Global tech correspondent for The New York Times Paul Mozur 孟建國 and China reporter Muyi Xiao 肖慕漪 discuss their investigations tracking China's surveillance state. Australians can watch the full report here: 9now.com.au/under-investig…

NEW: UAE's national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, oversees big AI firm G42 with CEO Peng Xiao. It has contracts with OpenAI and other US cos. But US spy agencies say G42 hides work with China. w/ Mark Mazzetti Vivian Nereim Paul Mozur 孟建國. nytimes.com/2023/11/27/us/…

New: Inside the battle over G42, an A.I. behemoth that U.S. intelligence believes is hiding the extent of its work with China. w/Edward Wong Paul Mozur 孟建國 Vivian Nereim nytimes.com/2023/11/27/us/…

The mystery of disappearing likes on anti-Musk tweet. So much for Musk’s free speech commitment. But now there is evidence 1/

Russia’s FSB pushing for even more data for an ever-growing online surveillance apparatus built by a constellation of contractors. They already have lots of location data, but payments would add to the features I’ve seen in their domestic spy software: meduza.io/en/news/2023/1…

Quite a leap in the UK. This would make their police surveillance system much closer to the type that is used in China, where the national ID card database is used by the government for its various surveillance efforts. therecord.media/uk-passport-da…

Wang Xing is the Founder and CEO of Meituan, China's Uber Eats equivalent with more than 600 million registered users.

Today Wang deleted all of his Weibo posts from the last 6 months. Not a great sign -- Beijing already fined his company $100 mil USD back in 2021.

not unbelievable at all

For more on how drones are used in Ukraine, the many ways soldiers have innovated during the wars, how the supply chain there has grown, and how it remains reliant on China, check out the piece. nytimes.com/2023/09/30/tec…

In the event of a more direct confrontation between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, that influence would be felt far more strongly. That should be a wake up call for policymakers on finding alternate ways to produce consumer gadgets that seem simple, but are now used as weapons.

The quiet but critical role China plays in the Ukraine war is the product of decades of industrial policy. The new blocks are a reminder Chinese officials will use that role as the conflict becomes ever more about the industrial capacity of Russia, Ukraine, and their supporters.

The US can’t make the huge numbers of cheap high quality drones critical for front line reconnaissance. Optimists said it would take at least 2 years for US/Europe, if determined, to begin to catch up. Ukraine is working on it too, this is a Ukrainian drone w/out China parts.

It’s a major strategic point the U.S. must deal with. The US may have choke holds on microchips, but China’s ability to quickly produce huge numbers of cheap gadgets, like drones, is arguably a similarly powerful advantage. In Ukraine, there is no alternative to Chinese drones.

They complained of Chinese orders slowed down, problems getting key parts, many worried about new rules limiting exports that took effect in Sept. The reality is in a war fought with consumer electronics, China’s dominance of the electronics supply chain gives it big influence.

On a recent reporting trip to Ukraine to understand the evolution of drone usage on the front lines, I was surprised at a refrain that came up over and over from Ukraine's fast-growing industry of drone makers: we need to be less reliant on China. nytimes.com/2023/09/30/tec…

More than any conflict in history, the war in Ukraine is a war of drones. On the front lines, that often means cheap consumer drones that do recon or act as cheap missiles. Most come from China. In recent months, they been become ever harder to get. nytimes.com/2023/09/30/tec…