"National security is the foundation of national rejuvenation. In adhering to the overall concept of national security, we resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, safety, and development interests." On August 1, 2023, the official WeChat account of China's Ministry of State Security made its debut with these powerful words, becoming an important window, through which the whole society could gain an understanding of the work conducted by national security agencies.

China's national security agencies are responsible for counter-espionage work, while also undertaking functions such as safeguarding political agency and overseas security. The national security agencies have always been shrouded in mystery, representing a covert front line with special status and missions. They have played an important role in defending the state power, maintaining social harmony and stability, and protecting people's lives and property.

To mark the fourth Chinese People's Police Day which falls on January 10, Global Times reporters went to two border towns in North and South China - Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, to conduct in-depth interviews with local national security officers, who faithfully practice the pledge of dedicated service to the people.

Head-to-head frontline battles

Manzhouli is covered in white snow amid the howling wind in December 2023. The city stands near the boundary marker of the China-Mongolia-Russia tri-border, and a borderline that stretches over 1,000 kilometers. Officers from the national security bureau of Manzhouli told the Global Times that this special geographical location has always made the city an important channel and springboard for hostile forces to infiltrate and sabotage the country. The continued sagas of silent struggles of infiltration and counter-infiltration, subversion and counter-subversion, and division and counter-division play out here on a regular basis.

During her first mission, Li Yue (pseudonym), a Generation-Z officer from the national security bureau in Manzhouli, experienced the acuteness and complexity of these struggles.

Similar to a plot straight out of a film, Li Yue had to disguise herself as a waitress in a restaurant to get closer to a suspect, in order to coordinate with her colleagues' next move.

"In the few steps that it took for me to come face to face with him, I tried to maintain my cool, not allowing myself to show any hint of nervousness. Trained professionals quickly notice such things, so I had to meet his gaze with a placid one," Li Yue recalled.

Like any ordinary waitress, she greeted the suspect with a smile, led him to his seat, offered him a glass of water, took his order, and also attended to the rest of the diners. "My colleagues and I did a lot of work beforehand, making contingency plans for various possible eventualities. The suspect would never know that a covert operation was fully underway."

Shortly after this mission, Li Yue changed her online handle to "actor." Exquisite "acting" skills were just some of the many skills and qualities possessed by the national security officers. The success of each operation relies on meticulous planning, creative thinking, strong psychological resilience, and unwavering courage.

Thousands of miles away on the Southwest China's border region, Xishuangbanna national security bureau officers guard the region with Laos and Myanmar, which stretches for nearly a thousand kilometers. Their main task is to prevent foreign spies and intelligence personnel from infiltrating or fleeing from China.

In 2015, the Xishuangbanna bureau successfully cracked down on an espionage case that was remotely plotted by a foreign intelligence agency. In August of that year, the bureau received a tip from higher-level authorities that a man surnamed Li, who used to work in an important governmental department, had been subverted and recruited as a spy by a foreign intelligence agency while studying abroad. Signs showed that Li was about to escape the country recently, very possibly via Xishuangbanna.

After receiving the arrest order, the officers of the Xishuangbanna bureau carefully analyzed Li's possible escape routes, mobilized all forces to set up checkpoints and surveillance, and finally tracked him down.

Song Bin (pseudonym), a Xishuangbanna bureau official who participated in the operation to arrest Li, told the Global Times that "during the operation, we found that Li was using various anti-surveillance methods to evade arrest. Various signs indicated that there were personnel from foreign spy intelligence agencies behind him [who had taught him how to evade police detection]."

On the sixth day of the arrest operation, Li arrived at an exit channel on the Xishuangbanna border. National security officials from the Xishuangbanna bureau, who were disguised as boat operators, waited at the exit channel and noticed that Li matched the photo in the arrest warrant and made their approach.

"We asked to see his identity (ID) card if he wanted to take our boat to go abroad. He provided us with a fake ID card, which showed his registered place of residence as Southwest China's Sichuan," Song said.

The Xishuangbanna bureau police would not be able to arrest Li if they could not confirm his identity, otherwise it would alert the target and the operation would fail. At this critical moment, one of the officials, who was familiar with various dialects in the southwest, had a brilliant idea: Now that Li had pretended to be a Sichuan native, why not converse with him in the Sichuan dialect?

This sudden "test" caught Li off-guard, and his expression changed drastically, revealing his guilt. The Xishuangbanna bureau officials then confirmed his identity as the fleeing suspect. The officers also immediately revealed their identities before taking Li into custody while he pleaded not to be arrested.
Silent, dangerous mission

In the process of safeguarding national security, national security officials have also demonstrated their great spirit of dedication and sacrifice.

"We often have to face unexpected dangers, and in some critical moments, we can only put our lives on the line," an official from the Xishuangbanna bureau surnamed Yan told the Global Times.

Yan recounted an instance in which a person suspected of engaging in activities that endangered national security fled to Xishuangbanna with the intention of leaving the country. During the arrest operation, while not sure of whether the suspect was armed, Yan and several other Xishuangbanna bureau officials decisively charged forward.

"Although he was alone, he had received relevant military training and had a mindset of fighting to the death. At that critical moment, we didn't have time to think; we could only rush forward and firmly restrain him. Fortunately, his luggage only contained cash and some forged documents," Yan said.

Being able to endure hard work and loneliness is how many national security officers evaluate their own work. Jiang Dingbian (pseudonym), an officer from the national security bureau in Manzhouli, has devoted himself to security operations for nearly 30 years. He told the Global Times that those officers have to make long-term contingency preparations for every case. "It may take three to five years, or even more than a decade, to track down just one lead."

The national security bureau in Manzhouli once arrested a target that had been under surveillance for years. Jiang spent three years in analyzing thousands of pieces of information before finally discovering evidence of the target's involvement in other illegal activities.

In order to promptly identify all possible risks, the national security bureau in Manzhouli has set up a room that is less than 20 square meters, where national security officers work in shifts around the clock. For a long time, this small space had no air conditioning and the water supply would occasionally be cut off. In the summer, the national security officers would often be drenched in sweat, while in the winter, they had to endure the freezing cold wind constantly seeping in through the cracks in the window at minus 30 C.

"Some cases have made no progress after years of effort, which made me wonder whether it was worth persisting. But we cannot overlook any potential national security risks and threats. This is our original intention and our duty," Li Yue said.

Whole-society defense line

National security is the common aspiration and fundamental interest of all ethnic groups in the country. Safeguarding national security is also the shared responsibility of all ethnic groups in the country.

Manzhouli national security bureau officer Li Bin (pseudonym) said that since the first National Security Education Day on April 15, 2016, the whole society has become more actively involved in various efforts to safeguard national security.

On one hand, the government, institutions, enterprises, and individuals actively cooperate with national security work and provide support. On the other hand, the whole society has formed an atmosphere of responsibility for national security and the public actively reports suspicious clues, providing strong support to the work of national security agencies.

Li Bin revealed that the national security bureau of Manzhouli once received a report from a retired person, who said to have found a telephone line of a classified unit that was tens of meters long pulled out in the courtyard, leading to a residential building across the street, on his way back home.

The veracity of the situation was confirmed shortly thereafter. It was a staff member of the unit who privately set up the telephone line for personal use, risking the leakage of classified information.

The national security bureau of Manzhouli quickly contacted the unit and requested immediate rectification of the situation to eradicate potential risks.

In 2015, the national security agencies officially launched the 12339 hotline for citizens. In 2018, China's Ministry of State Security launched the internet reporting platform website www.12339.gov.cn. In April 2023, the national security agencies honored individuals who had made contributions in reporting activities that endangered national security for the fifth consecutive year. In August 2023, the official WeChat account of the Ministry of State Security opened a reporting platform.

Some officials from the Yunnan national security department reached by the Global Times said that they have witnessed a significant increase in awareness in the recent past, along with an understanding and participation of the public in safeguarding national security. This has been reflected in the increased number and quality of reports received through the 12339 hotline.

In recent years, with the help of public reports, the Yunnan national security department has successfully solved multiple cases related to ecological and military security, preventing valuable samples of flora and fauna and sensitive military equipment information from being transferred to foreign intelligence agencies.
Selfless, anonymous heroes

"Sorry but I can't disclose the specific details due to confidentiality regulations;" "Please do not mention my name and personal information;" "As a national security officer, I am willing to be an anonymous hero." These are phrases that Global Times reporters have heard repeatedly during interviews, highlighting the uniqueness of covert operations - selflessness, anonymity, and humility.

In the archives of the national security bureau in Manzhouli, two large cabinets occupy an entire wall, filled with files on the same case. This case has spanned over 20 years, involving several generations of national security officers. Behind each page of these files are all-night efforts, undercover operations in harsh weather conditions, and thrilling covert confrontations. However, once they leave the office, these experiences are never mentioned and may never be known.

In the battlefield of safeguarding national security, the invisible gunshots and unheard gun battles have never ceased. It is because of the silent dedication and perseverance of every national security officer that the sovereignty, security, and development interests of the country are protected, and the peaceful lives of the people are undisturbed.

Jiang said that many national security officers silently dedicate their entire lives to their work, without receiving applause and without the spotlight and dazzling stage. They quietly exit the stage after remarkable service, and the driving force that supports them is their firm belief in their hearts.

Currently, the meaning, purpose, and value of national security in our country are richer than at any time in history, and the internal and external factors affecting the same are more complex than at any time in history. The challenges faced in safeguarding national security are unprecedented. As national security officers have stated, "We always maintain a state of readiness, prepared to fight against any behavior that threatens national security."

Hidden in silence, the sword shines in invisibility. In this new era, Chinese national security agencies are embarking on a new journey to faithfully fulfill their duties, safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, be an integral part of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and compose a new anthem for nameless heroes.

Editor's Note:

At the end of 2022, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government announced the establishment of the Chief Executive's Policy Unit (CEPU), drawing significant global attention. This unit is also considered to be the "think tank" behind the SAR Chief Executive's policy-making. Nearly one year later, Global Times reporters Chen Qingqing and Bai Yunyi (GT) talked with Stephen Wong Yuen-shan (Wong), the head of the CEPU, at the top floor of the west wing of the HKSAR Government Headquarters.

In an exclusive interview with the Global Times, Wong, who had just returned from research trips in Jiangmen and Zhongshan in South China's Guangdong Province, looked somewhat weary. He said that over the last year, he and his colleagues in the policy unit made frequent visits to the mainland for research and exchange purposes to better align the SAR's policies with the national strategies. They also delved into understanding Hong Kong's public sentiment, and political and social trends, seeking solutions to the city's deep-rooted issues. "Our position for the policy unit is to 'stand higher and look further ahead,'" Wong said, highlighting the important task of providing forward-looking, strategic, and long-term advice for the SAR's future development.
GT: Can you introduce the daily work carried out by you and your colleagues in the policy unit? How does the unit support decision-making for the chief executive and the SAR government?

Wong: The CEPU is an internal research institution serving the Chief Executive. Since its establishment at the end of 2022, our work can be summarized as focusing on "four directions" and fulfilling "one task." Currently, the policy unit consists of 47 members, divided into five teams based on these directions and the task.

The task involves coordinating the annual Policy Address of the Chief Executive. The Policy Address is an important task for the SAR government, and we are the main driving force behind it.

Our four research directions are: First, policy research on integrating Hong Kong into the national development framework. For example, the recent Central Financial Work Conference's emphasis on building a strong financial nation and enhancing Hong Kong's status as an international financial center are of great importance to us, and we explore how Hong Kong can align with these national strategies.

The second direction is international situation analysis. This is why we recently visited Beijing for exchanges with the Foreign Ministry's policy research institutions. As an international city, Hong Kong needs to maintain its unique position while serving the country's diplomatic objectives. We are currently conducting researches on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), focusing on relations with the ASEAN and the Middle East, which is crucial for Hong Kong's future international development.

The third direction is conducting forward-looking, strategic, and macroscopic policy research. Our division of labor with Hong Kong's 15 policy bureaus requires us to "stand higher and look further ahead."

We have exchanged with policy research offices of central government ministries, planning long-term strategies well into 2035, and we aim to do similar long-term planning, such as addressing Hong Kong's deep-rooted issues.

The fourth direction involves analyzing Hong Kong's public sentiment, opinions, political trends, and social movements. We use various channels such as surveys, social media analyses, and big data, including interviews with political figures and stakeholders, to grasp these aspects.
GT: How does the policy unit interact with the chief executive? To what extent do the unit's findings influence the chief executive's and SAR's policy measures?

Wong: We submit weekly research reports to the Chief Executive and report to him in person. He assigns us tasks directly and supervises our work closely. After receiving his directives on certain content, we continue conducting in-depth analyses with relevant policy bureaus, which ultimately reflects in the annual Policy Address.

GT: We noticed that the CEPU includes an expert group with many well-known professionals from Hong Kong and the mainland. How does this expert group contribute to the governance of the SAR, and to what extent are their opinions adopted?

Wong: The CEPU has an expert group consisting of 56 members, many of whom are renowned policy researchers. We have four major communication mechanisms with these experts to align with their key research findings.

For example, each member of the expert group is paired with a senior researcher from the policy unit, serving as the expert's personal research liaison, providing timely, appropriate, and targeted communication and assistance, including at least quarterly interactions.

The policy unit also listens to the research outcomes of the experts, enriching the perspectives and content of our own research. We also conduct in-depth group exchanges with expert group members on specific research topics.

Additionally, earlier this year, the SAR government established a 34-member Chief Executive advisory group, including influential figures from Hong Kong, the mainland and other countries and regions. The policy unit plays the role of the secretariat or office for the advisory group, incorporating the thoughts and opinions of the advisors into our research.

Moreover, I have previously served as a Legislative Council member, a National People's Congress deputy, and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and interacted with influential individuals in the business and industry sectors. Their opinions also form an important basis for our internal research.

To some extent, the policy unit acts as a "think tank of think tanks," absorbing opinions from various sources and transforming them into the governance philosophy of the SAR government.
GT: How frequent do you and your colleagues interact with institutions and enterprises in the mainland?

Wong: Since December 28, 2022, I have been to the mainland nearly 10 times for official purposes. Most of these visits and research objectives were related to the development of the Greater Bay Area, including cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, and Jiangmen, and I also attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

Earlier December, I, along with 19 colleagues, went to Beijing to attend a workshop on "enhancing strategic planning and policy research capabilities" held at Peking University. During our stay, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, met with our delegation. He talked with us for a long time and gave us many important instructions and advice.

In addition, in Beijing, we visited six [central government] ministries and their affiliated research institutions for exchanges, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, to ensure that Hong Kong's policies better align and serve the national development strategy.

I also encourage my colleagues to conduct more researches in the mainland and report back to me, which is very important for our work.

GT: How much attention does the policy unit pay to the national security work of the SAR?

Wong: The policy unit has three deputy heads, and one of whom comes from the Security Bureau [of the SAR government], reflecting the need for Hong Kong to balance "security and development." The Chief Executive is also very concerned about security affairs, so we do a lot of work in this area.

Thus, in the 2023 Policy Address, we mentioned the legislation of Article 23, the establishment of an office to promote Chinese culture under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, setting up two museums to introduce the country's history and the history of resistance against Japanese aggression, and the implementation of patriotic education in primary and secondary schools and in various sectors of Hong Kong society. All these are important aspects of building a national security system.

Every day, the tragic situation of people in the war-torn Gaza Strip, particularly that of sick and wounded children, deeply touches the heart of Guo Yan, the owner of a company based in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Despite being thousands of miles away, Guo promptly made a donation of 23,800-yuan ($3,334) to support the people in Gaza, which is sufficient to purchase 15-day basic food parcels for 50 families.

"I'm lucky to live in a country where there is no war or famine. But there are still people who live in darkness," Guo told the Global Times on Tuesday. "I think we have the responsibility to light up that small piece of darkness and haze in the world."

Guo and her company are among several Chinese enterprises, individuals, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have voluntarily donated money and supplies to Gaza, besides the humanitarian aid offered by the Chinese government, as they try to lend a helping hand to those enduring the ravages of war.

On October 26, the Beijing One Heart Sphere Charity Foundation (BOHS) and several Chinese civil commonweal groups, such as the Federation of Wenzhou Blazing Youth (Blazing Youth) and the Zhejiang Eternal Love Foundation (ZELF), initiated a campaign to provide basic food parcels that mainly include rice, lentils, oil, canned beef and sugar to more than 1,000 families in Gaza.

Each parcel costs $60, according to Weng Xiaoyou, director of Blazing Youth and ZELF initiator.

The involved organizations purchased the food parcels with financial contributions from Chinese donors including Guo, and hired local volunteers in Gaza to help distribute the supplies, said Ma Bin, who is responsible for the BOHS in Pakistan.

Ma said that people on the front lines understand the challenges of acquiring goods and the risks associated with transporting donated supplies. "Many of the volunteers have previously conducted business in China and have witnessed its development and prosperity, and they experienced the kindness and warmth of the Chinese people. They transformed their gratitude into practical actions, contributing their efforts to the cause of peace," he told the Global Times.

In the war-torn Gaza Strip, children lose their lives every day due to the conflict, and hundreds of thousands of refugees have been forced to migrate from the north to the south of Gaza. Many are now struggling due to the lack of medical care, a shortage of fresh water, and food scarcity, said Ma.

"The donated parcels represent the caring support from ordinary Chinese people to the victims in Gaza and convey their appeal for peace," he said.

In Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, local NGOs Blazing Youth and ZELF have also been actively calling for and collecting donations. Their efforts went toward 200 out of the latest batch of 500 food parcels that the BOHS and local volunteers helped purchase for people in Gaza. According to Lin Weiwei, deputy director of Blazing Youth, who also personally donated 20,000 yuan ($2,796), they are now raising funds for the next batch.

"Fortunately, there was a short cease-fire when local volunteers were distributing the latest batch of parcels in Gaza," Lin recalled. She added that they are trying to raise more funds during the cease-fires, as it allows the frontline volunteers to distribute supplies more safely.

"The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is physically far away from us in China, but I have found that many people in China are paying great attention to it and are willing to help [the victims and their families in] Gaza," Lin told the Global Times. "We live in a global community of shared future, and we want to provide assistance within our capacity."

Though most Chinese donors are not able to send supplies to Gaza in person, their love and care can be felt there in various ways.

Weng shared that they are inviting some teenagers in Wenzhou to draw pictures of love and peace. "The frontline volunteers will then print the soft copies of these pictures and distribute them along with our next batch of donated parcels as a way to express the love and well wishes of the Chinese people," he said.

Prior to the conflict, the BOHS, Blazing Youth, and the ZELF had made joint efforts to donate money and supplies to people in need around the world, including victims of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria earlier this year.

"As citizens of a responsible major country, we are eager to give a helping hand when there are natural disasters or humanitarian crises," said Weng. "I believe that love and care have no borders, and they can bear all things."

Editor's Note:

"Cognitive Warfare" has become a new form of confrontation between states, and a new security threat. With new technological means, it sets agendas and spreads disinformation, so as to change people's perceptions and thus alter their self-identity. Launching cognitive warfare against China is an important means for Western anti-China forces to attack and discredit the country. Under the manipulation of the US-led West, the "China threat theory" has continued to foment.

Some politicians and media outlets have publicly smeared China's image by propagating false narratives such as "China's economy collapse theory" and "China's virus threat theory," in an attempt to incite and provoke dissatisfaction with China among people in certain countries. These means all serve the seemingly peaceful evolution strategy of the US to contain China's rise and maintain its hegemony.

The Global Times is publishing a series of articles to systematically reveal the intrigues of the US-led West's cognitive warfare targeting China, and expose its lies and vicious intentions, in an attempt to show international readers a true, multi-dimensional, and panoramic view of China.

This is the fifth installment in the series.

The proverbial thief crying out "stop thief" seems to be a norm in the US' cognitive warfare against China. The US, as a veteran of public opinion attack and a major source of disinformation in today's world, has consistently attacked China for "manipulating information," an ironic and ridiculous indictment.

A recent report released by the US State Department is a typical example of the US' attempt to defame China in the information and public opinion fields. The report, which accused China of employing "a variety of deceptive and coercive methods as it attempts to influence the international information environment," is completely groundless and misleading, the Global Times found.

The "report" exposed the unprofessionalism and prejudice of the US government, which routinely launch smear campaigns against China. Through investigation and verification, the Global Times has found the US State Department report contains numerous loopholes and fabrications, a serious deviation from the facts.

Full of loopholes

In late September, the US State Department released multilingual versions of a report titled "How the People's Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment." Some mainstream US media outlets including the VOA and The New York Times soon ran with the report and started a new round of smear campaigns against China.

Looking into the 64-page report, the Global Times found many factual errors in its drawn-out narrative.

The accusation against StarTimes is a typical example. The report claimed that the Chinese-owned digital pay television service provider offers its overseas customers packages that "include CGTN (China Global Television Network) and dubbed Chinese entertainment content but does not include Western news channels," implying that Beijing can "influence content in various delivery platforms at the local level."

Contrary to this groundless accusation, StarTimes has clarified on numerous occasions that it has never deliberately excluded media content from the West. According to its official website, StarTimes has more than 630 channels in 11 languages worldwide, including international channels such as the BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera.

In a previous interview with the Global Times, a StarTimes' regional manager in Africa said that their users are fairly free to choose any international channel. "The StarTimes device does not block any channels," noted Wang Fan, the then CEO of StarTimes branch in Uganda.

The report also denigrated the normal statements of some Chinese diplomats on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook. It claimed that Chinese diplomats "promote pro-Beijing narratives and disinformation and attack." Without providing any persuasive evidence to support this claim, the report decried the increase in number of China's diplomatic and official media accounts in recent years, reaching 333 with a combined following of nearly 65 million as of August. Attacking Chinese diplomats and media for using X showed the serious double standard of the report authors, who may arrogantly believe that Chinese diplomats can't express opinions on social media as their US peers do.

Even ordinary internet influencers who share their lives or travel experiences in China, whether Chinese or expatriate, were targets of the report's attack. It accused China of "leveraging social media influencers to communicate directly with foreign audiences," saying that China "sponsors" some online influencers who, mainly post "innocuous content," "ostensibly to attract followers, and interspersing posts containing pro-Beijing propaganda."

Such malicious speculation is a slight at many online influencers and their followers who love China. In previous interviews, several overseas vloggers told the Global Times that they share their China-related experiences and thoughts freely. One vlogger noted that it is the anti-China propaganda campaign in the US-led West that has prevented international audiences from knowing more about a real China.

"The US' strategic pressure on China has evolved from its initial focus on economic and trade sectors to restrictions on high-tech standards, and has now been further upgraded to the cognitive field, trying to influence and shape the world's cognition on China, and trying to form of China containment with its hegemonic behavior," Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

"There is a growing trend in which the US has launched attacks on the 'battlefield' of social media," a Shanghai-based expert in international journalism and communication told the Global Times.

The expert pointed out that the US, through launching a public opinion war, positions China as a disruptor and challenger within the current globally dominated information order, and will continue to engage in activities that reinforce this narrative, an example being the criticism of Chinese diplomats and vloggers who share China's charm.

"This is a naked hegemonic act, further accelerating the breakdown of the international information order," he said.
Widespread criticism

Unsurprisingly, the report by the US State Department has sparked widespread criticism on social media platforms, with users in various countries mocking the US as "crying wolf."

Critical comments flooded a September 29 X post by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who shared the report as a "proof" of China seeking to "manipulate the global information environment."

"We must work to ensure people's access to free and open information everywhere," wrote Blinken.

"The US/EU doesn't [manipulate the information environment], Blinky?" an X user named "Luis F" commented under this post, along with an eye-roll emoji.

"This from an administration that tried to create a censorship department under the guise of 'disinformation'…what a joke…" commented another user named "Gregory Latham Jr." "You mean 'we must work to ensure people's access to the information we want them to have access to everywhere.'"

"How's the ongoing effort by the Biden administration to suppress social media discourse about Ukraine, COVID, and Hunter Biden coming along?" wrote a verified user by the name "Scott Ritter," a US author and international relations analyst. "Physician, heal thyself!"

"The US State Department shouts freedom of speech and information, but the 'freedom' has a precondition. That is, speech and information are led by the US," wrote a reader by the name "Jun Fan." "Any speech and information that is not directed by the US is false speech and false information that is harmful to the world…and must be strictly controlled."

In September, Microsoft, which accused China of using AI to influence US voters ahead of the country's 2024 presidential elections, also led to criticism from some US netizens. "Using AI to mess up the US elections is more like something that American politicians would do themselves," they said.

Indeed, some US politicians are making full use of AI in propaganda campaigns to serve their political activities, such as the elections. New York Mayor Eric Adams, for instance, has been using AI software to launch prerecorded calls to residents in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Urdu, and Yiddish. The voice in the messages mimics that of the mayor, reported The Washington Post (WP) on October 26.

"Of course, fibbing politicians are nothing new, but examples keep multiplying of how AI supercharges disinformation in ways we haven't seen before," noted the WP article titled "Candidates, take this AI election pledge. Or 2024 might break us."

'Empire of lies'

Aside from the claim of "reshaping global information environment," the US government, some think tanks, and enterprises have released many reports to attack China, attempting to portray China as an enemy of global audiences in its cognitive warfare against the country, said observers.

Apparently, authors of the "reshaping information environment" report "saw no irony in these maxims coming from the US, the greatest state propagator of disinformation, narrative manipulation, and deception in the world," commented political analyst Timur Fomenko in an opinion piece published by Russia Today on October 17.

The US has rarely hidden some of its cognitive warfare tactics against China. In February 2022, a bill that allocated $500 million to "combat Chinese disinformation" reportedly moved through the US Congress. The bill was actually earmarked "for media outlets to produce journalism for overseas audiences that is critical of China," said The American Prospect magazine.

"The Senate bill aims to produce more anti-China media," the magazine said in an article it published that month. "Critics of escalating tensions with Beijing expressed concerns over the push for anti-China coverage, saying it could potentially undermine the credibility of journalists involved in the reporting," it added.

From the devastation its politicians inflicted on Iraq 21 years ago by presenting a small tube of white powder at the United Nations headquarters as evidence of Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction, to the unfounded claim that the novel coronavirus came from a laboratory leak in China's Wuhan, analysts pointed out that the US has long been a serial perpetrator of false stories.

"Some in the US may think that they can prevail in the information war as long as they manufacture enough lies. But the people of the world are not blind," said the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to the US State Department report.

"No matter how the US tries to pin the label of 'disinformation' on other countries, more and more people in the world have already seen through the US' ugly attempt to perpetuate its supremacy by weaving lies into 'emperor's new clothes' and smearing others," the ministry noted.

Airlines from China and the US are on a stable path to increase flights between the two countries, recording the biggest jump since the outbreak of the pandemic, amid recent efforts by the Chinese and US governments to increase flights.

On Monday, US-based Delta Air Lines said that it would increase the frequency of nonstop services between Shanghai-Pudong and Detroit to daily flights, beginning on May 23.
Delta is currently operating daily flights from Shanghai-Pudong to Seattle and three-times-weekly services to Detroit.

After the change, Delta will operate two daily flights from Shanghai to its US gateways.

Delta is not alone.

United Airlines said earlier this month that it would add four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai starting on August 29. Further, in late October, the Shanghai-Los Angeles route will be increased to daily service. This service complements United's daily service between San Francisco-Shanghai and San Francisco-Beijing.

In addition, six Chinese airlines including Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, which serve routes between the two countries, all announced new flight schedules to the US.

Air China will add one flight per week between Beijing and Los Angeles and two flights per week between Beijing and New York from March 31, and China Eastern will add two weekly flights from Shanghai to Los Angeles and one weekly flight from Shanghai to San Francisco starting from March 31.

China Southern will add one new weekly flight from Guangzhou to Los Angeles on March 31, and two new weekly flights from Guangzhou to San Francisco on April 2.
The new flights between China and the US operated by Chinese airlines are still mostly concentrated in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the western US.

The announcements came after the agreement made by the Chinese and US governments recently. Starting on March 31, airlines from China and the US can operate a total of 100 scheduled round trips per week, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China on February 29.

China and the US have seen increasing flights in recent years, and this round of increases is the biggest jump since the outbreak of the pandemic. There were three rounds of increases in 2023, and the latest was up from 48 flights to 70 flights, starting from November.

However, the total number of flights linking China and the US is still lagging behind the level of 2019. Even after this increase in flights, the level of recovery still lagged behind those among other countries.

In 2019, daily passenger flights between China and the US averaged 165, with a daily peak of 181, data from information provider VariFlight showed.

Data from Fly Master showed that China's outbound passenger flights during the Spring Festival period recovered to 69.3 percent of the level in 2019.

The destinations were concentrated in East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Korea, Thailand and Japan ranking in the top three. In terms of the recovery rate, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the UK exceeded 100 percent.

China will make final review ruling in accordance with the investigation procedures regarding lifting tariffs on Australian wine, Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday. 
On Tuesday, the ministry had disclosed the basic facts on which the ruling was based to the relevant stakeholders in accordance with the investigation procedures, and gave all parties an opportunity to express their opinions. 
Next, MOFCOM will make a final review in accordance with the investigation procedures based on the comprehensive consideration of the opinions of all parties, said He Yadong, a spokesperson of MOFCOM , in response to a media inquiry on whether China is to lift tariffs on Australian wine imports or not. 
The reply of MOFCOM also comes on the heels of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit New Zealand and Australia from March 17-21, and hold the 7th round of China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue.
Wang Wenbin, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on Wednesday that China and Australia are making efforts to address mutual concerns through dialogue and consultation, which will help improve the momentum in bilateral relations.
China stands ready to continue stepping up dialogue and cooperation with Australia under the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and seeking common ground while shelving differences, so as to promote the steady and sound growth of bilateral relations, Wang noted.
MOFCOM said earlier that it began reviewing the anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Australian wine as of November 30, 2023. A five-year series of anti-dumping and countervailing tariffs on Australian wine was imposed on March 28, 2021.
While, Australian government officials and media outlets have frequently brought the issue up, indicating the great eagerness of Australian winemakers to return to the Chinese market.
At Thursday's press conference, the MOFCOM spokesperson has also mentioned the disputes such as wind towers from China.
China has serious concerns about Australia's trade remedy measures against China's wind tower and other measures, and hopes that Australia will respect WTO rules and properly address China's concerns, He said.

The share of the yuan in Russia's trade settlements in January further expanded, signaling steady progress for promoting the internationalization of the yuan.

Experts highlighted China's steady economic development and firm support as major advantages contributing to the yuan's global expansion, while outlining lingering challenges going forward.

The yuan accounted for 40.8 percent of Russia's export settlements and 38.5 percent of its import settlements in the first month of 2024. The settlement amounts reached $13.2 billion for exports and $9.1 billion for imports in US dollar terms, data from Russia's central bank showed on Monday.

In December 2023, the yuan accounted 35.8 percent of Russia's export settlement and 37 percent of its import settlement, Sputnik reported.

China's large and continuously growing economy has provided a solid foundation for the yuan's internationalization, and the country's ramped-up policy support for building the financial infrastructure and optimizing the mechanism for cross-border yuan settlements has created a favorable environment for promoting the internationalization of the yuan, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Wang noted that the yuan's stability has been further recognized by the international market as its exchange rate remained steady overall despite some fluctuations in recent years. This remains a significant consideration for global investors.

Cross-border yuan settlements have risen since 2009, accounting for nearly half of China's export payments and settlements. The yuan also ranks third in terms of the weight in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights basket, Lian Ping, chief economist and head of the Zhixin Investment Research Institute, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The yuan is the world's fourth-largest payment currency, third-largest trade finance currency and fifth-largest foreign exchange trading currency, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC), the central bank, told a press conference on March 6, adding that boosting the internationalization of the yuan remains the top priority for promoting high-quality financial opening-up.

Pan said that economic entities have increased internal demand for the use of the yuan, and the yuan has formed an initial network effect for international use with its continuously enhanced international monetary functions such as payments and settlements, investment and financing, and international reserves.

In December 2023, the PBC and the National Bank of Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding to establish yuan-clearing arrangements in Serbia, which will help enterprises and financial institutions of the two countries use the yuan for cross-border transactions and further promote bilateral trade and investment facilitation.

Amid the steady progress achieved for the internationalization of the yuan, experts vowed to tackle lingering challenges, which will contribute to deepen China's financial opening-up.

Both Wang and Lian stressed the importance of continuously expanding the yuan's global usage and market share, as it still has a large gap with major global currencies such as the US dollar and the euro.

Wang noted that China's financial market has further space for opening-up to meet global investors' demand, while more optimized regulations should be formulated to protect investors' rights.

Lian noted that measures such as prudently promoting capital account convertibility for the yuan and its internationalization, while maintaining the basic stability of the yuan's exchange rate and an overall surplus in the balance of payments, will be significant for bolstering the financial sector's high-quality opening-up.

China set to formulate law to promote private economy

The US Senate's homeland security committee approved a bill on Wednesday (US time) to prohibit contracts with Chinese biotech providers including BGI Group, MGI and Complete Genomics, in the latest move by Washington to expand its suppression of Chinese companies in this new field of medicine under the guise of national security.

While the bill has a long way to go before becoming law, it reportedly aims to ban US federal agencies and the US government from contracting with these Chinese firms.

"BGI, WuXi AppTec and other highly subsidized companies seek to undercut their way into dominating the US biotech market while aggressively collecting the genetic and other sensitive medical data of tens of millions of Americans and transferring it back to China for malign or unknown purposes," US Senator Bill Hagerty alleged, according to a post on Hagerty's official website on Wednesday.

In a response, BGI Group said it fully supports the bill's premise of protecting Americans' personal data, but driving BGI out of the US, which is what this bill is intended to achieve, is unlikely to accomplish its goal since BGI does not have access to that data.

"The bill will limit competition and strengthen the market monopoly in the important field of human genome sequencing by using the legislative process to pick winners and losers," BGI told the Global Times on Thursday.

In a statement released on Thursday, WuXi AppTec said that it strongly disagrees with the US Senate's "preemptive and unfair" move of designating it as a "biotechnology company of concern" in its draft bill.

"WuXi AppTec has not posed, does not pose, and will not pose a security risk to the US or any other country," the company said.

Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) Inc clarified on Thursday that it is not a subsidiary of Wuxi AppTec Co. The company said it does not have a human genomics business, nor does it collect human genomic data in any of its businesses, while also stressing that it does not pose any national security risk to the US or any other country.

Chinese observers blasted US politicians, who they said were portraying China as an "imagined enemy" and expanding a crackdown on Chinese bio-tech and new-energy vehicle (NEV) companies.They said that American politicians are purposely setting obstacles to impede normal China-US economic and trade ties.

"This is another typical case in which US politicians purposely make China an 'imagined enemy' to step up suppression of Chinese companies for their own political gains, as the US presidential election draws near," Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Thursday.

What US politicians are concerned about is that they cannot live in a world led by Chinese companies, and they have come up with every excuse to hinder China's development in a wide range of sectors including telecommunications, NEVs and now bio-technology, Li said.

"While China and the US are expanding their dialogues, what the US is doing has posed impediments to normal China-US trade," he said. He urged the US to correct its wrongdoing.

Recent media reports said that US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order to prevent foreign entities from accessing troves of Americans' personal data.

"The US overstretches the concept of national security, falsely accuses China of purchasing Americans' personal and sensitive data for malicious activities, and prevents the transfer of data to so-called 'countries of concern' including China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a recent press conference on February 29, 2024.

"The Chinese government takes data privacy and security very seriously. We have never asked and will never ask any company or individual to collect or provide data, information or intelligence located abroad against local laws for the Chinese government," Mao noted.

China's leading digital economy with its large-scale data resources, diverse data types and rich application scenarios have provided advantages for the country's artificial intelligence (AI) sector, Qi Xiangdong, chairman of Qi An Xin Technology Group, who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), told the Global Times on Friday.

Qi said that AI depends on data, and China's rapidly developing digital economy provides a large source of data. He added that the total scale of China's digital economy reached 50.2 trillion yuan ($6.97 trillion) in 2022, and the breadth and depth of digital integration in the real economy has expanded.

Qi An Xin launched China's first industrial-grade large-model security AI product - Q-GPT a cybersecurity robot - which has numerous practical applications, Qi said.

Qi noted that he looks forward to the country accelerating the integration of cybersecurity and AI technology, promoting the application of innovative products in the field of "AI + security," and continuously improving China's ability to cope with cybersecurity risks and uncertainties.