Tag: china

China, Fentanyl, and the Biden Administration’s Failure, Covered by Misleading Data

One of the many reasons for the U.S.-China trade war is President Trump holding Xi Jinping accountable for the fentanyl precursor chemicals that are flowing from China to Mexican drug cartels.

The cartels then manufacture fentanyl and distribute it in the U.S., killing over 100,000 Americans per year. This was an issue during Trump’s first term, when China agreed to crack down on these exports, and here we are nine years later, and the chemicals are still flowing.

China is a totalitarian state that runs a full digital surveillance system where literally every minute of every citizen’s life is being filmed and analyzed with AI.

The state can achieve a 100% conviction rate against criminals while also cracking down on even the slightest dissent. With his massive AI and data databases, secret police, and spies, Xi Jinping can control virtually every aspect of life in China, yet he claims to be unaware that Chinese chemical companies are selling fentanyl precursors to Mexican drug cartels.

President Trump has accused China of “actively sustaining and expanding the business of poisoning our citizens” and stated that “PRC officials have failed to follow through with the decisive actions needed to stem the flow of” fentanyl and precursor chemicals. In early February 2025, he imposed a 10 percent tariff on all Chinese goods, accusing Beijing of allowing fentanyl and its precursors to be shipped to the United States.

The tariffs have since escalated, reaching 127.2 percent in early May 2025. The White House has been explicit that Chinese officials have “failed” to stop the flow of precursor chemicals, used to make fentanyl, to criminal cartels.

Law enforcement agencies and government officials in the U.S. agree most of the precursor chemicals used to make street fentanyl flow from industrial companies in China to drug gangs in Mexico.

China is still the principal supplier of these precursors for fentanyl after Chinese trafficking networks switched from supplying finished fentanyl to precursor chemicals.

China has pushed back strongly, with officials saying “The fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports” and that “We stand ready for practical cooperation with the US based on equality and mutual respect. That said, we firmly oppose the US pressuring, threatening and blackmailing China under the pretext of the fentanyl issue”.

Under Biden, Xi Jinping made limited concessions, including the implementation of new regulations allegedly targeting money laundering by drug organizations and scheduling three fentanyl precursor chemicals.

The Biden administration called this a “valuable step forward,” pointing to a 21% national drop in fatal overdoses from fentanyl since June 2023.

Both the Biden administration and Beijing claimed that this cooperation was already yielding results even before Trump took office. But these claims are misleading.

Keep reading

Exposing China’s Military & Media Push In Africa

At a July 2025 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson warned that Africa is becoming a key battleground in global competition, with China, Russia, and terrorist groups posing increasing threats to U.S. national security.

Nominated to lead U.S. Africa Command, Anderson emphasized China’s shift from purely economic engagement to a growing military presence and aggressive information operations across the continent. He expressed particular concern over Chinese investments in African ports, especially along the Atlantic coast, which could be used to restrict U.S. access in times of conflict.

Chinese state-backed companies now have ownership stakes in roughly one-third of Africa’s 231 ports, with 78 facilities across 32 countries and a heavy concentration in West Africa, 35 compared to 17 in East Africa. Many of these ports have already been used by People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships conducting military exercises. This expanding control includes major ports in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Namibia.

A strong Chinese presence in West African ports would significantly enhance the PLAN’s access to the Atlantic, bringing it inside the U.S. security perimeter, an area far more difficult to defend than the Pacific due to fewer islands and resupply points. Africa lies just 3,000 miles from the U.S. East Coast, roughly the same distance as New York to California, meaning a Chinese resupply base on the Atlantic coast could put submarines within striking range of New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.

While Chinese nuclear submarines can stay at sea for extended periods, they currently lack the ability to resupply or take on provisions in the Atlantic. Establishing a base would solve that, enabling not only sustained deployments but also pre-positioning for intelligence collection, containerized missile rearming, and disruption of U.S. or allied operations.

Since 2000, PLAN vessels have made 55 port calls across Africa, including in West African nations such as Morocco and Mauritania, demonstrating China’s intent to expand its military use of these facilities. A Chinese foothold on the African coast would give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a powerful platform to influence global trade and project power across both sides of the Atlantic.

Beijing has already demonstrated its willingness to convert commercial ports into military infrastructure, as evidenced by its 2018 project in Djibouti, where the state-owned China Merchants Group constructed a PLAN-exclusive base adjacent to a commercial port. Seven additional African ports, spanning both the Atlantic and the West Indian Ocean, have been identified as likely candidates for future Chinese military use.

In addition to base building, China is rapidly expanding its military-to-military cooperation in Africa. In 2000, less than 5 percent of African weapons came from China. Today, Chinese-made armored vehicles are used by 70 percent of African militaries, making China the continent’s top arms supplier. Officer training has followed a similar trend: from under 200 African officers trained in China at the turn of the century to more than 2,000 today.

Since 2006, China has conducted 20 joint military drills with African forces, steadily increasing in scale and sophistication, most notably the August 2024 land and sea exercises with Tanzania and Mozambique, and recent joint air force drills with Egypt. The following month, Beijing pledged a 1 billion yuan military grant to support African armed forces, train 6,000 personnel, and host 500 young officers for joint training, patrols, and exercises.

Keep reading

China Probes Nvidia Over Alleged H20 AI Chip’s “Backdoor” Security Risks

China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) summoned Nvidia officials to address alleged “backdoor” security vulnerabilities with the H20 AI chip, just weeks after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s diplomatic visit to Beijing, and days after US and Chinese officials met in Stockholm to extend their tariff truce. 

Nvidia was asked “to clarify and submit relevant supporting documentation regarding security risks, including potential vulnerabilities and backdoors, associated with its H20 computing chips sold to China,” according to a statement from CAC. 

China’s top internet watchdog claimed Nvidia’s AI chips pose major security threats due to security vulnerabilities…

“US lawmakers have previously called for advanced chips exported from the US to be equipped with location-tracking features,” the regulator pointed out. 

“The location-tracking and remote shutdown capabilities on Nvidia computing chips are ready, according to US AI experts,” CAC said. 

CAC’s concerns follow a legislative push in Washington, where Republican Senator Tom Cotton and a bipartisan group of eight Representatives recently introduced the U.S. Chip Security Act (H.R. 3447). This bill includes the requirement for companies like Nvidia to embed security mechanisms into advanced chips, such as location verification or tracking mechanisms. 

Nvidia reps were asked to provide technical documents about the H20 AI chip to ensure there are no “backdoors.” Huang has previously denied any security vulnerabilities with his chips. 

Keep reading

Did Microsoft Hand China Front Row Access to the Pentagon?

Let’s set the stage: Imagine Fort Knox, doors flung wide open, while a tour group from the Chinese Communist Party strolls through the vault with full access badges. Ridiculous? Sure. But swap out gold for data, and you’re not far off from what just happened with Microsoft, China-based engineers, and — wait for it — the U.S. military.

According to reports, we now know that Microsoft, the federal government’s longtime tech golden child, may have handed China a backstage pass to America’s most sensitive defense systems. Not through hacking or espionage — but through corporate hubris, off-the-books programming, and a terrifying lack of oversight.

A dangerous Microsoft initiative allowed China-based engineers working for Microsoft access to elements of the software powering our military’s digital infrastructure. And just to really spice things up, this may not have been properly disclosed to the Department of Defense.

In response, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) fired off a letter demanding answers. He wants to know what kind of access those engineers had, what vetting (if any) was done, and how a critical contractor failed to flag a program that sounds like it was cooked up in a spy novel.

This isn’t about paranoia — it’s about pattern recognition. China has been engaged in digital warfare against the West for years. From the OPM breach to targeting our infrastructure and tech companies with AI-driven cyberattacks, they’ve made it clear: they want our secrets, our systems, and ultimately, control of the digital battlefield.

And what have we done in response? We’ve outsourced vital software development to a tech company that couldn’t be bothered to mention Chinese nationals working on Defense Department tools.

Let that sink in.

Even worse, this comes amid a staggering spike in Microsoft vulnerabilities. The company’s systems have been peppered with Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) — some of them so severe they allow unauthorized access with a single email. One CVE error allowed attackers to exploit Outlook without user interaction. Just receiving the message triggered it. No click, no download — just a digital grenade in your inbox.

If you think a foreign adversary wouldn’t weaponize those kinds of flaws, bless your heart. But the rest of us should be alarmed that these exploits — paired with offshored engineering — could mean that China didn’t need to break into the Pentagon’s systems. They may have simply been invited in.

This crisis underscores a larger failure: our total underestimation of endpoint security. In a world where cyberattacks can be launched from an internet café or a basement across the globe, the last line of defense isn’t just software firewalls — it’s every connected device in the network. And right now, that defense is leaking like a sieve.

Keep reading

China’s star wars arms race with the West: Beijing scientists draw up list of ways to hunt and destroy Elon Musk’s armada of Starlink satellites amid mounting tensions with America

Chinese scientists are developing ways to destroy Elon Musk‘s Starlink satellite network, including laser strikes, custom-built satellites and supply chain sabotage.

They see the system as a growing threat to national security, especially because of its potential to be used by the US in a military confrontation and for spying. 

Starlink, which provides low-cost, high-speed internet through thousands of satellites, is now used in more than 140 countries.

Professors from China‘s National University of Defence Technology wrote: ‘As the United States integrates Starlink technology into military space assets to gain a strategic advantage over its adversaries, other countries increasingly perceive Starlink as a security threat in nuclear, space, and cyber domains.’

Though Starlink doesn’t operate in China, its satellites still fly over Chinese territory.

That’s enough to trigger alarm among military researchers, who have published dozens of papers on how to track and take down the network.

One study found Starlink could provide constant coverage of key locations like Beijing and Taiwan. 

Another highlighted weakness in the system’s supply chain. Some researchers suggested tailing Starlink satellites with Chinese ones, using corrosive substances to damage them or disrupting their solar panels.

Keep reading

US Suspends China Tech Restrictions Amid Fears of Rare Earth Retaliation

The administration of US President Donald Trump has suspended restrictions on technology exports to China to avoid harming trade talks with Beijing, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is visiting Sweden from July 27-30 for trade talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The officials are expected to discuss US-China trade and economic relationship, Chinese export controls of rare earths, access to each other’s markets, and the overall trade rate.

Over the past few months, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has been instructed to avoid tough measures against China to maintain positive momentum in the talks and ensure a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this year, the report said.

However, some current and former US officials said that the main reason for the suspension of US tariffs was fear of retaliatory measures from China, such as restrictions on rare metals and magnet exports, the report added.

Keep reading

China: Robot doctors at world’s 1st AI hospital can treat 3,000 a day

The world is making significant inroads into utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology to advance functions in various domains, especially healthcare.

We have seen AI technologies helping to advance personalized medicine, predictive analytics, drug discovery and development, smart virtual health assistants, and furthering medical imaging and diagnostics.

Now, a Chinese state media outlet reports that the country has developed its first AI hospital town, a concept in which virtual patients are attended to by AI doctors.

The system, developed by a team at Tsinghua University in Beijing, aims to advance medical consultation by training doctor agents in a simulated environment. The team says this will equip them to evolve independently and enhance their ability to treat diseases.

According to Global Times, researchers claim the model will help further AI doctors’ diagnostic capabilities from the virtual realm to real-world applications and the potential for high-quality, affordable, and convenient healthcare services for the public.

Virtual patient simulation

The Agent Hospital concept enables real doctors to treat virtual patients, offering medical students advanced training opportunities. By simulating a diverse array of AI patients, medical students can confidently devise treatment plans without the risk of harming real patients due to decision-making errors.

In this virtual world, all doctors, nurses, and patients are driven by large language model (LLM)–powered intelligent agents capable of autonomous interaction.

According to Global Times, evolved AI doctor agents in the Agent Hospital have achieved an impressive 93.06 percent accuracy rate on a MedQA dataset (US Medical Licensing Exam questions) covering major respiratory diseases.

These intelligent agents can simulate the entire process of diagnosing and treating patients, from consultation and examination to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

According to the team, AI doctors can treat 10,000 patients in just a few days—a task that would take humans at least two years to complete.

The university team points out that AI hospital town can simulate and forecast various medical situations, including the emergence, spread, and containment of infectious diseases within an area.

Keep reading

Money, sex and a Buddhist monk: Head of China’s famed Shaolin Temple under investigation

China’s famed Shaolin Temple announced on Sunday that its abbot is under investigation for suspected embezzlement and “improper relationships” with women, reviving decade-old allegations against the controversial, high-profile monk.

Shi Yongxin, known as “CEO monk” for his entrepreneurial endeavors that transformed the Buddhist monastery into a commercial empire, is suspected of criminal offenses including embezzlement and misappropriation of project funds and temple assets, the temple’s authority said in a statement.

The 59-year-old monk was also accused of seriously violating Buddhist precepts by maintaining “improper relationships” with multiple women over an extended period and fathering at least one child, according to the statement.

Buddhist monks in China have traditionally been expected to take a vow of celibacy.

“(Shi) is currently under joint investigation by multiple departments. Further information will be released to the public in due course,” the statement added.

CNN has not been able to contact Shi.

Established more than 1,500 years ago in the forested mountains of central China, the Shaolin Temple is both a religious and cultural icon, renowned for its age-old tradition of Zen Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu – a distinct form of Chinese martial arts.

Shi, who became the abbot of the Shaolin Temple in 1999 and was a member of China’s rubber-stamp parliament for two decades, has frequently appeared in the media spotlight.

Known as the first Chinese abbot to hold a Master of Business Administration degree, he was often seen globetrotting with an iPhone in hand, meeting world leaders and industry titans – from the late Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, late South African president Nelson Mandela, and Henry Kissinger to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Keep reading

The Rise Of China’s ‘Surveillance Colonialism’ In Africa

African governments are using Chinese artificial intelligence to find, jail, torture, and even kill political opponents and pro-democracy activists, according to several investigations.

Researchers say Beijing is exporting its “surveillance state” model to African countries and rapidly positioning itself to control the critical infrastructure, data, and energy that will power the continent’s AI systems in the future.

This could mean that China will have immense influence over politics and public life in Africa, potentially influencing election outcomes and swaying public opinion in favor of Beijing and its allies, according to the studies.

Some academics say it’s happening already.

One investigation by a nonprofit studying the use of social media and other technology to target dissident groups worldwide concluded that a “largely invisible pattern” is transforming conflicts across Africa.

The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) stated that using technology such as spyware to hunt political activists and employing facial recognition to track protesters represents “a new kind of mercenary force” in Africa, one that’s largely shaped by companies controlled from Beijing.

Adio-Adet Dinika, researcher and affiliate fellow at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Science in Germany, headed DAIR’s Data Workers Inquiry project. It investigated incidents in countries including Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.

Dinika’s research revealed the existence of “digital sweatshops” in African cities and towns, including in Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; and Gulu, Uganda, where workers are paid as little as $1.50 per hour to teach AI systems to recognize faces, moderate content, and analyze behavior patterns.

The Chinese regime is perpetrating what Dinika called “digital colonialism at its most insidious.”

“I call this surveillance colonialism, the process by which foreign powers extract data and labor from African populations to build AI systems that ultimately police, repress, and destabilise those very populations,” he wrote.

Keep reading

Single US Water Utility Receives 6 Million China-Based Connection Attempts In 1 Week: Security Report

A single water utility in California has received more than 6 million hits from China-based addresses within a week, pointing to the Chinese communist regime’s ongoing efforts to scan for U.S. critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, according to security experts.

The South Coast Water District (SCWD) blocked these connection attempts between July 15 and July 23.

It revealed the figure in a July 23 industry webinar hosted by the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, showing a firewall dashboard by security company ThreatSTOP.

SCWD provides potable water, recycled water, and wastewater services to about 40,000 residents, 1,000 businesses, and 2 million visitors annually in Orange County, California.

During the webinar, ThreatSTOP CEO Tom Byrnes and chief scientist Paul Mockapetris, who invented the Domain Name System, advised water industry professionals to tailor who is allowed access to their servers and said that there are some obvious limits one can set.

“If you’re a water district in southern California, you probably don’t have any customers in China,” Mockapetris said.

A ThreatSTOP case study on its website shows that as far back as 2011, even a school district’s network printers in West Memphis, Arkansas, were receiving regular access attempts from China.

Byrnes stated that the 6 million figure had increased overnight from 5 million, demonstrating that critical infrastructure, such as water systems, is constantly being scanned for vulnerabilities.

SCWD’s ThreatSTOP firewall dashboard also showed more than 34,000 blocked connection attempts originating from Bulgaria and more than 21,000 from Iran.

Keep reading