China's spy agency warns students studying, visiting and holidaying abroad against foreign espionage - CNA

SINGAPORE: China’s top spy agency has warned Chinese students studying abroad against working with foreign spies as Beijing’s national security drive continues apace amid tensions with the West.

The Ministry of State Security sounded the alarm on Wednesday (Feb 7) on its WeChat account, cautioning Chinese nationals to be alert and avoid contact or cooperating with foreign intelligence agencies - be it studying or travelling overseas, or just paying a visit abroad.

This will help people to be timely in “uncovering the ulterior motives of seemingly cordial interactions”, it said in the post which had more than 100,000 views.

“In the face of all kinds of solicitation and counter-intelligence activities by foreign espionage agencies, it is necessary to maintain a line of defence and avoid falling into the traps set by (them)”, the ministry wrote.

At the same time, the ministry assured that for people who are coerced or tricked into joining foreign espionage organisations and carrying out activities which endanger China’s national security, they may not be prosecuted if they “promptly and truthfully” explain the situation to Chinese authorities.

EMBROILED IN ESPIONAGE

The post details a “real case” involving a Chinese student who was “severely punished” for leaking Chinese scientific research after graduating.

The student, referred to only by the surname Zhang, is said to have become involved in espionage while studying at a top-ranked college overseas in 2006. The ministry did not identify the country.

Zhang had been tasked to liaise with other Chinese students at the college due to his outstanding academic performance. This gained the attention of a senior figure in the college.

This person went on to introduce Zhang to two people who turned out to be foreign spies, the ministry wrote.

They convinced Zhang to provide intelligence on Chinese international students and eventually other “sensitive information” in return for money.

With their help, Zhang secured a job in a Chinese research institution in China even though his grades were below the entry requirement. In return, Zhang continued feeding information to them, including confidential data, the WeChat account said.

Eventually, Zhang’s actions were found out and he was punished for committing espionage, the ministry said, adding that Zhang had essentially “buried his promising prospects and youth” by giving in to the foreign intelligence agency’s “emotional manipulation and monetary temptation”.

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2024-02-08 08:18:00Z
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Mahkamah pulangkan sementara pasport Muhyiddin untuk ke Bangkok - Malaysiakini

Mahkamah Sesyen Kuala Lumpur membenarkan permohonan bekas perdana menteri Muhyiddin Yassin untuk mendapatkan semula pasportnya secara sementara untuk ke Thailand pada 15 Februari ini.

Hakim Azura Alwi membenarkan permohonan itu hari ini.

Pasport Muhyiddin ditahan selepas dia berdepan dua pertuduhan menerima wang hasil daripada aktiviti haram berjumlah RM195 juta.

Pada 31 Januari lalu, dia memfailkan permohonan untuk mendapatkan semula pasportnya secara sementara untuk ke Bangkok, Thailand atas tujuan menziarahi ahli perniagaan Malaysia di sana yang akan menguntungkan hubungan dua hala kedua-dua negara, sekan melawat beberapa pemimpin, pemikir dan tokoh masyarakat Islam.

Dia juga berkata diundang melancarkan sebuah restoran masakan Thai bernama Phrigkiao, milik kenalan rapatnya yang juga rakyat Malaysia.

Menurut afidavit sokongannya, pengerusi PN itu berkata dia ingin ke sana selama lapan hari, iaitu sehingga 23 Februari.

Bagaimanapun pendakwaan membantah permohonan itu, antaranya atas dasar Muhyiddin tiada keperluan mendesak untuk ke Thailand.

Dalam prosiding hari ini, Azura membenarkan Muhyiddin mendapatkan semula pasportnya sehingga 23 Februari dan berkata Muhyiddin tiada risiko untuk meninggalkan Malaysia bagi mengelak perbicaraan mahkamah.

Katanya, walaupun sebab yang dinyatakan Muhyiddin tidak mendesak, mahkamah ada budi bicara yang luas untuk memulangkan semula pasport secara sementara mengikut keadaan.

"Walaupun ada sekatan perjalanan terhadap pemohon, tidak wajar untuk menghalangnya daripada terus menjalani kehidupannya, selagi dia belum disabit bersalah," katanya kepada peguam Muhyiddin, Amer Hamzah Arshad dan timbalan pendakwa raya Nuralis Mat.

Pada 29 Disember tahun lalu, mahkamah sama turut memulangkan sementara pasport Muhyiddin untuk bercuti di London dan membuat pemeriksaan kesihatan di Singapura, namun menolak permohonan agar pasport dipulangkan secara kekal.

Muhyiddin berdepan dua pertuduhan menerima wang hasil daripada kegiatan haram berjumlah RM195 juta daripada Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd yang dimasukkan ke akaun CIMB Bank milik Bersatu.

Dia juga berdepan satu lagi pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram melibatkan RM5 juta daripada kegiatan haram.

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2024-02-08 03:33:11Z
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Chinese firm behind 'news' websites pushes pro-Beijing content globally, researchers find - CNA

It is rare for researchers to link such operations to specific entities. Citizen Lab said the campaign began in mid-2020 and traced the network to public relations firm Shenzhen Haimaiyunxiang Media Co Ltd, also known as Haimai.

The company did not respond to a Reuters request for comment and a phone number listed on an archived version of its website was not reachable.

"As a principle, it is a typical bias and double standard to allege that the pro-China contents and reports are 'disinformation', and to call the anti-China ones 'true information,'” a spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington said in an emailed statement.

Citizen Lab said one of the websites in the campaign was Roma Journal, which looks every bit like a local Italian news outlet: Headlines discuss the Italian prime minister’s political prospects, a hot air balloon festival in a northern province and a book launch.

But a "press releases" button at a corner of its homepage leads to a range of Chinese state media articles on topics such as China's contribution to the global economic recovery and its push towards technological innovation.

Much of the content on the sites Citizen Lab found was sourced from a press releases service called Times Newswire, which analysts at cybersecurity firm Mandiant last year found to be at the centre of a separate Chinese influence operation that targeted US audiences.

While online influence campaigns are increasingly common as powerful people and governments around the world seek to manipulate public opinion, experts tracking such operations say China is one of the biggest sources of such drives alongside Russia and Iran.

Chinese influence operations have increased and expanded well beyond Asia, social media giant Meta said in a report in November, calling it "the most notable change in the threat landscape" since 2020.

Citizen Lab dug deeper into the network it found after a series of such websites popped up in South Korea and Italy.

South Korea's National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) – part of the country's national intelligence agency – exposed 18 of the sites in a report in November, also linking the operation to Haimai. Roma Journal was not legally registered as a news outlet in Italy, the country's Il Foglio newspaper reported.

It was not unusual the campaign was found to be low-engagement, said Dakota Cary, a China-focused consultant at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne.

"I think that's really important, because they still think that it's worthwhile to fund these campaigns," he said. "And so I think, if anything, we should expect to see this continue."

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2024-02-07 23:09:30Z
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Jailed Malaysian ex-PM Najib considering new request for a full pardon: Lawyer - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Jailed former Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak is considering filing a new petition for a full pardon, his lawyer said on Wednesday (Feb 7), less than a week after a special panel agreed to halve his jail sentence.

Najib, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted in a case linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, had applied for clemency previously.

But the pardons board, which is chaired by Malaysia's king, opted last week to reduce his sentence.

Najib's lawyer Shafee Abdullah said a new request was being considered as his client had not received a fair trial. Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing.

The lawyer also raised questions over the pardons process led by Al-Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who ended his five-year reign as king on Jan 30, shortly after issuing the sentence reduction for Najib.

"I don't think the pardons board operated the way the constitution dictates it operates," Shafee said.

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2024-02-07 06:35:00Z
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Indonesia Elections 2024: Undecided voters in Central Java could emerge as wildcards - CNA

IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRAL JAVA

Central Java’s capital city, Semarang, a bustling logistics and economic hub, is part of what makes the province important. Industries thriving there range from textiles and footwear to furniture and tobacco.

"Central Java could be seen as Indonesia's showcase. It represents Indonesia which is multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and diverse. And because of that, it has a very strategic value in Indonesia. And this must be maintained,” said legislative candidate Andy Budiman.

Presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo, who served two terms as Central Java governor, drove bureaucratic reform and digitalisation over the past decade. 

His efforts saw the province receive a series of accolades in 2023 in areas such as innovative governance, regional development and anti-corruption practices. 

"He established e-government for the Central Java provincial government. So now people can easily access government services through online and digital platforms. That's I think one of the breakthroughs that he made as the governor of Central Java,” said politics and government studies lecturer Ghulam Manar from Universitas Diponegoro.

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2024-02-07 05:09:17Z
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Japan Airlines crash: Air traffic controllers call for 'significant' staff increase - CNA

"We strongly urge the realisation of a significant increase in the number of air traffic controllers," Masato Yamazaki said in the statement, adding that speculation about the cause of the crash risked putting mental strains on controllers.

As an emergency measure in the wake of the accident, authorities ordered air traffic control towers at Haneda and other airports across the country to constantly monitor radar systems for possible runway intrusions.

Yamazaki said this was further burdening stretched staff, although he said he was hopeful the ministry would make fresh hires to fulfil this function.

He said repeated staffing requests to the government, which directly employs air traffic controllers in Japan, have been only partially approved in recent years despite increased workload on controllers.

"It is not enough to establish true safety," he said.

Japan's transport ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Other countries including the United States and France are grappling with air traffic control staff shortages that airlines have argued pose risks to aviation safety.

Last year, the number of air traffic control staff in Japan dropped to its lowest level in at least 19 years, according to transport ministry data, continuing a gradual decline over that period.

Aside from a sharp fall in the number of flights during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of flights handled by each operator has been steadily increasing. In 2019, each air traffic control operator in Japan handled nearly 7,000 flights, up from around 4,600 in 2004, according to the ministry's records.

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2024-02-07 03:39:40Z
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CNA Correspondent Podcast: Selfies, TikToks and memes: The social media battle in Indonesia's elections - CNA

A quarter of a million candidates are running for posts in this year’s general elections in Indonesia. Legislators, councillors and a new president are all being chosen by some 205 million voters.

And more than half of those voters are young people. Teresa Tang speaks to our correspondents to find out why the battleground has moved online for the presidential hopefuls. 

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2024-02-06 23:30:50Z
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