China
Protest Hides in Plain Sight in Hong Kong
25 years after the UK handed the city over to China, Hong Kong's suppressed and surveilled people keep freedom alive creatively and furtively.
By Jerrine Tan
You Pay More When Companies Get Hacked
Plus: Google delays the end of cookies (again), EU officials were targeted with Pegasus spyware, and more of the top security news.
By Matt Burgess
The Chip Shortage Is Easing—but Only for Some
Certain chips have caught up with demand, thanks to stockpiling and reduced consumer spending, but the semiconductor supply chain is still snarled up.
By Will Knight
TikTok Starts Layoffs in Company-Wide Restructuring
The company laid off some US staff and told workers in Europe and the UK that their jobs are at risk.
By Chris Stokel-Walker
Turkey Probably Hasn’t Found the Rare Earth Metals It Says It Has
The deposits discovered reportedly contain enough resources to meet global demand for 1,000 years—surpassing even China’s reserves. But experts are skeptical.
By Chris Baraniuk
Chinese Police Exposed 1B People's Data in Unprecedented Leak
Plus: A duplicitous bug bounty scheme, the iPhone's new “lockdown mode,” and more of the week's top security news.
By Lily Hay Newman
Is Your New Car a Threat to National Security?
Putting sensor-packed Chinese cars on Western roads could be a privacy issue. Just ask Tesla.
By Justin Ling
The World Can’t Wean Itself Off Chinese Lithium
China dominates the global supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. Now rival countries are scrambling for more control over “white oil.”
By Amit Katwala
China Is Racing to Electrify Its Future
The country wants electric vehicles to make up 40 percent of new cars sold by 2030—but first it has to figure out how to keep them charged.
By Jennifer Conrad
China Is Tightening Its Grip on Big Tech
The country’s regulatory measures range from vetting medical and financial influencers to algorithmic audits. What, if anything, can the West learn?
By Chris Stokel-Walker
The Rise and Precarious Reign of China’s Battery King
Zeng Yuqun is China’s most prolific battery billionaire. His ascent has major implications for a world increasingly reliant on electric vehicles.
By Morgan Meaker
China Built Your iPhone. Will It Build Your Next Car?
Gadget manufacturers are getting into the car-making business. That could shake up the auto industry, global trade, and geopolitics.
By Will Knight
Shanghai’s Censors Can’t Hide Stories of the Dead
Many people reportedly died after struggling to access medical care during a brutal lockdown. The families want to make sure these deaths are counted.
By Sonya Yuan
China’s Jidu Robo-1 Looks Like It’s From the Future. Maybe It Is
Internet giant Baidu has built an empire around search and artificial intelligence. Can it build a smarter car?
By Will Knight
The Mystery of China’s Sudden Warnings About US Hackers
The Chinese government recently began saber-rattling about American cyberespionage. The catch? It’s all old news.
By Matt Burgess
‘How Are They Weapons? That’s Only a Flashlight!’
During the protests in Hong Kong, young people carried laser pointers, umbrellas, and plastic ties—objects that sometimes led to their arrest, and years of legal limbo.
By Suzanne Sataline
Shanghai Is Rewriting Chinese Censorship Amid Lockdown
Censors are cracking down on free speech online, but people are finding new ways to get around them.
By Morgan Meaker and Will Knight
On China, US National Security Experts Fear the Wrong Thing
Many argue that regulating Big Tech cedes leadership to China, but a healthy startup ecosystem is America's best defense.
By Sam Bresnick and Nathaniel Sher
Shanghai’s Plan to Reboot the Tech Supply Chain Will Be Hard
The government wants to restart production and shipping to meet global demand, but some people may trade a lockdown at home to being locked inside factories.
By Will Knight
The TikTok-Oracle Deal Would Set 2 Dangerous Precedents
The agreement may provoke a global data storage melee and more politically motivated intervention in the tech sector.
By Matt Perault
China’s Gig Workers Are Challenging Their Algorithmic Bosses
Food delivery drivers are using platforms’ data-powered systems, mass WeChat groups, and unofficial unions to fight unfair conditions.
By Masha Borak
Chinese Spies Hacked a Livestock App to Breach US State Networks
Vulnerabilities in animal tracking software USAHERDS and Log4j gave the notorious APT41 group a foothold in multiple government systems.
By Andy Greenberg
The War in Ukraine Is Keeping Chinese Social Media Censors Busy
Posts that glorify war and those that criticize Russia are getting quietly deleted, as platforms are pressured to walk a thin line.
By Jennifer Conrad
The US Fixation on Chinese Espionage Is Bad for Science
The rivalry between the US and China—with threats of spying and intellectual property theft—conceals more fundamental questions of ethics.
By Yangyang Cheng