- Hafnium cyberattack becomes state affair
- Education level endangers growth in China
- Taiwan’s successful pandemic management
- Fight for the pineapple: Taiwan counters China’s import ban
- EPP presents position paper on China
- China welcomes lawsuit against German researcher Zenz
- US firms: improved investment climate
- Nils Schmid: no decoupling from China
2021 is the year of the German federal election. What is the SPD’s position on China? Nils Schmid, the SPD’s representative on the Foreign Affairs Committee, outlines the party’s China policy in today’s Opinion. He diagnoses a “mutual dependence” that makes cooperation necessary. But as a partner, one must also be allowed to honestly discuss mistakes and voice criticism.
Scott Rozelle has spent almost 40 years researching China’s education system. In 2008, the development economist received the Friendship Award of the People’s Republic – the country’s highest honor for foreign experts. In his new book “Invisible China“, Rozelle shows that the low level of education in the country could fall on China’s toes in a few years. The education system does not prepare people to survive in a highly developed economy. Especially in rural areas, there is a lack of good schools. And too many children suffer from health problems that further limit their education.
Which lessons Germany can learn from other countries’ pandemic responses is hotly debated. Felix Lee has examined the Taiwanese government’s largely exemplary approach. His conclusion: A good mix of quarantine regulations, a sophisticated contact tracing system, early readiness to wear masks, and a well-equipped healthcare system has saved Taiwan from a major wave of infection.
Beijing is trying to put political pressure on its neighbors through trade boycotts. After Australian wine, now pineapples from Taiwan are affected. Marcel Grzanna analyses the consequences of these boycotts and shows how the island republic is fighting back.
Nico Beckert
Feature
Hafnium cyber attack becomes state affair
Microsoft was very clear on one point: “The group, we understand, has ties to state actors and operates out of China.” On Monday and Tuesday, the attackers continued to exploit vulnerabilities in tens of thousands of servers running the company’s software – including in Germany. Microsoft calls the group “Hafnium,” but that’s just a code name used by investigators, not the hackers’ self-designation.
The attack is now escalating into a state affair as the Biden administration takes it personally. Finally, US agencies are also working with Exchange. The president’s spokeswoman called the activities an “active threat,” announced the deployment of special investigators, and pointed out that the CIA intelligence agency is involved. The USA regularly invokes an agreement between former President Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in such cases. The two countries agreed to a digital truce in 2015. This makes the anger over continued attacks all the greater.
However, Microsoft and the US Department of Homeland Security did not provide any direct evidence that the Chinese state was actually behind the attacks. In fact, several hacker groups from different countries have attempted to exploit the vulnerability, which was noticed months ago. Freelance journalist Brian Krebs, who first reported on the case, clearly speaks of “aggressive Chinese groups” but leaves open whether state services are behind it.
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