The Standard

Week In Reivew: International

**** Chinese censhorship officials announced that two cartoon characters would begin popping up on web users computers screens every half an hour to discourage Chinese citizens from visiting websites that might 'disrupt social stability.'

**** The European Central Bank reduced its forecast for Eurozone growth.

**** The Bank of England and UK government officials publicly criticized banks for the irresposible lending and borrowing practices that made them susceptible to the sub-prime crisis. The BofE announced a 'tough love' approach, pledging it would not cut rates and let the market purify itself, while making some concessions and offering bail out capital.

**** Russia tested what it called the largest non-nuclear bomb in the world to top off a long, hot summer during which it withdrew from a Cold War arms treaty, renewed long-range bomber flights over the North Atlanitc, and introdcued anti-western history textbooks.

**** In other Russia news, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko implicated the Russian government in the election-year poisoning he suffered in 2004.

China to Censor with Cartoon Characters

So it appears the Pubilc Security Ministry of China is doing its work.

Who are they? You ask?

They're the 30,000 people hired by the Central Propaganda Department to monitor the internet for political threats like the folk song written recently by civics teacher, Li Hua.

Mr. Li sung that local Communist party officials had "sold us like pigs, sold our flesh and sold our doo-doo" after his school was swallowed up by a larger private institution in which the officials had a financial stake.

Mr. Li posted the critique on the internet, getting himself seven days of jail-time (no trial), two interrogations, and the pleasure of writing a note criticizing his own inappropriate behavior.

Mr. Li, it's clear, did not have the benefit of knowing beforehand just how closely Chinese censors patroled the internet.

But fear not.

The Public Security Ministry has recently introduced two little cartoon characters in police uniforms that will pop up (every half an hour) on internet users webscreens to remind them that they're being monitored.

Chinese officials hope that these will discourage such rabid dissidents as Mr. Li from "disrupting social stability" ahead of the Communist Party Congress in October.

China Hacked Pentagon Computers

The Financial Times has reported that the Chinese military successfully attacked the computers of the US Department of Defense.

Reports say that the US was forced to shut down a part of the Pentagon computer system.

Some good speak here:

"Another person familiar with the event said there was a 'very high level of confidence...tending toward total certainty' that the People's Liberation Army was responsible."

Translation:

China did it.

Bad Habits

Hacking into the computer systems of Western governments is becoming a regular past time for the Chinese military.

Last week, you may or may not remember, Spiegel reported that the China had hacked into the computer systems of various German government ministries.

Hmm...

I've been thinking...

You know... Germany is getting cyber-attacked by China... the US Department Defense is getting cyber-attacked by China...

The US and Germany have this history of cooperation thing. Both democracies. Cold War allies. Then there's that whole free market and efficiency thing we have in common.

Maybe somebody wants to say the word 'NATO'. Or 'free world'. Loudly.

Oh, don't worry Beijing. Google or Yahoo! can block that search, too.

Nobody outside of the communist party will have to know.

Der Spiegel: Chinese PLA Hacked German Government Computers

German Der Spiegel reports that Chinese spyware was detected in mulitple German government computer networks.

These included the chancellery, the foreign ministry, and the ministries of economy and research.

German intelligence services discovered the operation in May.

Information networks were infected with "Trojan" spyware when Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files containing the virus were opened.

Hackers based in the northwest Chinese province, Lanzhou, used this software to steal German governmental information on a daily basis until German intelligence services took countermeasures.

German officials told Spiegel they believed the People's Liberation Army of China was directing the operations.

China's rapid economic development over the last decade has also seen it rise as a more potent player in the international game of power.

In mid-August, the Chinese and Russian militaries staged war games in Russia to mark the end of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summit. The war games brought together 6,000 military personnel from Russia, China, and four other Central Asian nations.