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maccamax View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Nov 2018 at 8:54pm
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

did these countries actually approach china first, or did china come calling first?

and why has china become altruistic towards these countries, whilst treating their own countrymen so terribly?


I don't know what that big word means ( be better as a race horse name )
but I get your drift Isaac.

China is intruding into every area with a long term agenda .
Already they have shagged their way into a Prime Minister's Household.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:04am

China boots media from Pacific Island leaders meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping

By Papua New Guinea Correspondent Natalie Whiting

Updated Sun at 5:23am

Media who were invited to cover Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting with Pacific leaders have been denied entry by Chinese officials.

Key points

  • Chinese authorities denied access to all media outlets except CCTV
  • The meeting was a working dinner with Xi Jinping and the leaders of eight Pacific Island nations who support the "One China" policy
  • Chinese officials have previously controlled press freedom in PNG

As part of Mr Xi's first state visit to Papua New Guinea, he hosted a working dinner with the leaders of eight Pacific Island nations that support the "One China" policy: PNG, Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

The meeting and the President's visit come at a time when the strategic importance of the Pacific is growing, and multiple countries — including China and Australia — are vying for influence in the region

Local and international media, including the ABC, had been invited to cover the Pacific Islander Leaders meeting, but when journalists and camera operators arrived at the hotel where it was being held they were told to leave.

Gorethy Kenneth from the Post Courier newspaper said Chinese officials from Beijing were initially angry with the presence of international media.

"I said: 'We are here to cover the meeting, our names have been submitted.' And they said: 'No, all of you get out.'" Kenneth said.

"That's when it all got fired up."

Kenneth said members of the Chinese media were allowed in to the meeting.

Other media who arrived later were not even allowed in the building.

The ABC and other local media had registered through the PNG Government to cover the President's visit in advance and had been issued with special passes.

PNG media described treatment as a 'slap in the face'

Some local media described the reaction as a "slap in the face".

"It's quite disappointing because as Pacific Islanders, for a meeting as big as this, and PNG being the host country, we were all looking forward to covering this," said Helen Tarawa Rei, a senior reporter with PNG's The National newspaper.

"To be told that we're not allowed is undermining our press freedom, we have press freedom in this country."

An ABC camera operator who was filming the press being rejected was then threatened by a local security officer.

"We were quite surprised because we want to hear a lot of the things that are happening there with the Pacific Islander leaders, our Prime Minister and the Chinese President, and unfortunately we weren't allowed and we're just wondering why," Tarawa Rei said.

The Chinese delegation was controlling media access throughout Mr Xi's visit.

At a ceremony to open a road in Port Moresby, media were told they were not allowed to connect to an audio splitter box to record the speeches, with only China's CCTV network granted access.

Members of the media were then told they were not even allowed to put microphones up to a speaker to record the sound.

"We were told not to record, not to put our recorders or mobile phones near the speaker," Tarawa Rei said.

Port Moresby airport staff say Chinese have meddled before

The ABC understands some PNG Government staff were also unhappy with how the Chinese delegation was controlling the events.

It is not the first instance of Chinese officials controlling media access in PNG.

Last month the ABC and local station NBC were escorted off the airport runway while trying to film the arrival of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Once again, the media had been invited to the event. Several airport security staff said the media were being removed at the request of the Chinese embassy.

As the Pacific Island leaders meeting got underway in Port Moresby, media were being bussed away from the site.

Local journalists in particular were furious.

"Our people need to know what's happening," Tarawa Rei said

"So for that kind of treatment — it's pretty shocking for us."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:23am
Did they get their press passes revoked and told to leave?

Gee, you wouldn't see that happening in a civilised country Isaac. Shocked
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:28am
It is only a matter of time,    China's agenda will be to overtake most areas,   slowly and methodically.
Dump the cheap rubbish at the expense of local Industry.
( My $2.80 wristwatch , was unbelievable ) The same week as our local Jeweller store closed .   No need to tell you it worked for only a couple of months .
America has put up a barrier to these "white ants " , We need to recognise what is happening and act accordingly.
Free Trade can be a one way Street.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Whale Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:35am
Originally posted by maccamax maccamax wrote:

It is only a matter of time,    China's agenda will be to overtake most areas,   slowly and methodically.
Dump the cheap rubbish at the expense of local Industry.
( My $2.80 wristwatch , was unbelievable ) The same week as our local Jeweller store closed .   No need to tell you it worked for only a couple of months .
America has put up a barrier to these "white ants " , We need to recognise what is happening and act accordingly.
Free Trade can be a one way Street.

So while you are warning people about China you are taking advantage of their cheap goods ?
Not a surprise from a hypocrite lacking a moral compass Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Whale Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:36am
I am sure Isaac has a house full of Chinese goods too 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:37am
i am pleased you read this thread whaleHug
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:41am
almost, ALMOST, unavoidable whale.

but there is an awakening. Hallelujah

im even looking at food packaging now.

what will you do when milk starts coming in from...CHINABig smile

i am not for re educatingLOL

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:46am
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

i am pleased you read this thread whaleHug


That would be his days work Isaac.

He probably is stamped " Made In China " Too.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Whale Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 11:46am
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

i am pleased you read this thread whaleHug

Nah, I'm just stalking Macca Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 12:01pm
Originally posted by Whale Whale wrote:

Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

i am pleased you read this thread whaleHug


Nah, I'm just stalking Macca Smile


          I banned you for a day yesterday .

       Doesn't mean to say you have to be a bigger today.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 4:16pm


2018 APEC summit possible turning point for China's powerplay in the Pacificby 

Rory Medcalf



Australia's doorstep neighbour Papua New Guinea has just acquired a strategic centrality not seen since 1942.

The so-called Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit which concluded in Port Moresby yesterday was dominated by something else: the emerging geopolitical contest of the Indo-Pacific.

Just northeast of Port Moresby, Australian resistance along the Kokoda track blunted the advance of imperial Japanese troops in the brutal Pacific war.

The APEC summit concludes a week of diplomatic engagements that could be a turning point in moderating China's softer powerplay across the region.

American Vice-President Pence used his APEC speech to affirm a stance of diplomatic confrontation with China, on trade, forced techn more...

http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/2018-apec-summit-possible-turning-point-for-chinas-powerplay-in-the-pacific-20181118-h180y2


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 9:33pm
Originally posted by maccamax maccamax wrote:

Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

i am pleased you read this thread whaleHug


That would be his days work Isaac.

He probably is stamped " Made In China " Too.

Yes macca. i have my suspicions.

As is ptLOL

and if they are not...shameEvil Smile

they are for re educationLOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sneck Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 9:46pm
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

and why has china become altruistic towards these countries, whilst treating their own countrymen so terribly?
They're not altruistic, they are consolidating global infrastructure so they can get even for the hundred years of humiliation.
Francis Fukuyama's end of history ain't looking too crash hot. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 10:01pm

China needs to be brought to account': Federal MPs urge tough response to China's Muslim crackdown

An unlikely grouping of federal parliamentarians from across the political spectrum has condemned China's unprecedented crackdown against Muslim minorities and urged a strong response from Australia and the international community.

The politicians — Greens leader Richard Di Natale, Liberal senator Eric Abetz, and Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick — also voiced concern at claims Uighurs living in Australia were being monitored and potentially intimidated by the Chinese government.The Chinese Communist Party has escalated a campaign targeting Uighurs and other minorities in the north-western province of Xinjiang, with up to 1 million people said to be detained in a network of mass indoctrination camps aimed at suppressing religious activity and enforcing CCP practices.

According to reports, detainees have been abused and tortured for failing to comply with the "re-education" program. People not in the camps are living in an increasingly advanced surveillance state with heavy restrictions on their freedoms.

Senator Di Natale said China's actions in Xinjiang were "an appalling abuse of human rights" that could not be ignored for diplomatic convenience.

“Beijing must be willing to meet international standards of freedom of expression and religion. Instead, it’s attempting to stamp out ethnic minorities through martial law, arbitrary detention and the blocking of religious practice," he told Fairfax Mediaombining this inhumane policy with a 21st century surveillance state; including communications monitoring, facial recognition and DNA collection, has created a devastating form of oppression."

Senator Di Natale said "targeted sanctions should be considered to address the systematic oppression of the Uighurs and other Turkic minorities".

Senator Abetz, chair of the Senate's foreign affairs, defence and trade committee, said "interning a million people on the basis of religion sort of defies every single concept of basic human rights".

"From all the evidence provided thus far, there might be some fuzziness about the actual numbers but I don’t think there’s any doubt as to what has occurred or is occurring," he said.

Asked if sanctions should be considered, he declined to specifically endorse the measure but said: "China – which is clearly sanctioning it and doing it – needs to be brought to account."

Senator Abetz called the Chinese government's human rights record "completely unacceptable" and took a swipe at the United Nations and Muslim-majority countries for not being more forthright in scrutinising developments in Xinjiang.

Senator Patrick, who is pushing for a wide-ranging Senate inquiry into relations with China, said the Xinjiang situation "should not be allowed to continue unaddressed" and suggested a multilateral response would be necessary.In a statement to a scheduled UN Human Rights Council review of China's record last week, the Australian government expressed "alarm at numerous reports of detention of large numbers of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim groups held incommunicado and often for long periods without being charged or tried". The United States and other countries also criticised China's actions.

This week, Australia's ambassador in China joined with 14 other western envoys in seeking a meeting with the CCP's top official in Xinjiang over the alleged human rights abuses.

Since acknowledging the existence of the camps, China has strongly rejected any criticism, saying their actions are necessary to protect stability and prevent separatism and religious extremism.

Fairfax Media has been told Chinese government officials have monitored and intimidated members of Australia's Uighur community, including via direct contact in Australia and harassment of relatives in Xinjiang.

Nurmuhammad Majid, a community leader based in Adelaide, said there has been a clear message: "Not to engage with political activities or engage in anti-China activities in Australia."

A Uighur man living in Melbourne said a Chinese security agent had been contacting him seeking details about his life in Australia.

"He thinks Australia is one of the countries where Uighur people are protesting continuously against the Chinese government so I think they want information about Uighurs in this country," the man told Fairfax Media.esponding to the reports, Senator Di Natale said: "Australia has a proud history of free speech and political expression, and any attempts to silence criticisms of the Chinese Government abroad must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

Senator Abetz said: "One would hope that that is untrue and it’s a very concerning allegation."

Senator Patrick said the claim was disturbing and "it’s not acceptable in Australia for that sort of conduct to be occurring".

By Fergus Hunter
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 10:14pm

Detained and in danger: The tortured Australian families who fear for their missing loved ones

Increasingly helpless and desperate, Uighurs building new lives in Australian suburbs feel compelled to go public with their stories and identities despite the risks.

By Fergus Hunter

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The security agents came for Adeham Abliz late on a Thursday night.

That day, September 8, 2016, had been much like any other in the 59-year-old Uighur man’s life in the city of Ghulja in north-western China.

Abliz, a shopkeeper, had performed his five daily prayers, starting with fajr at dawn through to isha after dusk. He had wandered through the neighbourhood and brought home groceries after a day of fasting in the lead-up to the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.

He would not be allowed to finish dinner. Around 11pm, two officers in plain clothes arrived at the house.

“We need to talk to you about something. You need to come with us,” they told Abliz, a devout Muslim who had provided religious teaching in the local community and kept religious texts in his house – marking him as a subject of suspicion for the Chinese Communist Party.

Abliz and his family resisted, demanding to know why he was being taken. Ignoring their desperate pleas, the two men escorted him outside and took him away.

“That was the last time I saw my father with my own eyes,” says his daughter, Meyassar Adham. The same day, she had been granted a visa to join her partner in Australia. Advised by her migration agent to urgently get out of Xinjiang province, she left a week later, bound for the safety of the Adelaide suburbs.Her father was promptly sentenced to two years in prison for his religious practices. In September this year, it became clear he would not be set free. Now 61, Abliz was transferred to a mass detention camp, joining hundreds of thousands in a vast “re-education” network established over the last two years in Xinjiang, known as East Turkestan by independence-minded Uighurs. In the camps, they are forced to renounce their religion and culture and adopt Communist ideology. Reports suggest people have been abused and tortured for failure to comply.dham, raising one child and pregnant with another, is haunted by the memories. For members of Australia’s 3000-strong Uighur community, the story is not unusual.

Fairfax Media has conducted extensive interviews with more than a dozen Uighurs in Adelaide; all have relatives in detention and are struggling with the burden of knowing – or not knowing – the fate of parents, siblings, partners, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunties and friends swept up in the unprecedented crackdown. Increasingly helpless and desperate, the Australian-based Uighurs felt compelled to go public with their stories and identities despite the risks.

Their accounts – while consistent with a growing body of information aired by journalists, academics, human rights groups and the United Nations – are difficult to independently verify, given the lack of transparency around the Chinese government’s activities.There are common themes in many of the testimonies. A difficult departure from home seeking a better life; growing alarm from afar as the crackdown intensifies; contact with family becoming impossible as authorities prohibit contact with the outside world; sporadic warnings about the danger, sometimes conveyed in code or through third parties; scant details, desperately sought; children and elders left without people to take care of them.

Horigul Yusuf came to Australia in 2005, reunited with her husband after seven years apart. The religious family had a long and difficult history with the CCP. In Adelaide, she joined the largest Uighur community in Australia – about 1500 people across 300 families.

All of Yusuf’s brothers have been detained in internment camps or sentenced to prison. The 52-year-old last spoke to her elderly parents on October 22, 2017. “It was a short and sharp conversation,” she says. Her parents warned her to cease contact.

“People threatened us and said if you contact relatives overseas, we will send you to prison. They forced us to sign a paper saying we won’t be in contact,” she recalls her mother saying during the call.usuf, a proud woman with intense, dark eyes, is visibly burdened by her family’s struggle and overcome with emotion as she talks about it.“We live in this country freely and without difficulty. We can do whatever we want. But at the moment, it’s so hard for us. I can’t even explain. I can’t express how difficult it is. I don’t want to socialise with anyone, I just want to be at home and think about my family,” she says.

The Uighurs have had an uneasy relationship with Chinese rule for centuries. In the decades following the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912, there were multiple and short-lived efforts to establish an independent state. Communist revolutionary Mao Zedong’s forces then established control in 1949, incorporating Xinjiang into the People’s Republic of China. In the decades since, the CCP has met ongoing resistance and extremism with an iron fist.

Following outbreaks of unrest and a string of high-profile terror attacks, peaking in 2014, the Chinese government escalated efforts to curb Islamic practises and separatist sentiment. The authorities have banned religious clothing, including the face veil, and "abnormal" beards. Parents have been banned from giving their children names deemed religious.

The government has rolled out an immense network of security cameras and identification and body scanners in public places as part of a highly advanced surveillance state. Police interrogate citizens at checkpoints, search phones for suspicious material, lock down access to once-bustling public places, and forcibly collect voice recordings and biometric data. Fears are growing the cutting-edge surveillance methods could ultimately be deployed across China and exported internationally. Fairfax Media recently visited Xinjiang, observing the all-consuming security apparatus in action.The centrepiece of the campaign has come in the form of the detention camps, now described as “vocational training centres” by authorities that, until recently, denied their very existence. Estimates about the number of detainees range from hundreds of thousands to a few million, with the United Nations highlighting reports of up to 1 million as credible.he camps appear to vary across the region, with some detaining people 24/7 while others allow detainees to go home at night. Reports suggest the camps are filled on a quota basis, with people targeted by local authorities indiscriminately and without specific charges. Once the government focused its efforts on politically active and observant Muslims. Now the campaign captures all Uighurs and other minorities.

Last week, Australia was among 13 governments to raise Xinjiang in a scheduled UN Human Rights Council review of China’s record. Australia’s representatives outlined “alarm at the numerous reports of large numbers of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim groups held incommunicado and often for long periods without being charged or tried”. The official statement warned the measures would exacerbate, not prevent, extremism.

Since acknowledging the existence of the camps, the Chinese government has released propaganda material presenting an idealised image of the facilities, where happy “trainees” enjoy “transformation through education”. This week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the world to ignore “gossip” and said the measures would prevent terrorism.The CCP appointed a hardliner called Chen Quanguo as its top official in Xinjiang in 2016. Chen made his name as the party chief in the neighbouring province of Tibet, where he suppressed Buddhist resistance to CCP rule. Under his authority, security spending has expanded dramatically.

Nursa Mehmetjan, a 45-year-old woman from Ghulja – known as Yining in Chinese – was on the cusp of escaping the deteriorating situation in early 2017. She got engaged to Adelaide man Muhammad Abdullah and was set to join him within months.But after a two-week rendezvous in Malaysia with Abdullah, Mehmetjan returned home and the Chinese government put a stop to her plans. First, she was interrogated and her passport was taken away. In February 2018, she was taken to a nearby camp where she remains.In a brief exchange of messages on February, Mehmetjan told her fiance she did not know how long she would be detained and warned him not to try and get in contact.

Abdullah, aged 81 and whose first wife died in 2016, says he could only wish Mehmetjan good luck.

China’s crackdown against Muslim minorities aims to socially engineer their identity to make them more loyal to the CCP, says Maya Wang, a senior China researcher for Human Rights Watch.

According to Wang, the efforts are unprecedented in their scale and use of technology.

“It is massive social engineering of a large number of people – not only people in the detention camps. There are people in other forms of detention and 13 million people in the region live life under severe control not dissimilar to life in the facilities,” she says.ames Leibold, an expert on Chinese ethnic policy at La Trobe University, says China has faced a problem with Islamist extremism but the response has been “completely disproportionate”, counter-productive, fuelled by racism, and fundamentally colonial.

Leibold says the efforts fit with a long-running pattern of Chinese government efforts to stamp out “deviant groups”, be they in Xinjiang, Tibet or elsewhere.

“We haven’t seen anything else on the scale of what appears to be these massive concentration camps, some of them with the capacity to house tens of thousands of detainees,” he says.

Xinjiang is also rich in natural resources and sits at the heart of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure, investment and trade strategy spanning Europe and Asia.

Renagul Tursun, a mother of three based in Adelaide, points to economic imperatives as China’s main reason for wanting to secure control in Xinjiang. She has not been in contact with relatives since December 2017 but understands her younger brother and two cousins have been detained.

“Even after coming to Australia, although we live in a safe country, day and night we live in fear and trauma because so much of our family are living such a stressful life over there and just waiting to be knocked down by the government,” she says. “Every day, before I sleep, I have to take medication otherwise I cannot sleep. It is affecting my mental condition. I am seeing a psychologist here on a regular basis.”

The Uighur community in Adelaide has vibrant religious, cultural and political scenes. It has grown over decades and is centred around the north-eastern suburbs, where the East Turkistan Australian Association oversees activities and practicing Muslims attend the Abu Bakr As-Siddique Mosque. Some Uighurs who initially migrated to Sydney and Melbourne have subsequently moved to Adelaide to be with the larger and more tight-knit community.

The culture has made its mark on broader Adelaide, which now has a number of authentic Uighur restaurants, including the large Tangritah Uyghur Restaurant that occupies a former church in the CBD.Life in Adelaide offers hope but is not without its challenges. Two Uighurs tell Fairfax Media they are suffering from depression and receiving treatment.

“Every morning, I get up and these things will come to mind until I fall asleep. They will surround me all the time,” another says.

One person spoke of the coded pleas for help, sent from relatives via the Chinese messaging app WeChat.

“The weather is so harsh,” a relative said. “Strong winds.”

Wang, of Human Rights Watch, says the condemnation from Australia and elsewhere has been growing but is not enough.

“Australia has not been completely silent but I would say the volume has been very low and that would be taken as a sign of weakness by the Chinese government, that Australia doesn’t care much about human rights in China,” she says.

“If you don’t speak up when the Chinese government detains 1 million people in camps, then when are you going to speak up?”


Fergus Hunter is a political reporter for Fairfax Media, based in Parliament House.

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Uighurs residents in Australia hold photos of relatives who are missing in China.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2018 at 10:26pm
this was entirely predictable. The chinese cant help themselves. take their bat and ball and go home.Cry 

Australian agriculture exports targeted as global trade tensions deepen

China has fired an apparent trade warning shot at Australia by targeting one of its key grain exports in the wake of the weekend’s heated APEC meeting at which tensions between Beijing and Washington deepened, setting the stage for a showdown at the upcoming G20 summit.

Beijing announced on Monday it would investigate Australia’s $1.8 billion barley exports to China under “anti-dumping” rules that forbid selling at artificially low prices.

That move followed an announcement at the APEC summit in Papua New Guinea that the US would help Australia redevelop a strategically located naval base on Manus Island and an ambitious pledge by the two countries, along with Japan and New Zealand, to massively expand the electricity grid in PNG. Both moves are seen in part as aimed at countering Chinese influence in the Pacific.

After the annual summit ended for the first time without an agreed joint communique by leaders of the Pacific rim countries - owing to trade disagreements between the US and China - Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged there had been frustration among other countries at the stubbornness of the two major powers.

But he insisted countries would at times disagree and the debate would continue. That is likely to put intense pressure on the G20 meeting in Argentina at the end of this month, when US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will try to avert a looming trade war.“The G20 will be coming up. We’ll see where that goes ... There’s a clear frustration that has been expressed by many of the countries around the table ... at APEC that these matters need to be resolved,” Mr Morrison said.

It is understood the key paragraphs in dispute between the superpowers concerned references to the need for strengthened World Trade Organisation powers to go after predatory trade practices and the need for a “level playing field” that prevented state-owned enterprises abusing their advantage of government backing. Both paragraphs were seen as aimed at China.r Morrison, who has previously said trade disputes need to be resolved through international rules rather than “tit-for-tat” tariffs, said the WTO - which administers those rules - “needs a service”.

But he pointedly said the idea of taking away China’s status as a developing economy within the WTO - something Washington reportedly wants but which Beijing is fiercely resisting - was a “complex” question given much of the Chinese population still lived hard lives.

The barley investigation by Chinese authorities follows a complaint made by the China Chamber of International Commerce last month - well before the APEC meeting.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham played down suggestions it was retaliation by China.

“It’s not unusual for countries to investigate dumping allegations made by local businesses or industry groups. People shouldn’t read any more into this than regulatory authorities doing their job, with whom we will of course co-operate,” Senator Birmingham said.

However some analysts said it appeared to be retaliatory, given China’s Commerce Ministry has chosen this time to accept the industry body’s application.

Even Rogers Pay, an analyst at Beijing-based consultancy China Policy, told Reuters it was “a bit odd to take this moment” to launch the probe.

Most observers and insiders say Australia and the US are now in a full-blown contest with China for strategic influence in Australia’s immediate neighbourhood, the Pacific.

Jonathan Pryke, a respected Pacific expert at the Lowy Institute who has been at the APEC meeting, said Australia had come out of the summit fairly well.

No one could argue that Australia is standing still. We are clearly upping the game, bringing in more partners … All of that sends a strong signal … China might not be messing around, but nor are we messing around. We're fully committed.”

Mr Morrison’s relaxed barbecue with Pacific leaders, for instance, had been a “smart play”, he said.

Mr Pryke said Mr Xi had been a hit, paying close attention to Pacific leaders and doing the diplomatic legwork.

China, however, had failed to fully capitalise on its lavish presence at the summit, while Australia and the US had won praise for their pledges.

“This whole thing was poised to be the ‘Xi show’. The West kind of stole their thunder,” Mr Pryke said.

www.watoday.com.au/politics/federal/australian-agriculture-exports-targeted-as-global-trade-tensions-deepen-20181119-p50h0v.html

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2018 at 12:09am
Don't lose sight of the Japanese getting their finger out and realising China is a cancer we need to prepare for.
The USA ( GOD BLESS THEM ) are matching the Chinese attempts to Dominate,
With China virtually circled , Japan fast becoming " ready "   Donald's Boys will have things under control.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2018 at 8:09am
What do you think of this one Isaac? Trump gifting Central Asia to Russia and China?

Trump pledges to end foreign aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan over bin Laden inaction

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2018 at 11:28am
‘Sexbots are coming’: Scientists say ‘digisexuals’ inevitable as more people bond with robots

GREAT new .. May eleviate the lop sided supply for demand that exists now.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2018 at 10:29pm

China uses the cloud to step up spying on Australian business

China’s peak security agency has directed a surge in cyber attacks on Australian companies over the past year, breaching an agreement struck between Premier Li Keqiang and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to not steal each other’s commercial secrets.

A Fairfax Media/Nine News investigation has confirmed that China’s Ministry of State Security is responsible for what is known in cyber circles as “Operation Cloud Hopper”, a wave of attacks detected by Australia and its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance.A senior Australian Government source described China’s activity as “a constant, significant effort to steal our intellectual property”.

The cyber theft places intense pressure on the Morrison government to respond either via law enforcement, diplomatic channels or public advocacy, in order to uphold the cyber security pact signed between the two countries only last year.The US Department of Justice has ramped up its investigation and prosecution of Chinese cyber hackers this year, and over the weekend US Vice President Mike Pence again accused China of “intellectual property theft” as part of an escalating trade and strategic battle with Beijing.The Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation have stepped up their cooperation to respond to the threat, according to a senior police source, although they are many months behind the US operation.

Without enforcement, there was no effective deterrence, said one national security source.

Other sources said the Australian Signals Directorate has detected attacks against several Western businesses, although the names of the affected firms have not been made public. The ASD works with the other Five Eyes countries – the US, Canada, UK and New Zealand – on cyber security issues.

A spokesman for the federal government said Australia condemns the cyber enabled theft of intellectual property for commercial gain from any country.The Coalition Government has been active in strengthening Australia’s capability to detect and respond to cyber enabled threats and is committed to ensuring businesses and the Australian community are resilient to cyber-attacks," the spokesman said.

< ="_16-Dw AkZ3C" border="0" height="614" title="ded " ="https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2018/hackers2/hackers2.?resizable=true" style="-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; min-height: 135px; clear: both; width: 788px; : rgb244, 245, 247;">

One major irritation, raised by several police and intelligence officials, was that Australian companies and universities failed to heed repeated warnings to harden their security against both criminals and attacks directed by nation states.

These state actors are called advanced persistent threats because they work over months or years, adapt to defences and often strike the same victim multiple times. One of the most active Chinese adversaries has been dubbed “APT10”, while “Cloud Hopper” refers to the technique used by this group as they “hop” from cloud storage services into a company’s IT system.

In this case the Chinese hackers penetrated poorly secured IT service providers, to which Australian firms had outsourced their IT. The targets include cloud storage companies and helpdesk firms in North America and Asia. The initial penetration by the Cloud Hopper team allowed the hackers to enter the IT systems of Australian companies.Adrian Nish, BAE Systems’ Head of Threat Intelligence, said the APT10/Cloud Hopper attacks had focussed on the mining, engineering and professional service companies.

“It is still active. We have evidence of [Cloud Hopper] again actively compromising managed service providers,” he said.

The theft of intellectual property is part of China’s broader industrial policy to match the US’s technological edge by 2025. The theft can shorten the research and development process and potentially give Chinese companies a crucial market edge. They can also acquire sensitive information around pricing and corporate activity.

A national security official said the Turnbull-Li agreement had initially led to a significant reduction in cyber espionage from China. The US experienced a comparable drop-off in attacks after former President Barack Obama struck a similar agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2015.

A former senior Government official familiar with the cyber security agreement said: “The way these things usually go with the Chinese is they behave themselves for a while before they go back to being bad”.The attacks on Australian firms since the start of this year, including Cloud Hopper activity, showed the bilateral agreement was being ignored, according to officials.

Security officials and cyber experts, including Mike Sentonas a vice president at US firm CrowdStrike, have linked the Cloud Hopper hackers to the Ministry of State Security.

“We noticed a significant increase in attacks in the first six months of this year. The activity is mainly from China and it's targeting all sectors,” he said.

“There’s no doubt the gloves are off.”

He said there had been a drop off in China’s global hacking operations after the Xi-Obama deal.

Dr Nish from BAE, who has published the most comprehensive report on Cloud Hopper, said he discovered that attacks on multiple clients appeared to be part of the same campaign of “espionage activity”.

“It was clear it was a much bigger campaign,” Dr Nish said.

BAE referred it to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, who referred it to their Australian counterparts at ASD. While Dr Nish declined to confirm the Cloud Hopper attack was directed by Chinese intelligence services, he said there was “no reason to doubt” those who claimed it was.

He said that while outsourcing IT functions was a sensible business decision, Australian firms needed to ask “tough questions” of managed service providers. Some providers offered cheaper IT services because they scrimped on their own security, effectively allowing a backdoor into their clients' IT systems.

In October, the US Department of Justice provided a case study on Chinese hacking within a 21-page indictment naming the MSS and accusing the MSS and its provincial counterparts of hacking an Australian domain name provider in order to access computer systems at aviation companies in the United States and Europe.

Under direction from the MSS, the hackers are accused of either creating fake domain names or redirecting existing domain names to malicious addresses.

The MSS is headquartered in Beijing but has extensive provincial operations and is regarded by western intelligence services as a sophisticated outfit able to combine human intelligence with the advanced cyber capabilities.

Previously, Unit 61398 of the People’s Liberation Army was viewed as the main vehicle for China’s efforts to steal commercial secrets after being named by cyber security firm Mandiant in 2014.

But since a reorganisation of China’s armed forces in 2015, the PLA cyber units are believed to have refocused on military and political intelligence, leaving commercial espionage to the MSS.Nick McKenzie is a leading investigative journalist. He's won Australia's top journalism award, the Walkley, seven times and covers politics, business, foreign affairs and defence, human rights issues, the criminal justice system and social affairs.www.watoday.com.au/business/companies/china-uses-the-cloud-to-step-up-spying-on-australian-business-20181119-p50gze.htmlShare on Facebook

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2018 at 10:29pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2018 at 9:41am

How China diverts, then spies on Australia's internet traffic

Internet traffic heading to Australia was diverted via mainland China over a six-day period last year, in what some experts believe may have enabled a targeted data theft.

The diverted traffic from Europe and North America was logged as a routing error by the state-owned China Telecom, according to data released for the first time by researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Naval War College in the US.We noticed unusual and systematic hijacking patterns associated with China Telecom," one of the researchers, Yuval Shavitt, a professor at Tel Aviv University told Fairfax Media.

The targeting of data bound for Australia comes amid revelations China's peak security agency has overseen a surge in cyber attacks on Australian companies over the past year, breaching a bilateral agreement to not steal each other's commercial secrets.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton expressed concern about the increased number and severity of cyber attacks and said they were imposing a multibillion-dollar cost on the Australian economyIt is unacceptable behaviour by any state actor or non-state actor for that matter to attempt to exploit government IT systems or businesses," he told the Nine Network.

The data diversions will only add to concerns around Beijing's behaviour, with Professor Shavitt saying they happened between the 7th and 13th of June last year and resulted in a small portion of the total internet traffic coming into Australia taking up to six times longer to arrive as it went via China.

Professor Shavitt believes the target of the attack was a UK cyber-security company with offices in Australia. He suggested the suspected hacking operation was aimed at accessing sensitive data held by the firm.

He said the timing of the diversion was unlikely to have been coincidental and may have coincided with a major project the firm was undertaking for a client in Australia.A senior Australian official said intelligence agencies were aware of the issue but could not say with certainty if it was malicious or the result of genuine routing errors. The official said the activity was being conducted on the edge of the cyber frontier, potentially involving new hacking techniques that experts were still seeking to understand.

< ="_16-Dw AkZ3C" border="0" height="1033" title="ded " ="https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2018/route_china/route.?resizable=true" style="-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: line; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; min-height: 135px; clear: both; width: 788px; : rgb244, 245, 247;">

Clandestine data capture and assessment, often on a staggering scale, has been practised by Western intelligence agencies, as revealed by the Edward Snowden leaks. But while this data harvesting raised serious legal and privacy concerns, western nations have insisted it was never used to steal commercial secrets.

Alex Henthorn-Iwane, a vice president at internet monitoring firm Thousand Eyes in San Francisco, said the ease of re-routing internet traffic meant it could be used to gather intelligence, especially when the country involved was known for pursuing economic espionage on a large scale.

"Internet routing is run on the honour system, which makes it vulnerable to dishonest actors," he said.China Telecom said its routing strategy fully complied with global standards and denied it had "hijacked" traffic going through its network.

"China Telecom insists on [a] compliance operation in strict accordance with local laws, not only in mainland China, but also everywhere in the world," it said in a statement.

Responding to an earlier story that the Chinese Ministery of State Security was behind a surge in hacking of commercial secrets, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday that "related reports and accusations are sheer fabrication" and came out of "thin air".

"Cyber security is a global issue and cyber hacking is a common challenge faced by every country in the world," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

On November 12, some Google services were affected by unusual traffic flows which routed data through Russia's TransTelecom and China Telecom. While analysts at Thousand Eyes would not say that the re-routing was malicious, they viewed it as suspicious and said it had placed traffic "in the hands of Internet Service Providers in countries with a long history of internet surveillance".

While the potential to hijack so-called "Border Gateway Protocols (BGP)" has been known for much of the past decade, the issue has gained some prominence across the cyber security community in recent months with the publication of Professor Shavitt's research in conjunction with Chris Demchak from the US Naval War College.The prevalence of – and demonstrated ease with which – one can simply redirect and copy data by controlling key transit nodes buried in a nation's infrastructure requires an urgent policy response," they wrote in a paper published in the Journal of the Military Cyber Professionals Association.

The data diversions were possible as China Telecom has 10 Points of Presence (PoPs) in North America. Foreign carries have no comparable infrastructure across mainland China.

China Telecom has long been regarded as a passive service provider, despite being state-owned, and therefore has attracted none of the suspicion of Chinese telecommunications providers like Huawei or ZTE.

After being contacted by Fairfax Media, Professor Shavitt provided data on traffic flows into Australia, which has not previously been made public.

The data shows traffic came out of Strasbourg travelling to the east coast of the US, but rather than continuing on to Sydney, it was diverted to mainland China before being re-routed via South Korea and Hong Kong before eventually arriving in Australia.

This happened repeatedly over a six-day period with the packets of data taking up to six times longer to arrive than is usual, a warning sign for researchers looking into suspicious activity.

In another example, data from Montreal went to the US east coast and was then diverted to mainland China before either going through South Korea or Hong Kong and then arriving in Sydney. This data took around three times longer to reach its destination than would have ordinarily been the case.

"There is always a chance this was some ingenious error … but to my mind it happened too often to be a mistake," Professor Shavitt said.

He contacted the affected company and warned the data diversion posed a "severe security risk" and that its "sensitive data" was exposed to a so called "man in the middle attack".

This is where malicious software is inserted into emails and other traffic which can then be used to steal data and other confidential information.

"The diversion is only the beginning of an attack … it can then be used to break into a network," Professor Shavitt said.

Michael Sentonas, a vice-president at cyber-security firm CrowdStrike, said BGP was an insecure protocol which left open the potential for traffic to be pushed through a listening post, where even encrypted data could potentially be accessed.

"I don't think it's insignificant when traffic destined for Australia or the US goes via China. You have to ask why?" he said.

"This needs to be raised as an issue and questions asked."

In the research paper published by Professor Shavitt and Ms Demchak, three other examples over the past two years are highlighted, including traffic from Scandinavia to the Japanese office of a major US media outlet being diverted via China.

The pair assert the diversions from China Telecom were part of Beijing's efforts to "technically" adhere to a cyber agreement signed between the US and China in 2015, while still continuing to steal commercial secrets.

"While the 2015 agreement prohibited direct attacks on computer networks, it did nothing to prevent the hijacking of the vital internet backbone of Western countries," they wrote.www.watoday.com.au/technology/how-china-diverts-then-spies-on-australia-s-internet-traffic-20181120-p50h80.html

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2018 at 9:50am
China spying on us?Shocked

And in other breaking news the sun came up again today and Autumn will follow Summer again this year(*climate change pending)Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2018 at 10:47am
mmm how inconsiderate of the western world, not handing our secrets to china, on a platter.

china actually has to go to under handed methods to get them.

should have left china to work things out for themselves.

but the world is a wake up.

pt how would the chinese handle the rioting policemen etc in PNG who werent paid their bonuses.

off to re education camps for themLOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2018 at 11:22am
How do they handle people rioting about their Venezuelan friends? They leave them to sort it out and offer support. I guess they would do the same in PNG.

What do you think about foreign aid being suggested for our northern neighbours Isaac, given that you Liberals see that stuff as welfare and call for the money to be spent here on tax cuts instead? You know that cycle, Labor sees foreign aid as being in our strategic interest and Libs think it is handouts and cut it.

Interesting it was discussed on the weekend by Pence. I think FauxMo choked on his Fanta Sunrise. We will see how the RWNJ ideological dry's in the Liberal Party deal with that suggestion. Not very well I would think.

Labor will be in charge soon so I guess it will happen then.Thumbs Up 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Nov 2018 at 11:23am

Forget geopolitics, water scarcity shapes up as the biggest threat to China's rise

By China correspondent Matthew Carney

Posted about 5 hours agoA water crisis could be the biggest threat to China's rise as a superpower, undercutting the growth and stability so prized by the Government.

Key points:

  • The Yongding River has been dry for 30 years
  • At its peak, the 700-kilometre river was at least 10 metres deep
  • The Government's $100 billion South-North Water Transfer Project has been tipped as a solution

In unusually blunt terms, former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has warned the lack of water threatened the very survival of the Chinese nation itself.

Most of northern China suffers from acute water shortage. The statistics are alarming: in the past 25 years, 28,000 rivers and waterways have disappeared across the country.

The flow of the northern rivers has dramatically slowed or totally dried up.

The iconic Yellow River, the second-longest in Asia, is now a tenth of what it was in the 1940s, and often fails to reach the sea.

The "mother river" of Beijing — the Yongding — used to run long and wide. For centuries it was the lifeblood of the capital, but it has been totally dry for more than 30 years.

On the outskirts of Beijing, all one can see is a massive, sandy riverbed that was once a mighty river.

At its peak, the Yongding River was at least 10 meters deep and the area used to flood. The last big one was in 1958.

A dam was built to control and harness the water, but it has never been utilised.

Conservationist Zhang Junheng has walked the entire 700-kilometre length of the river, documenting its demise.

"When I see [the] river without water, it means death," Mr Zhang said.

"I searched for reasons — uncontrolled development is one — but the source, the plateaus and mountain ranges, are drying up. There is no water anymore."

Last winter, Beijing endured its longest period without any precipitation, snow or rain — 112 days.

Sitting in the riverbed, Mr Zhang warned it was "inevitable" that Beijing would turn into a desert.

"The rainfall is shrinking and all the rivers are dry; global warming is taking its toll," he said.

Further along the Yongding River, 63-year-old Wang Shuxan is harvesting peanuts. She is one of the few left farming along the riverbanks.

"When I first started farming, the river used to reach the top of the banks [and] children used to drown in the rushing water," she said.

"Now we have to drill to get to water."

Every year they have to go deeper into the watertable. On average, it is dropping 1 to 3 metres a year around Beijing.

Ms Wang said this season they had to drill down to 70 metres.

Standing next to her, Mr Zhang despaired.

"Once the underground water disappears, what will the people do and how can they survive? No-one is considering this question," he said.

Pollution further compounds the problem.

Government surveys have found that uncontrolled industrialisation and overuse of pesticides and fertilisers have made 70 per cent of China's watertable unfit for human consumption.

Grassroots activists have sprung up, saying the first urgent priority is to communicate the enormity of the crisis to the Chinese people.

Wang Yonchen from the environmental group Green Earth said the Government has to do more.

"It's time the Government places more priority on protecting people and the ecology, not only on economic development," she said.

Government canal systems 'divert other people's water'

The Government said the recently opened South-North Water Transfer Project is the solution.

It has been 60 years in the making, and at a cost of $100 billion, it is the most expensive and biggest engineering project of its type.

Water travels from Southern China in the 1,500-kilometre canal for 15 days to get to Beijing. It is a lifeline for the capital, providing about two-thirds of the city's drinking water.

The Government has planned another controversial canal from the Tibetan Plateau.

Wang Yonchen, like many others, said at best it was only a short-term solution.

"Beijing is not so special, why are we diverting other people's water that's also shrinking? We should learn to save water, we only have one Earth."

The canal systems will not be able to satisfy water demands for industry or many northern provinces.

And that is a big problem for state planners as China continues to develop.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Nov 2018 at 11:28am
Does anything good happen in China Isaac?
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