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  1. #26
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    1. Campaign contributions
    2. Ensuring any "facts" that those who are deemed untouchable are not reported or buried.
    Poor old HooHoo gets in a snit every time his beloved chinkies are exposed for the scum they are.

    One word: Akamai.

  2. #27
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    No one knows, exactly. But it is certainly north of $80bn pa.

    The Intelligence Budget

    The United States has 17 separate intelligence agencies. In addition to the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the FBI, mentioned above, they are the CIA; the National Security Agency; the Defense Intelligence Agency; the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research; the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Office of National Security Intelligence; the Treasury Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis; the Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence; the National Reconnaissance Office; the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command; the Office of Naval Intelligence; Marine Corps Intelligence; and Coast Guard Intelligence. And then there’s that 17th one, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, set up to coordinate the activities of the other 16.


    We know remarkably little about the nature of the nation’s intelligence spending, other than its supposed total, released in a report every year. By now, it’s more than $80 billion. The bulk of this funding, including for the CIA and NSA, is believed to be hidden under obscure line items in the Pentagon budget. Since intelligence spending is not a separate funding stream, it’s not counted in our tally below (though, for all we know, some of it should be).
    Intelligence Budget total: $80 billion

    Making Sense of the $1.25 Trillion National Security State Budget
    So what?

    What does that have to do with criminal cyber attacks?

  3. #28
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Poor old HooHoo gets in a snit every time his beloved chinkies are exposed for the scum they are.

    One word: Akamai.
    China accounts for more trade with Australia than Japan , US and S.korea combined

  4. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    China accounts for more trade with Australia than Japan , US and S.korea combined
    . . . and . . . ?


    Oh, you googled trade numbers. Well done.


    This is fun, let me try:

    Australia exports more crude petroleum to India than to China



    Do I get a 'well done', Skidmark?

  5. #30
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    . . . and . . . ?


    Oh, you googled trade numbers. Well done.


    This is fun, let me try:

    Australia exports more crude petroleum to India than to China



    Do I get a 'well done', Skidmark?
    Actually no. I didn't just Google the numbers. I know all about this shit. I know all about this finance and economics shit. I was spending most of my online time in the finance/econ blogs and finance Twitter. But I wanted to take a break from it. Which is why I'm posting more often on TD.

    Anyway Australia finds itself in a very unorthodox situation. If it had any sense , it would play the US and China the way Thailand and Philippines are playing it. They aren't being pushover lapdogs for the US.
    Last edited by Backspin; 16-09-2020 at 06:38 AM.

  6. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    China accounts for more trade with Australia than Japan , US and S.korea combined
    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Oh, you googled trade numbers. Well done.
    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    Actually no. I didn't just Google the numbers. I know all about this shit.
    Impressive . . . what is the GDP of the Matagalpa Region in Nicaragua? No googling now.


    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    I know all about this finance and economics shit.
    Ok . . .

    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    They aren't being pushover lapdogs for the US.
    And neither is Australia (you'd better check with the two examples you noted, though). Australia has its own standards that direct its trade policies - some coincide with that of the US, some don't.

    Your over-simplification is amusing . . .
    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    I know all about this shit.

  7. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    I know all about this finance and economics shit.
    Sounds like something the donald would utter.

  8. #33
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    Well, I think every rational person should consider what puts food on your plate. 46% of aussie exports go to China. So lets pick a fight with them, and be The donalds pathetic dept'y Sheriff. Yeh, real smart.

  9. #34
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Well, I think every rational person should consider what puts food on your plate. 46% of aussie exports go to China. So lets pick a fight with them, and be The donalds pathetic dept'y Sheriff. Yeh, real smart.
    So Australia should just roll over and let the chinkies do what they want.

    Another chinky apologist.

  10. #35
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Reminds me of this I saw wee while back, didn't read it at all it just made me giggle:

    Chinese newspaper claims Australia becoming 'poor white trash of Asia' - NZ Herald

    Chinese newspaper claims Australia becoming 'poorwhite trash of Asia'


  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    lets pick a fight with them
    A) You're a Brit
    B) China picked the fight




    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    So Australia should just roll over and let the chinkies do what they want.
    As per sabang, same as the protestors in HK . . .

  12. #37
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    Poor white trash. Hmmmph.
    That’s poor multicultural trash thank you.
    And not an original line either.

  13. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by docmartin View Post
    Poor white trash. Hmmmph.
    That’s poor multicultural trash thank you.
    And not an original line either.
    A nice bit of racism thrown in . . . imagine The Age or the SMH publishing an article about the Poor Yellow trash of Asia . . . oh, how they would howl with feigned indignation and the government would remind the world how China suffered and was humiliated for 110 years . . . as they always do.

    At the end of the day there shouldn't be any reason for Chinese to want to escape, errrr, emigrate to Oz . . . by the hundreds of thousands

  14. #39
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    ^ You're speaking the truth there.

  15. #40
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    Well this should make you feel better- Chinese investment in oz real estate has dropped by close to 50% over the last year. As for the drop in Uni students, no problem- we'll just replace them with Somalians.

  16. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Chinese investment in oz real estate has dropped by close to 50% over the last year
    Good, if true



    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    As for the drop in Uni students, no problem- we'll just replace them with Somalians.
    Because Somalis are the only other foreign students. You're losing it, sabang.

  17. #42
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Petulant chinky wankers.... their childish rhetoric is quite hilarious.

    And shame on the kow-towing uni administrators for grovelling to the whiny bastards.

    BRISBANE, Australia: An Australian university student who has never visited China and has only a modest social media following would seem an unlikely target for the Chinese government.

    But when a foreign ministry spokesman personally denounced Drew Pavlou at a recent press conference, it was just the next phase in an extraordinary campaign against the 21-year-old that has fuelled concerns over China's targeting of critics overseas.

    Pavlou first placed himself in the superpower's sights when he organised a small sit-in the University of Queensland, where he studied, in July last year to protest against various Chinese government policies.

    Since then, the Global Times, a nationalist state-run tabloid, has published a series of articles branding him an "anti-China rioter" and portraying him as the face of alleged anti-Chinese racism in Australia.

    Pavlou, a philosophy student, said he had also received death threats after one of China's envoys in Australia labelled him a "separatist".

    The foreign ministry's targeting of Pavlou occurred last month when the spokesman was asked about a viral photograph showing a Chinese diplomat walking across people's backs in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati.

    "There was a person named Drew Pavlou who revealed this photo. This person has always been anti-China out of political motives," the spokesman said, even though Pavlou neither took the photo nor was the first to share it.

    Pavlou said he was playing Grand Theft Auto on his Xbox at the time and that he "was just absolutely shocked".

    "It's very weird for a superpower to be focusing on one 21-year-old Aussie student, one Aussie bloke who fundamentally is pretty stupid and does a lot of dumb things," Pavlou told AFP.

    At times, Pavlou's confrontational brand of activism has invited criticism, and made him a useful foil for Beijing.

    He was accused of racism after posing outside his university's Chinese-funded Confucius Institute with a sign declaring it a "Covid-19 biohazard" early in the pandemic.

    He now regrets the stunt, but still does not understand why Beijing has kept him in its sights.

    One explanation is that his activism has touched a nerve.

    As well as criticising China's violent crackdowns in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet, Pavlou has drawn attention to the cosy relationship between Australian universities and the Chinese state.

    Those ties are now being investigated by several Australian authorities for fear the influx of Chinese cash may have jeopardised the national interest.

    Elaine Pearson, Australia director for Human Rights Watch, said a "thin-skinned" Beijing had only drawn greater attention to Pavlou and his advocacy.

    "It's pretty obvious from China's actions more broadly that it really has no tolerance for dissent or opposing views these days," Pearson said, adding the Chinese Communist Party's "long arm of authoritarianism" was now reaching across the globe.

    Pavlou's antics also led the University of Queensland to amass a 186-page dossier of alleged disciplinary breaches against him, from incendiary social media posts to using a pen in a campus shop without paying for it.

    After a closed-door hearing, Pavlou was suspended for two years, later reduced to the rest of 2020 on appeal.

    Pavlou is suing the university, its chancellor and vice-chancellor for Aus$3.5 million ($2.5 million) for alleged breach of contract and defamation.

    The university has faced high-profile criticism over its handling of Pavlou's case, including from former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who told local media the institution risked being seen as "bending the knee to Beijing".

    Like many Australian colleges, the University of Queensland became highly dependent on tuition fees from international students to fund research and subsidise domestic student places.

    About 182,000 Chinese students were enrolled in Australian universities in 2019, bringing an estimated $6.8 billion into the economy.

    A University of Queensland spokeswoman denied any "political motivations" in pursuing disciplinary action against Pavlou.

    "Neither of the findings of serious misconduct concerned Mr Pavlou's personal or political views about China or Hong Kong," she said, adding freedom of speech was "of utmost importance to UQ".

    Pavlou said he "never set out to be a political activist" and just wanted to organise a single protest to "disrupt things on campus".

    But while Pavlou said he was initially "naive", he does not appear to have been intimidated by China.

    His Twitter bio now carries a cheeky reference to the spokesman's targeting of him: "Human rights and democracy activist. Youngest Australian ever denounced by the Chinese Foreign Ministry."


    Young Australian an unlikely target for China's fury

  18. #43
    A Cockless Wonder
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    Fears for Australians in China after Chinese consul named in AFP warrant over political interference investigation

    A former senior Defence official and diplomat is calling for urgent action to protect Australians in China, in response to the ABC's revelations Australian police identified a Chinese consular official in a foreign interference investigation.

    Australia V China-12326822-16x9-xlarge-jpg

    Key points:

    A former diplomat has warned Australians in China may not be safe after a Chinese consular official was named in AFP warrants
    Emails, messages and phone call lists involving Chinese diplomats were accessed as part of the investigation into political interference
    The former diplomat, Allan Behm, says Australia's diplomacy with China is "in the pits" and requires urgent action

    The ABC has revealed search warrants identify Chinese consul to Sydney, Sun Yantao, in connection with an investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and spy agency ASIO into an alleged plot by Beijing to infiltrate the New South Wales Labor Party.

    Mr Sun is responsible for managing relations with the Chinese diaspora and pro-Beijing organisations in Australia, and coordinating with China's foreign influence agency, the United Front Work Department.

    Former diplomat and senior Defence official Allan Behm, who was also a federal government foreign policy adviser, said the move would worsen the diplomatic crisis between Australia and China.

    "The Australian Government needs to act right now," said Mr Behm, who is head of the international and security program at the Australia Institute.

    "It needs to warn Australians who are in China that they must be extremely careful — that they must do nothing that attracts attention or that might otherwise provoke the Chinese Government.

    "If they have no real reason for conducting business in China at the moment, they would be pretty well advised to return to Australia."

    Speaking to ABC News, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the investigation was focused on Australian citizens, suggesting consular officials such as Mr Sun would not be prosecuted.

    "My understanding is that investigations that might be underway relate very much to potential foreign interference activities by publicised figures, who have been identified in the media, who are Australians," he said.

    The joint investigation by the AFP and ASIO centres on John Zhisen Zhang, a policy adviser to NSW Upper House Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane.

    The ABC revealed last night Mr Zhang's emails, messages and records of phone calls with top-level Chinese diplomats had been accessed by authorities when they seized his laptops and phones in raids in June.
    One man in a gold jacket and two men wearing suits and ties standing on stage in front of red banner
    John Zhang, Shaoquett Moselmane and consul Sun Yantao at a Sydney event to mark the 2017 Chinese New Year.(Supplied)

    The investigation is understood to have fed into the deepening diplomatic crisis between Australia and China, which earlier this month saw two Australian journalists, the ABC's correspondent Bill Birtles and Australian Financial Review journalist Michael Smith, evacuated from China.

    Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei was arrested in Beijing last month and has not been seen publicly since.
    Australians left in China could be subject to investigations
    Man in suit and tie reclines in chair in boardroom with hand on wooden table and closed window blinds behind him
    Allan Behm, from the Australia Institute, served as an adviser and speechwriter for Penny Wong.(ABC News: Adam Kennedy)

    The Federal Government recently warned Australians they are "at risk of arbitrary detention" in China.

    Mr Behm, a former adviser to Labor's Penny Wong when she was foreign minister, said the latest developments in the foreign interference investigation represented a "very significant moment" in the relationship between the two countries.

    "Australians who are resident in China, they could also become subject to all sorts of investigations and visits," he said.

    "The Chinese Government doesn't sit down when other governments undertake what it regards as provocation. So we can expect that they will retaliate in one form or another."
    Do you know more?

    Contact Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop on Signal: +61 401 363 426 and on Protonmail: seanrdunlop@protonmail.com
    Contact Echo Hui on Signal: +61 468 306 302 and on Protonmail: echo.hui@protonmail.com

    Please use this form to get in contact with the ABC Investigations team, or if you require more secure communication, please choose an option on the confidential tips page.

    He believes identifying Mr Sun in the AFP warrants represents a major step by Australian authorities, but questions whether the Federal Government has a diplomatic strategy to manage the potential fallout.
    Man in suit stands on stage behind podium with large blue graphic screen behind him
    Consul Sun Yantao speaking at a Gala Dinner in Sydney in 2019(Supplied)

    "It is a very big move to identify by name a Chinese diplomat, particularly the consul in Sydney, in a warrant, and it's an even bigger moment when that warrant becomes public information," he said.

    "I doubt that there was very much at all by way of serious diplomatic consideration given to this — it looks very much like action without a plan.

    At midnight, Chinese State Security police knocked on ABC journalist Bill Birtles' door.
    A man smiles and waves his left hand while holding a disposable face mask.

    He realised he was no longer safe in China. Read Birtles' account of the night he had to pack up his life and leave the country.
    Read more

    "At the moment, Australia's diplomacy with respect to China is absolutely in the pits. It is high time that the Australian Government listened carefully to its diplomats and actually builds a proper diplomatic policy and a strategic plan in the management of our relationship with China."

    The Chinese consulate-general in Sydney has reacted angrily to the news of its consul Mr Sun being named in the AFP warrants, saying in a statement that accusations it "engaged in infiltration activities are totally baseless and nothing but vicious slanders".

    "The Chinese consulate-general … always observes international law and basic norms of international relations while exercising duties in Australia," it said.
    Messages, emails and phone call lists accessed
    A graphic of four photos of Chinese individuals, including three men and one woman.
    Chinese scholars Li Jianjun (top left) and Chen Hong (top right) and media officials Li Dayong (bottom left) and Tao Shelan (bottom right) were targeted in the investigation.(Supplied)

    Last week, ABC Investigations reported senior Chinese media officials in Australia had been targeted and the visas of two leading Chinese scholars had been revoked as part of the investigation.

    The homes of four Sydney-based Chinese journalists were also raided in June, prompting Chinese state media to declare Australia had "severely infring[ed] on the legitimate rights of Chinese journalists".

    Yesterday it was revealed the man at the heart of the investigation, Mr Zhang, had accused Australian authorities of breaching Australian and international law by intercepting his communications with China's top-level diplomats and their families in Australia.
    Two men wearing suits stand in busy street with many people behind them
    Shaoquett Moselmane and John Zhang at a street festival.(Facebook)

    Mr Zhang, who has advised Mr Moselmane since 2018, formally complained to Australian Federal Government ministers his phone and computer were searched at Sydney Airport in January after he and his family arrived back from China, as well as in June during raids on his home and office.

    Those devices contained emails, messages and records of calls with Chinese diplomatic and consular officials and some of their family members.

    Mr Zhang's written complaints accuse the ABF and AFP of breaching two of the most sacred international treaties enshrined in Australian law — the Vienna conventions on diplomatic and consular relations — which protect the communications of diplomatic officials.
    Two men in suits stand in lavish dining room with chandelier and red curtain visible behind.
    Prime Minister Scott Morrison and John Zhang at an event in 2018.(Supplied)

    The AFP suspects Mr Zhang and his alleged accomplices broke Australia's foreign interference laws, alleging they chatted with Mr Moselmane in a "covert" social media group and concealed they were collaborating with China's leading espionage and foreign influence agencies.

    Mr Zhang could face up to 15 years in jail if charged and convicted of foreign interference.

    Both he and Mr Moselmane deny any wrongdoing.

    The Home Affairs Department and the AFP have declined to comment.

    https://www.abc. net.au/news/2020-09-16/australia-china-diplomatic-crisis-after-consul-named-in-warrant/12668424

  19. #44
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    For sure the chinkies will pick some random Aussie in Chinastan and accuse them of spying or some shit in their usual bully-boy tit-for-tat response.

  20. #45
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Well, I think every rational person should consider what puts food on your plate. 46% of aussie exports go to China. So lets pick a fight with them, and be The donalds pathetic dept'y Sheriff. Yeh, real smart.
    Exactly. It's insane. It's amazing how out of balance it is.S.korea Japan and the US aren't small economies. But China still trumps them combined

  21. #46
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    So Australia should just roll over and let the chinkies do what they want.

    Another chinky apologist.
    Do what Thailand and Phillipines are doing. At the very least , keep it respectful

  22. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    Exactly. It's insane. It's amazing how out of balance it is.S.korea Japan and the US aren't small economies. But China still trumps them combined
    And again - your point is?

    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    Do what Thailand and Phillipines are doing. At the very least , keep it respectful
    Respectful? How did Australia disrespect China? At the very least it's the other way around

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    For sure the chinkies will pick some random Aussie in Chinastan and accuse them of spying or some shit in their usual bully-boy tit-for-tat response.
    Like the Canadians arrested after Canada detained the Huawei CFO.

    That's respectful

  23. #48
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    A) You're a Brit
    Ex Australian naval officer too, and obviously an aussie citizen. Somehow can't imagine you ever did time in the Armed forces of any country!


    How did Australia disrespect China?

  24. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Somehow can't imagine you ever did time in the Armed forces of any country!
    As mentioned previously to helge, I have, I just don't feel the need to big myself so your imagination is as pallid as your content . . . so the 'facepalm' can be applied to you twice, but keep using those memes to illustrate your point instead.

  25. #50
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    Australia is being brave or stupid. Not sure which, but I don’t see it as a fair fight anyway. The Chinese inherent philosophy is to beat the enemy with a bigger stick. Australia prefers to follow the roots of a British system of diplomacy.
    its worth reminding Australia that, despite many fine qualities, it lacks history, especially in diplomacy and single minded belligerence. Such belligerence was consigned to the British scrap heap during the death of the empire. Australia, while following the Brit MO, does not have British history of shedding big mistakes to fall back on.
    I suspect this lack of history will be their downfall in the long run. China can afford to drop Oz, but the opposite is not true. It will end badly, unless Australia learns diplomacy and patience, or they buy bigger sticks (unlikely).

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