Researcher details a backdoor in Huawei-owned HiSilicon chips used in millions of smart devices, including security cameras, that has been active since 2013 - ZDNet

https://www.zdnet.com/article/researcher-backdoor-mechanism-discovered-in-devices-using-hisilicon-chips/

The Chinese doctor who tried to warn others about coronavirus - BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51364382

In early January, authorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan were trying to keep news of a new coronavirus under wraps. When one doctor tried to warn fellow medics about the outbreak, police paid him a visit and told him to stop.

As New Virus Spread, China’s Old Habits Delayed Fight - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html

At critical turning points, Chinese authorities put secrecy and order ahead of openly confronting the growing crisis and risking public alarm or political embarrassment.

China fears lead Interior Department to limit use of foreign drones - Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/01/china-fears-lead-interior-department-to-limit-use-of-foreign-drones/

The feds worry about Chinese-made drones sending data back to China.

Coronavirus Exposes Core Flaws, and Few Strengths, in China’s Governance - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/25/world/asia/coronavirus-crisis-china-response.html

While China can mobilize a huge national response to the outbreak, its response to the crisis is also a lesson in how the country’s political weak points can carry grave consequences for world health.

An unsecured facial-recognition database with info on thousands of children from 20 schools in China, half in areas with large Tibetan populations, found online - WSJ

https://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-of-chinese-students-data-exposed-on-internet-11579283410

BMW and Hyundai hacked by Vietnamese hackers, report claims - ZDNet

https://www.zdnet.com/article/bmw-and-hyundai-hacked-by-vietnamese-hackers-report-claims/

Many experts have speculated that the Vietnamese government has taken a page out of China’s book and is using hacking groups to carry out economic espionage on foreign companies, stealing intellectual property, and then using it for its state-funded corporations.

China used this strategy to prop its airplane manufacturing sector, and now experts believe Vietnam is doing the same for its fledgling automotive startup VinFast, which started rolling out its first cars out factory lines this year.

Chinese criminal gangs are using drones to spread African swine fever to force farmers to sell pigs cheaply so they can profit - South China Morning Post

https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3042122/chinese-criminal-gangs-spreading-african-swine-fever-force

It Seemed Like a Popular Chat App. It’s Secretly a Spy Tool. - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/22/us/politics/totok-app-uae.html

ToTok, an Emirati messaging app that has been downloaded to millions of phones, is the latest escalation of a digital arms race.

ToTok is a cleverly designed tool for mass surveillance, according to the technical analysis and interviews, in that it functions much like the myriad other Apple and Android apps that track users’ location and contacts.

On the surface, ToTok tracks users’ location by offering an accurate weather forecast. It hunts for new contacts any time a user opens the app, under the pretense that it is helping connect with their friends, much like how Instagram flags Facebook friends. It has access to users’ microphones, cameras, calendar and other phone data. Even its name is an apparent play on the popular Chinese app TikTok.

China Government Spreads Uyghur Analytics Across China

https://ipvm.com/reports/ethnicity-analytics

This exposes that Uyghur persecution and discrimination goes far beyond Xinjiang and is being built on video surveillance technologies