How does China chase its opponents abroad through social networks?

The American newspaper "New York Times" says in a report published on its website that the Chinese authorities are adopting advanced technology to track opponents abroad who criticize their regime through social media. Learn the details.

The American newspaper "New York Times" published a report stating that the Chinese authorities have adopted advanced technology to track opponents abroad who criticize their regime through social media.

According to the report, China is tracking its students and even non-Chinese citizens with this technology.

The student, Jennifer Chen, was among those students who were pursued by the authorities, who also subjected her to questioning after she re-posted tweets on her Twitter account in which she supported the protesters in Hong Kong and minorities in the country.

Although her Twitter account is "unknown", the Chinese authorities found her identity, investigated her, and demanded that she delete her tweets.

Even after she left China to pursue her studies abroad, the authorities continued to track her account, as she considers this digital stalking as part of her broader campaign to counter negative images of her.

These programs allow authorities to conduct advanced research on public records and data to gather personal information about the targets and their whereabouts.

The newspaper notes that the Chinese security authorities are working to add technical expertise and new funding to the operation.

The report says police in Shanghai have offered technology companies $1,500 for each investigation targeting a social media account outside the country.

According to a government contractor to The New York Times, the investigation begins immediately after any Twitter or Facebook tweet that attracts official attention.

In his testimony, the contractor adds that every possible method is used, including voter records, driver's license records, and even data breaches on the dark web to identify the account holder.

China is under criticism from international human rights organizations because of the censorship it imposes on the Internet and the violations it is committing against minorities in the country.

Wall Street Journal: US sanctions bring Iran and the Taliban closer

In a report by its correspondent from Afghanistan, Sonny Engel Rasmussen, the American newspaper "The Wall Street Journal" said that two decades ago, Iran helped the United States overthrow the "Taliban" regime ; To remove what it considered at the time a threat to its national security and to the Shiites in Afghanistan. But now, four months after the Taliban seized power in Kabul, both Iran and Afghanistan are struggling under crippling US sanctions; The two countries are in a bind that may push them to put aside longstanding ideological and political differences, while seeking to fill the void left by the withdrawal of US forces.

The report quotes Ghulam Noorzai, a businessman from Nimroz province, a trading hub in Afghanistan's southwestern border region, who imports fuel and construction materials from Iran as saying: “The two countries have really come close; They have no other choice.”

According to the report, the relations between the Shiite theocratic regime in Iran and the Sunni “Taliban” movement are enveloped after decades of mistrust and direct conflict. In 1998, the Taliban killed 10 Iranian consulate employees after seizing the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. The two countries were on the brink of war because of this.

Despite the rapprochement, there are great tensions between the “Taliban” and Iran; The two sides are fighting over increasingly scarce water resources, and Iranian-backed militias operating in Afghanistan pose a threat to the Taliban, not to mention Iran's concern about Afghan drug traffickers crossing into its territory.

The writer indicates that the situation has changed somewhat at the present time. Whereas, supermarkets in Afghanistan are now selling Iranian products, after they were accustomed to selling European and Turkish products.

The Olive Supermarket in Herat, Afghanistan, now sells Iranian products, while it used to sell European and Turkish products.

Afghanistan and Iran share a border of nearly 600 miles, and are vital partners. In recent years, Afghanistan has been one of the few sources of foreign currency for Iran; US sanctions have isolated Tehran from the global banking system. Similar sanctions were applied to Afghanistan after the Taliban took control, which led to the collapse of the banking system.

The report notes that despite Iran's support for the "Northern Alliance" against the "Taliban" in the nineties of the last century, and its cooperation with Washington in the overthrow of the "Taliban" regime in 2001, it took a different position in the following years, after the former US president classified " George Bush” described Tehran as part of the “axis of evil.”

Over the past decade, Iran has maintained close ties with the Afghan government, while also nurturing relations with the Taliban and supporting its goal of driving US forces out of the region. Unlike Western countries, Iran did not close its diplomatic missions in Afghanistan after the “Taliban” seized power there, but at the same time it granted asylum to leaders of the anti- movement armed groups such as “Ismail Khan.” No country has yet recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

Many Iranian officials believe that the Taliban have indeed changed. “They (Taliban leaders) have more experience today than a decade ago, and now they have no choice but to coexist with their neighbors including Iran,” said Diako Hosseini, a political analyst in Tehran and a former adviser to the Iranian president’s office. Only by cooperating and keeping diplomatic windows open will Iran be able to protect its vital interests in terms of drug smuggling, terrorism and migration.”

Taliban officials say they have moved past their differences. "We don't have a problem with Iran or any other country, we want to increase trade with Iran, Pakistan, Central Asian countries and the whole world," said Nur Ahmad Islamgar, who was appointed by the Taliban as governor of Herat province, which borders Iran.

The nature of the broad relations between Afghanistan and Iran is evident in Nimroz province. Smugglers transport goods from potatoes to fertilizer and fuel across the desert from Iran to Afghanistan, and their pick-up trucks raise clouds of dust. On the way back, the vehicles carry drugs - Afghanistan is the world's largest source of heroin and opium - or refugees who have fled in droves for fear of Taliban rule.

Dozens of fuel trucks cross the Silk Bridge every day, which links Iran to Nimroz, along with throngs of refugees that Iran is sending back to Afghanistan in record numbers.

On the streets of Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz, street vendors sell Iranian spices and fruits, and accept Iranian riyals in transactions. Zerang street lamps, which resemble a speck of light in the middle of a dark desert, are powered by electricity flowing from the Iranian grid.

In Herat, Afghanistan, exports of dried fruits go to Dubai via Iran.

The deputy of the Herat Chamber of Commerce, Ahmed Saeed Qassemian, said that between last August and December 2021, Iran imported goods worth 45 million dollars through western Afghanistan, an increase of 20% over the same period last year, while the economy contracted Afghani increased by 40% over the same period, according to the United Nations.

Qassemian added that at a time when US sanctions reduced the volume of trade with countries in Europe and the Gulf and paralyzed the banking system in Afghanistan, Iranian businessmen intervened to fill the void.

Saeed Amin Shah Hosseini, a sales manager at the luxury "Olive" supermarket in Herat, said he has replaced 60-65% of the store's brands that were Turkish or European with Iranian products. He added, "We will become 100% dependent on Iran if this situation continues."

The "Taliban" is trying to present an image of restoring safety and normality in the country since seizing power in it. But according to a report by Son Rasmussen, the Wall Street Journal's correspondent in Kabul, harsh punishments, violence and suppression of basic freedoms have become a reality.

Over the past decade, Iran has created a buffer zone in western Afghanistan, in part to protect its borders from ISIS, by supporting local armed groups including Taliban leaders. After the Taliban took power in August 2021, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi described the US military defeat in Afghanistan as an "opportunity to restore life, security and lasting peace." Experts believe that Tehran now expects to gain more political and economic influence in Afghanistan.

The report quotes Colin Clark, a researcher at the Soufan Center for Research, based in New York, as saying: "The Iranians have invested in this relationship, and now it's time to get paid."

One of Iran's allies in Afghanistan is a Shiite militia called the Fatemiyoun Brigade. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has recruited thousands of young Afghan fighters into the Fatemiyoun Brigade to fight alongside Bashar al-Assad in Syria. With the end of the Syrian war, many of the seasoned Fatemiyoun fighters - who are staunchly opposed to the Taliban - have returned to Afghanistan or Iran.

In the Shiite-dominated Dashti Barchi neighborhood of Kabul, several Taliban members have been killed in night-time assassinations in recent weeks. Officially the Taliban says the killings were due to private disputes, but members familiar with Taliban intelligence say they believe the killers were members of the Fatemiyoun.

"Iran is not enthusiastic about getting into a fight in Afghanistan," Clark said.

He added: “The Iranians are convinced that they will not be different from any other country that has intervened in Afghanistan. And they have some agents like the Fatimids and the Afghan warlords who can activate them, it is a card in their pocket that they can play.”

In other clashes, a gun battle broke out between Iranian border police and Taliban fighters in early December; Because of a disputed border demarcation in Nimroz. Taliban fighters filmed themselves laughing and firing mortars at Iranian police on the other side of the border. Iranian and Taliban officials quickly dismissed the clash as a misunderstanding.

“It was a local act, not something the leaders would like. Our leaders and the leaders of the Iranian government do not want to confront each other militarily,” said Islamgar, the governor of Herat.

A potentially more dangerous conflict is brewing in the desert; Where Iran and Afghanistan are locked in a bloody conflict for decades over water resources.

In his field report, the writer recounts that “sitting in a Ford Ranger car with the insignia of the former national police that was funded by the United States, the Taliban commander, Hemat Agha, stared at the blue waters of the Kamal Khan Dam in the desert where Afghanistan meets Iran.” “.

“We have closed off the waters going to Iran; So we expect them to do something.”

Once completed, the Kamal Khan Dam is supposed to irrigate 175,000 acres of agricultural land, and contribute to generating 9 megawatts of electricity. It would also divert the course of the river that was flowing into Iran.

For years, Iran has accused Afghanistan of taking more than its fair share under the 1973 water treaty between the two countries, and draining the wetlands on the Iranian side of the border.

While the former Afghan government accused Iran of arming the “Taliban” rebels to disrupt the dam project, the movement has currently deployed 1,000 fighters and at the checkpoints around it in the desert to protect it.

The writer concludes by saying that both countries need every drop of water they can get; Afghanistan is facing its worst drought in four decades and an impending famine, and this year the Iranian government faced protests over water shortages caused by climate change and government mismanagement.

"We need all the water for ourselves, and if we don't secure the dam, Iran will attack," Agha said, as birds soared low over the dam's lake and over a flock of camels feeding from the shallow waters.

CDS Chopper Crash: IAF's Court of Inquiry completed, told- how the helicopter became a victim of the accident?

On December 8, CDS General Bipin Rawat along with his wife and other officers was going from Sulur Air Base in Tamil Nadu in a Mi V-17 V5 to Wellington near Unti when the helicopter crashed.

The Air Force's Court of Inquiry is almost complete regarding the country's first CDS General Bipin Rawat's helicopter Mi-17 V5 accident. Although no official statement has come about the cause of the accident so far, but it is believed that the main reason behind this has been bad weather. It is being told that the investigation led by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh has found that the pilot lost his attention due to bad weather, due to which the accident happened. 

On technical grounds, such accidents happen when the pilot disorients or is unable to get an accurate idea of ​​the situation and the helicopter collides with someone unintentionally. Whereas the pilot has complete control of the helicopter. Such a situation is called Control Flight Into Terrain. Crashes of this type mostly occur during inclement weather, when the pilot is landing the helicopter. In such a situation it becomes almost impossible for the pilot to control the helicopter.

It is also learned that the investigative team ruled out any possibility that there was no technical fault in the helicopter or that there was no defect in the helicopter . At present, the investigation team is taking advice from the Legal Department of the Air Force itself to confirm its report and it is expected that within four to five days this report will be handed over to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary. 

Let us tell you that on December 8, CDS General Bipin Rawat, along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and advisor Brigadier LS Liddar, were going to Defense Services Staff College in Wellington near Unti from Sulur Air Base in Tamil Nadu in a Mi V-17 V5. The accident happened seven minutes before landing. In this accident, 14 people aboard the helicopter including General Rawat were killed. The exact cause of the accident will be known only after the official investigation report comes, but from what has been found so far, it seems that this accident happened due to bad weather.