Here’s why Thor: Love and Thunder will likely remain banned in China forever and ever…
Thor: Love and Thunder Has Not Been Approved In China!
Film regulators in China do not explain or comment publicly why they refuse to approve any movie, but anyone with more two neurons in their brains will be able to connect the dots.
Just like how Lightyear got banned for a brief kiss between two female characters, it seems that Chinese censors have no love for LGBT themes in Thor: Love and Thunder.
This was confirmed by two The Hollywood Reporter sources in China who said that Thor: Love and Thunder will likely remain banned because of LGBTQ+ themes in the movie.
Sources at two major cinema chains in China tell The Hollywood Reporter that they expect Thor 4 will face the same fate as Pixar’s Lightyear: denied censorship approval because of fleeting moments in the movie involving LGBTQ characters.
What LGTBQ+ Scenes In Thor: Love and Thunder Concern China?
Thor: Love and Thunder was already postponed in Malaysia, allegedly over Thor’s butt cheeks. Perhaps this is also an issue for Chinese censors, but they are more concerned about its LGBTQ+ scenes.
Just how many LGBTQ+ scenes are there really? And how controversial are these scenes?
Bisexual Asgardian King Valkyrie (Tessa Thomson) kisses a maiden’s hand
At two other scenes, characters reference and discuss King Valkyrie’s late girlfriend.
Korg (Taika Waititi) is shown to be gay.
Korg references having two dads.
Korg settles down with a fellow Korean named Dwayne.
Thor: Love and Thunder Is 6th MCU Movie To Be Banned In China
Thor: Love and Thunder will just join a rather long list of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies banned in China.
Black Widow : It was released in May 2021, during the Chinese summer movie season, when there is usually a blackout of foreign movies.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings : It was not approved in China, after 2017 comments by actor Simu Liu resurfaced, in which he called China a “third world” country.
Eternals : It was apparently not approved, after a 2013 interview with China-born director Chloé Zhao resurfaced, in which she said that “there are lies everywhere” in the country.
Spider-Man: No Way Home : Hilariously, Chinese censors wanted Sony to remove the Statue of Liberty from the movie. Perhaps they should have asked David Copperfield instead…
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness : It was not approved because of a scene in which a newspaper kiosk appeared with the Epoch Times visible.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did the IMF warn Malaysia about having the second most national debt in Asia, after Sri Lanka?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Malaysia Has 2nd Most Debt In Asia, After Sri Lanka!
This post about IMF warning Malaysia about having the second most national debt in Asia, after Sri Lanka, has gone viral.
People are sharing it as a warning of how Malaysia could very soon descent into the economic chaos and misery affecting Sri Lanka.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Malaysia is in a huge economic dilemma.
The second largest debt country in Asia after Sri Lanka is Malaysia.
Good Luck to Malaysian… [sic]
马民有福了😱😭
Truth : Malaysia Does Not Have 2nd Most Debt In Asia, After Sri Lanka!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on social media, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : IMF Did Not Say Malaysia Is In Economic Trouble
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not warn that Malaysia is in huge economic trouble.
In April 2022, it warned that Asian nations, like the rest of the world, are at risk of stagflation from being battered by the war in Ukraine and the slowdown in China from COVID-19.
The region faces a stagflationary outlook, with growth being lower than previously expected, and inflation being higher.
Inflation is now expected to rise 3.2% this year, a full point higher than expected in January.
Despite the downgrade, Asia remains the world’s most dynamic region, and an important source of global growth. – Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, acting director of IMF Asia and Pacific
Fact #2 : Malaysia Does Not Have Second Most Debt In Asia
The claim that Malaysia has the second highest national debt in Asia is also false.
On both the GDP percentage and per capita basis, Singapore has the second highest national debt in Asia, behind Japan. Even Sri Lanka has less debt, per capita or as a percentage of its GDP, than Singapore or Japan.
Malaysia has far less national debt than Sri Lanka as a percentage of its GDP, but twice the debt on a per capita basis.
Here is a comparison I created of countries with the highest national debt in Asia :
Country
Year
National Debt
Debt
(% of GDP)
Debt Per Capita
Japan
2020
$13,054 billion
259%
$103,386
Singapore
2021
$536 billion
132.8%
$98,410
Sri Lanka
2020
$81.7 billion
101.2%
$3,726
Mongolia
2021
$14.3 billion
94.7%
$4,294
India
2020
$2,402 billion
90.1%
$1,741
China
2020
$10,115 billion
68.1%
$7,164
Malaysia
2021
$239 billion
63.4%
$8,644
Philippines
2021
$226 billion
57.5%
$2,055
Fact #3 : IMF Optimistic Malaysia Will Expand By 5.75% In 2022
In May 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) actually announced that it is optimistic that Malaysia’s economy will expand by 5.75% in 2022, driven by pent-up domestic demand and continued strong external demand.
It also said that Malaysia’s high vaccination rates, and limited movement restrictions are supporting economic expansion.
Fact #4 : High Debt Is Not Necessarily Bad
While a high national debt is not ideal, it is not necessarily a bad thing either. It really depends on how much interest needs to be paid on the debt, and what the government is using it for.
Unlike individuals who will die eventually, the government of a country can last for hundreds of years. So governments do not have to pay back all of their debts within a certain amount of time.
As long as the government can keep paying interest on its debt, it can continue to borrow money to service deficits in its budget, or to invest in projects that grow the economy.
Fact #5 : How Governments Use Money Matters More
Just like how you can use borrowed money to invest in assets or splurge on liabilities, how the government uses the borrowed money matters more than how much it borrows.
If the government uses borrowed money to invest, that will spur growth that allows it to easily repay its debts while driving down the interest it pays.
But if the borrowed money is lost through corruption or wasteful projects, the government will find it harder to pay interest on the debt and may even default on payments.
Fact #6 : High Government Spending During Pandemic Is Expected
Practically every government in the world was forced to spend significantly more during the pandemic. Most run into large deficits during the pandemic because :
governments need to spend more on healthcare to combat COVID-19
governments cut taxes to support citizens and businesses
governments provide monetary support for citizens and businesses
This isn’t unique to Malaysia, but applies across the world. That’s why Malaysia’s national debt jumped significantly after January 2020.
Fact #7 : Malaysia Has Sufficient Foreign Reserves
Malaysia’s national debt increased from $228.7 billion in 2020, to $239 billion (RM 979.8 billion) in 2021 – an increase of about 4.5% year-on-year.
While this increase pushes Malaysia close to a national debt of 65% of its GDP, it is still much lower than many other countries.
More importantly, Bank Negara Malaysia reported international reserves of $116.9 billion as of 31 December 2021, which is enough to finance 7.7 months of retained imports, and is 20% higher than the total short-term external debt.
In other words, Malaysia is not anywhere close to collapsing economically, like what happened in Sri Lanka.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The country-wide mobile and Internet outage in Canada was due to a software update, not hacking by China!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : China Responsible For Mobile + Internet Outage In Canada!
Within hours of news breaking that Canada suffered a massive Internet outage, Vancouver Times posted a story claiming that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) identified China as the responsible party.
Vancouver Times also claimed that the RCMP will issue arrest warrants for the hackers responsible, who are connected to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Chinese state hackers are responsible for a massive internet outage that paralyzed large parts of Canada, according to the RCMP. The federal police agency is in the process of issuing arrest warrants for several people they believe are connected to the People’s Liberation Army.
The RCMP will be holding a press conference in the next few days to announce the arrest warrants, according to sources. Canadian intelligence agencies are reportedly receiving guidance from the CIA and the FBI.
On Friday a widespread network outage from Rogers left many Canadians without mobile and internet service. The outages caused significant problems for police, courthouses, passport offices and other facilities.
The outage also disrupted services across retailers, courthouses, airlines, train networks, credit card processors and police forces, pushing many to delay business transactions. Many people were seen at Starbucks, trying to use their internet service.
The mainstream media and big tech want to hide the truth. Beat them at their own game by sharing this article!
Truth : Canada Internet Outage Due To Software Update, Not China!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created by Vancouver Times to generate page views and money from gullible people.
Fact #1 : Vancouver Times Is A Fake News Website
Vancouver Times is a “content aggregator” (copy and paste) website that is known for creating fake news to generate more page views and money.
To look legitimate, they copy and paste news from legitimate news organisations. To drive traffic, they create fake news, sometimes masked as “satire”.
To give themselves a veneer of deniability, they label themselves as a “satire website” in their About Us section.
Vancouver Times is the most trusted source for satire on the West Coast. We write satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.
Here are some of their fake news that we debunked :
Fact #2 : Outage Only Affected Rogers Communications
On Friday, July 8, 2022, Canada was hit by a massive mobile and Internet outage that hit businesses, banks, and even police emergency lines.
However, it only affected Rogers Communications, and did not affect rivals like BCE, Telus and Shaw Communications.
The outage was extensive because Rogers is Canada’s leading telecommunications provider, with about 11.3 million wireless subscribers, and 2.25 million retail Internet subscribers.
Fact #3 : RCMP Did Not Blame China For Mobile + Internet Outage
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not blame China for Rogers Communications’ mobile and Internet outage.
This was made up by Vancouver Times to trigger right-wing conspiracy theorists, to go viral and draw more page views.
Fact #4 : Rogers Did Not Blame China For Mobile + Internet Outage
Rogers Communications themselves did not blame China for their mobile and Internet outage.
Fact #5 : Canada Confirmed Outage Was Not A Cyberattack
While the reason behind the outage was still unknown, a spokesperson for Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed to CTV News that “the outage was not due to a cyberattack“.
Fact #6 : Rogers Confirmed Outage Due To Maintenance Update
On 11 July 2022, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri apologised for the country-wide outage of its services.
He also said that the failure was due to “a maintenance update in our core network“. The maintenance work “caused some of our routers to malfunction early Friday morning“.
Fact #7 : Prior Rogers Outage Also Due To Software Update
This wasn’t the first time Rogers Communications’ network failed so drastically.
Just 15 months earlier – Rogers and its subsidiary, Fido, experienced a nationwide cellular service outage in April 2021.
That outage was ultimately traced to “a recent Ericsson software update” that “affected a piece of equipment in the central part” of their network, leading to “intermittent congestion impacting many customers across Canada“.
Fact #8 : It Would Have Been Considered An Act Of War
China attacking Canada’s mobile and Internet network would have been considered an act of war, if it was proven.
The Canadian government would at least have issued a strong statement, if not cut diplomatic ties with China and/or enact sanctions against the Chinese government.
Fact #9 : No One Else Reported This Story
China attacking Canada’s mobile and Internet infrastructure would have been major international news, reported across the globe.
Yet not only did no mainstream media cover this incredible story, it hasn’t even been reported in the usual conspiracy theory websites!
That’s because it was a fake story created by one publication – Vancouver Times, in their attempt to go viral again for more page views and ad money.
Fact #10 : There Is No Such Thing As A Publication Ban
Vancouver Times likes to use the “media blackout” claim, to explain why you can’t find any reputable media outlet reporting on China attacking Canada’s mobile and Internet infrastructure.
That’s utter and complete bullshit. No one – not a judge, not even the Canadian government – can control the worldwide media, or prevent anyone from writing about such an incredible story.
You can also be sure that even if the mainstream media in the Canada refused to run the story, it would have been reported by foreign media outlets, websites and blogs.
Yet, not a single foreign media outlet or online website published their account of this incredible story? That’s because IT NEVER HAPPENED…
Fact #11 : Mainstream Media + Big Tech Would Have Loved The Hype
Vancouver Times is gaslighting you about how mainstream media and Big Tech want to hide the “truth” about China attacking Canada’s infrastructure.
They would all loved such shocking news, because it would have driven tons of traffic and engagement to their websites / platforms.
In fact, that was precisely why Vancouver Times created the fake story – to drive traffic, for the ad money.
Everything that Vancouver Times publishes should be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Do mRNA vaccines cause killer lymphocytes to attack our healthy cells, destroying our immune system?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : mRNA Vaccines Cause Invasion Of Killer Lymphocytes!
People are excitedly sharing this post on WhatsApp and on social media, claiming that mRNA vaccines cause killer lymphocytes to destroy our immune system.
It claims that this is why people vaccinated against COVID-19 are suffering from shingles, tuberculosis, cancer, monkeypox, etc.
It’s rather long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
Shingles, TB will break out very soon, all over everywhere… It is caused by our dysfunctional immune system that is caused by killer lymphocytes self attack….. because the target is all the spiked proteins…
Our killer lymphocytes, is protecting us by killing viruses. Instead, the killer lymphocytes look for all the spiked proteins that leak into all our organs and attack our own cells. Why attack our own healthy cells. Because Spiked Proteins are all spiked to our healthy cells in all the organs ..The spiked leak into our organs!
This is the work of the damn mRNA spiked proteins… All mRNA based vaccine will harm our immune system this way….. This is how all the posum hereditary diseases will break out…. Shingles, TB, Cancer, Monkey Pox and many other will surface……. as the immune system is gone…
The more times the booster shots that boost only more antibodies for a few weeks only, the more the immune system die off… Some unfortunates die after one or two vaccine shots. So think carefully, you can go for 4 th and 5th…..booster… at you own very life expense.
Everytime you get booster shots, your antibodies will go up a little more, but the immune system will be gone…. and the so vaccinated sure to suffer…with mRNA vaccine….
YES, the statistic show the short and immediate fatal effects per million vaccinated, is still small. After one year, two year, five year and longer…. All the hereditary posum diseases will appear.
There are untold side effects as more booster shots are administered….. and more spiked proteins will leak more and more to our healthy organ cells….
Our killer lymphocytes will go after the spiked protein and cause all the self-destruction… Soon the killer lymphocytes will be exhausted and our immune system is impaired and will be gone…
Truth : mRNA Vaccines Do NOT Cause Killer Lymphocytes To Destroy Immune System!
This appears to be yet another example of FAKE NEWS created by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) as part of their anti-mRNA vaccine campaign.
Here are the reasons why this is just more Chinese wumao bullshit…
Fact #1 : All COVID-19 Vaccines Target The Spike Protein
First, it is important that you understand that all COVID-19 vaccines focus on the spike protein for two main reasons :
It is unique to the SARS-CoV-2 virus
It is what the virus uses to attach to our cells, and enter them.
Antibodies that the vaccines “create” will therefore bind to the spike proteins, and physically block the COVID-19 virus from attaching to our cells.
All approved COVID-19 vaccines target the spike protein for this very reason, even inactivated virus vaccines like the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccine.
Fact #2 : mRNA Vaccines Do Not Leak Spike Proteins
In an effort to promote Chinese inactivated virus vaccines, China has been conducting a prolonged and extensive disinformation campaign about mRNA vaccines through their 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
One of the fake stories they have been spreading is how mRNA vaccines create spike proteins that “leak” or go into our organs, or all over our bodies.
The truth is the spike proteins created by the mRNA vaccines do not leak anywhere. The spike proteins are produced by a limited number of cells that received those mRNA instructions, and they are displayed on the cell surface for our immune system to see.
Once the immune system sees those spike proteins on the cell surfaces, it recognises them as “foreign”, and produces antibodies to bind to those spike proteins.
These spike proteins remain on the cell surface. Eventually, our body’s phagocytes will consume these cells, because they have been identified as “foreign”. So there are none to float around like balloons…
Fact #4 : mRNA Vaccines Do Not Harm Our Immune System
mRNA vaccines do not harm our immune system. Despite what the Chinese wumao keep saying, mRNA vaccines work just like other vaccines.
All COVID-19 vaccines – mRNA or otherwise – are like training camps for our immune system. They mimic the SARS-CoV-2 virus, like “fake enemy soldiers”.
By pretending to be the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the vaccines let your own immune system learn to identify the real virus, and create antibodies to block it.
I want to be very clear – all COVID-19 vaccines – mRNA or otherwise – do not harm your immune system. They only enhance your immune system.
Fact #5 : Vaccines Do Not Stay In Our Body
Vaccines – mRNA or otherwise – do not stay in our body. If they did, we would have lifelong immunity, and we wouldn’t need booster doses!
Most of the vaccines spike proteins vaccine will be gone within a matter of days, although some may last for up to a few weeks. This is part of how vaccines teach your immune system to identify the enemy and destroy it.
Fact #6 : Booster Doses Are Refresher Classes For Your Immune System
Unfortunately, antibody levels will naturally drop over time, which is why we need booster doses to trigger our immune system to produce more antibodies.
Booster doses work like refresher classes in college. Every time you receive a booster dose, it reminds your immune system that the virus is still a threat.
This kickstarts the production of antibodies, boosting your protection against COVID-19.
All vaccines are designed to target a specific disease. They cannot prevent other diseases.
COVID-19 vaccines can only help your immune system fight off the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They cannot prevent shingles, tuberculosis, cancer or monkeypox.
Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 means you are protected from severe disease and deaths from COVID-19, not from all the ills in this world.
Fact #8 : mRNA Vaccines Do Not Cause Shingles, TB, Cancer Or Monkeypox
Just to be very clear – COVID-19 vaccines based on mRNA technology do not cause shingles, tuberculosis, cancer or monkeypox.
Fact #9 : Shingles, Tuberculosis Or Monkeypox Are Not Hereditary
Shingles, tuberculosis and monkeypox are not hereditary diseases. You are not born with these diseases.
Shingles (herpes zoster) is caused by a previous chickenpox infection from the varicella zoster virus (VZV). People vaccinated against chickenpox will not suffer from shingles.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It can be prevented by getting the BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin) vaccine.
Monkeypox is a viral infection caused by the monkeypox virus. It can be prevented using the smallpox vaccine.
This is for those who keep getting anti-mRNA posts like these from pro-CCP netizens.
Even though the Chinese wumao keeps disparaging mRNA vaccines, China has actually been trying to develop its own mRNA vaccine called ARCoVax.
Unfortunately, it has not been able to clear Phase 3 trials, which is why China is stuck using Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, which have poor efficacy.
The truth is – mRNA vaccines are the future, allowing for very specific targeting of certain proteins, as opposed to a shotgun approach. They also allow for faster adaptation to changes in the proteins.
As Zhuang Shilihe, a Guangzhou-based immunological expert told Global Times, “grasping mRNA technology is very important for China, not only to control the COVID pandemic but as treatment in cancer and rare diseases“.
This is partly why China was pushing hard for a WTO patent waiver on vaccines. They need to get access to mRNA technology used by Pfizer and Moderna to improve their own mRNA vaccines.
You can be certain that when China finally succeeds in producing its own mRNA vaccines, the wumao propaganda machine will change its tune.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
China is introducing their first-ever vaccine mandate, to protect Beijing from a new COVID-19 outbreak!
Here is what you need to know…
China Introduces COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Beijing!
From Monday, July 11, 2022 onwards, Beijing residents will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination at these public locations :
Live performances
Entertainment venues like movie theatres, museums, art galleries, cultural centres
Gyms and training facilities, stadiums and other sports venues
Libraries and tutoring centres
Internet cafes
This vaccine mandate will apply to everyone, including medical staff, people working in community service operations, home furnishing operators, express delivery providers, and people attending conferences.
Beijing residents will also need to receive a booster dose, although exemptions will be available for people who don’t qualify for vaccination.
Beijing Municipal Health Commission deputy director Li Ang called for elderly people living in care homes, and people who plan to enter an entertainment venue, to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
He also said that care home staff and visitors, as well as tourists, should get the booster dose; and that Beijing’s health code system will be updated to show everyone’s vaccination status more prominently.
Despite the vaccine mandate, Beijing residents are still required to get tested at least every three days to enter all public venues.
It is unknown how people who received their COVID-19 vaccinations overseas can meet this requirement since the Chinese health code system does not even recognise foreign vaccines. In fact, people who were vaccinated overseas have not been able to get their vaccinations registered.
Why China Is Introducing COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Beijing
China is implementing its first-ever vaccine mandate in Beijing to tamp down a new outbreak of the more infectious BA.5.2 Omicron subvariant.
On Wednesday, July 6, Beijing CDC announced 12 new cases caused by the Omicron BA.5.2 subvariant, based on gene sequencing tests. They were from four different districts, including Yanqing and Changping in Beijing.
These cases were traced back to previously quarantined patients, although one case reported a day earlier was picked up through community testing. This suggests that community spread is still limited.
This new BA.5.2 Omicron outbreak started on July 4, apparently caused by people returning to Beijing after completing their entry quarantine period.
Chinese authorities appear to be implementing this vaccine mandate in hopes of avoiding a lockdown that had already shut down the northwestern city of Xi’an until at least next Wednesday, July 13.
As of January 2022, some 98% of Beijing’s 20 odd million residents have been fully vaccinated, including 12 million who received a booster dose. However, only 80% of Beijing’s senior citizens (60 years and older) have been vaccinated, as late as April.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The FBI and MI5 just issued a joint warning about economic spying and hacking operations by the Chinese government!
Here is what you need to know…
FBI + MI5 Issue Joint Warning On Chinese Spying!
On July 7, 2022, FBI Director Christopher Wray joined MI5 Director General Ken McCallum at the MI5 London headquarters to issue a joint warning about Chinese spying and cyberattacks.
Ken McCallum said that MI5 was running seven times as many investigations into China, as it had just four years ago. He also said that MI5 planned to double that to tackle the widespread attempts.
Christopher Wray, on the other hand, stressed that the FBI had substantially increased its investigations into China, and is currently managing about 2,000 problems, and opening about two counterintelligence cases every day.
The Chinese government is set on stealing your technology – whatever it is that makes your industry tick – and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market.
Maintaining a technological edge may do more to increase a company’s value than would partnering with a Chinese company to sell into that huge Chinese market, only to find the Chinese government and your partner stealing and copying your innovation.
Both McCallum and Wray alleged that the Chinese government is engaged in a “coordinated campaign” to “cheat and steal [technology] on a massive scale“.
They also stressed that China’s hacking programme dwarfs that of any other major country, and that it has a global network of intelligence operatives.
FBI + MI5 : China Also Preparing To Shield From Sanctions
Even more worrying is the fact that China is working to shield its economy from any future sanctions, obviously learning from how the West punished Russia for invading Ukraine.
This suggests that China is at least preparing for the possibility, if not the eventuality, of insulating its economy from potential sanctions, should it attack Taiwan.
Wray said that China is “trying to cushion themselves from harm if they do anything to draw the ire of the international community”, and that the Chinese government is pressuring Western businesses not to criticise Beijing or its policies.
He declined to say whether an invasion of Taiwan has become more likely due to these measures, but warn that Western investments in China could be similarly impacted by such a conflict.
Just as in Russia, Western investments built over years could become hostage, capital stranded. Supply chains and relationships disrupted.
Wray also shared that the Chinese government had directly interfered in a New York congressional election, because they did not want a candidate who was a critic and a former Tiananmen Square protestor to be elected.
China has for far too long counted on being everybody’s second-highest priority. They are not flying under the radar anymore.
Both Wray and McCallum said that the intention of the joint address was to “send the clearest signal” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), because if China decides to invade Taiwan, it would cause “one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen“.
McCallum shared some specific cases of Chinese spying activities that MI5 detected and thwarted.
Covert Theft
Late last year Chinese intelligence officer Shu Yenjoon was convicted in a US court on charges of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets from the US aviation sector.
Shu was active in Europe too: he’d been part of a prolific Ministry of State Security network targeting the aerospace sector.
MI5 worked with those being targeted in the UK to mitigate the risks until the FBI action could solve the problem for both of us.
Tech Transfer
Clandestine espionage methodology isn’t always necessary. Take the tale of Smith’s Harlow, a UK-based precision engineering firm. In 2017 Smith’s Harlow entered into a deal with a Chinese firm, Futures Aerospace. The first of three agreed technology transfers saw Futures pay £3m for quality control procedures and training courses.
You know how this ends: after further sharing of valuable IP, Futures abandoned the deal. Smith’s Harlow went into administration in 2020. As their Chairman put it: “They’ve taken what they wanted and now they’ve got it, they didn’t need the shell of Smith’s”.
Information Advantage
The CCP doesn’t just use intelligence officers posing as diplomats in the classic fashion. Privileged information is gathered on multiple channels, in what is sometimes referred to as the ‘thousand grains of sand’ strategy.
In Germany a retired political scientist and his wife who together ran a foreign policy think tank passed information to the Chinese intelligence services for almost ten years.
In Estonia a NATO maritime scientist was convicted for passing information to his Chinese handlers, who claimed to be working for a think tank.
Cultivating New Contacts
The deceptive use of professional networking sites is well known. Seemingly flattering approaches turn into something more insidious – and damaging.
In one example a British aviation expert received an approach online, ostensibly went through a recruitment process, and was offered an attractive employment opportunity. He travelled twice to China where he was wined and dined. He was then asked – and paid – for detailed technical information on military aircraft. The ‘company’ was actually run by Chinese intelligence officers.
Chinese government officials naturally rejected spying allegations by the FBI and MI5.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, called the accusations groundless and said that China “firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber-attacks“, and would “never encourage, support or condone cyber-attacks“.
His statement also said that the Taiwan issue was “purely China’s internal affair” and that there was “no room for compromise or concession“. It also said that China “will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts“, but noted that China would “reserve the option of taking all necessary measures in response to the interference of foreign forces“.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian did not address the claims directly, but accused the United States of being the real danger instead.
The relevant US politician has been playing up the so-called China threat to smear and attack China. Facts have fully proven that the US is the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development.
We urge this US official to have the right perspective, see China’s developments in an objective and reasonable manner and stop spreading lies and stop making irresponsible remarks.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
A hacker is selling data on a billion Chinese citizens, that he stole from the Shanghai national police database!
Find out what’s going on, and what this data breach entails!
Shanghai Police Data On 1 Billion Chinese Citizens Leaked!
A hacker who called himself “ChinaDan” posted in the Breach Forums that he hacked into the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database and stole more than 23 terabytes of data.
He is offering to sell data on 1 billion Chinese citizens, including their name, address, birthplace, national ID number and mobile numbers, for 10 bitcoins – which is currently worth about US$204,285 / €200,227.
In 2022, the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database was leaked. This database contains many TB of data and information on billions of Chinese citizen.
Databases contain information on 1 billion Chinese national residents and several billion case records, including: name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime/case details.
He also posted a sample of 750,000 data entries from the three main indexes of the database, for potential buyers to evaluate.
Shanghai Police Database Left Unsecured For 14 Months!
ChinaDan claimed that the SHGA database was left unsecured on an Alibaba Cloud server. This was confirmed by several cybersecurity experts who had earlier stumbled upon the same database.
Even worse, the database was apparently left unsecured for at least 14 months! Vinny Troia – the founder of dark web intelligence first, Shadowbyte, said that he first discovered the SHGA database “around January” 2021.
Troia even downloaded one of the main indexes of the SHGA database, which contained information on nearly 970 million Chinese citizens (at that time).
And best of all – they made the data available to anybody who registers for an account!
The site that I found it on is public, anybody (could) access it, all you have to do is register for an account. Since it was opened in April 2021, any number of people could have downloaded the data.
Either they forgot about it, or they intentionally left it open because it’s easier for them to access. I don’t know why they would. It sounds very careless.
This Was Second Hack Of Shanghai National Police Database!
Bob Diachenko – a Ukrainian cybersecurity researcher – discovered the database independently in April, and noticed that the databased was attacked in mid-June by a hacker who copied the data, destroyed the copy on the server and left a ransom note demanding 10 bitcoins for its recovery.
By July 1, the ransom note disappeared, but only 7 gigabytes of data was available on the server, instead of the earlier 23 TB.
It is unknown if this data ransom “hack” was performed by ChinaDan, or a different hacker.
Diachenko said that the unsecured and exposed database continued to be used after that, until it was shut down over the weekend, after news of the data leak broke.
Maybe there was some junior developer who noticed it and tried to remove the notes before senior management noticed them.
This is shocking because it suggests that the database administrators were already aware of a prior breach, but did nothing to secure the database, or shore up cybersecurity measures.
Most Of China Affected By Shanghai Police Data Leak!
The Shanghai National Police data leak is currently the largest leak of public information ever.
It does not just cover people who live in, or have been in Shanghai. The database actually has information on over 70% of its 1.4 billion population in almost all counties in China.
The data contained information about almost all the counties in China, and I have even discovered data related to a remote county in Tibet, where there are only a few thousand residents.
– Yi Fu-Xian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
This massive data leak acutely demonstrates the risk of government collection of data. China notably collects a tremendous amount of data on its citizens, including digital and biological data through facial recognition, iris scanners, social media tracking and phone trackers.
Once such data is leaked, it is forever exposed, putting people at risk of scams, identity theft, or even extortion.
China Censors Coverage Of Shanghai Police Data Leak
The Chinese government and the Shanghai Police have both refused to comment on the massive data leak.
Instead, they started blocking related words on Weibo, like “Shanghai data leak”, “data leak”, “Shanghai national security database breach”, “1 billion citizens’ record leak”.
Censors have also scrubbed news on this data breach from WeChat, with one popular WeChat user telling his 27,000 followers that he had been summoned to be questioned by the police.
China’s major English-language media like CGTN, Global Times, Xinhua, etc. have also not published any story on the Shanghai police data leak, despite public interest and its wide-ranging consequences for China.
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Find out why the US, Canada and Ukraine repeatedly voted against an anti-Nazi resolution in the United Nations!
Claim : US, Canada, Ukraine Voted Against Anti-Nazi Resolution!
Pro-Russia and pro-CCP netizens, as well as the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), are claiming that the US, Canada and Ukraine are the only three of four countries to vote against the anti-Nazi resolution in the United Nations.
Here is a recent example, which refers to a 2014 UN Resolution called “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance“.
Why are the US, Canada, and Ukraine the only three of four countries in the world to vote NO to the UN resolution to combat Nazism and Neo-Nazism? In fact most European countries abstained, while the vast majority of the global south including China, India, Russia voted yes
Note : This photo has often been used as “evidence” that Ukraine and the US are pro-Nazi. The truth is – this is a digitally manipulated photo.
Here’s Why US, Canada, Ukraine Voted Against Anti-Nazi Resolution!
At first glance, it is easy enough to see why pro-Russia and pro-CCP netizens actually believe that the US, Canada and Ukraine are Nazi supporters.
Let’s go through the facts of this UN resolution, and find out why US, Canada and Ukraine voted against an anti-Nazi resolution.
Fact #1 : US, Canada, Ukraine Voted Against Anti-Nazi Resolution
First, let me confirm that the US, Canada and Ukraine did indeed vote No to a 2014 UN resolution called 2014 UN Resolution called “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance“.
Here was how the voting went :
Total voting membership : 193
Members voting Yes : 132
Members voting No : 4 (US, Canada, Ukraine, Palau)
Members abstaining : 51 (including all EU member states)
Members who did not vote : 6
Fact #2 : This Is Old News From 2014
This is old news from 2014 that is being resurrected due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russia calls their invasion of Ukraine a “special operation” to “denazify Ukraine”, and they justified it by claiming that Ukraine is full of Nazis.
Hence, pro-Russia and pro-CCP groups, including the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), have been promoting this story as “evidence” that the US, Canada and Ukraine are pro-Nazi.
Fact #3 : Resolution Was Presented By Russia To Justify Annexation Of Crimea
The 2014 UN resolution was presented by Russia as a way to justify its annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
That was why Ukraine joined the US and Canada in voting against the resolution. All European Union member states abstained en masse from the resolution for the same reason.
Speaking to European Voice before the vote, Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, said that “no one should doubt that we are condemning fascism”, but, he continued, “under cover of this condemnation, Russia is pursuing its own agenda”.
It was not that those countries support Nazism or facism. It’s because they do not agree that Russia should use it as a pretext to attack other countries.
Fact #4 : Ukraine First Voted No In 2014
This resolution has actually been presented on a yearly basis since 1980, but Ukraine only started to vote no in 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea.
Their official reason for Ukraine voting No though was because the document did not reflect the crimes of the Stalin regime :
Andrey Tsimbalyuk, Ukraine’s Representative in the UN, said in 2014: “Until Stalinism and neo-Stalinism are judged with the same degree, as Nazism, neo-Nazism and other forms of intolerance, Ukraine will not be able to support this document.”
This is why pro-Russia and pro-CCP netizens only mention the 2014 resolution, but not the earlier versions. That was the first time Ukraine voted against the resolution.
Did Russian annexation of Crimea turn Ukrainians into Nazis? Or did they simply dislike Russia’s use of Nazism to justify their illegal invasion of Ukraine?
Thanks to a CCP supporter, Wan Chun Hong, I confirm that United States has voted against each instance of this resolution as far back as 1985.
The United States also abstained from voting for this resolution in the 1980 resolution, together with 17 other countries.
The US reason for voting against the resolution was to defend the freedom of speech. As Nicholas Hill, the Deputy US Representative for ECOSOC explained on November 12, 2021 :
The United States Supreme Court has consistently affirmed the constitutional right to freedom of speech and the rights of peaceful assembly and association, including by avowed Nazis, whose hatred and xenophobia are vile and widely scorned by the American people. We nevertheless firmly defend the constitutional rights of those who exercise their fundamental freedoms to combat intolerance and express strong opposition to the odious Nazi creed and others that espouse similar hatreds.
For these reasons, the United States has voted against each new version of this resolution since 2005 and is, again, compelled to vote “No” on this resolution, and calls on other States to do the same.
Nazism is also far less of a problem today than white nationalism, or Russian and Chinese aggression against their neighbours.
CCP supporter, Wan Chun Hong, intended to use the 1985 UN Resolution as evidence that Western countries were really supporters of Nazism.
There is one problem though – two countries voted No against the measure called “Measures to be taken against Nazi, Fascist and neo-Fascist activities and all other forms of totalitarian ideologies and practices based on racial intolerance, hatred and terror“.
One was the United States. The other was Israel. Does Israel voting against that anti-Nazi resolution mean that the Israelis are also pro-Nazis, like the United States?
CCP supporters would like us to believe that, because they think we are idiots.
Fact #7 : Russia Is Using Resolution To Justify Attacks On Neighbours
Russia has been using this resolution to justify its attacks on its neighbours, as Nicholas Hill also pointed out in the same November 12, 2021 explanation :
[T]he United States must once again express opposition to this resolution, a document most notable for its thinly veiled attempts to legitimize Russian disinformation campaigns denigrating neighboring nations and promoting the distorted Soviet narrative of much of contemporary European history, using the cynical guise of halting Nazi glorification.
Here is a list of territories that Russia has occupied so far :
Transnistria : seized from Moldova in 1992
Abkhazia and South Ossetia : seized from Georgia in 2008
Crimea, and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk : seized from Ukraine in 2014
Parts of Donetsk and all of Luhansk : seized from Ukraine in 2022 (ongoing)
This is really nothing more than Russian propaganda to justify their invasions of other countries, reminiscent of what Nazi Germany did in the 1930s.
Russian and Chinese propaganda have also tried to introduce fake claims like NATO had been planning to invade Russia from Ukraine, or that they created COVID-19 in Ukrainian biological labs.
Fact #8 : Russia Colluded With Nazi Germany In World War 2
Russian and Chinese propaganda avoid mentioning how the Soviet Union colluded with Nazi Germany, and was responsible (in part) for starting World War 2 in Europe.
The fascist ideology of Nazi Germany did not gel well with the communist ideology of the Soviet Union, which was why relations between the two countries deteriorated once Hitler came into power.
But the Soviet Union warmed up to the Nazis, and actively colluded with Nazi Germany before and during World War 2… up until Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.
Multiple commercial agreements provided Nazi Germany with desperately needed raw materials, including oil.
The Soviet Union invaded Poland in partnership with Nazi Germany.
The Soviet Union invaded Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, just after Germany invaded France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The Soviet Union tried to join the Axis Pact, which consisted of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy.
The Soviet Union provided Nazi Germany with the means to avoid the economic blockade, and continue their invasion of Europe.
If Hitler did not make the mistake of invading the Soviet Union, it was likely that Europe would have been divided between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany as per the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
In these pictures from 23 August 1939, you can see Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; and Stalin shaking hands with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, after signing the pact.
Vyacheslav Molotov signs the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (left), Stalin shaking hands with Ribbentrop after signing the pact (right)
Fact #9 : United States Was Anti-Nazi Long Before Russia
Russian and Chinese propaganda always skim over the inconvenient fact that the United States was anti-Nazi long before Russia.
While Russia was actively colluding with Nazis, and partnering with Nazi Germany in dividing up Central Europe; the United States not only prepared for war against Germany, it shared critical technology with Britain and provided them with tremendous amounts of armaments through the Lend-Lease Act.
Russia would also end up benefiting from the US Lend-Lease Act, which saw the US producing and shipping US$50.1 billion worth of military equipment and supplies (equivalent to US$690 billion in 2020) to Allies.
Fact #10 : United States Prevented Soviet Union’s Collapse
Russian and Chinese propaganda also (intentionally?) forget to point out that it was the United States that helped to prevent the Soviet Union’s collapse during the German invasion in 1941.
It took the German armed forces less than 6 months to advance within 20 miles of the Kremlin. The complete capitulation of Russia was stopped, in part, by a prodigious amount of arms and equipment sent by the United States :
400,000 jeeps & trucks
14,000 airplanes
8,000 tractors
13,000 tanks
1.5 million blankets
15 million pairs of army boots
107,000 tons of cotton
2.7 million tons of petrol products
4.5 million tons of food
Reminiscent of the military aid that Ukraine is now receiving from the United States and other members of NATO, the US Lend-Lease Act supplied the Soviet Union with $11.3 billion ($180 billion in 2020 currency) worth of aid from 1941 to 1945.
Without such large amounts of aid from the United States, it was likely that Russia would today be part of a Greater Nazi Germany, or at least a vassal state of Nazi Germany.
Stalin himself acknowledged the value of American support to his aide and future USSR leader, Nikita Khrushchev, who said :
I would like to tell about some remarks Stalin made and repeated several times when we were “discussing freely” among ourselves. He stated bluntly that if the United States had not helped us, we would not have won the war. If we had had to fight Nazi Germany one on one, we could not have stood up against Germany’s pressure, and we would have lost the war.
We should note that the US helped Russia, even though the US was at that time a neutral country, and Russia was responsible for kicking off World War 2 by colluding with Nazi Germany to invade Central European countries.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did the Dutch government just close thousands of farms and cattle ranches to fight climate change?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Dutch Government Closed Farms To Fight Climate Change!
People have been sharing videos of angry farmers blocking roads with their tractors, claiming that they are protesting the closure of farms and cattle ranchers by the Dutch government.
Such videos are now being spread in pro-CCP groups as “evidence” of corrupt Western governments, or how Western governments oppress the common people.
28 June 2022 As the Dutch government closed dozens of farms and cattle ranches to reduce nitrogen by 30%. Angry and hungry farmers blocked the roads nationwide Corrupt Dutch govt trying to artificially create food shortage.
Following politicians’ decision to close dozens of farms and cattle ranches to reduce nitrogen to comply with absurd EU rules on nitrogen pollution, angry Dutch farmers have issued an ultimatum and are threatening to block the country’s airports, ports and distribution centers.
The Dutch government wants to close 17,000 farms out of 50,000 by 2030 to reduce Nitrogen emissions. Their “leaders” have bought into the climate change hysteria during a time of impending global food shortages. These bozos have a few screws missing.
Truth : Dutch Government Did NOT Close Farms To Fight Climate Change!
These posts appear to be an intentional “misunderstanding” of the facts surrounding these Dutch farmers’ protests.
These protests have been covered extensively, and so have the Dutch government’s proposal. So it seems incredulous that people would continue to lie about this issue.
Fact #1 : Dutch Government Did NOT Close Any Farm / Cattle Ranch
Let’s start with the most basic fact – the Dutch government did not close any farm or cattle ranch. This is complete and utter nonsense.
There are no laws in the Netherlands that would permit the Dutch government to forcibly take over, or shut down, any farm or cattle ranch.
This kind of blatant lie can only perpetuate in the minds of conspiracy nutcases, and Chinese netizens because only authoritarian governments (like the CCP in China) are capable of such actions.
Seizing and closing farms and cattle ranch may be possible for the government in China, but not in the Netherlands.
In fact, the Dutch government has offered BUY OUT (not close) farms near nature reserves.
Fact #2 : Dutch Farmers Have Been Protesting Since 2019!
What many of these “concerned netizens” (intentionally?) do not tell you is that Dutch farmers have been protesting against such climate change laws since 2019.
Dutch farmers protest in October 2019
Fact #3 : The Government Was Complying With A Court Order
This issue actually started way back in May 2019, the Dutch Administrative Court of the Council of State (the highest administrative body in the Netherlands) ruled that the Dutch government breached EU rules on protecting nature reserves from ammonia and nitrous oxide.
The Dutch Administrative Court suspended permits for all construction projects that pollute the atmosphere with nitrogen compounds, stalling the building of new homes, roads and airport runways… as well as the expansion of dairy, pig and poultry farms.
Fact #4 : Dutch Government Tried Other Measures First
To comply with the court order, the Dutch government tried other measures first.
For example, in 2020, they cut the maximum speed limit on roads in the Netherlands from 130 km/h to just 100 km/h for most of the day, to reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
The government also allocated more money to help farmers reduce emissions from pigs, and changed the composition of animal feed.
Fact #5 : Dutch Farms Produce A Lot Of Pollution
The problem is partly caused by Dutch farmers themselves. Their farms are highly concentrated, with four times more animal biomass per hectare than the EU average.
Dutch agriculture is responsible for 40% of the nitrogen pollution in the Netherlands. The entire construction sector, for example, is only responsible for 0.6% of nitrogen emissions.
Thanks to its large livestock sector, and intensive use of fertiliser, the Netherlands – the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter – is also one of the top greenhouse gas emitters in Europe.
Fact #6 : Only Farms Near Nature Reserves Are In Danger
Depending on their proximity to nature reserves (Natura-2000 areas), Dutch farms will have to reduce their nitrogen emissions by 12% to 70%.
Those located in or close to the Natura-2000 areas will be particularly hard-hit by the new nitrogen limits :
40% of the nitrogen sensitive Natura-2000 areas must be below the critical deposition value (< 255 mole per hectare) in 2025,
50% of the nitrogen sensitive Natura-2000 areas must be below the critical deposition value in 2030, and
74% of the nitrogen sensitive Natura-2000 areas must be below the critical deposition value in 2035.
Fact #7 : Provincial Government To Formulate Emission Reduction Plan
While the Dutch government came up with the plan to reduce nitrogen emissions to meet EU requirements, it is up to the Dutch provinces to develop the necessary measures to hit those targets.
Provincial governments have a year to formulate their own plans, to meet the pollution reduction targets.
Fact #8 : This Is Part Of EU Natura 2000 Conservation Efforts
This isn’t just a Dutch issue, it is actually part of the EU effort to protect the Natura 2000 network of vulnerable and endangered plant and animal habitats.
The Natura 2000 sites cover some 18% of the European Union land area, and 8% of its marine territory.
Fact #9 : Dutch Government Is Financing Agricultural Reforms
To help farmers meet those targets, the Dutch government has earmarked an extra €24.3 billion (about US$25.6 billion) to finance agricultural reforms and their existing buy-out programs.
Farmers who accept the government buy-out program can still open a new farm at a less sensitive location, as long as they substantially reduce nitrogen emissions.
Fact #10 : Protests Are ALLOWED In Real Democracies
What Chinese netizens may not be aware is that protests are not only common, they are allowed in real democracies.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, for example, defended the farmers’ right to protest, but reminded them not to break the law :
Freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate are a vital part of our democratic society, and I will always defend them.
But … it is not acceptable to create dangerous situations, it is not acceptable to intimidate officials, we will never accept that.
With the exception of a few farmers setting bales of hay on fire outside town halls and near roads, and attacking police officers, the majority of farmers have protested the proposed plan peacefully.
So what the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) and pro-CCP netizens are deriding as chaos, is really just people expressing their real freedom of speech, which includes the right to protest. Try that in China, and see what that gets you.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Canadian general Trevor Cadieu, who was allegedly captured by Russia, is on the way back to face sexual assault charges in Canada!
Find out what the heck is going on!
Claim : Russia Captured Canadian General Cadieu In Azovstal!
Pro-Russian websites, Chinese netizens and the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) have claimed since May 2022 that Russia captured Canadian Lieutenant General Trevor John Cadieu when he tried to escape from the Azovstal metalworks in Mariupol, Ukraine.
General Trevor Cadieu (Trevor John Cadieu), captured by Russian troops while trying to escape from the cellars of Azovstal, was the commander of the Canadian Ground Forces, APA reports citing Mailbd.
Seated in the catacombs under the Mariupol steel plant “Azovstal” nationalists staged a provocation, trying to hide the Canadian general’s attempt to escape. After the capture of a high-ranking foreign soldier by units of the RF Armed Forces, it became clear why so many efforts were made to save him.
A high-ranking mercenary tried to break out of the encirclement at Azovstal several times. It was for this that the West insisted on humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians: among them, foreign specialists had to leave the catacombs.
This Chinese example even claimed that NATO lost 5-6 helicopters and a ship trying to get General Cadieu out of Azovstal.
A lot of rumors that Russia has captured a Canadian general trying to escape thru sewer tunnels. Could be a few more NATO military advisers still in the plant
They have spent losing 5 or 6 helicopters and 1 ship trying to get the VVIP out.
Canadian General Cadieu “Captured” By Russia Is OTW Back!
Despite debunking it several times, both Russian and Chinese supporters continue to push the claims, even after Azovstal fell on 16 May 2022, and General Cadieu was nowhere to be found.
Russian and Chinese propaganda shifted course, claiming that General Cadieu was likely being held by Moscow as a bargaining chip, or being interrogated for his knowledge of Ukrainian and NATO plans to invade Russia.
There are a couple of problems with those claims :
In mid October 2021, Lieutenant General Trevor Cadieu was accused of sexual assault that he allegedly committed as a cadet in 1994.
He resigned and left the Canadian armed forces on 5 April 2022, after his appointment to head the Canadian army was derailed by those sexual assault charges.
He only left for Ukraine in April 2022 – weeks after Azovstal was surrounded by Russian forces. So it would have been impossible for him to be captured in Azovstal.
The months-long investigation into those sexual assault charges was completed, and he was formally charged with sexual assault on 15 June 2022.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, General Cadieu was informed of the charges, and he indicated in an email from Ukraine that he was “making arrangements to return to Canada from Ukraine“.
Yet again – Russian and Chinese propaganda have proven to be false.
Not only is former General Trevor Cadieu still not captured by Russian forces, he is arranging to return to Canada to face two sexual assault charges.
No NATO soldiers or generals were caught fighting in Ukraine, because there are no NATO soldiers or officers in Ukraine.
All NATO forces that were helping to train Ukrainian soldiers were pulled out before the Russian invasion began.
Russia is having trouble defeating Ukraine because it has a shitty army, not because thousands of NATO soldiers and officers are fighting with the Ukrainians.
No amount of fake news will change the fact that over 30 thousand Russian soldiers have been killed by the Ukrainians – twice as many Russia lost in their invasion of Afghanistan.
No amount of fake news will also change the fact that Russia lost over 1,500 tanks, and over 3,700 armoured fighting vehicles, as of 3 July 2022.
The Russian “special operation” is bogged down by tenacious Ukrainian defences, with nary a NATO soldier or officer in sight. Just a lot of NATO supplied weapons.
If NATO was truly involved, they would have rolled the piss-poor Russian army back into Russia. Instead, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has now stagnated into a slow artillery siege of the Donbas region.
Variants of this FAKE NEWS are now being shared in pro-Russia and pro-CCP websites and groups.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
China just relaxed entry requirements, by slashing more than half of its COVID-19 international travel quarantine!
Here is what you need to know…
China Slashes COVID-19 International Travel Quarantine!
On June 28, 2022, the Chinese National Health Commission announced a reduction of China’s quarantine requirement for international travellers.
China had earlier mandated that most inbound travellers must undergo a 14 + 7 quarantine protocol – at least 14 days at a government quarantine facility, followed by 7 days of self-isolation at home.
The new quarantine requirement will be a much shorter 7 + 3 protocol – travellers only need to spend 7 days at a quarantine facility, followed by 3 days of self-isolation at home.
Shorter Travel Quarantine, But China Still Maintaining Zero COVID
While China has relaxed its international travel quarantine requirements, that doesn’t mean it is going to quit its Zero COVID policy.
On the same day China announced the shorter quarantine policy, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed the Zero COVID policy on a visit to the Wuhan – where the pandemic started.
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, he said that he would rather “temporarily sacrifice a little economic growth” than “harm people’s health“.
This announcement came one day after Beijing Daily – the official CCP newspaper – published a quote by a senior Communist Party official who said that Beijing would remain under the Zero COVID policy “for the next five years”.
That sparked panic, causing Beijing Daily to remove the quote after claiming it was an “editing error”. Chinese censors also went into overdrive, removing all references to the quote.
According to CNN which analysed the entire speech, Beijing party chief Cai Qi did discuss at length the possibility that Zero COVID policies may remain in place for Beijing over the next five years.
Those measures, he said, would include routine PCR tests, strict entry rules, regular health checks in residential neighbourhoods and public venues. There will also be rigorous monitoring and testing for people entering and leaving Beijing.
So Chinese citizens and foreigners willing to tolerate the travel quarantine will have to continue putting up with mass testing and lockdowns of entire cities over small outbreaks. How long that lasts is anyone’s guess…
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr just publicly asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores!
Here is what you need to know about the renewed heat on TikTok!
FCC Commissioner Asks Apple + Google To Remove TikTok!
On June 29, 2022, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr publicly called on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores.
This move came after leaked TikTok audio recordings obtained by Buzzfeed News revealed that ByteDance staff in China (and possibly the Chinese government) retained extensive access to data on US citizens.
In his public letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the FCC Commissioner asked that TikTok be removed for “its pattern of surreptitious data practices”.
It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijing’s apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data.
But it is also clear that TikTok’s pattern of conduct and misrepresentations regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive U.S. user data – just some of which is detailed below – puts it out of compliance with the policies that both of your companies require every app to adhere to as a condition of remaining available on your app stores.
Therefore, I am requesting that you apply the plain text of your app store policies to TikTok and remove it from your app stores for failure to abide by those terms.
FCC Commissioner Carr also labelled TikTok as a “sophisticated surveillance tool” that is designed to harvest “personal and sensitive data“.
At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.
Indeed, TikTok collects everything from search and browsing histories to keystroke patterns and biometric identifiers, including faceprints – which researchers have said might be used in unrelated facial recognition technology – and voiceprints.
It collects location data as well as draft messages and metadata, plus it has collected the text, images, and videos that are stored on a device’s clipboard. The list of personal and sensitive data it collects goes on from there.
This should come as no surprise, however. Within its own borders, the PRC has developed some of the most invasive and omnipresent surveillance capabilities in the world to maintain authoritarian control.
Carr ended his letter with an “ultimatum” of sorts – if Apple and Google do not remove TikTok from their app stores, they need to provide “separate responses” to him by July 8, 2022, explaining why TikTok does not contravene their App Store policies.
As of June 30, 2022, TikTok is still available to download in the US app stores of both Apple and Google.
If Apple and Google acts on the FCC Commissioner’s request, TikTok will only be removed from their US app stores. It won’t affect downloads in other countries.
Neither would it prevent users in the US from continuing to use TikTok. They just won’t be able to download it any longer, or update to newer versions.
FCC Commissioner Lists History Of TikTok Data Practices!
While the leaked TikTok audio recordings may have precipitated this open letter to Apple and Google, FCC Commissioner Carr pointed to a list of questionable data practices by TikTok in the past.
The list makes for really interesting reading, especially for those who are not up to date on TikTok’s privacy and data security issues :
In August 2020, TikTok circumvented a privacy safeguard in Google’s Android operating system to obtain data that allowed it to track users online.
In March 2020, researchers discovered that TikTok, through its app in the Apple App Store, was accessing users’ most sensitive data, including passwords, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, and personal messages.
In 2021, TikTok agreed to pay $92 million to settle lawsuits alleging that the app “clandestinely vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China (and to other servers accessible from within China) vast quantities of private and personally identifiable user data and content that could be employed to identify, profile, and track the physical and digital location and activities of United States users now and in the future.”
In March 2022, a report included current and former TikTok employees stating in interviews that TikTok delegates key decisions to ByteDance officials in Beijing and that an employee was asked to enter sensitive information into a.cn domain, which is the top-level domain operated by the Chinese government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Earlier, in 2019, TikTok paid $5.7 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that its predecessor app illegally collected personal data on children under the age of 13.
India- the world’s largest democracy–has already banned TikTok on national security grounds for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data in an unauthorized manner.
Multiple U.S. military branches have also banned TikTok from government-issued devices due to national security risks, including the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps.
U.S. government officials have also urged troops and their dependents to erase the app from their personal phones.
U.S. national security agencies have similarly banned TikTok from official devices citing national security risks, including the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the TSA.
The RNC and DNC have warned campaigns about using TikTok based on security concerns and the threat of officials in Beijing accessing sensitive data.
Citing data security concerns, private U.S. business operations have also banned TikTok from company devices, including Wells Fargo.
Once accessed by personnel in Beijing, there is no check on the CCP using the extensive, private, and sensitive data about U.S. users for espionage activities because compliance with the PC’s 2017 National Intelligence law is mandatory in China.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Are the Western media covering up massive riots with looting and vandalism on the US West Coast?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Western Media Are Covering Up Riots In US West Coast!
People are sharing a video of a recent riot in America, claiming that Western media is actively concealing the news.
Allegedly, only the Chinese media and netizens are exposing the riots on the US West Coast by releasing such videos to show the world how decadent and lawless the United States really is.
The viral video is often shared with comments like these :
Protests, vandalism and looting rage across the west coast of US on 31/5 and 1/6/22 but not reported by CNN & BBC . Also not by Singapore’s CNA
Lawlessness in the country supposed to be icon of justice
Truth : Western Media Are Not Covering Up Riots In US West Coast!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens.
After investigating the viral video, here are the facts that I was able to ascertain…
Fact #1 : Video Was Recorded In Cleveland, Ohio
The viral video does not show riots in the US West Coast. I geolocated the precise location of this riot to East 4th Street (E 4th St.) in Cleveland, Ohio.
If you look closely at the video, you can spot these landmarks and their signboards :
Butcher and the Brewer (Old-World Cuts and Hand-Built Brews)
Windsor Apartments
Mabel’s BBQ
Society Lounge
Zocalo Tequileria
Flannery’s Pub
Buckeye Apartments
Those landmarks allowed me to precisely geolocate the entire video to that one street – East 4th Street in Cleveland, Ohio.
Fact #2 : Ohio Is A Midwestern State, Near The East Coast
Ohio is an American Midwestern state. But despite that classification, it is actually located next to the Eastern seaboard.
It is most definitely not on the US West Coast, which comprises of the states of California, Oregon and Washington.
I have no idea why the wumao would lie about the riot happening on the US West Coast. Perhaps, it is the American region most familiar to Chinese netizens, since it is located next to the Pacific Ocean.
Fact #3 : Cleveland Riot Happened In 2020
The video does not depict a riot that happened on May 31 and June 1, 2022. It actually showed people rioting over the death of George Floyd on June 2, 2020 – two years ago.
Chinese netizens may not be aware, but people in the United States are allowed to participate in peaceful protests, like the 2020 protests against police brutality and racism, epitomised by George Floyd’s death.
But violent riots are against the law, and so 99 people were arrested in the 2020 Cleveland riots.
Fact #4 : There Are No Riots Happening On The US West Coast
Just in case Chinese netizens are “confused”, there are no riots happening on the US West Coast, at the end of May or early June 2022.
There are no acts of vandalism or looting raging across the US West Coast, which is precisely why there is ZERO COVERAGE of these riots.
No one is covering these riots because they did not happen. This is just Chinese disinformation using a legitimate video from two years ago.
Fact #5 : Western Media Covered The Cleveland Riots
Unlike in China, where the media is muzzled and “inappropriate news” are censored, Western media are under no such restrictions.
If there are riots in the United States right now, you can be sure they would be covering it. Bad news sells best, after all!
The truth is – the Western media covered the Cleveland riots extensively… when it happened in 2020! In fact, you can see a man who looks like a press photographer taking photos in the viral video.
Fact #6 : Video Is Part Of Wumao Disinformation
This isn’t the first real video being used in a wumao disinformation campaign, to drive the narrative that the United States is in a perpetual state of anarchy.
I have personally fact checked many videos and stories that were deliberately spread by the wumao as part of their disinformation campaign :
So why are the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens promoting such videos and stories?
More importantly – why is the Chinese government spending money on such disinformation campaigns?
While you ponder on those questions, watch out and be wary of similar videos and stories being spread in Chinese and pro-CCP groups.
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
A US military contractor just pleaded guilty to selling classified aviation secrets to China!
US Mil Contractor Admits Selling Aviation Secrets To China!
On 23 June 2022, Shapour Moinian, 67, of San Diego, pleaded guilty to selling classified aviation secrets to “representatives of the Chinese government”.
Moinan admitted that he knew that those individuals were employed by, or directed by, t he government of the People’s Republic of China.
He also admitted making false statements to cover that up, by lying on his government background questionnaires in July 2017 and March 2020 that he did not have any close or continuing contacts with foreign nations, and that no foreign national had offered him a job.
He now faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 for action as an agent of a foreign government, and up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for making false statements.
His sentencing is scheduled for August 29, where federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 20 months, as part of his plea agreement.
As Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office explains :
The defendant admitted to being an unregistered agent of a foreign power, lying on his background check paperwork to obtain his security clearance, knowingly providing proprietary information to people controlled by the Chinese government, and willingly receiving payments from them. This is another example of how the Chinese government enhances its defense capabilities through the illicit exploitation of U.S. technology.
When someone holds a security clearance, they know what information should be reported to security officials. In this case, the defendant betrayed his sacred oath, knew his actions were wrong, and subsequently lied about it. The FBI and our partners on the Counterintelligence Task Force will pursue anyone who abuses their placement and access to obtain proprietary information on behalf of a foreign government. I specifically want to thank the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) for their continued partnership on this case.
How This Military Contractor Sold Aviation Secrets To China!
Moinan was a former US Army helicopter pilot who served in the United States, Germany and South Korea from 1977 to 2000. After leaving the US Army, he worked for various “cleared” defence contractors in the United States.
The term “cleared” indicates that the contractor has been vetted and cleared to work on projects involving classified information.
While working for a cleared defence contractor on various aviation projects involving the US military and intelligence agencies, Moinan was contacted by an individual in China, who claimed to be working for a technical recruiting company.
This Chinese individual offered Moinan the opportunity to consult for the aviation industry in China. In March 2017, Moinan travelled to Hong Kong to meet with this recruiter.
At that meeting, he agreed to provide information and materials related to multiple types of aircraft designed and/or manufactured in the United States, in exchange for money. Moinan accepted between $7,000 to $10,000 during that meeting.
On returning to the United States, Shapour Moinan began gathering aviation-related materials for the Chinese government.
In one instance, he copied classified materials obtained from a cleared defence contractor into a thumb drive, which he handed over to Chinese government officials during a stopover in the Shanghai airport in September 2017.
Moinan arranged for payment for this transfer to be paid through his stepdaughter’s South Korean bank account. He told her that these funds were payments for his overseas consulting work, and instructed her to transfer the funds to him in multiple transactions – to avoid scrutiny.
Moinan also accepted a mobile phone, and other equipment from these Chinese government officials to securely communicate with them, and to aid in the electronic transfer of classified materials and information.
At the end of March 2018, Moinan travelled to Bali to meet with the same individuals again. After that meeting, his step daughter received thousands of dollars in her South Korean bank account, which she wired to him in multiple transactions.
Later in 2018, Moinan went to work for another cleared defence contractor, and in August 2019, he travelled with his wife to Hong Kong to meet with the same Chinese government officials.
This time, he received $22,000 in cash for his services, which Moinan and his wife smuggled into the United States that trip.
It is currently unknown how the US government discovered Moines’s activities, but he was investigated by the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division and the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS).
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the scene that got the Disney-Pixar movie, Lightyear, banned in 14 countries, and likely China too!
Lightyear Movie Banned In 14 Countries + Maybe China Too!
Lightyear – the long-awaited Toy Story prequel from Disney-Pixar – has been banned in 14 Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and quite likely China too!
The ban started in the UAE, whose Media Regulatory Office of the Ministry of Youth and Culture announced on 13 June 2022 that Lightyear was banned from screening in all cinemas for “its violation of the country’s media content standards“.
A Variety report claimed that the UAE initially approved Lightyear for release, but revoked the licence after social media posts accused the movie of insulting Muslims and Islam.
That ban was then followed by other countries. The current list includes, but is not limited to :
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
Indonesia
Malaysia
Singapore
Lebanon
Oman
Qatar
Kuwait
Bahrain
Although not confirmed yet, it is very likely that Lightyear will also not be allowed to screen in China.
Lightyear producer, Galyn Susman, said that Chinese authorities “asked for cuts”, which Disney declined to make. So she assumed that the movie would not be allowed to screen there either.
I’m assuming it will not make it to China. I know we’ve gotten requests for things to cut, Disney isn’t going to modify the material.
We’re not going to cut out anything, especially something as important as the loving and inspirational relationship that shows Buzz what he’s missing by the choices that he’s making, so that’s not getting cut
The Brief Kiss That Got Lightyear Banned In 14+ Countries!
The reasons why Lightyear has been banned in at least 14 countries, and possibly China too, is over a brief kissing scene.
In the first 30 minutes of Lightyear, Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) – a female space ranger and a close friend of Buzz Lightyear – shares a brief kiss with her same-sex partner.
That kiss was part of a scene showing milestones in the couple’s relationship. It also shows the couple’s son, although it is not known if he was adopted or conceived through assisted reproduction.
But it was the brief kiss between two fictional characters that broke the camel’s back for censors in those countries. They demanded that the scene be cut from the film.
Normally, Disney would quietly cut such a controversial scene from the movie to comply with “local sensibilities”, since it doesn’t affect the plot.
However, Pixar employees had earlier penned a letter complaining that Disney corporate executives were censoring “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection” in their projects.
We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were.
Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.
Disney caved to the pressure, and decided not to censor the kiss from Lightyear. And so, all those countries refused to grant a licence to screen the movie in theatres.
Chris Evans, who voiced Buzz Lightyear in this prequel, labelled such objections as “frustrating”.
It’s great that we are a part of something that’s making steps forward in the social inclusion capacity.
But it’s frustrating that there are still places that aren’t where they should be.
He also told Variety magazine that he was frustrated that news coverage of the movie would be focused on such an issue :
It’s tough to not be a little frustrated that it even has to be a topic of discussion. That it is this kind of ‘news.’
The goal is that we can get to a point where it is the norm, and that this doesn’t have to be some uncharted waters, that eventually this is just the way it is.
Taika Waititi, who voices the character of Mo Morrison in the film, added :
We’re hoping for a time when we don’t even have to have this conversation. We can watch a movie and we don’t even have to bat an eyelid.
We don’t have to think ‘Oh wow, weird’. It’s not weird, it’s normal and it should be normalised.
Whenever you have these small steps that studios are making – sometimes they may feel small but also, they are steps – and it’s steps towards normalising humanity and love. I really feel sorry for countries who don’t want this film because of a tiny, weird little thing like that
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Chipmakers worldwide are bracing for a noble gas shortage, after Russia cut supplies! Here is what you need to know…
Chipmakers Brace For Noble Gas Shortage, After Russia Cut Supply!
On June 2, 2022, the Russian government issued a decree stating that export of noble gases will be subject to Moscow’s approval until December 31, based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
This effectively cuts or limits the export of critical noble gases to “unfriendly” countries, and was a direct response to the fifth round of sanctions imposed by the European Union in April.
Russia and Ukraine were leading producers of noble gases since the days of the Soviet Union, and jointly supplied about 30% of the chipmaking industry’s supply of neon gas.
Both countries were closely intertwined in their noble gas supply to the world. Russia produced raw neon gas as a byproduct of its steelworks, and sent it to Ukraine for purification. That ceased with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
How Badly Will Russia Noble Gas Cut Affect Chipmakers?
Noble gases like neon, argon, xenon and helium are critical in the production of microelectronics that power everything from computers to smartphones and cars.
Neon, in particular, plays a critical role in the optical lithographic process used to etch patterns on silicon wafers, creating circuits in semiconductor chips.
The state-of-the-art excimer pulsed laser used to create semiconductors, for example, requires an argon-fluorine-neon mixture, up to 95% of which is made up of exceptionally pure neon gas.
That’s why about 70% of the world’s supply of neon gas (about 540,000 tonnes) is used by the semiconductor industry.
Fortunately, Russia’s decision to cut noble gas supplies may have less impact that they assumed, because chipmakers prepared for such an eventuality.
The semiconductor industry used to rely on Ukraine and Russia for about 80% to 90% of their neon gas supply, but they started diversifying their noble gas supplies after Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.
Over the last 7-8 years, they managed to cut down their dependence on Ukraine and Russia to about 30%. And the industry generally maintains gas reserves that would last 3-6 months.
China is the main beneficiary of reduced noble gas supply from Russia. Since the war started, Chinese noble gas producers said that their daily order enquiries have jumped 5X to 6X.
For now, the semiconductor industry does not need to reduce production, but the reduced market supply will mean noble gas prices will remain elevated for some time to come.
Needless to say – this will increase the cost of semiconductors, the cost of which will be passed onto consumers.
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Leaked audio from internal TikTok meetings show that private user data has been repeatedly accessed from China!
Here is what you need to know…
Privacy Promise By TikTok : Overseas Data Stored In US + Singapore
For many years now, TikTok has repeatedly assured users that all data collected from users outside of China, stays out of China and is thus, not accessible to anyone in China.
To ensure that the Chinese government has no access to the data, one of the measures they took was to store all data collected overseas in servers located in the United States, with backups in Singapore.
This was explicitly stated in their New Privacy Policy :
We store the information described in the “ What Information We Collect ” section in servers located in the United States and Singapore.
Most people may not realise this, but they also added a caveat right after that, stating that their Corporate Group (in China) may remotely access the data…
When entities in our Corporate Group need information to help us provide the Platform, they remotely access the information pursuant to authorised and secure access controls.
TikTok Leak : China Repeatedly Accessed Private User Data!
Buzzfeed News recently received audio recordings from more than eighty (80) internal TikTok meetings, in which employees admitted that engineers in China accessed private user data.
This was despite a TikTok executive’s sworn testimony at an October 2021 US Senate hearing at the same time period, that a “world-renowned, US-based security team” decides who gets access to the private user data.
Instead, the leaked audio revealed that US staff did not have permission or knowledge of how to access the data. Rather, it was their colleagues in China who determined how and who accessed the private user data.
The leaked tapes ultimately show that TikTok may have misled lawmakers, users, and the public by downplaying the fact that their private data is readily accessible by employees in China, and potentially, the Chinese government.
Everything Is Seen In China
Eight different employees stated in nine statements that they had to refer to their colleagues in China to make those decisions.
“Everything is seen in China“, said a member of TikTok’s Trust and Safety department in a September 2021 meeting.
In another September 2021 meeting, a TikTok director referred to a Beijing-based engineer as a “Master Admin” who “has access to everything“.
There’s Some Backdoor To Access User Data…
Fourteen of the leaked audio recordings were with, or about, a team of Booz Allen Hamilton consultants that TikTok brought in to investigate how data flows through TikTok and ByteDance’s internal tools.
In September 2021, one Booz Allen Hamilton consultant told colleagues that the tools felt like they had backdoors to access user data :
I feel like with these tools, there’s some backdoor to access user data in almost all of them, which is exhausting.
Oracle Only Providing Storage For Project Texas
TikTok has been working on what they call Project Texas – securely storing overseas data in Oracle cloud servers to comply with CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States).
Project Texas is limited to protecting the private information of US users, like phone numbers and birthdays – details that are not publicly visible, or have been set to private.
Such data will be stored at an Oracle datacenter in Texas – hence the name, and would only be accessible to specific US-based TikTok employees.
However, TikTok’s head of global cyber and data defense made clear that Oracle was only providing the data storage space for Project Texas. Ultimately, TikTok would be setting up the servers, and controlling everything.
It’s almost incorrect to call it Oracle Cloud, because they’re just giving us bare metal, and then we’re building our VMs [virtual machines] on top of it.
Unique IDs Not Protected Information
In one of the leaked audio recordings from a January 2022 meeting, TikTok’s head of product and user operations announced with a laugh that the Unique ID (UID) will not be amongst the protected content under the CFIUS agreement.
The conversation continues to evolve. We recently found out that UIDs are things we can have access to, which changes the game a bit.
Other Data Not Stored On Oracle Servers
The problem with Project Texas is that it only addresses US users… and only a small subset of their data.
Everything else – including private user data from non-US countries – will stay in their US and Singapore servers that remain accessible to ByteDance’s Beijing offices.
Response By TikTok : 100% US Data Traffic Routed To Oracle
TikTok publicly announced on the same day – June 17, 2022, that it changed the “default storage location of US user data“, and that “100% of US user traffic is being routed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure“.
Although they “expect” to fully pivot to Oracle cloud servers located in the US, they will continue to use their existing US and Singapore servers for backup, and delete US users’ private data over time.
While this may address some of the privacy concerns for US users, it does not address the other privacy concerns revealed in the leaked audio recordings… or the privacy concerns of non-US users.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The Disney-Pixar movie, Lightyear, has been banned in 14 countries, and quite possibly China too!
Here is what we know so far…
Lightyear Movie Banned In 14 Countries + Maybe China Too!
Lightyear – the long-awaited animated feature film from Disney-Pixar – has reportedly been banned in 14 Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
The ban started in the UAE, whose Media Regulatory Office of the Ministry of Youth and Culture announced on 13 June 2022 that :
The Media Regulatory Office announced that the animated film Lightyear, which is scheduled for release on 16th June, is not licensed for public screening in all cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the country’s media content standards.
A Variety report claimed that the UAE initially approved Lightyear for release, but revoked the licence after social media posts accused the movie of insulting Muslims and Islam.
That ban was then followed by other countries. The current list includes, but is not limited to :
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
Indonesia
Malaysia
Singapore
Lebanon
Oman
Qatar
Kuwait
Bahrain
Although not confirmed yet, it is very likely that Lightyear will also not be allowed to screen in China.
Lightyear producer, Galyn Susman, said that Chinese authorities “asked for cuts”, which Disney declined to make. So she assumed that the movie would not be allowed to screen there either.
I’m assuming it will not make it to China. I know we’ve gotten requests for things to cut, Disney isn’t going to modify the material.
We’re not going to cut out anything, especially something as important as the loving and inspirational relationship that shows Buzz what he’s missing by the choices that he’s making, so that’s not getting cut
Why Lightyear Was Banned In Those Countries…
In Lightyear, the character of Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) shares a brief kiss with her same-sex partner.
That’s it – a little kiss between two fictional characters. Unfortunately, it was a kiss too far for those countries.
Normally, Disney would quietly cut such a “controversial” scene from the movie to comply with “local sensibilities”, since it doesn’t affect the plot.
However, Pixar employees had earlier penned a letter complaining that Disney corporate executives were censoring “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection” in their projects.
We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were.
Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.
Disney caved to the pressure, and decided not to censor the kiss from Lightyear. And so, all those countries refused to grant a licence to screen the movie in theatres.
Chris Evans, who voiced Buzz Lightyear in this prequel, labelled such objections as “frustrating”.
It’s great that we are a part of something that’s making steps forward in the social inclusion capacity.
But it’s frustrating that there are still places that aren’t where they should be.
He also told Variety magazine that he was frustrated that news coverage of the movie would be focused on such an issue :
It’s tough to not be a little frustrated that it even has to be a topic of discussion. That it is this kind of ‘news.’
The goal is that we can get to a point where it is the norm, and that this doesn’t have to be some uncharted waters, that eventually this is just the way it is.
Taika Waititi, who voices the character of Mo Morrison in the film, added :
We’re hoping for a time when we don’t even have to have this conversation. We can watch a movie and we don’t even have to bat an eyelid.
We don’t have to think ‘Oh wow, weird’. It’s not weird, it’s normal and it should be normalised.
Whenever you have these small steps that studios are making – sometimes they may feel small but also, they are steps – and it’s steps towards normalising humanity and love. I really feel sorry for countries who don’t want this film because of a tiny, weird little thing like that
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Russia just prove that US biolabs in Ukraine created the COVID-19 virus?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : US Biolabs In Ukraine Created COVID-19 Virus!
People are sharing this message on WhatsApp, claiming that Russia has proven that US biolabs in Ukraine created the COVID-19 virus!
It’s rather long, and we removed the links, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
America and Ukraine must pay for damages & life lost for the creation of Covid19 pandemic
Russia is presenting its case to the world on the U.S. Biolabs in Ukraine— along with China, Brazil, Mexico & India, calling for an immediate investigation. U.S. DS is in a panic state, denying it & does not want an investigation.
The DS U.S. doesn’t want an investigation. 3.2 BILLION people in China, India, Brazil, Mexico & Russia — nearly half of the world’s population are calling for an investigation into the U.S. for bioweapon facilities. UN, US, Nato will be found guilty of these crimes. BIG CHANGES are happening. These entities will be dissolved.
WHO is demanding DS Ukraine to destroy the bio lab evidence because they are also complicit. It’s ALL CONNECTED.
Russians Call for UN Security Council Meeting Over Pentagon-funded Ukraine Biolabs That Involved ‘Coronavirus’ Research
WHO warns Ukraine to destroy dangerous pathogens to prevent spills from bombed labs.
Documents Expose Barack Obama Ordered Construction Of Biolabs In Ukraine To Create Dangerous Pathogens.
US RAN GRUESOME BIOWEAPON RESEARCH IN OVER 25 COUNTRIES.
US BIOLABS IN UKRAINE CONFIRMED.
Hunter Biden Firm Rosemont Seneca Invested in Firm Tied to Ukrainian Biolabs.
CCS’s comments: The world will definitely have to hold the American bastards totally n unreservedly responsible for their sinister n evil inhumane acts which they do to mankind.
The United Nation is formed and controlled by US for their sole n only purpose and not for the well being of the world. UN does not serve any purposes for the human race at all.
Truth : US Biolabs In Ukraine Did NOT Create COVID-19 Virus!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and promoted by pro-Russian and pro-CCP netizens, including the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
It is really a hodgepodge of different false claims that try to shift the blame for the COVID-19 pandemic from China to the United States, while offering Russia a “legitimate reason” to invade Ukraine.
Fact #1 : UN Members Did Not Call For Investigation
On 11 March 2022, Russia accused the US and Ukraine of plotting to use migratory birds, bats and insects to spread pathogens across Europe.
The Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, however, provided no actual evidence to back up those claims.
The fake news falsely claimed that China, Brazil, Mexico and India called for an immediate investigation. Only China called for “clarification” by the US and Ukraine, in an attempt to support Russia’s claims.
The UN High Representative for Disarmament, Izumi Nakamitsu, said that the United Nations was “not aware of any biological weapons programme” in Ukraine.
The UN Security Council certainly did not call for any investigation. In fact, many UN members publicly said that they are worried that it was a pretext for Russia to use its own biological / chemical weapons.
Fact #2 :US Does Not Have Biological Labs In Ukraine
Igor Kirillov, the Chief of the Russian Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Force, claimed that the US has 30 biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine.
The truth is – they are Ukrainian biological laboratories, some of which receive financial and other support from the US, the European Union and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This is not unique to Ukraine – biological labs in many countries receive similar support from the US, EU and the WHO.
Fact #3 : Biological Labs Are Essential To All Countries
Biological labs do not conduct biological warfare research, because that is banned in 183 countries under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).
Instead, they are on the forefront of a country’s biosecurity defences, and are absolutely essential in developing tests and cures (including vaccines) for new and emerging diseases, like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
In fact, both Russia and China have a number of biological labs, including the famous Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is located right at the epicentre of the first COVID-19 outbreak.
It would be hypocritical (and intentionally?) misleading for both Russia and China to demonise biological labs. After all, they are ESSENTIAL to every country’s national security, including their own.
Fact #4 :Biological Threat Reduction Program Is Designed To Reduce Threats
Igor Kirillov’s “evidence” of US biological warfare program in Ukraine centred around the “Biological Threat Reduction” program.
Just in case the name isn’t descriptive enough, the Biological Threat Reduction Program is a US Department of Defense initiative to counter the threat of infectious diseases, whether they are deliberate, accidental or natural.
The program aims to counter biological threats in a partner country, at the source, before the threat can reach the homeland of impact U.S. Armed Forces or allies.
The program also prevents proliferation by cooperating with partner countries to eliminate their biological weapons, associated materials, and production facilities.
In other words, the bioweapon programme that Kirillov was ranting about is designed to identify and prevent or mitigate threats from biological weapons, as well as natural diseases.
I should also point out that whatever Kirillov mentioned was already publicly stated on the US Embassy in Ukraine’s website.
Fact #5 :US Biological Threat Reduction Program Started In Russia
The US Biological Threat Reduction Program actually started in Russia in 1998.
Russia was the program’s original partner country, and the Program spent the first ten years working with former Soviet Union partner countries.
The Russians are fully aware of what the US Biological Threat Reduction Program is all about, so their claims are outright, shameless lies.
This is even more egregious when they personally benefited from the Program for so many years, at the US government’s expense.
Fact #6 :WHO Warned Ukraine About Risk From Russian Bombing
All biological labs have to work with pathogens, which are by nature, dangerous. That is their purpose. A biological lab without pathogens would be like an airport without airplanes.
It is only logical for the WHO to remind Ukraine that they should destroy their samples of pathogens at their biological labs, after Russia invaded them.
Russian bombing could inadvertently or intentionally “free” those pathogens from their laboratory storage facilities, and disperse them into the nearby area.
Not only would that be dangerous for the nearby population, it could serve as a pretext for Russia to use its own biological or chemical weapons to “retaliate”.
Fact #7 :COVID-19 Pandemic Originated In China
China has repeatedly tried to “tai-chi” (shift) the blame for the COVID-19 pandemic to other countries, like the United States, and more recently – Ukraine.
But the truth is – the COVID-19 virus originated in Wuhan, China. The first cases were reported there, not in the United States or in Ukraine.
If the SARS-CoV-2 virus was created in Fort Detrick or the Azovstal laboratory, the cities of Maryland or Mariupol would have been the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, not Wuhan.
Genomic analyses of COVID-19 variants also proved that SARS-CoV-2 did indeed originate in China.
This does not mean China should be blamed for COVID-19. It only means that it is wrong for the Chinese to repeatedly blame other countries for the virus.
This FAKE NEWS is being shared by pro-Russia and pro-CCP netizens.
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A Chinese J-16 fighter jet not only buzzed an Australian P-8 recon plane, it fired flares and chaff that entered one of its engines!
Chinese J-16 Fighter Fired Flares, Chaff At Australian Plane!
On 5 June 2022, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles announced that a Chinese J-16 fighter jet put the crew of an Australian P-8 reconnaissance plane at risk during a recent mid-air intercept on 26 May.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8 Poseidon was in the South China Sea conducting “routine maritime surveillance” activities in international waters when it was intercepted by a Chinese Shenyang J-16 fighter.
This time though, the J-16 pilot recklessly cut across the Australian recon plane’s flight path at close proximity, and fired flares and chaff.
Some of the chaff – usually aluminium foil or aluminium-coated glass fibres – were ingested by one of the Australian P-8 aircraft’s engines, potentially damaging it.
This was apparently done to forcibly end the recon aircraft’s patrol. Any potential damage to one of the engines would force the crew to return to base, even though the Boeing P-8 Poseidon can operate on a single engine.
What occurred was that the J-16 aircraft flew very close to the side of the P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft. In flying close to the side, it released flares.
The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at a very close distance.
At that moment it then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminum, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft. Quite obviously, this is very dangerous.
The Australian Defense Ministry described the incident as “a dangerous maneuver which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew”.
Chinese Justified J-16 Firing Flares, Chaff At Australian P-8…
In a statement released on 7 June 2022, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei justified the J-16’s dangerous intercept by accusing the Australian P-8 aircraft of “approaching Chinese airspace” close to the Paracel Islands.
The Paracel Islands, which the Chinese call “Xisha Islands”, is a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.
While the Vietnamese were in control of the Paracel Islands since 1947, they were taken over by China after the Battle of the Paracel Islands in January 1974.
He also claimed that the Chinese pilot behaved in a “professional, safe, reasonable and lawful way“.
On May 26, an Australian P-8 anti-submarine patrol aircraft conducted close reconnaissance in the neighboring airspace of China’s Xisha Islands and approached the airspace continuously despite repeated warnings from the Chinese side.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command mobilized naval and air forces to identify the craft and warned it off.
The Chinese military responded in a professional, safe, reasonable and lawful way.
Militaries from other countries should take note of what the Chinese government considers as “professional, safe, reasonable and lawful” conduct, and return the favour.
Perhaps once a Chinese jet or two have ingested chaff into their engines, they will reconsider such “professional, safe, reasonable and lawful” intercepts.
This was also the second time in the same week Chinese aircraft have aggressively intercepted reconnaissance aircraft from other countries.
Just a day earlier, the Canadian government revealed that Chinese fighters repeatedly “buzzed” Canadian CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft that were monitoring North Korea to enforce United Nations sanctions under Operation NEON.
The Chinese fighters flew so close, their pilots were “very clearly visible”, and the Canadian aircrews had to change course to avoid collisions. Canadian Armed Forces media relations chief Dan Le Bouthillie said :
In these interactions, PLAAF (People’s Liberation Army Air Force) aircraft did not adhere to international air safety norm.
These interactions are unprofessional and/or put the safety of our RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) personnel at risk.
The Chinese naturally claimed that their national security was endangered by the Canadian aircraft’s monitoring of a completely different country… Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said :
Recently, under the pretext of enforcing UN Security Council resolutions, Canadian warplanes have intensified close-in reconnaissance of China and acted provocatively, endangering Chinese national security and the safety of frontline personnel from both sides.
China urges Canada to face up to the seriousness of the situation, strictly control its frontline troops, and stop taking any risky and provocative actions; otherwise, Canada will have to take all responsibilities for any serious consequences from such actions.
In short, it’s never China’s fault, and everyone is always provoking them. Tut tut….
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Classified details of China’s DTC10-125 anti-tank sabot round just leaked in a game forum!
Find out what happened, and what secrets were actually leaked on the DTC10-125 sabot round!
China’s DTC10-125 Anti-Tank Ammo Leaked In Game Forum!
Fans of War Thunder are always arguing about the tanks and their weapons in that free-to-play combat vehicle simulator game.
To prove a point in a recent argument, one of them posted a picture of a classified Chinese document together with a tungsten penetrator from China’s DTC10-125 anti-tank ammunition.
The forum moderators quickly removed the post, but it was too late. As they say – the Internet never forgets.
In this screenshot, you can see part of the tungsten penetrator sitting on top of an official specification sheet for the DTC10-125 anti-tank sabot round used in China’s main battle tanks.
While some websites call this a sabot, that is not correct. That is the tungsten kinetic energy penetrator that actually hits the target.
The sabot (French for wooden shoe) is a lightweight multi-part structure that attaches to the grooves on this tungsten penetrator to fit the gun’s barrel. Without the sabot, the propelling gas would just blow past the much thinner penetrator.
The sabot drives the penetrator down the barrel and detaches on exiting the barrel, leaving the dart-like penetrator to continue to the target.
This isn’t the first time War Thunder fans leaked classified information. In July 2021, a gamer who identified himself as a UK tank commander posted excerpts from the Challenger 2 tank’s Army Equipment Support Publication (AESP).
Then in October 2021, a French army tank crewman posted a portion of the Leclerc S2 main battle tank’s classified manual, to prove that its real turret rotation speed is slower than in the game (9 seconds):
It took about 11 seconds for the turret to complete a complete rotation, so 550mil/s (31°) is correct instead of 40°.
What Does Leaked DTC10-125 Anti-Tank Ammo Document Say?
Here is a rough translation of what the document says, which I refined with help from Chai and Yuh Hui. Thank you!
Product Manual
Product Name : DTC10 Type 125 mm armour-piercing projectile
Compatible Tanks : ZTZ96, ZTZ96A, ZTZ99, ZTZ99A
Key Specifications:
Muzzle velocity (+15°C) : 1760m/s
Accuracy? (+15°C, median error) : Height X Direction ≤0.25m x 0.25m (Average of three groups at room temperature)
Armour Penetration : normal temperature (+15°C), at 2000 metres, 220mm at 71.12° (Equivalent to 680mm at 0°)
Design : The schematic diagram of the whole projectile structure is shown in Figure 1, and the schematic diagram of the projectile structure is shown in Figure 2.
China’s DTC10-125 Anti-Tank Ammo : What We Know So Far
The DTC10-125 is a 125 mm armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) projectile, used in Chinese Type 99 (ZTZ99) and Type 96 (ZTZ96) tanks.
Unlike NATO tank ammunition (which comes in one piece), the DTC10-125 comes in two pieces. The projectile is loaded into the ZPT-98 gun, followed by a separate propellant charge.
This may seem tedious, but the ZPT-98 smoothbore gun is loaded by a carousel-style autoloader, which can be filled with up to 22 rounds.
The autoloader allows for rapid firing of up to 8 rounds per minute. Manual loading is much slower at just 2 rounds per minute.
The Chinese ZPT-98 gun is based on the Ukrainian 2A46M tank gun, which is 10% lighter than the original Soviet 2A46 gun.
Even before this leaked document in the War Thunder game forum, some of the DTC10-125 ammo’s performance characteristics were known through the US TRADOC and a Norinco internal document.
It features an all-tungsten penetrator with a tungsten carbide core towards the tip, with new Taigen (太根) propellant offering a higher chamber pressure, with a higher muzzle velocity of 1760 metres per second.
The DTC10-125 is said to be capable of penetrating 960 mm of rolled homogenous armour (RHA) at 1,000 metres, and 700 mm RHA at 2,000 metres.
Chinese netizens, however, recently posted this screenshot of a CCTV news report, which claims that ZTZ99A tank is capable of defeating 680 mm RHA at 1,800 metres using DTC10-125 round.
The leaked Chinese document appears to confirm the earlier assessment – the DTC10-125 penetrator is rated to penetrate 220 mm RHA at 71.12° angle, which is equivalent to 680 mm RHA at 2,000 metres.
This makes it significantly better than the previous DTW-125 round, which delivers a muzzle velocity of 1650 metres per second, and is rated to penetrate about 600 mm RHA at 2,000 metres.
The lower penetration reported by CCTV may be intentionally meant to obfuscate the DTC10-125 ammunition’s real capabilities to foreign observers.
On top of that, the DTC10-125 ammunition is compatible with older autoloaders designed for the 2A46 gun, and can thus be used in older Soviet-era tanks like the T-72, offering them better anti-tank penetration without modification.
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Apple has gotten so exasperated that they shifted some iPad production out of China for the first time!
Here is what we know so far…
Exasperated Apple Shifts Some iPad Production Out Of China!
Apple has reportedly shifted some of its iPad production out of China, over the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Shanghai.
Strict lockdowns in and around Shanghai after a surge in COVID-19 cases have led to months of supply chain disruptions for Apple, even though their factories operated in a closed loop.
Apple built production lines in Vietnam with the help of China’s BYD, and will “soon start to produce” some iPads there.
Apple had asked Foxconn to move iPad and MacBook Pro production from China to Vietnam in 2020, with plans to manufacture a significant proportion of iPads there. However, a COVID-19 surge in 2021 delayed those plans.
Even though China has started to lift their Zero COVID restrictions in Shanghai, Apple is unlikely to reverse these plans to shift production to Vietnam.
This will be the second major production line to shift to Vietnam. Apple shifted almost 30% of AirPods production to Vietnam in the second quarter of 2020.
Apple Also Asked Suppliers To Build Up Inventories
Apple also asked multiple component suppliers to build up their inventories, to prevent supply chain disruptions from affecting production.
One of the people with direct knowledge of this issue said :
For example, component supplier X has a 40% share of Apple’s business in Jiangsu Province, which is a risky region of supply chain disruption, and supplier Y in another city accounts for the remaining 60% share.
Apple would want supplier Y to build enough additional components to match supplier X’s 40% share in the coming months in case production in Jiangsu is shut down again.
If China continues with its Zero COVID policy, it is likely that Apple and other companies will seriously look at shifting more of their production to other countries.
Supplies of electronics from China’s factories have been severely impacted by their strict COVID-19 lockdowns, even though some factories are allowed to use a closed loop system.
There is also worker welfare to consider – there is only so much they can tolerate the closed loop system, where workers are restricted to factory campuses for weeks on end.
In early May, workers at the Quanta factory producing MacBook laptops in Shanghai rioted over the closed loop system, and fled the factory.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Are 70 countries around the world preparing to sue China for COVID-19 vaccine deaths?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : 70 Countries Are Preparing To Sue China For Vaccine Deaths!
This message is going viral on WhatsApp and Twitter, claiming that 70 countries around the world are preparing to sue China for COVID-19 vaccine deaths.
Miles Guo
💥Due to the vaccine-related death, around 70 countries are preparing to sue China in the International Arbitration Court, if US ceases the vaccine mandate, China may have to pay 600 trill USD for all the vaccine-related mortality🤢they work for another 10,000 years!
The message is often linked to the source of that claim – this Gnews article :
On May 29th in a livestream, Miles Guo revealed that currently at least 70 countries that have adopted Communist China’s vaccines are preparing to sue the Chinese Communist Party – CCP for vaccine-related deaths. These countries are requesting an independent arbitration in the International Arbitration Court in UK London.
He said for sure the CCP won’t show up in the court, which would lead to a unilateral arbitration directly, and in that case, it’s almost 100% sure that the court would find CCP liable for the vaccine related deaths, which might bring up to approximately 600 trillion USD for a compensation, and that is an astronomical amount for the Chinese deplorables (Lao Baixing) to pay.
Truth : 70 Countries Are Not Preparing To Sue China For Vaccine Deaths!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by G News, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : No Country Is Preparing To Sue China For Vaccine Deaths
Despite what Miles Guo may claim, there is no country that is planning to sue the Chinese Communist Party for deaths related to Chinese vaccines.
Fact #2 : There Is No International Arbitration Court
There is no international body called the International Arbitration Court. The two major courts that deal with disputes between countries are :
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which is a non-UN intergovernmental organisation.
Neither the ICJ nor the PCA are based in London, the United Kingdom. They are both based in The Hague, Netherlands.
There is a London Court of International Arbitration, but that is a British private company offers dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation. Hardly a proper channel to “sue” China, isn’t it?
Fact #3 : G-Times News Is Infamous For Fake News
This fake story was created by G-Times News (also known as GNews or G News), a website owned by Guo Media.
Guo Media is a company associated with Guo Wengui (also known as Miles Guo), an exiled Chinese businessman, and Steve Bannon – both of whom are infamous for creating and spreading misinformation.
Naturally, both Guo and Bannon are often featured in G News coverage. It doesn’t make them prescient, just pretentious.
Just like the time G-Times News claimed that Pfizer delisted itself on the Nasdaq and NYSE!
They were not very efficacious even against the ancestral COVID-19 virus, but they offered very good protection against severe disease and death, as this table shows.
Their efficacy against COVID-19 variants like Delta and Omicron were much poorer to be sure. But we have to acknowledge that these Chinese vaccines still saved lives.
The Chinese COVID-19 vaccines were developed and produced by various Chinese pharmaceutical companies, not the Chinese Communist Party.
So it would be really absurd to sue the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), or the country of China, for the poor efficacy of vaccines produced by Chinese companies.
Only fake news creators and conspiracy theorists can come up with such ridiculous claims, and expect to be taken seriously.
I hope you found this fact check article useful. Please help us fight fake news by sharing it out!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Are Japan, South Korea and China going to ban microwave ovens because they emit unhealthy radiation?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Japan, Korea + China Are Going To Ban Microwave Ovens!
People are sharing this message on WhatsApp, which claims that Japan, South Korea and China are going to ban microwave ovens because they emit “unhealthy vibrations and radiation”!
End of Microwave industry!!!!! Japan govt has decided to high dispose of all the Microwave Ovens in the country before this year end.
Reason for this ban: University of Hiroshima’s scientists researched and found that “radio waves” from microwave ovens cause greater harm to health over the last 20 yrs, than the US atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Sep 1945.
Experts found that food heated in microwave ovens has very unhealthy vibrations and radiation.
All the factories of “microwave ovens” in Japan are being closed.
S Korea announced plans to close all “microwave ovens” factories by 2021, and China by 2023.
Truth : Japan, Korea + China Are Not Going To Ban Microwave Ovens!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : This Hoax Started As Satire
This fake story started as a “satirical article” by the Russian “satire” website IA Panorama, with the title “Япония окончательно откажется от СВЧ-печей к 2020 году“, which translates as “Japan will finally abandon microwave ovens by 2020”
Like other “satire” websites, IA Panorama creates outlandish stories that are designed to go viral. To avoid the “fake news” label, they put a disclaimer at the bottom of their article :
All texts on this website are grotesque parodies of reality, and are not real news.
Fact #2 : It Gets Recycled Every Year
This fake story gets recycled and shared on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. every year, with the date and some minor details changed.
The original Russian story only said that Japan was going to ban microwave ovens. In the 2022 edition, that was expanded to include South Korea and China.
Fact #3 : Microwave Ovens Are Not Getting Banned
To be clear – microwave ovens are not getting banned. Not in Japan, not in South Korea, not in China, or anywhere else in the world.
In fact, China and Japan are the second and third biggest markets for microwave ovens in 2022!
Fact #4 : Microwave Ovens Do Not Make Food Radioactive
Microwave ovens work by generating electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range, that excites polar molecules in the food.
This dielectric heating produces thermal energy in a quick and efficient manner, albeit limited to the outer 25-33 mm of the food item.
It does not turn the food radioactive, because the microwave energy is converted into heat as it is absorbed by the food.
Fact #5 : Microwave Radiation Does Not Cause Cancer
The radiation produced by microwave ovens is non-ionising, like radio waves and visible light. The only non-ionising radiation that causes cancer is UV light.
It is unlike ionising radiation like x-rays, alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays, which are high-energy radiation that can change atoms by knocking off their electrons, thereby “ionising” them.
Even if you are exposed to microwave radiation, you won’t develop cancer. However, the microwave radiation will convert into heat when absorbed by your skin.
Fact #6 : Microwave Ovens Are Shielded
The microwave oven is designed to be a partial Faraday cage on five of its six sides, with a Faraday shield (the wire mesh) on its transparent window.
This keeps the microwave energy it produces within the oven, and protects the user from getting “cooked” as well.
If you have seen a Faraday cage demonstration at science shows (like this example below), it’s literally the same thing, just in reverse.
Fact #7 : Microwaved Food Is Safe
Food cooked or heated by microwave ovens are safe to eat. In fact, using the microwave to cook is a healthier alternative to frying or barbecuing foods.
That said, you need to use “microwave safe” wares. If you use plastic containers that are not microwave safe, they could not only melt, they can leach dangerous chemicals into the food.
So the danger lies not in the “nuking” of your food, but in the container you use to “nuke” your food.
Fact #8 : Microwave Ovens Are Efficient
Microwave ovens are very efficient at cooking foods, saving both electricity and time. The fast cooking time also has the advantage of preserving the food’s nutrients.
Microwaving foods do require some preparation though, as the microwaves can only penetrate the outer 25-33 mm of the food item, and will be reflected by aluminium foil, metal utensils or containers, etc.
I hope you found this fact check article useful. Please help us fight fake news by sharing it out!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung Display will finally shut down its LCD business in June, closing a chapter in its history!
Here is what we know so far…
Samsung Display To Finally Shut Down LCD Business!
Samsung Display originally sought to close its LCD business in 2020, even selling its LCD plant in Suzhou to CSOT, a Chinese company owned by the TCL conglomerate.
Their original 2020 plan to shut down their LCD business was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a surge in LCD prices. Samsung decided to continue their business, until end of 2022. However, LCD prices have fallen rapidly recently, with price pressure from Chinese and Taiwanese rivals.
Its parent company, Samsung Electronics, was their largest buyer; but even it has agreed to purchase displays from Chinese and Taiwanese companies like BOE Technology Group and AU Optronics Corps.
Samsung Display To Finally Shut Down LCD Business!
In light of such challenging market conditions, Samsung Display decided to close its LCD business six months earlier.
From June 2022 onwards, Samsung Display will stop producing LCD panels used for large TV screens, and focus instead on manufacturing OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) and Quantum Dot displays.
Employees from its LCD display business are expected to be transferred to its Quantum Dot display business.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is the current monkeypox outbreak from a lab strain made in Ukraine?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Monkeypox Outbreak Is From Lab Strain Made In Ukraine!
People are sharing tweets by a Dr. Benjamin Braddock who claimed that the 2022 monkeypox outbreak is from a “third lab strain” made by the US in Ukraine!
ECDC source tells me that the preliminary analysis of monkeypox indicates that it is “a third lab strain with unknown characteristics” and that there is chatter about this being somehow related to Moscow’s charges against U.S. biological activities in Ukraine.
A Russian-Chinese joint task force has been tasked with establishing: where it originated, whether it is detectable in research conducted by the US in Ukraine, Georgia; whether there is a link to biological research conducted by the US on smallpox in Ukraine.
Main ECDC focus right now is on buying up as much of BN’s vaccine as possible. “They’re buying before they know whether it is even effective against this strain of monkeypox. I wouldn’t be surprised if they skipped testing it’s efficacy altogether.”
Truth : Monkeypox Outbreak Is Not From Lab Strain Made In Ukraine!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS being created and shared by people on social media, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : There Is No Third Lab Strain
The monkeypox virus has two clades, based on where they were commonly found – Congo Basin (Central Africa), and West Africa.
There is no such thing as a third lab strain or species or clade of the monkeypox virus.
Fact #2 : Strain Is A Subset Of Species
While it is impossible to prove what does not exist (Bertrand Russell’s teapot analogy), the claim that there is “a third lab strain” shows that the person creating the fake news does not know the difference between strain, species and clade.
In virology, a clade is technically a group of species that arose from a common ancestor, of which each species may give rise to different strains (sub-species).
Credit : Galaxy Advanced Microbial Diagnostics
If there is a new strain, it would not have been called “a third lab strain”. It would have just been called a new strain.
The introduction of the word “third” implies that the fake news creator believes that clade = strain, which is completely false.
Obviously, the fake news creator does not know much about virology, and is very unlikely to be working at the ECDC.
Fact #3 : 2022 Monkeypox Outbreak From West African Clade
Neither the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC) or other health authorities like the US CDC has announced the discovery of a new strain or clade of the monkeypox virus.
In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated on 21 May 2022, that all cases in the 2022 monkeypox outbreaks have been confirmed to involve the “West African clade“.
Fact #4 : No Evidence Current Virus Was Lab Made
Again, it is impossible to prove what does not exist – that the current monkeypox virus was not made in the lab. However, all the evidence points to a natural source of this virus.
Not only is the 2022 monkeypox virus is from an existing clade, genomic sequencing also indicated that this current virus was a close match of the monkeypox virus that were “exported” from Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Israel and Singapore in 2018 and 2019.
In other words – all of the evidence so far point us to a natural variant of an existing monkeypox virus that had already caused several outbreaks in the past.
Fact #5 : US Does Not Have Biological Labs In Ukraine
Braddock is repeating the oft-debunked false claim that the US has biological labs in Ukraine.
The truth is – they are Ukrainian biological laboratories, some of which receive financial and other support from the US, the European Union and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This is not unique to Ukraine – biological labs in many countries receive similar support from the US, EU and the WHO.
Fact #6 : US Sponsored Biological Threat Reduction In Ukraine
US sponsorship of biological labs in former Soviet Union countries like Ukraine go back decades, and is centred around the Biological Threat Reduction Program.
As the name implies, the program aims to train and equip the partner nation to detect and prevent the threat of infectious diseases, whether they are deliberate, accidental or natural.
The program aims to counter biological threats in a partner country, at the source, before the threat can reach the homeland of impact U.S. Armed Forces or allies.
The program also prevents proliferation by cooperating with partner countries to eliminate their biological weapons, associated materials, and production facilities.
Fact #7 : Biological Labs Are Essential To All Countries
Biological labs do not conduct biological warfare research, because that is banned in 183 countries under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).
Instead, they are on the forefront of a country’s biosecurity defences, and are absolutely essential in developing tests and cures (including vaccines) for new and emerging diseases, like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
In fact, both Russia and China have a number of biological labs, including the famous Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is located right at the epicentre of the first COVID-19 outbreak.
It is therefore misleading for anyone to demonise biological labs. After all, they are ESSENTIAL to every country’s national security, including their own.
Braddock claimed that a Russian-Chinese task force was formed to find out where the monkeypox outbreaks originated, or whether it is “detectable in research conducted by the US in Ukraine / Georgia”.
Again, it is impossible to prove what does not exist, but we know that this is a false claim because :
Braddock offered no evidence for the formation of such a Russian-Chinese task force.
The 2022 monkeypox outbreak did not affect either Russia or China, so they have no access to any samples.
The US did not conduct any biological research in Ukraine or Georgia.
Smallpox is closely related to monkeypox, but is a completely different virus.
A Russian-Chinese joint task force has been tasked with establishing: where it originated, whether it is detectable in research conducted by the US in Ukraine, Georgia; whether there is a link to biological research conducted by the US on smallpox in Ukraine.
Fact #9 : JYNNEOS Was Tested Against Monkeypox
The monkeypox and smallpox viruses are so closely related that the smallpox vaccine has been used for years to protect against monkeypox and other orthopoxviruses.
The earlier ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine has been largely replaced by the JYNNEOS vaccine (also called Imvamune / Imvanex), which was proven to be at least 85% effective in preventing monkeypox.
In fact, it was licensed in 2019 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the prevention of both smallpox and monkeypox.
And again, the monkeypox virus causing the 2022 outbreak is a close match of the Western Africa clade monkeypox virus that caused the 2018 and 2019 outbreaks.
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Was Pfizer Executive Vice President Rady Johnson just arrested for concealing damaging data on their COVID-19 vaccine?!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Pfizer Vice President was arrested for vaccine scandal!
Pro-CCP netizens and groups are claiming that Pfizer Executive Vice President Rady Johnson was just arrested for concealing damaging data for their COVID-19 vaccine.
Here are two examples that were shared on WhatsApp.
由於 Rady 被捕，#pfizerdocuments 話題標籤已開始在 Twitter 上流行起來。多位名人現在呼籲逮捕輝瑞的其他員工。 Rady Johnson, the executive Vice President of Pfizer, has been arrested at his home and charged with multiple counts of fraud by federal agents. He was taken into custody and is awaiting a bail hearing. This comes as 1,000s of classified documents from Pfizer were released, showing the true risks of the experimental vaccine.
As a result of Rady’s arrest, the hashtag #pfizerdocuments has started trending on Twitter. Multiple celebrities are now calling for other employees at Pfizer to be arrested.
It is now confirmed that Pfizer’s Vice President is being arrested as this vaccine kills many..I already say almost daily that consume the strongly alkaline Negative Ion drinking water and let the features of the machine clear out the toxin and poison before it affects your organs and kill you…
If I post this on Facebook I will be BAN again as all we hear are lies and hiding the truth about the Risk after vaccination…
Read yourself ..Rady Johnson, the Executive Vice President of Pfizer, has been arrested at his home and charged with multiple counts of fraud by federal agents. He was taken into custody and is awaiting a bail hearing. This comes as 1,000s of classified documents from Pfizer were released, showing the true risks of the experimental vaccine.Since joining Pfizer in 1994, Rady held multiple high level positions in the company.
Rady previously lead the Regulatory Law practice group as well as the Corporate Regulatory and Healthcare Law Audit functions. Despite Rady’s high-level position at Pfizer, his ethics have fallen into question.Keean Bexte, an independent journalist formerly employed by Rebel News, pointed out how 1,223 people died within the first 28 days after taking the Pfizer jab.
There are reports that the vaccine killed all the animals during the trial. Many people are angry the vaccine was allowed onto the market despite all the risks.Keean Bexte, an independent journalist formerly employed by Rebel News, pointed out how 1,223 people died within the first 28 days after taking the Pfizer jab. There are reports that the vaccine killed all the animals during the trial. Many people are angry the vaccine was allowed onto the market despite all the risks.
Truth : Pfizer Vice President was not arrested for vaccine scandal!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS being propagated by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and here are the reasons why…
Rady Johnson was not arrested
His arrest would have been worldwide news, especially if it was related to the COVID-19 vaccine. Yet, no legitimate media outlet ever published any news about Rady Johnson being arrested for any reason.
Pfizer is also a public-listed company on the New York Stock Exchange, and they are required to announce his arrest publicly, and to investors.
Yet, not a single press outlet published this incredible story? That’s because IT NEVER HAPPENED…
Remember the fake story of how Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was arrested by the FBI for fraud? Or how the NYSE delisted Pfizer??
These fake stories circulated by the wumao are based on a Vancouver Times story, and both versions included a link to that article (which I removed).
Vancouver Times is a “content aggregator” (copy and paste) website that is known for creating fake news to generate more page views and money.
To look legitimate, they copy and paste news from legitimate news organisations. To drive traffic, they create fake news masked as satire.
They revealed their true nature in their About Us section, hidden at the very bottom of the page, after a long list of comments.
Vancouver Times is the most trusted source for satire on the West Coast. We write satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.
We are not affiliated with the mainstream media (CBC, CTV etc.) in any way, and any similarities between our content and the work of the MSM is purely coincidental.
Earlier, they also created and propagated the fake story that Gilbert Gottfried’s wife said that he was killed by the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s nonsense, of course.
The fake news builds upon the longstanding fake news that the Pfizer fought to conceal data from their COVID-19 vaccine trial.
The truth is – Pfizer submitted those documents at the end of 2020, to health authorities across the world like the US FDA, the European Medicines Agency, the Australian TGA, etc. for their approval.
Their Phase 3 results were also confirmed by ongoing pharmacovigilance data collected by each country’s health authority – their COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective.
In fact, the Pfizer trial data are being progressively released by the US FDA, despite the PHMPT’s false claim that they were trying to hide them for 75 years.
Why would wumao lie about Pfizer VP getting arrested?
This fake scandal appears to be part of the disinformation campaign conducted by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) and/or pro-CCP netizens.
The wumao have been actively targeting Western COVID-19 vaccines, particular the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine, since it was approved in December 2020.
Their disinformation campaign appears to be focused at maligning Western vaccines in favour of Chinese vaccines from Sinovac and Sinopharm, which have a hard time competing against far more efficacious vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, etc.
Fake news like this have helped promote the idea that Chinese vaccines are better, despite evidence to the contrary.
Please help us fight such malicious fake news – SHARE this fact check far and wide!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is the US conducting biological warfare experiments at their secret labs in South Korea?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : US Has Biological Warfare Labs In South Korea!
Official Chinese state media outlets like Xinhua, People’s Daily, China Daily, and their 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) are claiming that the US is conducting biological warfare experiments at their secret labs in South Korea.
Note : It’s a long post, so please feel free to skip to the next section for the facts…
China Daily Fri, Apr 15, 2022
US biolabs create fear in South Korea XINHUA
SEOUL — South Koreans are gripped with fear over the prospect that US biological weapons laboratories operated by the US Forces Korea, or USFK, will transform the country into Washington’s “overseas hub” for biological warfare experiments.
The United States has flouted international conventions by steadily advancing its germ warfare program in the country. It sees South Korea as a country “friendly” enough to let the US military test lethal toxins without institutional hurdles.
Enraged at the opaqueness of the US biological labs, civic groups and residents have taken to the streets to demand that the US military takes away its hazardous weapons.
The US military has secretly run its biological weapons program in South Korea since at least 2009. It became public in 2015 when live anthrax samples were sent from a US military lab through postal service FedEx to the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of the capital Seoul.
The USFK initially said it was the first time it experimented with deadly biological agents. But a joint panel investigation showed that the USFK brought in and tested dead anthrax samples 15 times at the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul between 2009 and 2014.
Article 9 of the South Korea-US Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, stipulates that a customs examination “shall not be made” in case of “military cargo consigned to the US armed forces”, according to a document posted by the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
Lee Jang-hie, an emeritus professor at the law school of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said the delivery of anthrax samples violated the Biological Weapons Convention, signed by over 180 nations, including South Korea and the US, to ban the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition or retention of biological agents or toxins.
Any violation of the 1975 convention requires an official investigation by the United Nations Security Council at the request of the country concerned.
“Lax regulations and the (South) Korean government’s reluctance to protest against it created an easy, favorable environment (for the US military) to carry out experiments with germs here,” Lee noted.
The US biological weapons program in South Korea has evolved over the past decade under the projects of the Joint USFK Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition, or Jupitr, and the Capabilities to Enable NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) Threat Awareness, Understanding and Response, or Centaur.
“Figuratively speaking, Jupitr installed in the central headquarters serves as the brain. The Centaur, which operates in each regional military unit, constitutes the hands and feet of Jupitr to detect and send biochemical samples to it,” said Woo Hee-jong, a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Seoul National University. Woo said the UN Security Council should launch an investigation into the biolabs.
Jeon Wi-bong, director of the Association to Push for Shutdown of US Biochemical Experiments in Busan Port Pier 8, told Xinhua News Agency that, despite the attention surrounding the 2015 live anthrax samples delivery, the USFK expanded biological labs into Busan Port’s Pier 8 in 2016.
A group of civic activists and citizens toured the country for a week through Sunday to spread awareness on the US biological weapons labs.
“A person in charge of US military biological labs said Korea is friendly to operate such labs. I got infuriated when I heard that because it belittles my country severely,” said Choi Won-seok, who joined the tour near Busan Port’s Pier 8.
Truth : US Does NOT Have Biological Warfare Labs In South Korea!
Now, I must first point out that it is impossible to prove a negative – that something that doesn’t exists, doesn’t actually exist.
But based on a complete lack of evidence, this is yet another example of Chinese propaganda warfare, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : This Story Has Been Repeated Since 2020
A quick check shows that the Chinese state media have been promoting the story of the US biological warfare labs in South Korea since April 2020, if not earlier.
So this story isn’t new. It was repeated in July 2020, and then in August 2021, before the current slew of coverage in March and April 2022.
Fact #2 : No Evidence Of US Biological Warfare Lab In South Korea
Despite waxing lyrical about the US military conducting biological warfare experiments in their South Korea labs, the Chinese state media offered ZERO evidence.
There is no evidence of biological warfare experiments being conducted in South Korea, and there is no evidence of US setting up laboratories for the research and development of such weapons.
Fact #3 : Anthrax Was Sent To 9 US States, Australia + Canada Too
Chinese state media claimed that US biological warfare experimentation was “exposed” when live anthrax samples were sent to the Osan Air Base in South Korea.
The truth is – the same anthrax samples were sent to 51 laboratories in nine US states, as well as Australia, Canada and South Korea.
So the claim that US sent anthrax to South Korea because they let the US military “test lethal toxins without institutional hurdles” is nonsense.
This incident was covered widely by the global press, so it is peculiar that Chinese state media would (intentionally?) misinform their readers.
Fact #4 : Anthrax Samples Were Used For Tests
These anthrax samples were mailed to those laboratories as part of ongoing efforts to develop field tests for anthrax.
These tests are usually conducted using dead samples of anthrax, because live anthrax would obviously be a biosecurity risk.
Fact #5 : Anthrax Samples Were Supposed To Be Dead
What the Chinese state media won’t tell you is that those anthrax samples were supposed to be dead.
In March 2014, the Dugway Proving Grounds – a US Department of Defense laboratory which conducts biosecurity research – irradiated a batch of anthrax samples with gamma rays to kill them.
In April 2015, they mailed the “dead” anthrax samples to 51 labs in the US, Canada, Australia and South Korea, by commercial postal services because the samples were supposed to be completely “dead”.
This incident was covered widely by the global press, so it is peculiar that Chinese state media would (intentionally?) misinform their readers.
Fact #6 : US Military Was Unaware Anthrax Samples Were Active
What the Chinese state media will also “forget” to tell you is that the US military was unaware that the anthrax samples were still active.
It was a commercial laboratory in Maryland that alerted the Pentagon on 22 May 2015, after they discovered that their sample had some active spores.
As CDC spokesperson Jason McDonald explained, the samples were quickly transferred to the CDC :
The samples are being carefully transferred to the CDC in Atlanta. They are starting to arrive, but cautioned that the samples need five more days to grow before officials can determine if they contain live anthrax.
While this was a deeply concerning accident that could have been disastrous, it was most definitely not an attempt to conduct biological warfare experiments in South Korea.
This incident was covered widely by the global press, so it is peculiar that Chinese state media would (intentionally?) misinform their readers.
Officials from the South Korea-U.S. joint working group conduct an on-site inspection of a laboratory at Osan Air Base, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, about 70 days after the Pentagon admitted that live anthrax samples were accidently delivered there. / Joint Press Corps
Fact #7 : Anthrax Sample In South Korea Was Destroyed
The anthrax sample in South Korea was quickly destroyed, even though there was no evidence it was still active – the batch was simply assumed to have not been sufficiently irradiated.
The military destroyed the anthrax on Wednesday after the sample, which was thought to be inactive, was suspected of being live. None of the personnel in contact showed signs of exposure. But they were given exams, antibiotics, and in some cases, vaccinations.
The military stresses there was no risk to the public. The exposure happened in a contained lab environment on the Osan Air Base, which is 65 miles south of Seoul. It’s one of a number of bases that houses the estimated 28,000 American military personnel based in South Korea.
Fact #8 : No One Got Sick
Four lab employees in the states of Texas, Delaware and Wisconsin, as well as 22 military and civilian personnel at the Osan Air Base, were given antibiotics as a precaution.
However, no one got sick from the potential exposure to the anthrax spore samples. I have to stress – there was no actual evidence that anyone got infected by those anthrax samples.
Fact #9 : Anthrax Is Naturally Found In Soil
Despite its fearsome reputation, anthrax is a disease caused by bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis, that is naturally found in soil, and commonly affects domestic and wild animals.
While people can get infected by breathing in its spores, it usually does not spread from human to human.
As long as the anthrax samples were not being weaponised, the US did not contravene the Biological Weapons Convention.
The use of dead anthrax samples to develop or improve or certify tests for anthrax most certainly do not contravene the Biological Weapons Convention.
Fact #10 : USFK Must Report To Korea CDC When Importing Biological Agents
The South Korea-US Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was revised in 2015 to mandate that the USFK must file a report with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when importing any biological agents, including inactivated biological agents.
So the claim that the US military can bring in biological materials without informing the South Korean government is no longer true since 2015.
It is interesting that Chinese state media are still (intentionally?) not aware of that development…
Fact #10 : JUPITR Was Designed To Detect Biological Threats
Chinese state media claim that US biological warfare experiments are being conducted under the JUPITR program.
That’s nonsense, because JUPITR (Joint United States Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition) is a bio-surveillance program.
JUPITR was set up to monitor for biological threats posed by North Korea, using new bio-surveillance analysis equipment like :
BioFire Film Array, which can process Dry Filter Unit samples in 5-6 hours, instead of several days
IQuum Liat, which is a sample-to-result molecular diagnostic system
3M Focus
To be clear – JUPITR does not involve biological warfare experiments.
JUPITR Biosurveillance Station
Fact #11 : JUPITR Ended Development In 2018
Interestingly, Chinese state media (intentionally?) forgot to mention that the development of the JUPITR program ended in 2018.
While its passive early warning capability remains in place, there has been no further work done on the JUPITR program since 2018.
So I have to wonder why they are still harping on JUPITR in 2022… Do they really have nothing new to report on?
Fact #11 : CENTAUR Was Designed To Detect Biological Threats
The Chinese state media also claim that US biological warfare experiments are being conducted under the CENTAUR program, which is also nonsense.
CENTAUR, which is short for “Capabilities to Enhance NBC Threat Awareness, Understanding & Response“, is an early warning system that looks for biological threats in South Korea.
To ensure that such a system works, the USFK (US Forces Korea) uses samples of dead pathogens (like the anthrax samples mentioned earlier) to test its detection capabilities.
The USFK has publicly announced that they do not use live samples for testing, after a few dozen people protested against the CENTAUR program.
We hold the health and safety of our service members, civilian employees, family members and Korean neighbors in the highest regard. The CENTAUR system is safe. USFK does not and has never used live agents for testing.
Photo credit : Yonhap
Fact #12 : Biological Warfare Banned In 183 Countries
Biological warfare has long been banned by the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) that was signed on 10 April 1972, and came into effect on 26 March 1975.
As of January 2022 – 183 countries have become party to this treaty, which means they agreed to stop development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons.
Fact #13 : Biological Labs Are Essential To All Countries
What the Chinese state media (intentionally?) don’t mention is that biological labs are a necessity in ALL countries.
Biological labs do not conduct biological warfare research, because that is banned in 183 countries under the BWC (see Fact #12).
Instead, they are on the forefront of a country’s biosecurity defences, and are absolutely essential in developing tests and cures (including vaccines) for new and emerging diseases, like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
In fact, China itself has a number of biological labs, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is located right at the epicentre of the first COVID-19 outbreak.
It would be hypocritical and (intentionally?) misleading for Chinese state media to demonise biological labs. After all, they are ESSENTIAL to every country’s national security, including China’s.
This fake news appears to be part of the disinformation campaign conducted by the Chinese state media and their 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
Please help us fight such malicious fake news – SHARE this fact check far and wide!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Was a CNN reporter caught lying on live TV about what a Chinese man really said?
Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the FACTS really are!
Claim : CNN Reporter Caught Faking Chinese Translation On TV!
A video clip showing a CNN reporter lying about what a Chinese man said on live TV is going viral again, together with this message :
All he said was, “I just finished dinner with friends and want to catch up on my texts.”
If you know Mandarin, you can see how CNN can make up their news.
I can’t believe CNN will go this low. 😤🤮
It originally went viral in February 2021, but is going viral again in May 2022 during the COVID-19 lockdown of Shanghai.
In the video, the CNN reporter is seen asking a Chinese man why he’s drinking by himself.
The man replied (in Chinese) that he just had dinner with friends and was now just taking a look at his phone.
However, the CNN reporter told the CNN anchor a completely different story,
“Jesus, you can see by the look on his face. This man told me that his family had been taken away, that his brother’s sick, and he can’t get out.”
“And the only thing that’s left to do is drink. And really, I can’t blame him. Poor guy.”
CNN Reporter Was Not Faking Chinese Translation Because…
… the truth is this video was edited, and is being used as Chinese propaganda.
In this video, we will show you why this video is NOT real, and is just another piece of Chinese propaganda.
The viral video clip is really a 29 second segment of a much longer video that runs 4 minutes and 19 seconds.
The original video was created by a UK student living in China, who calls himself Comerad James.
He stated clearly in his original video that he wanted to show how easy it was to make fake news.
Anyone watching his video can see that it was intentionally satirical, with the title CNN Global Bullcast, and his nickname there – Comerad James.
You can even see that both the CNN anchor and the CNN reporter are the same person – Comerad James himself.
And note that he even put in all sorts of Easter eggs – GME (GameStop) share price rising 9999%, and chyrons about public alcoholism spiralling out of control because Chinese citizens are giving up hope.
Comerad James created this video to satirise the “lack of integrity” of CNN and BBC in covering news on China.
Ironically, his video ended up being edited and used by Chinese propagandists to malign CNN’s integrity. So much for “integrity”.
The truth is major news organisations like CNN have fact-checkers and native speakers. Such a broadcast would have been caught very quickly, and they would have apologised for it.
If they didn’t, news of this would spread like wildfire and CNN would have been justifiably castigated online. Not just by Chinese citizens and Sinophiles, but also by other media outlets and the public in general.
On the other hand, Chinese propaganda outlets masquerading as news agencies like CGTN have never apologised or corrected themselves, even after they were caught lying.
When you see such videos, THINK TWICE before forwarding them. You could be helping to propagate Chinese fake news / propaganda.
Always be wary about fake videos and fake news created and propagated by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is Hunter Biden trapped in the bunkers under the Azovstal steel plant, together with several NATO generals?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Hunter Biden Is Trapped In Azovstal With NATO Generals!
People are sharing an article by a Singaporean blogger Chua Chin Leng, who calls himself redbean and claims that Hunter Biden is trapped in the Azovstal bunkers together with several NATO generals.
His article is long and rambling, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
Mariupol is a top secret American facility in Ukraine, housing bioweapon labs and all the top brass of Nato, planning and command HQ for Nato troops to attack Russia. It once housed something like 6,000 secretive soldiers in it.
Trump actually knew about this and was trying to expose it to bring down Biden and his son, who is the key member and owner of this project and facility. Trump could not say it out himself but needed the investigators to expose it against Biden.
There are many top military, scientific and political personalities inside this top secret fortress underground, now turning into a mouse trap with all the mice in it and in the hands of Putin. This is the biggest and most valuable catch of the Russians and a trump card that Putin can use to skin the Americans slowly.
The Americans are so desperate to want the top brass in the mouse trap out and are bringing everyone of importance to talk to Putin. The UN Sec Gen Gutteres has gone to see Putin for their release. Austin, Blinken and even Pelosi, have been to Kiev to get Zelensky to put in more effort and tag this as top priority item.
Zelensky now has offered to exchange all Russian POWs for the top brass in the Steel Plant. Rumours are speculating that the big fish could be Biden’s son, Canada’s top army general, top bioweapons scientists, top Nato generals etc etc that are so important that they risked several helicopters to bring them out but all got shot down. Not to forget, the top brass of the neo Nazi anti Jew Azov regiment.
The revelation of the identities of the big fish inside the Mariupol mouse trap would be so embarrassing to the Americans and AngloSaxon and Nato countries that all the people inside are as good as persona non grata. They have disowned them and did not want to have anything to do with them as this would confirm their crimes and ill intent against Russia, an act of war. Sneaky Canada quickly announced that the general had retired on 5 Apr, no longer the top Canadian general in service.
As the American and AngloSaxon tribes are panicking, Putin is sitting comfortably in Moscow enjoying the show. Putin is in no hurry to release the mice in his mouse trap. The presence of American and AngloSaxon top brass in a deadly war machine on the border of Russia with an evil intent to attack Russia is unacceptable and unforgiveable. The evilness of the AngloSaxon tribe would be exposed to the whole world, of their savage instinct and intent to break up Russia and terminate the Russians.
Putin now would have more reasons to want to nuke the Americans and Europe. The rest of the world that have not been sucked into this evil AngloSaxon scheme should enjoy watching and stay neutral. What is inside the Mariupol mouse trap could set off WW3. Trump is waiting eagerly for this to be exposed to bring down Biden and his son. Compare to Biden and his son, Trump is like an angel.
Truth : Hunter Biden Is NOT Trapped In Azovstal With NATO Generals!
This is yet another example of pro-Russia FAKE NEWS, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Mariupol Is A City
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) is apparently unaware that Mariupol is a city, not an American facility.
If he was referring to Azovstal, that is a steel manufacturing complex built in Mariupol by the Soviet Union in the 1930s.
Fact #2 : Azovstal Bunkers Were Built By Soviet Union
The bunkers and tunnels under the Azovstal plant complex were built during the Cold War by the Soviet Union, to “safeguard the steel plant’s 40,000 workers in the event of a nuclear attack”.
These bunkers are not special. There are plenty of similar bunkers across Ukraine, and other ex-Soviet countries, and of course, Russia.
Fact #3 : Trump Did Not know About Azovstal
If there was truly a top secret American facility housing 6,000 NATO troops under Azovstal, Trump would have known about it while he was President.
But there is ZERO EVIDENCE he even heard of Azovstal or Mariupol, and absolutely NO EVIDENCE that there is such a facility housing NATO troops, or serving as its headquarters.
There is nothing for Trump to “expose” either. If there was any evidence, he would have exposed it all while he was US President, just to prevent Biden from winning the election.
Fact #4 : Mariupol Is Very Close To Russian Territory
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) laughably claimed that the top secret American facility housed 6,000 soldiers, and is the planning and command HQ for NATO troops planning to attack Russia.
It would be idiotic for NATO to establish their headquarters so close to Russian territory and occupied Crimea, well within range of artillery and airstrikes.
In fact, Mariupol was one of the first cities to be attacked in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and completely surrounded after less than 3 weeks.
Fact #5 : Ukraine Is Not Part Of NATO
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) is apparently unaware that Ukraine is not a NATO member. That is precisely why why NATO cannot send its troops to help defend Ukraine.
While NATO has helped Ukraine train its soldiers as a partner nation, it does not have bases or facilities in Ukraine.
Fact #6 : There Are No NATO Troops In Ukraine
NATO has confirmed on several occasions there there are no NATO soldiers or leaders in Ukraine. Even those who were sent to advise or train Ukrainian troops were evacuated when Russia invaded Ukraine.
LANDCOM Deputy Public Affairs Officer, Major Brian Andries, recently confirmed this again :
While NATO nations are sending financial and military aid to Ukraine, no NATO soldiers or leaders are deployed to the country.
Fact #7 : There Are No NATO Personnel Trapped In Azovstal
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) laughably claimed that there are “many top military, scientific and political personalities” trapped inside this “top secret fortress“.
He even called it the “biggest and most valuable catch” for the Russians and “a trump card that Putin can use to skin the Americans slowly“.
That’s nothing more than a fantasy that has been circulating amongst the pro-Russia and pro-CCP blogs and groups, with ZERO EVIDENCE.
As of 6 May 2022, there are perhaps 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers and a few hundred civilians trapped in the tunnels and bunkers under the Azovstal steelworks.
Fact #8 : There Was Plenty Of Time To Evacuate NATO Personnel
Even if there were NATO personnel in Azovstal (there were not), they would have had 2-3 weeks to escape Mariupol before the Russians surrounded the city.
It would be illogical for Western military, scientific and politicians to stay in Mariupol, never mind hunker down in the Azovstal bunkers. Whatever for?
There were also several occasions in which civilians were allowed to evacuate the city and the Azovstal steelworks. No NATO personnel were spotted amongst them.
Fact #9 : No Helicopters Were Shot Down During Rescue Attempts
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) falsely claimed (intentionally?) that NATO lost several helicopters trying to rescue Hunter Biden and top NATO generals who were trapped under Azovstal.
The truth is – NATO sent no helicopters to rescue anyone from the Azovstal steel plant. They certainly did not lose any helicopters during the non-existent rescue operation.
Fact #10 : Ukrainian Soldiers Refused To Surrender
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) falsely claimed (intentionally?) that NATO tried to rescue “the top brass of the neo Nazi anti Jew Azov regiment”.
The truth is the Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the Azovstal steel plant has repeatedly refused to surrender, or leave Mariupol even when it was possible to do so.
The commander and deputy commander of the Azov regiment publicly refused on many occasions to leave Mariupol, stating that as long as they are still there, “Mariupol remains under control of Ukraine”.
Fact #11 : Hunter Biden Is Not In Ukraine
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) laughably and falsely claimed (intentionally?) that Hunter Biden could be one of those trapped in the Azovstal bunkers.
Hunter Biden was publicly seen at the White House Easter Egg Roll on 18 April 2022 – more than 2 weeks before Chuan Chin Leng posted his article.
That would mean Chua Chin Leng is either incredibly ignorant, or he is intentionally trying to mislead you.
Let me be clear – Hunter Biden is not trapped in a bunker under the Azovstal steel plant. He is still in the United States.
There isn’t even a logical reason for Hunter Biden to go to Ukraine, much less Mariupol or the Azovstal steel plant.
Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, is seen during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on April 18, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Fact #12 : Canadian General Cadieu Is Not In Azovstal Either
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) also claimed, without evidence, that Canada’s top army general is also trapped in the Azovstal bunkers.
That is quite impossible because former Lieutenant-General Trevor Cadieu only left for Ukraine after he resigned from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
By the time he was able to leave for Ukraine, the city of Mariupol had already been surrounded by Russian forces for about 3 weeks.
Not only would it be impossible for Cadieu to get into Mariupol, it would be pointless. What use would a general be in the tunnels under Azovstal?
Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) also falsely claimed (intentionally?) that NATO intended to attack Russia from Mariupol.
NATO did not plan to invade Russia. Not even Russia dare to claim that as a reason for invading Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine, ostensibly to “denazify the country”, not because NATO was preparing to invade Russia.
Fact #14 : You Can’t Invade Russia With 6,000 Soldiers
Laughably, Chua Chin Leng (aka redbean) claimed that NATO inserted 6,000 soldiers into their Mariupol base to invade Russia.
Think about how ridiculous that is. What could those 6,000 troops do against Russia, which has over a million active duty military personnel?
We should note that Russia deployed no less than 130,000 troops to invade Ukraine, and even they were forced to retreat from Kyiv!
Chua Chin Leng should spend his time drinking red bean soup, and leave geopolitics and the military to people who actually know something about either.
Unfortunately, many pro-Russian and pro-CCP groups are sharing his stupid article on WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter and Facebook.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
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