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Valentin Weber

@weberv.bsky.social
284 followers 239 following 74 posts

Senior Cyber Research Fellow @dgap.org | Biweekly brief on China's technological control at home & influence abroad: chinatechnosphere.substack.com

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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
A few weeks ago @rightscon.org in Lusaka was cancelled due to Chinese pressure. Here is my take on how China built up its technological influence in #Zambia and where it stands currently. chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/how-china-... @accessnow.org , @dgap.org
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
How China Built its Technosphere in Zambia
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Chinese companies provide #emotion-recognition systems that remotely analyze facial and neck muscle vibrations in crowds to identify abnormal psychological states. Read more in this week's #China:Technosphere chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/how-china-...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
How China Protects National Security Facilities
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Reposted by Valentin Weber
JoernPL @joernpl.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
„In modernen Autos fallen atemberaubend viel sensible Daten an." Bewegungsdaten werden zu „hoch aussagekräftigen Profilen" verknüpft. Auf Risiken machten @gruene-bundestag.de seit mehreren Jahren aufmerksam, die #Bundesregierung habe sie viel zu lang ignoriert, so @konstantinnotz.bsky.social 👇
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
For years, #China has quietly expanded its technological footprint in the #MiddleEast, and now, these systems may offer Beijing insights into the current actions of the #UnitedStates on the ground. open.substack.com/pub/chinatec...
open.substack.com
In the UAE, Chinese Surveillance Cameras Track Iran War Developments
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
In our new op-ed Myf Ma and I propose that the #Taiwanese government should initiate a discussion about constructing the world’s first national #mesh network with the purpose of increasing digital resilience. www.taipeitimes.com/News/editori...
taipeitimes.com
National mesh network an option - Taipei Times
Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
As #Chinese machine patrolling solutions scale and interconnect, #autonomous units increasingly operate under an emerging machine-led #command and #control structure.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Lenovo, headquartered in #China and the US, does not only redefine #AI frontiers, it also supplies hardware and software to a variety of #PLA units and the Chinese #police.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
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European Democracy Hub @europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu · 20/01/2026
✍️ Chapter 4 The Shenzhen Effect: China’s Export of Authoritarianism and What to Do About It by @weberv.bsky.social How is China exporting its digital technology, and what kind of impacts does this transfer of expertise and infrastructure have on human rights?
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Excited to share this report on "China's Embodied AI" that William Hannas, Huey-Meei Chang, Daniel Chou and I co-authored for @csetgeorgetown.bsky.social cset.georgetown.edu/publication/...
cset.georgetown.edu
China’s Embodied AI: A Path to AGI | Center for Security and Emerging Technology
China is embracing “embodied AI”—artificial intelligence integrated with physical agents, such as robots and drones—both for commercial reasons and as a path to artificial general intelligence (AGI). ...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
China's AI cooperation infrastructure chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/china-is-r...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
China Is Racing to Draw the World Into Its #AI Sphere #Guangxi, for its part, is becoming China's AI hub for ASEAN. This is China's first step in a wider global AI push. TikTok meanwhile appears tied to Qi An Xin, a firm with #PLA links. chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/how-china-...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
China Is Racing to Draw the World Into Its AI Sphere (Part I)
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Part II of my analysis on China’s Lianyungang Forum is out. It breaks down how the Forum’s Global Public Security Index pushes China’s security agenda, using biased rankings based on a survey by Dataway, a firm tied to UFWD work on Xinjiang/Tibet. chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/lianyungan...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
Lianyungang: China's Blueprint for an Alternative Global Security Architecture (Part II)
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Binding Hook @bindinghook.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Just as China’s approach to cyber operations has developed, so has its counter-attribution strategy. Western attribution strategies haven’t kept pace, argues @weberv.bsky.social in his latest for Binding Hook: bindinghook.com/chinas-attri...
bindinghook.com
China’s attribution strategy has changed; it’s time for us to catch up
To effectively counter Chinese efforts, Western countries and their partners must adapt by expanding joint attribution, broadening global audiences, and pre-empting disinformation narratives.
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DGAP @dgap.org · 17/11/2025
„Sicherheit ist kein Zustand, sondern ein Prozess“, so Bundesminister der Verteidigung Boris Pistorius in seiner Videobotschaft anlässlich unserer Zentrumseröffnung. Sein Wunsch an das Zentrum ist es, „einen Raum für kritische & faktenfokussierte Debatten“ anzubieten.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
The Lianyungang Forum is #China's blueprint for an alternative global #security architecture. The Forum has been taking place since 2015 and gathers hundreds of #police and government officials from across the world in China. Here is my analysis of it 👇 chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/lianyungan...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
Lianyungang: China's Blueprint for an Alternative Global Security Architecture (Part I)
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
In our new @dgap.org memo, Maria Pericàs Riera and I lay out what #Europe should do to mitigate the risks emanating from connected vehicles. dgap.org/en/research/...
dgap.org
Connected Vehicle Cybersecurity: The EU Must Consider Non-technical Risk Factors
Assessing the trustworthiness of the country of origin of battery management systems is especially important for overall system security.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Soon you’ll watch horror movies and go to Halloween parties. But real horror is out there. Chinese “smart prisons” show tech control at its peak—and the same monitoring systems are spreading to elderly care and military sites worldwide. #Surveillance chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/you-might-...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
You Might be Already Wearing Chinese Smart Prison Technology
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Few at IBM may have anticipated that introducing the concept of smart cities to China would eventually lead to the emergence of smart military camps (智慧军营). Yet, that is precisely what happened. open.substack.com/pub/chinatec...
open.substack.com
The American Origins of China's Smart Military Camps
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Reposted by Valentin Weber
DGAP @dgap.org · 14/10/2025
„Die jüngsten Cyberangriffe auf 🇪🇺 Flughäfen sind eine erneute Mahnung: 🇩🇪 muss unabhängiger von 🇺🇸 & 🇨🇳 Technologie werden“, schreibt @weberv.bsky.social im Handelsblatt- Gastbeitrag. Er skizizziert darin vier Ansätze für mehr technologische Souveränität. 📰👇
handelsblatt.com
Handelsblatt
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Journal of Democracy @jodemocracy.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
The Chinese Communist Party is dreaming an authoritarian techno-dream that is a democrat’s nightmare: ever more fine-grained state control made possible by using AI networks to pry and spy everywhere. But human unpredictability remains a force the party-state cannot tame. muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
My essay "China's AI-Powered Surveillance State" is out today in @jodemocracy.bsky.social. #AI may boost CCP control, but human unpredictability remains its Achilles' heel. Read it here (free until Oct 30): muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE - China's AI-Powered Surveillance State
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
open.substack.com/pub/chinatec...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Issue #2 of China: Technosphere is out 🎯 Read the full post to find out what the #BRI Cybersecurity Strategy is about what China's motives are as well as how Anxinsec and Huawei cooperate to build a Silk Road Technology Ecosystem. 👇 substack.com/home/post/p-...
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Internationale Politik Quarterly @ipq.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
New: @aylinmatle.bsky.social & @weberv.bsky.social argue that it would be in Germany’s interests to supply arms to Taiwan, as it struggles with the effects of late and insufficient US deliveries. ip-quarterly.com/en/case-berl...
ip-quarterly.com
The Case for Berlin Supplying Arms to Taipei
Taiwan is struggling with the effects of late and insufficient US weapons deliveries, which are making it more vulnerable. It would be in Germany’s interest to step in.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Our new article w @aylinmatle.bsky.social "The Case for Berlin Supplying Arms to Taipei" was published in the @ipq.bsky.social. Taiwan is struggling with the effects of insufficient and late US #weapons deliveries. It would be in the interest of Germany to step in. ip-quarterly.com/en/case-berl...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
📢 China: Technosphere Just Launched 📢 The first issue of my new biweekly Substack brief explores #China's border surveillance infrastructure that can detect #submarines as well as fleeing #dissidents. chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/welcome-to...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
Welcome to China: Technosphere
This week: How China monitors its borders
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DGAP @dgap.org · 28/08/2025
In ihrem Memo setzen sich unser Senior Research Fellow @weberv.bsky.social & Ferdinand Gehringer von der KAS mit der aktiven Cyberabwehr in 🇩🇪 auseinander. Sie empfehlen der Bundesregierung, eine Reaktionstoolbox zu entwickeln, die geeignete Maßnahmen bündelt und deren Chancen & Risiken aufzeigt.
dgap.org
Aktive Cyberabwehr: Von der Wirkung zur Toolbox
Die neue Bundesregierung will in dieser Legislaturperiode den Grundstein für eine erweiterte aktive Cyberabwehr legen. Entscheidend bei diesem Prozess ist, zunächst die angestrebte Wirkung klar zu ben...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
🚨 Launching Sept 3 China:Technosphere, my new biweekly brief — built for those interested in understanding how China controls at home and influences abroad. At the intersection of national security and technology.🔔Subscribe now to get the first issue: chinatechnosphere.substack.com/welcome
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
China: Technosphere | Valentin Weber | Substack
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly (or so) deep-dive into China's control at home and influence abroad. Click to read China: Technosphere, by Valentin Weber, a Substack publication. Launched 7 da...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
My latest @dgap.org memo was published today. Incation in #UN cyber discussions is primarily to blame on Russian behavior that obstructs progress, but it is also partly due to a #Western tendency to make broad statements in #plenary sessions. dgap.org/en/node/42456
dgap.org
A Lack of Action in UN Cyber Discussions Is Partly the Fault of the West
In July, the UN’s Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on cybersecurity successfully concluded five years of negotiations by agreeing on the Global Mechanism, a permanent body that will address issues of i...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
The chair of the #UN #OEWG on cybersec circulated the final report for delegations to decide on today. Chances for consensus are better, but he might have made too little to accommodate concerns regarding the thin provisions on international law. This could derail the process in its final hours.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Yesterday night the chair of the #OEWG on international #cybersecurity circulated a revised draft of the final #report. The report has shrunk from 59 to 30 pages, increasing the chances of adoption. There are improvements but, the language potentially leading to a #treaty needs to be weakened.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
It is the final week of UN #OEWG discussions on int #cybersecurity. Points of disagreement remain on new norms vs implementing existing ones and the shape of the future mechanism, which put a final consensus report in peril. It will require a great portion of diplomatic acumen to overcome them.
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DGAP @dgap.org · 20/05/2025
„Der weitreichende Einfluss der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas auf 🇨🇳 Unternehmen ist in 🇩🇪 weitgehend unbekannt“, so Associate Fellow @kavocabo.bsky.social. Im Memo erläutert er, wie Parteizellen und Golden Shares die Wirtschaft kontrollieren & was 🇪🇺 tun sollte.
dgap.org
Chinas Privatunternehmen unter „Xiconomics“
Während chinesische Tech-Konzerne betonen, unabhängig zu agieren, hat der Parteistaat Mechanismen wie Parteizellen, „Golden Shares“ oder extralegale Druckmittel etabliert, die eine solche Unabhängigke...
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DGAP @dgap.org · 22/05/2025
“Social governance is a euphemism for social control. Achieving social control is a central theme of #China 's AGI pursuit. The closer 🇨🇳 gets to reaching AGI, the higher are its chances of preserving regime security”, our #cyber expert @weberv.bsky.social told @newsweek.com.
newsweek.com
China's next-level AI could overtake US: new report
Scientists in China are racing to build next-level "artificial general intelligence" that is infused with Chinese Communist Party values.
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DGAP @dgap.org · 21/05/2025
You can now re-watch the full discussion that was opened by welcoming remarks of our Otto-Wolff director Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff on our YouTube channel! 📺👇/2
youtube.com
Securing Connected Vehicles: European Perspectives on ICT Risks in the Automotive Sector
YouTube video by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.
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DGAP @dgap.org · 21/05/2025
Yesterday afternoon, we hosted an event on the cybersecurity challenges of connected vehicles. Together with diplomats, policymakers & experts from 🇩🇪, 🇫🇷 & 🇬🇧, our expert @weberv.bsky.social discussed 🇪🇺perspectives on ICT Risks in the automotive sector. /1
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Next Tuesday we will discuss the #cybersecurity of #connected vehicles with reps from #Germany, #UK and #France. Join us at @dgap.org or online for a timely discussion. More info at: dgap.org/en/events/se... Register at: events@dgap.org
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DGAP @dgap.org · 13/05/2025
Join us on 20 May in Berlin for an event on the cybersecurity challenges of connected vehicles. Together with diplomats, policymakers & experts from 🇩🇪, 🇬🇧 & 🇫🇷, @weberv.bsky.social will discuss how cooperation can contribute to shaping a broader 🇪🇺 strategy. All details & registration: buff.ly/bXo4Ucz
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Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 08/05/2025
China’s DeepSeek AI is revolutionising repression, argues @weberv.bsky.social: making it smarter, cheaper, and more scalable. The CCP’s latest #genAI tool automates #surveillance and decision-making, posing a global threat to democracy:
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DGAP @dgap.org · 24/04/2025
🇩🇪 ist bei der Absicherung seiner Systeme für das Quantenzeitalter ein internationaler Vorreiter - zumindest auf dem Papier. Der @tspbackground.bsky.social Cybersicherheit fasst exklusiv die Ergebnisse einer neuen Analyse unserer Expert*innen @weberv.bsky.social & Maria Pericàs zusammen. /1
background.tagesspiegel.de
Wie Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich abschneidet
Deutschland ist bei der Absicherung seiner Systeme für das Quantenzeitalter ein internationaler Vorreiter - zumindest auf dem Papier. Die Analyse der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik zeig...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
My article w Maria Pericàs is out. It shows that Germany is among the most ambitious & desired bilateral partners in developing quantum tech. We recommend the new Digital Ministry to establish a Quantum Benchmarking Initiative for European companies to propel innovation. dgap.org/en/research/...
dgap.org
Quantum Technologies: Ranking Germany’s Ambition and International Reputation
This policy brief juxtaposes Germany’s national quantum strategy with ten other published national quantum strategies to examine how Germany’s ambitions in quantum technologies compare to the ambition...
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
I'm very much looking forward to joining next week's @hooverinstitution.bsky.social event on "Digital Authoritarianism and Strategies to Promote a Democratic Digital Future" with Beth Kerley, Charles Mok, Christopher Walker and Larry Diamond. Online registration: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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DGAP @dgap.org · 11/04/2025
Missed our DGAP Morning Briefing on Germany’s new coalition? Watch the full recording now: expert insights on foreign policy, migration, defense, climate & tech from Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Victoria Rietig, @aylinmatle.bsky.social, Tim Bosch & Valentin Weber. youtu.be/VlWh_VyKlAg?...
youtu.be
Germany’s New Coalition Government
YouTube video by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Looking forward to analyzing the technology aspects of the freshly published German coalition treaty with my colleagues tomorrow morning. Sign-up link is in the comments
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Valentin Weber @weberv.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
It was a real pleasure to speak about #China as a risen cyber power at the @virtualroutes.bsky.social colloquium w Zoë van Doren yesterday. Thanks to thought-provoking comments from @euben.bsky.social and great chairing by Lena Riecke & @partomirzaei.bsky.social.
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Virtual Routes @virtualroutes.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Join us for the next session of the Colloquium series next week! 👇 ⏰ April 2, 16:00-17:00 CET 💡 @weberv.bsky.social, Zoë van Doren & @euben.bsky.social 💭 China’s Expanding Cyber Playbook: Espionage, Fear, and Influence in East Asia Read more & sign up: virtual-routes.org/event/chinas...
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DGAP @dgap.org · 25/03/2025
“DeepSeek has massive potential to enhance 🇨🇳’s already pervasive surveillance state & it will bring the CCP closer than ever to its goal of possessing an automated, autonomous & scientific tool for repressing its people”, writes #tech expert @weberv.bsky.social in @jodemocracy.bsky.social.
dgap.org
Why DeepSeek Is So Dangerous
When news broke in late January 2025 that the Chinese startup DeepSeek had released a new frontier artificial-intelligence (AI) model, it rattled world markets. The open-source model can perform on pa...
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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Important follow-up to our reporting about corruption allegations against Huawei lobbyists dropped last night. Investigators believe that at least one senior Chinese executive knew about the illicit money flows. Did the company cover up the corrupt acts? #HuaweiGate www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...
ftm.eu
Huawei’s EU bribery scheme exposed: tens of thousands of euros allegedly paid to MEPs
Lobbyists for Huawei are accused of having funneled tens of thousands of euros to members of the European Parliament who supported a letter in favour of the Chinese tech giant, according to a leaked d...
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