cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5784029

The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernisation is working on the so-called Germany Stack, which is intended to “create a sovereign, European-compatible and interoperable digital infrastructure for federal, state and local governments” as “national sovereign technology platform”. Until the end of November 2025, a public consultation is running, to which the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has today submitted a statement (open new link in German).

...

The Germany Stack can only achieve its stated aim if it consistently relies on Free Software. A proprietary stack would merely replace existing dependencies with new ones. Proprietary software developed by manufacturers in Germany or Europe does not provide the necessary conditions for sovereignty, creates new lock-in effects, and can at any time be withdrawn from access by public authorities – for instance, if a manufacturer becomes insolvent or is bought by a non-European competitor. Trust issues also remain when the code is intransparent, and security bugs may persist if there is no right to fix the software. Defining availability as Free Software as a criterion for components of the Stack does not disadvantage manufacturers of proprietary software. Rather, this decision creates an incentive for all manufacturers to produce and publish Free Software, from which not only public administrations but also the European economy and society as a whole will benefit.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5784157

Archived version

Russia launched a wave of attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least six people in overnight strikes that hit city buildings and energy infrastructure, while a Ukrainian attack in southern Russia killed three people and damaged homes, authorities said.

The large-scale attacks come during a renewed U.S. push to end the war that has raged for nearly four years and talks about a U.S.-brokered peace plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials for several hours in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, a U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press.

...

Russia fired 22 missiles of various types and over 460 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, noting that four drones flew into Romania and Moldova.

...

The Russian strikes knocked out water, electricity and heat in parts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Video footage posted to Telegram showed a large fire spreading in a nine-story residential building in Kyiv’s eastern Dniprovskyi district.

Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said two people were killed and five injured in Dniprovskyi and another residential building in the central Pecherskyi district was badly damaged.

Liubov Petrivna, a 90-year-old resident of a damaged building in the Dniprovskyi district, told the AP “absolutely everything” in her apartment was shattered by the strike and “glass rained down” on her.

Petrivna said she didn’t believe in the peace plan now under discussion: “No one will ever do anything about it. Putin won’t stop until he finishes us off.”

...

Ukraine’s energy ministry also said energy infrastructure had been hit, without describing the extent of the damage. Ukraine’s emergency services said six people, including two children, were injured in a Russian attack on energy and port infrastructure in Odesa region.

...

Three people were killed and eight more were wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s southern Rostov region overnight. The casualties occurred in the city of Taganrog not far from the border in Ukraine, Gov. Yuri Slyusar said in an online statement Tuesday.

The attack damaged private houses and multistory residential blocks, unspecified social facilities, a warehouse and a paint shop, Slyusar said.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5783864

[Op-ed by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, two Russian investigative journalists and co-founders of Agentura.ru, a watchdog of Russian secret service activities.]

...

Whatever the outcome of the current negotiations, Putin’s obsession with Europe is so great that leading European nations and hardline anti-Kremlin states like Germany, France, Poland, the Baltic states, and the UK will continue to experience attacks.

Ukraine has been the fulcrum of the Russian president’s campaign to change the post-Cold War settlement of 1989-91, but it is only one part of a much more ambitious campaign to build a more Russia-friendly Europe.

It’s worth remembering that Putin’s ultimatum to the West in December 2021, on the eve of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, was primarily targeted at NATO’s presence on the European continent. In particular, it made extraordinary demands for the withdrawal of troops and weapons from NATO’s Eastern flank, including the return of NATO forces to their bases of 1997. That would have meant withdrawing garrisons in the Baltic states, Poland, and Romania.

...

Moscow firmly believes that Europe must be put “in its place” regardless of any deal over Ukraine.

This explains the Kremlin’s accelerating shadow war operations against Europe — including arson, sabotage, drone attacks, targeted assassinations of Russian emigres, and cyberattacks against infrastructure — that aim to unnerve the population and pressure governments to shift policy in Russia’s favor. An end to fighting in Ukraine does not change this logic.

...

Internal Russian factors also make a sustained peace improbable. Three and a half years of war in Ukraine have eroded the role of many key Russian institutions in anything involving relations with the outside world.

For instance, nobody cares what role Lavrov and his foreign ministry play in the current negotiations; the real talks with the Americans are taking place elsewhere and are handled by other actors — starting with Putin himself, his personal appointees such as Kirill Dmitriev, and the intelligence agencies, which have boosted their influence through several rounds of hostage exchanges.

...

The security agencies, meanwhile — omnipresent and all-powerful after two decades of growing power — have made full use of the Kremlin’s paranoia about Ukrainian spies and saboteurs, and now have their fingers in everything of any importance in the country — from federal ministries and regional governments, which are kept in line through selective repression carried out by the FSB, to corporations harassed by innumerable criminal investigations, which involve the FSB, or military counterintelligence, in one way or another.

...

Territorial gains in Ukraine, the fate of Zelenskyy, or a downsized Ukrainian army are too trivial to matter. By Russian spy standards, such outcomes would simply be inconsequential. It would merely enable a greater focus on the next round, with the new and bigger target of democratic Europe.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5768311

...

15 local residents sought medical assistance after the night attack. All were provided with necessary aid.

“Three people remain hospitalized,” the report stated. “These are women aged 52 and 64, and a 48-year-old man. One of the patients has smoke inhalation poisoning. The others have head injuries and lacerations. They are in moderate condition. The rest of the injured, including an 11-year-old girl, will recover at home”.

...

The attack caused fires on the balconies of a nine-story apartment building and an addition to a private house. Six cars were also damaged.

...

Archived version

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[The] training is part of a longer, international training effort. It is a two-year project aimed at strengthening cybersecurity and AI skills. The majority of funding comes from the European Commission, amounting to nearly €465,000, with Estonia as a key partner contributing around €200,000. The entire project is run with Estonia's TalTech (Tallinn University of Technology) experts on site.

...

This strategic investment positions Moldova as a regional hub for training.

"Cybersecurity today is about national sovereignty," said Andres Ääremaa, ESTDEV's program manager for e-Governance and Cybersecurity. "States rely on digital data; being able to detect intrusions and defend systems is crucial for IT professionals and for a country's ability to exist independently."

...

By 2027, organizers aim to have about 100 trained specialists within national systems and dozens of young practitioners who can already apply AI tools in defense. The goal is to build capacity among students, government employees and critical-infrastructure operators.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5768140

...

This comes against the backdrop of this year’s supply chain issues, where China, as a dominant producer, has used export restrictions as leverage in its trade conflict with the USA. Against this backdrop, EU Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič outlined how Europe intends to invest more heavily in Australian critical raw material projects in the future – ranging from equity participations and long-term off-take agreements to joint infrastructure initiatives.

Šefčovič made it clear that the EU’s focus is no longer solely on trade in the classical sense. Instead, targeted capital commitments and binding supply agreements are intended to secure the supply of critical raw materials in the long term. For Brussels, Australia is a key partner, possessing large reserves and stable political frameworks, and aiming to expand its role as a supplier of strategically important raw materials.

...

Australia is moving into the spotlight as a reliable supplier of critical raw materials. The country possesses significant deposits, for example of lithium, rare earths, graphite, and other raw materials required for batteries, high technology, and the energy transition. At the same time, Australia is considered a politically stable and legally secure investment location that seeks to expand its cooperation with like-minded partners.

...

For Šefčovič, Japan serves as a reference model for what such a raw materials strategy could look like. For years, Tokyo has been strategically investing in mines and refineries in partner countries to ensure its own industry can be supplied with critical raw materials even in times of crisis. The EU is now pursuing a similar approach: moving away from a purely market-based procurement policy towards strategic participations along the value chain.

...

Against this backdrop, the planned free trade agreement between the EU and Australia is also gaining new significance. An initial attempt failed in 2023, primarily due to differences in agricultural policy, as Canberra demanded greater access for agricultural products to the European market. However, Šefčovič now sees renewed “momentum” for new talks. He expects negotiations to resume early next year.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5751516

Germany plans to significantly increase funding for the European Space Agency, with Research Minister Dorothee Baer set to pledge up to 5 billion euros ($5.76 billion) at the ESA's conference in the north-western city of Bremen next week.

"It will definitely be more than three years ago, when it was around 3.5 billion. If we now reach the 5-billion mark, that would be extremely positive," she told Reuters on Thursday.

...

The funding is part of a larger strategy on space security that the government presented on Wednesday, with plans to invest as much as 35 billion euros in coming years on space defence.

"We have been resting on a peace dividend for a very, very long time. That's why it's good and right that the strategic importance of space travel has now been so clearly recognized."

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5751458

A fortnight of marathon talks marked by Indigenous protests, the notable absence of the US — the world's second largest polluter — and a fire that forced a mass evacuation of the venue, have closed with a deal that many feel is weak given the scale of the climate crisis.

A main point of contention has been a road map to transition away from fossil fuels, the burning of which produces most of the emissions heating the planet and turbocharges extreme weather.

More than 80 countries — including Colombia, Germany and Kenya — had said a final deal would hinge on a concrete action plan to follow through on a previous hard-won pledge to shift beyond coal, oil and gas.

But the idea, which faced significant pushback from China, the Arab Group of nations, including petro-states such as Saudi Arabia, and others, did not make it into the final document.

...

In the closing session, COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago announced that he would spearhead two voluntary road maps — one to transition away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly, and equitable way, and another to halt and reverse deforestation.

While these plans are not part of the formal UN deal, all countries are invited to join. He also announced the first-ever conference on ending reliance on oil, gas and coal, to be held in Colombia in April.

Signatories include only 24 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Nepal, Netherlands, Panama, Spain, Slovenia, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu.

Archived version

...

In contrast to Russian intelligence, which now carries immediate political stigma due to the war in Ukraine, Chinese operatives face fewer social barriers inside European institutions. Until recently, cooperation with China in academia and technology was widely encouraged. “That has changed,” [Director of the Center for International Studies and Development at Jagiellonian University Marcin] Grabowski said, “but the access channels remain open, especially in research and development.”

He pointed to recent British cases in which fake headhunters approached parliamentary staff with lucrative job offers, a tactic MI5 has flagged. He also described encounters at academic events where “students” later appeared to be acting on behalf of Chinese authorities.

According to Grabowski, China’s espionage strategy is a “long game,” using diplomatic cover, business activity, and academic collaboration to map European decision-making and technological capacity. With espionage now “a natural element of international politics,” he said, Europe must recognize that China’s intelligence presence is neither marginal nor new and is still expanding.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5733777

Key points:

• A huge solar power plant is under construction on Komanje Brdo in Stolac, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), billed as a major investment in renewable energy. As announced, the construction of this area should become the largest photovoltaic facility in BiH.
• In June 2025, a Chinese worker died at the construction site. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNK), the deceased worker was killed while standing next to a forklift, after a pallet with a load fell on him.
• An inspection by authorities then found a total of 141 citizens of the People’s Republic of China who were employed at a construction site of which 71 were without previously approved temporary residence in BiH and without work permits. The dead worker was one of the illegal laborers.
• Despite the fact that the competent authorities have determined that a significant number of workers employed on this construction site were employed illegally, the construction site continues to operate and employs foreign nationals.
• A special problem is the fact that behind the project being built near Stolac by Ailin Technology and Industry, a company registered in BiH, but which cooperates with the Chinese company Norinco. That company is running the project in Komanja Brdo and is on the blacklist of the United States of America.
• Like other Chinese projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in other countries of the Western Balkans, this case is also a common business practice of Chinese companies in the region. The main characteristics are the lack of transparency of the project, but also the violation of domestic legislation.
• Unfortunately, it took the death of a Chinese worker for the public to become more interested in this construction site and to identify numerous omissions and violations of Bosnian legislation.

Here is an article about the death of the Chinese worker: Authorities find 71 Chinese nationals working Illegally at Komanje Brdo solar project - (5 October 2025)

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5733961

Archived version

...

[Russia’s Yantar “research vessel", after] its numerous appearances near the United States, Britain and western Europe [...] adopted a newly provocative stance this week, angering UK's Ministry of Defence by training lasers on RAF aircraft as it patrolled in the North Sea.

Yantar's task is thought to be surveillance of underwater fibre optic and other communication cables — both civilian and military — as well as gas pipelines, and the brazen confidence with which it goes about its work has got western politicians feeling on edge.

...

Analysts say the British government needs to ramp up its response as President Putin develops new craft and technology for marine sabotage in case the new Cold War turns hot.

Sidharth Kaushal, a senior researcher in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank, believes the Yantar’s behaviour this week could signal future escalation. “I don’t think this is an acute crisis but it does show the general direction of travel in terms of how the Russians are approaching Europe and their special services are becoming more risk acceptant,” he added.

That places the Yantar in a wider pattern of conduct in the past two years exemplified by Moscow being accused of starting fires at European ammunition dumps, crippling the communications of German and Polish railway networks and sending incendiary devices to DHL logistics hubs in Britain and Germany.

...

Kaushal said that “much more needs to be done to secure [critical western undersea infrastructure] and there needs to be greater ability to constrain the activity of assets like the Yantar”.

Such measures could mirror some of Russia’s own “ways of making a vessel uncomfortable without necessarily crossing into open warfare”, such as radar jamming or the deployment of a directed energy weapon, he added.

Another tactic would be to strengthen legislation to crack down on Russia’s use of a shadow fleet of ostensibly commercial vessels for proxy sabotage.

There have been a series of incidents in which vessels with provable or suspected Russian links were accused of causing deliberate destruction. The Eagle S tanker allegedly damaged five undersea cables by dragging its anchor between Finland and Estonia in December last year, while the Newnew Polar Bear and the Yi Peng Three, Chinese ships, were involved in similar incidents in the Baltic.

...

Experts believe that the Yantar is engaged in mapping sub-sea infrastructure rather than damaging it, but that Russia already has sabotage capabilities way beyond any other country and the boundaries are being tested.

The Yantar is only one element of a wider Russian effort to probe and exploit weaknesses. Its azimuth thrusters — propellers in steerable pods — mean it can maintain its position for long periods as it conducts intelligence-gathering.

...

Lee Willett, an independent naval analyst, said Russia has less need for undersea cables than the US and Britain because of its large land mass and contiguous allies.

Willett agreed that Britain needed a robust response to Moscow’s efforts. “You have to have a very visible presence at sea and a very connected surveillance network both below the surface, on the surface and in the air,” he said. “The crucial points in these underwater networks have to be defended.” The ship has its own surveillance equipment and sensors but it can also deploy two-man Rus and Consul submersibles which can dive to about 6,000m (20,000ft).

...

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42228469

Archived link

Norwegian producer of advanced battery materials Vianode has begun site preparation at its new synthetic-graphite facility Via TWO in St. Thomas, ON, Canada. The project is a major milestone in Vianode’s North American expansion plans and set to bring hundreds of new high-skilled jobs to the region.

The site preparation marks the formal start of the project to establish North America’s largest production facility for low-emission synthetic-anode graphite, with operations set to begin in 2028. Anode graphite is a critical component in electric-vehicle (EV) batteries and other strategic industries, including energy storage.

...

The St. Thomas project is structured as a phased multi-billion-dollar investment, with total planned capacity of up to 150,000 tons annually, supporting delivery of synthetic graphite for around two million EVs per year. The plant is expected to create approximately 300 jobs in the first phase, and up to 1,000 at full capacity.

The company plans to invest 3.2 billion, the Ontario government will provide a CAD 670-million (EUR 412 million) loan to Vianode to support the site's construction with a total investment of CAD 3.2 billion (EUR 2 billion).

...

Citing Burkhard Straube, CEO of Vianode, Canada's CSC reports that synthetic graphite from China is being supplied at "unsustainably low prices" to keep North American companies out of the market.

...

“St. Thomas is exactly where we need to be, next to major manufacturing hubs and in a region with the skills to scale. We’re committed to being a good neighbor, creating high-quality jobs and working with local partners as we build Canada’s first large-scale synthetic graphite facility,” adds Emanuele Tricca, MD-Vianode Canada.

Vianode started Norwegian synthetic graphite production at its Technology Center in Kristiansand in 2021 and commissioned its first full-scale plant Via ONE at Herøya in 2024. The St. Thomas facility is an important part of the company’s goal to supply advanced materials for up to three million EVs annually by 2030.

...

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42162217

Germany is moving toward providing Ukraine with new long-range strike capabilities, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirming that technical consultations with Kyiv have been underway for months and are now approaching completion.

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Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, Merz said the government has agreed in principle to supply long-range missile systems to bolster Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian forces far behind the front line. He declined to reveal how many systems are being prepared or when they will arrive, framing the secrecy as a deliberate strategy.

“The Ukrainian army will be equipped with these weapons systems,” Merz said. But he added that Germany will not publicly outline timelines or quantities, arguing that “a degree of ambiguity is necessary, especially for the Russian side” to complicate Moscow’s efforts to gauge Ukraine’s battlefield reach.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42161794

• US plan would require Kyiv to give up land, accept curbs to military, sources say
• French minister: peace cannot mean capitulation
• US army delegation is visiting Kyiv

European countries pushed back on Thursday against a U.S.-backed peace plan for Ukraine that sources said would require Kyiv to give up more land and partially disarm, conditions long seen by Ukraine's allies as tantamount to capitulation.

...

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were careful not to comment in too much detail about a U.S. peace plan that has not been made public. But they made clear they would not accept demands for punishing concessions from Kyiv.

...

Moscow played down any new U.S. initiative.

,,,

A U.S. Army delegation ... was in Kyiv [and] met Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi late on Wednesday. Syrskyi said he told them the best way to secure a just peace was to defend Ukraine's airspace, extend its ability to strike deep into Russia and stabilise the front line.

...

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42162913

The first Skyranger 35 self-propelled air defense system mounted on a Leopard 1 tank chassis is set to arrive in Ukraine next week, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger announced during the Rheinmetall CMD 2025 event, according to monitoring project German Aid to Ukraine on November 18.

The system is being manufactured and integrated by Rheinmetall Italia SpA in Italy.

...

Back in September, Rheinmetall confirmed it would supply Ukraine with Skyranger systems under a contract worth several hundred million euros. The deal is funded by an unnamed European Union country using windfall profits from frozen Russian assets.

The exact number and variant of Skyranger systems destined for Ukraine have not been publicly disclosed.

Each Skyranger 35 system can secure a 4-by-4-kilometer area, creating what the manufacturer describes as a fully “drone-free” zone.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/53028588

European lawmakers have backed the weakening of flagship EU environmental and human rights rules as part of a drive to slash red tape for businesses. The move will free many corporations from the obligation to fix human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains or face EU fines.

the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was hailed by green and civil society groups but criticised by businesses.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron had called for the CSDDD to be scrapped altogether

After New York City’s race for mayor catapulted Zohran Mamdani from state assembly member into one of the world’s most prominent progressive voices, intense debate swirled over the ideas at the heart of his campaign.

His critics and opponents painted pledges such as free bus service, universal child care and rent freezes as unworkable, unrealistic and exorbitantly expensive.

But some have hit back, highlighting the quirk of geography that underpins some of this view. “He promised things that Europeans take for granted, but Americans are told are impossible,” said Dutch environmentalist and former government advisor Alexander Verbeek in the wake of Tuesday’s election.

Verbeek backed this with a comment he had overheard in an Oslo café, in which Mamdani was described as an American politician who “finally” sounded normal.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Philippe Aghion explains why innovation is the lifeblood of progress and why Europe needs to up its game to avoid being left behind by the US and China.

Giorgia Meloni's allies are exploring changes to Italy's election laws to boost her reelection odds, as internal polls show she may struggle to retain a majority in the upper house of parliament.

The Danish government will no longer push for chat control!

Here's a machine translation of what the Danish newspaper Berlingske has to say about it.

Fair warning: The journalists in Berlingske don't seem to have the slightest idea what they are talking about, and are enthusiastically gobbling up the Kool-Aid served to them by Danish Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard, a man who is on the record claiming that privacy is not a human right (it is). Don't expect to gain any worthwhile neural connections in your brain by reading the below.

Danish proposal on digital child protection dropped after German criticism

Danish EU presidency could not create support for proposals to scan messages for abuse material.

The government will no longer force tech giants to scan citizens' messages for imagery of sexual abuse of children.

The Danish EU Presidency is thus withdrawing its proposal after Germany and later the ruling Moderates have opposed it. This is stated in a written comment.

"This will mean that the injunction will not be part of the EU Presidency's new compromise proposal and that it should continue to be voluntary for tech giants to track down material with child sexual abuse," Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said.

He sits at the table end in the work to get the CSA regulation adopted under the Danish EU Presidency, which lasts until the New Year.

The regulation was originally proposed by the European Commission in 2022. It will be able to force tech companies to scan the contents of private citizens’ images and videos on encrypted services.

But both Germany and since the Moderates withdrew their support for the proposal because it was too intrusive.

Hummelgaard, however, believes that Denmark's proposal was less intrusive than the EU Commission's original proposal. And he highlights that Save the Children, Unicef, Children's Terms and Digital Responsibility gave their clear backing.

However, the risk of losing an important tool is highly weighted.

"Right now, we are in a situation where we risk completely losing a central tool in the fight against sexual assault against children, because the current scheme that allows for voluntary scanning expires in April 2026," he said.

That's why we have to act no matter what. We owe it to all the children who are subjected to monstrous abuses, says Peter Hummelgaard.

The government's original proposal will break with fundamental freedoms and will potentially result in mass surveillance of citizens in the EU, the critics said. Among other things, they count hundreds of scientists and experts, the Dataetian Council and the tech giants themselves.

Germany has directly called it "mass surveillance" in the past.

"The mass surveillance of private messages must be taboo in a rule of law," the German Ministry of Justice wrote at X.

Save the Children calls the previous volunteer tracing via scanning a "huge success" and is frustrated that there was no backing for a compromise.

"We are deeply concerned and frustrated that there has been no European support for a compromise where tech companies may be required to track down and remove photos and videos with sexual assaults on children," senior adviser at digital child protection Tashi Andersen said in a written commentary.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/44658116

Archived

[...]

Negotiations by individual member states with the Chinese leadership are unlikely to create the leverage necessary to force concessions from Beijing or change its current escalatory course. Not even Germany (currently the world’s largest importer of Chinese permanent magnets) has secured sustainable relief since China’s April provisions came into effect, and there is little reason to expect change.

[...]

Europeans need collective leverage to even start a conversation with Beijing—otherwise acceptance becomes the new normal and Beijing will continue to gradually escalate. Contrary to popular belief, the EU has one of the most powerful geoeconomic tools: the 2023 anti-coercion instrument (ACI). Because it leans on the bloc’s strong trade competencies, rather than its much weaker foreign policy ones, the ACI lets the EU hit back hard—with a variable toolkit designed to create real pressure: import tariffs, services restrictions, export controls, suspension of IP rights, curbing access to finance, banking, or public procurement, or restricting foreign investors. It allows targeting entire sectors, single firms, or even individuals. This is the EU’s sharpest weapon against economic blackmail, especially because it does not require unanimity for decisions

To trigger the tool, a qualified majority of member states in the Council must agree that the EU is being subjected to economic coercion. If China’s recent actions do not meet that threshold, it is hard to imagine what ever will. Once activated, the instrument offers a broad, flexible menu of options that can be adjusted to maximise negotiating space. And China has serious vulnerabilities that Europe can exploit.

[...]

Beyond already controlled extreme ultraviolet lithography machines (which the Dutch government blocked in 2019 with significant US pressure to stop China’s access to cutting-edge chip tech), much of China’s semiconductor output still depends on older deep ultraviolet models. These machines are supplied and serviced by European companies whose maintenance and spare parts support could be curtailed in response to coercion, choking China’s chip output.

[...]

China relies on Western turbofan jet engines and advanced machine-tooling to build its indigenous aircraft programme. Beijing’s plan is to be independent of international components anyway, but clamping down on European exports would delay this process.

Italian and German machine-tool makers are market leaders in the production of aircraft and engine parts, such as compressor blades, aircraft structures, and navigation systems. High-precision computer numerical control machine tools, used to make everything from jet engine parts to tiny circuit board components, are dominated by German and Japanese firms. Limiting their export or servicing could threaten production issues across advanced Chinese industries.

China’s passenger air travel is dependent on more than 2,000 European aircraft. Restrictions on production and future sales within China could be put on the table for a more direct and immediate impact. Chinese demand for aircraft is growing massively—it is expected to need almost 10,000 new passenger and freight planes in the next twenty years, so such measures would disrupt a rapidly expanding market.

[...]

China is also relying on European (and Japanese) speciality steel products such as high-precision bearings used in turbines, EV drivetrains and machine tools. German and Swedish players lead in this niche. Powdered superalloys, used primarily in aerospace, power generation and industrial sectors, remain significant Chinese imports. Restricting exports or maintenance could create significant pressure points, complicating Beijing’s ambitions for technological self-sufficiency and industrial expansion.

This dependence extends to heavy-duty gas turbines, which power China’s utilities, industry and parts of its grid. The global market is dominated by German and Italian companies, alongside American, British and Japanese peers. Restricting exports or maintenance of these turbines could have strong effects on Chinese industrial centres.

[...]

China’s vulnerabilities are not limited to its imports. Thanks to the American tariffs, its exports face an even bigger problem. Chinese exports to the US have plunged by more than 27% year-on-year, while exports to Europe are up by almost 14%. Retaliatory European tariffs imposed on Chinese steel, wind turbines, electric vehicles, electronics and low-end consumer goods could squeeze Chinese exporters further. There are only so many developed markets in the world, and the EU should aim for reciprocity in areas where European companies face barriers in China.

European leaders should focus on sectors they aim to protect anyway but where political consensus is elusive: wind, electric vehicles, telecommunication equipment, medical devices, machine tools and pharmaceutical products, to name just a few. They should probably exclude areas in which Europe does not aspire to regain industrial leadership, like solar panels. Coordinating measures at the G7 level would multiply the impact.

[...]

To force Beijing to the negotiating table, European policymakers should take a page out of the Beijing playbook and move into offence. The objective of an escalatory response should be a “landing zone”, a negotiated political agreement with China on the basis of mutually assured destruction—akin to an economic disarmament treaty. The agreement would still allow goods for basic industrial needs to flow, but it would protect core European industries. Failure to honour this agreement would trigger wider measures which could go further than the initial ACI response and could include sensitive areas such as China’s financial sector. The goal for Europe is to buy time; time it needs to decouple its industry from Chinese rare earths.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/44533384

Op-ed by Daniel Kochis, senior fellow at Hudson Institute.

Archived

**A Facebook post or X retweet will get you jail time in the United Kingdom. But accusations of spying for the Chinese Communist Party result in a lighter touch. **

[...]

If China’s undisguised assistance in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine or Chinese intellectual property theft were not enough to deem it a threat to national security, consider two other recent striking examples. In March 2024, the U.K. government publicly accused China of hacking its electoral commission in 2021 and 2022. Or consider the consistent targeting of key civilian systems by China.

In 2024, ministers in the U.K. were even informed that Chinese hackers likely compromised critical infrastructure in the country.

Is the Chinese Communist Party a threat now? If Keir Starmer’s government will ignore such brazen espionage, one must wonders from what else his government is averting its eyes.

All this is, of course, happening with the backdrop of China’s plans to construct a new embassy complex on the site of the former Royal Mint. Plans submitted contain several blacked-out areas within the complex, raising real concerns among China’s dissident community in the U.K. that these areas may be intended to unlawfully detain individuals.

As concerningly, the former Royal Mint site sits astride a treasure trove of key information infrastructure: fiber optics cables servicing London financial firms and a telephone exchange serving the city.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/44528628

• Most economically significant sanctions on China entities so far
• Sanctions package expected to be adopted this week
• China denies anything other than normal trade with Russia
• New listings follow UK sanctions on Chinese refinery, ports

The European Union's 19th package of sanctions against Russia will list four companies involved in China's oil industry that circumvent Western restrictions, EU diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

They said the package lists two independent Chinese oil refineries, a Chinese trading firm and an entity involved in circumvention. The latter is mostly involved in sectors outside oil, they said. The sources declined to provide further details.

The EU has toughened its stance on Beijing as diplomatic efforts have stalled. EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan told Reuters earlier this month that China still denies doing anything other than "normal trade" three years into Russia's war in Ukraine. The EU, Ukraine and its allies view China as a central node in Moscow's sanctions circumvention network.

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The Chinese listings are not the EU's first but they are the most economically significant. In previous packages, the EU listed Chinese entities involved in drone-making and the flow of dual-use goods to Russia. In July, Brussels listed two small Chinese banks, which prompted China to retaliate in August with bans on two Lithuanian banks.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/44501310

Archived

The original article in German (by the German newspaper Handelsblatt - here is an archived version)

Georg Maier, the interior minister of the German state of Thuringia, announced that he has evidence suggesting possible espionage activities carried out by Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the interests of Russia. As the German business-focused newspaper Handelsblatt reports, Maier's concerns are shared by Marc Henrichmann, chair of the Bundestag committee overseeing intelligence services, and his deputy, Konstantin von Notz.

According to Maier, AfD consistently uses parliamentary inquiries to gather information about Germany’s critical infrastructure — from transport networks and water supply to digital systems and the energy sector. In Thuringia alone, the party submitted 47 such inquiries over the past year, and their nature, the minister said, has become increasingly detailed. Similar inquiries are being filed at the federal level, which, in Maier’s view, raises suspicions of possible coordination. AfD appears particularly interested in data concerning police IT systems, counter-drone technologies, and the equipment of civil protection and healthcare services.

“It gives the impression that AfD is acting on the Kremlin’s orders in its inquiries,” Maier said.

[...]

Von Notz also adds that AfD “harms Germany by deliberately becoming a mouthpiece for dictators and spreading their narratives in society and parliaments.” He noted that the heads of Germany’s intelligence agencies have long warned about Russia's use of extremist forces and “specific individuals” in pursuit of its interests.

The latest accusations were prompted by the planned trip to Moscow by Markus Frohnmaier, deputy head of AfD’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Martin Huber, secretary general of the Christian Social Union (CSU), urged AfD leadership to cancel the visit, warning that otherwise it could be regarded as treason. Frohnmaier responded that he “serves solely the interests of Germany.”

Interior Minister Maier emphasized that the issue goes beyond a single trip, warning that AfD poses “a threat to Germany’s security” because it rejects democratic principles and leans toward an authoritarian model. He said the party spreads disinformation, undermines trust in institutions, and cooperates with far-right organizations and “foreign enemies of democracy.”

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/44478706

Archived

Two prominent Conservative MPs who claim to have been spied on by two men working for China have urged Sir Keir Starmer to block Beijing’s plans for a “mega” embassy in London and “protect” the UK’s national security.

Alicia Kearns and Tom Tugendhat called on the prime minister to put China in the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme and impose sanctions on Chinese officials behind the alleged espionage in parliament.

Starmer has come under significant pressure to explain why the Crown Prosecution Service last month abandoned espionage charges against Christopher Cash, a parliamentary researcher and director of the China Research Group, which campaigned for a tougher line on Beijing, and Christopher Berry, who worked as a researcher in China.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing and were formally acquitted. The CPS this month said the case collapsed after the UK government refused to provide evidence that China was a threat to national security.

Starmer has said he is frustrated that the case collapsed and denied that his government sought to undermine it, although critics have suggested his government wanted to prioritise trade with China and to avoid upsetting Beijing.

In their letter on Sunday, Kearns and Tugendhat told Starmer: “Failing to prosecute two men charged with spying for China demonstrates worrying levels of complacency.”

“You’ve repeatedly stated your disappointment that this prosecution did not proceed. You now have the opportunity to do what’s necessary to protect this country,” they added.

The call from Kearns and Tugendhat, shadow national security minister and a former security minister respectively, comes at a challenging time for UK-China relations, with London wary of being labelled as soft on Beijing while seeking greater inward investment to boost the economy.

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Ministers last week delayed their response to China’s application to construct a new embassy on the edge of the City of London, which would be the largest such building in Europe.

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China later warned of “consequences” for the UK for again delaying the decision on the embassy’s planning application, which had been expected this week but will now not come until December 10.

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The prime minister is struggling to counter a perception his government has been soft on China, even as it stresses that national security is its top priority.

This year ministers kept China out of the enhanced tier of the FIRs scheme, adding only Russia and Iran to a register that is designed to track “covert foreign influence” in the UK. China is at present in the lower, second tier.

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Kearns and Tugendhat told Starmer that given the UK security services had “identified the Chinese officials responsible for targeting us . . . you must draw a clear red line and sanction them”.

“We know that you care about our national security. We ask that you back up your words with action.”

[...]