Evening Report

A View from Afar: Political scientist and former Pentagon analysis Paul G. Buchanan and investigative journalist Selwyn Manning and debate security, intelligence, and foreign policy trends and issues.

This week’s episode: Paul Buchanan and host Selwyn Manning discuss this week’s revelations by Paula Penfold and the Stuff Circuit team that a New Zealand tech company (with New Zealand Government investment) has been in business with iFlytec – a Chinese company alleged to be involved with surveillance of China’s oppressed Uyghur people.

Does this example underscore the perils facing New Zealand companies that enter into joint-ventures with Chinese interests in the surveillance and state control sector?

And should New Zealand Government front-up and provide answers as to how it invested in the New Zealand company that got into business with iFlytec?

ALSO MYANMAR, Buchanan and Manning discuss the latest disturbing events occurring in Myanmar. What has caused Myanmar’s military to once again overthrow a government and establish deadly totalitarian rule? So join Paul and Selwyn live, to comment, questions and interact in this debate.

COMMENT ON THIS DISCUSSION:

You can interact with the programme by clicking on one of these social media channels. Here are the links:

Facebook.com/selwyn.manning

Youtube

Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

A View from Afar – Paul G. Buchanan and host Selwyn Manning discuss whether the Five Eyes spy agencies are adequately monitoring white supremacist activity, and discuss, what can be done. Plus Ollie Neas joins the panel to discuss whether the New Zealand Government is aware of what Rocket Lab is sending into space?

This episode’s topics:

* Terrorism and the Dark Web: White supremacists are back online and making threats. Who is keeping track of these practitioners of hate? Has the US-led Five Eyes spy network let us down?

* Rocket Lab follow-up: What did the New Zealand Government know, and not know, at the point it gave RocketLab’s March mission (with a payload of US military tracking systems) a green-light?

Follow Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning’s podcast and keep ahead of security intelligence and foreign policy trends and issues.

If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

A View from Afar: Thursday March 4 @ midday (NZDST / Wednesday, 6pm USEST) Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning conduct a deep dive into the largely covert role of private enterprise in the intelligence, conflict, and war markets.

Most recently, New Zealanders discovered that its national airline had been in business with Saudi Arabia’s military. After the revelations, Air New Zealand then announced it had cancelled the Saudi contract. Air New Zealand also admitted that it does business with the military wings of five to six other countries.

The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has instructed New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to investigate the issue.

Then there’s RocketLab – once celebrated as a great Kiwi initiative. Now it is owned and controlled by United States interests, and, from its New Zealand base near Mahia, RocketLab sends satellites into orbit that are designed to provide advantage to US military forces and fighters in global conflicts.

* How does this fit with New Zealand’s independent culture and foreign policy?

* If New Zealand Government is transitioning toward a more ethics-based trade and service regime, should it tighten up on its compliance/approval regimes?

* And should private enterprise read the tea-leaves and back out of the foreign military and conflict market?

COMMENT ON THIS DISCUSSION:

You can comment on this programme by clicking on one of these social media channels. Here are the links:

Facebook.com/selwyn.manning

Youtube

Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

In this episode of A View from Afar, Selwyn Manning is joined by political scientist and former Pentagon analyst Paul Buchanan to discuss:

* Australia and New Zealand – are these two Pacific nations culturally and politically too distant and different to sustain their traditional ‘special relationship’?

* The latest spat between New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison involves Australia acting in bad faith. In effect, cancelling the citizenship of an alleged terrorist sympathiser so that New Zealand is forced to relocate her and her two children.

Also, in Australia, centre-right commentators have labelled Jacinda Ardern’s New Zealand government as socialist and siding with China over Australia and the PRC’s diplomatic and trade battles.

* Can the AU-NZ special relationship be salvaged, or has it now gone too far?

Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning present A View from Afar and in this episode they discuss:

The US Electoral College Vote confirms Joe Biden as president-elect

What does this mean for the South-Pacific?

China + US are global powers operating in the SOPAC. But how does France fit into this mix?

On https://EveningReport.nz ‘s TECH NOW programme, Sarah Putt and Selwyn Manning discuss the latest news and views emerging from the technology sector including tech-trends in New Zealand and around the world.

Tonight’s topics (tech moves of 2020):

Performance of the telco networks

Working from home – have you thanked your IT department?

Cybersecurity – under DDoS attack

New privacy act passes into law – 27 years to update

Big tech wins in 2020.

VIDEO: In what is a precursor episode to a planned Evening Report panel-series through 2021, Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan discuss and respond to elements of the Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terrorist attacks of March 15, 2019.

The Inquiry’s terms of reference contained three areas:

The terrorist’s actions

Actions of public sector agencies

Recommended changes that could prevent future terrorist attacks of this kind.

LIVE DISCUSSION POINTS:

This A View from Afar discussion will explore takeouts from the Inquiry’s report and will include (Ref. https://chchroyalinquiry.cwp.govt.nz/the-report/)

PODCAST: Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning present A View from Afar.

This week we discuss:

How around the world, in international relations, we see examples of strategic hedging, miscalculation, escalation, reputation, and face-saving.

Two of the most current examples of this are happening in the Middle East – after the killing of Iran’s leading nuclear scientist, and, in Australia – as the Peoples Republic of China towers above the US-leaning Indo-Pacific regional power after claiming Australia propagates anti-China sentiment.

* What states are behind the Iran assassination? Who benefits from this killing? How should Iran respond?

* Why is China destabilising Australia’s economic and security interests? What is China’s end game?

* Will this dangerous posturing ease in late January when US President-elect Joe Biden takes up office in the White House?

PODCAST: Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning present A View from Afar.

This week we discuss:

How nations that have a long history of trading with China, are becoming intolerant to the People’s Republic’s covert influence operations. Specifically:

* Why is China pursuing this 21st century-style of covert spying on its supposed trade-allies?

* How damaging are China’s influence operations among its Indo-Pacific trading partners?

* How can independent Asia-Pacific states walk a tight-rope where, on one hand they progress two-way trade with China, while ridding themselves of interference in their respective democracies and security-intelligence engagements?