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‘Women’s freedoms are at stake’: concern at rise of Islamist party before Bangladesh election
As the clock hit midnight, the women held their flame torches aloft and marched into the Dhaka night. “The people have given their blood, now we want equality,” they shouted above the roar of the traffic. For many in Bangladesh, the past few weeks have been a cause for jubilation. The first free and fair elections in 17 years have been promised for Thursday, after the toppling of the regime of Sheikh Hasina in a bloody student-led uprising in August 2024 in which more than 1,000 people died. Opposition figures long persecuted and jailed are now running as candidates, freely holding rallies for the first time in years. The former prime minister is languishing in exile in India and facing a death sentence for crimes against humanity in Bangladesh, and her Awami League party is banned from contesting the election. Yet for swathes of women in the country, including those who were at the forefront of the revolution, the hope of the election has become tinged with disappointment and fear, amid a resurgence of regressive Islamist politics that it is feared will impinge upon women’s rights in society and a dearth of female candidates in the running. “This was meant to be an election representing change and reform. Instead, we are seeing women being systematically erased and their rights threatened,” said Sabiha Sharmin, 25, as she took part in the midnight march. “We worry this election will throw the country back 100 years.” Among the most oppressed political movements of the Hasina era, when elections were rigged and opponents persecuted, was Jamaat e-Islami, an Islamist party that believes in bringing sharia law to Bangladesh. It was banned and its leaders jailed, disappeared or sentenced to death. Since Hasina’s fall, Jamaat e-Islami has mobilised with unprecedented gusto, positioning itself as a rival to the veteran Bangladesh National party (BNP) that was previously expected to make a clean sweep of the elections. Limited polling still suggests BNP will win the election but it appears as if Jamaat e-Islami will earn an unprecedented share of the vote and be a significant force after the election. “Whether it’s as a sizeable opposition or a government in power, the future of Bangladesh’s politics looks like a heavily Islamist party will be at its centre,” said Thomas Kean, Crisis Group’s senior consultant on Bangladesh. Critics say the resurgence of conservative Islamist politics has already begun to seep into society. In rural areas, girls were prevented from playing football by religious leaders who termed it indecent, and women have reported mounting harassment if they do not cover their hair or dress modestly. While Jamaat e-Islami has put forward a manifesto focusing on reform, women’s safety from harassment and clean politics, the party is not running a single female candidate. Rhetoric from the party’s leader, Shafiqur Rahman, has had a chilling effect. In an incendiary interview with Al Jazeera, he said a woman could never lead the party as it was un-Islamic. Comments he made last year then resurfaced, denying the existence of marital rape and describing rape as “immoral women and men coming together outside marriage”. “These are the kinds of views and policies you hear in Iran and Afghanistan,” said Zayba Tahzeeb, 21, a physics student who attended the Dhaka midnight march. “Women’s sovereignty, our freedoms, our independence: all are at stake in this election.” Among the policies proposed by the party is reducing women’s working hours from eight hours to five, with the government subsidising the lost income, so women can spend more time at home. Women make up 44% of the country’s workforce, according to the International Labour Organization, the highest proportion in south Asia, and paid work is a right fiercely guarded by women across economic strata. The sense of frustration grew after the National Citizen party (NCP), which was formed by the student leaders who toppled Hasina and positioned itself as the party of progress, announced in December it would join the Jamaat e-Islami alliance in the election. The party that had forged itself as a political alternative with women at the forefront is now fielding just two female candidates. Tajnuva Zabeen, a doctor and founder member of NCP, was one of a wave of women who left after the Jamaat e-Islami alliance was announced – a decision made without consultation by a few select men at the top of the party. “It was such a clear betrayal,” Zabeen said. “This was a historic opportunity to create a third political force, to represent the change that so many people died for in the July uprising. Instead, they failed the people and silenced the women who led this movement. I’m sorry to say, this election will not represent the spirit of the revolution.” She emphasised the failures towards women in this election were not Jamaat e-Islami and NCP’s alone – less than 5% of the BNP’s candidates are women. Bangladesh, which is 91% Muslim, has had a chequered history with secularism since its independence from Pakistan in 1971. Religion-based politics were outlawed on the country’s formation but dominant during military rule after 1975, before secularism was restored to the constitution in 2011. Analysts emphasise that many now supporting Jamaat e-Islami are simply disenchanted with the political old guard. Since 1971, the country has swung between two parties, Awami League and the BNP, both of which have been accused of indulging in dynastic politics and rampant corruption. Jamaat e-Islami appears particularly popular among young, first-time voters, who make up 42% of the electorate and are hungry for change. The authoritarian nature of Hasina’s regime somewhat discredited secularism and made voters more open to Islamist politics this time around. One of the fresh faces of Jamaat e-Islami is Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman, a barrister up for election in Dhaka. The son of an executed Jamaat e-Islami leader, he was abducted under the Hasina regime and spent eight years imprisoned and tortured in one of her notorious underground facilities. He emerged from his cell the day after Hasina was toppled, initially believing he was being dragged out to finally be executed. “It was systematic torture for eight years, worse than death,” he said, his voice breaking. “It felt like I was buried alive. But God gave me a second life. I am here to represent all those who were taken to the dark cells and never came out.” Pushing a message of reform and anti-corruption, he insisted the fears of women towards his party were unfounded and part of a political smear campaign. “When you talk to urban elites, their talking points are whether women can be in the top position of the government, whether women can wear whatever they want,” Arman said. “These are – I’m sorry to use the word – feminist demands. The ground level is very different. The primary requirement of the women on the ground, the working class, is safety and that’s our prime concern. “Maybe in the near future you will see women running on our ticket too,” he added. In an attempt to demonstrate the party’s commitment to women, thousands of female Jamaat e-Islami supporters took to the streets of Arman’s constituency in Dhaka to deny that the party would restrict their freedoms. “The policies they are proposing will improve women’s lives and their safety,” said Sirajim Munira, 27. “I think it will be good for the country to bring in Islamic law because it will make us honest and corruption-free.” Ainum Nahar, 58, said Jamaat’s grassroots were driven by women. “Jamaat empowers us,” she said. Yet she agreed that women should never head the party. “As an Islamic party, it is prohibited for women to be leaders,” Nahar said. “But we will stand behind, to inspire them, to encourage them and to move the country forward.”
‘A step in the wrong direction’: Israel’s West Bank plans prompt global backlash
Israeli measures to tighten its control of the West Bank have prompted a global backlash, including a signal from Washington restating the Trump administration’s opposition to annexation of the occupied territory. Announcing the measures, which involve extending Israeli control in areas that are currently under Palestinian administration, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, made clear they were aimed at strengthening Israeli settlements in the West Bank and pre-empting the emergence of an independent sovereign Palestine. The measures, passed by the Israeli security cabinet, also make it easier to find out who owns land in the West Bank and for non-Arabs to buy property in the territory. It was not initially clear when the new rules would come into effect but they require no further approval. “We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state,” Katz said in a joint statement with the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. The EU called the measures “another step in the wrong direction” and said sanctions were “still on the table”, including the possible suspension of some parts of the EU-Israel trade agreement. A joint statement by a group of Arab and Islamic states, which will be central to Donald Trump’s hopes of implementing a peace plan in Gaza, said they “condemned in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty”. The signatories – including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Turkey – said the new measures would “inflame violence, deepen the conflict and endanger regional stability and security”. The UK said it “strongly condemns” the Israeli measures. “Any unilateral attempt to alter the geographic or demographic makeup of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and would be inconsistent with international law,” a UK statement said. “We call on Israel to reverse these decisions immediately.” The Australian government, which is hosting a visit by the Israeli president Isaac Herzog, also joined the global condemnation. “Australia objects to the Israel security cabinet’s decision to expand Israel’s control over the West Bank. This decision will undermine stability and security,” the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement. “The Australian government has been clear that settlements are illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace. Altering the demographic composition of Palestine is unacceptable. “A two-state solution remains the only viable path to long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.” The outrage at the Israeli measures came on the eve of a planned White House meeting between the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Donald Trump on Wednesday. The administration made no formal comment, but a White House official issued a statement to reporters indicating its opposition. “President Trump has clearly stated that he does not support Israel annexing the West Bank,” the statement said. “A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region.” The new measures are wide ranging and aimed directly at authority and control of territory in the West Bank. They repeal a law dating back to the era of Jordanian rule before 1967, which banned the sale of land to non-Arabs. They also transfer authority over building licences in Hebron from the Palestinian-run municipality to the Israeli civil administration, the army’s occupation authority in the territory. The transfer could violate a 1997 Hebron protocol, which divided the city into two sectors. The Jewish settlement around Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem is also transferred from Palestinian governance to direct Israeli control. The Palestinian Authority’s control over its designated parts of the West Bank has been severely weakened over past decades by lack of money, aggressive Israeli obstruction and settlement-building, as well as its own corruption. It issued a statement in its capital in Ramallah warning that the new Israeli measures were aimed at “deepening attempts to annex the occupied West Bank”.
Artist accuses AirAsia of using his mural on plane without consent
A Malaysia-based artist has filed a lawsuit against the low-cost airline carrier AirAsia and its parent company Capital A Berhad for allegedly using his art on a plane without permission. Ernest Zacharevic, a Lithuanian-born artist based in Penang, alleged AirAsia used his 2012 street mural, Children on a Bicycle, on an aircraft between October and November 2024. According to Zacharevic, who on Monday filed his lawsuit in the high court of Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia used his artwork “as part of its external corporate branding”. The piece – an interactive installation in George Town, Penang – features a real bike attached to a wall and paintings of two laughing children. “This was done without my consent, authorisation, or licensing arrangement,” he alleged. Court documents reviewed by the Guardian stated Zacharevic contacted the airline about the alleged breach, and “the defendants acknowledged the unauthorised use and reproduction of plaintiff’s works on the airplane, and proceeded to remove the infringing material from public display” in December 2024. Zacharevic has accused AirAsia and Capital A, which has an estimated market value of $658m, and its affiliated entities of repeatedly using his artworks in its campaigns and products without consent. According to court documents, AirAsia launched a promotional campaign in 2016 to promote its route between Penang, Malaysia, and Yangon, in Myanmar. Zacharevic alleged his works were “prominently reproduced and displayed on the promotional banner and related publicity materials” without his knowledge. The documents also detailed negotiations Zacharevic had with the airline in 2017 about a proposed art commission on a plane and a mural in one of the company’s offices, the documents said. At the time, the airline was “made fully aware of the plaintiff’s authorship of his works, his standard business rates, and the terms upon which he licenses or authorises use of his artistic creations”. Despite this, the documents alleged, “the airline proceeded to reproduce and publicly display one of the plaintiff’s principal works in a prominent setting, thereby wilfully infringing the plaintiff’s copyright and moral rights”. Other allegations cited by Zacharevic include AirAsia’s food delivery arm in 2021 “superimposing a food delivery bag” and its branding onto the bicycle depicted in the Children on a Bicycle mural without his consent or knowledge. The alterations were carried out for the defendant’s “own commercial and promotional purposes”, court documents said. In a statement to the Guardian about his Children on a Bicycle mural, Zacharevic said: “The artwork in question is a distinct artistic creation. It is not a natural or generic feature, but the result of many years of professional training, skill, and labour.” He has asked the court to determine issues related to copyright infringement, including moral rights, and unlawful interference with his trade and business interests. “No findings have been made at this stage,” he said. Zacharevic’s work, which includes public art projects in the US, Europe and Singapore, focuses on environmental and social issues. His art frequently involves site-specific street murals that blend paintings, installations and sculpture, according to his website. The Guardian has contacted Air Asia for comment.
Iran tells US not to let Netanyahu thwart nuclear talks before Trump meeting
Tehran has told the US not to allow Israel to destroy the chance of reaching an agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme amid speculation that Benjamin Netanyahu intends to use a hastily arranged White House meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday to divert negotiations. Iran’s intervention came as the Israeli prime minister flew to Washington to plead with Trump not to negotiate a deal with Tehran if it excludes limiting the country’s ballistic missile programme, dropping its support for proxy forces in the region and curtailing human rights abuses at home. Netanyahu is deeply concerned that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, are prepared to strike a deal confined to limiting the scope of Iran’s nuclear programme, which in Israel’s view would do nothing to rein in the long-term threat Tehran poses to the region. Speaking before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu said he would “present to the president our approach around our principles on the negotiations”. He is expected to provide Trump with fresh intelligence about Iran’s military capabilities, including new long-range ballistic missiles. Netanyahu faces a delicate task in setting out his stall because he risks being seen as challenging two of Trump’s most respected aides by mapping out a set of demands that could force the US into prolonged conflict with Iran. He also risks angering Trump by opening up divisions in the Republican party, especially if he reminds the US president that he made repeated unfulfilled promises to come to the help of Iranian protesters. Netanyahu’s turbulent relationship with Trump was already entering another rough patch as he continues to stall on his Gaza peace plan by barring a Palestinian technocratic body from entering the strip, and seeking in effect to annex the West Bank. In a sign that he knows he is treading on thin ice, Netanyahu agreed to take the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, with him. Before heading to Washington, Huckabee said there was “an extraordinary alignment between US and Israel on Iran”, and that as far as he knew the two sides shared the same red lines. Iran expressed its anger at Israel’s intervention. Ali Larijani, the the head of the Supreme National Security Council, the body overseeing Tehran’s negotiating strategy, said: “The Americans should think wisely and not allow him, with his posturing, to create the impression before his flight that he is going to the United States to set the framework of nuclear negotiations. They must remain vigilant regarding Israel’s destructive role.” Larijani met the mediators between Washington and Tehran in Muscat to discuss the agenda for further talks. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said in his weekly press briefing: “Our negotiating party is America. It is up to America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive influences that are detrimental to the region.” Israel’s alarm about a potential deal that undercuts its ambitions for regime change in Tehran has grown ever since the US agreed to reopen indirect talks with Iran, which started in Oman on Friday. The Iranian government also still faces political challenges at home, with more reformist groups and academics issuing statements protesting against the suppression of dissent and, in particular, the arrest of leaders of the Reformist Front. The front issued a further statement expressing its shock, and warning that the regime’s exclusionary approach and baseless accusations would worsen the political deadlock and “strengthen the violent and war-mongering factions supporting Israel”. It called on Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to intervene urgently to secure the release of its leadership. Even if the planned second round of talks are confined to Iran’s nuclear programme, as Tehran wants, there is no guarantee of success because it insists on maintaining its right to enrich uranium as fuel for nuclear power plants, something the US permitted under the 2015 deal but Trump has appeared to rule out. Trump has sent the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying warships to the region, which are capable of hitting a huge range of Iranian military and economic sties. The US has also buttressed the air defences of US bases across the region. The head of Iran’s atomic energy authority has said Tehran may be prepared to dilute its stock of highly enriched uranium to 60% purity, a limited concession given the 2015 deal limited it to enriching to 3.75% purity.
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
Ireland is creating a scheme that will give artists a weekly income in the hope of reducing their need for alternative work and boosting their creativity. The Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) initiative will provide €325 (£283) a week to 2,000 eligible artists based in the Republic of Ireland in three-year cycles. The culture minister, Patrick O’Donovan, said at the launch in Dublin on Tuesday that it was the first scheme of its kind in the world. “This is a gigantic step forward that other countries are not doing,” he said. The scheme was “a start” and hopefully would be expanded, O’Donovan said. “For the first time in the history of the state we now have, on a permanent basis, a basic income structure that will really revolutionise and, in many ways, set Ireland apart from other countries with regard to how we value culture and creativity.” The permanent scheme follows a trial that ran from 2022 to 2025 to help artists during Covid pandemic shutdowns. New York and San Francisco had similar pilot schemes but Ireland is believed to be the first country to make one permanent. The pilot, for which 2,000 artists were randomly selected from 8,000 applicants, lowered the likelihood of artists experiencing enforced deprivation and reduced their levels of anxiety and reliance on supplementary income, a study found. The scheme recouped more than its net cost of €72m through increases in arts-related expenditure, productivity gains and reduced reliance on other welfare payments, according to a government-commissioned cost-benefit analysis. Peter Power, a member of the National Campaign for the Arts steering committee, said it was a real-world test of what happened when people were given stability instead of precarity. “Artists on the scheme spent more time creating and less time trapped in unrelated jobs just to survive, and many became better able to sustain themselves through their work alone,” he said. A more vibrant arts sector brought myriad benefits such as greater economic activity, improved mental wellbeing, critical thinking and innovation, Power added. Under eligibility rules, artists can receive support for three out of every six years. An artist selected for the 2026-29 cycle must skip the next cycle but can reapply for the following one. Guidelines about the scheme, which has an initial budget of €18.27m (£16m), will be published in April. Applications for the cycle that begins in 2026 will open in May, with payments starting September and continuing until September 2029. Applicants are to be randomly selected. Jenny Dagg, a Maynooth University sociologist who studied the scheme, said it was a win for all but noted that eligible artists could not live solely on the weekly payments, which were considered supplementary income. Artists have welcomed the scheme but said they still faced a cost of living and housing crisis. Rents in Dublin have doubled since 2013, forcing many young people to continue living with their parents.
Norway defence chief says Russia could invade to protect nuclear assets
Norway’s army chief has said Oslo cannot exclude the possibility of a future Russian invasion of the country, suggesting Moscow could move on Norway to protect its nuclear assets stationed in the far north. “We don’t exclude a land grab from Russia as part of their plan to protect their own nuclear capabilities, which is the only thing they have left that actually threatens the United States,” said Gen Eirik Kristoffersen, Norway’s chief of defence. He conceded that Russia did not have conquest goals in Norway in the same way as it had in Ukraine or other former Soviet territories, but said much of Russia’s nuclear arsenal was located on the Kola peninsula, a short distance from the Norwegian border, including nuclear submarines, land-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft. These would be crucial if Russia came into conflict with Nato elsewhere. “We don’t take that off the table, because it’s still an option for Russia to do that in order to make sure that their nuclear capabilities, their second strike capabilities, are protected. That’s sort of the scenario in the high north that we plan for,” he said. In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Kristoffersen was sharply critical of recent comments by Donald Trump on Greenland, as well as of the US president’s “unacceptable” claims that allied countries had not served in frontline positions in Afghanistan while US troops had done the bulk of the fighting. “It didn’t make sense, what he said, and I know that all my American friends from Afghanistan know that,” said Kristoffersen, 56, a career army officer who served several tours in Afghanistan. “We were definitely in the frontline. We did all the full spectrum of missions, from arresting Taliban leaders to training Afghans to doing surveillance. We lost 10 Norwegians. I lost friends there. So we all felt it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “At the same time, I felt that this is President Trump. I never saw him in Afghanistan. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about when he says these things. A president should not say these things, but it didn’t really affect me. But my concern was for the Norwegian veterans, the relatives of the people we lost, soldiers we lost.” Kristoffersen has been Norway’s chief of defence since 2020, responsible for the country’s armed forces as well as its intelligence service. It has been a period of intense change as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced a rethink of European security, with neighbouring Sweden and Finland joining Norway in the Nato alliance, and the country reinforcing its border areas with Russia in the far north. Kristoffersen said that while Norway was keeping the threat of a traditional Russian invasion in mind, the current Russian tactics were more diffuse. “If you prepare for the worst, there is nothing that prevents you from also being able to counter sabotage and more hybrid threats,” he said. He added, however, that Norway and Russia still maintained some direct contact over search and rescue missions in the Barents Sea, and that there were regular meetings at the border between representatives of the two militaries. He has recommended setting up a military hotline between the two capitals to have a channel of communication to avoid escalation based on misunderstanding. He said Russian actions in the far north had generally been less aggressive than those in the Baltic Sea. “So far, what we have seen of airspace violation in our area has been misunderstandings. Russia is conducting a lot of [GPS] jamming, and we think that the jamming also affects their aircraft,” he said. “They haven’t said that, but we see that when something like violating the airspace happens it’s usually because of a lack of experience from the pilots. When we talk with the Russians, they actually respond in a very professional and predictable way.” On Norway’s northern territory of Svalbard, which contains a Russian settlement and is not allowed to be militarised under the provisions of a 1920 treaty, Kristoffersen said Russia was “respecting the treaty” and that Norway had no plans to militarise the area. Moscow has accused Oslo of performing stealth militarisation of Svalbard but Kristoffersen said this was just a propaganda claim that Moscow did not really believe. When it came to Trump’s assertion that China and Russia had military designs on Greenland, Krisoffersen said it was “very strange” to hear the claims. “We have a very good overview of what is happening in the Arctic from our intelligence service and we don’t see anything like that in Greenland … we see Russian activity with their submarines and also their underwater programme in the traditional part of the Arctic … but it’s not about Greenland, it’s about reaching the Atlantic,” he said. His remarks came as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, used an interview with a group of European newspapers to say Europe was in a “Greenland moment” and to call on countries to stand up to Trump. Macron said that when there was “blatant aggression … we must not bow down or try to reach a settlement. We tried this strategy for months and it’s not working. But above all, it strategically leads Europe to increase its dependence.” He said the scare over Greenland was far from over. “There are threats and intimidation and then suddenly Washington backs down. And we think it’s over. But don’t believe it for a second,” he said. Kristoffersen, asked whether Denmark and its allies would have any chance of repelling a US military takeover of Greenland if Trump went through with it, said: “They won’t do it, so it’s a hypothetical question.” But he added a word of warning for Trump and the US military. “If Russia is learning something from the war in Ukraine, I think it’s that it’s never a good idea to occupy a country. If the people don’t want it, it’s going to cost you a lot of money and a lot of effort and in the end you will actually lose. “To occupy in the first place is often very easy, but to keep the occupation going is very, very hard. And I think all expansionist powers have experienced that.”
‘Wake-up call’ for Greece as air force officer accused of spying for China
A Greek air force officer arrested on suspicion of spying for China has been detained pending trial after appearing before a military judge in a case that is seen as exposing Beijing’s determination to infiltrate Europe’s security and intelligence services. Surrounded by armed escorts, a squadron leader identified as Col Christos Flessas emerged from the court late on Tuesday after giving testimony for more than eight hours. The 54-year-old could face a life sentence if found guilty of charges that include “transmitting top secret information of a military nature” to China. He was described as having access to sensitive military information, including armed forces technologies under development, and is believed to have been recruited by Beijing last year. Greek media reports said he had admitted to photographing and transmitting classified Nato documents using specialised encryption software provided by Chinese intelligence. He allegedly received tradecraft training in China during an undeclared trip to the country that military sources claimed had ultimately exposed him. In a statement made by his lawyer after the court appearance, Flessas said: “Unknowingly and without intent, I became involved in something that developed in a way that became nightmarish, dangerous and illegal. In my testimony I did not try to justify myself or, in reality, even defend myself … I ask to be punished with a fair punishment.” Greek authorities were reportedly tipped off by the CIA about the extent of the leak, and in a highly unusual statement after Flessas’s arrest on 5 February the Greek general staff said there was “clear evidence of criminal offences under the military penal code”. Chinese operatives are thought to have initially approached their target online before recruiting him at a Nato conference in an unidentified European country. Flessas has been cited as saying he was lured with promises of financial rewards made in foreign currencies and digital payments of between €5,000 and €15,000 for every transmission made. He told the military magistrate on Tuesday that contact with agents that would lead to his handler was first made via LinkedIn. Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired US senior intelligence officer with considerable expertise in Chinese espionage operations, told the Guardian the case was a wake-up call for the Greek government and military. “[It’s] significant because it shows China’s desire and ability to penetrate the military communications infrastructure of Greece and other Nato members,” he said. “Nations spy against other militaries to give them an advantage in war. Despite all the proclamations of friendship and economic engagement, China continues to evolve as a threat to democracies worldwide.” Flessas had previously served as a Nato evaluator in information systems and at the time of his arrest was commanding a battalion in the Athenian suburb of Kavouri training in telecommunications. Eftimiades, whose book Chinese Espionage Operations and Tactics was released last year, said because citizens in China were required by law to support their country’s espionage efforts, the west was increasingly vulnerable to Beijing’s spymasters. Last week, four people including two Chinese nationals were arrested in France on suspicion of intercepting and collecting military intelligence. In Germany last September, a former aide to a member of parliament for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party was sentenced to almost five years in prison for spying on behalf of China. “China uses a ‘whole of society’ approach to conduct worldwide espionage,” said Eftimiades, who now teaches homeland security at Penn State University. “[It] is unlike the efforts of any western government. The sheer volume of activity makes it impossible to counter … western societies are open democracies. This makes them extremely vulnerable to China’s covert influence efforts.” Media reports on Tuesday suggested the Hellenic air force officer was cooperating fully with authorities. Well-placed insiders said there were fears of other military officials being implicated. One said the armed forces were airing the case so publicly as a warning. “What we are seeing is unprecedented,” said Plamen Tonchev, an expert in Sino-Greek affairs. “Greece is seen as a relatively China-friendly country. This is the very first time that China is so openly implicated in an espionage case of this kind.” Tonchev said the episode was bound “to tarnish the image” of Beijing in a country where it had acquired control of much of the port of Piraeus a decade ago. An estimated 24% of imports to Europe from China are shipped through Piraeus’s container terminals, and Tonchev said this was a source of “great pride” for Beijing.