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'Empire of lies': China slams US over State Department report
Ajeyo Basu •The U.S. report is released at a time of controversy over China's initiatives in recent years to expand the reach of its government-controlled media internationally. Beijing wants to fight the unfavourable perceptions of China that it believes are being spread by international media
US govt report accuses China of global 'information manipulation'
•The report, released by the State Department's Global Engagement Center, said Beijing spends billions of dollars annually on "foreign information manipulation" through the use of propaganda, disinformation and censorship, while promoting positive news about China and its ruling Communist Party
State Department warns China could hack US 'critical infrastructure'
Fp Staff •"The US intel community assesses that China almost certainly is capable of launching cyberattacks that could disrupt critical infrastructure services within the US, including against oil and gas pipelines and rail systems," said State Dept spokesperson Matthew Miller
China jailed 10,000 people in 2022 repression campaign, claims US report
Fp Staff •China jailed as many as 10,000 or more people in 2022 in a widening campaign of repression against religious belief meant to bring all theological activity under the Chinese Communist Party’s control, the US government claimed in a report
First US official visits China marking a low-key return to dialogue after Blinken cancellation
•Rick Waters, who heads the State Department's new so-called 'China House' that supervises US policy toward Beijing, travelled to Beijing as well as Shanghai and Hong Kong
US, Russia stop sharing nuke data under faltering New START
•Officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department said the U.S. had offered to continue providing this information to Russia even after President Vladimir Putin suspended Russia’s participation in the treaty last month, but Moscow informed Washington that it would not share its own data
House Republicans orders State Department to handover Afghanistan dissent cable
•Representative Mike McCaul, who leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was sending a subpoena to make good on a threat he made at a hearing to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had offered a compromise of a briefing about the memorandum
US arms sales soar in 2022 amid security crisis in Europe: State Department
Fp Staff •Sales of US weapons to other countries witnessed a major uptick in 2022, jumping to more than $51.9 billion largely due to Russia-Ukraine war, according to new data released by the State Department on Wednesday.
Explained: Why US is officially changing the spelling of 'Turkey' to 'Türkiye'
•Turkish people have referred to their country as Türkiye (pronounced tur-KEE-yeh) since it was established in 1923 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The Anglicised version of the country’s name has been the norm for the rest of the world for decades
US religious freedom report: Limited use and unintended consequences
Chintamanimahapatra •It would perhaps be in the best interest of India-US strategic partnership that the top US State Department officials refrain from publicly commenting on state of religious freedom in India