Friday, January 19, 2024

Temu - more Chinese crap and intellectual property theft

"it's owned by PDD Holdings, which has money to burn and moved its official headquarters from China to Ireland so it can keep doing business even if US scrutiny of China-based apps continues. Temu's low prices and sending purchased items directly to consumers allow it to bypass tariffs, saving it a ton of cash.
More concerning is the issue of forced labor. Temu does not manufacture products itself, instead shipping them from factories in China to consumers. A report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party stated "Temu does not have any system to ensure compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). This all but guarantees that shipments from Temu containing products made with forced labor are entering the United States on a regular basis, in violation of the UFLPA.
What Designs Do Temu Sellers Steal?
There are too many to list, but one example is this mouthful of a product description: "Gorgeous Vintage Dragonfly Zircon Pendant Necklace - Perfect Bohemian Jewelry for Women's Holidays." The owner of the online shop Godly Nature's Jewelry took to TikTok to complain that Temu stole her Champaign Dragonfly Sunflower Necklace design and even her photos."

Monday, September 4, 2023

Report: 143 K-12 Schools in the U.S. Have Chinese Communist Party Ties

A new report has revealed that at least 143 K-12 schools in the U.S. currently have or have had past ties to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) program known as "Confucius Classrooms." Experts say the CCP effort to infiltrate schools with communist propaganda is part of a concerted effort to "subvert" the U.S. from the inside in order to weaken it, possibly paving the way for a future direct military confrontation.

While Confucius Institutes (CIs) have long been associated with colleges and universities in the U.S., Confucius Classrooms are aimed at K-12 schools and are touted as "centers that teach Chinese language and culture." But as Parents Defending Education has uncovered in its new report, not only do Confucius Classroom programs create a partnership between a school and a Chinese government entity, they are also affiliated with "three of the nation's top science and technology high schools" as well as "school districts near 20 U.S. military bases."


Read more: https://washingtonstand.com/news/report-143-k12-schools-in-the-us-have-chinese-communist-party-ties

Thursday, August 31, 2023

China used social media to undermine America

"This is the biggest single takedown of a single network we have ever conducted," said Ben Nimmo, who heads Meta's security team that looks at global threats. "When you put it together with all the activity we took down across the internet, we concluded it is the largest covert campaign that we know of today."

Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/29/technology/meta-china-influence-campaign.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20230830&instance_id=101483&nl=the-morning&regi_id=153141989&segment_id=143237&te=1&user_id=120a1e83514f4fa3b8d70502a8dfbac0

Sunday, August 6, 2023

Rockwell Automation Faces U.S. Probe Over China Operations



Here is another story about Chinese threats to U.S. technology. Not stealing the technology, but provided software to
U.S. companies. Concern includes not only that the software may be sabotaged, but the Chinese interests with access to
the software being developed there may learn of and exploit vulnerabilities before they are patched.


Read More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/automation-giant-faces-u-s-government-probe-over-china-operations-e12c831f?mod=hp_lead_pos6

The U.S. Wants a Rare-Earths Supply Chain. Here’s Why It Won’t Come Easily.

This articles details the well known supply chain dependence on China for rare‐earth materials.
A bipartisan bill have been introduced in the House "includes a $20‐a‐kilogram credit for U.S.‐made magnets, while
manufacturers sourcing 90% of their component parts from U.S. producers could be entitled to a $30‐a‐kilogram credit".

The Chinese near‐monopoly is highlight by this quote from later in the article:
"…roughly 60% of all mined rare‐earth minerals are sourced from China. Three other major sources exist in Myanmar,
Australia and Mountain Pass. While the 60% might not sound that concentrated, the dependence on China is even more
pronounced further down the supply chain. The rare‐earths supply chain is typically made up of three main parts: mining
and concentrating the raw materials, refining them to produce oxides and producing the magnet. In recent years, China
has come to control 91% of refining activity, 87% of oxide separation and 94% of magnet production…"


Read more:

Monday, January 30, 2023

China’s Top Nuclear-Weapons Lab Used American Computer Chips Decades After Ban - WSJ

According to procurement documents, the state-run China Academy of Engineering and Physics (CAEP) obtained U.S.-made semiconductors on the open market despite being placed on an export blacklist in 1997. Nuclear experts said that CAEP research could be applied to maintaining nuclear stockpiles. Former Department of Commerce official Kevin Wolf, now an international trade lawyer, said the export restrictions are very difficult to enforce

China coast guard drives away Japanese vessels from disputed waters in the East China Sea


The Senkaku Islands are recognized as Japanese territory; however, China claims them as its own Diaoyu Islands. This bold move by China is an example of why Japan is rapidly rearming itself ahead of what it sees as a Chinese move not only on the Senkaku islands but the Ryukyu islands to the northeast.