一 | A US federal grand jury has indicted one current and one former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) worker in connection with an alleged scheme to silence critics of the Chinese government, in which a total of five people were involved, according to the Justice Department.,The indictment revealed on Thursday that DHS employee Craig Miller and Derrick Taylor, a retired DHS agent working as a private investigator, are accused of accessing and providing information about Chinese activists from a restricted government database to two more defendants, who then used the records to target the victims.,Beijing Says China Ready to Work With US Partners on Improving Bilateral Relations30 October 2020, 11:47 GMT,US prosecutors claimed that Fan “Frank” Liu, Qiang “Jason” Sun, and Matthew Ziburis perpetrated a campaign to “spy on, harass and discredit” dissidents living in the US and to crush criticism of Beijing.,According to the prosecutors, an unspecified artist in California was among the “dissidents” allegedly targeted by the defendants. The prosecutors argued that Ziburus posed as a dealer interested in buying the painter’s artwork, and secretly installed surveillance cameras and GPS devices at the artist’s studio and in his car. The defendants purportedly planned to destroy the dissident’s artwork.,Referring to the indictment, Matthew Olsen, Assistant US Attorney General for National Security, pledged that he and his colleagues “will defend the rights of people in the United States to engage in free speech and political expression, including views the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government wants to silence.”,“As charged, these individuals aided agents of a foreign government in seeking to suppress dissenting voices who have taken refuge here. The defendants include two sworn law enforcement officers who chose to forsake their oaths and violate the law,” Olsen added.,The remarks followed the Chinese Foreign Ministry describing the US as “the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijan told reporters that “the relevant US politician has been playing up the so-called China threat to smear and attack China.”,“We urge this US official to have the right perspective, see China’s developments in an objective and reasonable manner, and stop spreading lies and stop making irresponsible remarks," Zhao stressed.,He referred to FBI Director Christopher Wray earlier delivering a speech at the MI5 building in London, where he warned of the "complex, enduring and pervasive danger" that China purportedly poses to both the US and the UK.,China Against Defining Relations With US as 'Competition'7 October 2021, 08:24 GMT,Wray said that the Chinese government “poses an even more serious threat to Western businesses than even many sophisticated business people realize,” arguing that the "danger" from China is "complex and growing.”,“The Chinese government is trying to shape the world by interfering in our politics, and those of our allies. All of that is to say – China poses a far more complex and pervasive threat to businesses than even the most sophisticated company leaders realize,” the FBI director pointed out.,He spoke after America’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) accused China of seeking to “exploit US subnational relationships to influence US policies and advance PRC geopolitical interests.”。 JERUSALEM -- It's a far cry from the usual hustle and bustle, so typical of Jerusalem's Old City.The steps of the Damascus Gate have been cleared out. Gone are the fruit and sumac vendors. And inside the Old City: rows and rows of shops have shut down."This is the worst days we've ever seen in our lives. Even when the corona[virus] was here it was better than this," said Adnan Jaffa, who runs the Jaffar Sweets shop. "Because of the war ... the situation. In five minutes we're going to close because there is nothing to do."For those who know the Old City, it's an eerie place to be. Even the Church of the Holy Sepulchre -- where Christ is believed to have been buried and resurrected -- was empty on Sunday but for a handful of worshippers. It felt like we were being given a private tour of one of the world's holiest and most visited sites.Ehab Barakat, who was cycling through the deserted Old City, was one of the few customers out there on the city's streets.Asked about the increasing tensions, he said: "We hope it will be quiet."He added, "This is the time to be united. One."But the latest cycle of violence has come has no surprise, he said."The new government of Israel … you would be stupid if you would not guess what is going to happen. And we are not stupid. We were just waiting for the time.""The people get so tied … like a balloon. With a lot of air inside. And then it will…"His English may have failed him -- but it seemed clear what he meant.Israeli police now stand at the entrance to the Damascus Gate, occasionally searching young men. Orthodox Jews occasionally wander through the Old City to worship at the Western Wall. But there is none of the fervour which people associate with Jerusalem. It's been replaced by a strange quiet.In the words of Abushadi Sinjlawi, another shopkeeper we found closing early for the day, "The city is under lockdown."But away from the eerie quiet and melancholy atmosphere in the Old City, the situation is tense. Jerusalem is said to be the most heavily policed city in the country, and that will likely remain the case as the war in the south rages on.Checkpoints have been set up across East Jerusalem. And videos are spreading online appearing to show the harassment of Palestinians at the hands of the police. Cars are being stopped and searched. There are videos of apparent police beatings. In sporadic, individual incidents where locals have clashed with police, the response appears to have been brute force.Already at least 50 Palestinians have been killed in East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the war broke out -- that's more than the highest ever monthly total since the UN began keeping records in 2005.。
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