The Conservative Party took “swift action” and dropped potential candidates whom MI5 suspected to be Chinese spies, a minister said. Health and women minister Maria Caulfield made the remarks on Thursday after a report said the Security Service warned the party about two potential candidates in 2021 and 2022. According to The Times of London, MI5 advised that the two individuals had links to the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which is a department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee responsible for gaining political influence in and outside of China. Citing an unnamed source, the report said it had been “made very clear” that the potential candidates posed a risk, and they had subsequently been blocked without being told of the reason....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/minister-mp-candidates-dropped-after-mi5-chinese-spy-warning-5490652
China has been completing its airfield construction along the coastline facing Taiwan to gain “superior air power” against the self-ruling island, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said. The ministry released its annual defense report (pdf) on Sept. 12, the first report since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said the report would allow people to understand national security threats. “We will tell the world with our readiness and combat preparedness that we will not sit and wait for our fate to be decided,” Mr. Chiu stated. In the report, the ministry said that Beijing was building airfields and stationing new fighters and drones along the coastline of its eastern and southern theatre commands to “put pressure” on Taiwan’s air defense....
Peers made a fresh attempt on Monday to make sure suppliers involved in forced organ harvesting will be barred from getting a public contract by re-attaching a clause to the Procurement Bill. The Lords voted by 156 to 151 in support of an amendment proposed by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath. The amendment will allow a decision maker to exclude suppliers found to be involved in forced organ harvesting or in the dealings of any devices, equipment, or services related to forced organ harvesting. The amendment also includes a definition of forced organ harvesting as “killing a person without their consent so that their organs may be removed and transplanted into another person.”...
Universities in communist China have reported losing quite a few academics and ideological leaders over the past three months. From June to August this year, at least 20 cadres in universities, all members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), died of illness. More than 10 were the highest-level cadres of their university, such as university president, deputy president, Party head, or deputy Party head. These 20 people include renowned scholars Teng Teng, former deputy Party head of Tsinghua University and former president of the University of Science and Technology of China, as well as Wang Yingluo, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering....