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NEWS AND ANALYSIS:

The House version of the fiscal 2022 defense authorization bill approved Tuesday includes multiple requirements for new and detailed reporting on the threats posed by threats. Chinesefrom large-scale nuclear accumulation to financial and penetration activities. Beijing.

Provisions still to be approved by the Senate in the coming weeks include reauthorizing the Pentagon’s annual report on the Chinese military and requiring the next study to be prepared by January 31.

For the first time since the report was made in the 1980s, Chinese the military strength report will need to include a detailed summary of the People’s Liberation Army combat order, including “prevention and denial of space” weapons and systems; stocks of ballistic and cruise missiles; cyber warfare and electronic warfare branches; space and counter-space weapons; nuclear warhead numbers and delivery systems; and command control systems.

The Pentagon will now also need to detail its overseas PLA presence. The requirement follows reports of new overseas Chinese military bases being sought in Equatorial Guinea and the United Arab Emirates.

The report will also require a new focus on the links between the PLA and Chinese investment abroad; Chineselarge arms exports; and the role of the army Chinese as a pressure arm for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chinese espionage involving the theft of military technology.

Open TaiwanThe defense bill includes a “sense of Congress” clause that describes China’s military pressure on the island state as a “serious concern” for the United States. language criticizes Chinese“increasingly compulsive and aggressive behavior” towards Taiwan and reaffirms the need for US arms and defense support for Taipei.

ChineseHis army has stepped up its offensive activities against the island, which is 100 miles from the mainland, in recent months.

Legislation, American support Taiwan It should include arms sales and cooperation aimed at improving asymmetric warfare capabilities, including anti-ship, coastal defense, anti-armor, air defense, submarine warfare, enhanced command and control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

Timely responses Taiwan often pro-Chinese Policymakers are also outlined in the bill, along with the need for accelerated training and military exercises to increase interoperability between the two armies. The House version of the bill also specifically asks to be invited. TaiwanThe navy will participate in the massive, multinational “Pacific Rim” military exercise next year.

Other provisions of the bill urge the Pentagon to review ChineseNaval militia forces in the South China Sea, which US officials say are being used as proxies for the Chinese navy to secure control over the waterway.

Another new program in the legislation is the requirement to create a joint Pentagon-State Department “China Observer Program” that will seek to monitor and combat. ChineseIt adversely affects operations in foreign countries “between the military, economic and political sectors”. The program was to produce an annual report on China’s nefarious activities.

Defense law also contains a provision that requires special consideration as to whether it exists. Chinese It complies with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In January, the State Department reported to Congress: Chinese It does not appear to comply with the NPT’s obligation to participate in arms reduction talks.

The House bill also calls on the Strategic Command commander to notify Congress, if any. ChineseInventory of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads exceeds US levels. Judgment is based ChineseLarge-scale expansion of ground-based ICBMs in the western regions, where silos will be installed for up to 350 new 10-warhead DF-41 missiles.

Another provision would prevent Chinese or Russian officials from visiting certain US missile defense facilities, an indication that foreign officials may have been granted access to the sites in the past. Restrictions include the prohibition of aliens from combat information systems on Aegis-equipped warships and land-based Aegis missile interceptors; and from sites for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense batteries or land-based medium-range missile defense interceptors.

The legislative provisions also call on the federal government to examine the financial threats posed by the United States. Chineseincluding recommendations within the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Board to limit the dangers before they grow Beijing effect.

Chinese Linked to Facebook disinformation operation

Facebook recently published a study revealing that Chinese state actors are involved in a public relations campaign designed to convince the worldwide public that the COVID-19 pandemic did not start in Wuhan. Chinese. The operation was outlined in a report on “coordinated falsehood” released in November by Facebook’s new parent company, Meta.

As a result, a network of fake Chinese Facebook accounts has been removed from the social media platform. Other fake accounts linked to similar operations were also found by Palestinians, Poles, and Belarusians.

A total of 737 fake Facebook accounts were killed, along with 115 fake Instagram accounts, 99 fake Facebook pages, and 26 fake Facebook groups.

Facebook said the Chinese influence operation included 524 Facebook accounts, 20 pages and four groups. All removed.

The operation was detailed in a section of the report “The Swiss biologist Who Never Was” by Meta. threat intelligence analyst Ben Nimmo. Mr. Nimmo did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the report, the Chinese operation began on July 24 when a man posing as a Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards claimed on Facebook and Twitter that the US government was pressuring the World Health Organization (WHO) to impeach. Chinese for the virus outbreak behind the pandemic.

Two days after the posts, hundreds of social media accounts around the world surfaced repeating the fake persona, followed within a week by headlines in Chinese state media, including the Communist Party-linked Global Times and a Party spokesman, claiming that the US was “intimidating” the WHO. . People’s Diary.

The meta report described the influence operation as a “hall of mirrors” that comprehensively reflects and amplifies comments from a fake personality on the platform.

“Our investigation has revealed that almost all of the initial spread of the ‘Wilson Edwards’ story on our platform was unfounded – the study of a multifaceted, largely unsuccessful influence operation. Chinese‘ said the report.

“The operation brought together a number of real accounts, including the original fake account, several hundred additional fake accounts, and those belonging to employees of Chinese state infrastructure companies on four continents. Outside of these clusters, there are only a handful of real people interested in the operation’s content.”

The Chinese operators behind the campaign tried to hide their identities, but Facebook online detectives found links to government-affiliated organizations, including employees of Sichuan Silence Information Technology Co., Ltd, a Chinese information security company. Chinese individuals affiliated with state infrastructure companies also participated.

“For the first time, we have observed an operation involving a coordinated cluster of government workers to scale itself up in this way,” the report said.

The campaign resonated with government propaganda, which sought to cover up that the pandemic had its origins elsewhere. Chinese. Chinese state media has embarked on extensive disinformation operations, citing official State Department spokespersons who falsely claimed the virus originated in a US Army laboratory.

Biden official: Taiwan is a model of democracy

The Biden administration is hosting an online conference aimed at promoting democracy this week, and is featuring representatives from that conference. Taiwan in the program. A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the program advocated inclusion of the island nation in the participants.

“See you Taiwan “It has solid experience as a leading democracy and in advancing a more transparent, inclusive and vibrant democracy.” “A strong example. We also see him as a global leader in developing best practices to protect against disinformation and in the use of emerging technology to make governance more transparent and responsive.”

Questioned about the Chinese government’s objections to inclusion TaiwanThe official said that interactions with TaiwaneseChinese policy, Taiwan Relations Act 1979, and other diplomatic notes Chinese.

“we think Taiwan can make meaningful commitments to the summit’s goals of combating authoritarianism, fighting corruption and advancing human rights at home and abroad.”

For these reasons, Taiwan The three-day meeting that brings together government leaders and non-governmental democracy advocates was included this week.

The official took a side step to a reporter’s question about the latest allegations in Chinese state media. BeijingThe communist system is a form of democracy.

“We see the goals of the summit as related to more than one government,” the official said.

The People’s Daily, the organ of the Communist Party of China, reported on Wednesday that “democracy is a common value of humanity and an ideal that has always been cherished by the Chinese Communist Party.” That was the result of a government white report released on December 4.

Chinese‘s ruling Communist Party stated in previous publications: Chinese it will never be governed by a Western-style democratic system, and the party believes that democracy should be limited to the CCP’s 93 million members and its collective dictatorship under its central committee and the seven-member standing committee of the Politburo.

President Joe Biden It is planned to address Taiwan and other summit attendees on Thursday morning.

• Contact Bill Gertz on Twitter at @BillGertz.