China “remains the world’s worst abuser of internet freedom” for the ninth year in a row as the communist regime is pushing to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) technology to exert increased control over information available to its citizens, according to a new report by Freedom House. The Washington-based nonprofit organization on Oct. 4 released the report titled “Freedom on the Net 2023: The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence.” China scored 9 out of 100, ranking at the bottom of the internet freedom list. The report provides an overall picture of internet freedom in 70 countries worldwide, representing 89 percent of the world’s internet users. The findings were based on multiple questions focusing on three main categories—including obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights—to determine each country’s score on a 100-point scale....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/china-ranks-bottom-on-internet-freedoms-list-for-9th-consecutive-year-report-5505177
Reports of Huawei Technologies’ chip breakthrough are “incredibly disturbing,” says Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Huawei, a Chinese multinational tech giant, stunned global markets in September when it unveiled a significant 7-nanometer semiconductor breakthrough that ostensibly defied U.S. sanctions. The smartphone chip—named the Kirin 9000S—integrates the process and components for 5G connectivity. This has Huawei’s new Mate 60 smartphones to record download speeds linked to 5G. The chip was manufactured by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), a firm placed on a U.S. trade blacklist called the Entity List in 2020. Huawei was added to it in 2019. Companies on this list are prohibited from purchasing and using U.S.-based technology....
WASHINGTON—China’s communist leadership will invade Taiwan if it believes uncoerced unification with the island is not viable by mid-century, according to experts. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must believe there is a chance to unify Taiwan with the mainland if it is to refrain from starting a war for the island, said Chad Sbragia, a research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses think tank. “It’s up to [China] to determine what the degree of unification or the progress toward unification is. But, absent that, it looks like conflict is extremely likely,” Mr. Sbragia said during an Oct. 5 forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank....
Finding a home to buy in Japan has become part of the travel agenda of many affluent Chinese visitors, according to a real estate platform serving the Chinese community in Japan. This has occurred as Japan becomes the top choice for outbound travel among Chinese tourists during the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 8-day long National Day holiday, which began on Sept. 29. Well-to-do Chinese visitors used to buy properties as investments but are now buying properties as their primary residence, according to Shenjumiausuan, the biggest platform service that provides Japanese real estate information, mainly to customers in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong....