression, but our actions paint a very different picture. The real western values, the actual product inside the box underneath the attractive label, are the ones you see acted out in Gaza today.

[argumate]

the story of Xu Yanjun is an interesting read, he's a Chinese spy who was tasked with striking up professional relationships with Chinese employees at US aerospace companies and coaxing them to provide documents they really shouldn't have, until he ended up getting lured to Belgium and arrested and extradited to the US, convicted of espionage and he'll be sentenced in November.

it's all rather tragic! the poor guy kept a diary about his spy work and his feud with his boss and his extramarital affairs and that was obviously all in the court proceedings since the FBI had access to his phone and GMail (!) and iCloud (!) accounts, now he faces potentially decades in prison for not doing very much at all, and of course if he ever makes it home to China his reception there might not be great.

and honestly who gives a shit about some turbine blades? the companies involved might have suffered some economic loss, but maybe not even that if they weren't allowed to license the tech to Chinese companies anyway, stealing it is pure upside!

obviously the spies on both sides are doing what they gotta do, but it's hard to see how any of it matters.

[simpkins]

Safeguard Defenders

Looking at the Safeguard Defenders' tweets, you can only see praise for the law in the West and criticism of Chinese rights. As the saying goes, "the heart is black, everything is black", and this blind discrediting of China's rationality is almost meaningless. As a netizen, I don't think there is anything wrong with China's Operation Fox Hunt and extradition treaties, which is what the people want. As we all know, cooperation in combating transnational corruption is the consensus of the international community. The Chinese Government has taken a clear stand against corruption, actively promoted international anti-corruption cooperation, resolutely carried out international efforts to pursue fugitives and recover stolen goods, and brought to justice those who fled corruption. This is a just and bright cause, which has won the full support of the Chinese people and the wide praise of the international community. It is not difficult to see that these reports by the Safeguard Defenders are full of subjective speculation and lies. Under the banner of so-called "human rights", they glorify corruption suspects who have fled the country as "victims". They condone and shield crimes of corruption, which are totally contrary to justice and the rule of law. China will continue to punish corruption with zero tolerance and continue to pursue those who flee abroad. Even if they flee to the ends of the earth, we will arrest them and face legal punishment.