February 2019 - Page 15 of 24

Aid Groups: Africa Welcomes Refugees, But Freedom and Jobs Needed

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeAF

African nations, which host more than 20 million people forced to flee their homes, must enforce international agreements to better protect and provide opportunities for those escaping conflict and disaster, aid groups said Tuesday.

Refugees and internally displaced people topped the agenda at the African Union’s (AU) annual heads of state summit, which ended Monday — a move welcomed by humanitarians as growing numbers are forcibly uprooted around the world.

African nations have been lauded for adopting a more liberal “open door” policy toward refugees than Western nations, despite being low-income economies.

But refugees are then usually confined to camps in Africa.

They cannot access basic public services like health and education and are not allowed to work. Those fleeing within their own country are vulnerable to attacks by armed factions.

“Some African countries are doing a tremendous job in providing safety for neighbors fleeing wars and persecution,” said Yemisrach Kebede, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) representative to the AU.

“[But] currently, many displaced people are left without necessary protection and support, both in their home country and in the countries where they seek protection as refugees.”

Over a third of the world’s forcibly displaced people are found in Africa, including some 6.3 million refugees and 14.5 million internally displaced persons, says the AU.

Many have been uprooted due to armed conflict in countries such as the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan. Others have had their lives disrupted due to disasters linked to climate change such as floods or droughts.

Compared to other regions, Africa has a well-developed legal framework, with treaties protecting and providing rights to displaced people and refugees, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ (IFRC) Jagan Chapagain.

“Yet states often face difficulties to implement and apply such frameworks,” said Chapagain, the IFRC’s under secretary-general for Programs and Operations.

“All of those on the move should have access not only to basic services to meet needs like water, food, [and] medical care, but also to protection and to measures that seek to restore their hope and safeguard their dignity.”

The Global Compact on Refugees, for example, was approved by United Nations member states in December and seeks to ease pressures on host countries and provide refugees with access to education and work to help them become self-reliant.

Under the pact, African nations hosting refugees would be able to access funds from Western nations, the private sector and international financial institutions to support those who have been forcibly displaced, aid agencies said.

With aid agencies struggling to raise funds, countries such as Uganda — which hosts over 1 million refugees and allows them freedom of movement and the right to work — have been praised for progressive policies aimed at integration and empowerment.

Last month, Ethiopia passed legislation allowing for similar provisions for the over 900,000 refugees it hosts.
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Aid Groups: Africa Welcomes Refugees, But Freedom and Jobs Needed

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeAF

African nations have been lauded for adopting a more liberal “open door” policy toward refugees than Western nations, despite being low-income economies.

But refugees are then usually confined to camps in Africa.

They cannot access basic public services like health and education and are not allowed to work. Those fleeing within their own country are vulnerable to attacks by armed factions.

“[But] currently, many displaced people are left without necessary protection and support, both in their home country and in the countries where they seek protection as refugees.”

Over a third of the world’s forcibly displaced people are found in Africa, including some 6.3 million refugees and 14.5 million internally displaced persons, says the AU.

“Yet states often face difficulties to implement and apply such frameworks,” said Chapagain, the IFRC’s under secretary-general for Programs and Operations.

Last month, Ethiopia passed legislation allowing for similar provisions for the over 900,000 refugees it hosts.
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UN Official: Conditions in Syrian Rukban Camp Throwback to ‘Stone Age’

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeEA

A senior U.N. official reports the distribution of life-saving aid is nearly complete for 40,000 Syrians stranded in the remote Rukban camp near the Jordanian border. The U.N.’s largest humanitarian convoy in Syria’s eight-year conflict arrived at Rukban six days ago.

This is the second U.N. convoy to reach this harsh desert outpost since November. Corinne Fleischer, the World Food Program representative in Syria and Rukban Convoy team leader, said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and U.N. agencies are in the process of delivering a one-month supply of food, basic medical items, clothes, sanitation, hygiene and other essential relief to the last 7,000 beneficiaries.

She said the vast majority of people are women and children who have been living in the desolate region for up to four years under increasingly desperate conditions. She said winter in the desert is extremely cold, noting that at least eight young children have died at the site as of January.

Speaking on a poor phone line from Rukban, Fleischer said the camp is situated in the middle of nowhere and that this affects every aspect of life for the thousands of people trapped there.

“There is not a single doctor in the entire Rukban settlement. Health care is provided by nurses. Many of them without any formal training. When we talked to a nurse who has 16 years of experience, who is displaced from Palmyra and she said that the conditions in the health clinic she works in are so basic as if she was operating in the stone age,” Fleischer said.

Rukban is located close to the al-Tanf U.S. military base near where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq meet. The residents include tens of thousands of people who have fled from Islamic State-held parts of Syria, which have been under attack by Russian and U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

Besides the distribution of humanitarian assistance, Fleischer said aid workers have immunized some 7,000 children against measles, polio and other diseases. She is calling on all parties to allow the U.N. to continue critical assistance for people in the camp. For example, she said, establishing well-equipped health clinics in the camp would save many lives.

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Iconic Palestinian Robe Fashions a New Political Symbol

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeEA

The traditional brightly embroidered dress of Palestinian women known as the “thobe” was not the type of garment one would expect to become a pop political symbol.

Now it’s gaining prominence as a softer expression of Palestinian nationalism, competing even with the classic keffiyeh — the headscarf donned by young stone-throwing Palestinian men protesting Israel’s occupation.

The robe, adorned with elaborate hand-stitched embroidery, requires months of grueling labor. Some thobes fetch thousands of dollars. The traditional textiles call to mind a bygone era of Palestinian peasant women sewing on a break from the fields.

Last month, Rashida Tlaib proudly wore her mother’s thobe to her historic swearing-in as the first female Palestinian American member of Congress, inspiring masses of women around the world, especially in the Palestinian territories, to tweet photos of themselves in their ancestral robes.

“The historic thobe conjures an ideal of pure and untouched Palestine, before the occupation,” said Rachel Dedman, curator of a recent exhibit at the Palestinian Museum focused on the evolution of Palestinian embroidery. “It’s more explicitly tied to history and heritage than politics. That’s what makes it a brilliant symbol.”

The Palestinian thobe traces its history to the early 19th century, when embroidery was confined to the villages.

Richly decorated dresses marked milestones in women’s lives: onset of puberty, marriage, motherhood. The designs varied from village to village — special three-dimensional stitching for the upper class of Bethlehem, big pockets for the nomadic Bedouin women, orange branch motifs for the orchard-famous city of Jaffa, said Maha Saca, director of the Palestinian Heritage Center in Bethlehem.

Thobe patterns also expressed women’s different social positions: red for brides, blue for widows, blue with multi-colored stitches for widows considering remarriage.

While Arab women across the region have worn hand-made dresses for centuries, the thobe has taken on a distinctly Palestinian character, particularly since the establishment of Israel in 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians either fled or were expelled from their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s creation. Many took only their dresses with them into the diaspora, Saca added.

The war, which Palestinians call their “nakba,” or catastrophe, transformed the thobe.

“Suddenly, in the face of dispossession and cultural appropriation by Israelis, embroidery became an urgent task,” Dedman said. “The dress was taken up and politicized.”

Over decades of conflict that has claimed thousands of lives on both sides, Palestinian nationalism has taken on many forms.

In the early days of Israel’s establishment, it was associated with calls for Israel’s destruction and deadly attacks. Armed struggle later gave way to calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — lands captured by Israel in 1967. Peace talks have been interrupted by spasms of violence, and for the past decade, a deep freeze in negotiations.

Today, the internationally recognized autonomy government of the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, continues to seek a two-state solution with Israel. The Hamas militant group, which seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, still seeks Israel’s destruction, while many Palestinians, particularly the younger generation, now talk of a single binational state with Israel in which they would enjoy full equal rights.

Along the way, the thobe has grown in popularity and evolved, with dress designs reflecting history’s many dramas.

During the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in the 1980s, the thobe bloomed with guns, doves and flowers. When Israeli soldiers confiscated Palestinian flags at protests, women wove forbidden national maps and colors into their dresses, according to the Palestinian museum exhibit.

Now, Palestinian women of all social classes wear thobes to assert national pride at weddings and special occasions.

“It’s a way of defending our national identity,” Saca said.

The care, toil, and skill that go into making a thobe prevent the garment from becoming everyday streetwear — or protest-wear. But cheaper, mass-produced versions of the dress have sprouted up.

“A woman typically has one thobe to wear on occasions throughout her life — it’s very expensive and impractical,” said Maysoun Abed, director of a thobe exhibit in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, near Ramallah. “But demand for the thobe still runs high as a way of expressing patriotism.”

Although the robe shares potent patriotic subtext and roots in peasant life with the black-and-white checkered kaffiyeh — made famous by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat — the thobe is infused with nostalgic, almost mythical associations.

“Embroidery evokes the timeless connection of Palestinians to the land,” Dedman said. “It’s a soft image, referencing a deep past with which people have positive associations.”

Young Palestinian women, especially those in the diaspora, are adapting the ancestral dresses to modern tastes and trends. Girls are asking for shorter and less embroidered versions, said Rajaa Ghazawneh, a thobe designer in the West Bank town of al-Bireh.

Natalie Tahhan, a designer based in east Jerusalem, produces capes from digital prints that replicate traditional embroidery stitches, “connecting tradition with what is new and stylish.”

Tlaib’s now-viral Palestinian thobe, which the Michigan Democrat called “an unapologetic display of the fabric of the people in this country” and said it evoked memories of her mother’s West Bank village, rekindled enthusiasm worldwide about the dress.

“Rashida has become a model for Palestinian women everywhere — a strong woman proud of her national identity who can reach high,” said Saca.

Tahhan agreed, saying that “Tlaib’s thobe spread a beautiful picture of Palestine, when usually the media only show the wars.”

For Palestinian women born abroad, and refugees barred from visiting their ancestral homes in what is now Israel, thobes are a tangible connection to the land and a way of keeping their culture alive.

“These dresses are our link between the past and future,” Saca said.
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Archaeologists Discover Ancient Workshop in Egypt’s Sinai

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeEA

Egypt says archaeologists have uncovered an ancient workshop used to build and repair ships that dates back to the Ptolemaic era (332 B.C.-30 B.C.) in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Antiquities Ministry says Tuesday that excavations took place in the Tel Abu Saifi archaeological site in Northern Sinai. The site is said to have been the location of the Roman fortress of Silla.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the workshop includes two dry dockyards where ships were built or repaired.

The Greco-Roman period in Egypt spans from its fall to Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. to the Islamic conquest in the 7th century.

Egypt hopes such discoveries will spur tourism, which suffered a major setback during the unrest that followed the 2011 uprising.
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Rep. Omar Apologizes for Tweets About Support for Israel

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeUS

Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has “unequivocally” apologized for tweets suggesting that members of Congress support Israel because they are being paid to do so, which drew bipartisan criticism and a rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Minnesota Democrat said she had no intention of offending anyone, including Jewish Americans.

“We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me about my identity,” Omar tweeted. “This is why I unequivocally apologize.”

The statement on Monday was the latest reckoning among Democrats of intense differences in their ranks over the U.S.-Israeli relationship, highlighted by criticism from Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. They are the first Muslim women to serve in Congress. Pelosi and other Democrats, including leaders and chairmen, laid down a marker making clear that Omar had overstepped.

In a pair of tweets over the weekend, Omar criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she wrote, invoking slang about $100 bills.

Asked on Twitter who she thought was paying members of Congress to support Israel, Omar responded, “AIPAC!”

That sparked Pelosi’s first public rebuke of a freshman lawmaker who had helped flip the House from Republican control and is part of a record number of women in Congress.

“Congresswoman Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive,” Pelosi said in a statement issued by her office and signed by other Democratic leaders after a bipartisan backlash against the Minnesota Democrat. “We condemn these remarks, and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments.”

It also was a stark exposure of an increasingly tense split among Democrats over U.S.-Israeli policy ahead of the 2020 elections. None of the Democratic presidential hopefuls weighed in publicly as their party’s House leaders chastised Omar.

Omar’s fellow freshmen felt the strain. Some, such as Jewish Reps. Elaine Luria of Virginia and Max Rose of New York, explicitly denounced her remarks. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., said: “Anti-Semitism or xenophobia is never acceptable. I’m glad Rep. Omar has apologized.”

Senior Democrats dealt the new lawmaker a swift schooling.

“There is an expectation of leaders — particularly those with a demonstrated commitment to the cause of justice and equality — that they would be extremely careful not to tread into the waters of anti-Semitism or any other form of prejudice or hate,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York said in a statement. “Rep. Omar failed that test of leadership with these comments.”

Republicans called on Democrats to strip Omar of her seat on the House Foreign Relations Committee, but Chairman Eliot Engel stopped just short of that. He said in a statement that he expects his committee members to discuss policies on merits. And though he did not name Omar, he left little doubt that his statement was a response to her tweets.

“It’s shocking to hear a Member of Congress invoke the anti-Semitic trope of ‘Jewish money,'” Engel said.

Asked on Air Force One en route to El Paso, Texas, about the controversy, President Donald Trump said the freshman congresswoman “should be ashamed of herself” for the tweets.

“I think it was a terrible statement, and I don’t think her apology was adequate,” he said. Asked what she should have said, Trump replied: “She knows what to say.”

AIPAC is a nonprofit organization that works to influence U.S. policy toward Israel. While it is barred from directly donating to candidates, it encourages its more than 100,000 members to do so and to be politically active.

One way the organization has made a mark on Congress is through expense-paid junkets to Israel, which are paid for by an affiliated nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors. The popular weeklong excursions for members of Congress, their families and some senior staff can cost upward of $12,000 per person and are intended to “educate political leaders and influencers about the importance of the U.S. – Israel relationship through firsthand experiences.”

The nonprofit responded Sunday night: “We are proud that we are engaged in the democratic process to strengthen the US-Israel relationship. Our bipartisan efforts are reflective of American values and interests. We will not be deterred in any way by ill-informed and illegitimate attacks on this important work.”

Omar supports a movement known as BDS, for “boycott, divestment and sanctions” aimed at Israel. And it’s not the first time she’s fought accusations of anti-Semitism. She insists her rejection of the Israeli government refers to its stance toward Palestinians and is not directed at Jewish people.

Omar has expressed regret for tweeting in 2012: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” She said the statement came in the context of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“It’s now apparent to me that I spent lots of energy putting my 2012 tweet in context and little energy in disavowing the anti-Semitic trope I unknowingly used, which is unfortunate and offensive,” she tweeted last month.

The controversy over Omar’s remarks stretched beyond Capitol Hill to the crowded Democratic presidential race.

Less than a week earlier, all but one high-profile Democratic senator eyeing the White House in 2020 voted against a Middle East policy measure that included a provision cracking down on BDS activism against the Israeli government.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar supported the Middle East bill, while her potential presidential rivals — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sherrod Brown of Ohio — all opposed it. Several of those Democrats had raised concerns that the bill’s bid to rein in anti-Israel boycott efforts risked violating the constitutional rights of activists, although all the senators are opposed to the Palestinian-led push itself.

Among the yellow notes of support posted on Omar’s office nameplate on Capitol Hill on Monday was one that read, “Mazel Tov.”

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Toys R US Plans Second Act Under New Name

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeUS

Toys R Us fans in the U.S. should see the iconic brand re-emerge in some form by this holiday season.

Richard Barry, a former Toys R Us executive and now CEO of the new company called Tru Kids Brands, told The Associated Press he and his team are still working on the details, but they’re exploring various options including freestanding stores and shops within existing stores. He says that e-commerce will play a key role.

Toys R Us, buckling under competition from Amazon and several billions of dollars of debt, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in September 2017 and then liquidated its businesses last year in the U.S. as well as several other regions including the United Kingdom.

In October, a group of investors won an auction for Toys R Us assets, believing they would do better by potentially reviving the toy chain, rather than selling it off for parts. Starting Jan. 20, Barry and several other former Toys R Us executives founded Tru Kids and are now managing the Toys R Us, Babies R Us and Geoffrey brands. Toys R Us generated $3 billion in global retail sales in 2018. Tru Kids estimates that 40 percent to 50 percent of Toys R Us market share is still up for grabs despite many retailers like Walmart and Target expanding their toy aisles.

“These brands are beloved by customers,” said Barry. He noted that the company will focus on experiences in the physical stores, which could be about 10,000 square feet. The original Toys R Us stores were roughly about 40,000 square feet.

Barry said he and his team have been reaching out to toy makers and have received strong support. But he acknowledged that many had been burned by the Toys R Us liquidation.

Tru Kids, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, about a 20 minute drive from Wayne, New Jersey, where Toys R Us was based, will work with licensing partners to open 70 stores this year in Asia, India and Europe. Outside the U.S., Toys R Us continues to operate about 800 stores.

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Acting Pentagon Chief Visits Baghdad to ‘Hear Firsthand’ Iraqi Leaders’ Concerns

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeUS

Acting U.S. defense chief Pat Shanahan visited Iraq on Tuesday to talk with his commanders and the country’s leaders about the U.S. military’s presence there.

There are about 5,200 U.S. troops currently in Iraq on a mission to advise and train Iraqi security forces. Since 2014, there has also been a major focus on defeating the Islamic State group, which at one point held large areas of northern and western Iraq before Iraqi troops backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes reclaimed control.

“What’s important to remind everyone … or maybe just to reiterate is that we are in Iraq at the invitation of the government, and our interests are to build Iraqi security capability,” Shanahan told reporters traveling with him. “I wanted to hear firsthand from them about their concerns, the political dynamics that they’re facing and then, based on that, we’ll obviously factor that into our planning.”

President Donald Trump drew ire from Iraqi leaders earlier this month by saying it was important for U.S. troops to be in Iraq in order to monitor neighboring Iran.

Shanahan is set to take part in a meeting of NATO defense ministers this week in Brussels, and before going to Iraq made a stop in Afghanistan.

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Activists Denounce Iran’s Islamic Revolution Anniversary in 4 European Capitals

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeEU

Dozens of Iranian opposition activists have rallied in four European capitals since Sunday to protest the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and to demand the ouster of the nation’s Islamist rulers.

Video clips verified by VOA Persian showed the Iranian opposition activists holding protests in Athens and Stockholm on Monday, and in Berlin and London on Sunday. Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the rise to power of Shi’ite Islamist rulers who ousted Iran’s former monarchy.

Stockholm protest, Feb. 11, 2019

In a video sent to VOA Persian by an Iranian resident of Sweden’s capital, activists gathered in a Stockholm square chanted slogans calling for the “death” of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Athens protest, Feb. 11, 2019

Another clip sent to VOA Persian by an Iranian asylum-seeker in Athens showed protesters in front of the Greek capital’s Iranian embassy, chanting, “Iran, Yes. Mullahs, No. They are terrorists, they must go.”

Berlin protest, Feb. 10, 2019

Images shared on social media showed Iranian opposition activists also rallying near the Brandenburg Gate in Germany’s capital, Berlin. At one point, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell greeted participants in the rally, which took place adjacent to the U.S. embassy.

London protest, Feb. 10, 2019

In another video clip shared on social media, Iranian activists gathered in front of the Iranian embassy in the British capital, London, chanting for the “death” of Iran’s Islamist system and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

No major anti-government protests were reported Monday in Iran, where the nation’s Islamist rulers mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in Tehran and other cities to join rallies in support of the Islamic Revolution.

Iran saw frequent nationwide protests last year by smaller groups of citizens expressing anger toward local and national officials and business leaders whom they accused of mismanagement, corruption and oppression.

This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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Activists Denounce Iran’s Islamic Revolution Anniversary in 4 European Capitals

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeEU

Stockholm protest, Feb. 11, 2019

In a video sent to VOA Persian by an Iranian resident of Sweden’s capital, activists gathered in a Stockholm square chanted slogans calling for the “death” of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Athens protest, Feb. 11, 2019

Berlin protest, Feb. 10, 2019

London protest, Feb. 10, 2019

This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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Huawei’s Presence in Hungary Complicates Partnership with US, Warns Pompeo

Posted on 02/12/2019 by SeeEU

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is warning Hungary the presence of Chinese telecommunication manufacturer Huawei in the European country is complicating Budapest’s partnership with Washington.

The chief American diplomat Monday arrived in Budapest on Monday, the first leg of his European trip. Huawei has established Hungary as a European hub, where it can develop its fifth-generation mobile networks.

“If that equipment is co-located in places where we have important American systems, it makes it more difficult for us to partner alongside them. We want to make sure we identify [to] them the opportunities and the risks associated with using that equipment,” said Pompeo.

While noting sovereign nations such as Hungary will “make their own decisions,” Pompeo said it’s imperative the United States shares potential risks from Huawei with its NATO allies.

American officials are increasingly troubled by Huawei’s expansion in Europe, especially in NATO member states where Washington believes the Chinese telecom manufacturer poses significant information security threats.

At a joint press conference with Hungarian Foreign minister Peter Szijjarto, Pompeo said he has raised with Szijjarto “the dangers of allowing China to gain a bridgehead in Hungary.”

But the U.S. pressure campaign against Huawei faces challenges. Hungary has said it has no plans to reconsider the decision to award the 5G networks contract to Huawei.

Many in China believe that the U.S. government concerns over Huawei’s security are at least in part aimed at helping American companies better compete against foreign rivals. But U.S. officials reject that notion.

“That sounds like a lot of mirror imaging to me,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Christopher Ford in an interview with VOA, noting “the Chinese government has actually been extraordinarily grand in its ambitions to do just that sort of thing with Chinese companies.”

Ford pointed to numerous public reports in recent years that have blamed Chinese government-backed hackers with cyber campaigns stealing corporate secrets and financial data.

“Cyber-facilitated theft of intellectual property, for example, has become notorious around the world. But the Chinese government has been doing that very systematically in order to advantage its own national champion industries in particular sectors,” Ford added.

Social media threats?

Weary of data collection and Chinese technology transfer for military purposes, the U.S. government is considering tighter restrictions on the use of social media apps that have geolocation features within diplomatic and military facilities.

While the State Department does not expressly prohibit the use of commercial geolocation applications on smartphones and other personal electronic devices by employees serving internationally, measures are taken to address the potential security risks.

The State Department has issued guidance requiring each post to develop a policy regarding the restrictions placed on using personal electronic devices.

“We obviously need to continue to be mindful of that, and to update and improve our understanding of best practices,” said Assistant Secretary of State Ford.

Last year, the Pentagon started prohibiting personnel from using geolocation features on electronic devices while in locations designated as operational areas.

Those restrictions could impact popular social media applications like TikTok, a Chinese-made app for sharing short videos that is popular among young adults.

All social media companies gather data on their users, but experts warn that Chinese companies in particular pose unique challenges because the Beijing government has absolute authority to request private user data.

“The user in Western countries might not be aware that in China, the government has a far broader reach compared to over here, so they can request data out from a private company on national security grounds,” Claudia Biancotti, visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), told VOA in a recent interview.

Biancotti added in China, “they don’t really have independent courts to oversee the process.”

“If this information is sent to China, it can be easily accessed by the government and leveraged, say, to make Beijing’s surveillance software better at recognizing Western faces, or at extracting intelligence on Western military activities,” warned Biancotti in a recent report.

TikTok, launched as Douyin in China in 2016, is owned by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance who later acquired Musical.ly, a popular lip-sync app among American teenagers. ByteDance merged Musical.ly with TikTok in 2018 as a means of entering the U.S. market.

Last October, TikTok surpassed Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in monthly installations.

TikTok recently updated its privacy policy for U.S. residents, removing all references about storing data in China.

Last August, TikTok stated in the privacy policy: “We will also share your information with any member or affiliate of our group, in China,” but the latest update in January of 2019 deleted the word “China.”

The company wrote an email to VOA’s Mandarin service that they regularly update their privacy policies while noting that TikTok does not operate in China.

TikTok’s current privacy policy stated it automatically collects technically and behavioral information from users, including IP address, location-related data or other unique device identifiers.

“We may also collect Global Positioning System (GPS) data and mobile device location information.” But users can switch off location information functionality on their mobile device if they do not wish to share such data.

“We will share your information with law enforcement agencies, public authorities or other organizations if legally required to do so,” TikTok stated.

VOA’s Mandarin Service, Jeff Seldin and Mo Yu contributed to this report.
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