MI6 Helped Chinese Hypersonic Missile Scientist Defect to ... - 看中国

Jan 28 - Feb 10, 2022

US?NW Edition

NATION

GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images

CHINA

KATU Interviews Director of Human Rights Thriller `Unsilenced'

The Brunt of a Nation: How China's One-Child Policy Affected Thousands of Families

By Vision Times Staff

Agood box office premiere of Unsilenced came off across the country, as well as at Portland's Eastport Plaza Cinemark / Century 16. Showings have been extended due to popular demand to Feb 2.

The timely subject of this film -- which tells the story of Chinese standing up to their government during the early days of the persecution of Falun Gong -- and its challenging production process also featured in a KATUhosted live TV interview with "Unsilenced" Director Leon Lee.

Due to the subject and the Chinese Communist Party's influence beyond Chinese borders, the production was met with near-insurmountable interference, despite filming taking place in democratic Taiwan.

The fear of Chinese occupation runs deep in Taiwan.

Leon Lee

"The fear of Chinese occupation runs deep in Taiwan, and people are generally on edge." Leon Lee said.

In a review, LA Times calls Unsilenced "a moving portrait of conscious resistance in the face of political oppression"; a Boston Globe opinion piece refers to it as "a powerful and affecting film"; American Thinker considers it a "masterful production".

With the Beijing Olympics, State abuses in China are in the spotlight again. However, no theatrically released movie (except for documentaries) has ever focused on current human rights issues in China, due to the Chinese regime's enormous influence on Hollywood.

Unsilenced will be the first movie that does just that.

A thriller based on true events, Unsilenced tells the story of a jaded American reporter, and grad students at an elite college in Beijing. When the Chinese Communist Party launches a brutal persecution against 100 million citizens in 1999, they risk everything to expose the deadly propaganda and fight for freedom.

Winner of the Audience Award at the 2021 Austin Film Festival, Unsilenced stars Anastasia Lin (Miss World Canada) and Sam Trammell ('True Blood', 'Homeland').

Military vehicles carrying DF-17 missiles participate in a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.

MI6 Helped Chinese Hypersonic Missile Scientist

Defect to West: Report

By Todd Crawford Vision Times

Achinese rocket scientist with intimate knowledge concerning China's recently unveiled hypersonic missile technology has defected to the West and is now under the hospices of a United State's intelligence agency, the CIA.

The rocket technician, a Chinese national in his 30's, with ties to China's state owned Aviation Industry Corp of China, reportedly helped develop China's mid-range hypersonic boost-glide vehicle, a missile delivery system that can circumvent the globe and deliver a payload practically anywhere on earth.

The scientist defected not because of political grievances with Beijing but because he was passed over for promotion, Express reported.

An intelligence asset familiar with the matter told reporters, "His decision to make contact wasn't taken on ideological grounds but rather in a firm belief that his talents should be

recognised and more greatly appreciated."

In late September last year, the scientist approached a British intelligence asset in Hong Kong and disclosed that he possessed detailed information about China's hypersonic glide vehicle. Secure in the knowledge that he would face execution, should he be apprehended by Chinese authorities, the scientist demanded asylum for himself, his wife and child.

MI6 assigned a three-person team to his case composed of two intelligence officers and a technical specialist and informed their counterparts in the United States, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), of the defection.

MI6 operatives were initially skeptical and reportedly thoroughly investigated the defector in order to eliminate the possibility that he could be a Beijing plant.

Once his story was confirmed, MI6 concocted a plan to get him and his family out of China developing a special route to transport them to a secure location.

He was met by the MI6 team

To date, Russia and China are the only two nations that have successfully tested hypersonic missile technology.

in Hong Kong as well as two operatives working with the CIA, was debriefed, then flown out of the country to a U.S. air base in Germany. He then traveled to the United States via the UK and is presumably under the protection of the CIA.

The defector is said to have significant personal knowledge of China's hypersonic missile technology and that he even managed to smuggle out some technical data.

Hypersonic missiles can travel at blistering speeds in excess of

Mach 5 making them all but impossible to defend against with current anti-missile technology. The missiles do not even need an explosive payload to cause significant damage. The kinetic energy these missiles create could destroy many targets without the need for an explosive payload.

To date, Russia and China are the only two nations that have successfully tested hypersonic missile technology and North Korea has claimed to have the tech but experts are doubtful. Recent tests by the United States have been unsuccessful. The defector may be a boon for the development of hypersonic missile tech in the United States.

An intelligence source said, "The fact we are in possession of certain details about the operational capability of this hypersonic glide missile puts us in a position we did not expect to be in at this time," adding that, "It will probably buy us two years. We estimate it will take China two years to be able to make changes in its programme sufficiently substantial as to render this intelligence ineffective. In this sphere, two years is a very long time," Express reported.

By Victor Westerkamp Vision Times

European farmers are facing skyrocketing fertilizer prices which leave them no other choice than to cut down production and pass the costs on to consumers.

Responsible for the current fertilizer crisis are persistent

How Fertilizer Shortages Are Impacting European Food Prices

gas shortages, export curbs, and trade embargoes.

Fertilizers supplying winter crops have become remarkably more costly in recent months,

which will lessen the returns per hectare significantly coming spring harvest, particularly if unfortunate weather circumstances, like freezing

temperatures or droughts, come into play, posits a Jan. 21 article by Bloomberg.

Continued on A5

By Alina Wang Vision Times

17-year-old Liu Xuezhou did his homework while his mother hovered over him, muttering to herself and shaking her head in disapproval.

"Why did you have to be such a burden?" she would routinely say to him.

Liu was only a newborn when he was sold by his birth parents in 2005. Years later, after the family that took him in as a baby died in an accident, he posted a video on social media asking for help in reuniting with his "long-lost parents."

Though Liu was successful in finding them, what he thought would be a welcomed reunion, soon turned out to be another devastating blow. According to Liu, things were going relatively well at first, but things took a turn for the worse after he reportedly asked his birth parents for financial help.

When Liu asked if he could move in with them or for financial assistance in buying or renting a home, they cut off all communication with him instead. Liu said his mother even blocked him on messaging platform WeChat to prevent him from finding her.

Continued on A3

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A2 | Jan 28 - Feb 10, 2022

NATION

San Jose Passes Law Mandating Gun Insurance,

Critics Question Constitutionality

By Jonathan Walker Vision Times

On Jan. 25, the San Jose City Council voted to approve a measure that will require gun owners to have insurance for their firearms to cover any damages caused by the guns. Gun owners will also be required to pay an annual fee of $25 that will be used to counter gun violence and provide funds to victims of such violence.

"We have seen how insurance has reduced auto fatalities over several decades, for example, by incentivizing safer driving and the purchase of cars equipped with airbags and antilock brakes... Similarly, gun liability insurance available today on the market can adjust premiums to encourage gun owners to use gun safes, install trigger-locks, and take gun safety classes," Democratic Mayor Sam Liccardo said before the vote.

He believes that taxpayers in San Jose spend $442 million every year on gun-related costs.

After the vote, the mayor thanked his council colleagues "who continue to show their commitment to reducing gun violence." The new measures will help build up a "constitutionally compliant path" to limit "unnecessary suffering" among community members, he added. The insurance proposal was passed with a vote of 10-1 while the annual fee of $25 was approved by a vote of 8-3. The ordinance needs one more approval next month, after which it is expected to come into effect in August.

The votes were cast after a heated debate. Individuals against the new gun regulations stated that it won't solve gun violence and will only end up punishing law-abiding gun owners. One member pointed out that no one can tax a constitutional right and asked

lawmakers to focus their efforts on enforcing existing laws.

"We've opposed this ordinance every step of the way and we will see this through to the end... If the San Jose City Council actually votes to impose this ridiculous tax on the Constitutional right to gun ownership, our message is clear and simple: see you in court," Dudley Brown told CNN prior to the vote. Brown is the president of the National Association for Gun Rights and executive director of the National Foundation for Gun Rights.

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, threatened a lawsuit once the law comes into effect. Paredes said the requirement is "totally unconstitutional in any configuration."

"We have freedom of religion, you can't tax religion. We have freedom of association, we can gather together and we can't be taxed... The same is true with the

Gun owners in San Jose might soon have to insure their firearms.

Second Amendment. You can't put preconditions on it," Paredes stated.

San Diego County supervisors voted to formally adopt an ordinance that will ban the creation or distribution of "ghost

guns" as well as mandate the safe storage of firearms. The vote, which passed 3-2, was held on Jan. 25.

Ghost guns refer to firearms that do not have serial numbers necessary to identify them. Such

Brett_Hondow via Pixabay

guns are usually made up of homemade components. The ordinance prohibits 3D printing of firearms or related components and updates definitions of firearms to include ghost guns as well as their parts.

Bitcoin's Volatility Worries Some Investors

By Jonathan Walker Vision Times

The cryptocurrency market is volatile. Crypto coins can decrease in value as quickly as they can increase. Bitcoin is the most valuable cryptocurrency in the world that some believe could become a global reserve currency. But over the last several months, it's fluctuated a great deal.

When compared to its all-time high, Bitcoin is currently trading at roughly 50 percent. The decline in cryptos like Bitcoin mirrors the decline in stocks that have been falling since the beginning of 2022.

"The thing with bitcoin is that when it begins to fall, the price action drops like there is no tomorrow," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, stated in a note to clients.

He also pointed out that the

month of January usually tends to be a very volatile month for cryptocurrencies. Russia, which is one of the leading Bitcoin miners in the world, is presently looking to ban the mining of digital currencies. Aslam believes it may also be contributing to the decline of bitcoin.

In November, Bitcoin hit a peak of above $68,700. Since then, it has been on a downslide. At present, it is trading at around $34,550. Investors were hoping that the

price would find resistance at the $35,000 level and bounce back.

In an interview with CNBC, Vijay Aiyyar, the vice president of corporate development and international expansion at Luno, a global cryptocurrency company, said that Bitcoin will soon test the $30,000 to $32,000 level. If the $30,000 level holds for at least a week, a base could be formed and the market could eventually head higher.

However, John Roque of 22V

Crypto coins can decrease in value as quickly as they can increase.

Research believes Bitcoin could fall even more. He points out that the median historical bear

market for Bitcoin is around 78 percent. Since Bitcoin is roughly 50 percent from its high, there is space for the digital currency to fall further.

"It's possible that macroeconomic concerns, such as the Fed's response to inflation rates, have facilitated more de-risking activity in general... The recent price drop, coupled with high volatility, could be leading to further selling as participants look to reduce risk," Juthica Chou, head of OTC options trading at Kraken, told the media outlet.

Boat Suspected of Being Used for Human Smuggling Capsizes Off Florida Coast, One Dead, 38 Missing

By Darren Maung Vision Times

On Wednesday, Jan. 26, rescue workers responded to the capsizing of a commercial vessel off the coast of Florida, confirming at least one death and 38 others missing. Only one victim was found alive after what is believed to be an attempted migrant crossing.

On Tuesday, the crew of a private tugboat, the Signet Intruder, spotted a lone confirmed survivor clinging to the overturned vessel.

"We were towing a very large barge that was roughly 2,500 feet behind us, so it (took) a little finesse to get close enough to the vessel and not cause any waves to knock the man off," Joshua Nelson, operations manager for the Jacksonville Fleet of Signet Maritime Corp -- the owner of the tug -- said in a telephone interview.

Upon rescuing the man, the crew contacted the Coast Guard,

who believed that the boat capsized around 72 kilometers (45 miles) east of the town of Fort Pierce.

After being rescued, the survivor told authorities that there were 39 other people on board the boat after it departed the Bimini Islands in the Bahamas, 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Miami, on Saturday night.

The next morning, after departing from the Bimini Islands, the ship capsized after it encountered bad weather. Reuters reported, there was a "small-craft advisory" placed in the area where the ship was sinking, that warned of "high winds and heavy seas."

Captain Jo-Ann Burdian, commander of the Coast Guard's Miami sector, said, "The waters in the northern Florida Straits can be quite treacherous."

"In cases like this, small vessels, overloaded, inexperienced operators, at night in bad weather can be incredibly dangerous," she added.

According to the survivor, no one was wearing a life jacket while

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami Commander Captain Jo-Ann F. Burdian arrives to speak during a press conference about the ongoing search for survivors of a capsized vessel on Jan. 26, 2022 in Miami, Florida.

on board the vessel. The Coast Guard is cooperating

with other government agencies to continue the search for the missing occupants of the boat,

covering an area the size of New Jersey.

Captain Burdian confirmed on Wednesday that one body was found so far. In a news

conference, she said that finding the other missing people is "[the Coast Guard's] highest priority."

However, she stressed the lowering odds of survival for the

Jan 21-Feb 2 at: Century 16 Eastport Plaza 4040 SE 82nd Ave., Portland, OR 97266

passengers as they continue to be left adrift or stranded at sea.

"It is dire. The longer they remain in the water... exposed to the marine environment... with every moment that passes, it becomes much more dire and more unlikely" that survivors will be found, she said.

The Coast Guard currently has cutter vessels and aircraft searching the entire area from Bimini to Fort Pierce -- an area as large as Rhode Island -- for the missing migrants.

The nationalities of the survivor and his fellow passengers are currently unknown.

Migrant situation The capsizing of the vessel comes following a surge of migrant crossings, with many asylum seekers hoping to reach Florida on small-scaled vessels through waters where human smuggling is commonly known.

According to Homeland Security Investigations agent Anthony Salisbury, "there's [been] an increase in these human smuggling organizations" over the last year.

"These human smuggling organizations, you're dealing with criminals," Salisbury said. "They really prey on the migrant community."

It has been reported that the Coast Guard recently stopped another vessel from the Bahamas, discovering 191 Haitian migrants believed to be en route for Florida.

Much like the recent incident, other capsized vessels have been found, with Haitian or Cuban migrants hoping to find asylum in the U.S to escape from political and economic problems plaguing Central America and the Caribbean.

Last Friday, in another ill-fated migrant crossing, 32 people were rescued from another overturned ship west of Bimini.

CHINA

Jan 28 - Feb 10, 2022 | A3

Protests Break Out Across China's Largest Cities as Authorities Try to Enforce `Zero-COVID' Measures

By Alina Wang Vision Times

With the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled to begin in 2 weeks, China's "Zero-COVID" policies have escalated around the country, prompting protests across the metropolitan cities of Tianjin, Shenzhen and Xi'an.

Out-of-town residents protesting dwindling supplies and lack of food On Jan. 20, the Chinese Health Care Commission announced 66 new confirmed cases on the 19th, including 14 cases in Tianjin -- a port city of approximately 14 million about a two-hour drive from Beijing.

A video posted on social media on Jan. 17 shows migrant workers in Tianjin breaking out in a mass protest because they had no access to food. The footage shows a man wearing a black top on the roof of a vehicle, shouting: "Migrant people have no money and no food. I just want to have food!"

A large number of police and armed forces then rushed to the scene to suppress and arrest the man, sparking public outrage.

Posts on Twitter showed that

when authorities distributed relief supplies in Tianjin's Xiqing District, Dashi Town, Li Zhuangzi Village, Chilong Xin Park, Chilong Lan Park and other communities, only Tianjin locals were given the supplies. Non-locals who rented houses in the community were not given anything, resulting in the protests that night.

In China, having official residence (hukou) in a city is crucial when it comes to receiving welfare and other privileges. Hundreds of millions of Chinese, predominantly from rural areas, live and work in cities, but do not have urban hukou.

One of the tweets read that migrants trapped in Xiqing District rioted against the government as dwindling supplies reached dangerously low levels. The person seen standing on top of the car and protesting was arrested and may be convicted of "picking fights and provoking trouble" or "subverting state power," the tweet said.

Although local officials did not make any comment in regards to the protests, some residents reported an ease in restrictions the day after the protests took place.

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute

of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 virus make a visit to the institute in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Feb.

3, 2021.

Shenzhen residents: no more lockdowns In addition to Tianjin, Shenzhen's Luohu District also broke out in protest on Jan. 19.

According to an online video, after being dissatisfied with the government's extreme confinement and control measures, some villagers in Shenzhen's Tianxin Village spontaneously took to the streets to protest. A young man was seen being arrested on the spot as local officials sent many armed police officers and vehicles to the scene.

The tweet reads: "Seen

in Shenzhen Zhuanggang Tianxin Village: a mass protest broke out! Crowds of people were seen storming police blockades, demanding the end of lockdowns. Some people were seen being arrested and taken away."

In addition, on Jan. 20, a large number of people came out of their homes to protest and demonstrate in Shenzhen's Zhuanggang Qingyun Garden over being unable to go to work due to the prolonged confinement.

Officials are now refusing to respond to reports of public

Screenshot via social media

protests in several parts of Shenzhen. Protests broke out in Xi'an against high-priced vegetables Since being subjected to a citywide lockdown on Dec. 22 last year, there have been reports of pregnant women miscarrying and patients with heart conditions in Xi'an dying after being unable to seek immediate medical attention. Truck drivers have also reported being unable to return home after long-haul drives and local residents were stuck at home for weeks without food.

Although local officials have repeatedly stressed that there are "sufficient food supplies," according to netizens, a conflict broke out in the Huacheng International District of Yanta after some properties prevented residents from leaving to buy basic supplies.

It was reported that two citizens were arrested by police for opposing the high price of vegetables sold in community shops. Homeowners were outraged by the news and gathered outside the police station to demand their release.

The tweet read: Another mass incident broke out today in Xi'an's Yanta District. Huacheng International District was closed for 35 days without food and only high-priced vegetables are being sold by the property management! The owners went downstairs to discuss their claims and were beaten up by police! Homeowners united in resistance, shouting "release"!

In response to the incident, Xi'an officials have not issued any response. One user said in the comments, "I heard a while ago that when the Chinese people have no food to eat, that's when they wake up, and it's true."

CCP Official to Xi'an Woman Inquiring About Pandemic Policy: `I Won't Tell You. Get Lost!'

By Juliet Wei Vision Times

The extended "ZeroCOVID" lockdown in Xi'an, northwestern China, that lasted nearly a month resulted in many local disruptions and tragedies for many of the city's nearly 13 million residents. Despite heavy censorship, numerous examples of callous or abusive behavior by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials were captured and spread on Chinese social media.

Among netizens, these incidents, which include expecting mothers suffering miscarriages and lying in pools of blood outside hospitals that refused to admit them, as well as people being made to verbally thank the Party for receiving food under lockdown, elicited outrage and disbelief.

Last week, a video widely circulated on online platforms showed a neighborhood cadre aggressively rebuffing a woman's inquiry about public lockdown policy.

"What requirements are there if we want to leave town? Could you let me know?" the woman can be heard asking community officials of Chanbayi Street in the Jan. 22 video.

"I won't tell you!" a man who appeared to be the officials' leader said several times in loud response, before yelling "Get lost!"

The official then appeared to strike the woman's phone out of her hand.

Many netizens commented on the video, which quickly went viral. "`Get lost' is a perfect reflection of [Chinese] bureaucratism," one post reads.

Others produced sarcastic remarks, such as "If the people all get lost, who will be left for you [officials] to lead?" or "What a fine example of official administration!" Another user suggested that the cadre's behavior was ill-suited to his rank, saying, "He's just a lowlevel official, yet his arrogance stinks to high heaven!"

`I am the leader here, shut up!' CCP officials are notorious for both abusing and flaunting

STR/AFP via Getty Images

A resident undergoes a nucleic acid test for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Xi'an in China's northern Shaanxi province on Dec. 30, 2021.

their power, earning them hatred and derision from ordinary citizens. The repeated and draconian lockdowns have only worsened the situation, with many internet users posting about their unfortunate encounters.

A video posted on Twitter on Jan. 24 shows a young man with a bloodied face explaining how, when he tried to deliver food to his hungry grandmother, cadres in a

village near Xi'an blocked his way, beat him with a stick, and smashed a brick in his face.

"I went to Xiwu Village to see my grandmother," the man says haltingly. "Sun Zhaoqi [the village cadre] hit me in the face with a brick."

An earlier video from Xi'an shows epidemic prevention staff and a self-described official berating a tenant while the latter tried to resolve a matter.

"I am the leader here, shut up!" the man, who appeared to represent a property management firm, said in the Jan. 19 video. The COVID-19 control staff said, "Tenants have no right to speak! Can you get a COVID test here! If not, go back!"

In China, business is often interconnected with the CCP, leading influential people to adopt the political term "leader" (ling dao) when dealing with those they see as below them in rank.

A netizen commenting on the video under the handle "Laozhao" described on Jan. 20 his take on the dynamic: "Higher leaders don't dare do anything that affects their position, so they hide behind and put constant pressure on these lower-level officials. They make these cadres bully the common man at the bottom."

Another comment expresses outrage at the "leader's" arrogance, saying "It seems things were better before 1949 [the year the CCP seized power] than they are now."

Young woman freezes to death at a checkpoint after waiting 16 days for entry An even more tragic event that attracted widespread attention was the death of a 29-year-old woman in Xi'an, who succumbed to the winter weather after being forced to wait 16 hours outside a checkpoint of her residence.

"Security wouldn't let her in the gate," the woman's relative, a netizen posting on Twitter as "Follow Me," said.

"My older sister was 29 years old this year, she worked at Shaanxi Zexi Supply Chain Co., Ltd., a company that helps supply the city during the lockdown," the user wrote.

"But she was suddenly fired on Dec. 31, 2021. The security guards in the West City Harbor of Huafu, Lianhu District, refused to let her in, and she was forced to stay in a car on the side of the road for 16 days in severely cold winter weather. She died in the car. A young woman was extinguished just like that."

"She was working to guarantee the people's welfare during the pandemic, but she was not even able to guarantee her own survival! She wasn't allowed into her residence just a step away, and died in her car. Here I beg society to give my sister justice!"

The Brunt of a Nation: How China's One-Child Policy Affected Thousands of Families

Continued from FRONT

Liu then took his own life on Monday, Jan. 24 shortly after posting a long essay on his Weibo account in which he described how he had endured being "called many names" by online bullies and had been "effectively abandoned twice" by his biological parents.

Liu's aunt confirmed his death with local media that evening.

The policy that disrupted a nation Liu's tragic story is not a singular one. Even as the one-child policy was lifted in 2016, many couples in China are now choosing not to have children as the cost of living in urban cities has risen exponentially.

When the one-child policy was implemented by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1979, for over three decades, men and

women were forced to undergo sterilization in an effort to control the country's booming population.

The policy was so stringenly upheld that many women were forced to have late-term abortions if they were found to be "illegally" pregnant. Chinese authorities boasted that they prevented approximately 400 million births.

Many couples in rural areas

via Liu Xuezhou/Weibo

The 17-year-old first came to national attention after posting a video asking for help in finding his birth parents.

that already had one child and got pregnant again were also forced to make the impossible decision of giving up their newborn babies in fear of being caught and facing retaliation

from the government. As a result of this, thousands

of infants -- particularly baby girls -- were adopted by families in North America and Europe throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

American families adopted about 81,600 children from China, according to data by the State Department.

Now, the Chinese government is desperately trying to reverse a plummeting birth rate as more couples opt to still have only one child or remain childless altogether.

Adopted children discover a stolen past As an infant girl of only nine days old, Zoe Halbeisen was wrapped in a blanket and left on the steps of a department store in Changzhou, China. She had been abandoned by her birth parents more than two decades ago.

Continued on A4

A4 | Jan 28 - Feb 10, 2022

CHINA

China `Purifying' Internet Content Ahead of Winter Olympics, Lunar New Year

By Todd Crawford Vision Times

On Jan. 25, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced a crackdown on "illegal" online content ahead of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics and one of the country's most important annual holidays, the Lunar New Year, a major festival that runs from January 31 to February 6.

The CAC intends to conduct a month-long "purification" campaign intended to create a "healthy, happy, and peaceful online environment."

President Xi Jinping established the internet watchdog (CAC) in 2014 in a bid to protect China's internet and data security.

The CAC's plan is to manage the home pages of key media sites, trending topic search lists, push pop-up windows and important news content pages to ensure only "positive information" is displayed to end users.

Content deemed obscene, vulgar, bloody, violent or simply

"bad information" is to be eradicated to create a "positive online atmosphere."

Content that displays extravagant wealth or spending, gluttony and heavy drinking and even fortune-telling is also on the chopping block.

China has increased its control over online content in recent years targeting "chaotic fan culture" the sports industry as well as what authorities consider "incorrect politics."

In September last year, the country made headlines when it announced a ban on "sissy" or "girly" men online and in mass media content like television shows and movies.

At the time, the country's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) instituted new measures to keep "effeminate" men off Chinese screens using the term "niang pao" or "girlie guns" to refer to men who exhibit female characteristics.

"Mukbang" videos, or videos depicting gluttonous eating habits, were also made illegal. The measure was intended not only

JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images

Workers set up an installation displaying the logo of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games along a street in Beijing on Jan. 21, 2022. China's Cyberspace Administration announced a crackdown on internet content ahead of the games intended to create an online environment that is "healthy, happy and peaceful."

to limit what content Chinese internet users are exposed to, but was also implemented as a way to curb food waste in the country.

Chinese, in violation of the law, face fines up to 100,000 yuan

($15,822) according to China's congressional website. Following the implementation of the law Chinese authorities were quick to purge all online content that ran afoul with the new law.

Internet censorship in China China's internet censorship is more comprehensive and sophisticated than any other country in the world. Sites, such as Wikipedia, YouTube

and Google are blocked on the mainland by the "Great Firewall of China."

Major internet platforms in China have been forced to establish elaborate selfcensorship mechanisms and the Chinese internet police -- tasked with enforcing laws concerning internet use -- is said to have millions of members that monitor China's some 989 million internet users.

Special administrative regions that, to date, fall outside of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) internet regulations include Hong Kong and Macau; however both regions are closely monitored by the central government.

The Great Firewall uses numerous methods to block content in China including IP dropping, DNS spoofing, deep packet inspection and active probing.

In China ISPs and internet providers are legally responsible for customer's conduct online forcing service providers to assume an editorial and publisher role when it comes to customer content. Internet providers in China are legally responsible for libel and other torts committed by customers which in effect downloads the responsibility of enforcing content rules enacted by the central government on service providers.

In Largest Sortie of the New Year, PLA Sends 39 Jets to Threaten Taiwan

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force flew 39 warplanes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday night, the largest such move since the new year.

By Alina Wang Vision Times

Taiwanese authorities reported seeing the planes fly over the selfruled island amid tensions over an increasing military presence from mainland China as Beijing pushes to assert its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The PLA formation seen on the evening of Jan. 23, included 24 J-16 fighter jets and 10 J-10 jets, among other support and electronic warfare aircraft, according to Taiwan's defense ministry.

Taiwan's air force scrambled its own jets and tracked the PLA planes on its air defense radar systems, the ministry added.

The PLA sortie occurred as

the U.S. military said that two of its carrier strike groups were sailing on Sunday in the South China Sea, led by USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln. The Pentagon said the two ships engaged in antisubmarine, air and combat readiness operations in keeping with international laws.

Communist China claims Taiwan, which is officially called the Republic of China (ROC), as part of its territory. The ROC used to rule all of China, but retreated to Taiwan in 1949 during the civil war.

The PLA has stepped up its pressure on Taiwan over the last two years, sending aerial sorties on a near-daily basis since the ROC government started regularly publishing such data. The largest sortie seen on the

same day was 56 warplanes last October.

The activity has generally been linked to the southwest of the island and falls into the ADIZ that Taiwan's military says it monitors out of national security considerations.

The mainland Chinese foreign ministry declined to comment on why the PLA had conducted the sortie on Sunday, adding that it was not a diplomatic matter and no international airspace laws had been violated.

Uncertainties over Taiwan's future Beijing has resorted to all forms of diplomatic and military means to isolate and intimidate the ROC since 1949.

In 1971, The People's Republic of China (PRC) was

STR/AFP via Getty Images

This picture taken on an undisclosed date in December 2016 shows Chinese J-15 fighter jets waiting on the deck of the Liaoning aircraft carrier during military drills in the Bohai Sea, off China's northeast coast.

handed Taiwan's U.N. seat in a 1971 decision, becoming the internationally recognized "China." This status was further boosted when the U.S. dropped official recognition for Taiwan in 1979, though the two countries continue to maintain informal relations and military cooperation.

The U.S. and some countries in the West have shown continued

support for Taiwan by selling it advanced weapons and fighter planes. In addition, the U.S. regularly carries out freedomof-navigation operations in the South China Sea, which is claimed by the PRC.

Furthermore, under its "One China principle," Beijing has insisted that any country wishing to pursue diplomatic relations with it must first

break official ties with Taiwan. This, in addition to the ROC's expulsion from the U.N. half a century ago, has resulted in Taipei being isolated from the global community.

As a result, countries that have formed diplomatic ties with Taiwan have faced retaliation from Beijing. Most recently, Lithuania was targeted by the PRC government after it decided to open a Taiwanese embassy in its capital of Vilnius in November 2021.

The diplomatic action saw China call for a corporate boycott of the small Baltic nation and cracking down not only on Lithuanian imports but also on goods from other EU countries -- such as France, Germany and Sweden -- that included parts from Lithuanian supply chains.

Diplomatic tensions have also intensified since Taiwan elected Tsai Ing-wen as president in 2016. Beijing responded by cutting off previously established communications with the island's government and increasing military surveillance on Taiwanese soil.

The Brunt of a Nation: How China's One-Child

Policy Affected Thousands of Families

Continued from A3

Zoe was soon discovered by the store's employees, who took her to a nearby orphanage. News of her discovery made headlines in the country and the employees who found her rallied around her, visiting often. Three years later, she was adopted by Valli and Stephen Halbeisen from the U.S.

Zoe, now 26, grew up believing that story.

In reality, Zoe was left there by her desperate father after a visit from government officials at his home in rural Changzhou. They demanded he and his wife give up Zoe, their second child. The couple was in violation of the country's one-child policy, and were told they would only be allowed to keep her if they paid a hefty fine ? money they did

not have. In 2019, Zoe's birth parents

finally found her after not losing hope of reuniting with their lost daughter of over 20 years.

Families reconnect thanks to DNA testing What Zoe didn't realize was that the results of a DNA test she'd taken more than a year ago -- in hopes of learning more about her medical history -- were logged into a database. And it led her to her birth parents who had also shared their DNA in hopes of one day finding her.

Zoe wrote to DNAConnect, expecting to confirm her suspicions of a scam. The email she got back was lengthy and descriptive and even included a letter from her birth parents explaining the impossible

via Netflix/Screenshot

Chloe Lipitz (center) who grew up in Washington State, is one of the subjects of a new Netflix documentary, "Found," along with her cousins Lily (left) and Sadie (right) who connected via a DNA testing service.

situation they were in that led to them giving her up.

In the letter, they outlined details no one else could have known. Her birth father, Chen Xin Zhong, wrote how they quietly watched over her for many years even after he and her two sisters moved out of Changzhou. Her mother, Wang

Xu Mei, wrote how she stayed behind hoping she would one day return.

It took Zoe weeks to believe that she was their daughter and to wrap her mind around the reality that they never stopped searching for her and did not want to give her up in the first place. Zoe decided to travel to

Shanghai in August 2019 where an emotional reunion ensued.

Zoe said the reunion allowed her to reconnect with a piece of missing identity that she wasn't aware of and brought much needed closure to her birth parents as well.

Brian Stuy is the Utah-based founder of nonprofit corporation DNAConnect. Stuy said he and his wife have been collecting DNA from families in China since 2013.

They now use that data to connect families who were "often forced or coerced into relinquishing their children because of China's one-child policy." Because the policy was in place for decades, many of the impacted children were adopted by foreign families, he said.

Extended families reunited Similarly, Chloe Lipitz from Phoenix, Arizona, was adopted from a Chinese orphanage when she was 15 months old. In seventh grade, she tried the

DNA testing service 23andMe in hopes of learning more about her birth family.

Chloe and her adoptive parents were shocked to discover that two of her cousins were also in the 23andMe database -- and they were both American adoptees around her age.

Thanks to the growing popularity of these DNA testing services, the three girls were able to connect with a Chinese agency that acted as a liaison in helping them track down and reunite with their birth families.

"I couldn't imagine that there wasn't incredible pain and anguish and questions about where these babies were and where they had ended up," Amanda Lipitz, who directed the film and is also Chloe's aunt, said of the hardships their birth parents must have endured.

Their stories were featured in a Netflix documentary called "Found" released on the streaming platform on Oct. 20, 2021.

WORLD

US Announces 8,500 Troops to Support Allies Amidst Ukraine-Russia Tensions

Jan 28 - Feb 10, 2022 | A5

By Jonathan Walker Vision Times

The Pentagon has announced that it has put 8,500 U.S. military troops in a state of "heightened readiness to deploy" at the command of President Joe Biden to provide support to its eastern allies of NATO if tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate. Russia has reportedly deployed around 127,000 troops near the Ukrainian border.

In a Jan. 24 press briefing, John Kirby, press secretary of the Department of Defense, stated that no decision with regard to the deployment of troops has been made. The 8,500 troops are only on stand-by, to be deployed immediately should the need arise.

They are expected to support

the NATO RAPID Response Force (NRF), which the organization terms is a "highly ready and technologically advanced multinational force" that is composed of air, land, and maritime Special Operations Forces (SOF) components. NRF can be deployed quickly "wherever needed."

The U.S. troops on stand-by include brigade combat teams, aviation support, medical support, logistics personnel, and those involved in surveillance, reconnaissance, and intelligence missions. Kirby pointed out that the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, also wants an unspecified number of troops to be ready for other unforeseen contingencies.

"We remain committed to the alliance and we absolutely remain committed to bolstering the capabilities of our -- of our -- of NATO's eastern flank to the degree that they desire that extra

support... I don't think anybody wants to see another war on the European continent. And there's no reason why that has to occur. This could be solved very easily by the Russian's de-escalating. By -- by moving some of these forces away, which they haven't done," Kirby said in the press briefing.

Meanwhile, the U.S is ordering its diplomats and families to leave Ukraine. Australia and the UK are also following Washington in this regard and have asked their diplomats to leave Kiev. However, Ukraine and the EU have criticized such actions, arguing that such withdrawal of embassy personnel is creating panic among people.

In an interview with Euractiv, one EU diplomat called the diplomatic withdrawal of foreign nations "ill-timed" and that the decisions to evacuate are sending the "wrong signal" to Ukrainians.

EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, called the diplomat exit "premature" and sought to calm down any fears that people may have about safety in Ukraine.

"We know very well what the degree of threats are and the way in which we must react, and no doubt we must avoid alarmist reactions... You have to stay calm doing what you have to do, and avoid a nervous breakdown," Borrell stated. Diplomats of EU nations continue to remain in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, thanked EU leaders for keeping diplomats in the country.

Within Ukraine, some are worried while others are preparing for war. A recent survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that 48.1 percent of Ukrainians think the Russian buildup of troops near the country's border points to the pos-

U.S. President Joe Biden talks on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from the Oval Office at the White House on December 09, 2021 in Washington, DC. The U.S. has put 8,500 soldiers under alert for deployment if the Ukraine-Russia situation blows up.

sibility of an invasion come spring or winter. One-third of Ukrainians are committed to taking up arms if a Russian invasion does take place.

In an interview with BBC, Andrei Volkov, an IT consultant in Kiev, called the situation in his country "dangerous" and admitted that he was making "contingency plans" in case things turn ugly. "The situation is extremely tense, I think something might

happen... Going to western Ukraine I suppose, going somewhere where it's going to be safe," he said.

"Of course I am worried. I am a peaceful woman, I don't want to have a war started. But in any case, in case it's started, I should be ready to defend the country," a 50-year-old female doctor who is part of a local defense force made up of volunteers told the media outlet.

How Fertilizer Shortages Are Impacting European Food Prices

Continued from FRONT

Natural gas limitations Nitrogen-based fertilizers are essential for spring growth in Europe. In the manufacturing process, natural gas is a key element, but has become particularly expensive in Europe over the last months due to the energy crisis..

Due to limited gas supplies "coupled with the lack of imported fertilizers, the impact will be felt even more strongly," Romanian fertilizer producer Azomures told Bloomberg. "Crops will suffer in terms of quality and final quantity."

This may mean food production will face increasing financial stress, which forces farmers to choose between paying up or slashing fertilizer usage; both scenarios may likely lead to worldwide food inflation.

"This is an ongoing story. All

the nitrogen producers in Europe will be reviewing what they do," Allan Pickett, of IHS Markit's fertilizer group, a big UK-based player on the fertilizer market, told Bloomberg in a September article on the brewing crisis.

"With gas prices where they are, we would confidently expect that there will be significant pressure on many of the ammonia producers related to the fertilizer industry," Pickett added.

Carbon dioxide--a valuable waste product Furthermore, nitrogen-based fertilizer production creates carbon dioxide as a byproduct, which in turn serves as a key ingredient for various industrial applications in food and livestock production.

However, after two fertilizer plants closed in the UK last year, many producers were in desperate need of waning CO2 supplies,

JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP via Getty Images

A farmer spreading fertilizer in his field, in Saint-Pere-en-Retz, France. The rising cost of natural gas has caused significant fertilizer shortages, which may result in a significant adverse impact on crop yields this summer.

which urged the UK government to strike a provisional deal to maintain output to prevent an instant crisis for the sector.

But the agreement is surely just an emergency solution. The

parent company of the British plants, CF Industries, said that CO2 consumers need to look for new suppliers, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jason Miner told the newspaper.

"Clearly, they're running close to margins; otherwise they wouldn't have shut down," Miner said, adding that it's "pretty likely that other plants will shut down unless natural gas prices change."

Plant closures in the UK underlined how vulnerable the situation is when global demand had already been shrinking before factories were compelled to shorten production in the aftermath of a massive hike in the cost of natural gas, a pivotal feedstock.

Shortage in numbers According to VTB Capital, a Russian investment bank, Bloomberg reported that Europe could face a first-half shortage of about 9 percent, or up to 7 million tons, of its annual nitrogen fertilizer needs in 2022.

"Grain prices at the moment

are enough to compensate for the fertilizer price," James Webster, a senior analyst at The Andersons ANDE Centre in the UK said.

"How long that stays the case depends on the future direction of markets. While it compensates, there's still a hefty bill to be paid."

This year's shortage of nitrogen fertilizers in Europe will be approximately ten percent, according to expert assessments, but it differs from country to country.

In Hungary, for instance, nitrogen fertilizer usage will dip around 30 to 40 percent this season, Gyorgy Rasko, an agricultural economist who operates farms in the country, estimated for Bloomberg.

"If there's a drought around the end of April and May, the effect could be even more devastating, since nitrogen helps plants survive dry days," Rasko said.

Canada's Freedom Convoy Poised to Break Multiple Records

By Todd Crawford Vision Times

The Freedom Convoy, now consisting of thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of trucks, making its way across Canada en-route to the nation's capital, Ottawa, to protest vaccine mandates, as well as other COVID19 measures implemented by the Trudeau government, may very well be the world's longest convoy, ever, and may even be the largest display of civil disobedience in Canadian history.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest truck convoy ever recorded was in Egypt in 2020. At the time the convoy stretched 7.5 kilometers or 4.6 miles long.

Benjamin Dichter, the spokesman for the Freedom Convoy 2022, says the Canadian convoy now stretches some 70 kilometers or 43.5 miles. "I have seen footage from an airplane. It's impressive," Dichter told the Toronto Sun.

The convoy is scheduled to arrive in Ottawa on Jan. 29 where a general protest against Canada's stringent vaccine mandates is scheduled to occur.

Truckers are converging on

the nation's capital from all over Canada. Reports of truckers joining the convoy from provinces east of Ottawa, including Quebec and Prince Edward Island, have emerged.

Reports have also surfaced that the convoy will be greeted in the Canadian province of Ontario by thousands of American truckers. Truckers from the United States are rumored to be amassing on the border, with vaccinated truckers moving into the country and unvaccinated truckers staging protests at the U.S.-Canada border.

A video of a long line of trucks, reportedly driving to Canada from South Carolina has surfaced online.

Go Fund Me confusion A GoFundMe campaign, organized by Tamara Lich, the secretary of the Maverick Party -- a Canadian political party that advocates for constitutional changes to benefit Western Canada -- originally had a goal to raise $4-million to support the convoy. The campaign quickly reached its target prompting organizers to raise the goal to $5-million. After reaching that target, in approximately one day, the goal was raised yet again to $6-million. Currently the campaign has attracted over $5.5 million in

donations. Confusion ensued after

numerous Canadian mainstream news outlets published stories claiming that the campaign was suspended, stories Dichter referred to as "fake news."

Rachel Bollis, a spokesperson for GoFundMe, told the Toronto Sun, "we are continuing to work directly with the organizer to gather information about how funds are being distributed. This is part of our standard process to ensure the protection of all donors" and "once a withdrawal plan is provided by the organizer, our team is on standby to safely

and quickly deliver the funds." Once everything is said and

done, the ongoing campaign may be the most successful GoFundMe campaign in Canadian history that organizers say is being conducted to help truckers, who are participating in the convoy, with fuel, lodging and food costs.

Largest protest in Canadian history? On Jan. 25, Theo Fleury, former NHL player and two time Olympic gold medalist, told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on her show, The Ingraham Angle, that Canada has a prime minister who has "vaccine

derangement syndrome" blasting the Canadian leader for focusing on vaccine uptake instead of the economy, supply chain disruptions, and Canadians' rights and freedoms.

"Right now in Canada we have one of the biggest revolutions happening ... there's 50-thousand truckers and about 1.4 million people headed to the parliament in Ottawa and they are going to stay there until Trudeau resigns or they give us back all of our freedoms and rights," Fleury said, adding that the convoy has "ignited the whole entire

Screenshot via Twitter

"Freedom Convoy" supporters line the highways waving flags and signs in support of thousands of truckers enroute to Canada's capital, Ottawa, where a general protest will be held on Jan. 29, 2022 against the Canadian government's COVID-19 measures including a vaccine mandate on all cross-border truckers.

country of Canada." If what Fleury says turns

out to be accurate the protest scheduled in Ottawa will be the largest protest in Canadian history.

Currently, the largest protest ever recorded in Canada occurred on October 14, 1976 under the leadership of the then prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Justin Trudeau's father.

At the time, over a million workers walked off the job across Canada as part of a general strike called by the Canadian Labour Congress to protest the federal government's plan to impose wage and price control legislation.

Despite being Canada's capital, Ottawa is a relatively small city boasting a population just over 900,000. The city is bisected by a single highway which separates the commercial and government district in the north of the city from the typically residential district in the south.

Converging 50,000 trucks and 1.4 million people in the small section of the city dedicated to parliament has the potential to bring the capital to a complete standstill.

"For the public, the convoy has become a beacon of hope that overreaching COVID-19 lockdowns, restrictions and mandates will soon come to an end," the Toronto Sun reported.

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