China | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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China

Further to that. China RELIES on 65% of its iron ore from Australia. That simply cannot make that up elsewhere without destroying their pollution improvements. Play hard ball. I’m sure the rest of the steel producing nations would gladly enjoy the competitive advantage we can offer.
Would be interesring to do this, wonder what the Chinese response would be? Dont think it would be pretty.
 
What would Keating say about the current situation? He was very vocal against critics of China in his time.
 
Four hundred and twenty thousand reported deaths world wide, probably many many more in reality. 420,000 dead people!
China know the worlds sentiment is angry and disappoonted with them.
So what do they do..... they double down in all areas and become more introspective.
Great backward move China.
 
An Australian man found guilty of smuggling 7.5kg of meth in China has been given the death penalty. Normally I’d say fair enough, you’re obligated to obey the laws of the land you’re in. But given the man was arrested in 2013 and the current political argy-bargy, this reeks of China’s version of human shields.

Sensitive topic and the government isn’t saying much publicly. Could send relations into freefall.
 
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I’m well aware that they’re playing the long game and that’s were my deep distrust stems from.
They’d have viewed Australia as a young, wealthy country that’s quite naive, with short term Governments vulnerable to corruption, given the Western fixation with capitalism. The fixation with cash has weakened our position, no doubt. That needs to change. Recent steps seem to finally be addressing that.

As for racism, like yourself I have lived in Asia for a number of years previously & have visited China a couple of times.
Whilst its quite beautiful I found my Interactions with many Chinese people most unpleasant.
I must have been walking around with a dollar sign flashing from my forehead because the number of times people tried to con, thieve or rip me off made the holidays tainted. Sure theres racism in Australia towards Asians but few of them are prepared to look in the mirror.
Racism is far worse in most Asian countries from my international experiences so I just cant cop it When that card is played.
Serious question, did you do some shopping while there ("dollar sign flashing from my forehead") and once you left the shop did many more pounce on you?

Was having a conversation with a friend last week (tourism/shopping in diff countries) and his mate who was from China told us of a code between shop keepers to notify each other about the tourist. Couldnt believe it. Its been around for ages apprently, especially in the market area.
I let u know once you reply. (Curious)
 
Cyber attack on government and essential services this morning. China not named but the most likely suspect.

Their lack of contrition and withholding of information concerning CV has prompted animosity from many quarters, and now they're setting off spot fires all over the place. Wouldn't want it to escalate too much more.
 
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Cyber attack on government and essential services this morning. China not named but the most likely suspect.

Their lack of contrition and withholding of information concerning CV has prompted animosity from many quarters, and now they're setting off spot fires all over the place. Wouldn't want it to escalate too much more.


An ongoing problem no doubt but TBH I found Morrison's press conference today very odd.
Was very vague & not sure why it was held as nothing new was really reported.
It actually felt like it was straight out of the distraction playbook after his behavior with the speaker in QT yesterday..
 
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Cyber attack on government and essential services this morning. China not named but the most likely suspect.

Their lack of contrition and withholding of information concerning CV has prompted animosity from many quarters, and now they're setting off spot fires all over the place. Wouldn't want it to escalate too much more.

To get caught so quickly and not get one doesn't sound like China. More likely North Korea or an Arab country. Unless it's just the noise to distract while they come in from somewhere else, somewhere they've identified a long time ago.

And if anyone things good countries don't do this to other countries, think again. Every country does it, or tries. The Israelis were the first, rest of the word caught on quickly. The countries good at this don't get caught.
 
Australian government, private sector targeted in massive cybersecurity attack (paywalled)
Tamsin Rose & Clare Armstrong
Herald Sun
June 19, 2020


Australian political parties, government organisations, health and essential service providers are currently the target of a “sophisticated” cyber attack by China.

A foreign entity has conducted a widespread across all levels of government and a range of businesses including political organisations, education, health and essential service providers.

Cybersecurity experts are certain China is the only nation that could have orchestrated such a widespread and sustained series of hits Australian systems.

Matt Warren, the director of the RMIT centre of cybersecurity research and innovation, said the series of hits on key offices and sectors had all the markers of a coordinated “reconnaissance” attack by Beijing.

“This fits the proforma of China for their sorts of attacks,” Prof Warren told the Herald Sun.

“It’s a wakeup call.

“Because it’s a reconnaissance attack, they were just collecting information.

“They are also sending the message to the Australian government that this is their capability.”

A reconnaissance attack involves a foreign nation hacking into as many systems as possible to gain information and understand the level of vulnerability with IT systems for future hits.

Russia, Iran and North Korea were the only other nations that could have pulled off an attack like this, but Prof Warren said Australia was not one of those nations’ targets for this sort of hit.

The increased reliance on technology as people moved to work from home over the past three weeks has made Australia more vulnerable.

“As a society, we have become more dependent on our technology infrastructure,” Mr Warren said.

“This sends a message to Australia that issues that are occurring in the physical world are occurring in the cyber.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the malicious activity was part of an increase in cyber attacks on the country.

“Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor,” Mr Morrison said.

“This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure.

“We know it is a sophisticated state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used.”

According to Clive Hamilton, public ethics professor at Charles Sturt University and the author of Silent Invasion, the timing of the attack is “significant” and designed to send a clear message to Australia.

“It could well be that these cyber attacks are part of Beijing’s campaign to punish Australia for its insubordination in calling for an inquiry into COVID-19”, Hamilton told News Corp Australia.

But Mr Morrison would not say who the government understood to be behind the attack, but said there were only a few nations “with very significant capabilities” that would have been able to pull off an attack at this scale.

“The threshold for public attribution on a technical level is extremely high,” Mr Morrison said.

“Australia doesn’t engage lightly in public attributions and when and if we choose to do so is always done in the context of what we believe to be in our strategic national interests.”

The threat to Australia was “constant” and the attacks were “malicious”, he said.

“Those who are engaged in this are not doing this to help us,” Mr Morrison said.

“That’s certainly not their intention. You could describe it as malicious and that is why our awareness levels need to be raised.”

It comes as South Australian Senator Rex Patrick demanded the government reveal which country was behind the attack.

“Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s statement this morning confirms that Australia is under direct attack,” Senator Patrick said.

“This looks like cyber warfare.

“The government should be upfront and tell the Australian people who the attacker is.”

The Australian government is working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Australian agencies have blocked a vast number of these attacks, but not all.

And investigations have so far not revealed any large scale personal data breaches.

Mr Morrison said he spoke with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the threat on Thursday night.

“We work closely with, particularly our allies and partners when it comes to managing issues of cyber security threats,” he said.

“That is a constant topic, as you would expect, particularly through Five Eyes partners.”

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said this attack and others like it were serious risks for the country.

“There is no doubt that malicious cyber activity is increasing in frequency, scale, in sophistication and in its impact,” Ms Reynolds said.

“This activity harms Australia’s national security and also our economic interests.

“It’s vital that all Australian organisations are alert to this threat and take steps to protect their own networks.”

Ms Reynolds said it was “vital” that all Australian organisations are “alert” to this cyber security threat and take steps to protect their own networks.

“All Australian organisations, who might be concerned about their vulnerability to sophisticated cyber compromise can take these three simple steps to protect themselves,” he said.

“Firstly, patch your internet-facing devices promptly, ensuring that any web or email servers are fully updated with the latest software.

“Secondly, ensure you always use multifactor authentication to secure your internet access, infrastructure and also your CLOUD-based platforms.

“Thirdly, it’s important to become an ACSC partner to ensure you get the latest cyber threat advice to protect your organisation online.”

Ms Reynolds said the cyber attacks harm Australia’s security and “also our economic interests”.

“There is no doubt that malicious cyber activity is increasing in frequency, scale, in sophistication and in its impact,” she said.
 
The Chinese have been doing this for years, not news. And yes, they suck and we need to get better at defending these sort of attacks.

A better question is why ScoMo wants to make a big deal out of this now.
 
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Entering a cold war with China when the US is imploding would be the stupidest move any western government could make now
 
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China is no friend.

But when your big brother and protector gets locked up in an asylum, it's the wrong time to pick a fight with the biggest kid in the playground. Better to not be a friend rather than be an enemy.