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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1847974

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese online marketplaces Temu and Shein have gained significant popularity. By gamifying and glamorizing online shopping, these platforms have revolutionized e-commerce, becoming some of the most downloaded apps worldwide and attracting millions of users. To mitigate concerns over their ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), both companies have sought to downplay their origins.

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[Shein and Temu's] success is, however, intertwined with practices that raise serious concerns about forced labor, data privacy, and geopolitical influence. Not only have both companies been accused of failing to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), but as entities subject to China’s National Intelligence Law, they both may act as conduits for the Chinese government to access vast amounts of private consumer data for surveillance, collection, and even cyber warfare. Yet, despite efforts by both the US and the EU to investigate these practices, enforce existing forced labor prevention and digital services acts, and raise awareness of risks associated with these apps, the frenzy continues.

''' Even more troubling are allegations about the companies’ sourcing practices, particularly in relation to forced labor in Xinjiang. For instance, while Shein was found to have violated the UFLPA by sourcing cotton from Xinjiang, Temu lacks a framework to ensure compliance with the law. Not only does Temu not audit any of its roughly 80,000 third-party sellers and their compliance with the UFLPA, it has also admitted that it “does not expressly prohibit third-party sellers from selling products based on their origin in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.” Furthermore, Temu’s parent company PDD Holdings has in the past been accused of requiring its workers to work 380 hours per month, which resulted in several deaths. As such, it is possible that the two companies are effectively enabling forced labor and perpetuating human rights abuses linked to the CCP’s repression of Uyghurs.

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While data mining for business purposes is common, Chinese apps like Temu and Shein are said to go beyond what is needed for their e-commerce activities. The scale of data that is being collected by the two companies is directly related to their marketing strategies and the emphasis on selling advertisement services. For instance, in 2022, only 20 percent of Temu’s revenue was derived from customer sales, while 80 percent came from advertising, which requires large-scale data capture and processing. Shein’s app also requests consumers to provide it with access to data from other applications, such as social media, in exchange for discounts and special deals.

...

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese online marketplaces Temu and Shein have gained significant popularity. By gamifying and glamorizing online shopping, these platforms have revolutionized e-commerce, becoming some of the most downloaded apps worldwide and attracting millions of users. To mitigate concerns over their ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), both companies have sought to downplay their origins.

...

[Shein and Temu's] success is, however, intertwined with practices that raise serious concerns about forced labor, data privacy, and geopolitical influence. Not only have both companies been accused of failing to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), but as entities subject to China’s National Intelligence Law, they both may act as conduits for the Chinese government to access vast amounts of private consumer data for surveillance, collection, and even cyber warfare. Yet, despite efforts by both the US and the EU to investigate these practices, enforce existing forced labor prevention and digital services acts, and raise awareness of risks associated with these apps, the frenzy continues.

''' Even more troubling are allegations about the companies’ sourcing practices, particularly in relation to forced labor in Xinjiang. For instance, while Shein was found to have violated the UFLPA by sourcing cotton from Xinjiang, Temu lacks a framework to ensure compliance with the law. Not only does Temu not audit any of its roughly 80,000 third-party sellers and their compliance with the UFLPA, it has also admitted that it “does not expressly prohibit third-party sellers from selling products based on their origin in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.” Furthermore, Temu’s parent company PDD Holdings has in the past been accused of requiring its workers to work 380 hours per month, which resulted in several deaths. As such, it is possible that the two companies are effectively enabling forced labor and perpetuating human rights abuses linked to the CCP’s repression of Uyghurs.

...

While data mining for business purposes is common, Chinese apps like Temu and Shein are said to go beyond what is needed for their e-commerce activities. The scale of data that is being collected by the two companies is directly related to their marketing strategies and the emphasis on selling advertisement services. For instance, in 2022, only 20 percent of Temu’s revenue was derived from customer sales, while 80 percent came from advertising, which requires large-scale data capture and processing. Shein’s app also requests consumers to provide it with access to data from other applications, such as social media, in exchange for discounts and special deals.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1847841

Archived link

Ai Weiwei has addressed Chinese-owned AI DeepSeek’s refusal to answer questions about the artist, telling Hyperallergic that the AI chatbot’s responses recall the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategy of “denying universally accepted values while actively rejecting them in practice.”

The Chinese-owned AI assistant sent shockwaves through the global stock market this week as it dethroned ChatGPT as the number-one free application on Apple’s App Store. But its tendency to churn out responses evading historically censored topics has also become apparent. Responding to a series of questions asked by Hyperallergic about dissident artists, cultural institutions in Taiwan and Tibet, and the destruction of mosques in the Xinjiang region, DeepSeek expressed faith in China’s “judicial organs” and said that artistic endeavors were “thriving under the leadership of the Party and government.”

“Ultimately, no matter how much China develops, strengthens, or even hypothetically becomes the world’s leading power, which is likely, the values it upholds will continue to suffer from a profound and inescapable flaw in its ideological immune system: an inability to tolerate dissent, debate, or the emergence of new value systems,” Ai said in an e-mailed statement to Hyperallergic, which is reproduced in its entirety at the end of this article.

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Archived link

Ai Weiwei has addressed Chinese-owned AI DeepSeek’s refusal to answer questions about the artist, telling Hyperallergic that the AI chatbot’s responses recall the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategy of “denying universally accepted values while actively rejecting them in practice.”

The Chinese-owned AI assistant sent shockwaves through the global stock market this week as it dethroned ChatGPT as the number-one free application on Apple’s App Store. But its tendency to churn out responses evading historically censored topics has also become apparent. Responding to a series of questions asked by Hyperallergic about dissident artists, cultural institutions in Taiwan and Tibet, and the destruction of mosques in the Xinjiang region, DeepSeek expressed faith in China’s “judicial organs” and said that artistic endeavors were “thriving under the leadership of the Party and government.”

“Ultimately, no matter how much China develops, strengthens, or even hypothetically becomes the world’s leading power, which is likely, the values it upholds will continue to suffer from a profound and inescapable flaw in its ideological immune system: an inability to tolerate dissent, debate, or the emergence of new value systems,” Ai said in an e-mailed statement to Hyperallergic, which is reproduced in its entirety at the end of this article.

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Euro zone manufacturers are more worried about cheap imports from China than tariffs from the United States, a European Central Bank (ECB) survey showed on Friday.

Only half of the manufacturers contacted by the ECB in a regular poll thought their business in the euro area would be affected by U.S. tariffs.

Many pointed out they were already producing "local for local" and some were only exporting highly sophisticated, hard to substitute products to the United States.

The "overriding concern", however, was about the indirect impact, with more imports coming to the European Union from China if trade with the United States is curtailed.

"In the absence of protective EU measures, this led more contacts to expect a negative effect on prices in their sector in the euro area than a positive one," the ECB said.

"In the event of protective measures and retaliation leading to a more generalised tariff war, it was much more likely that costs and prices would rise."

The quarterly telephone survey also showed manufacturers were laying off staff or hiring fewer as they tried to cut costs. It pointed to stable prices in manufacturing and at most moderate increases in services.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1840283

European law enforcement conducted raids at 14 properties across Barcelona (4), Madrid (9), and Toledo (1) in Spain, and one property in Zagreb in Croatia. These operations resulted in 30 arrests, among which were the leaders of the criminal network. In addition, EUR 180 000 in cash was also seized, alongside weapons, 70 passports, equipment to falsify passports and visas, narcotic substances, 10 high-end vehicles and 33 mobile phones. A total of 33 victims – Chinese and Vietnamese nationals – were also safeguarded.

This investigation builds on the dismantling of Europe’s largest Chinese prostitution ring in February 2023. Digital evidence seized during that operation has since then been meticulously analysed, including at a forensic sprint held at Europol’s headquarters in March 2023. During this sprint, experts from nine countries extracted tens of terabytes of data from hundreds of confiscated mobile phones.

The new intelligence provided unprecedented insights into the methods used by Chinese criminal networks in Europe, revealing a sophisticated division of labour and reliance on crime-as-a-service actors.

...

European law enforcement conducted raids at 14 properties across Barcelona (4), Madrid (9), and Toledo (1) in Spain, and one property in Zagreb in Croatia. These operations resulted in 30 arrests, among which were the leaders of the criminal network. In addition, EUR 180 000 in cash was also seized, alongside weapons, 70 passports, equipment to falsify passports and visas, narcotic substances, 10 high-end vehicles and 33 mobile phones. A total of 33 victims – Chinese and Vietnamese nationals – were also safeguarded.

This investigation builds on the dismantling of Europe’s largest Chinese prostitution ring in February 2023. Digital evidence seized during that operation has since then been meticulously analysed, including at a forensic sprint held at Europol’s headquarters in March 2023. During this sprint, experts from nine countries extracted tens of terabytes of data from hundreds of confiscated mobile phones.

The new intelligence provided unprecedented insights into the methods used by Chinese criminal networks in Europe, revealing a sophisticated division of labour and reliance on crime-as-a-service actors.

...

Archived

There have been protests against alleged corruption and deadly negligence after a railway station collapse in November killed 15.

Vucevic was mayor of Novi Sad before becoming prime minister in elections last April. His successor as mayor also resigned on Tuesday. Protesters claim the Chinese consortium responsible for renovating parts of Novi Sad station had bypassed safety regulations with the ­assistance of corrupt officials.

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There is a growing perception that the president [Vucic, who is now about to decide whether to form a majority government or hold a snap parliamentary election] is trying to quash democratic freedoms in Serbia and turn the country back towards Moscow, despite ­Belgrade’s formal efforts to join the European Union. Serbia is a candidate to join the bloc but must first normalise relations with its neighbour Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia after a Nato intervention in 1999 that brought an end to Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1840090

Archived

Germany is under attack from China, a senior German opposition MP has warned, as Berlin grapples with a fresh wave of cyber attacks and espionage plots.

Roderich Kiesewetter, the crisis prevention spokesman for the centre-Right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said Germans needed to stop thinking of China as a “partner”.

“Many in Germany are turning a blind eye … China is no longer a partner, but a systemic rival that is attacking us,” Mr Kiesewetter, a former colonel in the Bundeswehr, told The Telegraph.

“Germany is at the centre of Chinese hybrid influence operations in Europe – it uses all the tools in its toolbox; espionage, sabotage, lawfare, repression and disinformation,” added Mr Kiesewetter, who is also the deputy chairman of the German parliament’s intelligence committee.

His comments are a major intervention in Germany, where China wields immense influence over the economy despite rising tensions over Beijing’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and apparent plans to invade Taiwan.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1840090

Archived

Germany is under attack from China, a senior German opposition MP has warned, as Berlin grapples with a fresh wave of cyber attacks and espionage plots.

Roderich Kiesewetter, the crisis prevention spokesman for the centre-Right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said Germans needed to stop thinking of China as a “partner”.

“Many in Germany are turning a blind eye … China is no longer a partner, but a systemic rival that is attacking us,” Mr Kiesewetter, a former colonel in the Bundeswehr, told The Telegraph.

“Germany is at the centre of Chinese hybrid influence operations in Europe – it uses all the tools in its toolbox; espionage, sabotage, lawfare, repression and disinformation,” added Mr Kiesewetter, who is also the deputy chairman of the German parliament’s intelligence committee.

His comments are a major intervention in Germany, where China wields immense influence over the economy despite rising tensions over Beijing’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and apparent plans to invade Taiwan.

...

Archived

Germany is under attack from China, a senior German opposition MP has warned, as Berlin grapples with a fresh wave of cyber attacks and espionage plots.

Roderich Kiesewetter, the crisis prevention spokesman for the centre-Right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said Germans needed to stop thinking of China as a “partner”.

“Many in Germany are turning a blind eye … China is no longer a partner, but a systemic rival that is attacking us,” Mr Kiesewetter, a former colonel in the Bundeswehr, told The Telegraph.

“Germany is at the centre of Chinese hybrid influence operations in Europe – it uses all the tools in its toolbox; espionage, sabotage, lawfare, repression and disinformation,” added Mr Kiesewetter, who is also the deputy chairman of the German parliament’s intelligence committee.

His comments are a major intervention in Germany, where China wields immense influence over the economy despite rising tensions over Beijing’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and apparent plans to invade Taiwan.

...

Archived

The sanctions reportedly entail a complete ban on broadcasting, distributing, and promoting the content of these outlets. E.U. Internet providers will be required to block access to these resources.

• RT and Sputnik are already under sanctions in Europe. Several other pro-Kremlin media outlets are banned in specific E.U. countries, mainly in the Baltic states.

• A day earlier, on January 28, Bloomberg reported that the next E.U. sanctions package could cut more Russian banks off from the SWIFT banking system and impose new restrictions on more than 70 “shadow fleet” tankers involved in shipping Russian oil.