Tag: Canada

Why Is TikTok Being Banned?

Chin@Strategy

In January, a Republican senator, Josh Hawley of Missouri, introduced a bill to ban TikTok for all Americans after pushing for a measure, which passed in December as part of a spending package, that banned TikTok on all devices issued by the federal government. A separate bipartisan bill, introduced in December, also sought to ban TikTok and target any similar social media companies from countries like Russia and Iran. What is the Biden administration doing? It’s been largely quiet, though the White House pointed to an ongoing review just this…

Calls grow in Canada for inquiry into alleged election interference by China

Chin@Strategy

Canadian opposition parties stepped up their push for a broad public inquiry into alleged foreign election interference, particularly by China, a move that Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau has not yet endorsed. Recent media reports have alleged ongoing Chinese interference in Canada’s elections, with Trudeau this week denying one article saying his office was told by Canada’s spy agency to drop a Chinese Canadian candidate in 2019 because of his ties to Beijing. Canada’s main opposition party called for an independent and public inquiry, headed by a commissioner who is…

Foreign Efforts to Subvert Canada’s Last 2 Elections Failed, Report Says

Chin@Strategy

OTTAWA — Foreign governments tried to interfere with the last two federal elections in Canada, but they did not succeed in “impacting” the voting results, according to an independent review released on Tuesday. That conclusion comes as opposition politicians and others are pressing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to open a separate, public inquiry into allegations of election interference by Chinese diplomats based in Canada, as well as by informal agents of the Chinese government — a move that Mr. Trudeau has rejected. The report released on Tuesday was a review…

Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

Chin@Strategy

Canada has joined the US and EU in enacting a sweeping ban preventing TikTok from being installed on all government-issued mobile devices, as western officials take action over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, did not rule out further action. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” he…

How a Chinese cafe above a DIY store became the best place to eat in Canada

Chin@Strategy

The checkerboard floors of Vancouver’s Northern Cafe are warped, the only views are of nearby industrial warehouses, and diners waiting for a table must navigate the hazards of an active lumber yard. And yet the tottering Chinese Canadian restaurant, with its red vinyl booths and mismatched porcelain mugs, is so busy on a weekday morning that a scattered line forms between pickup trucks and forklifts. The rickety structure of the eatery, which sits above a hardware store, holds the unlikely honour of being the best place to dine Canada, according…

China’s Balloons Draw Attention to an Overlooked Canada-U.S. Partnership

Chin@Strategy

The interest in balloons, other than the party and clown varieties, has recently reached levels perhaps not seen in Canada since the 19th century. It all began, of course, with a giant Chinese surveillance balloon that floated above British Columbia before drifting around the United States and ultimately being blown up by the United States Air Force over the Atlantic. Since then, three other objects have met a similar fate including one brought down over Yukon and another shot down above Lake Huron. [Read: A Rising Awareness That Balloons Are…

Prepare for wave of extraterrestrial sightings in UK, say UFO experts

Chin@Strategy

When unidentified flying objects began being spotted over the US and Canada, there was quite a stir among amateur ufologists. UFO discussion forums lit up with theories about the origins and purpose of these floating entities – were they sent by intelligent lifeforms from outer space or was there an explanation closer to home? And now experts have said we could be about to see a wave of sightings in the skies above the UK too, thanks to this renewed interest in extraterrestrial contact. Four flying objects, of vastly different…

Tuesday briefing: Why is the US suddenly spying so many UFOs?

Chin@Strategy

Good morning. UFOs are being shot down over North America, and one of them is octagonal. OK, that’s a slightly breathless account of events since a Chinese balloon was sighted over Montana 10 days ago, and aliens probably aren’t involved – but the full story is almost as interesting. After that first balloon was brought down and US secretary of state Anthony Blinken postponed a trip to Beijing in response, three other mysterious objects have been taken out in US and Canadian airspace in the last few days – the…

US shoots down ‘octagonal’ flying object near military sites in Michigan

Chin@Strategy

The US military has shot down a third flying object over North American airspace in three days, as the air force general overseeing the airspace said he would not rule out any explanation for the objects yet. The high-altitude unidentified object, described as an “octagonal structure” with strings attached to it, was shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday. It is understood to have been the same item that was picked up by radar over Montana on Saturday. At the point it was struck by an air-to-air missile…

After Shooting Down Flying Objects, U.S. and Canada Have More Theories Than Answers

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — If the truth is out there, it certainly is not apparent yet. Pentagon and intelligence officials are trying to make sense of three unidentified flying objects over Alaska, Canada and Michigan that U.S. fighter jets shot down with missiles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The latest turn in the aerial show taking place in the skies above North America comes after a helter-skelter weekend involving what at times seemed like an invasion of unidentified flying objects. The latest object had first been spotted on Saturday over Montana, initially sparking debate…