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The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

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Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#51

Post by neilv »

okmokmz wrote: post #30
neilv wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, treating a coworker poorly because of what country they're from, or what religion. Or worse, especially when unstable people get riled up by right-wing outlets.

You seem to be making a lot of baseless assumptions about this topic

For the more extreme effects, involving unstable peple, we see a lot of this in the news lately, most recently this weekend: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/06/politics/ilhan-omar-new-york-...

For everyday workplace/community culture, we in the US have a long and ongoing history of biases and poor treatment (including in the workplace) of people belonging to identifiable groups that have been singled out as somehow threatening or lesser. Maybe the pattern repeats. Or maybe the pattern doesn't repeat this time, but many people in the group fear it will, and that's not good for workplace/community either.

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#52

Post by bilbo0s »

xvector wrote: post #37
alanwong wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And?

They can’t be trusted? Chinese news is a farce.

In fairness, so is most other "news". But yeah, I certainly wouldn't trust Chinese news any more than FOX or whatever.

Pretty much all of it's propaganda these days.

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#53

Post by vips7L »

mdeeks wrote: post #35
ycombonator wrote: post #13

I live in an area with a lot of newly arrived Chinese grad students. Not generalizing but many of the WiFi ssids I see are : chinanumbaone , df26(one day I realized this is carrier killer missile)

The first one is an online gaming meme. It was a hilarious (and highly inappropriate!) clip from H1Z1 where a guy starts shouting “Taiwan number one” at some Chinese players. If you google it you will find it as a first result. Nothing nefarious with that ssid Edit: here is the clip. Skip to 1:30 https://youtu.be/xN0vUlljX0I

Wasn't there a clip from Pubg with a guy shouting china numba one as well?

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#54

Post by Bartweiss »

magduf wrote: post #44
ravenstine wrote: post #16

China has some areas where they innovate, but they primarily excel at copying .

Sounds exactly like the USA in the 1800s. They ripped off all kinds of stuff from Britain.

And Britain ripped off porcelain from China in the 1700s, bringing us full circle. (Until we go back another cycle, to Marco Polo. And another, to the Avars and the stirrup. Another, to the Silk Road, then on to...) It's sort of hilarious to think people wouldn't focus on copying inventions, given how much faster it is (for anyone!) than developing things from scratch. Describing it as some kind of national trait, rather than the standard response to someone else inventing things, is bizarre.

Heck, if someone really wanted to make a national-identity pitch, they'd have better luck talking about late-Ming isolationism and claiming that China is exceptional for sometimes not ripping off foreign innovations. That would be wrong too, of course, but at least it'd be better than a narrative which barely stretches back to the 1990s.

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#55

Post by Eric_WVGG »

arcticfox wrote: post #48
Leary wrote: post #22

The problem with these efforts is that the FBI often does not consult with technical experts before indicting Chinese nationals and have resulted in a number of false cases that have damaged the reputation of regular Chinese Americans. The rate at which Asians are falsely accused are twice those of other races[1] [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/study-suggests-as... https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/us…

Surely the FBI should be held to account when they make mistakes or behave unfairly, but it seems absurd that they shouldn't consider connections to China when looking for Chinese espionage.

If you’re wondering why you’re being downvoted, read up on Soviet espionage during the cold war. Money talks.

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#57

Post by majia »

ycombonator wrote: post #13

I live in an area with a lot of newly arrived Chinese grad students. Not generalizing but many of the WiFi ssids I see are : chinanumbaone , df26(one day I realized this is carrier killer missile)

How do you know the second is referring to carrier killer missile? I have seen something like Doug Freeman at Apt 26.

I think you wanted to show that Chinese people are not friendly, but the comment only reveals the xenophobia sentiment among some American people.

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#58

Post by alanwong »

bilbo0s wrote: post #50
alanwong wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I created the article! Trust me when I say I'm not cataloging this discussion or actively manipulating it. (EDIT: deleted "with my colleagues" because another commenter says it sounds like something other than reporters working with editors to put out an article.)

> I'm not cataloging this discussion or actively manipulating it... ??? You just did. I know that likely read like I was trying to be snarky, but I wasn't.

No I don't find you snarky. I'm just confused. Are you saying that by engaging in a discussion about an article I posted in an online forum I'm "cataloging" and "actively manipulating" it? Am I "cataloging" a discussion if I tweet an article and reply to the responses? Am I "actively manipulating" a Reddit discussion if I post a link on the site and... respond to the comments? I've been doing both my whole career.

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#59

Post by toss1 »

neilv wrote: post #12
toss1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should you be uncomfortable? Even by your own definition, it is something that is often done but seldom discussed, and there is a change (Boston tech are targeted), so it is news. And, this IS different than ordinary "spy-vs-spy". That normally applies to keeping track of national adversaries' military strength & asset positioning, political maneuvering, treaty talks, etc. This, in contrast, is straight up indust…

I'm uncomfortable about the fire, too. And I'd like to trust the firefighters to handle the fire, in this case. Not alarm non-firefighters, to go rushing in the way of firefighters, kicking in doors of houses that are not on fire, etc.

No one is advocating "kicking in doors of houses that are not on fire".

What should be done is to be aware of the risk, and that it is very different doing business with China vs. say, Thailand or Mexico.

Of course, wherever you do business, you must take precautions against IP theft and having your product sold out the back door.

However, for China, the threat model needs to be completely re-calibrated. Specifically, recalibrated to assume either that your product will be sold out the back door of the factory under another label, that your IP will end up in a competitor's hands, or that if it is important enough it will be expropriated by the govt either via rules requiring 'sharing' or by state-level espionage.

This is NOT to say that every person is untrustworthy. There are good people everywhere.

The difference is like that between a small rural town where everyone knows each other and leaves their doors unlocked and keys in the car, vs. a gang-ruled favela where you need to watch your back if you step outside. Both are mostly full of good & honest people, with a few problems, but you really need to calibrate your behavior differently for each.

Re: The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its tech secrets

#60

Post by Not_a_pizza »

arcticfox wrote: post #48
Leary wrote: post #22

The problem with these efforts is that the FBI often does not consult with technical experts before indicting Chinese nationals and have resulted in a number of false cases that have damaged the reputation of regular Chinese Americans. The rate at which Asians are falsely accused are twice those of other races[1] [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/study-suggests-as... https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/us…

Surely the FBI should be held to account when they make mistakes or behave unfairly, but it seems absurd that they shouldn't consider connections to China when looking for Chinese espionage.

"Mistakes" can also be just lack of sufficient evidence, or even evidence that is not collected properly. Mistakes do not always mean the party is innocent, just that we take them to be on a legal basis regardless of the truth.
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