Mathias Boelinger

China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.

This is a remarkable case of Chinese authorities threatening a UK university into halting research on human rights violations, and the university acquiescing.

Lost and Found: The Unexpected Journey of the MingKwai Typewriter | Made in China Journal It began as an innocuous inquiry on Facebook. Nelson Felix, a resident of New York State, posted in the group ‘What’s My Typewriter Worth?’ about a curious find he made while clearing out the basement...

A Facebook post unearthed a legend: the lost MingKwai typewriter, designed by Lin Yutang in 1947, resurfaced in a NY basement. Hailed as a marvel yet dismissed as a failure, its rediscovery revives debates over innovation, identity, and what it means to be Chinese, writes @yangyangcheng.bsky.social.

looking forward!

Germany defunds 2 Israeli human rights groups – DW – 01/05/2025 The German government has quietly cut funding for Zochrot and New Profile, following an earlier defunding of Palestinian NGOs. Some observers fear the move will shrink space for those critical of the ...

While most people here were on holiday, my colleagues worked hard to get this story out: Germany defunds Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights orgs. Civil society sources accuse Germany's Foreign ministry of helping the Israeli government to stifle dissent. p.dw.com/p/4ooxQ

Milliardenbetrug an deutschen Zapfsäulen: Die Ölkonzerne und der große Klimaschutz-Fake in China Ölkonzerne nutzten Projekte in China, um ihre Klimaziele in Deutschland zu erreichen. "frontal" deckt auf, dass viele dieser Klimaprojekte womöglich vorgetäuscht sind. Wer profitiert vom Klimaschutz-F...

Wir sind Fake-Klimaschutz-Projekten in China auf der Spur, für die Ölkonzerne rd. 1 Mrd Euro kassiert haben, von deutschen Verbrauchern an der Tankstelle.

kurz.zdf.de/dnL2/

Mit @martiorosz.bsky.social, eine Recherche-Koop mit der Deutschen Welle, @mareporter.bsky.social und Birgitta Schülke.

My DW colleague Birgitta Schülke and I together with ZDF's @hanskoberstein.bsky.social and Marta Orosz
found that dozens of projects were filed by just one company in China. But we also looked into the German side of the affair. How could all of these projects be approved?

YouTube video by DW Planet A How a small Chinese company tricked the German state | DW Investigation

For months we looked into what likely was a sophisticated billion-euro scam with climate certificates. Climate projects in China were approved under a German carbon credit scheme.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU_S...

One often had the impression that these attitudes were based on a belief in the sheer power of “negotiation” to reduce “tension”—a belief which is not held by the Politburo, and which is false when one applies it to dealings with the Politburo."

Nathan Leites, A Study of Bolshewism, 1953 /end

They usually did not indicate what they could offer the Politburo and what they would ask in return; or what pressures they would apply to the Politburo to make it retreat from certain vital positions; and how the result would justify a sharp reduction of armament levels in the West. 2/

"Ever since the beginning of overt tension between the Soviet Union and the West in the fall of 1945, there have been Western observers who have felt that at least some relief from that tension would be achieved by negotiation—now or later, when “positions of strength” had been acquired. 1/

They scam unsuspecting victims all across the world — but they are victims themselves. Thousands of people are trafficked worldwide into Myanmar's war-torn e... Behind Asia's cyber slavery | DW Documentary

Trafficked and forced to scam. My colleagues have made an amazing documentary.

Meet DJI’s first delivery drone - FlyCart 30Overcome traditional transport challenges and start a new era of dynamic aerial delivery with large payload capac... Introducing DJI FlyCart 30 | DJI Delivery

Chinese #drone manufacturer (and global market leader) DJI is putting a delivery drone on the market which - according to them - can carry 30kg over 16km.

H/t to @bildrauschen.bsky.social
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhp1...

Taiwan: "Wir müssen die Kosten für eine Invasion hochtreiben" Admiral Lee Hsi-min hat die Verteidigungsdoktrin für Taiwan geschrieben. Sein dringender Rat: Für den Umgang mit dem aggressiven China muss man von der Ukraine lernen.

Very interesting interview on Taiwan’s defence strategy and what Taiwan can learn from Ukraine. (In German, by @joerglau.bsky.social )

Some personal news: I have left Kyiv and moved back to Berlin where I took over as head of DW's investigative unit. Tips or coffee dates: Threema 2S232APF, mathiasboelinger(at)proton.me

😢

Після двох років в Україні важко сприймаю любов Берлінської молоді до феєрверків.

Kharkiv Palace, one of the Hotels popular with journalists was hit yesterday. 8 injured. In the last few months several such Hotels were Russia's target.

Russland hat bei Angriffen auf Charkiw u.a. das „Kharkiv Palace“ getroffen. Wieder ein Hotel, in dem wir und viele andere große Medien bei Reisen in die Region häufig übernachtet haben. Bin mit den Gedanken bei den Verletzten.

(S+) Hubert Seipel: Deutscher Reporter erhielt Hunderttausende Euro aus Russland Hubert Seipel ist ein renommierter Filmemacher und Buchautor, als Russlandkenner erklärte er den Deutschen jahrelang Putins Reich. Doch nun wird klar: Die ideologische Nähe des Reporters hat Moskau ...

Jahrelang erklärte TV-Journalist Hubert Seipel den Deutschen Putin, in ARD&NDR,in Talkshows &Büchern. #CyprusConfidential @icij.bsky.social @papertrailmedia.bsky.social enthüllt: Seipel bekam offenbar Hunderttausende Euro aus 🇷🇺 – von einem putintreuen Oligarchen. www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/h...

Terrible news. This has been such an important source of information for many years.

„Das hier endet mit deinem Tod“: So werden Chinas Kritiker im Ausland bedroht Morddrohungen, Schweigegeld, Datenbanken über kritische Stimmen und Beschattung mitten in Berlin: Wer sich gegen Chinas Regime stellt, erlebt selbst in Deutschland Psychoterror.

Morddrohungen, Schweigegeld, Datenbanken über kritische Stimmen & Beschattung mitten in Berlin: Wer sich gegen Chinas Regime stellt, erlebt selbst in Deutschland Psychoterror.

Recherche @Tagesspiegel.de von @claudiavonsalzen.bsky.social & mir in 5 Kapiteln (🧵)

www.tagesspiegel.de/internationa...

«Треба було не забувати, хто ти є»: у Харкові показали д... Як реагували жителі Куп'янська на фільм DW про окупацію міста

Про показ нашого фільму "Харківщина під окупацією" в Харкові минулої пʼятницею пише місцеве видання Mediaport.

3 Dinge zu Machatschkala:

1. Russland baut den #IsraelHamasWar in sein“antikoloniales Narrativ“ ein. Die Grauschattierungen der russischen Politik im Nahen Osten weichen Schwarz-Weiß. Russland positioniert sich pro-Hamas (+Iran). Die bislang guten Beziehungen mit Israel landen unter dem Bus.

As China Looks to Broker Gaza Peace, Antisemitism Surges Online China’s state-run media has blamed the United States for deepening the crisis, while perpetuating tropes of Jewish control of American politics.

Während China öffentlich als neutraler Vermittler erscheinen will, florieren im stark zensierten Internet antisemitische Erzählungen. Das Staats-TV etwa hielt kürzlich auf Weibo eine Diskussion ab, in der es behauptete, dass „Juden einen überproportionalen Anteil des US-Wohlstands“ kontrollierten.

Der frühere Premier Li Keqiang ist überraschend gestorben. In den sozialen Medien wird das Lied „Schade, bist es nicht Du“ geteilt.

Kharkiv Media Hub Спеціальний показ та обговорення фільму «Куп’янськ під окупацією» ⏱Коли: 27 жовтня 2023р. о 18:00 📍Де: Харківськ...

В пʼятницю показуємо і обговоримо в Харкові наш фільм: «Харківщина під окупацією. Страх, зрада та опір у Купʼянську». Приходьте.

⏱Коли: 27 жовтня 2023р. о 18:00
📍Де: Харківський Медіа Хаб (Майдан Свободи 5, ДЕРЖПРОМ, 5 під’їзд)
Вхід вільний
t.me/kharkivmedia...

Kharkiv Media Hub Special screening and discussion of the film "Kupyansk under Occupation" ⏱ When: October 27, 2023 at 18:00 📍Where: Kharkiv Media Hub (Maidan Svoboda 5, DERZHPROM, entrance 5) free entrance ❗...

There will be a screening and discussion of our film "When Russia comes - Fear and Loyalty in a Ukrainian Town" in Kharkiv on Friday (in Ukrainian)
⏱ When: October 27, 2023 at 18:00
📍Where: Kharkiv Media Hub (Maidan Svoboda 5, DERZHPROM, entrance 5)
t.me/kharkivmedia...

Ukrainian spies with deep ties to CIA wage shadow war against Russia The CIA has built up Ukraine’s espionage capabilities, but U.S. officials stress that the agency has no involvement in targeted killings operations by Kyiv

How the US has helped to rebuild Ukraine's Russian-infiltrated security services and what is the risk behind Ukraine's tactics of targeted killings of Russian officials and propagandists. Great reporting.

I want to talk about my Russian Jewish friends who emigrated to Israel after the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion in Ukraine. Most of them had been against the Putin regime for a long time, they had been involved in protests, they had tried to resist the horrid changes