India Arrests Chinese Man Amid Raids on Companies Running 11 Small Loans Apps December 27, 2020 Updated: December 28, 2020
NEW DELHI India arrested on Dec. 25 a Chinese man who managed companies that operated at least 11 apps offering small loans at extremely high interest rates to Indian people between the ages of 20 and 40.
Experts see the potential for the regime in Beijing to gather large amounts of data on Indian citizens through the apps, and for this data to be used to infiltrate Indian society, politics, and economic system.
Yi Bai (alias Dennis) was arrested by cyber police in Hyderabad during a raid on a call center, for illegally running money-lending mobile applications, Indian media outlet DNA reported on Dec. 26.
US Proposes AI Cooperation With India on Defense, Security Issues
NEW DELHI The U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence is proposing that the United States and India collaborate on artificial intelligence (AI) for defense and security issues to address various geopolitical and societal challenges.
“Our AI commission has recently proposed a formal US-India strategic technology alliance, literally, a formal activity of the US government to develop a regional tech strategy and collaborate on joint research and development projects, talent exchanges … using AI to address common societal concerns,” commission Chairman Eric Schmidt said in a virtual address to Inspired India, the annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), on Dec. 12.
China’s ‘Silk Road of Health’ Seeks Soft Power in South Asia, Experts Say
NEW DELHI A quadrilateral meeting hosted by China in the middle of this year with Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan sought to promote a Chinese-led “Silk Road of Health” during the pandemic, rebranding the regime’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region, according to a new analysis released on Nov. 12.
“It is certainly going to increase the vulnerabilities and dependencies,” Abhinav Pandya, CEO of Usanas Foundation, an India-based geopolitical think tank, told The Epoch Times. “In fact, I would say that these three countries have already accepted China as some kind of a major regional player, if not world power or superpower, but definitely as some kind of a very potent factor in South Asia.”