Voters believe China is a even bigger danger than Russia to US

David Zimmermann

July 27, 02:55 PM July 27, 02:56 PM

Voters think about China a greater threat than Russia to the United States, according to a new study.

The Pew Study Center uncovered 50% of respondents named China the greatest financial and stability risk to the U.S., even though 17% reported Russia remains the most important risk. The survey, with its open up-finished dilemma, was launched on Thursday.

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The other nations that respondents explained all fell beneath 5 proportion factors. Two % said North Korea was the greatest danger, and the similar percentage explained the U.S. as a major threat to by itself. Another 4% claimed no place threatened the U.S.

No other country rose over 1%, even though 24% of respondents selected not to response the open-ended issue, which Pew noted was not shocking.

The study will come at a time when voters are more and more viewing China and its global affect more negatively than in past years. China tied with Russia as the greatest menace to the U.S. in 2019 just after inserting next in 2014 and third in 2007. In 2014, Russia was seen as the finest threat between People, and in 2007, it was Iran.

A world Pew study, also launched on Thursday, confirmed 67% of respondents from 24 nations held an unfavorable frame of mind toward China. That variety includes 83% of voters who have a unfavorable viewpoint of the communist country, a high rating bested by only Australia and Japan, each of which arrived in at 87%.

Pew done the survey from Could 30 to June 4 between 10,329 U.S. voters.

Hunter Biden investigation: Comer unveils 'Biden family’s influence peddling' in Romania and China

Jerry Dunleavy

May 10, 08:59 AM May 10, 09:03 AM

A top House Republican investigator released new financial records from his investigation into “the Biden family’s influence peddling and business schemes” by highlighting bank records related to Hunter Biden-linked business deals in Romania and China.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, released a 36-page memo on Wednesday, noting his committee had subpoenaed four banks and received thousands of records. The report argues the bank records show that “the Biden family, their business associates, and their companies received over $10 million” from companies belonging to foreign nationals, with Republicans identifying payments to Biden family members from foreign companies while Joe Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama and after Joe Biden left public office in early 2017.

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“The transactions in Romania and China show related but separate issues identified by the Committee that raise serious questions about financial disclosures and risks to national security,” Comer’s new memo alleged.

Comer said that “the Romanian transactions show evidence of influence peddling and a correlation between Biden family and their business associates’ work and then Vice President Biden’s responsibilities while in office.”

The Kentucky Republican added that his committee “is also providing additional information about the Biden family’s troubling receipt of payments from China, particularly the individual Ye Jianming and his company, CEFC, to show what was from 2015 to 2018 a growing interest by people closely tied to the CCP in cultivating a relationship with the Biden family.”

Comer’s new memo follows a subpoena he sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking information about an alleged bribery scheme tied to then-Vice President Biden and an unnamed foreign national.

The new GOP memo does not detail any foreign payments going directly to Joe Biden. The Washington Examiner reported last year that Hunter Biden spent over $30,000 on escorts, many of whom were linked to ".ru" Russian email addresses and worked with an “exclusive model agency" called UberGFE during a 3 1/2 month period between November 2018 and March 2019. He managed to do so thanks in part to Joe Biden committing to wiring him a total of $100,000 to help pay his bills from December 2018 through January 2019.

Comer had revealed new Biden family financial details in March after he obtained them through a subpoena of Hunter Biden associate Rob Walker's financial records at Bank of America. The House Oversight chairman revealed that “from 2015 through 2017, Biden family members and their companies received over $1.3 million in payments” from accounts tied to Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker.

Comer said more than $1 million was sent in incremental payments to Hunter Biden, his uncle and Joe’s brother James Biden, and Hallie Biden, the widow of the president’s deceased son, Beau Biden, with whom Hunter was having a romantic relationship in 2017 following his brother’s death, shortly after Walker received a $3 million wire from a Chinese company called State Energy HK.

President Biden denied these details, which Comer considers facts backed by clear evidence.

Hunter Biden’s legal team had indeed seemingly confirmed, and defended, the payments in a March statement.

During an October 2020 debate with then-President Donald Trump, then-candidate Joe Biden also incorrectly claimed that his son never made money from China.

Shortly before the March 2017 Chinese wires from State Energy HK occurred, now-former CEFC leader Ye Jianming met with Hunter Biden on Feb. 14, 2017, in Miami, Florida. It was there that Ye reportedly gifted Hunter Biden with a 3.16-carat diamond allegedly valued at $80,000.

Comer said on Wednesday that State Energy HK “appears to be Ye’s vehicle, at least in part, to launder money and purchase lucrative gifts.” The memo said that “the purported Chinese energy company made over $23 million in purchases from a retail diamond/jewelry business” in 2016 and 2017, including “$2 million in purchases from the Diamond Business” in late 2016 and early 2017. Comer said that “these transactions align with when Ye sent a large diamond to Hunter Biden in Miami.”

Biden White House oversight spokesman Ian Sams said Wednesday that Comer “is loudly and proudly broadcasting a press conference today to continue his long pattern of making absurd claims that President Biden has made governing decisions not in the interest of America, but of the Chinese Communist Party, using baseless claims, personal attacks, and innuendo to try to score political points.”

The new GOP memo also said Wednesday that, prior to the wire from State Energy HK, Hunter Biden associates Rob Walker and James Gilliar, as well as Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden, “received payments from a Romanian source, and many of the payments were made while Joe Biden was Vice President and working directly on the U.S.’s official policy in Romania.”

The House Republican memo argued that actions in Romania taken by the Biden family and its associates “bear clear indicia of a scheme to peddle influence” from 2015 to 2017, arguing that “while Vice President Biden lectured Romania on corruption and ethics, Hunter Biden received — through Biden associate Rob Walker — over a million dollars from a company controlled by a Romanian individual accused of corruption (Gabriel Popoviciu).”

Comer released bank records showing “the Biden family’s receipt of money from a foreign company reportedly controlled by Gabriel Popoviciu, the subject of a criminal probe and prosecution for corruption in Romania.” The payments came around the same timeframe that then-Vice President Biden delivered speeches and met with Romanian leaders in 2014 and 2015 regarding corruption in the country. Comer said his committee “is concerned about the Biden family’s pattern of courting business in regions of the world in which the then Vice President had an outsize role and influenced U.S. policy.”

Vice President Biden gave a May 2014 speech to Romania’s government leaders, where he declared that “corruption is a cancer, a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy.”

“The Committee strongly agrees that corruption poses a national security risk,” Comer wrote. “At the time of Vice President Biden’s speech, one of the most high-profile corruption prosecutions in Romania revolved around Gabriel Popoviciu. Romanian prosecutors charged and convicted Mr. Popoviciu with a bribery related offense, and there has been subsequent litigation in the United Kingdom related to this matter.”

Vice President Biden also welcomed Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the White House in September 2015, where the two discussed anti-corruption efforts.

Comer wrote that, within five weeks of that meeting, Bladon Enterprises, which is “reported to be Gabriel Popoviciu’s Cypriot company” that he used to conduct business in Romania, “began making deposits into Robinson Walker LLC’s bank account.” Comer said Blandon Enterprises paid Robinson Walker LLC “over $3 million” from November 2015 to May 2017, and that “Biden family accounts received approximately $1.038 million from the Robinson Walker LLC account after Bladon Enterprises deposits.”

The new memo said that sixteen of those seventeen payments were made while Joe Biden was still vice president, and that money was then sent to Hunter Biden associate James Gilliar, Hunter Biden, Hallie Biden, Hunter Biden-linked businesses such as Owasco P.C. and RSTP24 II LLC, as well as to “an unknown Biden bank account.”

Hunter Biden reached out to former FBI Director Louis Freeh in 2016 to see if he could help Popoviciu.

“It appears from bank records the Bidens were using Robinson Walker LLC to conceal that the source of these payments was Popoviciu,” Comer wrote. “The Committee is further concerned that while Vice President Biden advocated publicly for anti-corruption policies in Romania, bank records show Biden family members and business associates were simultaneously reaping in significant amounts of money from a Romanian individual at the center of a Romanian corruption scandal.”

Hunter Biden and his associated businesses are also believed to have received at least $5 million in payments from Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC in 2017 and 2018, and Ye Jianming’s deputy Patrick Ho also agreed to pay Hunter Biden a $1 million retainer. Hunter referred to Ho as "the f***ing spy chief of China" in a May 11, 2018, voice recording.

“The Committee is investigating the corrupt conduct of Ye — and others with ties to the CCP — who used CEFC and Chinese companies to entice Biden family members with millions of dollars in exchange for influence and legitimacy in the United States and abroad,” Comer’s new memo said.

Comer wrote that CEFC deputy Gongwen Dong formed CEFC Infrastructure in Delaware in May 2017, and that Hudson West V, a company directed by Dong which received a $24 million wire from Ye and formed a partnership with Hunter Biden, was the sole equity member of CEFC. A week later, the memo said that Hudson West V “assigned 100 percent of its interest” to the Chinese company Shanghai Huaxin Group. Shanghai Huaxin “funded the CEFC Infrastructure bank account with a significant injection of $10 million from China” in June 2017, Comer said, and then CEFC Infrastructure wired $100,000 to Hunter Biden’s Owasco P.C. on Aug. 4, 2017.

“The Biden family and associates’ activities in coordination with Chinese nationals and their corporate entities appear to be an attempt to engage in financial deception,” Comer wrote on Wednesday.

House China Committee to engage in tabletop war game exercise

Mike Brest

April 18, 06:11 PM April 18, 06:11 PM

The House China committee will be participating in a tabletop war game exercise focusing on the Indo-Pacific on Wednesday.

The lawmakers will act as national security council advisers influencing fictional decisions regarding U.S. military, defense, and economic responses to a threat from China during the exercise, which was organized by the think tank Center for a New American Security, according to Politico. Becca Wasser and Andrew Metrick of CNAS will act as Beijing during the exercise.

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Wasser told the outlet, “It’s experiential learning,” adding, “It’s an important opportunity to help senior leaders to think through what can happen."

“The select committee on the Chinese Communist Party is going to be conducting a war game, and I think for a lot of our members, it will be an opportunity to participate in a war game that haven't done that before. It's going to be Taiwan focused, Indo-Pacific focused,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the committee, said on Tuesday. "Usually when we run these war games, one thing quickly becomes apparent, we go Winchester on critical weapons systems, we run out of long range fires in particular.”

Gallagher quickly previewed the event during a Tuesday House Armed Services Committee hearing in which members heard from top Pentagon Indo-Pacific leaders about their posture and national security concerns in the region.

Jedidiah Royal, the Pentagon’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said China’s military is conducting “more dangerous and aggressive activities in the region," adding that, “In just the past twelve months, PLA aircraft and maritime vessels have continued to conduct inherently risky intercepts against U.S. ally and partner assets in the air and at sea, increasing the unacceptable danger of an accident."

Chinese officials have indicated they want the military to be ready to take Taiwan by force by 2027, while U.S. defense officials have said that is a goal and not a predetermined invasion date. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. John Aquilino dismissed the timeline and said those were simply guesses.

"Now, for me, it doesn't matter what the timeline is, the secretary has given me this mission today, so I'm responsible to prevent this conflict today," he told lawmakers. "If deterrence were to fail, to be able to fight and win. So the timeline, everybody will have an opinion on when it is. I think everybody's guessing. The intent and need for INDOPACOM, the department, industry, and everybody to go faster will help prevent this conflict."

Chinese defense leaders have largely ignored outreach by their U.S. counterparts in recent months amid a series of incidents, which a top Pentagon official described as a ploy to spook the U.S. into leaving the region.

“And [Chinese officials take the view] that if we want to avoid crises, there's a simple solution, and that's just to get out of the Western Pacific, and to abandon our alliances and partnerships, and leave,” the Pentagon’s Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, told Foreign Policy. “And leave that part of the world to be an exclusive sphere of influence lorded over by Beijing.”

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in February, after the Chinese spy balloon traversed across the continental U.S., "When something happens, they [China] somehow tend to shut down their military channels of communication."

McCaul and Taiwan VP link Russian invasion of Ukraine to China’s threats toward island

Jerry Dunleavy

April 06, 07:24 PM April 06, 07:24 PM

TAIPEI, Taiwan —Taiwan’s vice president and a leading House Republican both linked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to China’s ongoing threats against the democratic island nation following a meeting in Taipei aimed at strengthening the U.S.-Taiwan partnership.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led seven other bipartisan members on a multiday trip to Taiwan. The trip commenced Thursday despite the Chinese government warning the U.S. congressmen not to come. The visit began with a meeting in Taipei between the House members and Taiwanese Vice President William Lai. Both McCaul and Lai condemned both Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and Beijing’s attempts to coerce Taiwan, with McCaul promising that the United States would “protect” the democratic island nation.

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McCaul raised last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine during joint remarks with Lai at the Taiwan presidential building on Thursday, warning of the Chinese-Russian alliance pursued by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, mentioning the "no limits" partnership announced by Xi and Putin ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics in early 2022, and saying that “Communist China” was now closely watching the U.S. delegation’s meetings with Taiwan leaders.

“It is important that we protect you. I know there is a lot of talk of ambiguity, but I want to make it clear that the United States stands by you and will protect you,” McCaul told Lai. “That’s why I believe on my committee … the foreign military sales, we need to get those weapons in here to protect and harden Taiwan from threats from outside.”

President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed that the U.S. would respond militarily to defend Taiwan if China attacked Taiwan, and each time, the White House has subsequently insisted America’s decadeslong policy toward Taiwan was not shifting.

McCaul spoke of “this great power competition we find ourselves in against dictators, spanning from Russia to China to Iran to North Korea." He said that is why the delegation “has visited our allies in the region,” with visits this week to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii and Guam followed by trips to Japan, South Korea, and now Taiwan, “so that we can stand together against these great adversarial nations that pose such a great threat to the Pacific region.”

“Because you stand for the principles we stand for — democracy and freedom — therefore, you pose a threat to them,” McCaul told Lai of Beijing. “But we stand with you today. … This struggle for the global balance of power we find ourselves in today often reminds me of my father’s generation, often referred to as the Greatest Generation in the United States. Then we had Hitler and Hiroto; today we have Putin and Chairman Xi.”

Lai said, “The people of Taiwan love peace; however, peace cannot be achieved by giving in, and we cannot rely on the aggressor’s charity for peace.”

“We are seeing the rise of authoritarianism. Authoritarian regimes have started to expand and impose aggressions — Russia invaded Ukraine, and the People’s Republic of China started military drills across the Taiwan Strait, threatening us with force and war,” Taiwan’s vice president said. “In the face of complicated international landscapes, Taiwan stands on the front line of combating authoritarian actions. Here I would like to say to congressman McCaul and our friends and allies that Taiwan will be determined to safeguard its national security and defend the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.”

Lai continued, “We know very clearly what President Reagan said: Peace through strength. As President Tsai said, peace relies on national defense, and national defense depends on the people of Taiwan. It is true that we need to prepare for war in order to avoid one, and we need to be prepared to fight to stop a war.”

McCaul was joined on the Taiwan trip by Rep. Young Kim (R-CA), the chairwoman of the subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific, by Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), ranking member on the subcommittee, and by Reps. French Hill (R-AR), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Michael Lawler (R-NY), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), and Madeleine Dean (D-PA).

The typical protocol would have been for the U.S. congressmen to first meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, but she was traveling in the U.S. Her itinerary included a meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and more than a dozen other congressmen at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Wednesday. McCaul and his delegation will meet with her when she returns to Taiwan later this week.

The Chinese government responded to Tsai’s trip to the U.S. and to her meeting with McCarthy by ramping up its rhetoric and conducting increased military activity off the coast of Taiwan, with Chinese state-run media warning about “multiple land, naval, and air exercises focusing on amphibious landing missions” underway in the Taiwan Strait.

Congressional Republicans have demanded the White House take more forceful steps to challenge Beijing's rhetorical, economic, and, at minimum, nonlethal military support to Russia.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines testified in March that the DragonBear alliance between Russia and China is “continuing to deepen” in “every sector” amid “real concern” about Beijing assisting Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine.

Xi traveled to Moscow last month and told Putin at the Kremlin that “right now there are changes the likes of which we haven’t seen for one hundred years — and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Putin said he agreed, and Xi added, “Take care, please, dear friend.”

The Chinese leader also pointed out that “since last year,” when Russia invaded Ukraine, “the all-round practical cooperation between China and Russia has yielded fruitful outcomes.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang defended the China-Russia alliance in the context of Taiwan last month, asking, “Why does the U.S. ask China not to provide weapons to Russia while it keeps selling arms to Taiwan?”

U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael Minihan warned earlier this year that China may invade Taiwan as early as 2025.

Congress inquires about Chinese spying risks from cargo cranes: Report

Misty Severi

April 03, 09:06 PM April 03, 09:06 PM

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are requesting classified and unclassified documents from the Department of Homeland Security that reveal potential security vulnerabilities from dozens of Chinese-made cranes used at ports nationwide.

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said it was "worrisome" that 80% of U.S. port cranes use Chinese software made by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries in China, which has ties to the People’s Liberation Army.

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“On behalf of the American people, this Committee is demanding answers on the risks these cranes pose to U.S. cybersecurity and the resilience of our critical infrastructure, which is a core aspect of the homeland security mission,” Green said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.

There is no evidence that the Chinese government has used the cranes to conduct nefarious activity at American ports, U.S. officials said. However, the software could be used to observe or manipulate port operations.

The House committee is hoping to hold public and potentially closed-door hearings on the potential security risks by April 18. The committee is requesting documents that show a risk assessment and DHS's mitigation efforts that were directed by Congress in 2021.

In a letter to DHS officials, Green and Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), chairman of the subcommittee on oversight, investigations, and accountability, said if another country exploited potential weakness from the ports, it would have "catastrophic" economic and security consequences for the United States.

“If an adversary exploits the operational technology system of these cranes, port operations could completely shut down, suspending all commercial activity which would also disrupt our nation’s military and commercial supply chains,” the lawmakers said.

“Any potential port shutdown could create catastrophic economic and security consequences. ... These vulnerabilities could provide opportunities to near-peer nation-state adversaries, such as China, to cripple our economy from behind a computer screen,” they added.

Ports in the U.S. help facilitate $5.4 trillion worth of commercial and military goods each year.

Chinese officials dismissed the crane concerns as paranoia and claimed it was an attempt to obstruct the trade and economic relationship between the U.S. and China.

Federal agencies hit deadline to rid TikTok from government devices

Ryan King

March 29, 02:54 PM March 29, 02:59 PM

Federal agencies have hit the deadline to comply with the Biden administration's directive to get TikTok off of government systems and devices.

Last month, the White House gave agencies 30 days to affirm that the popular China-affiliated short-form video app was not on any government systems amid mounting national security concerns over its parent company ByteDance and its links to the Chinese Communist Party.

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Other governments have undertaken similar measures, including Canada, Taiwan, the European Union, and a bevy of states. The White House issued a memo outlining the ban on Feb. 27, Reuters reported. Agencies were also given 90 days to deal with TikTok by IT services and 120 days to ban its use in new solicitations, per the report.

As agencies bump up against the deadline for the ban, Congress is mulling multiple pieces of legislation to ban the use of TikTok nationally.

On the Senate side, there is a proposal from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) to give the Biden administration power to ban the social media app. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has floated a proposal to ban it outright. Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on TikTok, scrutinizing its ties to China.

China has a policy of civil-military fusion that has fueled concerns that the CCP could extract U.S. data from TikTok and turn it into a vessel for Chinese spying.

During the hearing last week, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew downplayed the company's ties to Beijing. He admitted that ByteDance might have some access to U.S. data, but he highlighted a plan dubbed Project Texas to address those concerns.

A deluge of TikTok influencers converged on the Capitol last week to rally against a ban, but their influence appeared meager with legislators.

The head of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has been reviewing TikTok. The White House has underscored national security concerns over TikTok, but it has not issued a full-throated endorsement of a national ban on it.

"The President really, as you rightly noted, has been very consistent about our concerns in terms of Big Tech, and particularly some social media applications, and that includes TikTok," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing earlier this month. "With the CFIUS review — underway, there’s not a whole lot that I can talk about right now."

Support for a national ban has been largely bipartisan, though some dissenters have raised free speech concerns.

Progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), as well as conservative Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), have come out against a national ban.

China sending body armor components to Russia, investigation finds

Brady Knox

March 28, 10:30 PM March 28, 10:30 PM

Chinese body armor components are being sent to Russia and used by soldiers fighting in Ukraine, an investigation found.

Customs and trade data, personal testimony from Ukrainian soldiers, and photographs viewed by Politico revealed that several Chinese companies, some state linked, have sent crucial components of the armor to Russian body armor manufacturers with close ties to law enforcement and the military.

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Some of the body armor was taken from Russian soldiers by Ukrainians and put up for sale on eBay. Though the extent of the use of the Klass vests is unknown, it is the first confirmed case of Chinese body armor components being used by Russia in Ukraine.

The presence of the equipment also poses an awkward situation for the United States. Body armor's double status as commercial and military equipment blurs the line between what constitutes military aid and what doesn't.

“The administration has likely seen a lot of things in the record that are discomforting. But they could say, ‘Well, it is not a surface-air missile system, so maybe we’ll just kind of look the other way on this,’” Ivan Kanapathy, the former director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the National Security Council, told the outlet. “The line is fuzzy by design. And the assessment is being influenced by the U.S.-China relationship, perhaps naively hoping that China isn’t already in the Russia camp.”

Two of the Chinese companies that shipped the materials were Yantai Tayho Advanced Materials Ltd., which produces specialized fiber, and Beijing Tongyizhong New Material Technology Corp., which sells polyethylene fiber products and is linked to the Chinese government.

One of the Ukrainians looking to sell the body armor on eBay told Politico that it had been captured during the country's successful September counteroffensive in the Kharkiv oblast.

“This bulletproof vest was used in the Russian army and was obtained by the Ukrainian military during the counter offensive in the Kharkiv region,” he said. “During the liberation of the city of Izyum in one of the houses where the [Russians] temporarily lived, they ran away so quickly that they abandoned their things.”

The U.S. has imposed some sanctions on other Chinese companies that have supplied Russia with materials that help the war effort, such as drones.

The top three other most downloaded Chinese apps besides TikTok

Christopher Hutton

March 27, 10:48 AM March 27, 10:49 AM

Chinese apps continue to dominate the app market in the United States despite pressure on TikTok for its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok, which faces the threat of a ban from Congress and the Biden administration, is not the only Chinese app on the market to go popular. Four of the top 10 apps on the Apple iOS and Google Play stores are owned and operated by Chinese companies, even if Americans don't realize it.

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Here are the top four Chinese-owned iPhone and Android apps on the marketplace.

Temu is a new shopping platform with connections to China that has become one of the most popular apps and is ranked No. 1 as of Monday. The app is a Boston-based retailer for an assortment of goods. The company saw a surge of interest after it bought a 30-second ad at the Super Bowl.

The app was launched in 2022 by its U.S.-listed parent company PDD. The company has a Chinese subsidiary named Pinduoduo, which is traded on the Beijing Stock Exchange.

Capcut is a video app owned and operated by TikTok's parent company ByteDance. The app has seen a surge of interest among younger users and is often used to help users improve their videos before posting them on social media. ByteDance has a close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. A report from the Australian Senate's Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media found last week that ByteDance is "subject to all the influence, guidance, and de facto control to which the Chinese Communist Party now subjects all PRC technology companies."

SHEIN is a Singapore-based fashion company with roots in China. Chinese entrepreneur Chris Xu founded the business, which obtains most of its supplies from Chinese providers.

TikTok has also stayed at the top of the App Store listings despite the prospect of a ban. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before Congress on Thursday, where he testified about how the company was protecting U.S. data. The testimony was not well received, and members of Congress have increased efforts toward a national ban on the app. Only a handful of representatives, led by "Squad" member Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), have become vocal supporters of the app.

The White House is pushing ByteDance to sell its stakes in TikTok or risk a national ban.

Honduras opens ties with China after breaking from Taiwan

Ryan King

March 26, 12:31 PM March 26, 12:31 PM

Honduras moved to open diplomatic ties with China Sunday after breaking away from Taiwan, leaving the island recognized by only 12 nations and Vatican City.

Coinciding with its joint communique with China, Honduras's foreign ministry affirmed publicly that Taiwan is an "inseparable part of Chinese territory," ushering in an end to its formal relations with the island that dated back to the 1940s. The move marks a significant diplomatic victory for China.

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“Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan," the foreign ministry said, per a translation.

President Xiomara Castro foreshadowed the move during a trip to China when she said Honduras would move to establish ties with Beijing. Both China and Taiwan have been embroiled in a battle over whether the island is under China's control or an independent nation-state. China demands that other countries adhere to the "One China" policy in order to have relations.

"With deep regret, we announce the termination of diplomatic relations with Honduras. 82 years of friendship & cooperation bringing real benefit to the peoples were dismissed by the Castro government. Taiwan remains unbowed & continues to work as a force for good in the world," Taiwan's Foreign Ministry tweeted.

Castro mused about pivoting toward China in 2021, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu recounted in a press conference. Honduras requested billions in aid from Taiwan while pointing to the torrent of aid China pitched, per Wu. This included the pursuit of $2.45 billion for the construction of a dam, building a hospital, and paying off debt.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen vowed that her government would not “engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China” in order to preserve international friendships.

Tsai is set to embark on a trip to the U.S., Guatemala, and Belize this week. During her trip, she is expected to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in Los Angeles and possibly other lawmakers as well.

Although the United States does not formally recognize Taiwan, Washington maintains unofficial relations with Taipei City. U.S. officials have fretted that China will eventually seek to reestablish control over Taiwan via force and have talked about the prospect of providing military aid to subvert such aggression.

GOP warns of ‘vacuum’ filled by China following Xi-Putin meetings

Jerry Dunleavy

March 24, 03:27 PM March 24, 03:27 PM

Republicans warned about the growing challenge posed by the “DragonBear” alliance between Russia and China, including a global leadership “vacuum” filled by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, following a meeting in Moscow by the leaders of the two nations.

Congressional Republicans say the White House needs to take significant steps to push back on the rhetorical, economic, and nonlethal military support China is already providing.

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Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a former Army Green Beret, told the Washington Examiner that “we’re seeing a new alignment of authoritarian regimes cementing between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea that threatens our interests.”

“This ‘no limits’ partnership between Russia and China should be taken seriously and has very real military and economic implications,” Waltz said. “Xi especially sees an opportunity to step into a global leadership vacuum left by the Biden administration.”

Xi traveled to Moscow this week and told Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday that “right now there are changes the likes of which we haven’t seen for one hundred years — and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Putin said he agreed, and Xi added, “Take care, please, dear friend.”

The duo held a joint press conference on Tuesday, where the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Xi remarked that “over the past ten years, he and Putin have forged close relations, maintained strategic communication, and delivered fruitful outcomes through strategic coordination between the two countries.”

China said Xi and Putin “shared the view that this relationship has gone far beyond the bilateral scope and acquired critical importance for the global landscape and the future of humanity” and that “China and Russia have followed the principles of good-neighborliness, friendship, and win-win cooperation.” Xi also “pointed out that since last year” — when Russia invaded Ukraine — “the all-around practical cooperation between China and Russia has yielded fruitful outcomes.”

The Chinese and Russian leaders also signed joint statements on increasing economic cooperation and on “Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era” at the Kremlin in Moscow on Tuesday.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said this week that “Xi’s visit to Moscow is further proof the Chinese Communist Party has chosen to side with Russia, doubling down on the ‘no limits’ partnership Xi and Putin established before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

“Make no mistake: Xi wants Putin to win and cannot serve as a neutral peace broker. And the world should expect Xi to call on Putin to return the favor if China invades Taiwan by providing military, economic, and diplomatic support,” McCaul said. “Increased CCP support of Russia should not be tolerated – by the United States or our allies and partners.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who is leading the House select committee on China, said this week that “Xi and Putin just doubled down on their no-limits partnership, and while they claimed to oppose a ‘Cold War mentality,’ their actions make clear that they are already engaged in a New Cold War against the United States, our allies, and our values.”

Gallagher added, “We cannot view Russia and the Chinese Communist Party as separate threats, and we must push back against this de facto alliance with a sense of urgency.”

John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said on Tuesday that “if China wants to play a constructive role here in this conflict, then they ought to press Russia to pull its troops out of Ukraine and Ukrainian sovereign territory.”

Kirby spoke about the Xi-Putin comments on Ukraine on Wednesday, saying that “we would not describe it as a peace mission” when asked about Xi’s trip to Moscow, adding that “if China really wants to be helpful in that regard, they should be urging President Putin to get out of Ukraine.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate on Wednesday that China and Russia “have a marriage of convenience — I’m not sure if it’s conviction.” Blinken contended that “Russia is very much a junior partner in this relationship.”

Blinken added of China: “I think their diplomatic support, their political, and to some extent their material support for Russia certainly goes against our interests.”

The New York Times reported in March that “China has sold more than $12 million in drones and drone parts” to Russia in the year since the Ukraine invasion, with China’s DJI and roughly 70 other Chinese exporters selling 26 brands of Chinese drones to Russia since early 2022.

The U.S. has also repeatedly warned China against providing the Russians with lethal weaponry for the invasion of Ukraine as the “DragonBear” alliance between Beijing and Moscow strengthens.

China's Xi leaves meeting with Putin without pledging military cooperation

Mike Brest

March 22, 11:29 AM March 22, 11:29 AM

Chinese leader Xi Jinping left Moscow on Wednesday after his multiday visit in which he and Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for continued and growing bilateral relations, but neither made any mention of military assistance.

Xi's highly anticipated and choreographed three-day trip projected unity for the growing partnership as both face an increasingly tense outlook with the West. Leaders globally were focused on the two leaders' discussion of Russia's war in Ukraine and whether Beijing would provide Russia with lethal aid, as U.S. officials have warned for about a month.

PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA SUPPORTS 'MANY OF THE PROVISIONS' IN CHINA'S UKRAINE PEACE PLAN

Beijing has repeatedly attempted to position itself as a neutral arbiter. However, it has not condemned the war and has often pushed Russia's account of the war, and a recently published peace plan from China was quickly dismissed as a nonstarter by Ukraine and its allies due to the tenets of the deal that would benefit Russia.

Putin said he supports "many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China" on Tuesday, which includes a ceasefire that would freeze the current battlefield positions in place, effectively solidifying Russia's gains, which U.S. officials have explained would provide Russia the opportunity to refit, resupply, and redeploy its troops for a future offensive.

The two leaders did not discuss Ukraine's peace plan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, according to Russian state media outlet Tass.

U.S. officials have denounced the Chinese peace plan and warned preemptively that Xi may seek to play the role of peacemaker in the war.

"I don't think you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way," National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on Tuesday. "They haven't condemned this invasion. They haven't stopped buying Russian oil and Russian energy."

While there was no public mention of military aid, the two leaders affirmed their country's growing partnership. They jointly signed and released the Joint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era.

“Russia reaffirmed that it was committed to restarting peace talks as soon as possible, and China expressed its approval,” an excerpt from the joint statement said. “Settlement of the Ukraine crisis must respect the reasonable security concerns of every country and prevent the formation of confrontational blocs that add fuel to the flames.”

The White House made a sharp rebuttal to the joint statement, accusing China of parroting Russian propaganda.

“If China wants to play a constructive role in this conflict, then it ought to press Russia to pull troops out of Ukraine,” Kirby added.

U.S. officials reiterated this week that they have not seen intelligence to suggest China has decided to provide Russia with lethal aid.

US and Beijing in talks over Yellen and Raimondo trip to China

Mike Brest

March 20, 04:49 PM March 20, 04:49 PM

The Biden administration and Chinese Communist Party officials are discussing a possible trip by two Cabinet secretaries to China.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo could soon travel to China, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

XI ARRIVES IN MOSCOW FOR MEETING WITH PUTIN

"We're having discussions with the PRC right now about [a] potential visit by Secretary Yellen and Secretary Raimondo to go over there and talk about economic issues. So there's that that we're still working," he said. "So, all of that, keeping those lines of communication open, are still valuable."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to travel to China in early February, but the trip was postponed when the public became aware of a Chinese spy balloon traversing across the continental United States, which the military ultimately shot down over the Atlantic Ocean.

"We still want to get Secretary Blinken back to Beijing," Kirby added. "That visit was postponed. It wasn't canceled. And we're still hopeful to get that back on the calendar."

Since then, U.S. officials have begun warning the public and world leaders that Beijing is considering, but hasn't committed to, providing Russia with lethal aid for them to use in Ukraine. Officials have argued that doing so would not be in their best interests.

"We're hoping to get the economic lines open. The military-to-military lines are not open, and that's a problem," he explained. "That was, as you know, one of the things we were hoping Secretary Blinken would get thawed for us because they are frozen."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in late February that he and his Chinese counterpart, Chinese Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe, have not spoken in “a couple of months,” noting the week before that it fits a pattern of Chinese officials "shut[ting] down their military channels of communication" when "something happens.”

China is increasingly aligning itself with Russia and against the West, and Xi is cementing that relationship with his first trip to Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago. Xi arrived on Monday, and both leaders talked about their shared goals globally in public comments.

Beijing released an extensive peace plan to end the war, though it effectively awards Russia with the land it's occupying in Ukraine, which Kyiv has repeatedly said is a nonstarter in any diplomatic efforts to end the war.

"China's already issued a 12-point plan for the conflict in Ukraine, which includes an essential point, and that's respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries," Kirby added. "We encouraged President Xi to advocate for this exact essential key point, which must include the withdrawal of Russian forces from sovereign Ukrainian territory."

Secretary of the Navy touts climate as a 'top priority' despite growing threat from China

Misty Severi

March 18, 12:49 PM March 18, 12:49 PM

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said fighting climate change has been one of his biggest priorities since taking office, despite a growing naval threat from China as the country grows its fleet.

Del Toro met with Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis earlier this month during a visit to the island, where the men spoke at length about the threat of climate change and what the United States is doing to combat it.

NAVY HELPS UK SEIZE ANTI-TANK MISSILE SHIPMENT FROM IRAN: CENTCOM

"As the Secretary of the Navy, I can tell you that I have made climate one of my top priorities since the first day I came into office," Del Toro said in remarks at the University of the Bahamas on March 1. "The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps team has been working on climate and energy security for a long time, and we are accelerating and broadening those efforts."

Del Toro added that he sees climate change as an "all-hands-on-deck situation."

Del Toro's remarks occurred slightly before the Biden administration released its 2024 proposed military budget, which called for fewer naval ships, despite a growing naval threat from China. The U.S. military has been the strongest military force in the world since the 20th century and still has the strongest navy. However, the Chinese navy is larger in terms of fleet size.

The administration's proposal recommended shrinking the U.S. Navy by a net loss of two ships, despite military experts arguing the administration should increase the number of ships. The proposal recommended decommissioning 11 ships and constructing nine. The military previously set a goal of having 355 manned ships but currently has fewer than 300.

Del Toro has rejected criticism that focusing on climate change would weaken the U.S. defense system, arguing that it would actually make the Navy stronger because it could lead to new technology that can help the U.S. create a Navy that is cost-saving, energy-efficient, climate-friendly, and still keeps the U.S. dominant on the seas.

"There is not a trade-off between addressing climate security and our core mission of being the most capable and ready Navy-Marine Corps team," Del Toro said. "The exact opposite is true. Embracing climate-focused technologies and adopting a climate-informed posture strengthens our capability to stand by our partners and allies."

The chief of naval research will host a conference in Florida in April that will focus on addressing climate change and marine pollution, renewable and hybrid energies applied to the naval field, and integrating unmanned systems, according to WHD News.

Virginia government tells elite high school to ‘cut ties’ with Chinese government

Jerry Dunleavy

March 16, 11:44 AM March 16, 11:44 AM

The Virginia Education Department directed Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) to “cut ties” with Chinese government-linked entities after it was revealed by the Washington Examiner that one of its elite high schools had collaborated with a Chinese military-linked group for years.

Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera sent a letter to FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid on Wednesday, pressing the school system on revelations that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and the TJHSST Partnership Fund have “accepted significant financial contributions from entities known to have connections to the Chinese Communist Party."

VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL WORKED WITH CHINESE MILITARY-LINKED ORG

The Virginia-based school partnered with Tsinghua University High School, or TUHS, to assist it and China generally with adopting the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, and advanced lab research. TUHS is closely tied to Tsinghua University, considered by the Pentagon to be a Chinese military university.

Guidera told FCPS on Wednesday to "direct schools within your division to cut ties with CCP-linked partners” and said she had asked her department to “investigate the prevalence of such relationships between CCP-linked partners and local school divisions” across Virginia.

The Virginia education secretary said the revelations that “a Virginia high school accepted contributions from CCP-linked entities” were “concerning, and warrant a response regarding the nature of these funds.” Guidera told FCPS to say exactly how much money the TJ fund had received from the Chinese entities and how those funds were used, and whether any of the Chinese entities “provided any guidance, influence, or instructional materials related to content taught” at TJHSST.

Guidera also asked FCPS whether “any non-public student information” or “any instructional materials, class schedules, and individual performance or evaluation indicators” were provided to the Chinese entities.

The Virginia government inquiry comes following a Washington Examiner investigation into the saga.

The nonprofit organization Parents Defending Education (PDE) helped unearth the Chinese funding for TJHSST and had asked Virginia's Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to investigate.

“We are grateful that Gov. Youngkin and Secretary Guidera have taken swift steps to investigate the scope of this scandal — not only at TJ, but throughout the Commonwealth,” PDE President Nicole Neily said. “This incident highlights the acute need for federal lawmakers to address this problem going forward, and to mandate disclosure of foreign funding to America’s K-12 schools.”

FCPS recently attempted to defend the arrangement between TJHSST and the Chinese entities. Julie Moult, the media relations manager for FCPS, told the Washington Examiner last week that TJHSST is "world-renowned" and that "it is not unusual for elite public schools, colleges, and universities in the U.S. to benefit from donations and grants from various sources, including international sources.”

FCPS did not respond to a request for comment about the new state-level investigation.

The TJPF received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Tsinghua University as part of its agreement with TUHS. The TJPF also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation, as well as the Chinese company Shirble, which were all led by men tied to China’s United Front Work Department, which manages Chinese government foreign influence campaigns.

US not in hypersonic weapons 'arms race' with China and Russia, DOD official says

Mike Brest

March 10, 05:02 PM March 10, 05:02 PM

A top Defense Department official focused on hypersonic weapons does not believe the United States is in the middle of an arms race against China and Russia.

A group of defense officials testified in front of a House subcommittee on Friday about the status of the U.S. hypersonic weapons program, systems that travel five times the speed of sound and have additional maneuverability, and those of adversaries.

US HAS 'GROWING CONCERN' OVER CHINA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA

"It is important to note that the United States is not engaged in an arms race, but instead, hypersonic strike systems are needed to preserve deterrence because they offer a critical regional advanced strike capability that will complement existing joint force strike options," Michael White, principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, told the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

When pressed on what would constitute an arms race, White explained, "I define an arms race in the traditional sense of a numerical parity. They have 47 widgets, so we need 50."

Dr. Michael Horowitz, the director of the Emerging Capabilities Policy Office with the Pentagon, told subcommittee members the department is planning to "develop conventionally armed regionally based hypersonic weapons."

"Offensive hypersonic systems will be especially critical on a battlefield where the adversary has deployed high-end defensive and anti-access systems designed to limit the effectiveness of traditional U.S. weapons on a timescale needed to avoid a military, diplomatic, or political fait accompli," he said. "Like any military technology, hypersonic systems are not a be-all and end-all. ... However, as the battlefield environment becomes increasingly more contested, hypersonic systems will be a critical tool to deliver highly responsive, survivable, and long-range effects to supplement and sometimes enable our more traditional capabilities."

"In addition to developing offensive hypersonic weapons, we are developing a comprehensive layer defeat capability to defend against adversary hypersonic systems," he added, but the speed, maneuverability, long-range, and high-altitude capabilities of hypersonic weapons make defending against such weapons a tall order.

Paul Freisthler, the chief scientist for science and technology at the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the subcommittee that China is leading Russia in the support infrastructure around their hypersonic programs and the number of systems they possess, though both have conducted numerous successful tests.

China has “dramatically advanced its development of conventional and nuclear-armed hypersonic missile technologies and capabilities through intense, focused investment, development, testing, and deployments,” he explained.

Spy community warns of Chinese ‘willingness to meddle’ in US elections

Jerry Dunleavy

March 09, 12:28 PM March 09, 12:28 PM

The U.S. spy community warned about the Chinese government’s “willingness to meddle” in U.S. elections in a new intelligence assessment laying out “malign” foreign influence operations by China and the broader threats posed by Beijing.

The annual threat assessment released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence this week placed China at the top of U.S. national security challenges, which U.S. spy chiefs testified about at length on Wednesday and Thursday before the Senate and House Intelligence Committees.

EX-INTEL OFFICIAL STILL SAYS CHINA TRIED TO INFLUENCE 2020 ELECTION

“Beijing will continue expanding its global intelligence and covert influence posture to better support the CCP’s political, economic, and security goals,” ODNI assessed in its new report. “China is attempting to sow doubts about U.S. leadership, undermine democracy, and extend Beijing’s influence, particularly in East Asia and the western Pacific, which Beijing views as its sphere of influence.”

The intelligence community added: “Beijing largely concentrates its U.S.-focused influence efforts on shaping U.S. policy and the U.S. public’s perception of China in a positive direction, but has shown a willingness to meddle in select election races that involved perceived anti-China politicians.”

The 2021 intelligence community assessment on the 2020 election concluded that Russia sought to help then-President Donald Trump’s reelection chances and harm now-President Joe Biden’s candidacy, and that Iran sought to hurt Trump’s reelection efforts. The spy agencies had a split on China, with the majority view saying China did not deploy influence efforts in the 2020 election and the minority view assessing China did exactly that to hurt Trump’s reelection chances.

Christopher Porter, who was the national intelligence officer for cyber from 2019 until this summer, was the named author of the minority stance, which argued that "China did take some steps to try to undermine former President Trump’s reelection.” Then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe released a Jan. 7, 2021 memo supporting the minority view on China, arguing that Beijing “sought to influence the 2020 U.S. federal elections.”

Porter became head of Google Cloud Threat Intelligence in June 2022, and he has continued banging the drum about China's anti-Trump influence efforts during the 2020 election.

The FBI warned ahead of the 2022 midterm elections that it believed China had increased its efforts to influence U.S. elections. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this week that he would appoint a special rapporteur to investigate a host of allegations that China meddled in Canada's 2019 and 2021 elections.

ODNI warned this week that “Beijing uses a sophisticated array of covert, overt, licit, and illicit means to try to soften U.S. criticism, shape U.S. power centers’ views of China, and influence policymakers at all levels of government.”

The spy community assessed that a growing bipartisan consensus against China on the U.S. national level has affected the thinking of China’s leaders, and that Beijing has “adjusted by redoubling its efforts to build influence at the state and local level to shift U.S. policy in China’s favor because of Beijing’s belief that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.”

ODNI also warned that “Beijing is intensifying efforts to mold U.S. public discourse — particularly by trying to shape U.S. views of sensitive or core sovereignty issues, such as Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong — and pressure perceived political opponents.”

The spy community added that “Beijing’s growing efforts to actively exploit perceived U.S. societal divisions using its online personas move it closer to Moscow’s playbook for influence operations.”

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines testified on Wednesday that the DragonBear alliance between Russia and China is “continuing to deepen” in “every sector” amid “real concern” about Beijing assisting Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine.

In an early January 2021 memo, Ratcliffe referenced a report put together by Barry Zulauf, an analytic ombudsman and longtime intelligence official, who said there was a split in how the intelligence community handled Russia versus China.

“China analysts appeared hesitant to assess Chinese actions as undue influence or interference. The analysts appeared reluctant to have their analysis on China brought forward because they tend to disagree with the [Trump] administration’s policies, saying in effect, I don’t want our intelligence used to support those policies,” Zulauf concluded.

The ombudsman report, Ratcliffe said at the time, "includes concerning revelations about the politicization of China election influence reporting and of undue pressure being brought to bear on analysts who offered an alternative view based on the intelligence.”

The U.S. intelligence community argued this week that Russia “presents one of the most serious foreign influence threats to the United States because it uses its intelligence services, proxies, and wide-ranging influence tools to try to divide Western alliances and increase its sway around the world.” ODNI said the Kremlin’s goals included “attempting to undermine U.S. global standing, sow discord inside the United States, and influence U.S. voters and decision-making.”

Bombshell COVID-19 origins hearing will feature Wuhan lab leak and Fauci silencing effort

Jerry Dunleavy

March 08, 05:51 AM March 08, 05:52 AM

The Wuhan lab leak hypothesis will be front and center during a new House hearing on the coronavirus, with its witnesses featuring prominent voices who have argued COVID-19 likely originated in a Chinese lab.

The Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will be hosting a hearing on “Investigating the Origins of COVID-19” on Wednesday, and it is likely to touch on not just the Wuhan Institute of Virology but also gain-of-function research funded by the National Institutes of Health, the attempted silencing of the lab leak hypothesis by officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Chinese obfuscation and obstruction.

WHAT WE KNOW ON THE WUHAN LAB LEAK DEBATE

“This investigation must begin with where and how this virus came about so that we can attempt to ‘predict, prepare, protect, or prevent’ it from happening again,” Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), chairman of the subcommittee, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Government scientists and government funded researchers have so far been less-than-forthcoming in their knowledge and actions, including work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and potential pandemic pathogens."

The witnesses for the Wednesday hearing include Dr. Robert Redfield, the former director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who has said COVID-19 “clearly” began in a Wuhan lab, as well as Nicholas Wade, the former science and health editor at the New York Times, who has written about the “substantial” evidence of a lab leak.

Also testifying is Jamie Metzl, a former Clinton White House National Security Council member who has long argued a Wuhan lab leak is at minimum plausible and must be investigated.

The hearing comes after FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed last week that the FBI has long believed COVID-19 originated at a Chinese government lab and after it was recently revealed the Department of Energy now believes with “low confidence” that the coronavirus started at a Wuhan lab.

The assessments in favor of a lab leak are the first movement since the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an assessment in 2021 stating that one U.S. intelligence agency, the FBI, assessed with "moderate confidence" that COVID-19 most likely emerged from a lab in Wuhan, while four U.S. spy agencies and the National Intelligence Council believed with just "low confidence" that COVID-19 most likely had a natural origin.

The witnesses are sure to speak to those assessments on Wednesday.

Redfield told WHD News last month that the FBI and Energy Department both have “an enormous, powerful, scientific workforce” and “a lot of science depth” at their agencies. The former Trump CDC director added, “I think that clearly the origin of this virus was a leak from the Wuhan lab, and eventually people will come to realize that. … COVID came into man and immediately was enormously transmissible, which in my view meant that it was educated in a laboratory on how to infect human tissue.”

The former CDC director’s comments last month built upon his March 2021 public assessment, which also hinted that COVID-19 was a product of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab.

Wade, also a former editor at Science and Nature, penned a lengthy essay for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in May 2021, which helped keep the Wuhan lab leak possibility in the spotlight after Fauci and many in the media had attempted to dismiss the hypothesis.

“The available evidence leans more strongly in one direction than the other,” Wade wrote at the time of the lab leak hypothesis. “It seems to me that proponents of lab escape can explain all the available facts about SARS-CoV-2 considerably more easily than can those who favor natural emergence.”

Wade added, “If the case that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a lab is so substantial, why isn’t this more widely known? ... There are many people who have reason not to talk about it. The list is led, of course, by the Chinese authorities. But virologists in the United States and Europe have no great interest in igniting a public debate about the gain-of-function experiments that their community has been pursuing for years.”

Scientists consulting with the U.S. government early in the pandemic in 2020 believed COVID-19 originating from a lab in Wuhan was possible or even likely, but emails indicate Fauci and then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins worked to shut the hypothesis down.

Wade wrote for City Journal in January 2022 that “the medical-research establishment in Washington” attempted to dismiss as “conspiracy theorists” anyone who had considered a Wuhan lab leak escape but that the unearthed emails were “making it seem increasingly likely that there was, in fact, a conspiracy, its aim being to suppress the notion that the virus had emerged from research funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, headed by Fauci.”

Newly released emails also show Fauci and others "prompted" an influential scientific paper that pushed back on the Wuhan lab leak hypothesis in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Metzl called it “inexcusable” that there still hasn’t been a full investigation into COVID-19’s origins in a Wall Street Journal piece last month. Metzl wrote the piece with Trump deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who has been saying publicly as early as early 2021 that the evidence for a lab leak “far outweighs” that of natural origin.

“While Chinese obfuscation and misdirection is chiefly to blame for the lack of understanding of how the novel coronavirus swept the globe, the U.S. could do far more to get to the bottom of what happened,” Metzl and Pottinger wrote, emphasizing that “in the early days of the pandemic, a small group of Western virologists came together to consider the pandemic’s origin. Emails that eventually came to light revealed their plan to push the public conversation away from the lab-accident hypothesis.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has continued to deflect from the Wuhan lab leak possibility by pushing the baseless conspiracy theory that COVID-19 originated from a U.S. military base, including as recently as this week.