Tag: China

Categories
Business

Michael Spavor, Canadian Accused of Spying, Stands Trial in China

Michael Spavor, Canadian Accused of Spying, Stands Trial in China

A Chinese court on Friday opened a lawsuit against a Canadian businessman who has been in custody for more than two years on charges of espionage. This case sparked a worldwide outcry and called on the US to intervene.

A court in Dandong, a northeastern Chinese city, tried the Canadian Michael Spavor, who campaigned for cultural travel to North Korea before he was arrested in late 2018, in retaliation for Canada’s decision to arrest a leading Chinese technology executive United States request.

The court said in a concise statement that Mr. Spavor had been tried for espionage and “illegally providing state secrets abroad”. It was said that a verdict would be pronounced at a later date.

As a sign of China’s efforts to control the trial, the authorities banned the public and the news media from participating in the trial. A group of 10 diplomats from eight countries, including Canada and the United States, tried to gain access to the trial in Dandong, a coastal city near China’s border with North Korea, but were turned away. The court said the trial, which lasted about two hours, was held in private because it contained state secrets.

“We are deeply concerned about the lack of transparency in these processes,” said Jim Nickel, a senior official at Canada’s Embassy in Beijing who attempted to participate in the process, in a statement.

Another Canadian, Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat who was also arrested in 2018, is expected to stand trial in Beijing on Monday.

Since their detention, Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig have been at the center of a heated international dispute between China, Canada and the United States.

China, accusing western countries of attempting to thwart its rise as a tech superpower, is urging the US to end a full-blown fraud case against Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei. The United States, requesting Ms. Meng’s extradition, has asked China to release Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig.

“The trials of the two Michaels are revenge for Ms. Meng,” said Guy Saint-Jacques, a veteran Canadian ambassador to China who was Mr. Kovrig’s boss when he was first secretary at the Canadian embassy in Beijing. “It’s a message to Canada and the world: ‘Don’t mess with China.'”

The Canadians question was about to come up when senior government officials from Biden met their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage on Thursday. Friends and relatives of Mr Spavor and Mr Kovrig have urged President Biden and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take steps to ensure their release.

American officials said Friday that they were “deeply alarmed” by China’s decision to continue the trials of Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig. “We stand side by side with Canada in demanding their immediate release,” a US embassy spokesman in Beijing said in a statement.

Any compromise with Beijing could be elusive as China has shown no signs of withdrawal but has used the persecution of the two men to project an image of strength and demand that the United States withdraw its extradition request for Ms. Meng.

“Beijing makes it clear that the two Michaels with Chinese characteristics will be tried: closed to the public and the media,” said Diana Fu, professor of political science at the University of Toronto. “His actions leave little doubt as to who will be the ultimate decider of the fate of the Canadians – the Chinese Communist Party, not Biden, not Trudeau.”

The detention of the two men has led to tougher measures against China in Canada. According to a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute, a leading polling company, only 14 percent of Canadians view China positively. A majority see the Chinese government’s liberation of the two Canadians as a prerequisite for re-establishing relations.

“There is a backlash against China in Canada and the process will only exacerbate attitudes,” said Gordon Houlden, director emeritus of the University of Alberta’s China Institute. He added that the case of the two Michaels underscored the limited leverage of a middle power like Canada in the face of an economic and political giant like China.

Legal experts and human rights defenders have denounced China’s treatment of Canadians and accused Chinese officials of using “hostage diplomacy”. The two men, held in separate prisons in northern China, are largely cut off from the world and sometimes forced to go months without diplomatic visits. They had limited access to defense lawyers.

“Like so many cases where Chinese authorities try to silence a critic or settle a bill, these cases have nothing to do with the law,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.

As a self-described consultant, Mr. Spavor ran an organization in Dandong promoting cultural trips to North Korea. There he made high-ranking contacts and once met North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. In 2013, Mr. Spavor helped organize a visit to North Korea for Dennis Rodman, the former NBA star.

“Michael is just an ordinary Canadian businessman,” his family said in a pre-trial statement on Friday. “He loved living and working in China and would never have done anything to harm the interests of China or the Chinese people. We stand by Michael and keep his innocence in this difficult situation. “

Claire Fu and Albee Zhang have contributed to the research.

Categories
World News

North Korean Risk Forces Biden Into Balancing Act With China

North Korean Threat Forces Biden Into Balancing Act With China

SEOUL – As the Biden government finishes its first high-level diplomatic tour of Asia on Thursday, it counts on international alliances in the region to contain the growing threat posed by North Korea’s ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities.

But the country perhaps best placed to influence Pyongyang has increasingly seen President Biden as an adversary: ​​China.

After meetings in South Korea and Japan this week, the government is facing a diplomatic stalemate that irritated former President Barack Obama and led former President Donald J. Trump to declare his love for Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea , in a manic but ultimately foiled urge for a breakthrough.

At stake is the risk posed by North Korea’s weapon systems and its repressive domestic policy with surveillance, torture and prison camps. Recent attempts by the Biden administration to open a communication line have been rejected by North Korea, so American officials have urged their partners in the region to join a pressure campaign against Pyongyang.

“With respect to North Korea, the most important contact or engagement is our partners and allies – that is a big part of the reason we are here,” Foreign Secretary Antony J. Blinken told reporters Thursday after talks in Seoul with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and the South Korean Foreign and Defense Ministers.

He said the Biden administration was in close consultation with the governments of South Korea, Japan and other allied nations “who are concerned about the actions North Korea is taking”.

But China is North Korea’s foremost financial and political benefactor, and Blinken acknowledged that Beijing “plays a crucial role” in all diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang. He suggested China was also concerned about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

“China has a real interest in helping,” said Blinken. “So we are looking to Beijing to play a role in developing what I believe is in everyone’s interest.”

Whether the United States can recruit Beijing to attend will become clearer after talks later Thursday and Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, when China’s two top diplomats meet with Mr Blinken and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. American officials have billed the talks as a blunt exchange of political views.

How North Korea can be contained is discussed in Anchorage, among other places. It is one of the few areas where American officials believe they can work with China as the Biden government continues to face Beijing’s military expansionism, crackdown on democracy, and economic coercion in the Indo-Pacific region.

Mr Blinken previously referred to China as America’s “greatest geopolitical test of the 21st century,” and the Biden administration has issued stern warnings and financial sanctions against Beijing, including on Wednesday, in response to some of its actions.

“Given its political and economic ties with North Korea and its overall strength in the region, it makes sense to enlist China’s support,” said Frank Aum, North Korea expert at the US Peace Institute in Washington.

However, Mr. Aum also noted that China has no control over a number of demands North Korea has made in return for disarmament, including lifting US sanctions and ending joint US-South Korean military exercises.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is keen to see the United States resume diplomatic talks with North Korea and other regional powers. He has repeatedly argued that a nuclear weapons-free Korean peninsula is possible, and has insisted that Mr Kim is willing to give up his arms and focus on economic growth should Washington provide the right incentives.

After meeting with the US envoy, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said he hoped for a “resumption of dialogue” between the United States and North Korea and that the Seoul government would continue to support Washington’s efforts to establish a diplomatic mission. Contact with Pyongyang.

He also suggested that Mr. Trump’s direct diplomatic approach provided “basic principles” for achieving denuclearization and peace in the Korean Peninsula.

“Our experience over the past three years has shown that it is possible to solve the nuclear problem if North Korea is persistent on the basis of close cooperation between South Korea and the United States,” said Chung.

It’s been more than a year since North Korea spoke directly to American officials, Blinken said in Tokyo. And this week’s Seoul meeting was the first between South Korean foreign and defense ministers and their American counterparts in five years.

Mr. Moon’s political portfolio rose when he helped bring Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim together for two summit meetings. But after the second, in 2019, ended abruptly without reaching an agreement on easing American sanctions or the pace of North Korean disarmament, Mr Moon sought to regain its relevance in the negotiations. In June last year, North Korea blew up the joint inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border. This was the first in a series of measures that threatened to reverse a fragile détente.

Officials in North Korea will reject Washington’s attempts to enter into dialogue “unless the US resets its hostile policies,” said Choe Son-hui, the country’s first deputy foreign minister, on Thursday. “That is why we will continue to ignore such an attempt by the USA in the future.”

Ms. Choe cited military exercises the United States had conducted with South Korea and spoke in Washington of imposing more sanctions on the North than examples of this hostility. In a diatribe released hours after the senior US envoy landed in Tokyo earlier this week, North Korea warned the Biden government not to “cause a stink”.

North Korea has not conducted any weapons tests since short-range missiles were launched in March last year. However, during a military parade in October, a new untested ICBM was unveiled that looked larger and more powerful than the ICBM it tested in late 2017, before Mr Kim began diplomacy with Mr Trump.

At a party conference in January, Mr Kim promised to further develop his country’s nuclear capabilities and stated that it would build new solid fuel ICBMs and make its nuclear warheads lighter and more precise.

Analysts said Pyongyang was closely following Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin’s trips to Tokyo and Seoul this week for clues about the Biden government’s approach. It is expected that, after observing Washington, North Korea will decide whether to resume weapons testing and create a new cycle of tension for leverage.

Mr. Moon is anxious to save his once proud diplomacy over North Korea. His meeting with Mr Blinken and Mr Austin on Thursday should “send a strong message and call for the United States to be more flexible to include North Korea in the dialogue,” said Lee Byong-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University institute for Far East studies in Seoul.

“North Korea’s sentiment towards Moon Jae-in is disappointing,” said Lee. “Moon has been in a difficult position since talks between North Korea and the United States collapsed.”

Mr Blinken said the American stance on North Korea would include a mixture of regional pressure options and the potential for future diplomacy when the current policy review of the Biden administration is completed as early as next month.

Mr Aum, the North Korea expert at the U.S. Peace Institute, said the policy could include forcing China to do more to contain North Korea, possibly by deploying additional weapon systems in the region or conducting major military exercises with South Korea – both would irritate Beijing.

China has largely urged North Korea and the United States to solve the impasse on their own, despite calling for sanctions easing and a break in American military exercises with Seoul in exchange for Pyongyang freezing its nuclear and missile tests.

“All parties should work together to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said this week. “China will continue to play a constructive role in this process.”

Steven Lee Myers and John Ismay reported from Seoul.

Categories
Health

China relaxes border restrictions for individuals who acquired China-made vaccines

China relaxes border restrictions for those who received China-made vaccines

Travelers walk through Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, China on Tuesday August 25, 2020.

Yan Cong | Bloomberg | Getty Images

China is making it easier for foreigners vaccinated with Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines to enter the country after closing its borders to international travel more than a year ago due to Covid-19.

Several Chinese embassies around the world – including those in the US, UK, India, Israel and the Philippines – posted notices on Monday setting out how foreigners can apply for visas to enter China.

However, the instructions only apply to those who have been fully vaccinated with China-made Covid-19 vaccines and have the vaccination certificate to prove it.

People with a valid residence permit can enter China without a new visa. Those without Chinese vaccines can also apply for visas, but need stronger reasons or specific documents to meet the requirements.

Vaccine nationalism is a possibility that cannot be ruled out in the absence of further explanations.

Chong Ja Ian

Associate Professor of Political Science

Chong Ja Ian, Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore, discussed possible reasons for China’s move.

“Vaccine nationalism is a possibility that cannot be ruled out in the absence of further explanations,” he told CNBC in an email.

Chong also said some observers suggest that this is a way for China to get more use and recognition of its vaccines, or to get countries to approve their vaccines faster.

China has developed five vaccines, and 34 countries have approved at least one Chinese vaccine, according to CNBC’s calculations based on a Covid-19 vaccine tracking site.

For comparison, the Pfizer BioNTech shot was approved in 72 countries, while the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was approved in 74 countries.

Chinese vaccines have met with some skepticism as information is less readily available compared to that of Western pharmaceutical companies.

Covid-19 was first reported in China in the city of Wuhan before it spread to the rest of the world. The coronavirus is mostly under control in China right now, but the country’s borders have remained largely closed to foreigners.

entry requirements

Notices were worded differently from each embassy, ​​but in general, foreigners from certain countries who have been fully vaccinated with Chinese vaccines require fewer documents to apply for a visa. You are also allowed into the country for more reasons – although tourism is not one of them.

For example, the Chinese Embassy in the UK said those who apply for business will no longer need to submit invitation letters from provincial governments or ministries of commerce. Those without a Chinese vaccine still need to produce a letter of invitation to apply, based on the visa requirements announced in November.

China also expanded the scope of those eligible to apply for a humanitarian visa. Those from the UK who wish to travel to the country to reunite with the family can apply now once they have taken the Chinese recordings.

Without the Chinese vaccine, UK foreigners can only apply for entry if a family member is in critical condition and in need of care, or if they have funeral affairs to do in China.

The country’s quarantine measures of up to 21 days will continue to apply if relevant and negative Covid tests have to be presented. Applicants should wait 14 days after receiving a China-made vaccine before applying for a visa to enter China.

Categories
World News

A Sandstorm in China Revives Reminiscences of ‘Airpocalypses’ Previous

A Sandstorm in China Revives Memories of ‘Airpocalypses’ Past

When China’s leader Xi Jinping met with Communist Party delegates from Inner Mongolia last week, he urged them not to indulge in the struggle to improve the environment.

“We have to stick to the concept that clear water and green mountains are as good as mountains of gold and silver,” he said.

On Monday, large parts of China saw how bad the environment can still be.

The biggest and strongest dust storm in ten years swept over northern China, landed hundreds of flights, closed schools in some cities and threw a terrible shroud over tens of millions of people – from Xinjiang in the far west to the Bohai Sea, China’s weather service.

The storm that came after weeks of smog was reminiscent of the “air cupolaypses” the country routinely witnessed a few years ago, and forced the crash government’s efforts to address a political and public health crisis.

These efforts significantly improved air quality, especially in the capital. But this week, three forces – the post-Covid industrial boom, the ongoing effects of climate change on the deserts of northern China, and a late winter storm – together created a dangerous, suffocating pallor.

“Beijing is what an ecological crisis looks like,” wrote Li Shuo, the political director of Greenpeace China, on Twitter.

In an interview, Mr. Li said Monday’s storm was “the result of land and environmental degradation in the north and west of Beijing.” He added that Beijing’s industrial pollutants so far this year have exceeded the annual average for the past four years.

The dust was kicked up by a snow-capped thunderstorm that moved through Mongolia over the weekend. The storm there toppled electric towers, turned off power in several regions, and killed at least nine people.

The effects were felt in most parts of northern China. The Air Quality Index measurements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exceeded the hazard level for particles associated with sand and dust in the air. The pollutants, measured by the concentration of PM2.5, or particles of a size that is considered particularly harmful, were also dangerously high.

In Beijing, authorities ordered children, the elderly, and the sick to stay indoors – and everyone else to avoid unnecessary outdoor activities. The pollution, which turned the air yellow-orange in the morning and a soupy gray in the afternoon, was supposed to last until Tuesday morning.

Many residents responded with dark humor.

One meme that circulated online enhanced an image of the legendary headquarters of the Chinese state television broadcaster with a still image from Blade Runner 2049, the 2017 dystopian science fiction film. Another showed spaceships and characters from “Ultraman,” a Japanese Superhero franchise that marched through Beijing’s darkness.

With the improvement in air quality in recent years, newcomers to Beijing experienced such air for the first time.

“I couldn’t see the building across the street,” said Wang Wei, a 23-year-old college graduate who recently moved to Beijing from Henan, a province in central China. “I didn’t think the sky could be that yellow.”

The environment remains a politically sensitive issue for the leadership of the Communist Party. Mr. Xi has repeatedly called for a “green revolution” in China’s economy and last year pledged that China would accelerate efforts to reduce carbon emissions that have contributed to climate change.

However, pollution has proven to be a detrimental challenge as officials continue to prioritize economic development.

Recently completed legislative sessions took place during several days of heavy pollution due to increasing steel and cement production. Many environmental groups were disappointed that the new five-year development plan adopted at these meetings in Beijing did not include more specific government proposals to tackle climate change.

Even so, at times, Mr. Xi’s admonitions seem to induce the officials to act. Last week, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment warned authorities in Tangshan, the country’s steel production center in Hubei Province, after it was discovered that four steel mills failed to cut production to reduce pollution.

In Inner Mongolia, whose delegate met Mr. Xi in Beijing, the regional edition of The People’s Daily included an article on efforts to combat desertification that contributed to the dust storms. The article appeared on Monday as the worst pollution in years.

“Yellow sand is disappearing and green trees are thriving,” he proclaimed.

Albee Zhang and Elsie Chen contributed to the research.

Categories
Politics

Getting ready for Retaliation Towards Russia, U.S. Confronts Hacking by China

Preparing for Retaliation Against Russia, U.S. Confronts Hacking by China

In writings and conversations over the past four years, Mr Sullivan has made it clear that he believes that traditional sanctions alone do not increase costs enough to force powers like Russia or China to talk about new rules for cyberspace.

However, government officials often fear that too strong a reaction could lead to escalation.

This is a particular problem with the Russian and Chinese attacks, in which both countries have clearly planted “back doors” to American systems that could be used for more destructive purposes.

American officials publicly say current evidence suggests that Russia’s intent in the SolarWinds attack was merely data theft. But several senior officials, who did not advocate an attribution, said they believed the size, scope, and cost of the operation suggested the Russians may have had much broader motives.

“I’m impressed with how many of these attacks undermine trust in our systems,” said Burt. “Just as there are efforts to get the country to distrust the electoral infrastructure, which is a central part of our democracy.”

Russia broke into the National Democratic Committee and state voter registration systems in 2016, mainly by guessing or obtaining passwords. However, when they hacked SolarWinds, they used a far more sophisticated technique that included code in the company’s software updates, rolling them deep into about 18,000 systems that used the network management software. Once inside, the Russians had high-level access to the systems with no passwords required.

Similarly, four years ago, a large majority of the Chinese government’s hacker attacks were carried out through email spear phishing campaigns. In recent years, China’s military hacking divisions have formed a new strategic support group, similar to the Pentagon’s Cyber ​​Command. Some of the key hacking operations are carried out by the more secretive Ministry of State Security, China’s premier intelligence agency, which maintains a satellite network of contractors.

Beijing also began hoarding so-called zero days, bugs in the code that are unknown to software providers and for which there is no patch.

Categories
World News

Chinese language overseas minister requires ‘non-interference’ between China, U.S.

China says it will respond to delisting of telecom giants

The flags of China, the United States, and the Chinese Communist Party are displayed in a flag booth in the Yiwu Wholesale Market in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China on May 10, 2019.

Aly Song | Reuters

BEIJING – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday the US must lift “unreasonable restrictions” in order for the two countries’ relations to move forward under President Joe Biden’s administration.

Wang’s remarks come from the fact that tensions between the US and China have escalated in recent years under former President Donald Trump, whose term of office ended in January. So far, the Biden government has maintained a tough stance on China – calling the country a more assertive “competitor” – and has raised concerns about Beijing’s stance on Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

China’s central government regards these issues as part of its internal affairs.

“With regard to China-US relations, I believe that both sides must first uphold the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” said Wang. This emerges from an official English translation of his Mandarin-language statements at a press conference that took place alongside the annual “Two Sessions” parliamentary session in Beijing, the country’s largest political event of the year.

Biden-Xi call

In a two-hour phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February before the New Year holidays, Biden had expressed “fundamental concerns” about Beijing’s actions on issues such as Hong Kong, according to the White House. At the same time, the two heads of state and government also discussed how to fight the coronavirus pandemic by working together on climate change and preventing the spread of weapons.

Wang said Sunday the two countries could also work together on the economic recovery from the pandemic, citing the call as a positive foundation for rebuilding bilateral ties.

“We stand ready to work with the United States to pursue the outcome of this important phone call and to put China-US relations on a new path of healthy and steady growth,” he said.

Categories
Business

1000’s of Microsoft Prospects Could Have Been Victims of Hack Tied to China

Thousands of Microsoft Customers May Have Been Victims of Hack Tied to China

U.S. corporations and government agencies using a Microsoft email service have been compromised in an aggressive hacking campaign likely sponsored by the Chinese government, Microsoft said.

The number of victims is estimated at tens of thousands and, according to some security experts, could rise if the investigation into the breach continues. According to Volexity, the cybersecurity firm that discovered the hack, the hackers secretly attacked multiple targets in January, but their efforts escalated in recent weeks as Microsoft fixed the vulnerabilities exploited in the attack.

The US government’s cybersecurity agency issued an emergency warning on Wednesday fearing that the hacking campaign had hit a large number of targets. The warning prompted federal agencies to patch their systems immediately. On Friday, cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs reported that the attack hit at least 30,000 Microsoft customers.

“We are concerned that there are large numbers of victims,” ​​said White House press secretary Jen Psaki during a press conference on Friday. The attack “could have far-reaching effects,” she added.

Federal officials struggled to understand how the most recent hack compares to last year’s penetration by Russian hackers into a variety of federal agencies and corporate systems in what is known as the SolarWinds attack. In this case, the Russian hackers put code in an update to the SolarWinds network management software. While around 18,000 customers of the company have downloaded the code, so far there is only evidence that the Russian hackers have stolen material from nine government agencies and around 100 companies.

In the hack Microsoft attributed to the Chinese, it is estimated that around 30,000 customers were affected when the hackers exploited vulnerabilities in Exchange, an email and calendar server created by Microsoft. These systems are used by a wide range of customers, from small businesses to local and state agencies to some military contractors. The hackers were able to steal email and install malware to continue monitoring their targets, Microsoft said in a blog post, but Microsoft said it had no idea how extensive the theft was.

The campaign was spotted in January, said Steven Adair, founder of Volexity. The hackers quietly stole emails from multiple destinations, exploiting a flaw that allowed them to access email servers without a password.

“This is what we consider to be really secret,” Adair said, adding that the discovery sparked a frantic investigation. “It made us tear everything apart.” Volexity reported its findings to Microsoft and the US government, he added.

The attack escalated at the end of February. The hackers began weaving multiple vulnerabilities together and targeting a wider group of victims. “We knew that what we had reported and seen as very secret was now being combined and chained to another exploit,” said Adair. “It just got worse and worse.”

According to a cybersecurity researcher who investigated the U.S. investigation into the hacks and who has no authority to speak publicly about the matter, the hackers attacked as many victims as possible online, hitting small businesses, local governments and large credit unions. The errors used by the hackers, known as zero-days, were previously unknown to Microsoft.

“We are closely following Microsoft’s emergency patch for previously unknown vulnerabilities in Exchange Server software and reporting possible compromises between US think tanks and defense companies,” said Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the White House.

“This is the real deal,” tweeted Christopher Krebs, former director of the US agency for cybersecurity and infrastructure. (Mr. Krebs is not related to the cybersecurity reporter who posted the number of victims.)

Mr Krebs added that companies and organizations using Microsoft’s Exchange program should assume they were hacked sometime between February 26th and March 3rd and should work on it quickly that past week Install patches published by Microsoft.

Microsoft said a Chinese hacking group called Hafnium, “a government sponsored group that operates out of China,” was behind the hack.

Since the company announced the attack, other non-hafnium hackers have started exploiting the vulnerabilities for target organizations that haven’t patched their systems, Microsoft said. “Microsoft continues to see increased use of these vulnerabilities when multiple unpatched systems are attacked by multiple malicious actors,” the company said.

Patching these systems is not an easy task. Email servers are difficult to maintain, even for security professionals, and many companies lack the expertise to securely host their own servers. For years, Microsoft has been pushing these customers to move to the cloud, where Microsoft can manage security for them. Industry experts said the security incidents could encourage customers to move to the cloud and be a financial boon to Microsoft.

Because of the scale of the attack, many Exchange users are likely to be at risk, Adair said. “Even people who fixed this asap, there is an extremely high chance that they have already been compromised.”

Nicole Perlroth contributed to the reporting.

Categories
Business

Retailers pay extra to fly bikes to scorching tubs from China as backup at U.S. ports delays deliveries

Retailers pay more to fly bikes to hot tubs from China as backup at U.S. ports delays deliveries

Containers are seen on a shipping dock as the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues in the port of Los Angeles, California on April 16, 2020.

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

A ship with 197 containers of peloton bikes and goods circled at anchor off the port of Los Angeles just before Christmas and entered a hold pattern on December 22nd until it was allowed to dock on January 2nd, according to global shipping data company MarineTraffic.

“The ship and Peloton’s expected delivery time lost 12 days while their product was almost swimming distance from shore,” said Import Genius trade data analyst William George. “This is a crazy example of the problem Peloton and other US importers are facing.”

The combination of record container volumes in the port of Los Angeles – the most heavily frequented container port in the western hemisphere due to its proximity to Asia – and delays caused by Covid-19 is slowing down imports into the USA, according to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Around 800 of the 15,000 members were due to Covid-19 unemployed – they either recovered from the virus or otherwise quarantined at home.

Record congestion in ports around the world has led some companies to abandon ocean shipping for air freight in order to get popular or seasonal items to shelves faster. This not only saves valuable time, but also money. According to Freightos, the international online freight market, airfares are still more expensive than shipping via ocean freight, but they have been falling in recent months.

400% more

“While air freight was volatile in the first few months of Covid, rising 400% between February and April 2020, ocean freight has become a bottleneck in global supply chains, making air freight a more profitable option in some cases.” “stated Eytan Buchman, CMO of Freightos.

Some of the congestion in U.S. ports is expected to decrease as more longshore workers are vaccinated against the coronavirus, which began Feb. 12. Only 5% of longshore workers have had vaccinations to date, said Gene Seroka, general manager of the Port of Los Angeles. He said the port is advocating “all levels of government” to vaccinate longshore workers to reduce congestion in the ports.

CH Robinson air freight

Source: CH Robinson

Peloton, who refused to comment on the article, referred CNBC to the company’s quarterly letter to shareholders published last month. The company said its profit margins for the last three months of the year were squeezed by additional shipping costs of $ 100 million during the critical holiday season.

“The global increase in shipping traffic has resulted in significant delays in all types of goods arriving in US ports, including Peloton products,” said Josh Foley, CEO of Peloton, in a February 4 letter to members. “These unpredictable delays have resulted in painful delivery dates for many people as Peloton bikes, treads and accessories have been kept in port for more than five times longer than usual.”

The Peloton shipment is just one example of the variety of goods held up in US ports.

Waiting for dock

According to MarineTraffic, 30 container ships were anchored in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Monday. More than 30 container ships are expected to arrive at the port of LA and more than 27 are expected to dock in the port of Long Beach in late March. Among the anchored ships waiting to be unloaded in the port of Los Angeles is the APL Charleston, which carried the late peloton deliveries in January. It arrived back loaded with Chinese exports on February 18.

The delays in December weren’t unusual, said Captain Adil Ashiq, MarineTraffic’s chief executive officer for the U.S. West Region.

CH Robinson air freight

Source: CH Robinson

“It is a reality that many ships, supply chain and logistics service providers are currently facing in the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach,” he said in an interview. Port congestion data shows that the average time a container ship was anchored outside the dock last week was just over 7.5 days before it could travel inland, Ashiq said. “Now that the APL Charleston is at anchor again, it may face similar circumstances as it did on its previous port visit in December, but of course this is a cruise so anything can happen.”

The bottleneck in the ports has increased the cost of shipping, making air freight, which is usually considerably more expensive, looks like a relative bargain – especially considering the time savings. Airship prices have fallen dramatically in recent months.

A 250-kilogram air freight with a full container from China to the US has fallen in price from about 60% of the cost of a full container to only about 36%, he said.

“In other words, for the right kind of cargo, and certainly the right value, air is becoming a more compelling option, both with capacity and with far shorter transit times,” said Eytan Buchman, CMO of the international online freight market, Freightos.

Hot tubs and bikes

Brian Bourke, chief growth officer at Seko Logistics, said the time savings in product arrival justify the cost to their customers who have to meet consumer demand.

“If you’re looking to ship a hot tub across the ocean from Shanghai to New York, shipping a lighter hot tub will cost around $ 1,000, but it takes at least 35 to 45 days,” he said in an interview. That doesn’t include an extra 7-14 days if you have to book in advance, he said. Shipping air freight costs anywhere from $ 2,000 to $ 3,000, depending on its weight.

“But you only need three to four days to get your hot tub,” he said. “So if you pay two or three times, you save four to seven weeks now. In the end, the math makes sense for certain senders right now.”

Kim Peterson, transportation manager for Canyon Bicycles USA, said they ship most of their inventor by water, but their most popular bikes are being shipped via air to meet growing demand.

“Air is faster and we have to meet customer demand,” he said. “I could pay an additional $ 1,000 to $ 2,000 to get my product in an (ocean) container at the head of the line in China, but that doesn’t matter because the cargo is in LA’s congestion . “

60 to 75 days

Before the pandemic, shipping took 20 to 30 days, he said. Now it’s about 60 to 75 days while air freight takes three to five days, Peterson said. “It’s a big difference. We are currently behind in Asia,” he said. “We can’t wait. That would have an impact on sales.”

Shawn Richard, vice president of global air freight in New York at Seko Logistics, tells CNBC that they don’t expect the peak load to end anytime soon.

“We regularly fly 65-inch TVs from China to the US,” said Richard. “We saw air freight up 40% in December. Large items like hot tubs were also transported. Our ocean freight teams are now selling air freight.”

Richard says that large recreational items like ping pong tables and exercise equipment like treadmills are usually shipped by sea because of the cost. Now they are moving by air due to an increase in demand. In the Covid-19 pandemic, people are locked inside but are looking for ways to stay fit and entertaining outside.

“Barbecues and related merchandise like lawn / patio furniture, inflatable pools, filtering devices, and anything that could be used to improve safety at home instead of family vacations are now moving by air,” he said.

The lack of reliability in retail has pushed the functionality of the logistics and supply chains to their limits. John Foley, CEO of Peloton, recently told CNBC that the company would be spending an additional $ 100 million on expediting shipping to reduce delivery delays.

“We are seeing the industries in need of accelerated shipping being blown against the rush and waiting by the sea,” said Matt Castle, vice president, air cargo products and services, CH Robinson. Recreational vehicles and parts that used to be shipped by sea have shifted to air freight, he said. “One of the things I never thought air would move is vacuum cleaners. It’s a hot topic now with so many people at home.”

Seasonal deliveries

Castle said the drive to the air is a combination of factors: companies with a narrow seasonal window to sell products and production-based industries looking to re-establish a rhythm and catch up on inventory.

“Ocean congestion is increasing to meet orders and drive demand for air freight,” said Castle.

Stephen Svajian, CEO and co-founder of Anova Culinary, which sells its precision combi ovens and cookers to COSCO, Target and Amazon, said they are increasing their air freight orders in response to increasing demand for the “home dining experience”. “

“We decide which products to air freight based on the set retail date and consumer expectations. We don’t want to be sold out or fulfill orders,” said Svajian. “This year there is more pressure to use air due to delays at sea.”

This logistical strategy of getting some products in the air isn’t unique to the US. Castle said they are also seeing companies in Europe making the switch. “This market is very strong. There is a lack of container capacity everywhere.”

Ag exported

Air is also becoming an option for US exporters struggling to get their products overseas as carriers refuse US Ag exports to return empty containers. They make far fewer shipping exports from the US to China – $ 744 per container versus $ 4,922 for Chinese exports to the US. The time and money saved when empty containers do not have to be loaded, unloaded and cleaned offsets the lost money on the way back to Asia.

It also costs US farmers who are struggling to ship their goods overseas. Their access to international markets “is being severely undermined by the unprecedented dysfunction and cost of maritime transportation services,” said Peter Friedman, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.

Richard of Seko Logistics said spices and perishable goods like lobster were shipped to China by air back in October.

There doesn’t seem to be a quick fix to unblock US ports, leaving companies like Canyon with few options.

“In the cycling world, when the sun comes out, people want to ride bikes,” said Peterson of Canyon. “Demand is still high. It’s pretty obvious that we need to keep going and ventilate.”

Categories
Politics

U.S. imposes extra sanctions on Myanmar, calls on China to assist finish coup

U.S. imposes more sanctions on Myanmar, calls on China to help end coup

Police are running towards protesters to disperse a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on March 3, 2021.

STR | AFP | Getty Images

The United States imposed trade sanctions on the military regime in Myanmar Thursday, a day after security forces killed dozens of people on the deadliest day of violence since a coup last month ousted civilian leaders and sparked nationwide protests.

The Ministry of Commerce imposes export controls on the Myanmar Ministry of Defense and Home Affairs and two companies closely related to the military – Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holding Limited. Myanmar is now also subject to trade restrictions on certain sensitive items destined for military use.

“The trade is examining possible additional measures that are justified by the actions of the military,” warned the department in a press release on Thursday afternoon. “The US government will continue to hold the perpetrators of the coup responsible for their actions.”

According to the United Nations, security forces in Myanmar killed at least 38 protesters on Wednesday. The violence is part of a campaign by the military to crush nationwide demonstrations calling for the release of civilian leaders who were ousted from power and imprisoned on February 1.

Myanmar nationals hold a candlelight vigil outside the United Nations to commemorate anti-coup protesters killed in Myanmar, Bangkok, Thailand on March 4, 2021.

Lauren DeCicca | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The Myanmar authorities have also approached members of the press reporting on the protests. Associate press journalist Thein Zaw and five other media representatives were arrested and charged with violating a public order law earlier this week.

State Department spokesman Ned Price urged the regime to exercise “maximum restraint” and warned the military that the US would take further action to hold it accountable for the detention of journalists and violence against demonstrators.

“This recent escalation of violence shows that the juntas are totally disregarding their own people,” Price said at a press conference Thursday.

“As I said, we will continue to work with the international community to take meaningful action against those responsible. The United States will take additional measures,” Price said before Commerce announced the new trade sanctions.

Myanmar nationals hold a candlelight vigil outside the United Nations to commemorate anti-coup protesters killed in Myanmar, Bangkok, Thailand on March 4, 2021.

Lauren DeCicca | Getty Images News | Getty Images

President Joe Biden issued executive orders last month imposing sanctions on the military leaders who led the coup. The New York Federal Reserve blocked an attempt by the country’s military to move $ 1 billion in funds days after it came to power, according to a Reuters report.

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday again urged China to use its influence in Myanmar to help restore civilian rule to the country. US and Chinese officials have spoken several times about the situation in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, Price said.

“We have urged the Chinese to play a constructive role in using their influence on the Burmese military to end this coup,” Price said.

China, which has close ties with Myanmar, last month prevented the United Nations Security Council from issuing a statement condemning the coup.

Burmese activists have said they are determined to continue participating in protests in support of democracy despite the violence.

“We know that we can always be shot with sharp bullets, but there is no point in staying alive under the junta. That’s why we choose this dangerous route to escape,” activist Maung Saungkha told Reuters.

Categories
Health

China topics some vacationers to anal swabs, angering international governments.

China subjects some travelers to anal swabs, angering foreign governments.

China is requiring some travelers arriving from overseas to receive an invasive anal swab test as part of its coronavirus containment measures, which has outraged and shocked several foreign governments.

Japanese officials said Monday they had formally asked China to exclude Japanese citizens from the test, adding that some who received it complained of “psychological distress”. And the US State Department most recently said it registered a protest with the Chinese government after some of its diplomats were forced to undergo anal swabs, despite Chinese officials denying it.

It is not clear how many such swabs have been administered or who is subject to them. Chinese state media have acknowledged that some arrivals in cities like Beijing and Shanghai are required for the tests, although reports said requirements may vary depending on whether travelers were rated as high-risk.

Chinese experts have suggested that traces of the virus could survive longer in the anus than in the respiratory tract, and that samples of the former could prevent false negative results. China has put some of the toughest containment measures in the world, including blocking most foreign arrivals, and has largely suppressed the epidemic.

Lu Hongzhou, an infectious disease specialist at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the state-controlled tabloid Global Times that nasal or throat swabs could cause “nasty reactions” that could result in below-average samples. He admitted that stool samples could replace anal swabs to avoid similar discomfort.

Other experts – including in China – have questioned the need for anal testing. The Global Times quoted another expert, Yang Zhanqiu, as saying that nasal and throat swabs are still most effective because the virus is transmitted through the airways.

Benjamin Cowling, professor of public health at the University of Hong Kong, said in an interview that even if someone tested positive on an anal swab but not a breath swab, he or she probably wouldn’t be very contagious.

“The value of detecting people with the virus is in stopping transmission,” said Professor Cowling. “If someone has an infection but is not contagious to anyone, we didn’t have to recognize that person.”

A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said this week the government will make “science-based adjustments” to its containment policies.

Professor Cowling said he did not know what the scientific rationale for the existing policy was. “I suppose there is some evidence leading to this decision, but I haven’t seen that evidence,” he said.