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Alex Lo

“It’s all fake news” – Donald Trump, the 45th US president
It’s getting increasingly difficult to tell fake news from real news. I say so as a media professional of almost 30 years. Granted, longevity is no guarantee of competence in my line of work.
Consider the following items from two leading “news” publications from the Anglo-American sphere. See if you can spot the difference: 1. Chinese seafood hides surveillance devices; 2. Chinese electric vehicles hide surveillance devices.
Republican Mike Gallagher, who is chairman of the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, reportedly claimed spying devices had been found hidden in seafood imported from China.
“Every day, the United States is recklessly importing thousands of pounds of seafood from China that could contain God knows what kind of wiretapping devices,” he was quoted as saying.
The House of Representatives has just passed a resolution condemning China’s use of surveillance shrimps.
Meanwhile, the British parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has issued a report warning that China has successfully penetrated every sector of the British economy – every? – and that the UK government has been slow to wake up to the threat posed.
One particular sector of concern is Chinese-made electric cars, according to a news report headlined, “The alarming reality of cheap Chinese cars on British roads – an invasion of cheap Chinese electric vehicles is fast approaching”.
It said: “Not only are these vehicles seen as high quality, boasting long ranges, attractive designs and smart interiors, they are also extremely cheap.”
“Cheap and high quality”, what’s wrong with that? Well, they are from China!
“One brand British motorists should expect to see more of is BYD, which recently unveiled an electric hatchback that it plans to sell for less than £8,000 (HK$80,000) – far cheaper than many petrol-fuelled models,” the report continued.
The real danger is that “modern cars are increasingly dependent on ‘over the air’ software updates, which they receive through a mobile phone-style SIM card that is built into the vehicle”.
Oh dear, what horror! Chinese electric vehicles, as well as seafood imported from China, will be carrying out electronic surveillance for the communist state.
Under new law, China is ‘encouraging citizens to spy on each other’, US says
“If a malicious actor gained access to these update systems, through servers known as ‘the backend’, they could beam out software that allows them to spy on vehicles and their driver remotely,” the report claimed knowingly.
“The concern is that this is not only vulnerable to hackers, but also potentially the manufacturers themselves, with those in China subject to national security laws that force them to comply with government requests.
“This risk is compounded by the fact that Chinese technology is proliferating in Western supply chains,” it said.
How? After successfully killing off the spying 5G business of Huawei Technologies, the report warned the UK government had been asleep at the wheel while this hi-tech surveillance giant in cohort with the Chinese communist state was making a comeback in Europe and Britain by supplying car gear.
“Huawei may have been kicked out of the UK’s 5G network,” the story continued, “but in December, the company reportedly made sales of its smart car technology to Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, and Porsche, putting Huawei products in 15 million cars a year.”
Dame Priti Patel, the former British home secretary, believes her country must do to Chinese electric vehicles what it did to Huawei’s 5G.
“Under no circumstances can we revert backwards and end up being dependent on nations like China,” she reportedly said.
I leave it to you to decide which story is “real”. Here’s a hint: one is from the US satirical publication The Onion and the other from the highly respected conservative British broadsheet The Telegraph.


Iran’s emergence as a major power should be welcome in a multipolar world

Discovery Bay will never be the same if the restriction on taxi access is lifted

America has always been a rogue state, and even more so under Donald Trump

Why Beijing is now the only true partner of Africa and Latin America

My Take

Reports say Chinese are spying with seafood and electric vehicles, seriously

Republican Mike Gallagher, chairman of the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinese battery companies spy a South Korean loophole to skirt US subsidy rules

A worker checks machinery at a battery parts maker in South Korea. Analysts say partnerships with Chinese firms can be risky for Korean companies because the US could still block joint ventures from any IRA tax benefits. Photo: Bloomberg

Chinese ‘spy balloon’ is featured in US congressional hearing about UFOs

A fighter jet flies past the remnants of a large balloon falling into the Atlantic Ocean after it was shot down just off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, 2023. Photo: AP 

US Representative Glenn Grothman, chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs. Photo: Instagram

David Grusch, a former intelligence officer, preparing to testify on Wednesday at the hearing, which was titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety and Government Transparency”. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

Retired Navy commander David Fravor during the hearing. Photo: Getty Images/AFP 

China vows countermeasures after CIA chief William Burns says agency is working to rebuild spy network

CIA director William Burns said the agency was working to ensure it had advanced notice of any attack on Taiwan. Photo: AFP

Opinion

After the surveillance weather balloon fiasco, see if you can spot the fake from real news about spying shrimps and cars exported from China


After the surveillance weather balloon fiasco, see if you can spot the fake from real news about spying shrimps and cars exported from China.


Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}After the surveillance weather balloon fiasco, see if you can spot the fake from real news about spying shrimps and cars exported from China

After the surveillance weather balloon fiasco, see if you can spot the fake from real news about spying shrimps and cars exported from China