TikTok Whistleblower Says Chinese Communist Party Can Access American User Data

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A former employee of the company that controls TikTok told Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that members of the Chinese Communist Party can access data from American users of the social media platform.

The allegations occur as TikTok, which is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, faces scrutiny for national security concerns and reported data privacy breaches. Hawley said in a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday that employees, including members of the Chinese Communist Party who are on the company’s payroll, can allegedly switch between Chinese and American data with “nothing more than the click of a button.”

Workers allegedly use several proprietary software tools created in China that reduce foreign scrutiny and allow engineers to “insert software backdoors,” Hawley described on the basis of the unnamed whistleblower’s account. One such tool allegedly permits employees to access American data with the approval of a manager and a dataset owner.

“I have seen first-hand China-based engineers flipping over to non-China datasets and creating scheduled tasks to backup, aggregate, and analyze data,” the whistleblower told Hawley. “TikTok and ByteDance are functionally the same company. They use the same data analysis tools and chat apps, and managers are in constant contact.”

Hawley noted that TikTok has repeatedly claimed that members of the Chinese Communist Party cannot access American user data but said “it seems more and more likely that they do” with the new accusations about the company’s activities. The lawmaker cited an earlier report from Forbes which said ByteDance planned to track the location of specific American citizens. (Read more from “TikTok Whistleblower Says Chinese Communist Party Can Access American User Data” HERE)

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Xi Jinping: U.S. Global Conspiracy Against China Causing ‘Unprecedented Severe Challenges’

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Chinese dictator Xi Jinping told a panel of Communist Party officials on Monday that America and its Western allies were executing a conspiracy to ensure “all-round containment” of his country, which has resulted in “severe challenges.”

Xi’s remarks, appearing in the Chinese-language version of the state-run Xinhua News Agency, reportedly occurred at a panel presentation related to the ongoing “two sessions,” the annual gatherings of China’s two legislative bodies, the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). It preceded an extended press conference on Tuesday by Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who repeated much of Xi’s warnings about the United States and suggested that confronting China’s genocidal acts, wholesale intellectual property theft, or other international malfeasance could result in war.

The “two sessions,” completely dominated by the Communist Party, typically rubber-stamp policy proposals from Xi and hash out the specifics of federal-level funding appropriations. The lawmakers use the meeting to address the nation’s most prominent domestic problems. This year, participants are expected, as per Chinese state media reports, to dedicate much of their time to enacting policies that encourage women to have more children, as the nation’s birth rate threatens long-term economic prospects. . .

Xi reportedly predicted that the “risks and challenges” posed by the Western conspiracy would “only increase and become more severe” over time.

Xi’s message to the CPPCC contained much of the same language, encouraging lawmakers to “have the courage to fight as the country faces profound and complex changes in both the domestic and international landscape,” according to Singapore’s Channel News Asia. Xi also encouraged lawmakers to come up with policies that make China’s economy as independent – and thus not beholden to human rights or other sanctions – as possible. (Read more from “Xi Jinping: U.S. Global Conspiracy Against China Causing ‘Unprecedented Severe Challenges’” HERE)

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British Lockdown Official Wanted to ‘Frighten the Pants’ off Nation and Asked When to ‘Deploy the New Variant,’ Leaked Messages Show

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British Health Minister Matt Hancock wanted to “frighten the pants” off the nation to scare residents into compliance with a sweeping COVID lockdown regime, according to more than 100,000 leaked messages among senior officials in the United Kingdom.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had vowed that citizens would be able to reunite with their loved ones during the Christmas season of 2020, leading to concerns among officials that the administration would receive backlash over continued lockdowns. Hancock, a fellow member of the Conservative Party, and Damon Poole, his media adviser, expressed frustration that complication with Brexit, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, was “taking the top line” in the news and distracting from the danger of the virus.

The officials agreed to declare a new strain of COVID called Alpha or Kent, according to a report from The Telegraph. Isabel Oakeshott, a journalist who assisted Hancock with writing his memoir about the response to the pandemic, had leaked the communications to the outlet.

“Rather than doing too much forward signaling, we can roll pitch with the new strain,” Poole suggested on December 13, 2020. “We frighten the pants [off] everyone with the new strain,” Hancock replied, leading Poole to concur that the move “will get proper [behavior] change.”

Hancock then asked when they should “deploy the new variant.” Poole said that “we need to be more cautious” to avoid implicating schools in subsequent lockdowns. (Read more from “British Lockdown Official Wanted to ‘Frighten the Pants’ off Nation and Asked When to ‘Deploy the New Variant,’ Leaked Messages Show” HERE)

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NBC Reporter Goes to Crimea, Shockingly Tells the Truth; Ukraine Puts Him on Kill List (VIDEO)

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Mainstream media correspondents for major US networks rarely, if ever, report from inside Crimea and certainly are nowhere near Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine. However, this week NBC News chief international correspondent Keir Simmons went to Sevastopol, surrounded by a significant Russian military presence given it is home to the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, and in a live segment admitted that it’s not at all realistic Zelensky and Ukrainian forces can ever hope to take Crimea.

This is especially as the “the people there… view themselves as Russian.” Simmons noted that “This is the closest that any US news crew has got to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in many many years.” He explained that “Vladimir Putin will be determined to defend that port – to not have it take it away from him – he may well do pretty much anything to try to achieve that.”

“It is a very, very dangerous standoff.. it’s hard to see how you reach a negotiation over that. There’s military absolutely everywhere, it is a military town,” he continued, before saying…

“When for example Victoria Nuland talks about that at the very least we [the US] want Crimea to be demilitarized, I find myself standing there and wondering, how on earth does that happen?” . . .

But it appears that the NBC correspondent, once he was on the ground in a place that few Western reporters ever venture, couldn’t deny the plain truth he was seeing all around him.

(Read more from “NBC Reporter Goes to Crimea, Shocks Viewers by Telling the Truth (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Germany’s Scholz Says China ‘Declared It Will Not Deliver’ Weapons to Russia

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday said China had declared it won’t supply Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine, suggesting that Berlin has received bilateral assurances from Beijing on the issue.

Scholz was speaking at a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who told reporters that the EU has received “no evidence” so far from the U.S. that Beijing is considering supplying lethal support to Moscow.

Senior U.S. officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken have expressed deep concern in recent weeks that China could provide weapons such as kamikaze drones to Russia, which in turn triggered warnings to Beijing from EU politicians. Scholz himself urged Beijing last week to refrain from such actions and instead use its influence to convince Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. . .

“We all agree that there should be no arms deliveries, and the Chinese government has declared that it will not deliver any either,” the chancellor said in response to a question by POLITICO. “We insist on this and we are monitoring it,” he added. (Read more from “Germany’s Scholz Says China ‘Declared It Will Not Deliver’ Weapons to Russia” HERE)

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Trump Refuses to Lay Out Russia-Ukraine Peace Plan Until He’s President

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Former President Donald Trump refused to say what he would do to broker a peace negotiation between Ukraine and Russia, telling the Daily Caller he would have to be president to do it.

Trump has maintained that he would end Russia’s war on Ukraine in “24 hours,” making him the only presidential candidate to endorse peaceful negotiations between the two countries.

“What specifically will you do to end the war in 24 hours?” Daily Caller’s White House Correspondent Diana Glebova asked Trump at Saturday’s CPAC event.

“I’m not going to tell you that because if I told you that, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it,” Trump responded.

“We’re playing a giant chess game here… It would be so easy, to settle that war. I could do it in 24 hours,” Trump said, reiterating a claim he has made repeatedly. (Read more from “Trump Refuses to Lay Out Russia-Ukraine Peace Plan Until He’s President” HERE)

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European Prime Minister Says US Dragging West Into World War, Should Be Kicked Out of NATO

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By First Post. Hungary called for “European NATO” that should be free from the influence of America. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he believes that the US is dragging Europe into a conflict that cannot be won and risks a global war. . .

“The solution would be a European NATO,” the Hungarian PM was quoted as saying by Swiss Weltwoche.

He further claimed that desire of the US for further expansion of its influence has led to the tensions between the West and Russia. . .

Referring to his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin few weeks ahead of the start of Ukraine war, the Hungarian PM claimed that Moscow was concerned about NATO expanding further east into Ukraine and Georgia.

Orban said that Putin told him “his problem was with the American missile bases in Poland and Romania and possible NATO expansion in Ukraine and Georgia.” (Read more from “European Prime Minister Says US Dragging West Into World War, Should Be Kicked Out of NATO” HERE)

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Ukraine War: Blinken and Russia’s Lavrov Meet as Tension With Moscow Soars and War Grinds On

By CBS News. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov talked briefly Thursday at a meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations in the first high-level meeting in months between the two countries. U.S. officials said Blinken and Lavrov chatted for roughly 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G-20 conference in New Delhi. The short encounter came as relations between Washington and Moscow have plummeted over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

A senior U.S. official said Blinken used the discussion to make three points to Lavrov: That the U.S. would support Ukraine in the conflict for as long as it takes to bring the war to an end, that Russia should reverse its decision to suspend participation in the New START nuclear treaty and that Moscow should release detained American Paul Whelan.

The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation, said Blinken had “disabused” Lavrov of any idea Moscow might have that U.S. support for Ukraine was wavering.

The official declined to characterize Lavrov’s response but said Blinken did not get the impression there would be any change in Russia’s behavior in the near term.

Russia offered no immediate comment on the substance of the conversation, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Blinken had asked to speak to Lavrov. (Read more from “Ukraine War: Blinken and Russia’s Lavrov Meet as Tension With Moscow Soars and War Grinds On” HERE)

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Japan’s Birth Rate Just Half of Its Record-Setting Death Rate, Most Deaths in a Year Since WWII

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Japan’s birth rate sank to another record low in 2022, marking a long and steady decline which also saw a record number of post-war deaths in the country.

The country saw 799,728 births in 2022, according to CNN, the fewest on record and the first time the number has dropped below 800,000. Combined with the record 1.58 million deaths, the country’s population replacement rate is in trouble despite the country allowing in more immigrants than it is colloquially considered to.

From 2000 to 2010, Japan’s migrant population increased by about 500,000. However, Pew Research reported that the country’s 2015 immigrant population was under 2%. Despite this, a 2018 poll showed that 71% of Japanese respondents preferred immigration numbers to either stay “about the same” or for the country to welcome fewer, at a rate of 58% and 13% respectively.

The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, reportedly stated in early 2023 that Japan is “on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions.”

“In thinking of the sustainability and inclusiveness of our nation’s economy and society, we place child-rearing support as our most important policy,” said Kishida. (Read more from “Japan’s Birth Rate Just Half of Its Record-Setting Death Rate, Most Deaths in a Year Since WWII” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Greek FM Calls for Immediate End to Ukraine War Without Conditions

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Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has called for an immediate end to the war in Ukraine without any conditions and called on both Russia and Ukraine to begin negotiations.

Foreign Minister Dendias made his statements on the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine saying, “What we ask is for this war to end immediately, completely and with no conditions because this is the only way for real dialogue to begin.”

He stated that both sides should have a dialogue based on the principles of the charter of the United Nations and added that international law needed to be respected and implemented, Ekathimerini reports.

“The Greeks do not have feelings of hostility for the Russian people. The thing we are against is revisionism and the created tragedy. Greece and its allies will continue to support Ukraine for as long as this irrational war continues,” he added.

The comments come after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that Greece would not be sending Russian-made S-300 anti-air missile systems to Ukraine as the country currently has nothing to replace them with. (Read more from “Greek FM Calls for Immediate End to Ukraine War Without Conditions” HERE)

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China Slams COVID Lab-Leak Theory, Accuses FBI of ‘Politicizing’ Issue

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China on Wednesday strongly pushed back against the FBI’s claim that the COVID-19 pandemic may have originated from a virus that leaked from a Chinese laboratory and urged the US to “respect science and facts.”

“By rehashing the lab-leak theory, the US will not succeed in discrediting China, and instead, it will only hurt its own credibility,” said China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning in responding to remarks made by FBI Director Christopher Wray this week.

Mao further argued that the involvement of the bureau in this matter was evidence enough of “politicization of origin tracing.”

“We urge the US to respect science and facts … stop turning origin tracing into something about politics and intelligence, and stop disrupting social solidarity and origins cooperation,” she added.

In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Tuesday, Wray said: “The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in (central China’s) Wuhan.” (Read more from “China Slams COVID Lab-Leak Theory, Accuses FBI of ‘Politicizing’ Issue” HERE)

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