China

China's latest bitcoin ban is not a particularly new policy. The country banned bitcoin in 2013 and made ICOs illegal in 2017. This new warning is different because some of China's biggest bitcoin mining operations were immediately impacted. Continue Reading →

Microsoft has confirmed that Chinese hackers were responsible for the attacks it announced on March 2 that exploited vulnerabilities in the standalone version of its Exchange Server mail and calendar software. Continue Reading →

Scaring people may get you ratings, but this piece was pure xenophobic fear-mongering. Shame on you, 60 Minutes. You can now count yourselves as an amplifier of false narratives. Continue Reading →

Earlier this month, a second federal judge blocked the Trump administration's efforts to ban TikTok. On Monday, the Department of Justice appealed the injunction, citing national security concerns and arguing that the video-sharing app could supply personal data from TikTok's 100 million U.S. users to the Chinese government. Continue Reading →

There are many interesting things about the Chinese government investigating "suspected monopolistic conduct." What it tells me is that no matter the political system, big tech scares big government. Continue Reading →

Last week, the government in Shenzhen carried out a lottery to give away a total of 10 million yuan (about $1.5 million) worth of digital currency. The winners can now download a digital renminbi app to receive the digital yuan and spend it at more than 3,000 merchants in a particular district of Shenzhen. The digital yuan is not a cryptocurrency like bitcoin. Instead, it is issued and controlled by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank. Continue Reading →

On August 6, 2020, the president of the United States signed two virtually identical executive orders banning the use of both TikTok and WeChat. TikTok will survive due to a partnership deal with Oracle that, at this writing, the president has approved. But, unless a federal judge issues a stay, by the time you read this WeChat will be officially banned. Continue Reading →

The Attorney General of the United States announced that the government had confirmed that the Equifax hack was the work of the Chinese military. As we enter the age of AI-assisted warfare, it’s important to unpack some of the underlying issues. Continue Reading →

Apple caved. Continue Reading →

Apple posted the highest quarterly earnings in American history (Q415) and took huge hit. Some people blaming Apple's $30 billion market cap haircut on the economic slowdown in China -- but if you don't live there, it's hard to understand the complex relationships Chinese people have with Western brands. Continue Reading →