A major international media investigation has revealed that a technology firm linked to the Chinese Communist Party has created and mined a global database of 2.4 million individuals – many of them political leaders, scientists, journalists and others in positions of influence – based on their online presence in order to monitor them and their networks. The Indian Express, one of the media outlets that investigated the story, reported earlier today that the firm, Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. The Express notes that Zhenhua was also interested in hundreds of Indian individuals who have been accused of «financial crime, corruption, terrorism, and smuggling of narcotics, gold, arms or wildlife.» This belies an interest of Chinese intelligence in individuals who could be potentially leveraged or otherwise exploited in specific operations, consistent with similar practices of other intelligence services globally.
Second, it is not known whether the source had approached an American media outlet. In many ways, the decision to do so would have been natural given that more than a fifth of the database consists of U.S. citizens and the source had worked with Balding, an American who has since returned to the U.S. out of safety concerns in the run-up to today’s expose.
This article was written by Abhijnan Rej
To read the full article, please click on the following link: https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/china-has-built-a-massive-global-database-for-hybrid-warfare-international-media-reports/
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