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China Launched Satellite with Highest Resolution

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that China just successfully launched its first high resolution remote sensing satellite named “High-Res 4.” It is currently the geosynchronous orbit satellite with the world’s highest resolution, which covers one third of the surface of the earth. The mission of the satellite is to supply data for applications supporting work in areas of atmosphere, oceans, land, environmental protection, agriculture and forestry. China also plans to provide services to regions and countries covered under the “One Belt, One Road” strategy. The High-Res 4 weighs five tons and has an expected life-span of eight years. It is located over the equator. The satellite is equipped with a camera that has 50-meter resolution for the visible spectrum and 400-meter MWIR spectral resolution. The launch of the High-Res 4 was China’s latest and the 19th satellite launch mission in 2015. All of the 2015 launches were successful. 
Source: Sina, December 29, 2015
http://dailynews.sina.com/bg/news/int/sinchewdaily/20151229/01397105290.html
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RFA: Wikipedia Refused to Compromise for China’s Internet Censors

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales attended the World Internet Conference held in China not long ago. For the first time he directly brought up the issue of China’s ban on Wikipedia (Chinese Edition) and asked China to lift the ban. However, as an answer, China blocked all languages of Wikipedia for a few days. Apparently the two sides did not reach any agreement. Wales told the press that Wikipedia will never censor any so-called “sensitive” information in exchange for lifting the ban. Wikipedia is not a web site funded commercially. Its operation is based on donations from all over the world. Wikipedia does not carry advertisements in order to ensure neutral content – even if it has a high traffic volume. 
China’s “Great Firewall” has been blocking Wikipedia’s Chinese content (and sometimes the English content as well) for many years. Every year around “sensitive dates,” such as June 4, China tightens up the ban on Wikipedia to apply more social control.
Source: Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2015
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/xl1-12182015101935.html
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BBC Chinese: China’s Internet Freedom Ranked Lowest in Global Report

BBC Chinese recently reported that China had the lowest score in the just-released Freedom House Annual Internet Freedom Report. The Freedom House Report is a globally respected indicator of Internet freedom. This year’s Report covered 65 countries. On a scale between 0 and 100 (100 being the worst), China scored 88, sitting at the very bottom of the list of all countries covered, after Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Ethiopia, Syria and Iran. The report scores were based on three major elements: the barriers to getting online, content restrictions, and user rights. China got the lowest score possible on user rights. The Report also mentioned major Internet events in 2015 for each country. For China, it mentioned the government authorized blocking of proxies, state-issued fake security certificates, and real-name regulations for users, as well as legal requirements allowing the government access to backend systems of infrastructure vendors (such as communications companies). The best ranked countries in the Report were Iceland, Estonia, Canada, Germany, Australia, and the United States. 
Source: BBC Chinese, October 28, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/science/2015/10/151028_china_internet_freedom
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Xinhua: The Quality of 90 Percent of China’s School Supplies Failed the National Standard

Xinhua published an article on the quality of China’s school supplies sold online and in stores. According to the report issued by Quality and Technology Supervision of Jiangsu Province, over 90 percent of the school supplies including pen ink, correction fluid, erasers, and homework writing paper contains toxic contents that exceed the national standard. The article said that a lack of supervision, large consumer demand, as well a lack of reinforcement of quality inspection at the manufacturing sites were the issues that affected the quality. According to the article, the complaints related to quality issues that the Consumer Association received in the first half of the year increased by 3 percent compared to the same period in 2014.

Source: Xinhua, November 1, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2015-11/01/c_1117003410.htm

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Iran is Adopting China’s Satellite Positioning System

China Stocks recently reported that Iran and China signed an agreement to introduce China’s Beidou Satellite Positioning System into Iran. Iran Electronics Industries (IEI), Iran’s largest electronics company, plays a key role in the country’s satellite industry. IEI held a formal ceremony for the official launch of the Beidou-based program. China will not only supply the ground stations but also construct a space data collection center. China’s Beidou Satellite Positioning System is China’s independently developed and independently run positioning system that provides all-time and all-weather precise positioning services. Currently Iran cannot obtain high precision services from the Global Positioning System (GPS) that the United States owns. The U.S. GPS system is the largest and the most widely used satellite positioning system in the world.

Source: China Stocks, October 19, 2015
http://news.cnstock.com/industry/sid_rdjj/201510/3593175.htm

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BBC Chinese: U.S. DNI Clapper not Optimistic about the Internet Spying Agreement with China

BBC Chinese recently reported that James R. Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) of the United States, said “no” in a Senate hearing when asked by Senator John McCain whether he was optimistic about the U.S-China agreement that neither country would conduct economic espionage in cyberspace. Clapper explained that the effectiveness of the agreement remains to be seen. He also recommended that U.S. intelligence analysts keep an eye on activities on the Chinese side, since the current cyberspace situation is almost like the “Wild Wild West.” However, Clapper also mentioned that one of the key questions was whether Internet based spying should be banned or not – the United States conducts similar activities on “public platforms” as well. He added that it’s very hard to determine how involved the Chinese government really is. 
Source: BBC Chinese, September 29, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world/2015/09/150929_us_china_cyber
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Google’s New Internet Domain Name Got Blocked Instantly

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that, as soon as Google’s co-founder Larry Page announced the restructuring of the company, within 24 hours, the Chinese ‘Great Firewall” blocked the new parent company Alphabet’s internet domain name www.abc.xyz. China’s official news media issued widespread reports on the restructuring event and even described the new domain name as “unusual.” However the Chinese netizens won’t be able to access the new website, although it only has a letter from Larry Page and a link to its investor relationship. Google has suffered a poor relationship with the Chinese government for long time because Google refused to implement the censorship that the Chinese government required. In 2013, Google decided to leave the Chinese market citing the censorship issue and the fact that the company had been hacked. Starting in 2014, the Chinese government has been blocking Google Mail, Google Translation, and Google Maps, in addition to Google Search.
Source: Sina, August 12, 2015
http://finance.sina.com/bg/tech/udn/su/20150812/16271314690.html
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Internet Users’ Information Theft Is Alarming in China

People’s Daily reported that, according to the 2015 Investigative Report on China’s Internet Users’ Protection Rights, 78.2 percent of Internet users in China have had their personal information stolen. The related financial losses that resulted were 8.05 trillion yuan (US$1.3 trillion).This is equivalent to 124 yuan (US$20) per person for the period between July 2014 to June 2015, assuming there were 649 million Internet users and close to 7 percent of the Internet users suffered financial losses as high as 1,000 yuan (US$161). The report indicated that online shopping, online searches, social websites, online games and online travel are the sites where most of the Internet users experienced information theft. According to the legal expert, the personal and identify information theft rate in China is alarming, but since the financial damage is relatively small, few of the Internet users seek legal protection.

Source: People’s Daily, July 24, 2015
http://tc.people.com.cn/n/2015/0724/c183008-27353836.html

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