Threads - 0x815 - kbin.life

Chinese nationals are trying to get to Australia by boat over a weak economy and political oppression at home (www.abc.net.au)

As night fell over the Indian Ocean, Li thought he would die in his boat....

Taiwan's new president calls on China to stop threatening the island and accept the existence of its democracy (www.bbc.com)

- Beijing dislikes Taiwan’s new President William Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which they see as pro-independence. It has ramped up military incursions around Taiwan’s waters and airspace since his election win in January....

Prime Minister of Estonia: NATO troops training in Ukraine will not lead to an escalation of war (westobserver.com)

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Estonian parliament adopts law allowing use of Russian frozen assets (www.riigikogu.ee)

Estonian MPs passed a law that enables the use of Russian assets frozen under international sanctions to compensate Ukraine for war damages....

Russian court seizes assets from European banks UniCredit, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank (www.morningstar.com)

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Taiwan's outgoing president says boosting her country's military was the only way to defy China's threat - and that 'democratic countries need to support Ukraine' (www.bbc.com)

When Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s President who soon leaves office after eight years and hands over to her successor William Lai, swept to power in 2016, she was dismissed as a dull bureaucrat. But she stood up to an increasingly authoritarian and aggressive China under Xi Jinping; she held on to a vital US alliance under Donald...

Slovakia: Suspect in court as Putin’s friends capitalise on shooting of prime minister Robert Fico (www.theguardian.com)

Media is barred from hearing as 71-year-old man appears in closed session over attempted assassination of prime minister....

"Weaponising threat of mass migration": Putin aims to "make life really impossible in Ukraine so that there would be migration pressure to Europe", Estonian PM says (www.theguardian.com)

‘Adversaries know migration is our vulnerability,’ says Kaja Kallas, spelling out negative consequences to Europe of Ukrainian defeat...

Estonia ‘seriously’ discussing sending troops to ‘rear’ jobs in Ukraine, official says (breakingdefense.com)

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China-Russia relations: Putin and Xi no longer have a partnership of equals (www.bbc.com)

TLDR:****- China’s president Xi wants to maintain an alliance with Putin’s Russia, while also knowing that close ties with a pariah puts at risk his stable ties with the West which he needs to help his ailing economy....

Chinese social media companies remove posts ‘showing off wealth and worshipping money’ while the gap between the country's rich and poor widens (www.theguardian.com)

Targeting posts boasting of personal wealth appears to be part of campaign to ‘purify the internet cultural environment’....

Research and espionage: an institute staffed by Russian intelligence officers is recruiting students and scientists abroad (theins.ru)

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'Hong Kongization?’ - Chinese cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns against Taiwan surge, security agency says (www.taipeitimes.com)

Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) official Ko Cheng-heng said that Beijing’s campaign against Taiwan would spark a strong backlash from democracies around the world....

How is China supporting Russia after it was sanctioned for Ukraine war? (www.bbc.com)

Note: There are diagrams I can’t post here, it may be worth clicking the link....

'A big mess is brewing’: Thousands of Russian fighters are flooding into Libya, raising concerns over what the Kremlin might be planning (meduza.io)

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Which German websites help disseminate pro-Russian narratives (insightnews.media)

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Several European consumer watchdogs file complaints against Chinese online platform Temu over "manipulative techniques" breaching EU’s Digital Services Act (www.beuc.eu)

According to the European consumer protection group BEUC, the Chinese online retailer Temu “fails to provide sufficient traceability of the traders that sell on its platform” and thereby fail “to ensure that the products sold to EU consumers conform to EU law”, BEUC said in a release....

How the Kremlin launders disinformation around the globe, attempting to sow division and undermine democracy (www.info-res.org)

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Austrian weapons continue to flow to Russia despite EU sanctions and Austria's stance of neutrality, which Vienna uses to justify its refusal to officially supply weapons to Ukraine (theins.ru)

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China's anger grows as Myanmar has chosen Russia for the construction of a strategic seaport, despite Beijing's interest in the project (swarajyamag.com)

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Putin in China seeking support for Ukraine war effort (www.dw.com)

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing Wednesday for two days of meetings with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Putin’s second trip to China in six months will focus on military and financial assistance....

Concerns grow about the wellbeing of Chinese journalists Zhang Zhan after supposed jail release as she failed to make contact with the outside world (www.theguardian.com)

Zhang Zhan, 40, a lawyer turned citizen journalist, was detained in May 2020 after she travelled to Wuhan to report on the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her videos and social media posts drew attention to the government’s stifling of information about the spread of the disease and the harsh lockdowns that were being...

U.S. warned Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) access to dollar system could be curbed over Russia (www.reuters.com)

TLDR: RBI, the largest Western bank in Russia, has been warned by the U.S. Treasury about financial system access in a letter voicing concerns over its Russian business. Concerns remain even though RBI dropped plans to sell its Russia-business to sanctioned billionaire Deripaska. Austrian finance ministry says it assumes RBI...