ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - September 21, 2024

ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - September 21, 2024

ZeroFox physical security experts collect, curate, and analyze information derived from open and proprietary sources for comprehensive context of the circumstances surrounding global events. Here is today’s daily roundup of major developments.

Brief Highlights

• Mainland China Bans Taiwanese Executive from Leaving China
• Airlines Cancel Services amid Escalating Regional Tensions in Lebanon
• Hong Kong Jails Two Individuals for Seditious Offense Under New Security Law

Mainland China Bans Taiwanese Executive from Leaving China

A senior executive from one of Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerates was banned from leaving mainland China after arriving in Shanghai for a visit more than two weeks ago. The executive was interrogated upon entry into Shanghai on September 1 and was released but asked to return and then subjected to border control for the last 18 days. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) did not reveal further details but warned citizens against traveling to China. Mainland China issued new guidelines in June, empowering mainland judicial authorities to target “pro-independence” Taiwanese. MAC has since upgraded its travel alert to China, advising Taiwanese citizens against unnecessary travel to mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao.

Airlines Cancel Services amid Escalating Regional Tensions in Lebanon

Lufthansa Group announced that its flights to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY) will be suspended until October 26, 2024, due to security concerns amid escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. The Group further stated that its services to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) and Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) will be canceled until September 24, 2024. Meanwhile, Air France also announced that it has suspended its services to TLV and BEY through at least September 20, 2024. As tensions escalate between Israel and Hezbollah, on Friday, the United Nations proposed the need for a ceasefire after the Israeli military attacked 100 sites across southern Lebanon. This development is likely to cause the ongoing 11-month conflict into a full-fledged war.

Hong Kong Jails Two Individuals for Seditious Offense Under New Security Law

A Hong Kong court ruled against two men in the first sedition case under a tougher new national security law. One sentence was for wearing a shirt with a protest slogan and another for writing a similar message on bus seats. The court said that the content of the seditious words “liberate Hong Kong, revolutions of our times” advocates that the Hong Kong government break away from the central government and implement their ideas in a way that undermines social tranquility and public order. After Mainland China imposed a national security law in 2020 to crack down on the months-long protests in the international financial hub, Hong Kong passed its new security law in March. Under the new law, the maximum sentence for sedition was significantly increased to 10 years. The new law targets dissents and attacks on the right to freedom rather than maintaining the city's stability.