A TV Broadcast featuring a story on Edward Snowden screens on a Hong Kong train.

Whistleblower charged with espionage reportedly claims US authorities accessed millions of private text messages in China.

By Toby Helm, Daniel Boffey and Nick Hopkins, The Observer – June 22, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/22/edward-snowden-us-china#start-of-comments

Edward Snowden, the former CIA technician who blew the whistle on global surveillance operations, has opened a new front against the US authorities, claiming they hacked into Chinese mobile phone companies to access millions of private text messages.

His latest claims came as US officials, who have filed criminal charges against him, warned Hong Kong to comply with an extradition request or risk complicating diplomatic relations after some of the territory’s politicians called for Snowden to be protected.

The latest developments will raise fears that the US’s action may have pushed Snowden into the hands of the Chinese, triggering what could be a tense and prolonged diplomatic and legal wrangle between the world’s two leading superpowers.

Snowden, whose whereabouts have not been publicly known since he checked out of a Hong Kong hotel on 10 June, was reported by the Chinese media on Saturday to be in a “safe place” in the former British colony.

The 30-year-old intelligence analyst has over the past three weeks leaked a series of documents to the Guardian revealing how US and UK secret services gain access to huge amounts of phone and internet data, raising serious questions about privacy in the internet age.

On Friday, based on documents from Snowden, the Guardian reported that Britain’s spy agency GCHQ has secretly gained access to the network of cables carrying the world’s phone calls and internet traffic, without the authorities having made this known to the public. It was also reported that GCHQ is processing vast streams of sensitive information which it is sharing with its US partner, the National Security Agency.

On Saturday the former British foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who now chairs the intelligence and security committee, said the committee would launch an investigation into the latest revelations. The committee will receive an official report from GCHQ about the story within days and will then decide whether to call witnesses to give oral evidence. If it is then thought necessary, the committee can require GCHQ to submit relevant data.

Within hours of news breaking that the US had filed charges against Snowden, the South China Morning Post reported that the whistleblower had handed over a series of documents to the paper detailing how the US had targeted Chinese phone companies as part of a widespread attempt to get its hands on a mass of data.

Text messaging is the most popular form of communication in mainland China where more than 900bn SMS messages were exchanged in 2012.Snowden reportedly told the paper: “The NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data.”

The paper said Snowden had also passed on information detailing NSA attacks on China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, the hub of a major digital network from which data on millions of Chinese citizens could be harvested.

As Snowden made his latest disclosures, the US issued an extradition request to Hong Kong and piled pressure on the territory to respond swiftly. “If Hong Kong doesn’t act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong’s commitment to the rule of law,” a senior Obama administration official said.

Snowden appeared to be gaining support from politicians in Hong Kong who said China should support him against any extradition application from the US, which on Friday charged him under its Espionage Act. One legislator, Leung Kwok-hung, said Beijing should issue instructions to protect Snowden from extradition before his case was dragged through the courts. Leung urged the Hong Kong people to “take to the streets to protect Snowden”. Another politician, Cyd Ho, vice-chairwoman of the pro-democracy Labour party, said China “should now make its stance clear to the Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region] government” before the case goes before a court.

China has urged Washington to provide explanations following Snowden’s disclosures that NSA programs collect millions of telephone records and track foreign internet activity on US networks. In a press conference Hong Kong’s police commissioner, Andy Tsang, indicated that the normal legal process would be followed after the US filed criminal charges. “All foreign citizens must comply with Hong Kong’s law,” he said, adding that the police would act on the request once it was received.

He declined to comment on reports in one Hong Kong newspaper that Snowden is already in a police safe house.

In response to the Guardian’s latest revelations regarding the surveillance activities of GCHQ, politicians and freedom of information campaigners raised concerns about the lack of oversight and up-to-date laws with which to monitor and regulate the activities of the secret services. Former Foreign Office minister David Davis MP said documents containing an admission by GCHQ lawyers that UK oversight was “light” compared with that in the US were particularly worrying.

“This reinforces the view that the oversight structure is wholly inadequate. Really what is needed is a full-scale independent judicial oversight that reports to parliament.”

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: “It’s possible to be shocked but not surprised at this blanket surveillance on a breathtaking scale. The authorities appear to be kidding themselves with a very generous interpretation of the law that cannot stand with article 8 of the European convention on human rights.

“To argue this isn’t snooping because they haven’t got time to read all this private information is like arguing we’d all be comfortable with our homes being raided and our private papers copied – as long as the authorities stored them in sealed plastic bags.”

Carl Miller, director for social media at the thinktank Demos, said: “Just like the rest of us, terrorists and criminals are increasingly using social media and other forms of online communication. So it’s clear that the intelligence services should be able to access this where it is necessary and proportionate. But this is the crucial point. What these latest stories reveal is that much of this surveillance is happening already, but without the security services having made the public argument for these powers. There is a clear need for a legal grounding or oversight structure that commands public confidence.”

Edward Snowden supporters demonstrate outside the US consulate in Hong Kong. Photograph: Bobby Yip/Reuters

NSA whistleblower left on Aeroflot flight to Moscow, Hong Kong government confirms, two days after US charged him with espionage.

By Tania Branigan in Hong Kong and Miriam Elder in Moscow, The Guardian – June 23, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/k5f5x9a

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has flown out of Hong Kong, where he had been in hiding since identifying himself as the source of revelations on US surveillance programmes – despite a US request for his arrest.

The 30-year-old had previously said he would stay in the city and fight for his freedom in the courts. But the Hong Kong government confirmed that he left on Sunday, two days after the US announced it had charged him with espionage, saying documents filed by the US did not fully comply with legal requirements. It also said it was requesting clarification from Washington on Snowden’s claims that the US had hacked targets in the territory.

Snowden had been at a safe house since 10 June, when he checked out of his hotel after giving an interview to the Guardian outing himself as the source who leaked top secret documents.

Hong Kong’s decision to allow him to leave comes a day after the US sought to turn up the pressure on the territory to hand him over, with a senior administration official telling the Washington Post: “If Hong Kong doesn’t act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong’s commitment to the rule of law.”

Sunday’s statement from the Hong Kong authorities said: “Mr Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today (June 23) of his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.

“The US Government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR [Hong Kong special administrative region] Government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden. Since the documents provided by the US Government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR Government has requested the US Government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the US Government’s request can meet the relevant legal conditions. As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.

“The HKSAR Government has already informed the US Government of Mr Snowden’s departure.

“Meanwhile, the HKSAR Government has formally written to the US Government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies. The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong.”

According to the South China Morning Post he boarded an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, although the newspaper said Russia was not his ultimate destination. It suggested he might go to Ecuador or Iceland – having cited the latter as a possible refuge in an interview with the Guardian.

The newspaper claimed he took off from the airport at 10.55am on flight SU213 on Sunday morning and was due to arrive at Moscow’s Shermetyevo International Airport at 5.15pm.

It added that the Russian embassy in Beijing would neither confirm nor deny he was on a flight to Moscow and the Russian consulate in Hong Kong declined to comment.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin, said: “I don’t [know if he's planning to stay in Moscow]. I heard about the potential [arrival] from the press. I know nothing.”

On whether Moscow would still consider a request for asylum from Snowden: “Every application is considered so it’s standard procedure … We are not tracing his movements and I know nothing.”

US authorities could not be reached for comment immediately.

WikiLeaks said on its Twitter feed that it had “assisted Mr Snowden’s political asylum in a democratic country, travel papers and safe exit from Hong Kong”.

On Friday, an Icelandic businessman linked to WikiLeaks told Reuters he had prepared a private plane for Snowden’s use if the government was willing to give him asylum.

“A private jet is in place in China and we could fly Snowden over tomorrow if we get positive reaction from the interior ministry. We need to get confirmation of asylum and that he will not be extradited to the US. We would most want him to get a citizenship as well,” said Olafur Vignir Sigurvinsson, a director of DataCell, which processed payments for WikiLeaks.

The Icelandic government has declined to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden and pointed out that he would need to apply in person.

Snowden has said he did not travel direct to Iceland from the US because he feared the small country could be put under pressure by Washington.

Lawyers have said the legal battle for Snowden’s surrender could last for years, particularly if he argued that he should not be returned because his offence was political. But they had also warned that in the long run he was unlikely to prove successful.

Musician Tom Morello showing his support for Bradley Manning

By Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams – June 20, 2013

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/06/20-5

Writers, activists, musicians show signs of solidarity for military whistleblower in newly-released video

Bradley Manning

Whether we’re aware of it or not, the whistleblowers of the world like Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Daniel Ellsberg and Sibel Edmonds are the frontline of our attempts to bring truth to the world and stop the cabal in their tracks.

Back in 1975 it was revealed that the CIA had a poison dart that could cause a heart attack. The dart itself melted away and left no residual evidence for a coroner to detect. (See video below.)

Meet the Press anchor Tim Russert had a heart attack and died the day before he intended to say that he too believed 9/11 was an inside job. Other people, intending to expose the manner in which Diebold machines threw the 2000 election over to George Bush were killed in airplane explosions. John Kennedy Jr. was also killed in the same manner. Stanley Meyer invented a water car which would have ended our reliance on oil and was killed for his efforts on our behalf.

Edward Snowden

People like Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are our first line of defence and offence against a cabal that was determined to take over the world, (1) whose opening moves were the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, who had built FEMA camps to house dissidents, who attacked their own population with weather-warfare weapons, chemtrails, and pandemics.

And now here we are, the cabal having been defeated but still able to inflict wounds. And whistleblowers will continue to come forth, risking all to inform us of the truth.

I can’t say with more gravity how I consider it our sacred duty as lightworkers to do everything we can to save these brave individuals from being punished for attempting to alert us to the heinous crimes and treasonous acts that have been going on to subdue the citizens of our countries.

Julian Assange

No one wants to do anything that would harm their country … well, not a lightworker, that is. The decision to release what one has found that shows one’s own country to be intentionally harming its citizens and those of other countries must be an exceptionally difficult and painful one.

With that one act, one’s life changes forever. I imagine that everyone who’s taken such a step does so hoping that the rest of us will appreciate their sacrifice and rally round them.

Have we rallied round Assange, Manning and Snowden? It’s up to us to see that nothing happens to Edward Snowden. It’s too late to prevent Bradley Manning from harsh mistreatment but we can save him from a worse fate. And we need to rally around Julian Assange as well to ensure that nothing happens to him.

In the United States, one takes an oath upon entering the military, if I recall correctly, to protect the country against its enemies, domestic and foreign. Whoever would have thought that the government itself would have shown itself to be the enemy of the people?

Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning and Julian Assange should be awarded medals rather than being hunted down, imprisoned and tortured.

In my view, it’s incumbent on us to do anything we can to pressure the government to release Bradley Manning. And it’s incumbent on us to do anything we can to protect Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. To do otherwise is to prolong the time when corrupt governments can harm their citizens.

Jesus: The Children of God are Entitled To and Deserve Only the Best. Channelled by John Smallman, June 23, 2013. http://wp.me/p1B8dY-eU

John’s reading of today’s post can be found here: http://johnsmallman2.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/2013-06-23-jesus-audio-blog-for-sunday-june-23rd.mp3

Humanity’s journey homeward to God has been long and fraught with confusion as you attempted to discern wisely between conflicting opinions about the best strategy to follow to ensure your arrival at your planned destination. But you really had very little understanding of what the journey entailed or what the true destination was because of the severe limitations you had imposed on yourselves when you chose to separate from your Father and enter the illusion that you had constructed.

Clear thought, wisdom, and knowledge are not available to you within the illusion because it is but an unreal dreamlike world, a place in which you have hidden from Reality and the infinite abundance of wisdom and knowledge that that offers you. And of course your return to Reality is guaranteed by God. You have only to make the collective intent to return, and you will.

Many of you are holding that intent and as a result the Divine field of Love is embracing you and drawing you forwards, while the drag on your progress from those who choose not to participate in the journey is diminishing as rapidly as are their numbers.

Love is your natural state – to define or demonstrate all the characteristics that Love employs and exercises constantly is quite impossible – and the choice to enter the illusion, while attempting to leave Love behind, was unnatural. Nevertheless, you did choose to play a game of separation, powerlessness, and ignorance, thinking that it would demonstrate and provide creative possibilities that were unavailable in Reality.

And you were right. . . and wrong! Right, because it does seem to have provided you with an unimaginably vast and varied environment in which to play and explore, and wrong, because it is unreal and does not exist even though its apparent reality is very convincing for you.

And while you believe in it your collective energy fields support and maintain it, confirming for you that you are missing something, that you are separated from God, and that you need to return to His Presence to achieve everlasting happiness.

However, as you know, you have never departed from the Presence of God – there is nowhere but His Presence – but the imaginary environment that you conjured up in which to play and experience separation from Him seems very real and has caused you much pain and suffering.

Slowly, over the eons (although in Reality less than a moment has passed!) you have grown tired of the struggle for survival and the accompanying suffering that is inseparable from it. You have prayed and prayed and prayed beseechingly to God, and finally you are listening to His reply! And that is the turning point. Listening to Him – He speaks through your guides, your angels, and your human companions – instead of beseeching and imploring Him is the most effective way to uncover the way Home. And that is what you are at last doing.

By listening to Him, in whatever form He shows Himself to you, you open your hearts to the Love with which He has surrounded you and become channels through which It flows to wherever He chooses to direct It. And when you allow Him to direct His Love through you the most marvelous results occur. Over the last few decades of illusory time, more and more of you have chosen to listen to Him, and all across the world evidence of this is growing exponentially.

You, all of humanity, are the beloved children of God, and your choice to listen to Him has filled Him with joy. He loves you, He cares for you, and He wants only your eternal happiness, and you have been refusing it, blocking it out, like teenagers who know everything – until they discover that they do not!

You have come to realize that Love works, that It is the only thing that works because It is the only thing. All that you have to do is to allow It, and as you do, humanity’s intent to awaken intensifies. That intent is now very intense! It will not be overridden by any contrary intents that some – trying to hold on to the illusion and the seeming power that it gives them – are still holding.

You cannot avoid waking up into the Presence of your Father, because to be awake is to be in His Presence. And even in the illusion you are aware that you cannot stay asleep indefinitely – even in drug- or alcohol-induced sleep! Eventually you wake up and have to experience life. Once you begin to really experience the illusion that you constructed, as you have started to do, it becomes impossible for you to ignore, disregard, or deny its utter inadequacy as a home for the children of God.

The only Home for the children of God is to be in His loving Presence. First of all there is nowhere else, and secondly, even if it were possible for there to be an alternative home of any kind it could not be in any way near good enough for the children of God, who are entitled to and deserve only the best.

And only God can offer the best of everything! He is offering you the best of everything in every moment – you do really know that – and so it is inevitable that you awaken into the eternal joy of his loving Presence.